Are You A Christian?

By Matthew Christensen

The follow article is very close to what I posted recently at what is probably the largest Christian forum (messaging) site on the internet. Shortly after it was posted Christian moderators closed it down claiming it was too judgmental and didn't belong there. Finally after several appeals they did reopen the article but they put it into the debate forum. Since when has the gospel been limited to only debate areas out there in the world? I would expect this from a secular website but this was from a Christian website. So here it goes, please take this message to heart.

Now the reason for this article is my concern that there probably are many people that think they are Christian but really are not. I believe it is important that we all, this includes myself, check ourselves to make sure we really are saved (1 John 5:13).

Things that don't make you a Christian:

1. Being a good person. So many people think they will go to Heaven because they don't really do many bad things. That doesn't matter. If you ever looked or even thought about a person with lust you have committed adultery (Matthew 5:28). If you ever hated someone you have committed murder (Matthew 5:22). If you ever stolen anything, even something small, you are a thief. To top things off here if you even break one commandment you are guilty of breaking them all (James 2:10)! God says there is no one that does good, no, not even one (Romans 3:12). Our "good" works are like filthy rags to him (Isaiah 64:6).

2. Being raised by a Christian family. All because you may have saved family members doesn't mean you get a free ride. I can promise you that you won't find a verse in the Bible to support that kind of thinking.

3. Going to church and/or getting baptized and/or making a confession to a priest. No works will get you into heaven. It is a gift of God so no one can boast God tells us (Ephesians 2:9).

I'm sure some of you by now are thinking "So what does make someone a Christian?". This list is just one item long.

1. You must trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior (Romans 5:1).

I don't want to just leave it at that since people sometimes read some bizarre things into statements like that. Some people may just simply not know what that means.

Jesus who is God took human form. He lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15). Something we all know we can't do (Romans 3:23). He paid the penalty for us by dying on the cross (Ephesians 1:7). Ever since Adam and Eve first sinned we have all been tainted (Romans 5:14). This pain and suffering in the world is because of our sin. Even the earth has been effected by sin (Romans 8:22). The great thing is things will be made the way God intended. There will be no fighting or cancer. We won't have people starving or worrying about paying their bills. We won't be messing up in life like we do now.

This may sound too easy, well think about it. To be saved you have to deny that your good works won't help you to get saved. You have to say I'm sorry of my sin and Jesus, you are my Lord (Luke 13:3). That means there has to be a very humble heart involved otherwise a person will never be saved (James 4:6). Being humble doesn't come easy in this culture.

I hope people take what I have to say at heart. If I was given the choice to lead a person to belief in a young earth or lead a person to knowing Christ as their Lord and Savior I would always pick the second choice.

2006 Matthew Christensen