First, a Christian is a human being. Sometimes, well-meaning believers begin to forget that fact. But the Lord, and life itself, has a way of reminding us that we are flesh and blood, after all. Jesus was quick to tell one young man that God alone is intrinsically good.

When we forget that we are human beings we lose our value as Christian witnesses in the world. We are to be examples of redeemed human beings. We cannot serve that purpose if we see ourselves as anything less or anything more than human beings.

The New Testament is written to and for Christian believers. The fact that it warns us away from the many sins that can ruin our lives, and our testimonies, is evidence that Christians are not “above” sin. We must embrace God’s truth and discipline our lives by it in order to walk free of the ideas, attitudes, and wrong choices that can still trip us up.

Secondly, yet primarily, we are human beings that have received a new heart and a new spirit. We have been transformed from within by the power and grace (loving kindness) of God. The new heart in us is generated by the new Spirit, which is God’s own Holy Spirit. Because God is in us, we are not who and what we used to be.

This does not make us perfect morally, ethically or mentally. We are still human beings with the same kinds of pulls and desires and brain activity shared by all humans. But God’s presence and power within us, through the Spirit, enables us to be strong against the old temptations and ideas that once dominated us. We are now free to follow Jesus Christ out of love and from a desire to please God.

That desire to please God is, in fact , one clear mark of the truly born-again believer. Instead of the old passion we once had to please ourselves, or to please other people in order to get what we wanted out of life, we now love God and truly want to honor Him in all things. We are still free to make wrong choices, but our hearts now long to please God. Our minds are now open (whereas once they were closed) to the voice and leadership of the Lord Jesus. We are able to grasp what He teaches us.

Doctrines play an important role in the Christian believer’s life. Doctrine is teaching, and every true Christian must be taught. We are to be taught by God, through Jesus Christ (Matthew 23:8-10). He uses the church (the whole church, and not just a local assembly of believers, or a ruling class of priests or preachers and teachers) to instruct us. This witness of the church includes the Bible itself, and especially the New Testament which was written by the apostles and those who served with them.

The church has many doctrines. Not all the teachings embraced by the church are in agreement with each other. Some doctrines emphasize holiness and sinless perfection in the Christian life, while others give the greater attention to God’s grace and power to save. Some church teachings embrace all the spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament (and maybe a few more) while other doctrines claim that only certain spiritual gifts remain active in the body of Christ today.

Rather than use differences in doctrine as excuses for dividing the church, we are wiser to see value in them all (so long as the doctrine is truly Christian and biblical).

No Christian is perfect. No Christian assembly or congregation is perfect. No doctrine, as it is handled and passed along by men and women is going to be perfect. We need Christ within to guide us and to help us sort out sound doctrine. We must know the Scriptures very well if we hope to have a healthy discernment of truth and error. We must be led of God’s Holy Spirit if we want to walk in truth.

A Christian is a human being who knows God and loves God. A Christian will walk in the light that he has of God. A Christian will not be content to allow any sin to possess power over his life. A Christian will hunger and thirst for the Presence of the Lord, and walk in that presence, following Jesus Christ.

A Christian is a child of God.