What is a Christian Anyways? Pt. 3
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Last week we looked at how Christian and disciple are inseparable. They are one and the same.
A disciple gives his life to the one he is following.
If we are to call ourselves Christians then we must be willing to follow Him no matter the cost.
Christians throughout the Bible are referred to as brother/sister.
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
1 corinthians 1:1
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:
It is obvious that Sosthenes and Timothy are not our literal brothers, however, they are our spiritual brothers.
Here’s the picture. God is our Father, other Christians (as children of God) are our spiritual siblings.
Along with brother/sister they can be referred to as children.
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
Christians are also referred to as saints throughout the New Testament.
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
A saint is nothing more than someone who is set apart for God.
Saint also means holy.
Now that we have seen a few of the other words given to Christians lets look at the words that were given TO them.
A Christians is just like Jesus.
1 John 2:1-
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
A Christian keeps the commands of God.
If you do not keep his commandments yet claim to be a Christian, you are a liar, and the truth is not in you.
These aren’t my words, they’re His!
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
A Christian will walk just as Jesus walked.
Look at Jesus’ life and mirror it.
He didn’t just come to do it for us, He set the example for us.
If we are children of God then why not model ourselves after Jesus, the Son of God.
This is incredibly important.
You will never reach the lost world for Jesus if your do not yourself reflect who God is and what He is all about.
No one will want your god if you aren’t daily living out the gospel.
Your words have no validity if you aren’t first demonstrating the message you are trying to preach.
It’s hard to want to listen to someone who doesn’t practice what they preach.
For example: I don’t want to take financial advice from someone who dosen’t first have their finances in order.
Yet all the time, self proclaiming “Christians” think we can live however we want and still make an impact in this world.
This is one of the reasons Islam hate Christians so much, they do not see “Christians” following what the Bible says.
Islam is on the worlds fastest growing religion because they actually live our their teachings.
For the sake of the lost world we must live our our faith.
And Lastly, among various other things...
A Christian is someone who is filled with the Spirit.
Remember, the Holy Spirit is given to Christians.
As a spirit filled individual, a Christian will produce the fruit of the spirit.
Galations 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
You will know them by their fruits
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
This is both manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, as well as obeying the command to make disciples.
They go hand in hand.
What are some other words that are synonomous with Christian in the Bible? (Brother/Sister, Children, Saints)
What does it mean to walk just as Jesus walked? (live a life that looks just like His, absolute surrender and dependency on the Father, total obedience)
Would you listen to someone talk about their faith in Jesus if they lived a life that openly opposes the Bile teachings? Would their word hold much weight?