The Making of a Christian

A Christian is an individual who has been twice born. He has been born

"again." Jesus said: "Verily, verily. I say unto thee, Except a man be born

again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'' (John 3:3.) Then in enlarging upon

this thought he said: ''Verily, verily. I say unto thee. Except a man be born of

water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5.)

Nicodemus knew something about a fleshly birth, but at first he did not grasp

the idea of a spiritual birth. All responsible and accountable beings know

something about a fleshly birth. We know that there is first a begetting and

then a bringing forth. So it is with the spiritual birth. We are begotten by the

Spirit and brought forth from a watery grave. How are we begotten by the

Spirit? We read in 1 Pet. 1:23 after this fashion: "Being born again, not of

corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God. which liveth and

abideth forever." And then in James 1:18 we have this: "Of his own will begat

he us with the word of truth." What could be plainer? We are begotten by the

word of truth. Paul, in telling how theCorinthian brethren had been begotten, said: "For in Christ Jesus I have

begotten you through the gospel." (1 Cor. 4:15.)

When Jesus says we cannot do something, that is just the way it is. He

says we cannot enter the kingdom without being born of water and the Spirit.

But note this: If we are born again, we can enter the kingdom. The kingdom

is in existence. and we can be entered if we comply with the divine laws of

entrance.

After one has been born into the kingdom, what name does he wear?

When we were born into our earthly father's family, we took his name. The

divine Father has named his children. Many hundreds of years before there

was a Christian on earth Isaiah wrote this: "And the Gentiles shall see thy

righteousness. and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name,

which the mouth of the Lord shall name." (Isa. 62:2.) We learn from this that

there was a time coming when the Lord's people were to be called by a new

name, and that the "mouth of the Lord" was to give this new name. We come

to Acts 2 and learn about the beginning of the church, but the converts were

Jews. So it was for several years. But in Acts 10 we have an account of the

conversion of the first Gentile. The time had no arrived when the Gentiles had

seen the righteousness of God. The time had come for God to call his people

by a new name. Thus in the very next chapter we have this significant

language: "And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." (Acts

11:26.) Isaiah said the time would come when they would "be called by a new

name, and Luke, in Acts, says they "were called."

This is a divine name divinely given to the people of God. God's people

honor their Head by wearing this name. In fact, there is no salvation in any

other name. "Neither, is there salvation in any other: for there is none other

name under heaven given among men. whereby we must be saved." (Acts

4:12.) If we are ever saved, it must be in the name of Christ. When we are

saved in the name of Christ, we have a divineright to wear his name. It is sinful to wear human names as religious

designations. In the early days of the church some of the brethren at Corinth

were given to wearing human names. For this they were severely rebuked. "For

while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed,

even as the Lord gave to every man?" (1 Cor. 3:4, 5.) To wear human names

in religion is carnal. "Carnal" means animal, fleshly, material, temporal,

worldly. It is the very opposite of spiritual. "For to be carnally minded is

death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Rom. 8:6.)

We have the name "Christian" three times in the New Testament. We have

already read it in Acts 11:26. Its next occurrence is in Acts 26:28. Paul had

been preaching the everlasting gospel to King Agrippa. "Then Agrippa said

unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." The king knew if he

were to obey the gospel that Paul preached it would make him a Christian. It

will do the same thing today. Paul preached the death of Christ for our sins,

his burial, and his resurrection. He taught people to believe in Christ, to

repent of their sins, to confess the name of Christ, and to be buried by baptism

for the remission of sins.

You will be interested in hearing Paul preach these things. "Believe on the

Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved." (Acts 16:31.) "And the times of

this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to

repent." (Acts 17:30.) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord

Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,

thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and

with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Rom. 10:9, 10.) "Know

ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized

into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that

like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so

we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together

in the likeness of his death, weshall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." (Rom. 6:3-5.) We have the

name "Christian" once again. "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not

be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." (1 Pet. 4:16.) It we are

genuine Christians, we are going to suffer some for it. Yes, it costs something

to be a Christian. To be a humble follower of the humble Christ and to wear

no other name but his really means something. This name is above every other

name. "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name

which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that

every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the

Father." (Phil. 2:9-11.) May God help us to honor the name by wearing it and

living up to it.