“But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him.) And He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. – John 6:64-66
In conversation, I’ll hear someone point out that “So-and-so is not really a Christian.” This sort of statement is often accompanied with something like, “Yeah, he goes to church, but he doesn’t really believe, so he’s not a real Christian.” Let me highlight two distinct questions that come to mind: A) How can a person know with certainty the state of salvation (the “heart”) of someone else? B) What does it mean for someone to be a Christian (or a “real Christian”, for that matter)?
As for topic “A”, Scripture makes it clear with verses like 1 Samuel 16:7 that only God knows the hearts and beliefs of others: “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Sure, we can assess what other people say and do, but we are all keenly aware that people can put on an act. And people lie, even to themselves. Perhaps this topic deserves further exploration, but today I’d like to focus on question “B”.
The word “Christian” appears in the Bible only three times. (Which shouldn’t be that surprising; important theological terms like the “Trinity” never appear.) Initially, those outside this religion, such as pagan Romans, regarded those who followed Jesus as a sect within Judaism. Over time, as distinctions became more apparent, the term “Christian” caught on. Eventually, Christianity became the accepted term to distinguish this religion from others (Judaism, Islam, Buddhism).
Before the term Christian had emerged, some people referred to Jesus’ followers as “the Way” (such as in Acts 9:2). Even before that, He called them His “disciples”. When we capitalize “Disciples”, we are talking about His core group, the Twelve. But the term disciple was commonly used to refer to anyone who followed Jesus (such as in John 6:66, above). As we know, Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve Disciples, but he never had saving faith. As we see from John 6:66, there were lots of people who followed Jesus as disciples but who eventually turned away, presumably without having believed in Christ’s divinity.
Imagine a conversation nearly 2,000 years ago, “Do you know Fred? He attends Jesus’ church but he’s not a REAL disciple.” “Oh, you mean that he’s not one of those who are REALLY close to Jesus, like that loyal disciple Judas?” The Bible refers to even unbelieving followers as “disciples”, regardless of their faith at the time (or ever). What about “Christians”?
The Bible doesn’t treat “Christian” as a perfect synonym for one who has faith. Instead, each use appears to be talking about generic disciples, followers of The Way. Here are the three Bible verses that use “Christian”: 1) “For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” (Acts 11:26) [Religious classification.] 2) And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” (Acts 26:28) [Religious classification.] 3) “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” (1 Peter 4:16) [Could include people who happened to show up at church and get persecuted for their religion, despite their faith.]
Why would this matter? I come from a family that went to church sometimes and celebrated Christmas and Easter with great vigor. Yet, there was not much evidence that anyone in the family had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, trusting in Him alone for salvation.
We were not Hindu, nor Muslim, nor Jewish – we were clearly Christians, even though we were not at all clearly believers.
We memorized the Apostles Creed and such – we were REAL Christians, but not REAL believers.
None of us seemed to be headed for life everlasting with our Creator. Let me encourage you to use the term “Christian” like the Bible does and like the dictionary does: to mean someone who aligns himself with the church or teachings of Jesus Christ.
The Bible already has a term for those whom God has written in the Book of Life: the Elect. The Bible already has a term for someone who comes to faith in Jesus: the Regenerate (born again).
And the Bible has a term for those who participate in Christianity but fall away from Him: the Apostate. By God’s grace alone, the Holy Spirit regenerates hearts. The goal is not to be a “Christian”, the goal is to glorify and enjoy God forever by trusting in Christ.
