What is a Christian?

There are many thousands of religious people and church members who are not real Christians. The Bible describes them as "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" (II Tim.3:5). They regard themselves as Christians, and have the outward form of Christianity, but it is only an empty shell, with no power to keep them from sin, no power to cancel their guilt, no power to give them peace of mind or joy of heart, and no power to give them eternal life. "They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him" (Titus 1:16). They have just enough of the form of Christianity to deceive them, just enough to make them think that all is well between their souls and God, when in fact nothing is well. What then is a real Christian? The Bible says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ" (II Cor.5:17-18). First, he is "in Christ." Christ is not merely a historical figure to him, but the very sphere of his life and existence, and the center of his plans and thoughts and activities. "For to me to live is Christ", said the Apostle Paul (Phil.1:21). And by Jesus Christ he is "reconciled" to God. He does not live at a distance from God, like the prodigal son in the far country. He has come home to the Father, and gladly serves Him, and lives in fellowship with Him. Next, "he is a new creature." He has not merely joined a church, or gotten religious, or been baptized, or gone forward in a revival meeting, or prayed for salvation. All this may be only an empty shell, a form without power. He has something deeper than this. "He is a new creature"--a new creation, "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph.2:10). He has not merely changed a few outward things. His nature is changed, from the inside out. He is converted, from an enemy of God to a child of God, and the Bible says, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19). He is born again with a new life from God, and the Bible says, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). His whole being is renewed, made over, created anew, so that he is no longer the same man he was before. He is a new creature. Further, "old things are passed away." He has not merely put away a few of the grosser forms of sin, but has renounced all of his old life of sin and self. His old ambitions and plans, his old activities and pastimes, are all passed away. The sins and follies which he once loved and pursued, he now renounces and forsakes. His old pleasures now appear empty and vain. His old views and philosophies of life, his old haunts, his old companions in sin, have all passed away from his life. Further, "all things are become new." All things. He has new associations, new friends, new thoughts and goals, new habits and activities--in short, a new life. He has been born again. He has not merely made a few outward changes, but all things have changed--the places he goes, the way he spends his time and money, the thoughts he thinks, the songs he sings, the people he associates with, the things he reads, the things he loves or hates--all that he is and does is become new. He is a new creature. Finally, "all things are of God." God is the source of this new life, and everything in it. He no longer gets his thoughts and ideas and aspirations from the world. He no longer follows the world's pleasures and pastimes and habits and ways. "All things" in his life "are of God." Now consider whether you are a real Christian. Are all things in your life of God? Are the places you go, the songs you enjoy, the things you watch or read, the language you use, the thoughts you think, the friends you choose, are all these "of God"--or do they proceed from the world or self? Is the way you spend your time and money, the way your dress, the way you live in general, determined by the ways of the world, or the Word of God? Do you live to do God's will, or your own? Are you a "new creature"? Can you look back to the time when you were converted, reconciled to God, born again? Can you point to a time before which the world was your sphere, and self your end, but after which the old life of sin and self passed away, and you were a new creature? Can you look back to a point at which you forsook the ways of the world and sin, and embraced the will of God as the rule of your life? Can you point to a time when self was dethroned, and Christ became your life? If you can, you have been converted, and your sins are blotted out. If not, you have never been born again, and you cannot see the kingdom of God. And unless you repent and forsake your present life of self and sin, you will never be a Christian, and you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.