(“What Is A Christian?”) (III)

Acts 26:1-29 (NASU)

(Acts 26:28-29)

Paul was a prisoner of the Roman government, having been arrested because of false charges brought against him by certain Jewish religious leaders who were opposed to the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which he preached. In this morning’s Scripture lesson, Paul is finally given an opportunity to defend himself before Governor Festus and King Agrippa. In doing so, the apostle briefly describes his life prior to becoming a Christian – followed by an equally brief account of his own conversion experience – and ends by declaring his wish that everyone within the sound of his voice might become a Christian just like he did.

(A) WHAT A CHRISTIAN IS NOT

(1) They pulled her from the frigid water, sputtering and gasping for breath. The young woman was among a half-dozen would-be lifeguards who had to be rescued during a swimming exercise. In this case, however, it wasn’t too surprising since the young woman had noted on her application that she couldn’t swim – BUT, she did enjoy walking along the beach, and thought she looked good in a swim suit.¹

When a Huntington Beach Lifeguard Captain was asked about the latest crop of potential lifeguards, he said, “Every year we have people try out who have no business being here. They just think it sounds like fun. Most of them have no idea what a lifeguard really does.”¹

(2) A similar thing is true when it comes to being a Christian. Many people would be surprised to learn their definition of a Christian can’t stand the test of Scripture. Even more serious, however, are the number of people who think of themselves as Christian, who would be shocked to learn that according to the Bible they are not.

(3) Some ideas of what a Christian is are so far off target we wonder how anyone could take them seriously – (a) like the man who said he was a Christian because he had been married inside a church² – or the person who thinks they’re a Christian because they like to watch semi-religious programs on television, or because they went to see the movie, “The Passion of Christ” – or the person who says, “I’m a Christian because my parents are very religious people”³ – or the person who thinks being a Christian and being an American are basically the same thing.

(b) Answers like these reflect thinking that’s clouded with confusion, to say the least. For them, the Scripture is true that says: “the god of this world (i.e. Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (c.f. II Corinthians 4:4) and be saved. Unfortunately, some people are betting their eternal future on such nonsensical answers.

(4) Other errant ideas of what a Christian is have a “ring of truth” to them, even though they’re still wrong.

(a) One very popular (but entirely erroneous) idea is that a Christian is someone who’s trying to live a good life – or that a Christian is someone who’s trying as hard as they can to be as good as they can. Variations include trying to live by the Golden Rule, following Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, or obeying the Ten Commandments³ – all worthwhile endeavors to be sure, and things we expect Christians to do (as we will eventually see) – but totally worthless as far as actually making a person a Christian is concerned. This is because the Scripture says, “No one is good except God alone” (c.f. Mark 10:18) – and again: “There is no one who does good, not even one” (c.f. Psalm 14:3) – and once more: “a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus” (c.f. Galatians 2:16).

(b) Another popular, but equally errant idea is that a Christian is someone who attends worship – goes to Sunday School – prays before meals – participates in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper – has been baptized – and/or takes part in various other religious activities. Obviously, Christians are expected to do these things – but doing them is NOT why a person is called a Christian.

Jesus made that as clear as human language permits when He said: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven … Many will say to Me on that day, ‘… did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (c.f. Matthew 7:21-23) – and again, in another place: “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers’” (c.f. Luke 13:25-27).

(c) A third popular (but errant) idea as to what makes person a Christian is one I don’t think I’ve mentioned before – i.e. the notion that a Christian is someone who believes in God. That’s certainly true, as far as it goes – the problem is, it doesn’t go nearly far enough. Obviously Christians believe in God – specifically, we believe in the God who has revealed Himself in the pages of the Old and New Testaments (c.f. Isaiah 45:5-7), in/through creation (c.f. Romans 1:20), and in/through the Person of Jesus of Nazareth (c.f. Hebrews 1:3). A Christian does NOT believe in the god spoken of in places like the Koran, or the Book of Mormon.

But even when people have the right God in mind, believing in Him is not why a person a Christian – for Jesus once said: “you believe in God, believe also in Me” (c.f. John 14:1b, NKJV) – furthermore, the Book of James says: “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe – and tremble!” (c.f. James 2:19, NKJV) (ask yourself, why do they “tremble” IF believing in God makes a person a Christian?). But perhaps the clearest passage of all is found in First John chapter five, where we’re told that “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has (eternal) life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have (eternal) life” (c.f. I John 5:11-12).

In short, God Himself says believing in Him is NOT what makes a person a Christian – we must also believe in His Beloved Son, Jesus of Nazareth!” After all, isn’t that why we’re called “Christians” (c.f. Acts 11:26)?!

(B) WHAT A CHRISTIAN IS

(1) This morning, then, we’re are continuing our look at what a Christian is, starting with a quick review of two points we made last time.

First, a Christian is someone who is aware (to some degree) of his own unworthiness in God’s sight.⁴ By God’s grace he realizes he is a sinner by nature as well as by practice – that prior to his conversion, sinning came as naturally to him to breathing. A Christian is aware of his sinful behavior – but he’s also aware of his sinful thoughts and desires. A Christian is someone whose mind has been illuminated by the Holy Spirit, thereby enabling him to understand (in some measure) what Paul meant when He said that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all” (c.f. I Timothy 1:15).

(2) Second, a Christian is someone who believes Jesus of Nazareth is God come in human flesh, and that as the God-Man He is the only Savior of sinners like himself.⁵ A Christian believes Jesus is fully God and fully man, even though he may not be able to logically reconcile this mystery in his mind. He may not understand the meaning of big theological words like “vicarious” or “propitiation” just yet – but by God’s grace he knows what the Bible means when it says, “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (c.f. Acts 4:12), except for the name of Jesus.

(3) Third (and now we’re picking up where we left off last time), a Christian is someone who has actually repented of his sins and professed faith in Jesus Christ.⁶ In other words, by God’s enabling grace, he didn’t stop at believing the things we just mentioned in some intellectual and/or theoretical fashion – rather, he’s acted on what he’s come to believe – i.e. he’s taken the next step, which involves actually repenting of his sins and placing his trust in Jesus Christ alone for his salvation.

(a) In Scripture, “repentance” always has to do with change – changing one’s mind, changing one’s behavior, or both. The prophet Jeremiah described how unwilling some people are to change their behavior, when he said: “they (have) refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent” (c.f. Jeremiah 5:3). The prophet Isaiah described the kind of change that take place when people do repent, saying in part: “Let the wicked (man) forsake his (wicked) way(s) and (let) the unrighteous man (forsake) his (unrighteous) thoughts” (c.f. Isaiah 55:7a). Even in this morning’s Scripture lesson, Paul spoke of the changes true repentance brings when told King Agrippa how faithful he had been to declare to both Jews and Gentiles that “they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance” (c.f. Acts 26:20).

(b) So far as becoming a Christian is concerned, true repentance involves at least three things. Most people don’t fully understands these things at the time of their conversion – nevertheless, if any are missing it’s not biblical repentance – which in turn means it’s not the kind of repentance that results in a person becoming a Christian.

[1] First, true repentance means we are genuinely sorry for our sin.⁶ Biblical sorrow is not the same thing as being sorry we got caught – nor is it the same thing as being sorry for any repercussions, consequences, or punishment we may have to face on account of what we’ve done. Instead, biblical sorrow has to do with being sorry for offending a holy and righteous God – it involves grieving over the fact we have displeased Almighty God – it’s the kind of sorrow that comes from knowing our sins have insulted our Creator and King to the point of justifiable outrage.

A Christian, then, is someone who has been graciously enabled to identify (in some measure) with David, who, after committing adultery and murder, expressed genuine sorrow for what he had done, saying in part: “Against You (Lord), You only, have (I) sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge” (c.f. Psalm 51:4).

[2] Second, true repentance means we are genuinely sorry for who and/or what we are.⁶ What we are, or course, is a sinful human being, from head to toe – in heart, mind and emotions – in thought and action – in word and deed – by nature and by practice. Furthermore, the person who is truly repentant knows they deserve whatever punishment God deems appropriate for the crimes they’ve committed against Him by breaking His laws.

A Christian, then, is someone who can see himself for who and what he really is – not fully, but at least accurately. By God’s grace he is able to identify with Isaiah when he said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” (c.f. Isaiah 6:5) – and with the publican in the temple who prayed: “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” (c.f. Luke 18:13) – and with Peter, who once fell at Jesus’ feet, and cried out: “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man” (c.f. Luke 5:8).

[3] Third, true repentance also involves forsaking our sin.⁷ This doesn’t happen instantly – nor do we ever become perfect in this life – BUT, real changes do take place (as we will see next time). Hence, a Christian is not the same person he was before – like the Apostle Paul, he thinks differently and acts differently – indeed, for him the Scripture has come true that says: “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (c.f. II Corinthians 5:17). Along these same lines, he knows that as a Christian he is to be about the daily business of “lay(ing) aside the old self, (which is corrupted and enslaved to) the lusts of deceit … (while also) put(ting) on the new self, which (reflects) the likeness of (Christ)” (c.f. Ephesians 4:22-24).

(c) Repentance is only one side of the coin, however – the other side is that a Christian is someone who has also professed faith in Christ – or come to believe in the Lord Jesus, as we sometimes say⁷ – especially since the Scripture says: “whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (c.f. John 3:16b) – and again: “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (c.f. John 3:18) – and once more: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life” (c.f. John 3:36a).

[1] In Scripture, the person who believes in Christ has come to trust in or rely upon Him alone for their salvation. To put it another way, believing in Christ involves reliance, dependence, and/or commitment – and may be illustrated by a patient who actually puts his life in a surgeon’s hands by checking into the hospital and undergoing a needed operation⁷ – or an airline passenger who literally puts his life in a pilot’s hands by getting on board the plane and taking off.

Even so, a Christian is someone who has put his eternal future and/or his hope of salvation in Jesus’ hands by calling on Him to forgive his sins (c.f. Psalm 32:5), save him from the wrath of God to come (c.f. John 3:36b), give him the free gift of eternal life (c.f. Romans 6:23), and have a place waiting for him in heaven when this life on earth comes to an end (c.f. John 14:2-3).

[2] One author has illustrated the commitment factor involved in saving faith like this. Imagine that a fire breaks out in a home where a young boy is asleep on the top floor. His parents wake up, get all the other children safely out, but somehow miss him. Once they realize he’s still inside the burning house, the father tries to go back in – but the flames are too much to get through. Meanwhile, the boy wakes up, realizes what’s going on, runs to the bedroom window and opens it. Looking down, he sees the concrete pavement three stories below. If he stays where he is, he will die – if he jumps he will probably die. His situation looks hopeless until he sees his father, who holds out his arms and shouts, “Jump, and I’ll catch you!” The boy knows his father is strong enough to catch him – but just knowing that won’t save him. He knows his father loves him and is willing to catch him – but knowing that won’t save him. He knows his father wants him to jump, and promises to catch him – but knowing those things won’t save him either. Unless he trusts his father enough to actually jump he will most certainly perish.⁸

In a similar fashion, a person can know all about Jesus intellectually and still not be a Christian – because a Christian is someone who has gone beyond the intellectual to actually put their trust in Christ alone for their salvation. Hence, when the Philippian jailer asked Paul: “what must I do to be saved?” the apostle answered: “Believe in the Lord Jesus” (c.f. Acts 16:30-31) – while in another place he said: “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (c.f. Romans 10:9).⁸

[3] It’s important to add at this point that a Christian is also someone who realizes (albeit imperfectly) that Jesus Christ is the One who saves him – not his faith, or even his repentance. That these acts, while necessary, do not merit God’s favor⁶ – nor do they earn him the title of Christian. He may not yet fully understand how repentance and faith are gifts of God’s grace (c.f. Ephesians 2:8-9) – but he does recognize them as the means by which his sins are forgiven and the gift of eternal life becomes his. As his knowledge of God’s word grows and/or he matures in the faith, he will come to realize more and more what hymn-writer Augustus Toplady was talking about when he penned these words:

“Not the labors of my hands

can fulfill Thy law’s demands;

Could my zeal no respite know,

could my tears forever flow,

All for sin could not atone;

Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hands I bring,

simply to Thy cross I cling;

Naked, come to Thee for dress,

helpless, look to Thee for grace;

Foul, I to the Fountain fly;

wash me, Savior, or I die.”⁹

(d) A Christian, then, is someone who has actually repented of their sins and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.⁶ They haven’t just thought about it – they’ve actually done it! They don’t just know about these things in some intellectual or academic way – they’ve actually done them! Nor have they done them in a superficial or insincere way – rather, they’ve done them the way Scripture prescribes.

The question is, have you repented of your sins? – in the biblical sense? Have you professed faith in Christ? – in the sense that you are trusting Him alone for your salvation? These are the means whereby a person is saved by the Person of Jesus Christ and His work on the cross – and thereby becomes a Christian!

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