What is it that makes a Christian a Christian?
What separates us, what is different about a Christian that sets us apart? People have many different ideas about the make-up of a Christian and there are certainly various aspects of the make-up of a Christian. The legalistic view says that adhering strictly to a set of rules and regulations makes you a Christian, while the liberal, woke view says that just an acknowledgement of the existence of God and being a good person is proof you are a Christian. A man in Jordan told Kathy he was a Christian because he was not Jewish. The reality is simple. Being a Christian needs clarity.
The question we must ask is “What does the Word of God say?” How does scripture describe a Christian?
I think in order to truly grasp the truth of calling yourself a Christian, we must understand the meaning of the word. It literally means “Follower of Christ”. Simply put, when I say that I’m a Christian, I’m declaring to be a follower of Christ; it means I’m identifying with Him, taking on His identity.
There is an initial response to Christ that must be made before any other response is recognized and the is the response of repentance. We must understand that to be a follower of Christ, a person must thoroughly repent. The initial message that Jesus delivered was “repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17). John the Baptist’s entire ministry was based on the same message (Matt. 3:2).
If you were to ask, most people would define repentance as an acknowledgement of sin and receiving forgiveness for those sins. While that’s true, it doesn’t give the full scope and picture of repentance. What most people describe as repentance is merely the first, initial step of repentance. What repentance also includes is the surrender of our whole life, desires, motives and plans to the rulership and design of Christ. It means giving up what we want and desire and completely handing over past, present, and future to Christ and his kingdom.
Repentance is a foundational key to the Christian life, but in many “religious environments”, it has been and continues to be a neglected message. Instead of hearing that God’s Kingdom is available to anyone who is willing to forsake the mindsets and attitudes of the world and whole-heartedly embrace the attitudes and characteristics of Christ, people are presented with a message that portrays Jesus as Savior, but not as Lord and Master.
People are told “Jesus will help you, bless you, forgive you and empower you”, but little is said about repentance, humility and sacrifice. Confessing your sins and receiving forgiveness is the starting line of a race that we will run for the rest of our lives. Repentance is not a singular event, but a perpetual process. The word itself means “to change one’s mind or purpose.” It indicates a change in your spirit that willingly accepts the laying down of self will and the picking up of the will and purposes of God, it literally means to “Think differently”. Put simply, we need to change our mind.
This is why so many Christians live weak, powerless and ineffective lives. They’ve received forgiveness for their sins but have never surrendered their lives to Christ. They are trying to serve the Lord while their lives are still centered and ruled by self and the principles the world lives by. Repentance is both the initial step in receiving entrance into the kingdom of God and the key to continuing in a place of obedience and submission to the Lord. Without a deep experience of repentance in our lives, we will continue to struggle with sin and never reach maturity as believers.
While most religious people relegate repentance to the unbeliever, it is a vital part of the Christian experience. In the book of Revelation, there were messages delivered to seven different churches and out of those seven churches, five of them were told they needed to repent. Why? Some of them had good characteristics, had done good things, and were doing some things right, but a deeper look showed they had failed in the area of submission and obedience to the will and purpose of God. In other words, they did not practice repentance. They had the right programs, used all the latest means and methods of church growth and they had the approval of the world, but lacked the approval of God. The picture is vividly described in Rev. 3:20. Jesus is standing on the outside, knocking at the door, seeking entrance into the place he is supposed to inhabit.
Is repentance easy? Is it comfortable and convenient? Not by any means. It is a continual process of trying, failing sometimes and starting over again. It is a lifetime of saying no to sin, our flesh and the world and saying yes to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives. Repentance is a long and arduous process. It is rising up every day and declaring through our thoughts, words and actions that we accept His word and will live by it, aligning our lifestyles and choices to match the commands of the King. This is true repentance. And if we live this out, folks will see the difference in our Christian walk.
