BELIEVER AND CHRISTIAN

What is the difference between them?

First their definitions:

BELIEVER: A person who believes that a specified thing is effective, proper, or desirable. An adherent to a particular religion. (Please Note: Dictionaries define by religion, not by relationship. Scripturally, a believer is an adherent to a particular relationship—that being God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, as explained in Acts 16:1, 2 Corinthians 6:15, Galatians 3:9, and 1 Timothy 5:16.)

Believer is derived from believe:

 

1. 1. To accept something as true, sure of the truth of, have faith

1. 1. Think or suppose 

1. 1. Thesaurus = think, be of the opinion that, think it likely that, hold, maintain, suppose, presume, conjecture, surmise, conclude, come to the conclusion that, deduce, understand, take as

To believe in:

 

1. 1. Have faith in the truth or existence of something

1. 1. Be of the opinion that something is right or acceptable

1. 1. Have confidence in a person or a course of action

Put it all together:

A believer, through thoughtful faith, accepts that the Lord Jesus Christ exists as the Living Son of God, and concludes in confidence that He is capable of _______________ (fill in the blank), (e.g. saving them forever, forgiveness of sins, promising peace, joy, hope, life everlasting, answering prayer, providing abundantly…all of the above and more!)

Therefore, in the Old Testament that meant people were required to believe that God communicated to His leaders, prophets, Kings, and Judges. And what He said was fact and truth. Additionally, they were to obey and do that which He commanded. Take note that these people were both gentile and Jew. 

Exodus 4:5 and 9, 19:1

Numbers 14:11

2 Kings 17:14

Psalm 78:22, 106:24, 119:66

Isaiah 43:10

Habakkuk 1:5

In the New Testament Jesus asks people to believe in Him specifically because He is God’s Son.

Matthew 9:28, 18:6

Mark 5:36

Luke 8:12 and 50, 22:67, 24:25

John 1:7, 12, 50, 3:18, 4:21, 4:42, 5:38, 5:46 and 47, 6:29 and 36, 8:24 and 30 are important passages, along with John 9:35-38.

The list goes on and on. 

CHRISTIAN: Relating to or professing Christianity or its teachings. A person who has received a Christian baptism, or is a believer in the religion commonly referred to as ‘Christianity’.

Christianity:

 

1. 1. The religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs and practices (Please Note: Once again, not one dictionary refers to the RELATIONSHIP one has, based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.)

1. 1. Christian quality or character

Let’s explore historical and scriptural references to understand the difference, because when the term ‘Christian’ was first used it was NOT USED IN REFERENCE to the God/Man, the PERSON who is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christian was first used in Acts 11:26, when Luke tells us—

“and when he (Barnabas) had found him (Paul in Tarsus), he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for an entire year they met with the church, and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”

The issue is who first called the disciples Christians? We soon find out…

But first, who did Paul and Barnabas meet with? The Church! That fast-growing group of Jewish and gentile believers who became a unified community throughout the region and particularly in Antioch. This coming together was unheard of at that time, and strongly reprimanded by both Jewish and gentile leadership. But under the original disciples—plus Paul and Barnabas, along with Timothy and Mark, and James, and Polycarp, and many others—the Church grew in numbers that became a threat to the established religions—both Jewish and pagan.

As a result, two things occurred: 

 

1. 1. The elite Jewish and pagan gentile leaders in Antioch, angry with the growing numbers of people turning away from their doctrines, originated ‘Christian’ as a derogatory name to identify the invasion of the new sect/denomination in their city, and separate themselves from it. Since the dwindling numbers in their own ranks threatened their pocketbooks, the name separator became the first step toward containing the Church and protecting themselves from losing more members.

1. 1. A group of deceivers, seeing the large amounts of money being given to the Church, jumped on the bandwagon and distorted the Lord’s teaching for their own benefit. They latched onto the ‘new trend’ to take advantage of the naive. They happily accepted and promoted the name ‘Christian’ thus creating havoc among the Church. (Please reference The Covering and the Genie post for more information.)

With the added help from the deceivers ripping people off, the elite then publicly denounced the Church as untrustworthy, bad for the city, disruptive, and harmful. The city leaders called the Church ‘little christs’ and ‘little messiahs’ and claimed they would ruin their way of life in Antioch. And as with all hatred, it boiled down to being one or the other—Christian or Jew/pagan—outsider or upstanding member of Antioch society.

And Jesus never used ‘Christian’ to identify His followers. He preferred terms of endearment—Mine, friend, little children, beloved, servants, brothers. Nor was it the identifier Jesus’ believers gave themselves. All the original disciples, and the apostles preferred The Way, believers, followers of Jesus, and saints. 

To this day there is no other word in the English language that carries as much baggage as the term Christian. No other word so abused, so frequently used by liars and shysters and cheats and thieves. And hence, no other word so sought by Satan to turn the world away from the Lord Jesus.

But, WHY?

Look to Antioch. The city was known as “all the world in one city”. Filled with the world’s riches, lusts, and diversities—manifesting as the worldly desires of pride, egotism, idolatry, power, and control. The very place the Lord would send His early Church leaders to help save the lost. When Paul and Barnabas taught that worldliness was not Godly and thousands of people listened and believed, that threat got them all lumped into the category ‘Christian’ as someone working AGAINST the worldly city of Antioch.

Now let’s step aside from ‘Christian’ for a moment to reveal what happened to the word saint—whose historical meaning is those obeying and then working toward sanctification in His Kingdom. Today the word saint has highly negative connotations thanks to the Roman Catholic Church. Popes took the word and contemptibly used it to canonize—to declare—a normal everyday person be someone who should be venerated, deified, worshiped, and prayed to for intercession—instead of God!

Furthermore, the RCC captured all of the saint definitions (holy, virtuous, believer, of living in heaven) and distorted them away from the Lord Jesus Christ. Holy became a name for the Pope (Holy See) instead of ‘those seeking and living for God Almighty’. The RCC twisted the remaining definitions “virtuous, believer, and living in heaven” as having to go through the POPE to obtain these things. In every instance the definitions are horribly distorted opposite what the Lord and the Word teaches. Research the abominations the RCC did to the word ‘saints’ and many egregious acts in A Woman Rides the Beast by Dave Hunt.

Now back to scripture to see the other two times where the word Christian is used:

 

1. 1. Acts 26:28 brings us back to Paul, who is captured and in chains, before King Agrippa, defending himself against accusations brought on by the Jewish leadership. King Agrippa was an unbeliever who used the demeaning identifier ‘Christian’ to humiliate Paul, claiming he was not following Jewish law, and therefore highly undesirable. The passage reads: And Agrippa replied to Paul, “Can you so quickly persuade me to become a Christian?” Paul’s answer reveals how he felt about being lumped into the ‘Christian’ category! V29, Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I wish to God that not only you but everyone listening to me today would become what I am—except for these chains!” Well, what was Paul? How was he known? Paul was the most learned, venerated Jewish Rabi Roman citizen New Testament believer—who never referred to himself as a Christian!

1. 1. In 1 Peter 4:16 the context is more complicated because of a mistake Peter made, that had to be publicly corrected by Paul, and held huge ramifications later on. Prior to writing this epistle, Peter had been living side-by-side with the messianic Jews and the messianic gentiles—just as Jesus commanded him. But when a group of conservative Jewish leaders came to town, Peter abandoned the community and sided with the Jews—causing the new Jewish and gentile believers in the Church to think they were second-class citizens. This grave mistake caused a huge rift and Paul had to set the record straight regarding what the Gospel entails. So in 4:16 when Peter uses ‘Christian’ he is referring to the derogatory term—same as the Antioch elite.

Make no mistake, the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ includes everyone, because Jesus died so there would be no division or separation among people. God wants everyone to become believers in Him, and know Who He is, what He’s done, and what He will do.

Yet, notice how the world views ‘Christians’ today. The world demands Christians behave and act a certain way, which is in accordance WITH THE WORLD, according to the world’s beliefs. Unfortunately, most Christians accept this and the majority do live in the world, not apart from it, as the Lord commands.

Many Christians willingly accept the identifier and use it as a false covering to claim they are saved, meanwhile hanging onto all their worldly sins. “I can have God AND seek riches, AND be pride-filled, AND express egotism, AND divorce my spouse, AND accept same sex marriage, AND support abortion, AND, AND, AND…”

Don’t get me wrong. 

Are there Christians who are believers—truly saved, honorable, and obedient—who don’t know any better than to call themselves by that false identifier? Sure there are. I know a few. Therefore, best way to discern whether a person is a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is to pay close attention to their Holy Spirit-filled actions to see whether or not they produce Godly or un-godly works, because words alone—claiming salvation—are not proof.

Don’t get me wrong, again!

Are there those who claim to be believers, who act falsely, living in the world instead of separate from it? Sure there are, and the above applies.

Understand then the vast importance of each individual’s responsibility toward what they have buried deep in their hearts. Is it of God, His Son, and Holy Spirit? Or is it iniquity, demonstrated through lives lived by acquiring the desires of this world?

A person’s actions—not their words—reveal the truth.

Why?

Because always, ALWAYS Satan is at work turning multitudes away from the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Way, His Truth, and His Life.

And this becomes the reason to avoid the broad worldly road and choose instead the narrow Godly path that leads to the narrow gate. That narrow path is single file—one individual at a time—being responsible for themselves. That person by themselves, who is seeking and learning—who comes to that narrow gate and chooses to open it when the Lord beckons from the other side. There is only one handle and it is on the seeker’s side of that narrow gate. Once the choice for the Lord Jesus Christ is made, He calls that individual His beloved believer, His follower, part of His Way, and a member of His Church.

In obedience to Him, this is the reason believers MUST pray for God’s truth, and His knowledge, wisdom, and discernment every single day. This obedience and subsequent work toward sanctification in His Kingdom becomes a daily individual responsibility to put on the Full Armor of God and stand ready to receive His direction for service. Because serving Him—through Holy Spirit’s direction—is the proof of whether or not one is a ‘Christian’ or a believer.

Finally, the Lord alone knows which person is one of His beloved believers, and who is not. He knows what lies deep within a person’s heart. He alone determines who will be with Him forever, and who will be cast into the lake of fire. He alone has the right to say, “Leave Me, for I do not know you.” He alone is the great seperater of His sheep, whom He gathers together on His right side, versus Satan’s goats, whom He separates off to His left—and who He will destroy.

Whew!

And AMEN!