Who is a 'true' Christian

1. Who is a ‘true’ Christian –16th
May 2016
“However, ifyou suffer asa Christian,donotbe ashamed,butpraise Godthat you bear that name”(1
Peter 4:16).
A dictionarydefinitionof aChristian is“a personprofessingbeliefinJesusasthe Christor inthe religion
basedon the teachingsof Jesus.”While thisisagoodstartingpoint,like manydictionarydefinitions,it
fallssomewhatshortof reallycommunicatingthe biblical truthof whatitmeansto be a Christian. The
word“Christian”literallymeans,“belongingtothe partyof Christ”or a “followerof Christ.”
The word “Christian”isusedthree timesinthe New Testament aswe can readin Acts 11:26; Acts 26:28
and 1 Peter 4:16. The firstoccasionwas inActs 11 where the followersof JesusChristwere firstcalled
“Christians”inAntioch:“Sofora whole year Barnabasand Saul met with the church and taughtgreat
numbersof people. The discipleswere called Christiansfirstat Antioch. (Acts11:26). The second
instance we come across the wordChristian whenAgrippawho wasa Judeanmonarch whowasthe
grandsonof Herodthe Great, questioned Apostle Paul due tothe behavior,activity,andspeechwere
like Christ. ThenAgrippasaidtoPaul, “Doyou thinkthat in such a shorttime you can persuade me to
be a Christian?” (Acts26:28). The thirdoccasioniswhenPeteradvises topraise Godand notto be
ashamedof beingcalledaChristian: “However,if yousuffer as a Christian,donotbe ashamed,but
praise Godthat youbear that name”(1Peter 4:16).
So whatis a Christian?A couple of billionpeople onthe planetall claimtobe Christians,buttheir
beliefs,doctrinesandpracticesvarywidely.Whatdoesbeinga Christian mean?:While the first-century
Christians did followthe teachings,practicesandexample of JesusChristatthattime,since thenthe
termhas virtuallylostitsmeaning—asit'susuallynotaccompaniedbythe same wayof life and
understanding.Todaymanyclaimtobe Christiansyetdon'treallyfollow Jesus' teachings. God'sWordis
quite clearthat one cannotjustchoose to be a Christian!There isacallingor invitation involved. We can
learnfromMatthew 22:14,“For many are invited,but few are chosen.”We can alsolearnfrom John
6:44, “No one cancome to me unlessthe Father who sent me drawsthem, and I will raise them up at
the last day”.
God mostoftencallsordinarypeople whocanmore readilyacknowledgetheirhumanweaknessesand
learnGod's way.These are people whohave made mistakes,knowit,yetappreciate the forgiveness
that God extendstothem. We can learnthat evenchildrenwhohave aparentwhoisa genuine
Christianare all invitedbyGodto alsobecome Christians:“Peterreplied,“Repent andbe baptized,
every one ofyou, in the name ofJesus Christfor the forgiveness ofyour sins.And youwill receive the
giftof the Holy Spirit. 39
The promiseis for youand your childrenandfor all whoare far off—forall
whom the Lord our Godwill call.” (Acts 2:38-39). That Christiansmust“repent”andwalka different
wayof life. We canalso learnfrom 1 Corinthians7:14, “Forthe unbelievinghusbandhasbeen
sanctifiedthroughhiswife, andthe unbelievingwifehasbeen sanctifiedthroughher believing
husband.Otherwiseyour childrenwouldbe unclean,butas it is, they are holy”.Afterrepentance,a
Christianmustalsobe baptizedbya servantof JesusChrist:“ Whenthey arrived,they prayed for the
new believers there that they mightreceive the Holy Spirit, 16
becausethe Holy Spirithad notyet come
on anyof them; they hadsimplybeen baptizedin the name of the Lord Jesus. 17
Then Peter and John
placedtheir handsonthem, and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts8:15-17).

2. In biblical terms, forapersonto become atrue Christian,there is aprocessof change.One needsto
repentforOne’ssinandsinfulness,seeksalvationfromGod,and surrenderone'slife byturningitover
to God…a Christian conversion to becomea new entity in Christ which is referred to as “ a born again”
Christian. Obviously,ahumanbeingcannotchange everything overnight.Butthe consciousneedisfor
one to have a repentantattitude and consciouslyattemptto turnin the rightdirection.This‘new life’
needsone tomake changes as he or she embarksonthis new path of overcomingsin, andbeginto bear
the “fruitsworthyof repentance” We can receive animportantteachingfoundin Matthew3:8,
“Producefruit inkeeping with repentance. 9
Anddo not think youcan say to yourselves, ‘We have
Abrahamas our father.’ I tell youthat out of these stones Godcan raise upchildren forAbraham.
10
The ax is alreadyat the root ofthe trees, and every tree that does not produce goodfruit will be cut
downand thrown intothe fire”.Thisteachingtellsusthatif “we donot produce goodfruit” – live in
keepingwiththe Christianlife–we will lose onthe bigpicture of one’seternal lifewithGod!
As Christianswe canknowthat inadditiontoabove, GodoffersHisHolySpiritto the repentantbeliever
as we learnfrom Acts 2:38, “Peter replied, “Repentand be baptized,every one of you,in the name of
Jesus Christfor the forgivenessof your sins. Andyou will receive the gift ofthe HolySpirit”.A personis
not “of Christ”unlessthe Spiritof God isin himor her as we can learnfrom Romans8:9, “You,however,
are not in the realm of the flesh butare inthe realm ofthe Spirit,ifindeed the Spirit ofGod livesin
you. Andif anyonedoes not have the Spirit ofChrist,they donot belongto Christ”.ThisSpiritis
impartedbythe layingonof handsby an authorizedrepresentativeof JesusChrist.We canlearnthis
fromActs 8:17, “Then Peter and Johnplaced their handson them, andthey received the Holy Spirit”.
A true Christianisa personwhohas put faithandtrust inthe personandworkof JesusChrist,including
His deathonthe crossas paymentforsinsand His resurrectiononthe thirdday.We can learnthis from
John1:12, “Yetto all who received him,to those who believedin his name,he gave the rightto
become childrenof God.” The identifyingmarkof a true Christianis LOVEfor othersand love and
obedience toGod’sWord.Asdiscussedabove manymayclaimto be Christians,butwe canclearly
understandthrough 1 John2:4, Whoever says,“I know him,” butdoes not dowhat he commandsisa
liar,and the truth is not inthat person”.
We mustknowthat a true Christianisindeedachildof God, a part of God’strue family,andone who
has beengiven anewlife inJesusChrist. ThisdoesNOToccurautomatically,butisavailedthrough
repentance,salvation, baptism, the receivingof God'sHolySpirit andembarkingona “mew life”.Itis
thenthat a Christianisable tounderstandthe spiritual truthof Godand His Word inlivingaChristian’s
life asrequiredbyGod.

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