What Is a Christian?

This episode of All In with Pastor Jordan Easley has been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you. Welcome to All In with Pastor Jordan Easley. Today's message is about to begin, and we invite you to prepare your heart and mind to hear an inspiring message from God's Word. We hope and pray for God to speak to you today as you seek to live your life all in for Jesus Christ. And now from First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, here's Pastor Jordan Easley. If you have your Bible, I'm gonna invite you to join me in Colossians chapter three. We're gonna be in Colossians three today as we continue our study that we're calling God Defined It. We're looking at certain things that culture tries to define, that God said, no, no, no, I defined it first. And so we're looking today at an important topic that I just believe all of us need to hear, all right? And so, hey, I wanna thank you for being here today. One of the most misunderstood words in the entire English language, I believe is the word Christian. I think this is one of the most misunderstood words in our entire language, especially in the South. We live in a culture right now where the majority of the people in our community claim to be a Christian.

If you ask people where you live or where you work or where you go to school, are you a Christian? 99% of them will raise their hand and say, yes. We live in a community where people are raised in Christian homes and come from Christian families. We have Christian businesses and attend Christian schools. A bunch of us eat Christian chicken. Can I get an amen from somebody? Not on Sundays though, but we live in what seems to be a Christian world. But the question I want us to address today is this, what exactly is a Christian? I'm asking that question because I believe when you start to peel back the layers of this onion and ask the question clearly, you're gonna quickly discover that there's a big difference between biblical Christianity and cultural Christianity. See, culture will tell you that being a Christian means you walked an aisle or you prayed with a preacher or you were dunked in a pool of water. To live as a Christian in the South, to some people means that you open doors for ladies and you say, yes ma'am and no ma'am. I've actually heard people say this. They say, hey, to be a Christian means you read your Bible Monday through Friday, you avoid getting drunk on Saturday and you show up for church on Sunday.

And I'm all for those things. But let me just ask you a question. Do you really believe that's what Christianity is all about? There's a few things about Christianity I think all of us should know. I believe all of us should know what it is and also what it's not. Today, if you're taking notes and I hope you are, I'm gonna start by giving you a what it's not. You ready? Christianity is not a birthright. It's not a birthright. Today in Egypt, every single person is considered either a Muslim or a Christian. In fact, when a baby is born, a birth certificate is presented and on that birth certificate, there are two choices, two boxes, Muslim or Christian. So you're either born a Muslim or a Christian, meaning when you hear that 10% of Egypt is Christian today, that does not mean that 10% of their population loves Jesus, follows Jesus, has surrendered their life to Jesus. What that means is 10% of the population identifies as being non-Muslim. In the same way, that term Christian is thrown around a lot in America today. That term means different things to different people. Some people believe that they're a Christian simply because they were born into a Christian home

or they grew up in a Christian church. Others think that they're a Christian because they were raised by great godly Christian parents. In fact, some have even claimed that they've been a Christian their entire life. Well, let me just make something abundantly clear today. There's never been a person on the face of the earth that's been a Christian their entire life. I once heard an old preacher put it this way. He said, being born in a Christian home doesn't make you a Christian any more than being born in a McDonald's makes you a Happy Meal. Can I get an amen, right? But the truth is many people in our community are banking on this idea that they are saved today. And they are banking on this idea that they're on their way to heaven today. Why? Because their definition of Christianity was determined by culture and not by Christ. Hey, we need to remember that this term Christian was not a term created by the church. It was a term given to the church. It wasn't created by the church. It was a term given to the church. In fact, all the way back in Acts 11, we see this word Christian for the very first time. It says the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

So when you read that, the question. The question is, who are these people who called the disciples Christians for the very first time? Do you know the answer? It was just normal townspeople in this tiny town called Antioch. That term Christian wasn't created by Jesus. In fact, that word Christian never came out of the mouth of Christ one single time. He never called his followers Christians. In the Bible, you'll see him refer to his followers as disciples. Other times, you'll see him refer to them as brothers, but not Christians. It wasn't until in the book of Acts, the people of Antioch were watching the disciples of Jesus. They were listening to the disciples teach. After observing these guys for a while, they coined this term Christian to describe them. That word sort of stuck in those days, and it's carried on even to today. The word Christian actually comes from two different words. Christianos is the Greek word, but it's a combination of two words. The first word is Christ, or it means the anointed one. And then you see the suffix ionos, which refers to a follower of a certain person, a follower of a certain leader. And so all of that to say, when you look at the literal translation of the word Christian, it literally means follower of Christ. It could also mean belonging to Christ. Some theologians even say that the word Christian means little Christs. It was a term that was created because the world in the first century recognized that the followers of Jesus were different than everybody else. It was a term that was created by unbelievers to describe true believers. And honestly, I don't think this was a term of endearment. When they came up with this term, I believe it was intended to be a sarcastic term. I believe it was intended to be a derogatory term.

It was a term created by lost people to make fun of these saved people, these little Christs. And I don't know that to be true. The Bible doesn't say that abundantly clear, but in my study of Acts chapter 11, that's what I read. Here's something I do know to be true. These unbelievers noticed the difference that Jesus made in the lives of his disciples. They noticed these people live differently. Man, they worship differently. They give differently. They walk and they talk and they conduct business in a way where other people in this community don't. So what are we going to call these people? Let's call them Christians. They're little Christ. They belong to Jesus. They follow Jesus and they're different because of Jesus. Today from God's word, I want us to share together seven marks of a real Christian. Seven marks that we're going to see in scripture today that identify a real Christian. Right here, Paul's going to draw a clear line and he would say, let me show you the difference between someone who just claims to be a Christian in a cultural Christianity and someone who is really all in with Jesus. Someone who's a follower of Christ, a disciple of Jesus. Let me show you the difference between the two. In fact, in the very first verse we're going to read, he's going to tell us, if you're a real Christian, check this out, you have been raised with Christ. Verse one. So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. If you're taking notes, I want you to jot this down. Real Christianity sees life from a different perspective.

Well, when Paul says we've been raised with Christ, he's talking about us seeing things completely different. He talked about setting our minds on more important things. And notice this says that when Christ saves us, he positions us at a higher place. Even today, I believe that God wants us to imagine our rightful position as being seated next to Christ. That's where God wants us to see ourselves. I believe he's saying we ought to live as if we're already there, thinking and living with an elevated perspective. You know why I believe so many Christians are unhappy today? I believe many Christians are unhappy today because all they're doing is minding their own business. I'm talking about people who claim to love the Lord, people who follow the Lord, but they're unhappy. They're miserable. You're like, why are they so miserable? It's because they're just minding their own business. The priority of their life, the primary focus of their world, it's all about them. It's all about their family and their job and their hobbies and their things and what they can accomplish and what they can accumulate. It's all about them. They're minding their own business. You know why I believe? that they're so miserable most of the time, it's because God never told us as Christians to mind our own business. He told us as Christians, our job is to be about His business, right? That's the reason that we're here. It's the reason we're alive.

This is not about us. This is all about Him. Somebody say amen to that today, right? It's all about Him. Read what we just saw in verse two. What does it say? Set your minds on what? On things above. He said, that's what you should be focused on. And then He said, not on earthly things. He said, don't focus on this stuff. I love the New Living Translation of that verse. It said this, let heaven fill your thoughts. Don't spend your time worrying about things down here. Listen, when God defines a Christian in the Bible, He describes a person who has had both a change of heart and a change of perspective, which leads me to ask the question. Number one, has God truly changed my heart? And if He has changed my heart, then can I honestly say that He's changed my perspective? Maybe you internalize these questions today and just ask the question, has God truly changed me? Has He changed the way that I make decisions? Has He changed how I set goals and how I establish priorities in my life or in my family? Has He changed how I steward my time? How I steward my resources, the things that God's blessed me with? Has it changed how I see my money

and steward those things for His glory? Has it changed what I worry about as a person? Jesus said in Matthew 6, don't worry saying, what will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear? In other words, Jesus tells us as His followers, hey, don't worry about things that won't ultimately matter. He was saying your perspective has been elevated. It's been raised with Christ and now you should think and you should live from an eternal position, not a temporal position. When He says, don't worry about things like what you eat or what you drink or what you wear, I don't want you to hear that those things are bad things. They're not, those are not bad things. They're just temporary things. These are things that our old perspective would have deemed very important. But the Bible says, if you've been saved, if you're now a Christian who is following Jesus, then you have been raised with Christ. Your perspective has been elevated. And He goes on in verse 33 to say, now you ought to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. He's talking to us as believers. If you're a Christian, you've been raised with Christ. Secondly, if you're a Christian, your life has been hidden with Christ. That's what we read in verse three.

He says, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. We're told in these verses that we as Christians have died, but we just read in verse one that we as Christians have been raised. So what does that mean? Well, it means when Christ died, I died. The old me died. The sinner I once was that was separated from God, that person died. That person is no more. But not only has the old me died, the Bible says the new me has been raised to life and that my new life is in Christ. That's a new saved life. It's a forgiven life. It's the changed me, the never to be the same again me. See, the Bible summarizes this and says, when you're a Christian, there was a moment you were saved. And once you were saved, your old life is dead and gone and your new life in Christ has begun. And that life is protected. It's hidden with God. That word hidden in the scripture is also where we get our English word security, which tells me once you have new life in Christ, that that life is protected. That life is preserved. It's secure, both in Christ, check this out, and with God. In Christ and with God.

That's what the scripture says. That's also what Jesus says in John chapter 10. He said, I give them eternal life and they will never perish. Check this out. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all. Check this out. No one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. When someone's worried about losing their salvation, these are typically the first two verses that I'll run to. Because in these verses, the Bible clearly says that when a person is genuinely saved their salvation is locked in the vault of God, the son. Not only is our salvation locked in the vault of God the Son, the Bible says that salvation is also sealed in the safe of God the Father. So the life that Jesus gives is what? It's eternal life. He gives us eternal life. Jesus didn't come to save you for just a minute. He didn't come to save you for just a millennium. He didn't come to save you as long as you were a good boy or a good girl. Jesus came to save you for all eternity. And that word eternal in the scripture, you know what it means? It means forever and ever and ever and ever. It means forever and without end. Jesus says, once you are saved,

your salvation is secure and your life is hidden in Christ. Are you tracking with me today? Listen, when you are saved by grace through faith, the Bible clearly says you receive new life from the Lord. But the coolest thing about this whole thing is that that life that Jesus gives you is doubly secure. It's doubly protected. It's in the hand of God the Son. It's in the hand of God the Father. Jesus said, no one will snatch you out of my hand. God the Father said the exact same thing. And that's why you and I can live with boldness today. You know, you read about guys like Paul. You're like, man, how is he so bold? He's getting whooped everywhere he goes. People are punching him in the face and they're flogging him and they're hurting him and they're putting him in prison. Like, why was he so bold? Listen, this is the reason. It's the reason why you and I can live with freedom today and be bold today. It's because there's nothing that anyone in this world can do to steal your salvation if you're saved. In fact, you can't even see my salvation. You can't see the life that God's given me. Now you can see my physical body and you can whoop my physical body and you can beat my physical body, but there is nothing you can do to harm my saved soul.

You know why? Because the Bible says the life that comes through Christ is the life I received in salvation and that life is protected and it is secure and it is hidden with Christ. If you're a Christian, you can say the same. You've been raised with Christ and your life has been hidden with Christ. Let me give you the third one. Are you ready? Say, I'm ready. All right, number three. The Bible says if you're a Christian, Christ is your life. Christ is your life. Look at verse four. It says, when Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory. If you ask me to give one statement that defines biblical Christianity, I think this would be my statement. Biblical Christianity is when Christ is your life. It's not when Jesus is a part of your life. It's not when Jesus is important in your life. It's not when Jesus is a piece of the pie of your life. Being a Christian means Christ is your life. Hey, that's what the Bible says. That's what Paul clearly said in Philippians one. He said what? He said, for me to live is Christ. To live is Christ.

That means our entire life should revolve around Jesus. Hey, he's not a Sunday only savior. You know that, right? He didn't come to the earth and die on a cross so that he could be your weekend boyfriend. He's not looking for a dating relationship. He's the king of kings and he's the Lord of lords and he requires our full attention, but he deserves our full devotion. Do you believe that today? Do you believe that today? Anybody in here believe that Jesus deserves everything? Because he gave you everything. You wanna know what a real Christian looks like? This is it. Biblical Christianity is when Christ is your life. It's when Jesus is your everything. He's everything when you wake up. He's everything when you go to bed. We ought to spend our days thinking about the Lord and seeking the Lord and telling other people about the Lord. That's what Jesus requires of us. That's what he desires from us. It's when Christ is your life. But not only that, if you're a Christian, the Bible says you put off your old self. Keep going in verse five. Therefore put to death what belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire and greed,

which is idolatry. Because of these, God's wrath is coming upon the disobedient. And you once walked in these things when you were living in them, but now put away all the following, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old self with its practices. Hey, for just. Moment, allow me to address the men in the room. If you're a man in this room, would you just raise your hand all across the room? There are a lot of guys in this room. I just wanna ask you a personal question. Guys, how many of you, honestly, you wear an undershirt under your clothes? I just wanna know, how many of you do that? How many of you do not wear an undershirt under your clothes? A lot of you. Okay, so the guys, undershirt guys, raise your hand. How many of you are V-necks? How many of you are crew-necks? Crew-necks, crew-necks, V-necks? All right, crew-necks has it. Awesome. Thanks for letting me have that conversation with you. That was fun. All right, now let me ask you a more personal question.

You ready? Guys, you still with me? How many of you also wear underwear under your clothes? Time out, just saying. That's only like 75% of the guys in the room. I just wanna point that out. To the other 25%, let me just say, that was a bold move you made coming to church like that this morning, amen. It's good to have a strong base layer, all right? I'm talking about undershirts. I'm talking about underwear. We ought to have a strong base layer as a man, but let me ask you a question. What would it be like if day after day after day, you woke up and you put on a brand new fresh outfit as an outer layer, but you refused to take off that original base layer? You just kept on wearing the same old undershirts and the same old nasty pair of drawers every single day. What would that be like if you did that? I'll tell you what it'd be. It'd be like middle school all over again, amen. It's the same thing, but that's true. The Bible actually says something to us, not just men, but all of us about our base layer. The Bible says every single one of us were born with a base layer already on. And that base layer, it was not a V-neck undershirt and it was not a pair of nasty whitey tighties.

It was something the Bible calls a sin nature. And the Lord says at some point, we've got to kill and strip off that nasty sin nature. He tells us that we were all born with a base layer that consisted of things like, I mean, just read it, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, idolatry, and really many other things, bad things. Then at one point the Bible says we're very, very important in your life. And God's word tells us if we don't put off that base layer and put to death our earthly nature, that there's gonna be a day where the stench from those garments are gonna lead to the wrath of God in our lives. And for that reason, the Lord says there must be a point in your story where you put off the old self, but don't stop there. He says, if you're a real Christian, you not only have taken off the old self, check this out, number five, you've put on your new self. See that in verse nine, do not lie to one another since you have put off the old self with its practices, but then read verse 10 and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your creator. Therefore, as God's chosen ones, talking about Christians, therefore as Christians, holy and dearly loved, he said, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.

If anyone has a grievance against another, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. Look at verse 14, above all put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. We talked about this a couple of weeks ago. Do you remember what we said? We said the goodness of God gives us access to the garment of love because God is good. He's given us access to a new garment and it's the love of God, right? We saw that when Jesus saves us, he not only gives us access to heaven for eternity, he's also given us access to his wardrobe even while we're here on this earth. So now when our feet hit the ground in the morning, since we know Christ and now have the spirit of God in our lives, we no longer have to operate in our strength. We can now operate in his strength. We no longer have to respond with our compassion or our kindness or our humility. Why? Because Jesus gives us access to his. Do you get this today? The Bible says, since Jesus has redeemed us, we can now remove that which is natural and we can trust God to provide us with the supernatural. Now, how does that happen? He said, you got to put off your old base layer. That sinful nature stinks

and it has no business being a part of your life. Your old sin nature has no business being a part of your future in Christ. And he said, not only do you need to take that old stuff off, he said, you got to put on your new self. If you're gonna experience God's very best, the Bible says you got to take off the gross stuff. and you got to put on God's good stuff. What is God's good stuff? What did he just say? He said, the base layer of God's good stuff is the love of God. God's love is the good stuff. So the first thing we got to choose to do after we put off our old self is to what? To put on our new self with the base layer of the love of God. And then once that happens, he says, he gives us access to other garments. You put the love of God on first and then he gives you access to things like patience, things like gentleness, things like forgiveness and so on. It's not natural, it's supernatural. Hey, people say all the time, pastor, I don't think I can forgive that person after what they did to me. I don't think I can like that person or be kind to that person after what they accused me of and so on and so on. And you know what my response to that is?

I'm like, no, you probably can't. You're probably right. You probably cannot do what you're talking about doing. Not in your own strength, not in your own power, but when you strip off the old, that which is natural and you put on the new, which is supernatural, the word of God says that he will give you power and strength in him and through him and you can do things that you thought were impossible. That's a good thing about being a Christian, y'all. When you're a Christian, you are operating in the power of God. A real Christian's put off the old self of sin, put on the new self through salvation. Number six, keep going. Bible also says, if you're a real Christian, you are living in the peace of Christ. You're living in the peace of Christ. Look at verse 15. And let the peace of Christ to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. Now this one can be super confusing because what it's saying is if you're a real Christian, then the peace of Christ will rule your heart. In other words, you should live and operate and function with a different kind of peace that lost people don't have. God's peace. And some of you are thinking right now,

uh-oh, I'm starting to doubt my salvation right now because I don't have peace right now. Hey, what do you say to the person that says, hey, I love Jesus, I'm following the Lord, but I'm lacking peace in my life right now. Well, first of all, let me just say that if you're questioning your salvation, that the peace of Christ looks a little different than the peace of this world. In fact, when Jesus talked about that in John 14, he said, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don't let your heart be troubled or fearful. Hey, I think all of us walk through seasons in this world where we lack peace to some degree. But when Jesus talks about giving his peace to us as believers, I wanna point out that he talks about his peace ruling our hearts. That word ruling is an interesting word in the original language. If you're a sports fan, that word ruling is actually an athletic term in the ancient Greek. That word ruling, it would refer to what would be a modern day umpire or referee of a game. So when you read this in the Greek, it basically says, let the peace of Christ be the umpire of your heart. Now, you know what an umpire does in the game of baseball.

An umpire is the one who what? Who calls the shots. He's the one who makes the final decision. He's the one who determines the outcome of anything that may be confusing or in question on a baseball diamond. So in a similar way, when Christ really saves us and the spirit of God truly fills us, the Bible says Jesus positions himself as the umpire of our heart. Now, let me tell you what that means. It means if you're a Christian and you are right with God, that you live with an internal and spiritual peace that other people may not have. It's a peace that says at the end of the day, God's got this. I can trust the Lord. It's a different kind of peace. Even when conflicts arise or problems pop up or scary things happen for a season in our life, there's something inside of us, an eternal peace, a spiritual peace that says, you know what? God's in control. Now, why is that? Why do you feel a different kind of peace when you're walking with the Lord and when you have a relationship with the Lord? Well, the Bible tells us it's because Jesus at the time of salvation positions himself as the umpire of your heart.

So let's review where we've been so far. You ready? If you're a Christian, you've been raised with Christ. Your life has been hidden with Christ. Christ is your life. You've put off the old self. You've put on the new self. You are living in the peace of Christ. And yet Colossians chapter three is gonna give us one more today. And it's number seven. And it says, if you're a Christian. Christian, you do everything in the name of Christ. You do everything in the name of Christ. Let's read that together in verse 16. It says, let the word of Christ dwell richly among you in all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. And we spent a lot of time already today talking about our being, who we are in Christ. But right here in these verses, I wanna point out that he shifts gears and he starts talking about our doing. See, when someone becomes a Christian, Christ changes their being. The old is gone, the new self is raised in Christ,

and now we live with a new perspective and a new peace. The Bible says Jesus changes our being. We can't change those things, but Jesus can. He's the one that takes us from being a sinner to being saved. He's the one who changes our perspective from being temporal to being eternal. He's the one who changes our wardrobe. He replaces the natural things in our life to the supernatural things in our life. That's Jesus changing our being. But get this today. When Jesus changes our being, he also changes our doing. When he changes who we are, he changes what we do. Which leads me to say, if your doing has never changed since you became a Christian, then there's a good chance your being was never truly changed in the first place. You remember what the Lord said in Ezekiel 36? He said it very clearly. He said, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. That says when Jesus saves your soul, he changes your life. When he changes your being, he changes your doing. And how does he do that? Through the word of God. Read verse 16. Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you.

Don't miss this today. The second I was saved, my identity changed. You could say the same thing. The second I was saved, my identity changed. In that moment, the Bible says I had a new life, I had a new forgiveness, I had a brand new hope. When I said yes to Jesus and I said no to the world, the Bible says Jesus stepped out of heaven and he stepped into my heart. And in that moment, I became a child of the King. In that moment, my being was forever and eternally changed. But you know what? That moment in my life was almost four decades ago. In that moment, my identity was changed in a second. But you know what's interesting? Every single day and even to this day, God continues to work on my doing. My being was changed in a second, but my doing is on a path of becoming more like Christ. And that's the way that he designed it to work. How does that happen? What does he say? In wisdom and teaching and admonishing one another through psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. It's through the word of God. And the Bible gives us that list to show us that the word of God is given through these things. These things are like gifts given to us from God and they're designed to grow us and to develop us. And this says, when we consume the word of God

in a being that's been changed by God, that the word of God will slowly change our heart and allow our doing to reflect his life rather than reflecting our old life without Christ. Maybe you're here today and you're still wondering, man, what does that say about me and my faith? Maybe you're asking the question, am I a true Christian? Am I a biblical Christian and not just a cultural Christian? Well, let me show you one more passage today out of Matthew chapter seven. If you're having that conversation in your heart and you're looking for clarity regarding the biggest decision of your life, I wanna point you to some words that Jesus said in verse 21. He said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father in heaven. He said, there's a lot of people who are going to say, I'm Lord. And at the end of the day, I will look at them and say, I'm sorry, but I never really knew you. You know, Billy Graham, before he died, once made a statement that he thought 70 to 80% of people like us that show up at church on Sunday will one day step into eternity and be separated from God and spend eternity in hell. He said 70 to 80% of us will one day miss out on heaven. And when you think about that statement,

you're like, man, it's a pretty bold thing to say. But the reason is because there have been so many of us that have been convinced that Christianity is something other than what God says. And so maybe if you're here today, you're saying, man, am I gonna be one of those people that say, Lord, Lord someday and completely miss out on heaven? I don't wanna be that person. How can I identify if I'm the real deal or not? You know, it's interesting, right in that verse, right before Jesus said these words, he told us how we can identify if someone is the real deal or not. How we can see if they're a true believer or just a cultural Christian. And this is what he said, verse 16. He said, you'll know because you'll recognize them. And how will you recognize them? By their fruit. Listen, if you claim to be an apple, but you look like an orange, smell like an orange, taste like an orange, you can claim to be an apple all day long, but it doesn't change the fact that you're an orange. On the flip side of that, if you say I'm an apple, but you look like an apple and smell like an apple and taste like an apple, you resemble an apple in all forms of the word apple. Guess what?

There's a really good chance you're an apple. If someone were to hear you say today, I'm a Christian, let me ask you a question. Would there be enough evidence in your life today to convict you as a Christian in the court of law? I mean, if someone were to simply follow you for a week and just evaluate everything you do, everything you say, the life that you live, would there be enough evidence in your life today to convict you as being a Christian? In the town called Antioch, the townspeople watched the disciples of Jesus. And the Bible says they recognized something about them. They were little Christs. They looked different than everybody else in town. You know why they look different by the way? Because Jesus had changed their being. And when Jesus changed their being, and as he poured the word of God into their life, their doing started to reflect Christ. The people of Antioch called these people Christians because the fruit of their life had been changed by Christ. You know how that happened? I think Galatians 2.20 says it best. Galatians 2.20 says, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Hey, listen, can you say that today? Are you able to walk through this verse

and say, this is my testimony today that I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live? Can you say there was a point in my life where I put off my old self and the old me, the sinner me, the separated from God me is dead. Can you remember the moment you killed the old man? He said, I've been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. It's a brand new life. It says the life that I now live in this body, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. It's a testimony that says the old me is dead, the new me is here and this life is all about Christ. Can we say that today? Can you say that this life is his? It's not mine, it's for him. It's not for me. This life is completely devoted to following Jesus because that according to your Bible is true Christianity. Listen, I believe the greatest trick the devil has ever played on humanity is convincing people that are saved or is convincing people that they're saved when they're actually lost. I'll say that again. Think about this. The greatest trick the devil has ever played on humanity is convincing people that they're saved

when they're actually lost. We live in that world. We live in that world where everybody waves this banner of Christianity. We are Christian people from Christian homes. We go to Christian churches and have Christian neighbors and go to Christian schools and eat Christian chicken. But at the end of the day, are we followers of Jesus Christ? There might be someone in this place today that says, you know what? I'm a great cultural Christian. but I've never stepped into that kind of relationship and become a biblical Christian. And if that's you, I just want you to consider at the end of this life, which will happen before you know it, it'll happen before you think it'll be time. We're going to stand before Almighty God and we're gonna hear one of two things. Well done, my good and faithful servant, or depart from me for I never knew you. Hey, let me just say this. Don't live your life as a cultural Christian just to die and spend eternity in hell. God's given you an opportunity today to step out of cultural Christianity and into a real saving relationship with Jesus Christ. And I believe today, the son of God can invade your life, change you from the inside out and give you hope that only God can give you.

So let me ask you one final question. Can you say that you have gone all in with Jesus and been saved? And if not, would you do that right now? I'm gonna ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes. I'm talking to somebody in this room who says, Jordan, I'm tired of playing church. I don't want to be more religious. I'm not interested in just becoming a better version of myself. I want to be God's person. I want to be saved. I want to be a child of God. Hopefully what you've heard from me today is this, that good people don't go to heaven, save people go to heaven. And in order to be saved, you have to get serious when it comes to your relationship with Jesus Christ. And so if that's you, and I'm speaking to you and you're saying today, man, that's the decision on my heart that's a decision I want to make. And I'm unashamed to say that I'm ready to go all in with Jesus Christ. If that's you, then may I just invite you to pray in this moment and just say, Lord, I'm ready to be serious. And I'm asking you in this moment to save me, to change me, to make me brand new. Jesus, I believe you died on the cross and you rose again. I believe you're alive today.

I believe you are fully God. And in this moment, I'm asking you to save my soul. I turn away from my sins. I'm tired of chasing the things of this world. And today I'm saying, I want to turn to you as my Lord and my Savior. God, give me the courage to live for you. Give me the courage to follow you all the days of my life. And even when I think about being ashamed of this decision, God, I pray you would give me boldness and assurance knowing that the life that you give is doubly protected in the hands of Christ and God the Father. Thank you for loving me enough to chase me down to this moment. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to say yes to Jesus. For the rest of eternity, I pray that my life would make a difference for your kingdom. It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen. One of the greatest gifts God has given us is the promise that we never have to carry the weight of life on our own. In Philippians 4, 6, the Apostle Paul writes these words, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God. Hey, what an incredible invitation. God doesn't tell us to ignore our worries.

He tells us to bring our worries to Him. That's why the All In Prayer Ministry exists. Our team prays faithfully and intentionally over the needs of people just like you. Needs for healing, direction, restoration, salvation and peace and so on. Listen, no matter what you're facing right now, you're not alone. We would be honored to stand with you and to lift your needs before the Lord. If you have a prayer request, big or small, I wanna encourage you to take just a moment right now and follow the instructions on the screen and share with us your prayer need. And I promise you this, our team will pray for you by name, believing that God hears you, God loves you and God is already at work in your situation. So don't carry that burden by yourself. Let us pray with you and let us pray for you. We're all in and we're here for you. Hey, we never wanna end our broadcast without giving you the opportunity to know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. If you'd like to make the decision to trust Jesus and wanna know more about what it looks like to follow Jesus, get in touch with me right now. Follow the instructions at the bottom of the screen so that we can pray for you and also put information in your hands right away. Today, we celebrate your decision

and look forward to being a part of your personal journey of going all in with Jesus Christ. This episode of All In with Pastor Jordan Easley has been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you. We hope today's message encourages you as you strive to live your life fully committed to Jesus Christ. You