WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?

What does it mean to follow Christ, to be his disciple? Jesus spent three years teaching his disciples what it meant to follow him. A disciple is a learner, and there is much to learn about being a Christian.

Christianity is not just an intellectual system, not a theology or a philosophy, or a creed, or a moral code, or belonging to a church by undergoing Baptism or participating in worship or Holy Communion. The core of Christianity is Christ. A Christian is someone who is personally and decisively committed to Jesus Christ as his Savior and his Lord. He has resolutely turned from his sins in repentance. He has trusted in the Lord Jesus as the One who loved him and gave Himself for him on the cross. He has surrendered his life to Him, promising to serve and obey Him in the fellowship of His Church.

Stott authored a formula of four steps to becoming a Christian: an A, B, C and D.

Admit your sin and need for a Savior.

Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died on the Cross to be the Savior of the world.

Consider the cost of following Jesus as his disciple.

Do something about it by asking Him into your life as your personal Savior and Lord (Rev.3:20).

What was unique about this formula was his emphasis on considering the cost of following Jesus as his disciple, as did Jesus himself (Luke 14:25-35). To follow Christ is to renounce all lesser loyalties. Salvation is not offered for nothing. There is no cheap grace.

There must be a renunciation of self. In order to follow Christ we must not only forsake isolated sins, but renounce the very principle of self-will which lies at the root of all acts of sin. To follow Christ is to surrender to him the rights over our own lives….It is to deny ourselves and to take up the cross (Matt.8:34-38). It is to lose our life…The man who commits himself to Christ, therefore, loses himself, not by the absorption of his personality in Christ’s personality but by the submission of his will to Christ’s will…. The astonishing idea is current in some circles today that we can enjoy the benefits of Christ’s salvation without accepting the challenge of his sovereign lordship. Such an unbalanced notion is not to be found in the New Testament…To make Christ Lord is to bring every department of our public and private lives under his control: career, marriage, home, money, time.

…If, then, you suffer from moral anaemia, take my advice and steer clear of Christianity. If you want to live a life of easy-going self-indulgence, whatever you do, do not become a Christian. But if you want a life of self-discovery, deeply satisfying to the nature God has given you; if you want a life of adventure in which you have the privilege of serving him and your fellow men; if you want a life in which to express something of the overwhelming gratitude you are beginning to feel for him who died for you, then I urge you to yield your life without reserve and without delay, to your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

(Ted Schroder, John Stott: A Summary of his teaching, p.103f.)