Southside church of Christ -- Bible Answers

QUESTION: "According to the Bible, what is a 'Christian'?"

ANSWER: There are a number of popular – but erroneous – ideas regarding the identity of a "Christian". Please note the following examples...

• Any person who is an American is a "Christian". Wrong!

• Any person who can quote from the Bible is a "Christian". Wrong!

• Any person who is not an agnostic or an atheist is a "Christian". Wrong!.

• Any person who is a member of a religious denomination is a "Christian". Wrong!

• Any person who is not a Jew, Muslim, Hindu, etc., is a "Christian". Wrong!

The word "Christian" is used three times in the New Testament Scriptures – Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16. In those verses, the term is always used as a proper noun – never used as an adjective. However, modern people refer to "Christian men", "Christian women", "Christian youth", "Christian singles", "Christian daycare", "Christian relationships", "Christian churches", "Christian books", "Christian colleges", "Christian business", etc. Today, just about any thing and any person can be described as being "Christian". Such is certainly not how the Bible uses the word!

In Acts 11:26, Luke wrote that "the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch". Those who were called "Christians" in Antioch [of Syria] were "disciples" [students and followers] of Jesus Christ. Matthew 28:19 records the command of Jesus given to His apostles: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...". We can logically conclude that the "disciples" in Antioch had become disciples of Jesus and had been baptized just as He had commanded (cf. Mark 16:15-16).

According to the Bible, a "Christian" is a scripturally-baptized disciple of Jesus Christ. Scriptural baptism requires immersion in water (Acts 8:35-38; 10:45-48; 1 Peter 3:18-22) in the name [by the authority] of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:36-39; 8:14-17; 19:1-5) for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:12-16 & Ephesians 1:7).

No matter how religious you are, how many Bible verses you can quote, how many "good deeds" you perform, etc., if you are not a scripturally-baptized disciple of Jesus Christ, then you are not a Christian!

••• Posted on 12-30-10. Written by David Powlas. Unless noted otherwise, all verses cited and/or quoted are from the New King James Version [NKJV] of the Bible. Printed from http://southside-church.org with the permission of the writer and the church.

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