On this sermon, we are going to concisely answer th frequently asked question: who is a Christian according to the bible.
According to the bible in John 15:4, Jesus encourages people to abide in Him as He Himself abides in them.
And goes on to say that, the same way a tree cannot bear fruit without the branch; so also no one can do same unless they abide in Him.
And from that scriptural context, we can go on to understand that according to the bible; a Christian simply means a follower of Christ.
That is to say, someone who is expected to live an exemplary life of Jesus Christ.
And not only live an exemplary life, but also become like Jesus Christ.
How Jesus abide in us.
According to the bible in John 3:4; And by this we know that he abides in us, by the spirit whom he has given to us.
Thus, Jesus abides in us through the Holy Spirit we receive from Him on the day we repent and baptize.
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Our Lord Jesus knew that he won’t live with us physically here on earth forever; that he must fulfill the wish of his Father.
And that wish was to make atonement for our sins on the cross of Calvary. And afterwards take his rightful place in the right hand of God and wait till the day we all re-unite.
Therefore, knowing that His followers will be left alone, he promised to send them the Holy Spirit as an helper; that issomeone who will represent Him as we can see in John 14:16-17.
Why the Holy Spirit was given.
- It is the Holy Spirit that links us with Jesus and helps us have a direct access to the Father. (Ephesians 2:18)
- The Holy Spirit is our teacher, guide and fortune teller; who will never lie to nor deceive us, since His real name is ‘the truth’. (John 14:26; 16:12-13).
- With the Holy Spirit, all the false teachers and prophets around us today, will not be able to deceive us anymore. Since He will always make us to understand as well as know the truth. 1 John 2:26-27.
As we can see, one cannot become a true Christian if he or she does not have the Holy Spirit; Who represents Christ, living in him.
What happens to a Christian who has the Holy Spirit.
1. He is always righteous.
I always love to tell people this little secret in Christendom: one who is filled with the Holy Ghost; is always righteous, because of the following facts.
He will recognize and flee from every appearance of sin, even if it comes in disguise.
For example, if your house rent is due and your landlord is threatening to throw you out; because of this you have been praying God to grant you favor.
Then coming out from your house one morning, you stumble upon a nylon bag, picks and open it to discover some bundles of money.
Then the devil tells you, that is the answer to your prayer! But you ignore him-knowing God’s blessings can never come in disguise.
So you take the money to your landlord, and ask him to help you seek for the rightful owner.
But your landlord however, sits you down and uncovers to you that he secretly planted the money in order to test if you are honest.
Because, he is about travelling and will be away for 5 years, and since he has lost trust in everyone close to him, he was looking for someone that will take care of his many estates by collecting rents worth billions yearly and paying it to his bank account, after taking ten percent as his salary.
He tells you that he has been dropping the money early every morning for the past 2 weeks, and will always hide somewhere to see the day you will come out and pick the money; and even if after picking the money, you had kept it for some days and brought it out only when he asked around that he lost some money, he would have counted you not worthy.
Finally, he offers you the job and also tells you to pack into one of the flat in his estates and live for free.
2. Does not sin on purpose.
If a spirit filled child of God, unknowingly commits those little sins, e.g. anger, swearing, cursing etc., he will immediately recognize that he has sinned and begs God for the forgiveness he receives instantly.
That way he is always found without sin.
Where the Holy Spirit lives.
Jesus made this clearer to us in John 6:63 that the words He spoke to us are Spirit and life.
And in John 1:14, we realize that the Wod became flesh and lived with human beings.
Now this passage helps us to understand that the Word is Jesus Christ when it says ‘the only begotten of the Father’, and we also see how it became flesh to dwell with us men.
Therefore if the word Jesus speaks to us is Spirit, and we understand that Jesus is the word itself that became flesh.
Then we can go on to then discover the truth that, this same Jesus is the Spirit and the Word as we can clearly see in Revelation 19:13.
He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God
Now since Jesus is no more in the flesh with us, and the Spirit that is him also is invisible, the only Jesus we can behold at any given time is the WORD.
Where to find the word of God.
But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
1 Peter 1:25
Now the gospel is found in the Holy Bible.
And since the gospel is limited to the first four books of the New Testament, it doesn’t mean that Jesus can only be found in the gospel alone, because: All scripture is given by inspiration of God… (2 Timothy 3:16).]
And
In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
John1:1-2.
Therefore, if the word was in the beginning with God, and the word is God, and all scripture is given by God; then we can find Jesus from Genesis to Revelation of the Holy Bible.
Who is a Christian according to the bible.
According to the bible, a Christian is someone who have the qualities mentioned below:
- The word of God abides in him.
- He preaches the Word to others (evangelize).
- Is led by the Spiit of God.
1. A Christian is someone whom the Word of God abides in.
According to the bible, a Christian is someone who must let the physical Jesus (the WORD) abides in him, as well as he in Him.
And this can only be done by doing those things the word commands us to do, and abstaining from those things he tells us to
For instance, a true Christian, whom the word abides in him, knowing that adultery is a sin; because the word says so, will never yield to the occasions of this sin.
He is going to hide the words of God in his heart to keep him away from sin. Psalm 119:11.
A true Christian knows that: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Mathew 4:4).
Therefore, as food keeps the physical body healthy, the word also keeps the spiritual body healthy.
So the true Christian feeds daily on the word to keep him spiritually healthy, and of course, if he stops feeding on the word he dies spiritually.
As newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.
1 Peter 2:2
So therefore, accoding to the bible, a Christian must spend more time in studying the Bible which contains the word of God.
And not only study but abide by the doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness he finds in the Bible knowing that, this is the only physical Jesus he can behold whenever he desires. And by so doing he abides in Jesus and Jesus in him.
2. A Christian is someone who preaches the Word of God.
Since a true Christian knows the truth and is considered saved; he or she must then go out and preach to others in order to bring them to the knowledge of the truth.
We call it evangelism.
Being able to preach the word of God to others proves that, the Christian knows how to interpret the bible.
3. A Christian is someone who is led by the spirit of God.
According to the bible, a Christian must always look up to God to guide and lead him in all things.
Don’t think you can do anything by your own self, judging from the fact that how you breath, fall asleep, wake up and generally do things can never be controlled by you.
For instance ask yourself; how long can you control it when going to the toilet or urinating calls.
Also consider a car which cannot move by itself unless someone drives it; and a machinery which cannot function without an operator.
O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
Jeremiah 10:23
A man’s steps are of the LORD; how then can a man understand his own way.
Proverbs 20:24
Besides, the devils ultimate goal is to possess and take control over human beings.
That is the main reason why God wants us to surrender to Him, so He could take control over us and deprive the devil of the opportunity to do so.:
and the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. (Exodus 13:21)
And so the scripture concludes:
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Romans 8:14)
Conclusion.
Now that you now who is a Christian according to the bible.
What remains for you to do is see any of those places you went wrong, take it to the Lord in prayer and beg for His forgiveness.
