What is a Christian? It seems like a fairly simple question but you might stumble over your words if someone asked you.

Someone who follows Jesus…

is not an answer. It might be what you say but honestly, it doesn’t mean anything because it doesn’t explain anything. What if you are talking to someone who doesn’t know who Jesus is, what He did for them, and how much He loves them? (which is most people actually)

If you told me you were a Taoist, I would be clueless as to what that looks like in a person’s life. If your explanation was, “It means I follow Taoism,” well, no duh. I got that much.

So, what would you say if someone asked you, “What is a Christian? What does that really mean?” What would you say? I can help you there, with the ABCs of Identity!

What is a Christian?

A: ALIVE

As Christians, we are alive in Christ (Romans 6:4). Our spirits were dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) and now we are alive and have a host of new things!

• New hearts (Ezekiel 36:26)
• The mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)
• The Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13)

B: Believer

We are believers. Believers of what? We believe in God the Father, we believe in Jesus Christ, we believe in the Holy Spirit, and that He has given us new life (thank you, Newsboys!).

And because we believe these things, we follow God’s path for our lives and not our own. This is summed up in Luke 10:27: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

That is what we do everyday.

• We believe God keeps His promises (Deuteronomy 7:9)
• We believe God is love (1 John 4:8)
• We believe and have faith (<–the substance of things hoped for Hebrews 11:1)
• Our belief is the anchor of our hope (Hebrew 6:19)

C: Child of God

We are now children of God (Galatians 4:7)! We now have everything promised to Jesus because we are co-heirs with Him (Romans 8:17). Whoa, that is a big deal!

• We have His power and authority (Luke 10:19, Ephesians 1:18-23)
• We have everything we need for life (Philippians 4:19 & 2 Peter 1:3)
• We are now priests and kings (1 Peter 2:9 & Revelation 1:6)

Next time someone asks you this question, or you run into a fellow believer not understanding who they are as a Christian, you can tell them the ABCs of Identity!

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