OceanSide church of Christ
Previous | Return to list of articles | Next |
Are
you a religious person or a Christian?
By
Wayne Rodgers
Sincerity
may make a person religious. Having a good moral character may make a person
religious. Going to church may make a person religious. However, alone
these traits are not sufficient to make a person a Christian, because they are
lacking something.
First, the Bible teaches that sincerity is not enough (Matt. 7:21). Second, the
Bible teaches that even a good man might lack something, like Cornelius (Acts
10). Also, Jesus rebuked the lukewarm
Just being religious does not make a person a Christian. Only the Gospel
of Jesus Christ has the power to make a Christian (Rom. 1:16). Today, we see
many people who seem religious, but if we examine closely, there are identifying
marks of a Christian that will be evident. The scriptures teach we must be
obedient unto Christ (Heb. 5:8,9), we must obey the truth (1 Pet. 1:22), we must
obey the Gospel (2 Thes. 1:7-9), and we must be faithful even unto death (Rev.
2:10).
Obeying the Gospel, the truth, and Jesus, according to Scriptures, means that we
must believe that Jesus is the Christ (John 8:24), we must be willing to confess
our faith in Christ (Matt. 10:32,33; Rom. 10:10), we must be willing to make a
change of life, which is seen in repentance (Luke 13:3,5; Acts 17:30), and we
must then be willing to be baptized (immersed) in water for the remission of our
sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21). At this point, the
person is saved by the power of the Gospel, the blood of Christ washes away the
sin and the Lord adds those to His church (Acts 2:47).
In the Scriptures, we see several different responses of people who heard the
Gospel preached. In Acts 7, Stephen preached the Gospel of Christ and they
stoned him to death, because they were angered at what was preached.
Likely, Stephen thought what the apostle Paul would later write, “Am I become
your enemy because I tell you the truth” (Gal. 4:16). In Luke 18:18-28, we
find a man who had it all and had kept the Old Law faithfully, yet he lacked
something. Christ told him what he should do, but he went away sad. In
Acts 2, the apostle Peter preached the Gospel of Christ with a multitude of
people present, they were pricked in their hearts and asked “Men and brethren,
what shall we do?” Realizing they were lost, they were glad to hear this
Gospel and the offering of salvation.
How will you respond to the Gospel? Will those who preach the truth become your enemy or your best friend? The difference in a religious person and a Christian is in obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Become a Christian today by obedience to His Gospel.