What Is a Christian?

INTRODUCTION
The word, “Christian” is used in so many different ways that its true meaning has become distorted over time. Many people today use the word to describe a certain kind of behavior, as in “It’s the Christian thing to do.” Many reference works refer to Canada as a “Christian nation” because more people identify with the Christian religion than any other. Some people believe that one is a Christian if they were baptized as an infant or raised in a Christian home. We use the word in a very specific sense, so it is important as you read our literature that you understand what we mean by it.

At Airdrie KCS we believe that the only person who has the right to determine who is a Christian and who is not is the founder of our religion: Jesus Christ of Nazareth. All other views must be considered inaccurate if they depart from His view. We have therefore gone to the only original source of historical information about Him, the Bible, and studied it to come to our conclusions. If our interpretation is inaccurate we are open to being corrected, but we will not accept as valid any view of Christ or Christianity which cannot be supported from the Bible.

ESSENTIALS
Very simply, the Bible makes it clear that being a Christian has to do with a personal trust relationship with Jesus Christ. It indicates that each person must be “born again” (John 3:16) in order to enter into heaven. It teaches us that Jesus Christ is, in fact, God in human form. (John 14:1-14) It also teaches that His death was different from all others. He didn’t die as a martyr. He died willingly to give up His life to save the lives of everyone who has ever lived from the judgment of God.

We may not feel that we deserve God’s judgment, but the Bible teaches that God’s holiness is so great that all of us fall far short and are under His condemnation. (Romans 3:23) At the same time His love for us is so great that He decided to accept the punishment on Himself. (Romans 5:8). What is required of us is to accept that free gift as our own and trust that God will accept us as His children because Christ paid our debt for us. (John 1:12) When we do this, we are born into a new life by God’s Spirit.

For More Information, please see the excellent presentation of “The Four Spiritual Laws” by Campus Crusade for Christ. If you have any questions about what it means to be a Christian or how to become a Christian, please feel free to email me at admin@akcs.com.

Brian Hazeltine, B.Ed, M.A.

Principal