WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHRISTIAN?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHRISTIAN?

Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you know why the Lord Jesus commanded His Apostles and all of us to go into all the world and make all people DISCIPLES and not CHRISTIANS? (Matthew 28:19).

Do you know where the word Christianity was first born?

Let’s read Acts 11:26..

Acts 11:26 “And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

Did you see there? .. That means before Peter, John, and all the others who believed in Jesus to be known as Christians, were known as disciples, before.

What it means to be a Christian is to be a DISCIPLE OF JESUS. This is something very important to know.

Now the question is how do we become disciples of the Lord Jesus? .or how did the people of the early church become disciples?

The Lord Jesus gave the criteria. In the book of Luke.

Luke 14:27 “Whoever does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

I mean any Christian is a disciple. In that sense, the Lord’s statement in Luke 14:27 is exactly right to put it this way…

“Whoever does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be a Christian”.

Do you see it? Let’s continue..

Luke 14:26 “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”

Hating the parents mentioned here is hating them with hatred, but hating their thoughts or plans that are contrary to God’s will, for example a parent or brother tells you you should inherit magic purses, or inherit his hatred for someone, then the Lord says we must hate those thoughts and reject them and do not associate with them even if they separate you..that is the same as you hate your brothers, Christ is talking to you..and these are the criteria for discipleship i.e. CHRISTIAN.

Let’s move on a little further .

The Lord says ..

Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”

According to Acts 11:26 which says that the Disciples are Christians..so it is very appropriate to keep these words of the Lord in this Luke 14:33.

“So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be a CHRISTIAN”.

That reveals that among all the group that followed the Lord, there were very few Christians … that is, only His disciples, female and male, who denied themselves and took up their crosses and followed the Lord. The rest were not Christians.

And the scriptures say that Jesus is the same, yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13: 8).

If it means that if the criteria for a person to be a disciple (ie a Christian) were self-denial and carrying the cross… then it will be the same today, because he is the same and immutable.

Hebrews 13: 8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Are you a Christian?… Have you denied yourself? Have you hated the world and left it? If not so your not yet a Christian it doesn’t matter you pray in other churches or you have been baptized, still you are not a Christian.

If you are still drunk, or committing adultery, or wearing tight clothing and showing off your body, you are not yet a Christian.

Decide today to deny yourself and carry your cross, let the world see you confused but you know you are doingb the will of your Father in heaven.

Lord said “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:36).

What good will it do you to look modern and not go to heaven?

The Lord give us eyes to see.

Maran atha!

Please share this good news with others.


Related Articles:

What is the meaning of ” For the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life” (2 Corinthians 3:6)

LEARN GOD’S COMMITMENT AND HOSPITALITY.

BE NOT RIGHTEOUS OVER MUCH

IS YAWNING A SIGN OF DEMONS??

What does it mean “in the abundance of wisdom there is the abundance of sorrows”.

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