Are you really a Christian?

One of the most common phrases to hear people say is “I’m a Christian”. These words are uttered without a full understanding of what it means to be a Christian. Whenever we are interviewed or asked to fill a form,  we boldly declare our religious status as being Christian. Is being a Christian a mere status or does it go beyond that? Growing up, I always thought I was a Christian because I was born into a Presbyterian family where we went to church every Sunday. In my mind, you either had to be a Christian, a Muslim, or a traditionalist. And being born into a Christian family meant I was one.  What I didn’t know was that my status as a Christian was not because of the family I was born into or because I identified myself as a Christian.

How do you become a Christian? 

There is a vast difference between a Christian and a church-goer. There are thousands of people who are in Church today but are not Christian. Yes!  This may sound surprising but it is the truth. Being a church-goer is not the same as being a Christian. There are processes one must go through to become a Christian. You must become born again in order to enter into the kingdom of God. You can do all the charity work possible,  obey the ten commandments and go to church seven times a week but what will actually get you into heaven is becoming born again.  

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3 KJV)

How then do I become born again? 

You must follow what I call the “ROMAN ROAD”. First, you must acknowledge that you are a sinner and you must recognize how much God hates sin and willingly decide to denounce your wicked ways. Adam sinned and as descendants of Adam, we are sinners. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God: (Romans 3:23 KJV)

Second, you must acknowledge that sin comes with death: physical and spiritual and that the only way to receive eternal life is through Jesus Christ. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23 KJV)

Third, you must boldly proclaim that you accept Jesus as Saviour and Master of your life, and believe that He died for your sins. These acts must be done together.  Mere belief does not get you born again. You must come out boldly and confess it. When you trust in the capabilities of a particular football player, you shout his name and some people go as far as placing a bet on him.  Doing the same with Christ should not be a problem with you (I do not advise you to place bets, though).

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10 KJV)

After going through this process,  you are now a Christian! Welcome to God’s family!

What does it mean to be a Christian?

It means you are born of the Spirit. The Spirit that is talked about is the Spirit of God(the Holy Spirit). Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. 1 Peter 1:23 KJV.  As humans, we are born of our parents. When you were given birth to, you became born of blood, i.e, the blood of your parents. This blood carries many traits of your parents. That is why you look like your parents or share some behaviors and characteristics with them. When you plant an orange seed, it grows to become an orange tree, bearing oranges. It can never bear mangoes or coconuts because that was not planted. In the same way, when you become born again, you become born of the Spirit. This means that the Holy Spirit now abides and operates in you. The very life of God now lives in you. You now become a citizen of heaven: born from above.

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Philippians 3:20 KJV

It means you have been saved from the judgment of sin.

There are four kinds of judgment every person will face on the second coming of Christ. They are the judgment of sin, the white throne judgment, the “Bema” seat judgment, and the judgment of the sheep and goats. As a Christian,  you escaped the judgment of sin when you got born again. This is because this type of judgment is the judgment of this world. Adam sinned and it affected all men: born and unborn. 

Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. ( John 12:31 ESV )

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—( Romans 5:12 ESV); see also 2 Corinthians 5:21.

However, Christ came down as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and paid the price of sin in the world. The judgment of sin took place when He died for our sins. Therefore, the judgment of sin has already happened in Him, so if you believe in Him, you are not judged. 

It means you are now a part of God’s body.

There is the body of Christ which consists of several members and parts. You become a member of the body of Christ the moment you become born again. This means that you are hidden in Him. Being hidden in Christ means that anything that wants to touch or affect you must first go through Christ. As members of the body of Christ, you are not corruptible or subject to destruction or decay; as He is so are you. The Spirit of Christ in you can now help you to become Christ-like. 

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world.( 1 John 4:17 KJV)For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.(Ephesians 5:29-30 KJV); 

 It means you are joint heirs with Christ and have a heavenly inheritance.

As a Christian, you must awaken to the reality of who you are in Christ Jesus. Being a Christian means you have been brought out of the ordinary into extraordinary, normal into supernormal, and natural into supernatural. You are joint heirs with Christ. There is a disparity between being a co-heir and being a joint-heir. The former implies a 50-50 share of the inheritance whereas the latter implies that you own 100% of the inheritance just like the other heir owns 100% of the same inheritance. Thus, everything Christ inherited is yours by default. 

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.(Romans 8:17 KJV)

NEVER FORGET THIS!

You are a special breed, God’s most precious creation. Many a time, Christians forget who they are in Christ Jesus. They take their born again experience for granted and allow the storms of life and the struggles of their flesh to sail them in the opposite direction of where God wants them to be. You are God’s possession, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation. God’s Holy Spirit lives in you. Your Christian status means you have been brought into righteousness. Your flesh will want to hold you down and the evil one will try to hold your past sins against you. Do not allow him! Christ has made you new. (2 Cor.5:17) Allow the Spirit of Christ to help you walk like your Lord,  Jesus. Live, walk and operate in the consciousness of the one whom God has made holy.