What Makes Someone a Christian

In the last two articles I have discussed what I consider to be the divine perspective on our recent presidential election. We need to imagine the good that God intends through what He has allowed and we need to understand the spiritual process for experiencing joy in response to adversity. I want to echo Paul’s command found in 1Tim 2:1-4 to pray for our leaders. This command obligates us to pray for our new president, congress and your leaders down to the local level where you live. In this article, I want to discuss the two primary views of what makes a person a Christian and ask the question, what does Mr. Obama mean when he calls himself a Christian?

During the campaign, Mr. Obama announced that he was a Christian. He explained that for 20 years he had belonged to Trinity United Church of Christ, a church that teaches ‘Black Liberation Theology”. Black Liberation Theology is focused on Jesus as a social reformer and as one desiring to bring social justice to the poor and underprivileged. BLT appears to be mostly concerned with man’s social and economic situation more than his spiritual situation. I don’t present this as fact but only as my impression from what I have read on the internet. With this understanding, it is not hard to see where Mr. Obama’s economic philosophies have originated. In this article, I want to discuss what many people believe makes one a Christian and compare that to what the bible says about being a Christian.

There are many different versions of what we think of as being a Christian. According to the Dictionary of Christianity in America [Protestant] (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1990): “As of 1980 David B. Barrett identified 20,800 Christian denominations worldwide. I am not sure how Mr. Barrett was able to count all of these but if his numbers are even close, that is an astounding number of different ideas as to what constitutes a Christian. It is not my purpose to address all of these different ideas.

If you will allow me, I would like to simplify this discussion by dividing these 20,800 different ideas of Christianity into two different categories. Believe it or not, all of these different ideas can be divided into just 2 categories. The first I call Christianity by Works and the second I call Christianity by Grace. Let’s look briefly at both of these and as we do, decide which of these is your own type of Christianity.

The overwhelming majority of these 20,800 denominations can be classified under the label of Christianity by Works. The following statements are representative of the core ideas taught by churches that believe in Christianity by Works:

· God’s plan for us is to practice good works and it is the doing of good works that wins God’s approval & our acceptance into heaven.
· Man must perform good works so that God will accept him.
· It is by performing good deeds and avoiding bad deeds that we earn forgiveness from God.
· God is viewed as holding a set of scales that He uses to weigh out our good/bad deeds. Whichever weighs the most, the good/bad, determines whether God accepts us or rejects us.
· A person is considered a Christian because of the conduct he/she practices in their daily life. This view sees Christianity as a code of conduct, not a relationship with God.

Christianity by Works as implied by its name is focused on choosing moral & ethical actions to conduct relationships and live out life. Moral action is taught as the means of making a person spiritual and also the means of making up for the sins that violate the Justice of God. In many churches, the teaching is that if our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds, God will accept us into heaven when we die. This teaching is very similar to many other world religions where the follower is instructed to perform some work or ritual to appease the wrath of their gods. One wonders if these similar philosophies and methods don’t have the same origin.

In contrast to Christianity by works, Christianity by Grace emphasizes God’s works instead of man’s works. The following ideas are representative of the core teaching of the churches who believe in Christianity by Grace:

· Every human is a sinner & unable to perform enough good to make up for our sins or to be worthy of God’s acceptance.
· Because man is unable to make himself righteous through his own efforts, God’s love made a way to do it for us.
· God sent His son Jesus to the cross, where He paid for all the sins/wrongs done by mankind. These sins are what will cause God to reject us.
· After He paid for our sins, He died & was buried. Then He defeated death itself by rising from the dead three days & three nights later.
· Jesus defeated sin on the cross, death by His resurrection and in doing this, He earned acceptance for us in the sight of God.
· The work of Christ (D,B,R) is offered to all mankind as a free gift that can only be accepted by personal faith.
· When His grace gift is accepted by faith, the new believer is credited with God’s own righteousness (Justification).
· As the possessor of God’s righteousness, the believer is made qualified to be forgiven, reconciled, and accepted by God.
· His grace makes us good enough for God to accept us into heaven if we will simply believe that He did this for us.
· Christianity by Grace also emphasizes good works, but as a result of being right with God, never the means of becoming right with God.

Christianity by Grace considers a person to be a Christian if they have accepted the work of Christ by faith. When anyone believes that Christ died for their sins and rose again, God forgives all of their sins, declares them righteous in the courtroom of heaven and adopts them into His own family forever. Justification makes us acceptable to the Justice of God and allows Him to accept us into heaven without compromising His perfect integrity. The apostle Paul explains this concept:

Romans 3:21-23 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

Notice that justification is a gift offered to undeserving sinners, apart from performing any works of the Mosaic Law and given to those who choose to believe in Jesus Christ as their savior. Forgiveness of sins and Justification are part of 50 different things that God Himself does at the moment we accept Christ as our Savior. Notice that Grace Christianity is focused on what God does to make someone a Christian, not on what man does to make himself a Christian. These 50 actions that God performs in heaven and inside the new believer are permanent, eternal and the actions of a Sovereign and Supreme Being, not the actions of a frail and fallible human being.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

It is always what God does that counts and it is what God does that makes someone a Christian. In grace, Christ did all the work to satisfy God’s righteous requirement. Man is unable to add anything to the finished work of Christ, only accept it by faith. In fact, man is not ever allowed to add His works to God’s to secure His salvation. Grace Christianity teaches that after being given salvation as a free gift, God does want us to perform good works but never as a means of earning salvation. Christianity by Grace teaches that all good works done by believers are an expression of God’s love and are a result of being a Christian, but never the means of becoming a Christian. Those who have been saved by God’s incredible mercy will respond with love and gratitude. Their good works are intended to manifest God’s love so that the recipients can see God for themselves and come into the same eternal relationship.

To those outside of Christianity, these 2 systems look the same but they are actually diametrically opposed to one another. The first, Christianity by works places all the emphasis on man and requires that man elevate himself to a place where God can accept him. Churches that hold this view teach their people to be involved in social justice and righting all the wrongs of the world. By doing these good deeds, they hope to make the world a place where God might feel at home and Christ will be willing to return. These churches de-emphasize the spiritual world and focus on the church as the agent for fixing the material world. While helping the oppressed is a worthy goal, to teach that doing good deeds can earn a ticket to heaven is a horrible lie that has deceived many. Paul discussed this very lie as taught by the Jews of his day:

Romans 10:1-3 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

Rather than submit to God by receiving His righteousness by faith in Christ, the Jews of Paul’s day tried to earn their own righteous standing with God by keeping the Mosaic Law (good works). Paul explains that their zeal for God was misguided and not according to knowledge. The same can be said for anyone who tries to earn a righteous standing before God by doing any kind of good works. The bible says that no created being can earn their way to heaven by keeping a code of conduct, even the code that God Himself gave to Moses.

Galatians 2:16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified.

Keeping the Mosaic law or any system of rules compiled from the bible will never induce God to bless or save anyone. If a person calls himself a Christian because he follows a code of conduct but doesn’t trust in the death, burial & resurrection of Christ as their means of justification, is he really a Christian according to the bible?

The second system, Christianity by Grace, places the emphasis on what God does. Man is always the undeserving recipient of God’s mercy. The only way to be righteous before God is to accept the gift of righteousness through faith in Christ as discussed above. The focus is on the spiritual aspects of our relationship with God and less on what happens in the material world. When Pilate asked Jesus about His kingdom, Jesus explained that in His 1st coming, the kingdom would not exist as an earthly kingdom but as a spiritual kingdom.

John 18:36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”

The kingdom of Christ, which is Christianity, is first a spiritual kingdom before it is a kingdom that impacts the material world. In the present earthly order, God has chosen to allow human suffering and to use it for His own spiritual purposes. Jesus, when confronted with the issue said this:

Matthew 26:11 “For the poor you have with you always; but you do not always have Me.

Jesus knew that His first earthly mission was to resolve the spiritual issues between God and man. It is the spiritual issues resolved in time that determine our destiny in eternity. He taught us that eternal benefit was far more important than material equality and that the church’s mission in the present order is spiritual before it is economic or political. When discussing this issue, he said this:

Matthew 16:26 “For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Jesus was not saying that the church has no responsibility to help the poor or speak to social issues. The church in fact is the true voice of compassion and grace to the helpless and oppressed. When the church is effective in influencing man’s spiritual life, it always causes society to move toward righting inequities and injustice. A perfect example is the impact of Jesus on the status of women in the Christian world. Before He publicly recognized and elevated women, their position in society was little more than property. It was the teaching of His Apostles that gave women a position of equality in Christ. In the Muslim world, women are still oppressed and considered the property of men. It was the church that brought about the elevation of women, not political action.

Understanding the distinction between works and grace is the most important life task any person faces. Literally, the decision one makes about this issue determines his eternal destiny. The bible is clear on the issue, salvation is by grace through faith and not from ourselves, not of works so that no man can boast. If we add our works to the work of Christ, He disqualifies us from receiving the free gift that He earned for us. The Apostle Paul, intending to make the issue clear, wrote to the church at Rome:

Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Grace and works are mutually exclusive systems. It is either one or the other in spite of many attempts throughout history to reconcile the two. If a man chooses grace, God will give him the free gift of eternal life. If he chooses works, he will come up short when he faces God at the Judgment. I pray that God will reveal the truth to all who read this.

Or next President says that he is a Christian. I wonder where he stands on the issue of works and grace. The Church of Christ traditionally teaches Christianity by Works. His intentions to socialize our country’s medicine and economy seem to align with a works approach. Does he believe that his “good work” of equalizing the economic situation of the poor will recommend him when he stands before God? Is he truly born again and indwelt by the Holy Spirit or does he consider himself a Christian because he follows a certain code of conduct? I don’t have the answers to these questions.

If Obama has accepted the free gift of salvation, then he is indwelt by the Spirit. The Spirit will be seeking to open his heart to the biblical view of governing a nation. We can pray for the Spirit to lead him to the truth. We can ask the Spirit to speak to his conscience.

If he considers himself a Christian because he follows a “Christian” code, then he is certain to fail. His intended policies, which do not line up with the bible, will cause an increase in our economic problems. Having hyped himself almost to savior status, when he falls, he will disillusion many. If this occurs, it is my prayer that God will open the eyes of many to their need for the gospel. We need to be ready.