Not All “Believers” are Christians

Jerry C. Brewer

Merely believing in Jesus Christ doesn’t make one a Christian. If that were the case, the devils would be Christians. “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble” (Jas. 2:19).

Truly, in order to be a Christian one must believe in Jesus Christ, but mere belief alone doesn’t make one a Christian. As one must be a man to be a husband, but not all men are husbands, so one must believe in Jesus Christ, but not all who believe in Him are Christians.

As surely as the Bible is the word of God, there are millions of people who think they are Christians when they are not. There are multiplied millions who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but they aren’t saved because they have not obeyed Him. “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Heb. 5:8-9). Just believing that Christ is the Saviour does not make one a Christian.

On the day of Pentecost, the Jews asked the apostles, “Men and brethren what shall we do?” (Acts 2:36). They believed Christ was God’s Son, but they were not saved until they did what Christ commanded them through the Holy Spirit-inspired apostle Peter. He told them to, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). They were added to the church of Christ only after they obeyed the gospel.

One cannot be a Christian without believing that Jesus Christ is God’s Son who came down from the Father (John 8:19-25). To be a Christian, one must believe that Christ is the only begotten Son of God (John 8:24), repent of his sins (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30), confess his faith in Christ as God’s Son (Matt. 10:32; Acts 8:37), and be baptized for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38).

Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God? If so, “thou art not far from the kingdom.” You need only to repent of your sins, confess your faith, and be baptized in order to become a Christian.

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