Who is a Christian?

Act 11:26 … And it came about that for an entire year they met with the church, and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Who wants to be a Christian? Who can become a Christian? What qualifies a person to be a Christian? It might be trusting in Christ. It might be the condition of being born from above. It might be many things. But, in Antioch, the disciples were the ones first called Christians.

This is an historic event, in time and place, when the descriptive name “Christian” came into being. But, it is more than that, if we are willing to trust that God had more to tell us than an historic fact. If we want to believe, then what we see is the necessary qualification to be called a “Christian”. It is to first be a disciple.

We are to be disciples. We are to be students. We are to be taught. We are to learn with considerable others. We are to recognize spiritual authority. We are to walk with the Lord. We are to proclaim the Lordship of Christ (He is Lord). We are to surrender all that we are and all that we have. We are to deny ourselves and pick up our cross and follow Him. We are to know the difference between the flesh and the spirit. We are to walk by the Spirit, and not by the flesh. We are to distrust our self-life, and cling to the Life of Christ. We are to know that we are crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live but Christ Who lives in us. We are to grow into Him. We are to change from glory to glory. We are to have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. We are to love not our lives. We are to have the ministry of reconciliation. We are to love the brethren. We are to continually devote ourselves to the apostles teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers. We are to not be tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men. We are to be strong in the Lord, and the strength of His might. We are to stand firm, and having done all to stand. We are to pray at all times in the Spirit. We are to overcome.

Then we will be called “Christians”.