Many believe that any person having some inkling of a belief in Jesus and some rendition of the faith in Him is to be called a Christian and is to be inside the scope of fellowship of fellow Christians, but is this correct?
We've all heard the normal tests of fellowship - worship, church organization, authority in the Scriptures alone, etc. but are these the only things one must believe and obey in order to be unified in the Spirit?
The apostle Paul, one of the most prolific inspired writers of Scripture, stated that the seven tests of fellowship were the body of Christ, the Spirit of God, the hope of eternal life, the authority placed in and only in Jesus' teachings, the single faith by which someone is saved through the grace of God and the blood of Jesus Christ, the baptism for remission of sins in accordance with the Law of Liberty and the God (i.e. the Father) who planned such things but is not more deity than the Lord or the Spirit (Ephesians 4:4-6). And while we know that there are other aspects of Christianity which one must hold in order to be the Bible's definition of a Christian (like conviction, love for the lost and the brethren, the heart of a servant, etc.), these seven things were chosen by the Spirit in order to give a way by which we can test our extension of fellowship. | Many believe that any person having some inkling of a belief in Jesus and some rendition of the faith in Him is to be called a Christian and is to be inside the scope of fellowship of fellow Christians, but is this correct? |
Take conviction, for instance. There is an aspect in which conviction in Christ (personal belief/faith) is able to be seen outwardly like when Paul wrote that the faith of the Colossian brethren was able to be seen in that he knew that they were "faithful" (Colossians 1:2) and that they had learned of their faith (Colossians 1:4). But, in a very real sense of the word, my faith and conviction is deep within my heart which no man can know save me (1 Corinthians 2:11).
My love for the lost and for my brethren is the same. While my teaching the lost shows my love for them and my fellowship with the brethren shows the entire world that I am a follower of Jesus (John 13:35), no one can definitively know whether or not these things are done out of true love or a pretentious love which is bent on getting society's accolades except me.
So, why do we use things like whether or not a person worships in spirit and in truth (cf. John 4:24) forsaking man-made traditions and worship practices like mechanical-instrumental music or flawed roles in worship as a test of fellowship? I can assure you, it isn't because we just want to feel superior to him (although a minority might have this in mind and it is really impossible to tell definitively). No, the reason is because we can openly see that.
That doesn't mean, however, that a person seeking to be a part of the restored church of Jesus Christ can simply stop at the outward signs of faith and be done in his restoration process! Just as it is important to restore the authority of Jesus and the knowledge that the Bible and it alone give the words for eternal life (John 12:48, John 6:68), it is likewise important to have the inner man restored in order to be in fellowship with Christ and walk in His light (1 John 1:7-9) whereby the fellowship between mankind can be defined as "Christian" as well.