Who is a true Christian?

Bible is the ultimate word of God and in His wisdom He has provided answers to questions anyone may seek with a humble heart.

The intention of this blog is to give a biblical view on honest questions that matters to us in day to day life.

My qualification is that I don't belong to any one Christian denomination and it is my intent to bring out the truth from a bible perspective. However if you see mistakes or contradictions or unconscious bias, please do share that in the comments.

If we ask Google it says there are 2.3 billion christians in the world which is about 31% of the total world population. However the question we have in front of us is who is a 'true' Christian and those numbers are much lower.

Let me demonstrate this. Go around and ask Christians if they believe in Jesus, you will most certainly receive the answer as 'Yes'. Now if you ask if they follow all the teachings of Jesus, then we start hearing interesting responses.

Acts11: 26 "And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch."

This is the bible verse that talks about the origin of the word Christians and as you see in those time, people who believed in Jesus also followed His teachings hence the term Disciples.

What would you call a person who just by watching football calls themself as a footballer or someone who watches lots of movies and calls themself as an actor?

We call them crazy or liars because they claim something that they are not. Many identify themselves as Christians just because they have a Christian name or because they are part of a church or a congregation. A large population of so called Christians are not disciples of Jesus and sadly most of the mainstream churches do not teach what Jesus taught, they either replace it with church history or twist it to fit their own theology.

The very act of discipleship demands one to bury their ideas, personalities and follow the instruction of the master. When Jesus preached about God's kingdom and later Apostles preached about invitation to this Kingdom, Jews found it hard to follow because the very idea of believing Jesus was considered blasphemy based on their tradition.

As for Gentiles their desires for the world was so strong on them, preventing them to follow a God who demanded high moral standard.

Isn't the situation same for our time too? Traditions and worldly desires are the two major reasons preventing people from following Christ.

Bible says (Acts 2:38 and Acts 10:47) that as for those jews and gentiles who believed, they repented and got baptised as a step to proclaim to God their side of covenant. God responds to this through forgiveness of Sin and with the baptism of Holy spirit.

This is just the beginning of the journey of a disciple. Those who are born again to His kingdom need to learn to be guided daily through bible and through holy spirit.

John 8: 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

FAQ:

Are you seeking to be a true Christian? Let me know in comments how i can help.