WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN? Christianity Index Guitar Jams Home I want to keep this real simple... because in reality, it really is a pretty simple thing! The term CHRISTIAN means "Christ-one" or "One who follows or belongs to Christ." I.e. a CHRISTIAN is a person who has made the decision to trust Christ as their Savior and Lord. Now--let me explain, briefly what the terms SAVIOR and LORD mean. (You should read some of my other articles if you want a more detailed definition of these terms). SAVIOR: You will see in this term the letter "SAV"... this is the root of the term. Jesus is the One who SAVES us. I.e. the Bible clearly spells out that God is perfect in every way... morally, ethically, relationally, etc. this is part of what it means call God "holy"... anyway, we ARE NOT perfect. Because God is perfectly holy He CANNOT tolerate any imperfection... period (this "imperfection is described in Romans 3:23 as "falling short of the glory of God" and it's called sin). And that's bad news for you and me! That is why we need a SAVIOR! When you read the Old Testament you see clearly, again and again that the payment for sin is death. God's holiness just demands that sin be paid for with the ultimate price. The OT teaches all over the place that the only acceptable payment for sin is the shed blood of an acceptable sacrifice (The OT spells out what an acceptabe sacrifice is). Now... we could fill 50 articles with all of the theological "stuff" that could be said in exlanation here... but the bottom line is this... when God deemed that the right time had come... He sent Jesus, his perfectly holy Son, to be the perfect, once for all time, sacrifice for YOUR SIN and MINE... You see, I could die for you... but that wouldn't do you any good--because I'm no more perfect than you are... I need a Savior just like you do... So, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin (our "imperfections"... the places/times that we've fallen/fall short of His perfect holiness) ... And the Gospel (the "Good News" about Jesus and what He did for us in dying on the Cross for us) declares that if we simply receive Jesus as our SAVIOR and LORD (click here to learn how to do that), we don't have to pay the price of death ourselves. Get it? I know this is a very BRIEF answer--and it may have stirred up questions for you. Click here and EMAIL ME and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have! LORD: The New Testatment was originally written in GREEK. The Greek word that all of the NT writers used for LORD is "KURIOS"... Which literally means MASTER.. we might say, BOSS, HEAD-HONCHO, RULER, KING, etc... you get the idea. The bottom line is this... When a person "becomes a Christian," they surrender to the LORDSHIP of Jesus... they say, "I don't want to run my own life... I want to follow the leadership of Jesus as my BOSS, HEAD-HONCHO, etc..." Jesus promises us all over the Bible that when we do this--He will forgive us, accept us, love us, walk through life with us, encourage us, guide us, give us joy, peace, purpose.. AND A BUNCH MORE! He is an awersome SAVIOR and LORD! So, that's BASICALLY what a Christian is. If you have any questions... EMAIL ME! Blessings, Pastor Brad |
