The Definition of a Christian
What do we imagine when we think of a Christian? We may think it is someone who is religious, or someone who goes to church, or someone who acts self-righteously. However they are not true definitions of a Christian.
Now of course people have different viewpoints on what is deemed as being religious. Some see it as someone belonging to a bigited, narrow minded, believe system, with a standard of laws that must be adhered to. Christianity is actually not a set of rules and laws but actually faith in a person, where the one law is to love others.
Nicodemus was a very religious person, he was known as a teacher of Israel, but he wasn’t a Christian, I do believe he finally became a Christian. A Christian is someone who is “born again,” that is, born into the Christian family, or rather, born again as children of God. They are born again because they have believed on Jesus, and God has accepted them into His family.
They don’t “go to church,” you see, the church is not a place where Christians go to, but “church” when used in the Bible, actually means the people of God rather than a building. The church stands for a people who are called out of the world and now belong to God who purchased them. If possible they meet with other Christians, even if it is just one or two.
They are not self-righteous people, you see, self-righteous people are people who are trying to establish their own righteousness and are not submitting to the righteousness of God. For Christians, Jesus Christ is their righteousness. They cannot come to God with their own righteousness which they see as filthy rags, but rather trust in Jesus Christ in order to be accepted by God.
Is the Christian life an easy life to live? No, God’s demands of His children are far higher than any earthly parent’s demands for their children. In fact it is impossible to live the life God calls us to without Jesus, and without the help of the Holy Spirit. The devil is the god of this world, and all the world lies under the sway of the wicked one. When someone becomes a Christian, the devil does all he can to snatch them back, and if he can’t snatch them back he will continually bring temptation their way to destroy them if possible, but greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.
What is a Christian? A Christian is a person who loves Jesus Christ, and follows His teachings in order to learn how to be like Him. They believe on Him and with the help of the Holy Spirit live as Christ leads them.
Mark Greenwood; June 2024