What is a Christian?
Nov 10, 2009
Case for Grace - part eight in a study of the book of Romans
Mike Gaudet
It all depends on who is answering the question.
“Someone who is a good person.” “Someone who is a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ.” “Someone who is at war with Muslims.”
There are lots of answers.
What is God’s answer? How does He answer the question?
“If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about — but not before God. What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.” Romans 4:2-5
Most people would say that a Christian is a person who behaves . A Christian attempts to conform his or her life to a biblical moral code. According to this passage though, a Christian is not someone who behaves, a Christian is someone who believes.
“Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
The route Abraham took to be “justified” – declared righteous by God- is the route we are to take. We are to follow in his footsteps. God declared Abraham to be righteous because “Abraham believed” Him. Being a Christian involves believing God.
What does God want us to believe?
God wants us to believe that his acceptance is a gift we receive, not a paycheck we earn.
It is easy for us to believe that God places our good deeds on one side of the scale and our bad deeds on the other. We believe that if our good outweighs our bad, God accepts us into heaven. If our bad outweighs our good, He doesn’t. This kind of thinking comes naturally to us. We are used to working for what we get. The problem with this kind of thinking is that, “When a person works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift but as an obligation.”
When we base our hopes on our church attendance, Bible knowledge, service, and morality, we are basing our hope on “works.” We are trying to use the currency of spiritual devotion to earn God’s blessings. He is the employer. We are the employees. Our service and devotion is our work. His love and acceptance are our “wages.”
It is hard for us to believe that God places our bad deeds on one side of the scale and the gift of eternal life on the other. It is difficult for us to believe that God credits us as righteous in spite of our “wicked” behavior rather than because of our righteous behavior.
When we base our hopes on what God says rather that what we do, we are following Abraham’s example. God tells us that, “He justifies the wicked.” He wants us to believe this. The man or woman who “trusts God who justifies the wicked” receives this assurance from God; “his faith is credited as righteousness.”
This is what God says to us.
Believing it makes us a Christian.
What about behaving? Doesn’t obedience matter? It does. Our obedience, however, is the result of believing God’s acceptance, not the reason for receiving it. Believing is the root. Behaving is the fruit.
What is a Christian?
A Christian is someone who believes in a God who justifies the irreligious, the less than fully devoted, the “wicked.”
A Christian is someone who believes in a God who “so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
This is a Christian.