Characteristics Of A Christian

Last Sunday I began a series of sermons on qualities or characteristics found in the christian life which identify you as a Christian. These characteristics are not to be critical of anyone’s commitment to Christ but to strengthen our faithfulness to our risen Savior through our living today is a fallen world. As we look at these qualities it is my prayer that it encourages you to continue your Christian growth while we wait for the return of Jesus to rapture the church.

Last week I identified the first three characteristics of a Christian “knowing who Jesus is”, “commitment to the Word of God”, and realizing that “we are a new creation in Christ.”

These are inward qualities that every believer in Christ have in their lives. Today I would like to look at the outward characteristics that can be observed in the life of a believer in Christ.

Pastor Lee Strobel in his book “Case for Christ” It is the story of a Chicago Tribune editor (and atheist) named Lee Strobel, who undertakes the task of debunking the “myth” of Christianity after his wife’s unexpected conversion. Ostensibly, Lee’s intent is to save his wife from getting sucked into what he fears may be a cult. What he saw in the life of his wife launched him an effort to disprove Christianity however in the search of disproving his wife’s faith he met the risen savior and today he is a Pastor, committed believer and Christian author. When people observed Christian characteristics in our lives it will motivate a lost person to have what the Christian life can bring to the lost person.

Characteristics of a Christian

1st They Walk in the Light (1 Jn 1:4-7)

2nd Their lives are marked by sensitive to sin (1 Jn 1:8-10)

3rd Their lives are lived in obedience to God and His Word (1 Jn 2:3-4)

4th They walk as Jesus walked (1 Jn 2:4-5)

5th They love other Christians (1 Jn 2:7-11)

6th They have a dislike and reject worldly living (1 Jn 2:15-17)

7th They are committed to the doctrines of the faith (1 Jn 2:18-19)

8th They are committed to living in righteousness (1 Jn 2:28-29)

9th They are pursuing righteousness (1 Jn 3:1-3)

10th They are practicing righteousness (1 Jn 2:28)

11th They live as world overcomers (1 Jn 4:4-6)

12th They believe the things that God has reviled about His Son (1 Jn 5:9-12)

(Source: 12 Characteristics of a True Christian | Anchored in Christ (kevinhalloran.net))

1st Believers Walk in the Light- 1 John 1:4-10 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Christians live each day with a distain for the sin of this world and are committed to live their lives by following the principals and commandments outlined in the Word of God. Their lives are not guided by the “thou shall not’s” but by the life of Jesus. God’s Word is our guiding light that shines in the darkness of the world, but the believer strives to walk in the light of Jesus.

John 1:3-5

3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. NKJV

ILLUS: Have you walked at night with a flashlight? There are times when you were walking you either moved into the darkness completely or walk in at the edge of the light or in the shadows. In those times it was necessary to readjust you’re the focus of the light or your walk so that you would not fall in the darkness. Our walk as a Christian is the same. As we live and work in this sin dark world there will be times when we walk on the edge or out of the light of Jesus. There will be times when we must refocus or adjust our path we are following.

David was a Godly man, a man who God called to lead His people; however, he got off track he walked in the darkness of this world. It was necessary for him to acknowledge his disobedience to God and His Word. He had to refocus his life to stay in the light of God.