Who Is A Christian? — KurtBrouwer.com

We all use the term Christian from time to time, but what do we mean? Is there a clear Biblical answer to the question, who is a Christian? Let’s find out together what the Bible says.

Let’s start with the word itself. When and where did the term Christian come into use? The Bible says this:

“…The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”
Acts 11:26b World English Bible

Kind of amazing, isn’t it, that the term Christian did not arise in Jerusalem or Nazareth, but in a city far to the north; Antioch, a city that lies in what is now southern Turkey.

When you put the name Christ together with the suffix ian what do you get? What is a Christian ( Christ + ian)? Typically, the suffix ian means either from or belonging to.

So an Oregonian is someone from the state of Oregon. The word Christian takes the second meaning of the suffix ian.

Christians are those who belong to Jesus Christ

This is quite different from how the world defines a Christian. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives this definition of a Christian:

“one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ.”

With all due respect to both Merriam and Webster, this definition is lame. Even ridiculous. Let’s see why:

Take politicians for example. On the campaign trail most will profess loudly that they believe in honest government. Good government. And they will loudly profess that they themselves are honest, have integrity, and so on.

“…actual belief must accompany a profession of faith or it means no more than a politician’s empty campaign promise to be honest.” KurtBrouwer.com

So if we went by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, any politician who professes honesty would, in fact, be honest. But are most politicians honest? Not really…

The Bible makes it clear that it’s your actual belief that counts, not just words.

‘Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples.”’
John 8:31 WEB

And Paul wrote:

“that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart, one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation.’
Romans 10:9–10 WEB

As a first point, a Biblical answer to the question who is a Christian would be:

A Christian is someone who believes in Jesus Christ

Let’s start with that. Professing belief in Jesus Christ is good and necessary, but actual belief must accompany that profession of faith or it means no more than a politician’s empty campaign promises about honesty.

How does Christian belief start? Do we wake up one morning and think, you know I’m going to start believing in Jesus today?
No. Not how it works.

Our belief in Christ does not originate in us at all. It comes from God. It is a gift from God, but also the gift of God:

“…for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast.” Ephesians 2:8–9 WEB

We cannot and should not boast or feel pride in our belief for it comes from God, as a gift, not from our own efforts. Now we all know that not everyone accepts the call of God. In fact, many of us fought His call for a time in our own lives.

Nonetheless, a Christian certainly is someone who has been chosen by God to receive the call of God.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up in the last day.” John 6:44 WEB

God calls us first, draws us towards Him. Assuming we accept the call, we can be saved. So a Christian certainly is someone who has heeded the call of God and accepted the gift of salvation. And that is the next element in our quest to determine what the Bible means by Christian.

A Christian has been called by God and has accepted the gift of salvation

Once we accept the gift, what comes next? If you believe in someone or something, you pay attention, right?

If you like football, you watch the games, either on television or You Tube or in person. You follow a favorite team, getting to know the players and coaches. When they win, you’re happy. When your team loses, you’re upset.

In the same way, as we draw closer to Christ, we seek Him out, study His life and His teaching, follow Him. We want to learn more, to understand better. We pay attention.

So if we believe in Jesus, then surely we would spend time seeking Him. By spending time with the Son of God in prayer, praise & worship, reading the Bible, meditation, we get to know Him and to appreciate what He did for all of humanity and for us individually. So that’s one more element of our Biblical definition:

A Christian spends time learning about Christ, following Him, loving and obeying Him

If we accept the gift of salvation that Christ has made possible, then it sure makes sense to follow Jesus, to love Him and obey Him as His disciples did:

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35 WEB

So how do we demonstrate our love for Him? Jesus spells this out very clearly:

“If you love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15 WEB

Jesus did not beat around the bush, did He?

Now, before we go further, let’s agree that I’m not perfect and neither are you. We make mistakes. As a Christian, I have often failed to carry out the commands of Christ.

We have to struggle against our own human nature and learn to draw on the power of God to change our nature and become more like Christ. We won’t always follow His commands perfectly, but we have to make the effort. With that said, another Biblical element has come into focus:

A Christian keeps the commands of Christ

Just as Jesus lived and died out of obedience to His Father, we too must put into practice the gospel message by following the commands of our Lord and Savior. But what are they?

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36–40 WEB

So anyone who knows Jesus, who loves Him, follows Him, and believes in Him would also seek to love God and love a neighbor.

But Jesus taught us to love everyone. God, family and friends, strangers…even our enemies.

…even our enemies?

Whoa now, hold on a dang minute! What? Love my enemies?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven…” Matthew 5:44–45a WEB

But wait, there’s more. Not only did He command us to love our enemies, but He also told us to avoid judging others as we would avoid the Bubonic Plague.

Well, that part about the Bubonic Plague may not be exactly Biblical…but He did tell us not to judge others:

“Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1–2 WEB

Now that takes all the fun out of it, doesn’t it?

If you want to judge others, to rant about their failings, you can, but you are doing so in direct contradiction to what Jesus commanded.

He gave an absolute prohibition against judging others unless we stand ready to be judged as harshly as we judge them. Jesus did not say you could judge others if they are doing something you think is really bad; He made it clear that we are not to judge…at all…ever.

To be clear, this does not mean you can’t seek to understand why someone did what they did. Just trying to understand someone is fine. And you can disagree with something someone said or did.

It’s OK to disagree, but don’t be disagreeable

While disagreeing poses no problems, being disagreeable does. When you move from disagreement to anger, name-calling or worse, then you’re likely guilty of judging and condemning.

Now, I have to confess that I spent years being judgmental about other people. It felt good. Easy to do. Maybe you have judged others too.

When we fail like this, we have to turn back to Christ and apologize. We pray and seek guidance to be more like Him and less like our old selves. And that leads us to the final element of being a Christian.

A Christian keeps growing in faith and obedience

“…in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge; 6 and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control perseverance; and in perseverance godliness; 7 and in godliness brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love..” 2 Peter 1:5–7 WEB

Knowing these things, we come to a crossroads and we must choose which way we will live. Will we follow Him or not? Jesus made it clear that there is no neutral ground.

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters…” Matthew 12:30 NIV

Jesus sits at the right hand of our Father in heaven and He is working there for us, interceding on our behalf so that our faith will grow. He knows what’s in our hearts, so no point in using empty words to persuade Him.

When the final trumpet peals and the roll is called up yonder, that is, when Jesus comes again, who will be there? Those who belong to Christ.

And how will He identify Christians? By the T-shirt they wear or the cross they have around their necks…or, will He look deeper?

Jesus does not ask us to be something we are not. He simply says to spend time following His words, His actions, and His commands.

Don’t worry or fret about how you compare to others, just keep your eye on Him. If your faith wanes or wobbles, you are not alone. Everyone has gone through spiritual down times.

Five elements from the Bible on who is a Christian:

1-Do you believe in Jesus? If the answer is yes, then thank God.

2-Thank God for calling you and offering the gift of salvation.

3-To celebrate God’s call, spend time learning about Christ, following Him, loving and obeying Him.

4-As you spend time with Him, you will become aware that He wants you to obey Him, to keep His commands.

5-And as you take the first baby steps in obeying His commands, you will grow in your faith and obedience

The Bible has the answers we need; it’s our job to dig them out.

Yours in Christ, Kurt

Originally published at https://kurtbrouwer.com on January 6, 2022.