IS A BELIEVER THE SAME AS A CHRISTIAN?; What Is The Difference?

I was studying the Word of God one day and I came upon the verse 4 of 1 Thessalonians 5 and I was reading in the NIV version and I wanted to compare versions with the AMP version so I checked and the first parts of the verse caught my attention: 

 

“But you, believers, [all you who believe in Christ as Savior and acknowledge Him as God’s Son]…” 

‭‭1 Thessalonians 5:4 AMP‬

 

The AMP version defined who a believer is. On seeing this I took it into meditation to understand. I didn’t ask the question until a few days later when I was preparing to teach the Youth Ministry of our church then the question came into my spirit; Is a Believer the same as a Christian?

Then I was led to find out through the Word of God if they are the same or not and here’s what I found:

 

Per the above Bible verse, a believer is one who believes in Jesus Christ as Savior. Meaning they acknowledge that Jesus came into the world to die to save us of the wrath of God due to our sins and to save us from the life of the world (darkness) to give us eternal life. 

They also acknowledge Him as the “Son of God”; [Son of God means God in a human body. God decided to come live on the earth for a purpose and in doing so He created a special body that will harness His divine nature hence conceiving a baby in a woman who was set apart for that cause (a virgin). This baby had His own nature, blood and system apart from the woman who carried Him (Mary didn’t get pregnant with a man, nor was she connected to Jesus in her womb by blood or umbilical cord). This body was then born into existence and God came to live in that body and used the name Jesus Christ (the name above all names) which is God’s name. This supernatural being was not a human that was chosen by God, nor was He a prophet of God chosen for a cause, He was called the “Son of God” because He was God now living in a human body and not our human definition of “son”.]

And whoever acknowledges and believes this wonderful and Holy mystery, that Jesus Christ is indeed “God” in a “human body”; that Jesus is God, and He is our savior then they are believers. 

 

But does that make such a person who believes in the true God a Christian? The answer is NO. 

Let’s see how different a believer is from a Christian.

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Acts 11:19 - 26 AMP

19 “So then [since they were unaware of these developments] those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with [the stoning of] Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, without telling the message [of salvation through Christ] to anyone except Jews. 

20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, proclaiming [to them] the good news about the Lord Jesus. 

21 And the hand (the power and presence) of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord [for salvation, accepting and drawing near to Jesus as Messiah and Savior]. 

22 The news of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 

23 When he arrived and saw the grace of God [that was bestowed on them], he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with an unwavering heart to stay true and devoted to the Lord. 

24 For Barnabas was a good man [privately and publicly—his godly character benefited both himself and others] and he was full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith [in Jesus the Messiah, through whom believers have everlasting life]. And a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

25 And Barnabas left for Tarsus to search for Saul; 

26 and when he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. For an entire year they met [with others] in the church and instructed large numbers; and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.”

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There are few things to take note in the above Bible verses that explains the concept of who a Christian is differentiating it from a believer. 

The first thing to note is that a Christian cannot become “that” without first becoming a believer. It is only believers that can go on to become Christians. Hence per the above Bible verses; the “believers” who went to Antioch did something very different from all the other believers who went to other places and they had something very different from all the others that drew attention to them; 

• they began proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Antioch and got many to also believe

• the hand of God (His power and presence) was with them and upon them

• they carried the grace of Jesus Christ

      The other features can be seen also in Barnabas (who was a Christian and one of their leaders);

• he was a man of godly character; good both in public and private

• he was filled with the Holy Ghost; full of the Spirit of God

• he was full of faith

Hence a Christian is simply a believer of Jesus Christ who has been born again; baptized in water and the Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit, and is living the life of Christ; doing what He did and obeying what He instructed. 

 

Let me explain further with the chapters 1&3 of the book of John.

‭‭John 1:12 - 13 AMP

12 “But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the right [the authority, the privilege] to become children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name—

13 who were born, not of blood [natural conception], nor of the will of the flesh [physical impulse], nor of the will of man [that of a natural father], but of God [that is, a divine and supernatural birth—they are born of God—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified].”

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The above verse tells us something very profound that many people have misconstrued. It tells us that anyone who accepts, receives and believes in Jesus Christ as their savior and as the Son of God gets a privilege, a pass, a passport, a visa, a chance, the right to now go on to be born again. This means they don’t become born again at the instant they receive, accept and believe in Jesus Christ, but what happens is that they gain access to the Holy Mystery, which is the plan of God for humanity; that we will be born again and He can now live inside us. So believers who have not being born again are just merely believers and not Children of God. The right spoken of in the Bible verse is merely an opportunity for the believer to now become a Child of God by being born again. And how does one become born again? 

Let’s see:

‭John 3:3 -8 AMP

3 “Jesus answered him, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a person is born again [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified], he cannot [ever] see and experience the kingdom of God.” 

4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” 

5 Jesus answered, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God. 

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh [the physical is merely physical], and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

7 Do not be surprised that I have told you, ‘You must be born again [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified].’ 

8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.””

 

In the above verses, the words of Jesus Christ to Nicodemus were clear. No one can enter Heaven until they are born again which is; being born of water and of the Holy Spirit : BAPTISM. 

When one is baptized in water and in the Spirit, they are spiritually reborn, and now the mystery in John 1:13 can take place. They become children of God, born of God, filled with the Spirit of God. 

When this happens, the Spirit filled person receives the grace of God upon them, the hand of God also comes upon them, they are filled with the Holy Spirit and filled with faith and they can begin to live like Jesus Christ. 

Now such a person can freely live their lives as a Christian; doing the things that Jesus Christ did and obeying what He tells them to do. 

Until a believer is born again, they cannot become a Child of God and be called a Christian. 

Hence many people who call themselves Christians but are not born again and living like Jesus Christ are merely believers (they believe but are not born again) and not actually Christians. 

CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION BUT A REVELATION OF WHO JESUS CHRIST IS; JESUS CHRIST IS GOD, AND THE PLAN OF GOD FOR HUMANITY IS THAT WE ARE BORN AGAIN SO THAT WE BECOME CHILDREN/SONS OF GOD (GOD LIVING IN OUR HUMAN VESSELS/BODIES) JUST LIKE JESUS CHRIST. 

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NB: If you have not being born again and are not a Christian, please do so immediately because the Lord is coming in no time. 

May the Lord help us all to become what He intends for us to be in Jesus Mighty Name, AMEN! 

God bless you all

Shalom

                                                 

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