What Makes Us Christians1

Purpose Media Productions
What Makes Us Christians- The Gospel

An anonymous quotation is said to have gone thus, “In order to identify the fake, you need to be familiar with the original.” It is not just a good enterprise pointing only the errors, but to point to the truth. In the following series, we are trusting God to help us identify what makes us Christians.
Why are we Christians? The simple answer is because we believed the gospel. “In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 1:13. Jesus prayed for all Christians in John 17:20, “I do not ask for these (disciples) only, but for those who would believe in Me through their word, (gospel). And the emphasis that it is word and not words point it is a message, the gospel. Paul also says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16.
What is the gospel? The gospel can be categorized into it’s narrow view or broader, that is, wider scope. In a narrow sense, it is the good news of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ and all He did in respect to our salvation which includes His incarnation, blameless life, death, resurrection and ascension. However, in a broader sense, it is the sum of God’s revelation which finds ultimate fulfilment in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ as relating to the salvation of man and His purpose in the universe. The sum of God’s revelation is found in the Bible, the book of God having both Old Testament and New Testament. Thus, we can say that a Christian is one who believes the Bible as the sum of God’s revelation both for doctrine and practice. This definition might sound vague and bogus because there are those who claim to be adherents of the Bible but are found to be otherwise. As vague as it may sound, it still remains true that anyone who does not believe the Bible as the final source of authority for doctrine and practice is not a Christian. In this discourse, we have pointed to two key facts,
1. The inspiration of Scripture
2. The sufficiency of Scripture
Christians believe that the Scripture, both the Old and New Testament is God breathed, inspired and it is what God wants man to know about His ways. Moses adored the vastness of God when He said that the secret things belong to God but those that are revealed are for the children of men. We could not know the God who is hidden in light let alone to know His ways but He has chosen to reveal Himself to us and ultimately through His Son- Jesus Christ. Heb. 1:1-3. Also apart from the fact that God has revealed Himself to us is the fact that what He has revealed is sufficient, more than enough and adequate to draw us to a living and active relationship with Him. Agur, the son of Jakeh wrote in Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge (believe) in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebukes you and you be found a liar.” Also Jesus Christ warned John to pass across to his audience in which we are also inclusive, “I warn everyone who heard the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” Revelation 22:18-19. It is joyful that the warning is stressed in the book of Revelation, that is, at the close of the canon of Scripture. Thus, the word of prophecy of this book will not only refer to the book of Revelation alone, but the entire books of THE BOOK, the Bible (the sum of God’s revelation or prophecy to man). Those who embraces doctrines or practices that are not Biblical or Bible based are not Christians likewise those who reject any truth that is expressly stated in the Bible as Revelation has warned. It is not by writing a new Bible with extra books not in the canon or by removing some canonical materials as that passage is often interpreted. That is the extreme of it.
The inspiration and sufficiency of the Bible is stressed in 2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is breathed out by God (inspiration) and profitable for teaching (doctrine), for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete (sufficient), equipped for every good work.

The Bible is very crucial and cannot be overemphasized.

 Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. Romans 10:17. (And) of his own will He brought us forth (we became born again/ Christians) by the word of truth (the gospel), that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. James 1:18. Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. 1 Peter 1:23.

The word of God, the Bible also plays a major role in sanctification. Jesus said to His disciples, “You are already clean (saved and sanctified) through the words I have spoken unto you. John 15:3. He prayed to the Father as well, “Sanctify them by Your truth, Your word is truth.” John 17:17.
I nevertheless have a major concern. Many who claim the Bible as their source of authority are having so many irreparable divides on doctrinal positions and believe. Is it that the Bible is divided against itself? There is simply something wrong somewhere and that is in the handling or interpreting of the Bible. In the next article, we will discuss how the church has gotten to where it was through Systematic Theology and how the Bible had loved we should have handled it as Progressive and Gospelcentric Theology. Stay tuned.

© Purpose Media Publications, 2020