WHO IS A CHRISTIAN

will make good things to happen to you. So do not wish an body evil, but try to love your neighbour as yourself.

This is question is important because there is a lot of misunderstanding regarding who a real Christian is. The reason for this topic in this book is to enable us Christians know our position, especially in our prayers. Some people believe that all the prophets in the bible were Christians including Elijah, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah etc. Some people also think that because Jesus said “before ‘‘ Abraham, I am”, they then believe that with that statement, Christianity started before Abraham's time. If it was so, then it would not have been necessary for Jesus to come to this world to save anybody, since all were already Christians and ' had been saved. Some other people feel that as long as it is the same power of God that the prophets of old and Christians relied on, it will not be wrong if all the prophets of the Old Testament in the bible are also called Christians But the truth is that all these prophets mentioned above were not Christians but prophets in the Jewish religion called Judaism.

Even Jesus was not born into Christianity, He was born into the same Jewish religion and also under the law.

But when the fullness of the time was come, God Sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Gal.4:4).

But Jesus is the Christ himself from whom Christianity came into being.

It is true that in their time, Christ had not come physically to teach people the new law of repentance and forgiveness of sins and love for neighbours as ourselves, which are the laws that brought about Christianity. That is why it will not be right for Christians to adopt the methods used by the prophets of old that are, not in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ. For example, the prayer thatGod should send down fire to consume our enemies, as Elijah did, was condemned by Jesus in the bible.

And send messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered into a village of the Samaritans to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did P” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” And they went to another village (Luke 9:52-56). .

In that statement, Jesus said that if His disciples (James and John) knew the new spirit in them, they would not call down flre to consume their enemies because Jesus came to save lives and. not to destroy men's lives like Elijah did (2 king5 1:10-14). Until Jesus told the disciples, they did not know that they had a new spirit, which is different from that of the rophets under the law, just as many people do not also know today. Also, a Christian is not just a person who carries a big bible without understanding the teachings and doctrines of Jesus Christ, like the Ethiopian eunuch did as recorded in Acts of the Apostles (Acts 8:27-39). He did not understand what he was reading, even though he was educated and knew how to read:

And Phillip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, how Can I, except some man should guide me. ( Act 8: 30-3 1)

It would be good for us to understand the basic laws of God and the time Christianity started. Would it be right for us to say that there was Christianity from Genesis to Malachi? (From the first to the last book (ages) of the Old Testament?) The answer is NO, for it wasChrist's physical appearance and teachings that brought in Christianity. And it is only those who understand and act according to the new laws and teachings of Jesus Christ, which. include repentance and forgiveness of sins; love for neighbours as for self, etc that can be called Christians. Jesus gave some of the conditions of becoming a Christian to Nicodemus in John 3:5 when He said to him.

....Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That means that for a person to become a Christian, he must be born again. And amongst other conditions whiCh the Bible gave is that, it is only those who believe 1n Him that can be (Christians) in the kingdom of God.

For God sent his Son unto the world not to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believes in Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (Jn 3: 1 7-1 8 )

Jesus Christ said concerning John the Baptist that John the Baptist is the greatest among the prophets, but that the lowest 1n the kingdom of God (Christian) is greater than John the Baptist.

Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Matt 11:11).

What this statement of Jesus means is that the lowest Christian is [greater than John the Baptist because John the Baptist was under the law and did not have the opportunity of knowing and accepting the teachings of Jesus Christ's new laws that brought in grace. That was why John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask if Jesus was the one they were expecting:

Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ he sent two of his disciples And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? (Matt 1 1. 2-3)

John had however, earlier prophesied about Jesus, when asked if he was the Christ:

John answered: saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire (Luke 3:1 6).

But doubt later overtook John the Baptist towards the end of his ministry, since he was not also alive to be among them that were first called Christians in Antioch. Hence, John the Baptist was not a Christian but a prophet in Judaism (the Jewish religion), for Christianity started after the time of John the Baptist. . .

Although John may have been said to complete his divine assignment as a man sent to make the way ready for Jesus Christ, he was not a Christian because the laWs of the prophets ended in his time. Grace started after him.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. (Matt 1 1:13)

The fact is that it is the teaching of Jesus that brought about Christianity and the name or the word 'Christians' started in Antioch as recorded in Acts 11:26 when the disciples were behaving the way Christ behaved. People saw them and said they were like Christ (Christ-like). This is where the word “Christian” came from, which means that Christians should act in the same manner as Christ. Therefore it would not be right for a Christian to live his life in Elijah's manner or that of Moses', who believed in “ a tooth for a tooth” (or do me, and I do you) which is vengeance, but rather, to follow the way of Christ's new law of forgiveness and love for one another. I am not saying that the old prophets are bad, but that Christ has come to redeem us from the bondage of the law. Obedience to the Laws of God is what brings blessings, as recorded in Deuteronomy 28 13:

And the LORD shall make thee the HEAD and not the tail; And thou shalt be ABOVE only, and thou shalt not be beneath; If that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them; (Deut 28:13).

In the passage above, Moses was telling the Israelites that if they hearken to the commandments of God that he gave to them, they would be the head. That means, they had to understand the commandments clearly before they could correctly hearken to them. Therefore, for us to be genuine Christians, we must understand the new commandment given to us by Jesus:

But I say unto you, love your enemies ........... (Matt 5:44).

Jesus said this because before Christianity started there were laws that gave rOOm for hatred, malice and revenge. This shows that a Christian, who still remains under these former laws and ways,'and does not listen to the new commandment of Jesus Christ cannot be a Christian indeed even though he or she is a regular church attendee because the condition is “if thou hearken unto the commandment of . the LORD ...... ” Therefore, a Christian is not identified by the size of Bible or church attendance only, but by the obedience to the commandments of Christ for us to love one another because love, as the bible says covers all sins (Proverb10:12).

You cannot be disobedient to the laws of Christ and still call yourself a Christian (Christ-like) because anyone who fails to obey the amended constitution of a country cannot be called a good citizen of that country. Therefore, it is an offence for a Christian not to obey the new laws as laid down by Jesus Christ. There is no place in the bible where Jesus Christ commanded his followers (Christians) to pray and curse to kill their enemies. Some people say that Jesus Christ commanded a fig tree to die and with that, they too can command anything including human beings to die. But the question is. Is a fig tree the same as a human being? And as dead trees are used for fire wood, can a dead person be used for same? If the answer is no, then we as Christians must learn to respect the lives of others as Christ did.

The Bible made us to understand that at the end, there Shall be a separation of Christians from the other people in the world (Matt 25:31-34) because there are false prophets, whom we may be thinking are Christians, but who are not,
as recorded in the bible:

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders,‘ insomuch that, if it were possible, theyshall . deceive the very elect. {Matt 24:24)

This is because not everybody who reads and listens to the messages of Jesus Christ understands (Matt 13:13), but only those who understand and receive the seed of the teachings of Jesus into good grounds are Christians (Matt 13:23).What I mean here is that it is only those who hear and Understand the teachings of Jesus message (like the law of forgiveness, love, peace) and have interest in healing-and not in killing men and can pray that God should forgive their enemies, that can be called mature Christians. Christianity is the pulsating life of divinity in a human vessel. The eternal life (Zoe) which we have after receiving Jesus Christ makes for Christianity

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