What Is A Christian?
The name "Christian" occurs three times in the King James Version of the New
Testament.
It is found in
Acts 11:26,
Acts 26:28, and
1 Peter 4:16. In all three places it
is applied to the disciples of the Lord or members of the Lord's church. It is
used to designate particular or special people.
Whatever it takes for one to become a disciple or member of the Lord's
church-that is precisely what it takes for one to become a Christian.
In our study of the book of Acts we learned that for one to become a member of
the Lord's church, the Lord had to add that one to his body. The Lord added only
those who were being saved (Acts 2:47). And only those who believed and obeyed
what the apostles commanded were being saved.
The hearers of the gospel of Christ were commanded to believe (Acts 16:31),
repent (Acts 2:38), confess faith in Christ (Acts 8:37), and be baptized for the
remission of sins (Acts 2:38).
When they had submitted to divine authority in this fashion, they were then
members of Christ, having been added by the Lord to his body. All such were
called Christians.
Sometimes we hear the word "Christian" used as an adjective. It is not uncommon
to hear one praised for moral excellence as being a "Christian man" or a
"Christian woman."
The word is never used in the New Testament as an adjective.
Either a man or a woman is a Christian or they are not. To be a Christian
carries with it the idea of moral excellence. To be otherwise is a
contradiction.
Some are heard to refer to one's family as being "Christian." I assume they mean
that the family is religious in a general way.
Is the father a Christian? Is the mother a Christian? Are all the children
Christians? If so, then this is what ought to be stated in such a manner as to
leave no misunderstanding. Either all the members of the family are Christians
or they are not. How simple it would be to say that. This means that they have
all obeyed the gospel of Christ and have been added by the Lord to his church.
Many of the more recent translations (?) of the New Testament have used the word
without regard to truth.
In a quick glance through the book of Acts in the New English Bible I counted
about a dozen uses of the word "Christian." There are actually only two in the
text. In
Acts 19:23 for example, it reads: "Now about that time, the Christian
movement gave rise to a serious disturbance." Here the word is used as an
adjective, describing a movement.
The word is used to designate people, either one or more. If it is used to refer
to anything else it is not according to New Testament usage.
Many brethren have adopted the name with reference to schools or colleges.
Here again the word is misused.
A school or college is not a disciple or member of the Lord's church. A preacher
said one time, "If you cannot baptize it, it cannot be a Christian."
Most uncertainty and confusion could be avoided if we would leave the word just
as the Lord gave it.
Others have taken the word and stretched it out a little to make a noun out of
it. It then becomes "Christianity."
Now I ask you, what is Christianity? If you can give me a Bible definition of
Christianity I would appreciate it. Since the word is not in the New Testament I
am certain you will have to go elsewhere for your definition.
"Well, Christianity refers to those as a whole who make up the body of Christ,
the movement," someone says. "It refers to the Christian religion," says
another. I wish my brethren would stop writing about this thing called
"Christianity" and use divine language to identify divine things.
Anytime someone talks about matters with words of human wisdom some confusion is
bound to result. Doesn't the Bible have the words to identify what it is you
want to identify?
A Christian has been purchased by the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28). A Christian
is in Christ and therefore is a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). A Christian
is a human being, man or woman, young or old, but a creature.
As Peter put it, "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God." (1
Peter 4:11).
- Ken Frazier
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