Hope Deeper: Explaining Christianity Session 5

Class 5: What is a Christian (Part 1)

- This class is something for Christians and for non-Christians

- If we were to walk into the grocery store and walk up to any individual and ask them to complete this sentence: A Christian is someone who...

- Ultimately we want to answer it in the same way that Jesus would answer it and that is what we will endeavor to do in this session.

- The framework we built in the previous four sessions is key to the next two sessions where we learn from the scripture what it means to be a Christian. This will help clear up any misunderstandings we have and will help us as we share this with others.

- Last session, which feels like an eternity ago was on Salvation by Grace. We discussed that works tell us to do, do, do but faith trusts in what is DONE. What was done on the cross for us.

- A few reminders:

- It's not that we're sinners because we sin. It's that we sin because we are sinners.

- James 2:10

James 2:10 ESV

10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

- Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

- Romans 3:19-24

Romans 3:19–24 ESV

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

- God's standard is 100% perfectio, and the only hope we have is found not in our works but in Christ - his divine authority, substitutionary death, and resurrection.

So we've learned that:

1. All are guilty of sin and God will judge everyone

2. Christ died as our substitute taking on God's punishment in our place

3. This salvation is God's gift

4. But what do we do to receive this salvation? How can this substitution apply to us?

What is a Christian? (Mark 1:15)

So to return to our original question – “What is a Christian?” – we look to Jesus’ very first words in the book of Mark.  Chapter 1, verse 15: Mark 1:15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1:15 ESV

15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Christian = someone who belongs to the kingdom of God = First, it means that we repent of our sins, and second - believe the “gospel”—which simply means “good news.”

REPENT

BELIEVE

For the rest of tour time tonight we will focus on what it means to “repent”.  Next week we’ll think about “believe.”

Repentance

We saw Jesus’ command to repent and believe.  Let’s now look to the book of Acts where we see Jesus’ followers, Peter and Paul, preaching to crowds and calling for repentance to see what we might learn about what repentance looks like.  As we read the passages, jot down notes and let us know in the comments what stuck out to you.

Acts 3:19: Peter told an on-looking crowd “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.”

Acts 3:19 ESV

19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

Acts 26:20: Paul describes his ministry – “[I declared] that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.”

Acts 26:20 ESV

20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

Luke 13:3: Jesus warned, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Luke 13:3 ESV

3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

2 Cor 7:10:  “Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death..”

2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV

10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Q: What do we learn about repentance?

Common misconceptions:

- Being sorry / is it a feeling, an emotion - Child caught with hand in cookie jar

- Fear of punishment not remorse over wrong “I’ll do the dishes all week” - This is penance, not repentance – as if an unrelated good deed will make up for or cover the bad thing done

Real repentance #1: True and deep remorse for having offended God:  We need to recognize that repentance presumes sin.

If we don’t understand ourselves as sinful people, then we won’t understand our need to repent.  We’ll have nothing to repent of.  Remember the spiritual picture we have of ourselves from week 2 is that we are in bondage to sin, we’re in shackles and chains, helpless in our sin before a God who hates sin and will judge it accordingly.  We need Christ to ransom us, set us free from the penalty of sin.  And this requires us to put Him first. One who is truly repentant does not try and excuse or justify his error, but rather recognizes the wrong, tries to make restitution, and turns away from it.  This means that repentance is not the same thing as just feeling bad or guilty.  Repentance may include these emotions, but it is more than that.  We can feel guilty, yet not want to turn from the wrong and trust in God.  Real repentance #2: True repentance isn’t guilt or sacrifice, but a turning from sin and surrendering to the God-given right of Jesus to be our King.  Put simply, repentance is to put Christ first in all aspects of our lives.

1 Thessalonians 1:9–10 ESV

9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

The Thessalonian Christians had not just felt guilty about their former way of life. They had turned from that former life in order to serve Christ, to put him first.

Westminster Shorter Catechism describes repentance like this:

“Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it to God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.” Though a true Christian will always fight sin, we will not be sinless

“The difference between an unconverted and a converted man is not that the one has sins and the other has none; but that the one takes part with his cherished sins against a dreaded God, and the other takes part with a reconciled God against his hated sins.” (William Arnot) For the remainder of the class we will talk about what it looks like to put Christ first in our lives.

READ Mark 8:34-38.  After each section we'll consider what the passage teaches about putting Christ first.

Repentance – Putting Christ First… Before My Will (Mark 8:34-35)

Mark 8:34–35 ESV

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

Q: So what does this passage teach us about what it means to put Christ first?

“Denying of self” lies at the heart of biblical repentance.  In practical terms, you repent when you acknowledge that you are a sinner and resolve to put not yourself, but Christ first. In denying ourselves, taking up our own cross, and losing our life to save it, Jesus is saying we must give up – or die to – the right to run our own lives.  We must put Christ first, before our own will. 

In repentance, His will comes before MY WILL

House Illustration: buying a new home

Move-in day: happens only once

When we become Christians, God sends his spirit, which the Bible calls the Holy Spirit, to live within us and gives us the grace to repent and surrender to Jesus Christ.  This happens genuinely only once, even if you cannot specify the exact day on which it took place.  We call this the “new birth”, or regeneration.  Think of this as “move-in” day. Renovation and redecoration: progressive work that never ceases

However, in our house we have many rooms that represent various aspects of our life such as family, job, ambition, leisure, money, marriage, sexuality, etc.  The Holy Spirit is not content to remain in the entry-way.  Once he has entered my life, he will want to change me into his image of what I should be like.  This does not happen all at once. It is a progressive or gradual work, like renovating a house.  We call this new life, this transformation to be less like we used to be and more like Christ – sanctification.

Summary

When I become a Christian I must be willing for Jesus to become Lord of all.  This willingness is the beginning of repentance.  What this means in practice will be worked out progressively as I grow in this new life, by his Spirit. When we repent, we turn from sin and surrender our lives, and our will to the God-given right of Jesus to be our King.

Repentance – Putting Christ First… Before my Ambitions (Mark 8:36-37)

Mark 8:36–37 ESV

36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?

Let’s now focus on the next two verses in Mark, verses 36-37. Q: So what does this passage teach us about what it means to put Christ first?

Putting Christ first = place Him before our AMBITION. Throughout history people have been laboring to gain the whole world.  To a small or large degree, the aim is to accumulate power, money, popularity, pleasure, prestige, business success, etc.  Are we, any different?  These things are not wrong in and of themselves.  For example, there is nothing inherently wrong with money.  Money can be a very good thing.  But if we lust after it, if we allow it to become our master, then we are no longer putting Christ first in our lives. 

1 Tim 6:10: That’s why the Bible says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Summary When we put Christ first, we’re putting him before our will, and our worldly ambitions.  It’s not to say that our ambitions are wrong in and of themselves, or having them is wrong, but it is to say that they must not be our King and ruler above Christ.

Repentance – Putting Christ First… Before my Reputation (Mark 8:38)

Mark 8:38 ESV

38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Let’s now turn to the final verse in this passage. Q: So what does this passage teach us about what it means to put Christ first?

In this passage Jesus clearly warns those who would place their own reputation before Christ.  In repentance, we’re called to put Christ first, before our REPUTATION. Putting Christ first is not always popular

Sometimes putting Jesus first isn’t easy.  In verse 34, Jesus says that we must take up our cross and follow him.  At times, we must take up the burden of being a Christian if we are going to be faithful, and it is not always popular to follow Jesus sincerely. 

One author has put it well, “Either we are unfaithful in order to be popular, or we will look unpopular in order to be faithful.  We can’t be both.” (John Stott)

No secret disciple

We must not be ashamed of Jesus in this life, no matter how difficult it may be - even if it means ridicule from family and friends who disapprove of our faith.  There is no such thing as a secret disciple. We are called to publicly follow Christ in obedience and live a new life.

Summary of Mark 8:34-38: So to summarize this entire passage, to put Christ first is to put him before our will, our ambition, and our reputation.  That’s not all that repentance involves, but these are fundamental components of putting Christ first in all things.  Those ruled by sin, according to its very nature, look first to self.  Christians look first to Christ.

Repentance – Putting Christ First… Before My Pride (Mark 9:43-48)

READ Mark 9:43-48

Mark 9:43–48 ESV

43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

Q: So what does this passage teach us about what it means to put Christ first?

Heaven and Hell

One thing that is jarringly obvious is that Christ believes in a literal and eternal hell. Fear of this hopeless place ought to be so great that we take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that we rid ourselves of those things that hinder us from surrendering to Christ. Jesus does not mean that we are to literally cut off body parts; but he is emphasizing the importance of radical surgery to remove sin from our lives.  Often, reluctance to submit to God is caused by our PRIDE.

Are you too proud to accept salvation as a gift? Proverbs 16:18: The Bible says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Are you too proud to submit to Jesus Christ as King?  Do you trust that on your own merit, apart from Christ, God will look at you favorably and say, “Well done good and faithful servant?”  This verse is intended to unsettle us, as is Jesus’ image from Mark 9.  Do not let your own pride be the cause of your destruction.

Repentance – Putting Christ First… Even When it Seems Too Hard (Mark 10:29-31)

Mark 10:29–31 ESV

29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

At this point you may be thinking, “All of this is just too hard.  All this talk of submission, of denying self, it’s too difficult.” READ Mark 10:29-31: “Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.’” Jesus doesn’t promise that the Christian life will be easy and trouble free.

Christianity isn’t a crutch.  In fact, we are promised in scripture that with Christ comes persecution. So, where’s the good news of this gospel? Well, consider the promises Jesus makes: (1) he will repay us “a hundred times” for hardships, and (2) in the next life, he will give us eternal life. What a beautiful promise!  That we would be considered worthy of suffering, if need be, for the name of Christ, and that for our devotion and trust in Jesus God would grant us eternal life in heaven with Him! Jesus told a story about what it looks like to give up everything for him.

“’The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.’” (Matt 13:44) We never give up things for Jesus simply to give them up.  We give them up to take hold of what is far better.  That’s why this man sells everything he has with joy!  For him, selling everything is the only economically rational thing he can do—because what he gets (the treasure) is worth so much more than what he gives up. It’s like carrying some old rags and having to drop them so someone can hand you a baby.  You’ve got no problem with that, do you? Teacher: tell the class some of what you’ve taken hold of by giving up everything for Jesus.

Conclusion

We began with asking the question, “What is a Christian?” We learned this morning that, according to the words of Christ himself in Mark 1:15, the first part of the answer is:  A Christian is someone who has repented of their sins. This repentance involves putting Christ first as we:

Turn (from sin) Trust (in Jesus) and… Obey (Him)

The question Jesus puts before you is, “Will you serve Me first?”

Consider this final promise of Jesus: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt. 11:28-29) So will you put Christ first?

Pray