Who Is a Christian?

By Steve Higginbotham

“But who is a Christian? I answer, Everyone that believes in his heart that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the son of God; repents of his sins, and obeys him in all things according to his measure of knowledge of his will…I cannot, therefore make any one duty the standard of Christian state or character, not even immersion into the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and in my heart regard all that have been sprinkled in infancy without their own knowledge and consent, as aliens from Christ and the well-grounded hope of heaven…There is no occasion, then, for making immersion, on a profession of faith, absolutely essential to a Christian.”

Many would probably be surprised to learn that the above quotation is taken from the pen of Alexander Campbell. What Alexander Campbell expressed in what is now known as the “Lunenburg Letter” is being echoed by many of our brethren today who teach baptism is not essential to becoming a Christian.

Here’s the problem as I see it. Some of our brethren have confused being “in Christ” with being “like Christ.” The two are not the same! Let me illustrate. Suppose a young man buys a Boy Scout handbook and he reads it cover to cover. Suppose he even performs all the requirements for the various merit badges contained therein. And suppose he spends his weekends helping elderly women cross the street. Would these actions make him a Boy Scout? While he might look and act like one, he isn’t a Boy Scout until he properly registers and joins through the prescribed rites of entrance.

Likewise, we have the question of Christian identity. Suppose someone decides to read their Bible cover to cover, works diligently for the moral good of himself, his family, and community, and attends church services. Does that make him a Christian? He certainly may look like and act like a Christian, but he is not a Christian until he properly submits to the prescribed terms or rites of entrance.

Brethren, baptism is the line of demarcation. Rather than going soft of the necessity of baptism, we need to uncompromisingly teach the truth so that all those “Christ-like” people in the world, may learn what to do to be “in Christ.”