What Is a Christian?

Once while on the way to Caesarea Philippi Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

Then he asked, "But you, who do you say I am?"

Simon Peter spoke up and said, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

Matthew 16: 13-16

Peter's words, spoken in the name of the earliest followers of Jesus, express the Church's most ancient profession of faith. And implied in that profession of faith is the essential definition of a Christian. The Christian is one who believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One of God, who brings the reign of God into the world.

Peter and the earliest Christians were raised in a Judaic tradition that expected that God would one day raise up an anointed one, a Messiah, who would restore the kingdom of God's chosen people. John the Baptist shared this expectation, and he would ask of Jesus, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?" To John the Baptist and to all who awaited the Messiah, Peter would say, "He is the one!"

Jesus left the Christian community with the fullness of revelation about himself. But the first Christians did not understand everything Jesus revealed. Early generations of Christians would continue to ponder the revelation of Jesus. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the Christian community would deepen its understanding of who Jesus was. Its profession of faith would grow from Peter's bold statement that he is the one to the solemn words of the Nicene Creed:

He is "the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father."

As the Christian community deepened its understanding of who Jesus was, it also grew in its understanding of itself. Christians came to understand that Jesus left his own Spirit in the hearts of those who believe in him. And this Holy Spirit transforms believers into a new spiritual creation. They learned that their identity as Christians was not the result of anything they thought or said or did, but of something that had been done to them. They had been transformed by the love of God, revealed to them by a man who is "one in Being with the Father," and poured into their hearts by his Spirit who abides with them always.

The Christian is one who lives not for himself but for God. Like his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, he surrenders his will to the will of the Father. He sets his heart not on the passing things of this world but on the eternal kingdom of God. He lives with heart uplifted in praise and thanksgiving to the God whose love is so great that he sent his own eternally begotten Son, Light from Light, to bring light and love to the world.