What does it mean to be a Christian?
A Christian is someone who has a personal relationship with the risen Jesus Christ of the Bible. He has turned his life over to Christ by asking Christ to take control of his life. He has done this through a simple prayer something like this:
“Lord Jesus, I realize I’m a sinner and need You to take control of my life and become my Lord. I ask you now to do that. Enter into my life give me your Holy Spirit, and forgive my sins as you promised You would. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
That’s all it takes. If you are sincere and are willing to give God control of your life, you will become a Spirit-filled Christian. You will be God’s child forever. This is called, “Justification,” since you have now been justified through Christ before God the Father.
Another term you might want to remember is, “Sanctification.” This is what we call the process through which you grow as a Christian to be more and more like Jesus.
Being a Christian is different from the religion, Christianity. What makes you a Christian is your personal relationship with God. Christianity is a set of beliefs centered around Jesus. You can read more on this in “What is Christianity,” another page on our site.
Christianity began, of course, with the coming of Christ in the first century. Those who were God’s people before Christ came are not Christians but are saints, nonetheless. An Old Testament saint is just someone who depended on the God of the Bible prior to the coming of Christ. The vast majority of these, naturally, were Jews. But the Jews’ relationship with God began with Abraham and God’s promise to him to raise up a great people in God’s name. The Bible doesn’t tell us why God chose Abraham in particular, but He did.
Prior to Abraham, there were still people of God such as Job, Seth, Enoch, and others who were not considered Jews.
Some differences between Christians and Old Testament Saints other than the times they lived are that the Old Testament saints sacrificed animals in recognition and in payment for their sins. They usually had representatives between them and God such as Moses and the priesthood. Christ is now the representative for Christians before God the Father. Another difference is that the Holy Spirit came and went in their lives. Today, the Holy Spirit lives within the Christians constantly guiding them, empowering them, and teaching them to grow closer to Christ. This is called sanctification.
Christians cannot lose their salvation. God has given them eternal life upon accepting Christ as their lord. Eternal life is not eternal if it can be lost. Accepting Jesus means to pray to God to take over life and be your Lord.
Romans 10:9 (ESV)
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Those are the conditions.
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