WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHRISTIAN?
Part 1 - 2/22/09
Acts 11:26, 1 Peter 4:16
INTRODUCTION
Definition: They are those who belong to Jesus Christ. Other designations in scripture are believers, disciples and the children of God. Originally used as a nick name for those who were followers of Christ Jesus it is a term that is only used three times in the scriptures.
Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Acts 26:28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, you almost persuade me to be a Christian.
1 Pet 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
The Greek word used in all three of these passages of scripture is Christianos just like the Spanish word and it literally means a follower of Christ.
Notice what the only three versus in scripture to use this word are talking about.
Acts 11:26 – The disciples are being recognized as followers of Christ.
Acts 26:28 – Paul is recognize as someone doing the will of God, attempting to bring others to the faith.
And 1 Peter 4:16 – a Christian is recognized as someone who should find no shame in their suffering because of their association with Christ but to consider that very fact a service to God.
A large part of the population of our country claims to be Christians but I wonder how many are true followers of God?
Christianity has become nothing more than a club to be a member of, a thing to do on Sunday morning, and an obligation to deal with once a week one hour at a time.
Many who claim to be Christians live lives that are inseparable from that of a person in the secular world. In fact for the last couple of weeks we have been asking some difficult questions that bring us to our subject today of what does it mean to be a Christian?
We’ve asked what is to be born again, which implies a new beginning a new birth that comes from God. We have asked who is God and why He deserves all of our worship and commitment. We have asked what sin is and attempted to indentify its roots in order to better help us resist its power in our lives. Now comes the biggest questions of them all. What does it mean to be a follower of Christ?
We will begin today on the last leg of this journey of self discovery with a two part teaching that will remind us and instruct us as to what we are and whose we are when we claim the name of Christ in our lives.
In the hopes of course of solidifying our faith and strengthening our position as not merely followers of Jesus but as members of the family of God.
From the handful of followers who first heard His message to the estimated 2.2 billion Christians alive today, the followers of Jesus were to be the salt of the earth, the city on a hill, the force that would heal and transform the world.
Christians now form 33 percent of the world’s population, but beyond the impressive numbers, how successful has our faith been? What are our prospects for the future? And if Jesus were to return to Earth today, would He recognize his teachings? His church?
Any individual who has been lifted from despair to hope, moved from hate to love, or vaulted from doubt to faith is likely to judge the 20 centuries of Christianity as worthwhile.
Anyone who has experienced healing, received solace when the candle burns low or the life of a dear one fades away, or who has been inspired or moved to help others in need while requiring much attention themselves. Truly to be a Christian is a noble and worthy endeavor, but how do those outside of our faith see us?
Starting with the Christian Crusades in the name of Christ, Christians have mistreated the faith and the work of Jesus. In Spain and elsewhere in Europe, Inquisitors in the name of Jesus searched out the suspicious, the troublemakers and the innocents who seemed different — all for the sake of God’s truth and purity, as they defined it.
Then they turned the innocents who were guilty over to the crown for unusual and cruel punishment, with death being the lesser evil than torture. One may justifiably say that “The Crusades” and “The Spanish Inquisition” – with other ‘religious wars’ – carried out in the name of Christianity cannot be said to be fought for the cause of Christ, but rather for the cause of a religious institution.
Through the centuries, emperors, nobles, knights, invaders, gangsters and drunken feudal lords, often claiming to be Christian, have fought with one another just as countries do today. Even as recent as the Vietnam War, Christian leaders blessed the cannon.
They called down a God of vengeance, yet spoke of God as the God of love. Christ who came as an agent of peace has throughout our history been perverted into an image of punishment, and
judgment that He never intended to portrait.
Even today many of our churches are full of people who have judgment in their hearts and not love. It is almost as if you have to be clean before coming to Christ! But this is wrong. We do not wash your car at home before you take it to the carwash do we?
Young people and new potential members are pushed away from our doors they are rejected away because they do not fit the Christ model, because they are too rough, because they are too sinful, because they carry too much baggage, because they don’t practice our traditions and preferred styles of worship.
Yet Christ being the Son of God and God Himself is a God of love and friendship and a God of relationship!
Unfortunately, for many of us we sit in our comfortable cathedrals, in our cushy chairs, week after week and pray and say thank you Lord that I am not as bad as my neighbor!
Thank you Lord that I am not on the streets wasting my life away but I am here in your house! Thank you Lord that you have saved me and are taking me home with you! Saying please come now Lord before the world gets any worse. But this makes us no better than a Pharisee!
Yet we failed to realize that as followers of Christ we are indeed called to truly represent Christ, to be His witness and when necessary suffer for Him. After all we do claim to follow One who suffered for us a horrible death on a cross.
I read in a book the other day an interesting quote that has come out of some extensive research done around our country of how people see our faith, of how they see Christians. One of the biggest discoveries is that most young people between the ages of 16-29 reject Christ in their lives because they themselves feel rejected by Christians.
What does that say about those of us who called ourselves followers of Christ? It must be another Christ, because Jesus would never do that to another person.
In fact He accepted each of us, just as we where, with our wrinkles and warts, with our filth and our dirt. Christ took us in, cleaned us up and made us a part of His family. Now why should we do any less? Well Pastor we don’t want to dirty our church, or is cold outside, or we have tried this and that and no one is interested.
Friends we must remember that our calling is from God to follow Christ while being inspired by the Holy Spirit. If these three steps are not in order we will not have success in our endeavors of saving the world for Christ.
It is my sincere prayer that as we take this journey for the next couple of Sundays (so you better return next week or you will miss the other half of this crucial teaching) that God will reveal to each of us what it truly means to be a Christian, one who is saved by grace, redeemed by the blood of Christ, called by God to serve others, and to fully commit our lives to Him!
To think that following Christ and obeying His teachings is an easy thing is not wise. The Christian life is not for the weak and those who are unwilling to do what it takes.
There have always been those who could not bring themselves to do it: “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it? (John 6:60) “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.” (John 6:66).
This will be an important teaching in each of our lives and I encourage you to tell your neighbors and friends about it. If they can’t make it to church then direct them to our website so that they too may take hold of this teaching and once and for all have the answer to what it means to be a Christian.
Remember, Christianity is not for weak hearted. It is, however, the better of the two choices that we all have…Heaven or Hell…eternal separation from God and all that is good for all eternity.
A word of caution to all who will listen this morning and later on, do not allow your heart to become hard as these truths are shared. Do not allow yourself to think, “this is not for me, he must be talking to the unsaved of this group. I’ve heard this message before…” Friends allow God to speak to you this morning. I am nothing more than an interpreter for what God wants to teach us today. Take this message to heart and pray that God will make its truth real in your own life. Amen!
I encourage you all to take notes, as we will be using many scripture verses throughout these teachings, you will not want to miss out on any of them.
So what does it mean to be a Christian?
Aside from what we have already shared this morning I want to carve up with you that to be a Christian means that we have come to salvation by the Grace of God’s Holy Spirit which grants us first of all access to God.
In Hebrew 4:16 we read: “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
We can come boldly to the throne of God! Boldly is a very interesting word in the Greek—parrhesia. It denotes the freedom of speech which the Athenians prized so highly. They were perhaps the first to feel that the average citizen should have freedom to speak.
Let us therefore come [with great freedom] unto the throne of grace. We can speak freely to the Lord Jesus Christ and He understands me. He knows my weaknesses and he listens.
I have learned to be very frank with Him. I have learned to come to Him in worship and with reverence. But I am free to speak, because He allows me to. I can tell Him what is on my heart, Unto the throne of grace.
Formerly a throne of judgment, it is now a mercy seat, a throne of grace, a place where we may obtain mercy. We are indeed redeemed by the mercy of God. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us …” (Titus 3:5).
And find grace to help in time of need. Help is a very positive thing—it speaks of the future. We may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. David wrote, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Ps. 23:1).
By the way, have you been to Him yet today? What did you tell Him? Did you tell Him that you love Him? Did you confess your sins to Him? Well, why don’t you? He already knows it, but why don’t you tell Him? THE ONLY SINS THAT ARE FORGIVEN ARE THOSE WE HAVE CONFESSED TO HIM.
Don’t put up a front to Him. He already knows that you can come to Him only on His merit. The salvation that we are offered as Christians gives us the freedom to talk to and with Him. THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD!
As mentioned this grace also grants us Forgiveness of our sins. Ephesians 1:7 reads: In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. There is that grace again!
He has redeemed us. To redeem means “to purchase and set free by paying a price.” There were 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire, and often they were bought and sold like pieces of furniture. But a man could purchase a slave and set him free, and this is what Jesus did for us. The price was His own blood (1 Peter 1:18).
This means that we are free from the Law (Gal. 5:1), free from slavery to sin (Rom. 6), as well as free from the power of Satan and the world (Gal. 1:4; Col. 1:13–14). If we were slaves, we would be poor, but because we are sons of God, we are rich!
He has indeed forgiven us, AMEN! The word forgive means to carry away. This reminds us of the ritual on the Jewish Day of Atonement when the high priest sent the scapegoat into the wilderness (Lev. 16). First the priest killed one of the two goats and sprinkled its blood before God on the mercy seat.
Then he confessed Israel’s sins over the live goat, and had the goat taken into the wilderness to be lost. Christ died to carry away our sins so they might never again be seen (Ps. 103:12; John 1:29). No written accusation stands against us because our sins have been taken away! Sin made us poor, but grace makes us rich in Christ.
Next this salvation as we have already mentioned also grants us adoption into God’s family. Galatians 4:4-7 reads: But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son… to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts… Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Hallelujah!
The old Hymn says: I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God, I’ve been washed in the fountain and cleansed by His blood. Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod. For I’m a part of the family, the family of God.
The word adoption in the scriptures has a meaning different from that of our contemporary society. We think of it in relationship with a couple that may not have children of their own.
They go to a home where there are children for adoption and they adopt one in their family by going through legal action. When the little one becomes their child we call that adoption.
However, the Roman custom in Paul’s day was to adopt one’s own son. Adoption in the Greek means “to place as a son.” A believer is placed in the family of God as a full–grown son, capable of understanding divine truth.
And lastly this salvation offered to us as Christians grants us righteousness in the sight of God. In other words we come to find our justification by faith in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1:30 reads: But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. that, as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”
2 Timothy 4:8 Paul reminds us that there is laid up for us the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to us on that Day, and not to us only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Since every believer is “in Christ,” and he has all that he needs, why compete with each other or compare yourselves with each other? It is the Lord who has done it all! “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:31, Jer. 9:24).
The spiritual blessings that we need are not concepts that escape our grasp; they are all in a Person, Jesus Christ. He is our wisdom (Col. 2:3), our righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21), our sanctification (John 17:19), and our redemption (Rom. 3:24).
Actually, the emphasis here is that God shows His wisdom by means of the righteousness, sanctification, and redemption that we have in Christ. Each of these theological words carries a special meaning for Christians.
Righteousness has to do with our standing before God. We are justified: God declares us
righteous in Jesus Christ. But we are also sanctified, set apart to belong to God and to serve Him. Redemption emphasizes the fact that we are set free because Jesus Christ paid the price for us on the cross. This will lead to complete redemption when Christ returns.
So, in one sense, we have the three tenses of salvation given here: we have been saved from the penalty of sin (righteousness); we are being saved from the power of sin (sanctification); and we shall be saved from the presence of sin (redemption). And every believer has all of these blessings in Jesus Christ! Therefore we give glory to God! Amen!
Before we pass judgment on them, we should examine our own churches and our own lives. We have been called to be holy, called into fellowship, and called to glorify God. And this is all granted to us in our Salvation as part of the family of God.
Are we living up to this calling? Are we truly living as Christians? Be careful because the world may see us as Good Christian, but God sees our hearts.
There is always time for commitment and a time for reflection as well as a time to pray. So as we close up shop for today I encourage each of you to come forward to the mercy seat here in the front and ask God to continue His work in your life.
You help you recognize the calling that he has given you; the adoption that he has signed for you, the redemption and the grace that he offers you daily and to also grant you the courage to freely share that with others.
Would you do that? Will you be obedient now as we pray!
Let us Pray!
To be a Christians means to poses a salvation that only God can give through the sacrifice of His son Jesus and the inspiration of His Holy Spirit which:
…grants us first of all access to God, grants us Forgiveness of our sins, grants us adoption into God’s family, grants us righteousness in the sight of God.
Help us lord to not worry about yesterday as that time is history. Allow us not to be too concern with tomorrow as that time is truly a ministry, but teach to accept the now, today as a wonderful gift from you, after all that’s why is call the present.
To live our lives for you in every instant of our lives is our desire, grant us the piece and will to do so, to represent you in a truthful way, you carry out our duties willfully as your children, to gain your trust in the souls of the lost for your kingdom sake.
Grant us understanding lord so that we may truly grasp what it means to be a Christina, and not merely understand for the sake of knowledge but understanding for the sake of conviction; a conviction that will lead us to action for you. Won’t you please do this in our lives father? For we ask all these things in Jesus name, Amen!
(Next week we will continue with our study of what it meant to be a Christian and so I encourage you all to return and to bring someone new or someone old with you, to hear that good news of Jesus Christ! May God bless you.)
