What does it mean to be a Christian?
All Christians go to church, but that’s not Christianity. That’s what a Christian does after he becomes a Christian.
Others say, “No. It’s going to church and serving a declaration of creeds, and being loyal to those things in which the church teaches.”
Others say, “Perhaps carrying a little something with them like a little cross, and that is the sign of a Christian.”
Or, “Perhaps, maybe, if they would burn a candle, or do some kind of a penance, that that’s a Christian. If they will merely be immersed in water, or they will do some sacrifice, or give charity, or help the neighbor, buy some goods for the widow, or some shoes for the orphan.” That’s the acts that a Christian should do, but that still doesn’t make them a Christian.
And then some says, that, “If you have an image of Christ in your car, or on your wall, that that is a sign of a Christian.” Well, those things are all right, but that does not makes you Christian.
We believe that being an image of Christ makes you a Christian. It’s not what we do, outwardly. It’s what’s happened, inwardly, that makes us what we are. Then, therefore, if He is our image, and we are in His likeness and members of His Body, we should be images like Him. Then our lives should reflect the image of Christ, not in our joining church, or in our carrying a crucifix, or our emotions, but it should be in the living Presence of the living God that’s reflected through our life.
59-0525 – Images Of Christ, Rev. William Marrion Branham
