Surprisingly, the word “Christian” only occurs three times in the New Testament. Believers and disciples are much more common terms. Still, the word is used to describe us (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16), and it is important for us to replace society’s negative understanding of what a Christian is with a biblical perspective. One simple but good way to state what it means to be a Christian is to confess Jesus (Matthew 10:32; Luke 12:8). That is indeed simplified, however, so it needs to be clarified.
First, we are not merely confessing Jesus, we are confessing him to be the utmost authority in the universe. Until the end of this age, God has placed all authority in his hands. He is the King, the reigning Lord of the kingdom of God. His utter authority is communicated in Scripture by the fact that we confess him as Lord, Christ, and Son of God. (For Lord, that is, master, see Romans 10:9-10; for Christ, that is the anointed king; compare 1 Timothy 6:12-13 with what Jesus confessed before Pilate in Matthew 27:11; Mark 15:2; Luke 23:2-3; John 18:33-37; cf. also John 9:22; for Son of God, that is, he is divine, see 1 John 2:2-3; 4:15). Don’t forget the very word Christian means “belonging to Christ” and that Christ means “Anointed One,” a reference to his kingship. A “Herodian” (Mark 3:6) belongs to King Herod, but a Christian belongs to Christ the ultimate King.
Second, confession includes submission. Believing without confessing is insufficient (John 12:42), but confessing without living according to our confession is also insufficient (Colossians 2:6-7). Americans may be able to say the words that Jesus is Lord without meaning it, but people in the first century viewed a confession more seriously than that, and God clearly desires more than mere words (Titus 1:16; Matthew 7:21; Luke 6:46). Bowing before the Lord, swearing allegiance to him, and confessing him all go hand in hand (compare Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10-11). The fuller sense of biblical confession may be stated more meaningfully in our day with the words “embrace Christ as King.”
So, to be a Christian is to confess the ultimate authority of Christ and living accordingly. To those who had believed in him (first idea), Jesus said, “If you abide in my word (second idea), you are truly my disciples” (i.e., real Christians). The first idea without the second is not the kind of faith and devotion God seeks. The second idea without the first may lead to some acts of kindness but they would be “random acts,” not done in the name of Christ, and so they are not Christian.
This description of what it means to be Christian helps us to remember that we ourselves have embraced Jesus as the King of our lives and so need to live accordingly. If we didn’t really realize what we were saying when we “said I do” to him, perhaps we need to revisit and renew our vows and swear allegiance once again (Isaiah 45:23). Our confession of him should lead us to “consider” him in every situation of our lives (Hebrews 3:1).
This description of what it means to be a Christian also guides us as we invite others to become Christians. Specifically, it calls us to communicate the gospel more completely and faithfully to non-Christians than is often done today. If the gist of our message to them is only that “Jesus died for your sins so you can have a home with him in heaven someday,” they may totally miss the greater truth that he is Lord of all. As a result, they will be susceptible to going through a gospel procedure without truly embracing Christ as Lord, something we noted above to be insufficient. If they fail to embrace him as Lord, it also makes it less likely that they will follow and obey him, which is also insufficient.
Instead, as Paul did at Corinth, we first emphasize to people the broader truth that Jesus is the Christ (Acts 18:5). Then we tell them not only that the Christ died for their sins but also that he was buried, raised from the dead, and appeared to many witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). They definitely need to know he died for their sins, but they also need to know that God raised him from the dead, showing him to be both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36; Romans 1:1-4). Doing this lays the foundation of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11). Helping them understand that the right response to the gospel includes confessing Jesus as Lord will lead to the needed “submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ” (2 Corinthians 9:13) and also help them “hold fast” their confession (Hebrews 4:14; 10:23).
Confessing Jesus isn’t the only way to state what it means to be a Christian, and perhaps it is too simplified. To help us remember what is involved, we might expand it to say a Christian is one who confesses Jesus as the Lord of life and lives accordingly. That is still fairly simple and is a good way to communicate the gist.
Empowering Subjects 