What is a Christian?

When asked what a Christian is, the simple answer is to say "a follower of Jesus Christ". What this means in more detail is to believe that Jesus lead a life free from sin, yet his death on the cross was a sacrifice for our sins, once for all. By acknowledging our own need of forgiveness due to the sin in our life and asking Jesus for this forgiveness we enter into Gods spiritual family and the name Christian is the appropriate title. The word Christian is only found three times in the Bible and the first occurrence is in ACTS Ch 11 v 19 - 30.

• People "believed and turned to the Lord" in v 21. The reason given for these conversions was the Lord's hand was with those who spoke.
  
  
• In v 23 Barnabas arrived "and saw evidence of the grace of God". If God does a work in a community it should have a visible impact.
  
  
• The greatest need for new believers is good Biblical teaching. Saul/Paul was sent for and spent a whole year teaching "great numbers of people" (v 26).
  
  
• The generosity of the new believers was tested and they responded appropriately in v 29.
  

It is always exciting to see new believers. Christianity is life with hope and a purpose and a conversion can be quite a significant change for the better. Jesus will challenge our actions however. In JAMES Ch 2 v 26 we read "as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead". God is a God of action. What is it He is asking you to do with your life today?