A Christian

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 7
Before God a Christian is seen in Christ as holy and without blame in love, and such a character should mark him now.
A Christian, everyone will admit, ought to be a Christian in conduct and walk, as well as in name. How else is the life of Christ to be seen in him?
In these days of worldliness and declension we have to leave with the Lord the question of whether a person is really a Christian or not. We know that "the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His" (2 Tim. 2:1919Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:19)), but it is incumbent on everyone who names the name of the Lord to depart from iniquity. It is not the walk which makes the Christian, though to walk in some measure as Christ walked entitles such a one to the name, for what a Christian is before God should be reproduced in his walk. Before God he is seen in Christ as holy and without blame in love (Eph. 1:44According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Ephesians 1:4)), and such a character should mark him now.
The Christian is in the same position before God as Christ is; he has no other standing, for he is in it as the effect of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows it by the Holy Spirit which dwells in him, through whom he enjoys all the results of that death and resurrection, whether present or future. His sins have been forgiven for His name's sake. He is in Christ, saved forever from judgment, for love with him has been made perfect, so that it can be said, "As He [Christ] is, so are we [Christians] in this world." God sees each believer as such absolutely; he is perfect in Christ.
Has the state of Christendom, which is a witness of the ruin of Christian profession, altered one bit what a Christian is, and consequently what his walk should be? No! We ought to be true to what, through God's grace, we are.