Does Going to Church Make You A Christian?

THE FOLLOWERS of Jesus Christ were first called Christians in Antioch.  That Luke tells us in Acts 11.26. 

The people of Syrian Antioch were known as lovers of pleasure.  They were also known for the concise and pointed or sarcastic sayings they invented and used.Christian was such a word.  It is possible that it was a word of derision.  But it is also possible that it was mainly a descriptive term.  Deciding between the two is difficult.

We can quickly see why it could have been invented to describe the disciples of Jesus Christ.  Those who rely on him for acceptance with God love him, live for him and make him known.  They do not just speak to him but also about him.  These facts were known by those who saw Christians in action.

We can also see how the word Christian could be used to mock men and women of faith.  It is used only three times in the Bible; in Acts 11.26, Acts 26.28 and 1 Peter 4.16.Peter’s use of the word in his first letter (1 Peter 4.16) indicates that it was in common use at the time of writing.  In or about the year AD 63 he taught the followers of Jesus not to be ashamed if they were to suffer for no other reason than the fact that they loved him.

King Agrippa’s use of the word, though descriptive, also seems to have a ring of contempt to it (Acts 26.28).  Yes, he knows and uses the word Christian.  But how did he intend Paul, and others to interpret his meaning?

Was he sincere?  Possibly.  Was he annoyed?  Possibly.  Or did he seek to poke fun?  Some think that is what he did.  Using irony or sarcasm, he used the word Christian to mock Paul and all who love the Lord Jesus Christ.

Having given a brief summary of the origin of the word Christian, let us now take a closer look at our first question: Does going to church make you a Christian?

Some have a very simple definition.  They say that a Christian is a person who goes to church.  Is that what you think?

Christians do go to church and meet often with other Christians.  They do so each week.  The reason why is easily stated.  They know how God wants them to live.  There are, for example, two commands about the use of our time which Christians are careful to observe.

First, they take seriously the fourth of the ten commands God gave his people at Sinai.  That command begins with the word remember.  In other words, God’s people do not forget the sabbath day.  They honour the one day in seven given to us by God for our good.  They keep it holy.  That is, they treat it as different from the other days of the week.  They see it as special and of great importance.

Christians know that God created the world with a regular cycle of seven days.  Six days of creative activity are followed by a day of rest.  Of all that God made it is only mankind who was created in his image.  Thus what God did when he created the world, we are also to do.The Creator made us creative.  He who sovereignly rules over all things made us to care for his creation.  He who has spoken to us made us to enjoy speaking with him.

He, who ceased the work of creation on the sixth day, has made us to rest on the seventh day.  He, whose only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, rose triumphant from the dead, has set apart the day of resurrection (the first day of the week) as the day upon which we are to rest each week.  It has been set apart by God as the day of rest for all people.

On the first day of the week each week Christians get together.  They meet twice; in the morning and then again in the afternoon.  Why?  Because they want to encourage each other to use the whole day to their spiritual benefit.  God did not say ‘remember part of the day’.  He said, remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  So Christians make the day a day to enjoy God.  They listen to him speak, praise him, and pray.

The second command Christians heed is that which tells us not to neglect meeting together (Hebrews 10.25).  Sadly, some in the apostle Paul’s day did just that.  And sadly you find some do the same today.  But Christians think about how they can “stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10.24).  Failure to think about how to help each other be the people God calls us to be is a sign of spiritual decline.  Those who grow cold slip back and walk the path of a rebel!

But Christians are not rebels.  Rather they show their love for God by keeping his words (John 14.23f).  They honour the Lord’s day.  And they do not neglect to meet with other Christians.  Their aim is to meet together whenever the church meets.  But, please note, it is not the act of meeting together that makes them Christian.

To imagine that it does is to err.  It is to put a sign of the new birth in the place of the new birth itself.

We say the new birth since that is what Christ talks about in a conversation he had with a leading Jew.  Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish Council, went to Jesus one night.  During their discussion he was told that if a person would go to heaven then he or she must be born again from above.  In other words the Holy Spirit of God must make you a new person (John 3.1ff).  But how you ask?

By nature we are rebels.  By nature we are far from God.  We are not what he made us to be.  We cannot change ourselves.  No matter how hard we try.  No matter how many times we promise to change our ways we will never succeed.  It is an impossibility.  Why?  Because we have no power to change our will (the desire that dictates what we think, say, and do).  Only God can create a new heart within us.  And that he delights to do.

Those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world find that at God’s appointed time, and in God’s appointed way, they are made willing in the day of God’s power.  They hear and heed the call to come to believe in Christ.  They hear God’s call to put their trust in Christ (have faith) and to forsake all that displeases him.  God  gives  them  a  new  heart.   Hecreates new desires in them.  As a result, out of gratitude for his grace toward them, they seek to honour command number 4: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (Exodus 20.8).  They work out how to encourage each other to live for God, including meeting together on the Lord’s day (Hebrews 10.24f).

Thus, although Christians go to church, it is not their going to church that makes them Christian.  To think that it does is to make a serious mistake.  At best it is to make a sign of new life the new life itself.  At worst, it is to reveal an ignorance of the teaching of Christ.  He says,  unless you are born again from above you cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3.3, 5).

It is spiritual new birth that makes a person a Christian: nothing less and nothing more.  It is only those who are born again who truly rest on Christ alone for forgiveness and acceptance with God.  You should not rest until you do just that.

EPC  17 July 2016