What is the Definition?

                Yesterday, while talking to a few friends of mine, one of them asked, "what does it really mean to be a Christian?"

                He began to elaborate upon his question, saying that he could ask ten different people and would probably get ten different answers. I agreed, partially. I would agree that asking ten random people will give you ten random answers, because not everyone knows scripture and what Christianity is. I agreed with that much of his argument; but, I believe that the definition of Christianity should not be made by man, but instead made by Christ Himself. If anyone should tell us what it means to be a Christian, it should be Christ.

                Well, Christ isn't walking the Earth in the flesh right now, so what is next? Well, Christ gave us a helper (John 14:16) so that we could better understand. He is the word, so we must look in the word. We must pull from the vast resources that we have. The definition of a Christian would be in the Bible, so we would first look there.

                John 14:6-7 says, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me. If you really know Me, you will know my Father as well...'" First part of Christianity is to believe that a right relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation and the only way to get to know God.

                Romans 10:9 says, "if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." We need salvation because, "the waged of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord," (Romans 6:23) and "we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23) so we have all sinned and need salvation. Sin is death, but Jesus says that He is the life. If we confess the Lord, meaning you confess Him as your Lord and Savior, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, meaning that there is saving power in Christ, then you will be saved.

                Now, the idea that the Bible has shown so far is that we have all sinned and sin leads to death, but because Jesus came and died for us and rose again in three days, we can be saved and our sins can be washed clean if we confess Him as our Lord (the supreme force of our life) and Savior (the one who saved us from our sins and the death it would cause through the Resurrection). There is one piece left. All of this is showing how to become a Christian with a process of steps, but how can a process be useful if you don't apply it to your heart and mean it? It is just facts.

                Jesus asked Peter three times, "do you love me?" and every time Peter replied, "yes I do." In response, Jesus answered to all three, "If you love me, you will take care of my sheep," "If you love me, feed my sheep," "feed my sheep." (John21:15-17) Why was Jesus saying this and why is it important? He is not speaking of literal sheep. He was referring to the idea of following the commands that He was leaving for them. He was telling them that "if you love me you will obey my commands." (John 14:15)

                This is the last piece. So what is the command? Why is it important to follow? Well, in order to be a Christian, you must be saved. In order to be saved, you must be reaching out for a right relationship with God by confessing Him as Lord and Savior of your life. How do you confess it? You confess something from the heart and verbalize it. he must first be the Lord and Savior of your life. He can be your Savior by confessing that you repent of your sins and that He has made you clean from them. You make Him your Lord by obeying His commands. What is His commands? Someone asked Him this very question, and this was His response.

                "He answered: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27)

                I believe, looking at scripture alone and no other sources or people aside from Jesus Christ, the definition of a Christian is this: You are a Christian if you have CONFESSED that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior.

                That means that nothing comes before God. If something is conflicting with His commands, you put aside whatever it is to follow Christ. You make Christ first out of love. That is what it means to have a right relationship with Christ. Your relationship with Him is in the right place: He is Lord and Savior and you both love each other. God comes first above all. That is what I pull directly from the words that Jesus Himself spoke.


                                                                                                                                         -D