Fundamentals Of The Faith - Week 5 - Titles And Possessions Of The Born-Again Christian Series

A. A Christian.

1. Acts 11:26 "and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch."

a. This was a title first used by pagan gentiles in Syrian Antioch. It was intended to be a slur name.

2. Acts 26:28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?"

3. 1 Peter 4:16 "However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name."

a. A Christian is a Christ-one, one who is identified with Jesus by belief and behavior.

B. Child of God.

1. John 1:12 "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

a. We are not born children of God. We become children of God through Jesus.

C. Son of God.

1. Gal. 3:26-29 "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

2. Gal. 4:1-7 "What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir."

a. A person becomes a son (child) of God by regeneration or the new birth. We are adopted or put into the full position of a full-grown son by God. This gives us equal responsibilities and privileges with those Christians who have been saved longer.

3. 2 Cor 6:17-18 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

a. For us to enjoy the everyday blessings of our father-son relationship we must live a holy and separated life. If a person is a genuine Born-Again Christian there will be a radical change in behavior. Our present condition will continue to change. Our position was permanently and completely changed at the moment of our salvation.

D. A New Creation.

1. 2 Cor. 5:14-21 "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. e are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

a. We bring into our lives lots of bad attitudes, habits, deeds, etc. This is why we are told to change daily. Our condition is always changing but our position is always the same because it was completely and totally changed forever by Jesus at the moment of salvation.

2. Gal. 6:15 "Neither circumcision nor un-circumcision <works> means anything; what counts is a new creation."

3. Eph. 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."