A Christian is the term describing a person who has been baptized as a disciple of Jesus Christ into the Christian church.

Jesus Christ had disciples, literally meaning ‘a student’, some of whom were in due course baptized as His disciples Jn 4:1-2. The Jews were disciples of Moses Jn 9:28 and John the Baptist had his disciples Mat 9:14.

John the Baptist pointed his disciples to Jesus so that some of John’s disciples became Jesus’ disciples. Others among John’s disciples complained about this, but John responded that Jesus must increase and John must decrease.

This shows us the spirit of true preachers of the Christian Gospel. They point their hearers and their disciples to Jesus, in order to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

After His resurrection, Jesus commissioned His disciples to make more disciples throughout the world Mat 28:18 and to baptize them in the name of the Tri-une God, “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost” Mat 28:19.

Some time later, at Antioch in Syria, the name Christian was first applied to these disciples Act 11:26. Possibly it began as a nickname used by others Act 26:28, but Christians were happy to use the term themselves 1Pe 4:16.

Wrong use of Christian

It is almost certain that the first use of Christian was not its commonly-used meaning nowadays by evangelical Christians (yes, there are various types of Christian) who use the word Christian as if it means a born-again believer Jn 3:3,5,7.

This is wrong, and this usage cannot be proved from Scripture. If Christian began as a nickname for the followers of Jesus, it is almost certain that it did not mean being born again, not least because those first using it probably did not know about being born again.

It is better for preachers to use words the way the Bible does. If a preacher wants to highlight born-again believers, let him say so.

It is misleading to use the word Christian other than for those who have been baptized into the Christian church. An atheist can become disillusioned with atheism, seeing its inability to deal with islam, its undermining of Western culture, standards and freedom, so that they may accept Christianity and self-identify as a “Christian”, without any suggestion that they are born again. Jordan Peterson calls himself a Christian but does not believe in God.

If preachers mean to refer to those who are born again, let them say so. They can use such terms as ‘born again Christian’, ‘born again believer’, or the biblical terms that Scripture uses for those who were born again, such as ‘the godly’ Ps 12:1, Ps 32:6, 2Pe 2:9, ‘the righteous’ Num 23:10, 1K 8:32, Ps 1:5-6, Ps 34:15,17,19,21, Ps 37:17,21,25,29-30,32,39, Mat 13:43, Mat 25:37,46, 1Pe 3:12, 1Pe 4:18, ‘the saints in Christ Jesus’ Php 1:1, or simply ‘saints’ 2Cor 1:1. Jesus calls them ‘My sheep’ Jn 10:27-28, whom Jesus describes as those who follow Him as their Shepherd, who know Him so well that they will not follow anyone else Jn 10:4-5. Other expressions are ‘the people of God’ Heb 4:9,1Pe 2:10 or ‘the Lord’s people’.

There are other terms in Scripture that need careful analysis. Jesus distinguishes between His disciples and those whom He will acknowledge as “truly My disciples” because they continue in His Word Jn 8:31, distinguished from those disciples who departed from Him and His teaching Jn 6:66. Those who continue in His Word will be baptized as His disciples Jn 4:1-2, but they have still to “know the Truth”, which will make them free Jn 8:32. They have still to be born again by the Holy Spirit. Thus the apostle Peter urged his hearers to “repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” Act 2:38. Both Jesus and Peter teach the blessing of receiving the Holy Spirit when they continue in Christ’s Word Jn 8:32. How and why do they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? Jesus is effectively saying that the diligent use of the ordinary means of grace are effective unto salvation.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism explains it like this:

“Q. 88. What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption?
A. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption, are his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.

Q. 89. How is the word made effectual to salvation?
A. The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching, of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation.

Q. 90. How is the word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation?
A. That the word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.”

There are other biblical terms that need to be carefully used by preachers.

Even “believer” is not sufficiently accurate, because people can believe many things. The word ‘believer’ needs to be qualified unless its meaning is clear from its context.

“Godly” means God-like and is quite distinctive of those who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God.

“Saints” refers to those who are set apart and dedicated to the service of the God of Israel and does not necessarily imply regeneration although the Bible does use it in this way, determined by the context.

“Repentance” and “faith” need qualification to clarify their use. ”To repent” means “to change your mind” and it is possible to change your mind about many things, even to change your mind from bad to worse! The Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 87 does not ask: “”What is repentance?” but “What is repentance unto life?”  Question 86 does not ask: “What is faith?” but “What is faith in Jesus Christ?” Faith is a poorly understood term and one should explain exactly what faith one is speaking about.

Preachers should strive to use biblical terms in a biblical manner. When they mean the godly or those who are born again, they should say so and not use the term “Christian”, which refers to those who have been baptized into the Christian church.  What other word would you use to describe a baptized person? 

Related terminology

There is a growing number of Jews who are recognizing Jesus as their Messiah and they call themselves Messianic Jews. Some of them do not like the word Christian because of its association with the Roman Catholic Crusades. They need to correct this aversion because 1. Christian is the biblical term sanctioned by the Holy Spirit 1Pe 4:16; 2. it seems that possibly Isa 62:2 and Isa 65:15 anticipate this new name – Christian. 3. Messianic Jew is an ethnic term, with Jew as the noun and Messianic as the adjective, to which they are perfectly entitled, but the religious and biblical term is Christian.

“Catholic” is not a biblical word but was adopted early into Christian terminology. It is too often used for Roman Catholics. Roman Catholics almost always refer to themselves as “Catholics”, as if there are no other Catholics in the world other than themselves. Anglo-Catholics spring to mind. The word literally means ‘about the whole’ in the sense of ‘worldwide’ or ‘global’ and it is wrongly translated as ‘universal’. “Roman Catholic” is an oxymoron, mixing a local term ‘Roman’ with a global term ‘Catholic’, which may be why Roman Catholics do not often use the term. The Apostles’ Creed is foundational to all branches of the Christian church and one of its statements is “I believe … in the holy Catholic church”, referring to the global Christian church, which has many branches as Jesus taught His apostles – “I am the Vine; you are the branches” Jn 15:5.

Instead of making Christians think that they are born again, they should be told to continue in Christ’s Word Mat 28:20 until they are born again, which is just the beginning of their spiritual life. Jesus prayed to His Father for His apostles: “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth” Jn 17:17. The apostles had much more to learn, and so have we. 

God bless you all.

Update:

1 Apr 2024: Richard Dawkins calls himself “a cultural Christian”, but not “a believing Christian”. This youtube video could have picked a better date than April Fools’ Day! The Bible says: “The fool has said in his heart, There is no God” Ps 14:1.

25 Oct 2024: Jordan Peterson’s inadequate questioning of Dawkins’ opinion.