What is a Christian? Most people in the religious world, define a Christian as a believer in Jesus, the Christ. They require little more than an affirmation that Christ lived here on the earth, and brought the solution for our sin. While Christ did bring the solution, that solution involved much more than just an affirmation of His life here. It involved His approval by God, His teachings, His lifestyle, His sacrifice, and my desire to “FOLLOW” His example in my life. I must learn from Him on how to do this, and to meet God’s approval.

Why Start the Path? We must remember our goal, to stop sinning, to put sin behind me, to serve and please God. Rom. 7:24 To hear God say, “ Have you considered my servant (your name)?” Job 1:8 It is not about my pleasure, my desires. “I think” really has nothing to do with meeting His approval. Prov. 23:7 My life to this point has been according to my desire and will, pleasure. While seeking the pleasure I realized it was fleeting, yet still wanted. Heb. 11:25 I want to find JOY, HAPPINESS, FULFILLMENT! But to find this, I must turn to the Creator, who made me function a particular way. Eph. 1:3ff. Contentment will be found when we hear Him say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter…”. Mt. 25:21, 17:5; Heb. 13:6; 2 Pet. 1:7

A Follower Grammatically, the term Christian, means a follower, disciple. We follow, practice, obey the discipline/teachings of Christ. Following Christ’s teachings to be redeemed is a small part of being a follower. Becoming a Christian grants us forgiveness from our past sin. The burden of those sins, reflect on the dissatisfaction of sin in my life. The stronger the burden, the less desire we will have to commit the sin again in the future. We learn sin separates us from God, and we desire to be close to God, not separated from Him. Job 7:20; Ps. 38:4, 55:22; Eccl. 12:5; Gal. 6:5 Christ lived His life in a close relation to His Father. To follow Him, duplicate His life, we need to learn how He did so. John 10:30, ch. 17; Heb. 10:7,9; 1 Jn. 3:9

Follow Him As we read the 4 gospels, reflecting the life of Christ, we realize Christ was never far from God in thought. He realized God was watching Him. He realized His work was to save the LOST, not condemn the world, Jn. 3:16ff. He realized God, the Father, was instructing Him regarding the teaching, and the work to be done. Jn. 5:30; 8:29,42; 9:4;10:25,32,37; 5:30, 12:49, 14:24, 31 We must work toward salvation, Phil. 2:12. Obey! We must follow His example. 1 Pet. 2:21; Rom. 14:19; 1 Cor. 14:1; Phil. 3:12; 1 Thess. 5:15; 2 Thess. 3:7-9; 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22; Heb. 12:14; 3 Jn. 11; Rev. 14:4 1 Cor. 11:1

Love Him Many people speak of their love for Christ. Really though, who do they love? They live how they want to be while “calling on the name of the Lord”, according to their will. They attend a “church” they fits their needs/desires socially and financially, all in the name of “going to church”. They look for salvation but based on God doing it all for them, leaving them nothing to do but believe in Jesus being the Son of God, and living on the earth. The old saying is “nothing in life of value comes free”. Very true here. While we may not be able to turn time back prior to our sinful life, and while our sinful life being given as a sacrifice for sin would not help. While we must depend on Christ’s sacrifice, He does leave us with commands to fulfill. If we love Him, we will fulfill them. Jn. 14:15, 23; 1 Jn. 5:3; Duet. 30:20; Jms. 1:12; Lose your lifestyle and take on His! Mt. 10:39; 16:25;Mk. 8:35,36; Jn. 12:25

Walk As Lights in the World We are lights in a world of darkness. Mt. 5:16; Lk. 1:79; 11:35,36; Jn. 1:4-9; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:36,46; Walk as children of Light! 2 Cor. 6:14– Don’t fellowship with the world/darkness. Be ye separate!- 2 Cor. 6:17. Eph. 5:8; Col. 1:12; 1 Thess. 5: 5; 1 Pet. 2:9; 1 Jn. 1:5-7; 1 Jn. 2:8. A transformation must take place. Rom. 6. – Repentance requires a change in direction/purpose/life. – If I get rid of my life of sin, by baptism, and continue my lifestyle I’m accustomed with, where is the change? Which am I now, a servant of sin, or righteousness, proof? – If I’m a “Baptist, Methodist, etc.”, continue worship with those who are heathens, worshipping their God, how can I be a Christian? Ie. Idolatry of Israel. – Got rid of sin, to be without sin, why continue that life?

Faithful Unto Death Mt. 5:21,23 – This is our aim, to live and hear our Father declare us faithful. This parable teaches our service equals our faithfulness. 1 Cor. 4:2 –To be a steward for God, we must be faithful. 1 Cor. 4:17 – Ties faithfulness to the ways of Christ and the teachings of Christ via Paul. Eph. 1:1; Col. 1:2 – Ties the faithful to the saints and to brethren. These terms are synonymous. 1 Thess. 5:24 We must do! 2 Tim. 2:2,11; Tit. 1:9; 3:8; Rev. 2:10; Rev. 17:14.