Which word best describes you…
'good'; 'religious'; 'believer'; or a ‘Christian’?
Part 2
1-30-11
Jesus said, "Not everyone that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." [Matt. 7:21]; so likewise, not everyone who claims to be a Christian, IS a Christian. The Bible gives clear evidence of the characteristics of a Christian. In this evidence, we likewise have proof as to who is NOT a Christian, and why they are not. In last week’s article, it was noted that morality alone does not constitute being a Christian according to the Bible. The examples of Nicodemus and Cornelius were given as evidence. What other characteristics do NOT constitute glorifying God, in and of themselves?
Not all religious people are Christians. Certainly, all Christians are religious people, but there are many religious people who are not Christians. One may be a heathen and yet be very religious. When Paul preached at Mars Hill in Athens, he stood at one of the centers of Greek paganism, and yet he said, "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that ye are very religious" (Acts 17:22). They were religious, but they were not Christians. The Bible also speaks of the Jews religion in Gal. 1:13-14, but this is not Christianity. So one may be religious; be a Jew, but not a Christian. The conversions which the Holy Spirit has recorded in the book of Acts tell a revealing story, for in nearly every case, they are the conversions of religious people. The people who were converted on the day of Pentecost had come from all parts of the Mediterranean world to worship God at Jerusalem (Acts 2). Lydia was a devout Jewish woman who had met with other women for prayer on the Sabbath day (Acts 16). The man from Ethiopia had traveled many hundreds of miles to worship at Jerusalem, and he had started back home when he heard the gospel and was converted (Acts 8). Saul of Tarsus was a zealous Pharisee before he became a Christian (Acts 9, 22, 26). No, not all religious people are Christians.
Not all believers in Christ are
Christians. Do you realize that
you may believe in Christ—that He is the Son of God, and still not be a
Christian? This likewise describes many religious people. They have 'faith'
that Jesus is God's Son, they call Him LORD, but have not obeyed the commands
that He gave to the apostles which are the "form of doctrine". This obedience
is called "works of righteousness" elsewhere in the Bible. They are the kind of
works that Abraham was commended for and for which it was "reckoned to him for
righteousness".
We read from the epistle of James,
"But wilt thou know, O vain man, that
faith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified by works,
in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar? Thou seest that faith
wrought, with his works, and by works was faith made perfect; and the scripture
was fulfilled which saith, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto
him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God. Ye see that by works
a man is justified, and not only by faith" (James 2:20-24).
Certainly, we are saved by faith, but not
by faith ONLY. The apostle Paul writes of
"the obedience of faith"
in the first chapter of Romans. He also says,
"For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor un-circumcision; but
faith working through love" (Gal. 5:6).
A saving faith obeys Christ. Christ is obeyed when His teachings are
obeyed. When faith does not express itself in obedience, it is dead, barren and
vain! Can a dead, barren and vain faith make one a Christian? No, not every
believer in Christ is a Christian!
The only person who can rightly wear this glorious name, Christian, is
the 'good', 'religious', 'believer' who has obeyed the gospel ('form of
doctrine') that was given from God to Christ
(John 12:49 - "...the Father which
sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should
speak."); which Christ gave
to His chosen apostles (John
17:8 - "For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me...".
Jesus commanded them to preach these words to "all nations" (Jew/Gentile), and
thus be "born anew". Those words are known as the
'great commission',
and are recorded in Matt.
28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-47; and John 17:18).
The apostles' travels "into
all the world" are recorded
for us in the book of Acts. We also find from the book of Acts that
ALL
the conversions were uniform in both the
"doctrine that was delivered..."
(Romans 6:17); and the
doctrine that was "obeyed from
the heart..." (ibid). Those
who "obeyed the gospel"
then were to be taught "to
observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:20).
These 'things'
to be 'observed'
are also commands from God, to
Christ, to the apostles, to us, which are found in the New Testament epistles
(Romans thru Revelation).
The apostle Paul stated to those Gentile Christians in Ephesus,
"If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to
you-ward; how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote
afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the
mystery of Christ). Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men,
as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit; THAT
THE GENTILES SHOULD BE FELLOW-HEIRS, AND OF THE SAME BODY, AND PARTAKERS OF HIS
PROMISE IN CHRIST BY THE GOSPEL" (Eph. 3:2-6).
The Gentile nations were offered salvation in Christ upon the same terms as the
Jewish nation. Why? Because
"God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth him, and
worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." (Acts 10:34-35).
When Gentiles obeyed the same form of doctrine as the Jews, then the time had
arrived that was foretold by divine inspiration from the prophet Isaiah,
"And the Gentiles shall see thy
righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name,
which the mouth of the LORD shall name." (Isa. 62:2)
As a result, we read that the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch! (Acts 11:26) Only those who have been born “from above”, i.e. of water and of the Spirit (John 3:3, 5), “…glorify God in this name" (1 Pet. 4:16). As Jesus said, "Not everyone that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Matt. 7:21
Roger Bruner