Basics of the Bible - Lesson 1

I. The Question

Welcome to this first lesson in the Basics of the Bible. In this lesson we're going to ask the most basic fundamental question that we can, and that is, what is a Christian? It's the starting point because there are so many misunderstandings about what it means to be a Christian, and what you understand it to mean is radically going to affect how you understand this class.

So I want to ask this question right up front, and I'm going to try to answer it, not using what we call Christianese. These are terms that are used in the church, and probably most people in the church don't have any idea what the words mean. For example, someone may say, "Well, a Christian is someone who has faith." Really? Every religion in the world, every secular worldview in the world, requires faith. You can't prove any of them. So having faith really doesn't mean anything.

Someone might say, "Well, a Christian is someone who believes in Jesus." Great. James says, "Even the demons believe." They know exactly who he is. When they see Jesus coming, they say, "You are the Holy One of God, and you've come to torment us." They know exactly who Jesus is. So simply using the words "faith" or "believe in Jesus" really doesn't explain what a Christian is.

I need to tell you up front, though, that there is a debate on this topic. I wish there weren't, but there is a debate, and I guess it's to be expected. It's such a fundamental question. And part of the problem in answering the question of what is a Christian is that there's really two parts to the answer. There is the answer of entering into a relationship with Jesus, and living in a relationship with Jesus. So a Christian is someone who has entered into a relationship with God through what Christ did on the cross. And a Christian is also someone who lives in that relationship with God through the ongoing empowerment of God's Holy Spirit.

And so there's a debate about this, but let me give you my definition. But before I do so, I want you to stop, and I want you to maybe stop the video and say, "How would I define what a Christian is? What is a Christian?" Think about that for a second and then come back.

Okay, welcome back.

II. The Definition

Here is my definition of what a Christian is. A Christian is someone who believes that Jesus is who he says he is, and that he did what he said he was going to do. All right? A Christian is someone who believes that Jesus is who he says he is, and he believes that Jesus did what he said he was going to do.

III. Part One: Entering the Relationship

A. Believing Jesus Is Who He Says He Is

I need to unpack that, all right? And I want to unpack it using what is certainly the most famous verse in the Bible, and that's John 3:16. "God loved the world, so he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him"— and that's the important phrase for us, believes in Jesus, believes in him—"will not perish, but will have everlasting life." Okay, so what does John, the author, mean by this? What does it mean to believe? It means to believe that Jesus is who he says he is, and in John 3:16, he says that Jesus is God's, quote, "only Son."

And as you read on in the Gospel, you realize that the phrase "only Son" means God himself, all right? So Jesus is, in fact, the only Son, which means that he is God. And if you want a specific verse, you can go to John 1:18, and it makes it very, very clear.

B. Belief vs. Trust

Here's the problem with the word "belief." Belief might lead some people to think that being a Christian is an issue of intellectual assent. They're saying, "Well, okay, I do believe this. Yeah, I believe that's who Jesus is. Fine, I'm going to go live any way I want." That person's not a Christian, because biblical belief is not a single transaction. It's not, "I raised my hand," perhaps I repented in tears, and then I'm going to go, "Yeah, he's God, Jesus is God, and now I'm going to go live any way I want." That's not biblical belief at all. That's why I prefer the word "trust." It's a good translation of the Greek word behind "believe" as well, to trust.

"God loved the world, so he gave his only Son, that whoever trusts in Jesus will not perish, but have everlasting life." What does it mean to trust? It means that I no longer trust my ability to be right with God. I no longer trust that I can do anything to earn forgiveness or to earn access to God, but rather I am called to transfer the trust out of myself and to transfer it into Jesus.

The translations don't make this clear, but it's very clear in the original language of Greek. The New Testament was written in Greek, and in fact, John wants to make this point so clear that he makes a horrible grammatical mistake. In fact, it's such a bad grammatical mistake that no one else in recorded Greek literature makes it. John actually says that whoever believes "into" him, and that preposition "into" is the problem. "Okay, John, why did you violate Greek grammar?" I think it's 93 times in the Gospel he says this, because he wants us to understand that biblical belief, that biblical trust, means that Jesus did for me what I cannot do for myself. I am transferring the trust out of my own abilities and transferring it into what Jesus did, trusting that Jesus did for me on the cross what I could not do for myself.

A very famous verse is Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." See, the salvation is free because there's nothing that I can do to earn it. Only Jesus can give it to us.

C. Jesus Is the Personal Object of Our Trust

It's not only trusting into Jesus, but it's trusting into him. It's trusting into Jesus. In other words, there's a personal object of our trust, and it's the person of Jesus Christ. See, Christianity is not a religion in the technical sense. It's not us trying to reach up for God. It's God reaching down to us. It's not a philosophy. It's not a building. It's not a religious organization. Christianity is not a list of do's and don'ts, but Christianity is about Jesus. We talk about Jesus being the theological center of the Gospel message. It is trusting in the person and in the work of Jesus Christ.

D. Jesus Is Who He Said He Was — The Kerygma

Okay, let me unpack this a little more, all right? Let me go through several layers of unpacking. What do I mean by "in him"? What I mean is that we believe that Jesus is who he says he is, all right? In other words, it's not just an emotional response. It is we have come to our understanding that we thought that Jesus was this, and in fact, we now believe and trust that Jesus is this.

There's a great word. It's actually a Greek word, but we use it in English. It's called the kerygma, and if you look at the early preaching of the church, you'll see that the sermons are all kind of alike. They all follow the same pattern, and that's what the kerygma refers to—the essential nature of preaching in the New Testament. And in Acts, chapter 2, God has just done some amazing things. People come, and they want to know what on earth is going on, and Peter gets up and he preaches this sermon. Acts, chapter 2, starting at verse 22: "Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know." See what he's doing? He's trying to help them understand who Jesus really was.

"This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan (the cross wasn't a surprise to God) and foreknowledge, and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." And then he goes down to the actual invitation, we call it, and in verse 36, "Therefore, let all Israel be assured," Peter says, "of this: God has made..." And "made" is an unfortunate translation. It's really "God has declared that Jesus, whom you crucified, is both Lord and Messiah." God did not make Jesus something that he wasn't, but it was declared by his resurrection that he was both Lord and Messiah.

What on earth does that mean? The English word "Lord" is the translation of a Greek word, which is the translation of a Hebrew word, the language of most of the Old Testament. And in the Old Testament, you may have heard this— Yahweh. In other words, Yahweh is God's personal name. It's what separates him out from all the other so-called gods in the ancient world.

In other words, Peter is saying, at his resurrection, God declared that Jesus was God. That's who he is. He's God. And he is also Messiah. The Messiah is a character who was prophesied throughout the Old Testament. He would be someone that God would send to bring about God's kingdom on earth, and it turns out God sent himself. He sent his Son, Jesus. So this is what Peter wants them to understand about who Jesus is. Jesus is who he says he was. He did these miracles. He did these wonders. He died on the cross. God raised him from the dead. That's who Jesus is. He is God. He is the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies, okay?

E. Repentance

And then, this is really important: if you acknowledge that Jesus is God, that he is, in fact, the Messiah, and you used to believe this about him, but now you believe this about him, what's the only thing that you can do? The only thing you can do is repent. Only thing you can do is repent of your sin.

Let me define a couple of words here. What's sin? Sin is anything that is contrary to God's character. So God is perfectly honest. So when I lie, I am acting in a way that is contrary to God's character. That's called sin. What does it mean to repent? It simply means that we agree with God that what I did was wrong, that I was acting in a way, or I had beliefs that were contrary to God's very own character. So sin is behaving in a way that's contrary to God's character. Repenting is acknowledging that to God.

What sins did the Israelites have to confess? There were two of them, weren't there? First of all, there was a sin of not believing that Jesus was who he said he was, and they had to repent of that. And then they had to acknowledge that they had acted in a way that was contrary to God's very character, that they had broken the covenant. "Covenant" is a word we use a lot in biblical studies. It just means that there's an agreement, and sin is acting in a way that breaks a relationship with God.

So the people respond, "What are we supposed to do?" You get down to verse 38. Peter says, "Repent of your sin of not acknowledging who Jesus was. Repent of your sin of acting in a way that's contrary to his character. You crucified him. Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins."

So that's who Jesus was. He is God. He's the Messiah. And when you acknowledge that, you necessarily have to confess the sin, both sins, to God. Okay.

F. Jesus Did What He Said He Would Do

But let me unpack the second thing, and that is that Jesus did what he said he was going to do. Remember, Jesus is who he says he is, and that Jesus did what he said he was going to do. What did Jesus say he was going to do? He said he was going to die on the cross. He was going to pay the penalty for our sins. Remember, sin separates us from God. And that's true of any relationship, isn't it? My wife, Robin, and I are married. We have a covenant relationship, and we have a set of guidelines and controls how we relate to each other. And when I violate one of those rules, one of those guidelines, it damages the relationship. It's true of all relationships, but it's really true of our relationship with God, that sin separates us from God. And if we die separated from God, then we don't end up with him in heaven. And the thing is that God is a holy God. He's without sin, but he is also a just God. And because he's a just God, when you act in a way that's contrary to his holiness, he can't simply ignore it. Otherwise, he would cease to be just. He's both holy and he's just.

And so what is he going to do about it? If he didn't do anything about it, the penalty would be separation and our eventual eternal separation from him. So what Jesus did was on the cross, he was punished for our sins. That maintains God's holiness, and it maintains God's justice. And because God does that, there is now forgiveness available for you and me to enter into and live in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

There's a prophet in the Old Testament called Isaiah, and in chapter 53, verses 5 and 6, there's a wonderful passage. Pay attention to the pronouns. It's very important, because this is the prophecy about Jesus on the cross. "But he, (Jesus), was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on him. And by his wounds, we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to our own way. And the Lord (God the Father), the Lord has laid on him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all."

So what did Jesus do on the cross? He paid the penalty for our sins so that we wouldn't have to, so that by the work of Christ on the cross, we can be forgiven our sins and live in a relationship with him.

Another famous verse is Romans 10:9. "If we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we shall be saved." Okay, this is what a Christian is, right? And so if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord— that's the same word—that he is in fact God, and believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, and understand the resurrection was the divine validation that Jesus had in fact done what he said he was going to do, the resurrection is the visible proof that he paid the penalty for our sins, that if we confess with our mouths and believe in our heart, we shall be saved.

G. Summary: By Christ Alone, By Faith Alone

That's the first part of the answer to what is a Christian. It's about entering into the relationship, and recognizing we enter into a relationship with God by Christ alone and by faith alone. This is not anything we have done, but we have believed that Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves.

IV. Part Two: Living in the Relationship

Okay, that's the first part of the definition, but there's a second part of the definition. And the second part of the definition of who is a Christian is that a Christian is someone who lives in relationship with Jesus Christ. Although I use the word "Christian," I don't really like it. Today, a lot of people talk about being a Christ follower, and I think that's probably a better term, because being a Christian is not a single transaction where you raise your hand, and that's all you have to do. You can live any way you want. Christians are someone who follows Christ. Jesus says, "If you want to follow me, you deny yourself and you take up your cross, and every day that's how you follow me."

And there are several ways to explain this, and one is common sense. It's common sense. If you're going to enter into a relationship, isn't it so that you can live in relationship with God? Can you imagine? You ask your girlfriend—in my case—to marry me. And so we plan this wedding and we get up, and we both say our "I do's," and I go, "Okay, bye. Done. Gone." No. I entered into a relationship with Robin so I could live in relationship with Robin, and that's what's going on in Christianity.

A. Changed People Live Changed Lives

Here's how I like to say this: changed people live changed lives. And the fact of the matter is, whether you knew it or not, the Bible is really clear that when you entered into a relationship, when you became a Christian, all kinds of things happened to you, whether you knew them or not. And the metaphors, they just go on seemingly forever— that you were born again, you were renewed, you were a new creation, you were justified, you were legally declared innocent of all sins, you were ransomed, you were regenerated. The Bible is trying to explain this experience that is so wonderful that even if we don't know what happened, we were fundamentally changed by the power of God when we entered into that relationship. And so, of course, your life is going to be different. It has to be different because you are different. Changed people live changed lives.

And in fact, the change in our life is the primary indication that we were truly Christians. The fact that our lives start to change, that our lives start to look more like Jesus, is the primary evidence that our conversion was real, that we really did enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, and you need both.

I'm going to cover a couple of verses just to kind of give you a feel for that, and some of these can be a little frightening. They're not meant to be frightening. They're meant to help you understand that a Christian is not only someone who enters into a relationship, but lives in a relationship. And if they don't live in a relationship with Jesus Christ, then there's a very good chance they never actually became Christians. I'm not the judge. This is not a decision I made. This is God's decision. It's Jesus' decision, actually, but I want you to see that both are critically important.

B. Supporting Passages

1 John 2:3–6

One of the clearest is in the book of 1 John, in chapter 2, verses 3 to 6. And the book of 1 John was written by the same John who wrote John 3:16. But in chapter 2, John writes this, and I'm going to have to interpret some of the words: "We know that we have come to know him" (come to know Jesus, that we have entered into a relationship with him). How? "If we keep his commandments." Thankfully, God doesn't require perfection, but there are guidelines to how we live in relationship with him, and if we keep his commandments, if we follow his guidelines, that's how we know that we have come to know him, that we actually entered into a relationship with God.

Verse 4: "Whoever says, 'I know him'" (in other words, whoever claims to be a Christian) "but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person." You see, that verse makes no sense at all if Christianity is only about entering into a relationship. It only makes sense if a Christian is someone who enters in and lives in relationship with Jesus Christ.

Titus 1:16

Another good verse is in the book of Titus. Paul writes to his friend, Titus 1:16. Paul is talking about some people on the island of Crete, and he says, "They claim to know God," (they claim to have entered into a relationship with him), "but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good." See, they claim to have entered, but their lives don't show that they entered, because changed people live changed lives, and their lives weren't changed. You have to have both.

Hebrews 12:14

Another passage is in Hebrews 12:14, and the author says, "Make every effort to live in peace with everyone, and to be holy." In other words, we are to make every effort to be holy. In other words, we are to make every effort to pursue a life of holiness, to pursue a life without sin. Jesus doesn't demand perfection, but there's to be a trajectory to our lives, and that trajectory is towards sinlessness, is towards holiness. Because here's what Hebrews says after that: "Without holiness, no one will see the Lord."

That's scary, isn't it? So what they're saying is, if someone says they've entered into a relationship with God through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and yet if their life does not have the trajectory towards holiness—not perfection—but towards holiness, they will never see God. Why? Because changed people live changed lives. A Christian is someone who has entered in and lives within a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1

Let me give you just one other verse. Paul writes to the churches in Colossae, "that we have been reconciled by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish, and free from accusation." That's what we want, isn't it? We want to be reconciled. We want to be friends with God. We want to be without blemish. We want to be free from accusation. That's fantastic, isn't it? But Paul's not done yet.

"If you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel." Let me emphasize that. We are saved by God's grace through faith. It's nothing that we do. We cannot earn favor with God. We don't earn anything. But changed people— and we were changed—changed people will live changed lives. Changed people must live changed lives.

V. Conclusion

So what is a Christian? How are you going to understand the rest of this class and how it applies to you? A Christian is someone who trusts that Jesus is who he says he is, and that he did what he said he was going to do. And that leads us to repent of our sin, our sin of not acknowledging who Jesus really was, our sin of acting in a way that's contrary to his character. And through that, we are changed as we move into relationship with Jesus Christ. And it is in that relationship that we live to the day we die and we get to go home to be with him forever.