What Is A Christian?
According to the bible a Christian is defined as a person living and believing in Jesus Christ. The Bible calls the Christian, the "friend" of God (John 15:15), someone with whom God desires to fellowship and enjoy.
In the Bible, the word "Christian" only appears three times. In (Acts 11:26), Luke writes "...The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch." In (Acts 26:28), King Agrippa tells Paul; "In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.""...but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God." In each case, the Greek word Christianos (khris-tee-an-os') is used, which is translated "follower of Christ." And, in (1 Peter 4:16)
So, what exactly is a follower of Christ? It means you have a personal relationship with Christ, by accepting Him as your personal Lord and Saviour. Simply
believing in God is not enough. Being a good person is not enough. Nor
is going to church, being baptized or taking communion, although all of
those things are done by Christians.
Christians
walk with God and talk to him daily through prayer and meditation.
There are also rules that Christians abide by which were handed down to
Moses as the ten commandments: The 10 Commandments - God's Revelation in the Old Testament
The
10 Commandments are found in the Bible's Old Testament in the book of
Exodus, Chapter 20. They were given directly by God to the people of
Israel at Mount Sinai after He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt:
"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…
I. 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'
II. 'You
shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in
the water under the earth.'
III. 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'
IV. 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'
V. 'Honor your father and your mother.'
VI. 'You shall not murder.'
VII. 'You shall not commit adultery.'
VIII. 'You shall not steal.'
IX . 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'
X. 'You
shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your
neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his
ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'
The 10 Commandments - Christ's Summation in the New Testament
About 1,400 years later, the 10 Commandments were summed up in the New Testament at (Matthew 22), when Jesus was confronted by the religious "experts" of the day:
"Teacher,
which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the
second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and
the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:36-40). These are the standards that God has given each of us to live by.
Born Again
Many
people believe "born again" is a modern day expression to describe
people who hold up John 3:16 signs in the end zone or stand on street
corners yelling "Repent or go to hell!" The truth is, Jesus first used
the expression when he was talking to Nicodemus, a religious leader:
"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." -- (John 3:3)
He also said:
"I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." -- (John 14:6)
"Enter
through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road
that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the
gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." -- (Matthew 7:13-14)
How to be Born Again
The
first place to start is in understanding in your mind and heart that we
matter to God. He created the heavens and the earth, he made us, and He
wants to have a personal relationship with us.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
However
we rebelled against God. Both actively and passively, we have all
disobeyed Him and our sins have separated us from Him. Our relationship
with God is therefore broken off.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
To
some degree, most of us are aware of our distance or seperation from
God. And so we start doing all kinds of things to try and get back to
Him, like being a helpful neighbour, being nice, going to church, and
giving money to charities. There is nothing wrong with these things but
the Bible makes it clear that none of them can earn us God’s
forgiveness or reestablish our relationship with Him. Furthermore the
sins we’ve committed must be punished, and the penalty we owe is death,
which means both physical death as well as spiritual death from God for
eternity in Hell.
Jesus Christ
"For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
The
good news, as was referred to earlier is that we matter to God. In
fact, He loves us so much that He did for us what we could never do for
ourselves. He provided a bridge over which we can find His forgiveness
and restore our relationship with Him. His son Jesus Christ provided
the bridge over the gap between you and God, by dying on the cross to
pay the death penalty you and I owed.
The
only way for us to be reconciled to God is through the His son. Jesus
died on the cross so that we could be reconciled to God:
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -- Romans 5:8
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." -- John 3:17
Not
only did Christ die for us, but we see that God did this while we were
still sinners. He didn't wait for us to "clean up our act," or "get our
life straightened out." He took the first step. It is up to us to take
the next step, which is accepting this gift through faith in Jesus
Christ.
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God." (1 Peter 3:18)
God's Free Gift Of Salvation
This
is a picture of what the central message of the Bible is all about. And
that is what God wants each of us to understand. But it’s not enough to
just know about this or even agree with it. We have got to act upon it.
God wants us to move over to the other side. We can move to the other
side by humbly admitting to God that we have rebelled against Him and
need His forgiveness. When we truly repent of our sins, that simple act
of trust and obedience results in our sins being pardoned and our debt
being paid. Our relationship with God is firmly established, because
we’re immediately adopted into His family as His son or daughter.
If you're ready to make a commitment to Christ right now, and turn your life around, you can by praying this simple prayer:
"Dear
God, I recognize that I am a sinner - that I have broken you
commandments and I am sorry for what I have done. I believe that Jesus
Christ is your son and that He paid for my sins through His death on
the cross. I want to turn away from my sin and ask for your
forgiveness. I invite you to come into my heart and my life. I want to
trust you and follow you as my Lord and Saviour. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Maybe
you prayed something like this sometime before in your life, but you've
fallen away from God. If you would like to recommit yourself to Him,
pray this prayer:
"Dear God, please
forgive me for not living my christian life the way you want me to. I
recommit myself to you right now, and I ask you to help me start living
my life for you from this day forward. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."
It's
that simple! If you truly believe in the power of Jesus' death to
forgive your sins, and turn away from your sinful past, you'll be
forgiven and restored and enjoy an eternal life with Jesus in Heaven
that begins today!
If you prayed this prayer with a sincere heart, the Bible promises us that:
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13)
If
you made a commitment today to follow Jesus Christ, please let us know!
We would love to encourage you and provide you with the fellowship and
support you'll need to continue to grow and strengthen your
relationship with God. |
