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What is a Christian?
Are you a Christian? I was brought up in a Christian home. That doesn't make you a Christian
My mother always went to church. That doesn't make you a Christian
I believe in doing good, helping others. Quite right, too, but so do most people.
I was baptized and confirmed. So are thousands who care little about Christ. That doesn't make you a Christian.
I believe in God. So does the devil. That doesn't make you a Christian. Many people say and think they are Christians yet rarely bother about Christ.
Well, what is a Christian, then? Let's begin at the very beginning ...
In the Beginning
In the beginning when God made human beings, he made them perfect and good and sinless. He wanted them to be his friends and look after the Earth. God did not make them a robot or a machine. He gave them a precious gift-free will, to choose between right and wrong, good and bad. He did not, want to force man to love him. He wanted man to love him freely. But man chose to disobey God; he chose wrong. He preferred to please himself rather than God. He sinned. And so sin entered into the world. It is a disease we all have,
"for all have sinned" (Romans 3: 23).
What is sin?
Evil, wrong and sin are there in the life of everyone born into the world. We see this in all the hatred and violence, greed and selfishness in the world. We see this as we look at our own lives, if we are really honest with ourselves. It is part of our very nature. I sin when I come short of God's standard. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
The pass mark for an exam is 50. If you get 49 marks you have failed. If someone else gets 5 marks he has failed. It is no good you saying, "I did much better than the one who got 5." You have both failed. You may think you are not so bad, better than most. But that's not the point, for not one of us has come anywhere near God's perfect standard - Jesus Christ. We can't even come up to our own standards. We may not have done anything especially wicked. We are sinners because we are just not good enough.
We Have Turned Our Own Way
I sin when I do what I want. The Bible says, "We have turned every one to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6). Doing what I want: this is the cause of all trouble, unhappiness and quarrels.
Sin is not just killing, stealing, or telling lies. I sin when I live to please myself rather than God. I sin when I can't be bothered with God or with other people, when I say, "I'm my own boss; it's my life; I can do what I like with it" - this is SIN - I in the middle --me first. I sin when 1 do not love God with all my heart. Jesus said,
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment." (Matthew 22: 37-38)
Not one of us has loved God like this. We have all broken the great commandment. We are all self-centered rather than God-centered.
What sin does
SIN SPOILS
Sin is like an ugly blot on a clean page. Being selfish, lazy, thoughtless, telling lies and dirty stories ruins your character. Sin destroys the happiness of a home or a friendship.
SIN SPREADS
Sin is like weeds in a garden; if not rooted out, they will soon overrun it. Little acts of dishonesty and disobedience soon become habits we cannot break.
SIN SEPARATES
Sin is like a thick cloud which blots out the sun. That is why God seems miles away. He is pure and holy. He hates sin. He cannot and will not look on sin. It blocks the way to him. Sin cuts you off from God in this life and in the life to come. Be quite clear about this; hell is a grim and dreadful reality for all who reject Jesus Christ in this life. What are you going to do about it; You cannot remove the barrier. You cannot save yourself. Trying to help others and doing good cannot remove this barrier either. If sin results in our being cut off from God, is there no hope for us? Has God washed his hands of us?
"Finding the Christian Faith"
