- A Christian isn’t a person born in a Christian home – no one is born a Christian – we are all born as sinners
- Christians are not perfect – Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Even though we give our life to Christ, we have a sin nature within us the keeps us from being perfect, as Christ was perfect.
- Christians are not necessarily the people you meet in a church setting. There are Christians who don’t attend church services and non-Christians who do.
- A Christian is a person who believes that Jesus Christ is the only Son of God, that He was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, and loved us enough to pay the price for our sins by dying on the cross, being buried, and finally being raised to life again – defeating death.
- True Christians have a spiritual rebirth – recognizing their sinful nature and proclaiming Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
- Here’s a quote from Billy Graham Ministries (https://billygraham.org/story/what-is-a-christian/) that explains this in much more detail.
So what is a Christian? Jesus said that His true followers are those who have been “born again” by the Spirit of God. When a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus came to talk with Jesus one night, he declared that God was with Jesus because of all the miraculous signs Jesus performed. Jesus had this penetrating response: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. … Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:3, 6, NIV).
The phrase “born again” in Scripture literally means “to be born from above”–a spiritual rebirth. A Christian is a man, woman, or child who has experienced a spiritual new birth through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. That new birth is a gift of God, through Jesus Christ, given by the grace He freely offers to all.
Some believe you can be born into a faith. For example, a child born to Muslim parents is considered a Muslim by many people. A son or daughter born to a Jewish mother is typically considered to be Jewish, and someone born into a Christian family is often assumed to be a Christian. No one, however, is ever automatically a Christian by birth. To be a Christian, you must make a conscious choice to turn from your sins–that’s repentance–and by faith believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who loved us, paid the price of our sins on Calvary’s cross, shed His blood and died, was buried, and was raised to life on the third day.
The Bible says, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). The Bible also says that “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). The moment we do so, the Holy Spirit makes us alive in Christ, imparting the gift of eternal life, and making us entirely new creatures in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).
How do we tell if it’s real in our lives? The Bible says, “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands, … the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3–4).
A Christian, then, is a person who is born again by the Spirit of God as he or she wholeheartedly trusts in Jesus Christ and seeks to follow Him in obedience. There is no other way to the Father, no other way to be a Christian, than through personal faith in the Son of God. “I am the way and the truth and the life,” Jesus said. “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
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May God bless you, Franklin Graham President
