One of the most important questions in the world is: What is a Christian? It’s a great conversation starter. You can get a whole host of answers. “I was born a Christian” some say. “I’m a card-carrying member of the church” another will reply. “I read the Bible and pray” still another will say. Or from those who really are saved, many times the definition will come in the form of attitudes and behaviours that are suitable for saints. But Christians are not defined by their actions. “Fruit-inspecting” is not a safe way to determine whether or not a person has been spiritually reborn. Plastic fruit has fooled me many a time. So, what is a Christian then?
I love the Bible. One of the reasons for this is because it is a living book. It surprises me with it’s movements all the time. Verses that I thought I knew, turn their faces toward the Son to reveal something about themselves that I never saw before. Take John 3:16 for instance. Do you know what the literal translation of that verse really is? It goes this way: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes INTO him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That word “into” sounds strange, doesn’t it? When the Philippian Jailer asked Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved, Paul answered, “Believe ON the Lord Jesus Christ.” Another strange sounding phrase. But these words “into” and “on” are really important when defining a Christian. A Christian doesn’t just believe “in” Jesus. He or she believes INTO him and ON him. Big little words.
Believing in something is merely recognizing its existence. I don’t believe in Santa Claus, but I do believe in Christ. I believe He was born around two millennia ago and that he died around the age of 33. But I think you can even believe that he rose again from the dead and still not be a Christian. A Christian pours his or her belief, emptying it into Christ. Paul said, “Let God be true and every man a liar.” That’s what I’m talking about. For the Christian, God is right even when everyone else is saying the opposite. The Christian doesn’t try to fit God into his or her system of belief. Christians make God’s beliefs theirs. That’s what that little word “into” is all about. You trade in your beliefs, for the Lord’s.
What about the word “on”? Believing ON Jesus is best illustrated by the man these words were spoken to. The Jailer fell down on his face before Paul and Silas. He was not standing on his own two feet anymore. Believing ON Jesus is coming to rest on him. It’s not an action. It’s a cessation of activity. We are saved by grace. That means that we have no part in that. Christ does the saving. The second you contribute even the slightest, it ceases to be grace. So, a Christian puts down his sack of beliefs on Jesus’ shoulders. Then He carries them for you. This was beautifully expressed by the Father of a demon-possessed boy in Mark 9 when he said, “Lord, I believe… Help my unbelief!” That’s believing ON Jesus. It’s saying you can only believe if He helps you.
There’s another little word that may be helpful in discovering just what a Christian is. We find it in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Did you spot it? We had to go to the good ol’ King James Version to get it, but it’s that big little word “of”. Paul wrote, “I live by the faith OF the Son of God”. Newer translations render that “by faith in the Son of God”, but that’s not true to the original language. Once again, there is some awkwardness to get over, but there is a big difference between my faith, and Jesus’ faith. Which would you rather live by?
Christ was faithful. He faithfully lived a perfect life here. He faithfully died a perfect death as well, being crucified for the sins of the world. His faith cannot fail. Mine does daily. My life in Him is based on His faith. He is faithful to me. His blood never fails. His resurrection life given to me is incorruptible. He stands in Heaven as my great high priest, interceding for me when I sin. He will return one day to remove me from the presence of sin. The quality of my life is dependent on whether or not I see his faithfulness as more important than my own. If I think my faith is the fulcrum, than I will teeter and totter my way through life, never finding balance. It is the faith OF the Son of God that I depend on daily. His faithfulness to me is much more important than mine. It is only when I am focused on His, that my own will be what it should be.
Into, On and Of are all big little words. But there’s one more that we should take some time to zero in on. It’s the word, IN. When defining a Christian, this word is paramount. Especially when it is joined to the word, “Christ”. The phrase “in Christ” dominates the New Testament letters. Before salvation, we are all “in Adam”. That should be an easy one to see. The whole race of mankind was in Adam when God made him. We were all there, in potential, right? Even Eve was there. That’s why God pulled her out during Adam’s little nap. We start off being born “in Adam”, but faith places us “in Christ”. There are only two men as far as God is concerned. We are either in Adam or Christ.
You see, Jesus Christ is actually the second creation of man. The Son of God had no beginning, but in becoming a man, he began a new race – a new line. Adam is the natural, physical line of humanity. But Jesus is the spiritual, supernatural line that anyone can become a part of, simply by believing (being convinced) that Jesus died for him or her. You get plucked out of the old family tree, and grafted into the new one. That makes you “in Christ”.
Right before the Lord Jesus went to the cross, he took some time to explain things to his friends. He called himself the Vine. And then he told them that they are the branches. He told them that each of them is “a branch in me.” A branch shares the same root structure as the vine. The sap that flows through the branches first came from the vine. Reborn new creations in Christ share his life. Peter wrote that we are “partakers of the divine nature.” That’s what it means to be “in” him. When you come to rest your beliefs on Jesus, you’re IN.
There is another thought here. “In Christ” means that you are secure and safe, just as Noah and his family were safe from the ravages of the flood, inside the ark. In Romans 8, we read the words, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Even though we can experience Romans 7 from time to time – not doing the things we want to do and doing the things we don’t want to do – we must trust that we are still free from the judgment of God. We will need to have our fellowship with the Lord reestablished, through confession of sins, but we need never fear banishment. Once we are in Christ, there is no getting out.
So, has this helped us to see what a Christian is? We could sink ships with books on the subject, but essentially, my hope is that it is clear that faith is the determining factor. “The just shall live by faith” we read, thanks to that prophet with such a great name – Habakkuk. (It sounds like a choking noise!) But faith is the issue. Am I a Christian? Well, underneath it all, I have a little live coal of faith that just keeps glowing. No “archeological proof” or revisionist historian has ever been able to put it out, even after dumping sky-scraper sized buckets of doubt on it. I’ve sounded foolish at times trying to explain it, and have looked silly doing some of the things its led me to do, but it’s Jesus’ fault. My faith is only anything because it has something to do with Him. You won’t talk me out of it. You may win the debate, but you’ll have lost me.
I identify with Peter quite a bit. He swore to a little girl that he did not know Jesus of Nazareth. But you know what? Where were Peter’s eyes when Jesus looked at him? I may swear to you that I don’t know him, but I won’t fool Him. That’s faith. May these four big little words: Into, On, Of and In – help you to understand faith. It’s all about the object of faith – the Lord Jesus. The one who loved me – and you – and gave himself to prove it. After all, it’s the object of faith that makes saving faith saving, not the faith.