The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1888, Page 34

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34

The Lutheran Pioneer.

(For the ‘‘Lutheran Pioncer.’’)

Who is a Christian?

This is a very important question. There
are thousands claiming to be Christians, who
are but miserable pretenders. Again, there
are thousands that think they are Christians,
but they deceive themselves. And we know
that there are numbers of those who sincerely
seek an answer to the question: Who is a Chris-
tian and am I one?—So let us see!

Look at the name itself. It will tell you all.

It is not the name of a business, nor of a polit-
ical party, nor a name given to people of a cer-
tain country. It isa religious name. It means
that a person, called a Christian, is one of the
believers and followers of the Christian religion.
He cannot, as a Christian, believe in the Jewish,
Mohammedan, or heathen religion, nor in the
religion of the infidels and worldlings. As a
Christian he must, as his name says, believe in
the Christian religion, the religion of Jesus
Christ,*that religion of which Jesus Christ is
not only the greatest teacher, but of which He
is the foundation, center and very life, which
principally speaks of Him and His glorious re-
‘demption. In a word, a Christian must, to be
such, believe in the Bible, which contains the
Christian religion. The doctrines of the Bible
must be his faith and his guide in all matters
of religion and life. If you reject the Bible,
if you refuse to make its doctrines your faith
and religion, you cannot be a Christian. You
have therewith rejected the Christian religion
which the Bible teaches. You have rejected
Christ Himself. The principal doctrines of the
Bible are about Him and His free salvation,
and all other doctrines are founded upon and
closely connected with these. The Gospel of
'Christ, like golden threads woven in cloth, runs
through the entire Bible from beginning to end.
—How then can you be a Christian, without
believing with heart and soul in the Christian
religion, that is, the Bible?

A Christian is a person that, as the name
says, has been saved by Christ, that has sought
and found forgiveness of his sins through Christ,
whose way to heaven is Christ alone.—All this
is implied by the name Christian. A true Chris-
tian, therefore, believes that Christ came into
the world to save sinners. He believes that
Christ has ‘‘redeemed him, the poor lost and
condemned sinner, purchased and won him
from all sins, from death and the power of the
devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy,
precious blood and with His innocent suffering
and death.’’ He believes that Christ, his Sav-
jour, has completely redeemed him, that He
did not omit or forget to do anything necessary
for our salvation, that God is now perfectly
satisfied and reconciled ; consequently, who-
soever believeth in Christ, and though he be
the vilest and greatest sinner, will surely, for
Ghrist’s sake, be pardoned and will not perish

but have everlasting life. A Christian believes,

‘also, that Christ is the only hope of sinners—

and sinners all men are. There is no other

name, nor person, nor thing, whereby we may
be saved, it is only through Christ. Outside
of Christ there is no pardon, no heaven for
man. No one cometh to the Father but by
Him. Whosoever believeth not in Him will be
damned. Hence, a true Christian neither de-
spairs on account of his sins, nor relies on his
own good works and upright life, to be saved;
from Christ and through Christ he expects
everything.

It is unnecessary to say that a Christian could
not have this faith if sincere repentance, that
is, a thorough knowledge of his sinful, dam-
nable state without Christ, and a deep sorrow
on account of his sins, had not gone before it.
Without repentance of sins it is impossible to
believe in Christ. —Are you that kind of @
Christian? If not, you are none atall. A per-,
son truly called a Christian believes in a God
of which Christ is a person, namely His Son.
In short, he believes in a God not only con-
sisting of the Father—as the enemies of Christ
say—but also a Son and besides these also a
Holy Ghost. Therefore the Christian’s God is
a God of three persons, the Father, who created
all things, the Son, who redeemed us, namely
Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, who sancti-
fies men to follow and believe in Christ, their
Saviour. Such is the one true God that the
Bible speaks of. Such a God only the Chris-
tians worship. All other religions do not teach
such a God. The heathen religions know
nothing about the true God. The Jewish and
Mohammedan religions speak of a God con-
sisting of but one person, that is the Father.
— How then can a person bear the Christian
name if he believes not in the Christian’s God,
the God of the Bible; if he believes not in the
Son of God and the Holy Spirit?— Then the
Christian or believer in and follower of Christ
is made such through Holy Baptism. Christ’s
command to His apostles and all His ministers
of the Gospel is: ‘‘Go ye and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”’ As this
passage reads in the Greek text—in which lan-
guage the New Testament was originally wrif-
ten—it means: Go ye and make all nations
(my) disciples by baptizing them in the name
of the Father, etc. Thus it is so beautifully
said of a person having been baptized, that he
has been ‘‘christened,”’ that he has been made
a Christian, made a follower and disciple of
Christ. And so itis. Through baptism man
is born again and made a new creature. By
baptism he is given the faith in Christ, so nec-
essary to be saved, and if he already hath it, it
is strengthened by his baptism. Through Holy
Baptism man obtains the forgiveness of sin and
eternal life, which Christ secured for man by
His sufferings and death. By baptism man is
given grace and power to lead a new life. In
short, through baptism man obtains all the
parts of a Christian. As many as have been
baptized, have put on Christ (see Gal. 3, 27).
To put on Christ is to become a true: Christian
in every respect. Holy Baptism is also an out-

When a

ward sign of a man’s Christianity.
person is baptized, he is known to be separated
from the world and to belong to the Christian

people. By baptism a person is received into
the Christian Church. Then, a person baptized
also vows and promises before God, that he will
forsake the devil and all his works and the
world, to live as a Christian after the com-
mandments of God.

To sum up. A Christian is a person who be-
lieves in the Christian religion which is con-
tained in the Bible, believes in Jesus Christ as
his Saviour, believes in God the Father, Son
and Holy Ghost and is baptized in the name
of the Triune God. He will, as a necessary con-
sequence, serve, love and confess his Master
and follow His example.—J’. B.

——_ — +o

Morning Bible Reading.

The best time for Bible reading is in the
morning. The mind and body are fresh after
the repose of the night, and the highest powers
of thought may be brought to bear upon the
chapter selected. But, with most people, each
recurring morning brings its own pressing task.
Business cares, the daily toil, and the duties
of the house are the first and most engrossing
concerns. Svume hours must pass, with many,
before they can find time to sit down to any
quiet reading. Let the plan be honestly tried
by taking some words from God’s book for the
first meditation of the morning. Make for a
month a fair, steadfast trial of the plan of
studying the Bible when your faculties are at
mental high-water mark, you wonder at the
familiarity of this or that friend with the Psalms,
the Epistles, the Gospels. It has been gained
a little at a ,time, by patient daily reading—
thoughtful, prayerful reading too, which was
hived by the soul as something worth treasur-
ing. We shall all gain immeasurably in our
influence as our comfort by giving more of our
unwearied thought to the holy book. <A few if
tired, sleepy, worn-out moments at night, and //
those only, are almost an insult to the Master,’
whom you profess to serve.

A Strong Church.

“Ts it a strong congregation?”’ asked a man
respecting a body of worshipers.

‘*Yes,”’ was the reply.

‘How many members are there?”’

« Seventy-six.””

*¢Seventy-six! Are phe, 80 very wealthy?”

‘*No; they are poor.’’

‘How, then, doyou say itis a strong church?”

“ Because,” said the gentleman, ‘‘they are
earnest, devoted, at peace, loving each other,
and striving together to do the Master's work.
Such a congregation is strong, whether com-
posed of five or five hundred members.’