What Is a Real Christian?

In the world of religion, Christianity is one of the largest religions there is, and yet most people—even those who consider themselves to be a Christian—most of them find it difficult to explain what it means to be a Christian. For some, I suppose it just means joining a Church, but there’s a lot more to it than that, as I think most of you know.

What does it mean to be a real Christian? What is a real Christian in the sight of God? What does it mean to be converted? How does the Bible define these terms? How does the Bible define a true Christian? These are some of the questions that we’ll examine today if you want to begin looking at Romans chapter 8. Romans 8.

Does joining a church make one a Christian? Or does simply saying, “I accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal savior,” does that make you a Christian? And what about conversion? Is this something that happens all at once, or does it take place over a period of time? Is it a process, in other words?

Romans 8 here and verse 6, Paul writes, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Carnal here, as I’ve explained in other classes before, it just means to be fleshly. It’s not really talking about evil per se, but just to have our minds on the flesh. Now, there’s a lot of evil in this world, as well, coming from those that have their minds just absorbed into fleshly things.

Another translation puts verse 7 this way, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”

So what the Bible teaches is that the mind that’s set on fleshly things will not, in fact, cannot obey God’s laws; it will resist against them. It will resist against God’s authority.

God said in Genesis 8:21—you don’t have to turn there—but He says over there that “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth;” it starts from the earliest of days in the lives of all of us. Evil! And that comes because of Satan’s broadcasts—Satan, who is the god of this world, as the Bible says.

Verse 8 continues, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” See, the flesh, the way that we just live naturally, you could say, it goes contrary to God’s way of life. It flows in the opposite direction of God’s way of love.

Moses wrote, “Oh, that there were such an heart in them so that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always.” He was talking about the Israelites there and lamenting the fact that they just didn’t have the heart. Even though they had this incredible environment that they were living in, even though they had all of this inspired teaching, they just didn’t have the heart. God hadn’t yet poured out His Spirit upon that nation.

Jeremiah in chapter 17 and verse 9 said, “The heart is deceitful above all things.” I mean, that’s quite a statement to make about the human heart. It deceives us. It’s “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” Who can know and understand this heart in man? It is deceitful.

Verse 9 here in Romans continues, “But ye,” Paul says, “ye are not in the flesh,” he’s talking to the brethren who were in the Church at Rome. He says, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

A Christian, then, as the Bible defines it, is someone who has received and in whose mind dwells the Holy Spirit of God. That’s how the Bible defines a Christian. If we don’t have God’s Spirit, as he says here, he is none of His, or he’s not a follower of Christ; he’s not a Christian going by the Bible definition.

Verse 10 continues, “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” So it speaks of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, in us, and we’ll see the process by which we acquire that Spirit.

That’s covered in Acts chapter 2. Acts 2. God’s Spirit is how Christ is in you, as Paul said there in Romans 8. How does Christ come and live in us, “in our flesh,” as it says in I John 4 and verse 2. He does it through the Spirit of God. God is a Spirit, and He projects His power and His authority through that Spirit that is His power. Acts chapter 2 and verse 37. This is at the tail-end of this lengthy sermon that Peter gave there on the Day of Pentecost when the Church began. It says in verse 37, “Now when they heard this,” they heard this message that Peter gave (and you can go back and read chapter 2 to get the context. But when the people that heard this message heard it, it says, “they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” See, when they received the gospel, the true gospel, they knew. They were pricked in their heart. They knew they weren’t living the right way. They knew they had to change their behavior, and so they asked this question: “What is it that we should do with this? How should we react to this? How should we respond to this?”

And notice Peter doesn’t say, “Well, just say the name Jesus and everything’s taken care of,” or he didn’t say, “Go down to the church on the corner and put your name on the membership roll.” Notice what he says: (38) “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy [Spirit].” So he gives us these conditions by which we receive that power of God, that life of Christ.

God’s Word, in fact, outlines two conditions to receiving the gift of God’s Spirit, and they are repentance—one of them is covered right here, repentance—and faith! Repentance and faith!

Now, as far as repentance goes, what do we repent of? We repent of sin, and the Bible defines sin as the transgression of God’s law. So we repent, and repentance means to change, to change our ways, and that’s what these individuals were asking. “What is it that we should do to begin this process of change?”

There’s another verse you can look at later, Acts 5 and verse 32 where it says that the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God, who submit to God, who submit to God’s leadership, God’s authority.

This is a quote from The Incredible Human Potential, it’s in chapter ten. Mr. Armstrong writes, “The two above,” he’s commenting on this passage in Acts 2. He says, “The two above mentioned conditions to becoming a Christian—REPENTANCE AND FAITH—we ourselves must perform.

“But these do not make us Christians—do not convert us. It is what GOD does—“ It is what God does! “—giving His Holy Spirit by His grace as His free gift—that converts us.

“Our repentance,” he continues, “and faith do not earn the receiving of God’s Spirit. God does not give us His Spirit because we repent and believe. He gives us His Spirit because He wants to give it.” God wants to give us His Spirit.

“He wants us to have His Spirit as His gift before we repent. He merely requires repentance and faith as conditions.”

In fact, I mean you could add to that—God wants to give His Spirit to all of mankind, and if you understand God’s divine purpose for creating man in the first place, you know—based upon a number of other scriptures we don’t have time to cover here this morning—you know that everyone who’s ever lived will have opportunity to receive God’s truth, to come to salvation through the process of repentance and faith and the receipt of God’s Holy Spirit.

Now, of course, there’s a time order to this plan that God’s working out. You look at the world today and there’s millions and millions, and there were, you know, billions that lived even before Christ that never did come to a knowledge of the truth that obviously had never heard of Jesus Christ. But God has made it possible for all man to have an opportunity if you understand the truth about His purpose and the resurrection from the dead, and so on—some other subjects that perhaps we can get into at another time.

But for the purpose of this message, what is the purpose, then, of the Christian life? Why is it that those few who came out and followed Jesus Christ in the first century, and those few who heard the sermon that Peter gave there in Acts 2, why were they brought out of this world and given opportunity to turn to God in repentance and faith, and to receive this gift that God has to offer?

Let’s look over at Luke chapter 19—a very important parable that Christ uttered. What is, after all, what is the purpose of the Christian life? Here again, many millions who consider themselves to be Christian would have a difficult time defining what their purpose is in their Christian life. After repentance and faith, after baptism, as Mr. Armstrong wrote, you receive the Spirit of God and you become a Christian. But why? Why should you receive God’s Spirit? Why do we need it? What is it for? What is the purpose of that life?

Luke 19 and verse 11. It says, “And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.” And they made this mistake throughout Christ’s ministry, the disciples did, those that were receiving those teachings, those explanations privately about the parables that He uttered before the public. And even they were confused on WHEN Jesus would set up His kingdom on this Earth, and so Christ gave this parable to set them straight on the timing of that.

Luke 19 here and verse 12. It says, “He said therefore, A certain noble man went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.” So the nobleman there refers to Jesus Christ going into a far country, or heaven, to receive the kingdom of God, and then to return. And He hasn’t yet returned to this Earth, but that’s coming and coming soon if you understand the prophecies of God.

Verse 13. It says, “And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.” Occupy, take these pounds, take this money (so to speak), which really is just symbolic here of the gift that God makes available to us when we become Christians. And we’ve seen already from Acts 2 what that gift is. Repent, believe, and then be baptized, and you’ll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. A Christian receives a small portion of God’s Holy Spirit at baptism.

And that word occupy there means to use it, to invest it, to make a profit from it, or to lead a productive and fruitful life, to carry on with the same business that Jesus Christ, Himself, started, to just continue what Jesus started, to be an extension of His work, His ministry.

And that’s what a Christian is. The very name of Christ is in that term. A Christian is a follower of Christ, and we follow right in that same line of work that He was in if we’re living by every word of God.

Verse 14 says, “But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.” We just won’t let Him rule us.

And most, you see—even during this age, this is Satan’s age of ruling over this Earth—most have rejected the authority of God’s loving rule. Most of mankind. That’s why we see so many people today who—even if they claim to be followers of Christ—they refuse to actually do what he taught, to follow what He taught, to live by what He said. And Jesus, Himself said that in Mark 7. He talked about it being a vain kind of worship, a worship in word only, but not in deed. Just saying, you know, “I’m a follower of Christ,” but not really doing, DOING those words.

How many put God first in everything they do in life? How many will actually let God reign over them? How many will allow God to rule their lives? Nations in this world, people in this world are suffering because they’ve rejected the rule of God’s loving government. And that’s what this message in Luke 19 essentially is about; it’s about a coming Family government, the coming rule of Jesus Christ.

Now, the small handful of servants or Christians who have been brought out of this world are learning through their day-to-day living how to be ruled by Jesus Christ, by occupying that Spirit that God makes available.

Verse 15 says, “And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom,” this is, again, speaking of Christ, “then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.” So this is talking about when Jesus Christ comes back to this Earth, when His rule finally will be established and set up on this Earth. God’s kingdom, headquartered in Jerusalem.

And notice that Christ here brings His servants, Christians, before Him at that point, at the point of His return, and gives them their reward based upon what they did in their Christian life. He’s going to want to know from you how much you’ve produced, how much you grew as a Christian, how faithfully you followed His law of love, how much you served Him and His work. And by doing all these things, we are, in fact, qualifying for top positions in that coming government. God expects us, though, to grow in preparation for that, to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; Peter wrote that. That’s what God expects. I mean God’s Church is like a school where members come into it, and they learn as disciples. Disciple just means student. And so God, through Christ raised up the Church, a school so that we could be trained and taught. And if you look at this organization, I mean you can see why such an emphasis is put on education and training, with the Academy that we have here on campus, and then the College, and this work that’s being done, and how everyone from old right on down to the very youngest—the idea there is to be immersed in this wonderful work that God is sending out to this world. Salvation is education, as Mr. Armstrong once said.

God is going to reeducate the whole world, and it starts now with just a few who are willing to come under the authority of God, to submit to God’s love, and to live it! To really live it! And to reap the blessings that come along with living that way of life! What a wonderful way of life it is! To live like Jesus Christ!

Now, that’s not to say we’re without sin, or that we don’t have things we have to overcome. If I have time, we’ll look at one more passage to show what a Christian must do when he does stumble, when he does fall.

But just to complete the thought here in Luke 19, look at verse 20. You know the story here, how the first servant came and he had multiplied his pound by ten, and then the second one by five, and so on, and they were all rewarded according to their works. Verse 20, it says, “And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: (21) For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou laidst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. (22) And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: (23) Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?”

And then verse 24 finally says, “And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.” See, only good works are rewarded in the kingdom of God, and you can see how that with all of these servants of Christ, with all of these Christians they were rewarded according to what they did, according to how they lived.

And so going back to that question of, what is the purpose for the Christian life knowing that we start in the smallest possible way with just a small down payment of God’s Holy Spirit. The purpose of the Christian life is to grow, to use that Spirit. Mr. Armstrong said we don’t receive enough of this divine power all at once to last forever! It doesn’t just sit there in a reservoir. It flows in and out of us from God! We have to go to Him to receive it. This is why prayer and Bible study is so important, getting to know God, establishing contact with God, and then growing because of it, growing and developing spiritually.

Let’s look at I John 1 quickly. When God sets up His kingdom on Earth the reason why there’s going to be a Wonderful World Tomorrow—as Mr. Armstrong described it—or a awe-inspiring utopia, is because of these good works that are just going to be perpetuated over the face of the Earth. It’s going to spread, this way of life. And even when we started this building project on this land, if you remember, my father talked at length about how that this was just the beginning and that this way of life, this beauty, this cooperation, this loving Spirit, it’s all going to spread over all the Earth once God’s government is set up.

I John 1 and verse 7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” So it’s talking an ongoing cleaning that we need. Perfection isn’t obtained at once, but yet Matthew 5:48 says we’re to become perfect, we’re to work toward that, and it’s a Christian walk. And as Mr. Armstrong described in some of his literature, when you are walking this way of life occasionally you might stumble, but the key is to make sure that you get up, you dust yourself off, and you keep walking in the right direction—following God in other words—and then drawing on that sacrifice of Jesus Christ to be cleaned daily, to be washed by the Spirit of God. Daily!

“If we say,” verse 8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins,” verse 9 says, “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” You see, if we confess in a right attitude and a humble attitude, repentant toward God, then God is quick to forgive. Repentance, of course, going much farther than just the sorrow that you see in society today, but to actually have that sorrow lead to a change in behavior.

Let’s just finish in Romans 8 where we started. Romans chapter 8. You can keep reading there in I John 1 and even into chapter 2 where it describes Jesus Christ as being our Advocate, working with us and for us when we make mistakes, helping us, encouraging us, lifting us up to continue in this walk, the Christian way of life.

Romans 8, verse 10 again says, “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Christ in you, the Spirit of God dwelling in us, that is, going by the Bible definition, that is what a true Christian is, one who has the Spirit, who’s being led by this Spirit.

Verse 11 continues. Notice where this leads, the Christian way of life, this way of being educated in the truths of God. It says in verse 11, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [or make alive] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” See, this same Spirit that you receive at baptism, this tiny portion of it, that same Spirit is what’s going to save us or bring us right into the Family of God when we actually become Spirit in His kingdom.

This passage is showing here that final salvation means being given eternal life at the return of Jesus Christ through the resurrection, the first resurrection. If the Holy Spirit of God is dwelling in you at that time, the time of Christ’s return, then your mortal body, as Paul says here in verse 11, will be resurrected or changed to an immortal body and given eternal life, and then God’s Family will go out from there and begin the process of giving eternal life to all of mankind, all who have ever lived.