A Christian is someone who follows the teachings of Jesus thereby doing the will of God, someone who has been washed in his blood and has been born again. A Christian is someone who follows the Word and walks in the light.
Well, that would be the effortful answer of a typical churchgoer. It shows that you have some idea of soteriology. What I was looking for was the onion answer that only the spiritual maturity can provide. What that means is there is an essential answer that must be peeled back layer by layer (that is, cross and chain-referencing scripture) to reveal a broad and very deep-rooted meaning that ties perfectly into thousands of things in the Old Testament.
I'll start at the top layer and show you how to break it down. It should be very eye-opening for you and you will gain a much better grasp of scripture altogether. First, let me pose a few questions for you.
1. Why do people wear crosses around their necks?
2. Who is holy?
3. What is the meaning of the cross?
These questions are meant to be answered quickly without any referencing or contemplation. if you think about them before answering then you'll lose the whole effect. That is for later.
Now for the definition of a Christian. Go back to the Old Testament and ask yourself, who were the followers of GOD? You cannot understand Christianity without figuring this out first. Let me step you through it.
Why was Abraham the father of Israel? There are three answers: He was the father of Jacob (Israel), because of a promise, and because he was called by GOD. These three things are key. So we can break it down into it's basic order: calling, promise, blessing.
Then, who was Moses? GOD said two things about Moses: "Out of Egypt I called my son" and "Moses was the most humble man in the world."
Now ask yourself, where did Mary and Joseph take Jesus to protect Him from Herod? Answer: they went to Egypt. Now, when Jesus left Egypt, he followed His calling, led by an OT promise (Psalm 110, "
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool"), and received His blessing ("
The Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove").
Now we have Abraham, Moses, and Jesus all of the same model: calling, promise, blessing. Abraham followed the call, kept faith in the promise, and was blessed as the "father of many nations."
Keep in mind I'm being very rudimentary here because it would be overwhelming for you to understand fully all at once, and it would take a lot of time to type on my phone. This is just to get you started with the right thinking.
Now, ask yourself, who is Jesus Christ? The book of John says, "
In the beginning was the word, and the word was with GOD, and the word was GOD" then says, "
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life." In Revelation, Jesus is "
the alpha and omega, first and the last, beginning and the end, the one who was and who is and who is to come."
Therefore, Jesus is the genesis of all things as "in Him was life," and "all things were made by Him." Now, we have to go back a step and put a few things together.
Yku have Abraham, Moses, Jesus all of the same model right? So Moses being "the most humble man in the world" is a model of Jesus who "Made himself a little lower than the angels." Jesus humbled Himself to die on the cross for our sins. Therefore, who is the most humble man in the world? Then when Jesus, in faith, followed the calling of GOD based on a promise, Jesus received the reward, "Seated at the right hand of the Father."
Are you starting to understand the pattern here. Remember, this is really stripped down and basic but you should start getting the idea.
Now, if we are Christians, we are born again in the same model as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Therefore, a Christian is the called of GOD who receive the Spirit of GOD who have faith in the promise of GOD, and then we're blessed with eternal life.
Ah, so now we're beginning to build a rudimentary definition of a Christian. So let's build a simple working definition just to start:
A Christian is the called of GOD, who receives the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:11) through death and and reborn to conform to the image of Jesus (Colossians 1, "
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature"), sealed for the day of redemption, and heirs of the promise.
Now, though this is extremely trimmed down, you can begin to see the depths of my definition vs yours. Your definition is not necessarily incorrect, rather, fundamental and lacks maturity. I hope you understand that I'm speaking here in specific bible terms so don't think words like lack are a criticism. To understand this, Paul refers to the very first, most very basic principles of salvation as "milk" (1 Corinthians 3, "
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able").
So your definition is one gained by drinking milk, that is, hovering some time over the "rudiments of scripture." You have several simple concepts loosely threaded together without depth. With spiritual maturity (practice of the senses, increasing in the knowledge of GOD), your definition develops because you begin to understand very simple concepts in Christology, Protology, Soteriology, Paterology, etc.
So forget what you think Christianity means because you and most people learn the worldly definition, but the world doesn't define Christianity, the bible does. Knowing that one fact will open up a whole universe of understanding for you.
This is just an oversimplified introduction just to point you in the right direction and start to form the right mentality. Don't think like, "Well I did say this and I meant that" because this is not about correcting you or proving you wrong but showing you the door to better understanding.
As for your list, I'll explain it's flaws tomorrow because this was a lot for one post. For now, I hope you enjoy the new awakening.
