Gospel
This article is mainly written to non-Christians. What really makes a Christian, a Christian? Is it going to church and being involved in a lot of religious activities? Is it being a good person and loving people? Is it giving to the poor and needy? None of these things really make a person a Christian. An atheist can do all of this. While a true Christian will, or should, do these things as an outward sign of their conversion, they are not what really makes one a Christian.
No matter how loving or good a person might be, there is still a tendency in each one of us to speak, act, and think in wrong ways and to rebel against God and his ways of doing things. The Bible calls that having a sin nature. Each person, therefore, needs a spiritual makeover.
There is a kingdom of darkness, controlled by Satan, and a kingdom of light, controlled by God. When a person makes a conscious, willful decision to accept Jesus, surrendering their life to his control, that person is transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. That is something that is not outwardly visible to other people. In the Bible, Colossians 1:13-14 sums it up this way:"For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." When this happens a person is given a new spiritual nature in Christ and is transferred from the bondage of sin of the kingdom of darkness into God's kingdom of light, with new desires and ways of thinking.
The transfer into God's kingdom also means that a person has been "adopted" into God's spiritual, eternal family. They now have the Holy Spirit of God living within them. This is something else that others cannot see. This results in the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 to begin a new work in that person's life and heart. These fruits of the Spirit are qualities like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, the kind of attributes the world is looking for and needs.
So, one could ask the question, "Why then, are there so many people who call themselves Christians but do not exhibit these qualities?" Non-Christians often refer to them as hypocrites. There are two parts to the answer. One, some people associate being a Christian with what they do, but they have haver been transferred into God's kingdom of light. Two, everyone is at a different place in their spiritual journey. Some see changes take place in their lives faster than others. God is at work in every Christian's life, but sometimes things like rebellion and old lifestyles, or wrong ways of thinking have to be changed. More and more, one will begin to see godly qualities on display in their life, some sooner and some later.
There you have it. This is what really makes a Christian. Decide to transfer today into God's eternal kingdom.
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