What makes one a Christian? - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Ephesians 2:8.9.

What makes one a Christian?
A dictionary defines a Christian as "someone who has faith in Jesus Christ and has been baptised".

The term "Christians" was first given to the disciples of Jesus at Antioch (cf. Acts 11:26). Their conduct and their words made their attachment to Jesus Christ clear. Originally therefore the word "Christian" means a disciple of Christ.

Nowadays the term is often used to describe someone who has received Christian baptism, but is not necessarily a disciple of Jesus, nor even believes in Him. One can go to church, do charitable works but not have faith in Jesus Christ. Such a person is not a Christian in the biblical sense of the word.

The same dictionary defines "faith" as "holding completely and irrefutably on to an ideal, e.g. a religious belief, or absolute confidence in someone or something". We should now take time to reflect: do I really have faith, total confidence in Jesus Christ? Do we believe that He is the Son of God who came from heaven to undergo the judgment that we deserve? Do we believe that He truly rose from the dead and will soon return to take His own to the Father's house? This is the faith that can make true Christians of us.

Let us also take note that without this faith it is impossible to please God (cf. Hebrews 11:6).

Today's reading: Exodus 12:1-16 · Luke 5:12-16