The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch [Act 11:26].

In our country we have laws against companies using a name that has already been used and registered by someone else. For example, if I were to start an oil company and try to call it Imperial Oil, the register of titles and names would refuse to grant me such right. That name is the property of another already.

The world has a vast number of religions. Which religion has an honest right to the name Christian? Certainly if a Buddhist came along and told you he was a Christian you would say he was not telling the truth. Or if a man of the Jewish religion was to tell you he was a Christian you would tell him that such a thing is impossible because he openly denies that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. Now to bring the question a little closer home! We happen to live in a nation in which a very large number of people like to call a "Christian" nation. In fact the vast majority in our land claim to be Christians. They belong to religions that call themselves Christian. Does this vast majority of people have any right to the name Christian? Two vital issues are sufficient to answer the question. The first is doctrinal or what does one believe and second is moral or how does one live.

First, what one believes is a deciding issue on whether one is a Christian or not. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, according to the Bible, and the Bible is the only source for this information. Jesus said: I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by Me [JOH 14:6]. The vast majority of the people of our land fail this doctrinal test miserably. They believe (or hope) that other religions lead to God and His Heaven. To them Jesus is not the ONLY WAY. He is only one of many ways. One very well known Canadian religious world leader wrote of "Christians and those of other authentic faiths such as Muslims and Buddhists." Her belief is very common in our land. Does one have the ethical right to call Jesus a liar and then to claim to be His follower--a Christian? Absolutely not.

Second, how one lives is a deciding factor as to whether one is a Christian or not. The Bible says: Follow . . . holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord [HEB 12:14]. Or again it speaks of people living according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience . . . in the desires of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind . . . by nature the children of wrath [EPH 2:2, 3]. Again there are very few who do not fail the moral test. Immorality and crime are the way of life across our land. Some of it may be hidden in the darkness of the night but more and more it parades up and down main street of every metropolis, town, village and byway of our land. It can be observed in the common, vulgar, filthy, language of the "grownups" or the foul, filthy language of the young children as they play and walk our streets. Rather than call our land "Christian" a far better description is found in Genesis 6:5 where we read: And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. We hear a few people speak up against pornography in the various media--and "they don't tell the half of it." How can it be so blatant? Because, so-called "upstanding Christians" of our land sell and buy it! No, the vast majority also fail the moral test of Christianity. They have no honest right to that precious name.

I must caution the minority who may say, "But I am moral," or even those who can add, "But I believe that Jesus is the Christ--the ONLY way", to remember that morality AND believing certain historical facts will not save your soul--You must be born again [JOH 3:7]. Make absolutely sure that you have been born again.

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This Page Last Updated: 04/21/00 A. Allison Lewis aalewis@christianbeliefs.org