You may think you are a Christian and others may argue that you are a Christian, but that affirmation is not yours or any other person’s to make. God makes that decision based on His definition of a Christian. Acts 2.47 “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” When you align with His definition then you can be certain. The error that is holding so many millions from having the distinction of “Christian” is discussed here. Of course, people who have taken such liberties in defining the path to Christianity have taken many more liberties in order to support all the problems associated with the original error. If you have a love of the truth and a strong desire to please God then you can overcome the deceit and be a Christian, which is what God wants for you.

note: The church referred to in Acts 2.47 above is the universal church.

God defines who is Christian and adds those who follow Christ to His body the church. Millions of people believe they are Christian because some man taught them what to do and they did it. God cannot be fooled, but men can and have fooled many just as very likely they were fooled by someone years before. So the critical distinction becomes, “Is the teaching from man or from God?” Most people will answer their belief is deeply rooted in scripture and thus from God. This is definitely not the case and is very easy to understand for anyone who loves the truth, but impossible for those who are closed minded. There is a strong “catch-22” for Christians in that they cannot question, cannot doubt because, “that in and of itself” would be wrong or so they believe. Quite a dilemma but nonetheless their personal dilemma. Martin Luther, John Calvin, Billy Graham have never taught the truth regarding salvation. They would be considered good men, moral men, men of courage, men who have influenced millions but none of that guarantees they teach the truth. Undoubtedly, the first two men mentioned influenced the third man greatly and thousands of others who preach under the very broad category of Protestant. Today there are hundreds of variations taught by hundreds of groups but the typical error is related to the modern version called, “accepting Jesus as your personal savior.”

So what is being suggested is that, “Accept Jesus As Your Personal Savior” is not scriptural, and in fact will result in the loss of millions of souls. Instead, the cry should be, “Obey the Gospel” which is scriptural and consistent with all scripture as the way to heaven.

Most “Christians” are not Christians because most fundamentally they did not, “OBEY THE GOSPEL.”

The following demonstrates the central issue and I call it simply, “OBEY THE GOSPEL.”

God’s core “evaluation” issue for His creation is related to obedience and standing in the way of a person obeying is frequently pride. God makes this idea of obedience clear in the Old Testament and in the New Testament and one good verse in relation to Christ is:

Hebrews 5.9

9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him
Many apparently would like to change “obey” to “mentally accept Jesus as Savior.” It does not matter how many good people you know who follow the mental concept of accepting Christ – you will be following men and not God

A good question at this point might be, “What happened in the first century when the apostles were alive and led by the Holy Spirit, what happened in terms of what they taught regarding salvation? There is a summary of conversions from the new testament that indicates the actions of those who were converted. See Conversions of the New Testament for that discourse.

You were faithful in obedience and now God is faithful to keep His promise – the forgiveness of sins.

The apostles understood obedience and never indicated under the direction of the Holy Spirit some mental acceptance of Christ for salvation. Paul writes in Romans:

Romans 16:25-27

25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began
26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—
27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

God establishes you through the gospel and it is for obedience to the faith. It is your faith in Jesus, you believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and then in faith you obey God. God has promised to forgive your sins in the keeping of His commands and baptism is the command that ties you to Christ when you rise out of the watery grave to walk in newness of life. Do not be foolish and say it is just a symbol as though it is not important when in fact it is a command.

Mark 16:15-16

15 And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

The book, “What Is Life All About?” provides considerably more information on this subject as well as many other subjects related to truth and religion. How did religion become such a mess? Studying the origin of various religions provides many answers. The truth about life, death and salvation is easily discovered and fits so perfectly together that there will be no doubt. One important question for you will be, “Do you want the truth more than what you currently believe?
So indeed most Christians are not Christians!