What Is A Christian? - Part 2

Read verses 19-26

Recap last week

Two weeks ago, I started by asking the question: what is a Christian? And as you may recall, the answer to that is “one who is like Christ.”

Why were the disciples at Antioch the first to be called “Christian?” They were certainly not the first ones to follow in Christ’s example. They were not even the first believers: that title belongs to the saints at Jerusalem. But as we saw at the beginning of chapter eleven, the saints at Jerusalem were not being very Christ-like.

First, we understand it was a moniker given to them by those who observed their actions. They did not go around saying, “we are being Christ-like.” Rather, they were preaching about Christ, and then living up to the words of Christ. They were acting like Christ said to act and saying the things that Christ said to say.

how our enemies view us in relation to Christ is far more telling than how we view ourselves, and probably more accurate!

Secondly, it was not intended to be a compliment. Remember, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:23 “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness” The Gentiles saw the admiration and emulation of a failed prophet who had been humiliated and crucified by the Romans to be an extreme folly, so to call the believers “christian” was a mockery. But the believers grew to embrace the name as an honorable one.

But the fact remains, they were so much like Christ, and showed His love to everyone that even their enemies recognized it. So that begs the question, how do we look and sound around those who are enemies of Christ? What about to each other, who are in the body of Christ?

Obey the Commandments

Jesus said in John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

although Jesus said a lot of things, He made it clear that all of the commandments, from the Mosaic Law to the words of the Prophets, hang on two simple commandments

Matthew 22:36–40 KJV 1900

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Show mercy and grace to others

The prophet Micah tells us what the Lord requires of us

Micah 6:8 (KJV 1900) 8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; And what doth the Lord require of thee, But to do justly, and to love mercy, And to walk humbly with thy God?

Of course, we should not do these things for attention. The Lord is very clear we do them because we love Him, and if we do it for earthly accolades, we receive our reward on earth rather than in heaven, where it really counts for the kingdom

when we do good things for others because of our love for Jesus and for our neighbor, we are doing it to Jesus as well

Jesus gave this truth in very clear terms in Matthew 25:34-40

Matthew 25:34–40 KJV 1900

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Love for the brethren

lest we get caught up in loving the Lord and the stranger, let us not forget to love the brethren

1 Peter 1:22 “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,”

indeed, if we say we love the Lord but do not love each other, we are lying to ourselves

1 John 4:20 KJV 1900

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

The church in Antioch was both generous and evangelistic

Have a genuine love for our enemies

few of us may have actual enemies who truly hate us or wish ill on us, but this was not true for the disciples of Christ in the 1st Century, no matter where they were geographically

everywhere they went, people were first indifferent, then curious, then amazed, then alarmed, then threatened, then enraged.

Christ Himself experienced these same reactions, yet what did He say to His disciples? “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

What about how we feel towards those who hate us from 4,000 miles away?

we know there are people on the other side of the world who hate us, maybe not personally, but they hate our way of life, our religion, and everything about us.

do you hate them, or do you love them in the way Christ loved His enemies. After all, did He not say in John 15:18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

Share the Gospel!

When we share the Gospel (“good news”), we are fulfilling all of the previous 4 points

love the Lord

love one another

Everything we need to know about how to be a Christian is found within the pages of the New Testament. The Holy Spirit guides and shapes the heart of the believer as He completes His work within us, but there is still a great need to study the Scriptures.

I’ve shared a lot of scripture with you today, but that only scratches the surface of what the Lord has to say. Indeed, all Scripture is given to us to help us grow in the Lord, and no single preacher or sermon is enough to guide you in that way. You must pick up that sacred book that you hold in your hand, and open it and study the life of Christ.

Look at the changes He made in the lives of all who came into contact with Him.

See what happened when the impulsive and headstrong Peter received the Holy Spirit.

Look at the change He made in the heart of Saul the persecutor.

Examine the transformation of Mary Magdalene, who had been possessed by 7 demons.

Look at the disciples of Jesus in Antioch, who were once pagan Gentiles and had received the words of life from the dispersed disciples (thanks to the persecution by Saul). They were caught in the middle between the Greeks who thought they were foolish and the Jews who thought they were unclean. With enemies on both sides, and serving the Lord alone in their city, they began to make such a difference that even their detractors said, “They are just like their Christ. They are ‘little christs.’”

How are we doing? Are we giving all of our love to Jesus Christ by obeying His commandments, loving the Father and our enemies, each other, and the strangers?