To be a Christian means to be a follower of “Christ.” Simple. Right?  It may not be as simple as you think. What does the word “Christ” mean, and what does it mean to follow someone who is not in view? Every Christian should understand these very important words before they call themselves Christians.

Christ: 

The word Christ is a translation of the Hebrew term “Messiah,” which means “Anointed,” and in this context, “The Anointed One.” The title was developed by Jewish sages who interpreted several Old Testament prophecies — deducing that God would send an anointed man to lead an overthrow of their oppressors and guide Israel back to following God more perfectly. Several men since the time they developed this understanding were thought to have been the Messiah. This was before Jesus of Nazareth’s followers believed that he was. There were also some others who were believed to be the Messiah after Jesus’ departure.

To follow: 

While Jesus was on earth, to follow him meant to do as he did and taught. Here are some things we know about what he did and taught. He was a Jew, raised Jewish by Jews in a Jewish community. He practiced strict Judaism with only Jews, and taught only Jews, who in turn were to teach only Jews. Get the picture?

He taught and demonstrated life without sin. Sin is defined as disobedience to anything God says is to be done. On the other hand, obedience means to do exactly as God says to do, when God says to do it, in the way God says to do it. Any deviation from this is sin.

God conveys what we are to do through direct contact or by trusted emissaries. But, how can we know that someone is a trusted emissary for God? An emissary for God can be trusted if God directly tells you that they are his emissary, or they say they are an emissary of God and they do not contradict God.

Another emissary (of a sort) is the compilation of written accounts of God saying what is to be done, or written accounts of God’s trusted emissaries saying what is to be done.

For Jesus and his followers, the definitive written accounts representing what God said to do directly and what God’s emissaries said to do were “the Law” and the writings of “the Prophets.”

And so, Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to God in all these ways. This was Jesus’ way. This was “the way, the truth, and the life.”

The Gospel: 

Jesus taught that the reign of the Kingdom of God and the heavens (which would result from what the Messiah was to accomplish) was imminent. The belief that the reign of God was about to begin became known as “the gospel,” which means “the good news.”

After Y’shua (Jesus’ Hebrew name) was executed, primarily for insurrection against Jewish leadership, and brought back to life by God, he expanded the mission of his core group of followers, saying,

“go to all the lands/nations/world and share the good news with every creature”
“encourage others to become followers”
“teach them to obey all that I have commanded you”

In summary: 

To be a follower of Y’shua, one must live a life without sin according what God tells us directly, according to God’s trusted emissaries, according to the Law and according to the writings of the Prophets found in the Old Testament. This is what Y’shua did and taught.

But, does that describe the Christianity generally practiced today?

end part 12