Set up to help Christians help other Christians who are facing persecution, Barnabas Fund (BF) is constantly asked the question: ‘Who is a Christian?’
Sometimes the implication of the question is that only those belonging to a particular type of church can be a Christian. As a Bible-based organisation, BF refuses to go along with that. People are saved on the basis of faith in Christ alone, not on the basis of whether they belong to a particular church or denomination. Neither can it be said on the basis of Scripture that belonging to a particular church prevents someone from coming to faith in Christ, even though there may be real differences with the teaching of some churches. Thankfully God is bigger than that, otherwise those such as John Wycliffe and Martin Luther might not have come to faith.
People of faith
In the OT, many ordinary people had a real faith and trust in God, e.g. Hannah (1 Samuel 1.10-18). The key word used in the NT to identify Jesus’ first followers was ‘disciple’, a term that Jesus specifically defined as people willing to carry their own cross to follow him (Luke 14.27). Jesus did not, of course, mean that all will literally have to die a martyr’s death to be saved, but to be his disciple we have to be willing to do so. That, according to Jesus, is the true litmus test of discipleship.
