How does the New Testament define a Christian and a non-Christian, a brother in Christ and not a brother in Christ?

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The New Testament gives us a very clear picture of the difference between Christian and a non-Christian in the story below. Jesus here is being crucified and two criminals are being crucified at the same time, on either side of Him.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Luke 23:39-43

My reason for quoting this is that we read here the minimum requirement for becoming a Christian; and it is both necessary and sufficient. It is repenting (being sorry for wrongdoing) and asking Jesus for His mercy.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Acts 2:21

That's it: that is the distinction. The other answers here describe the fruit that comes after the decision / change. This is fundamental - we're saved by what He (Jesus) has done, not by what we can do for Him. That's why the criminal here could turn to Jesus in his last moments of life and still enter the same paradise as the very best saint (The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Matthew 20:1-16).

If you are interested, I have explained becoming a Christian in my answer to the question, How do you "Convert" somebody to Christianity?

Upvote:-1

I think the answer lies in the soul of each person n particular, so we cannot distinguish between a Christian and a non-Christian. Only God thoroughly knows each person, and is the only Judge. We probably should not try to identify certain people as non-Christians.

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The Apostle's Creed should be a basic guideline for what Christians believe, and just because a group chooses to disagree with part doesn't invalidate this, as there are many groups that claimed to be following Jesus but would disagree with some major teaching.

Here is an interesting page on the Apostle's Creed, as it shows it in different languages, and if the page is correct the earliest version of this was written before 300AD.

For an example of groups that differed from the accepted early teachings you can look at the Great Heresies. On that page there is an explanation how people can differ from traditional teaching and not be a heresy:

A person must be baptized to commit heresy. This means that movements that have split off from or been influenced by Christianity, but that do not practice baptism (or do not practice valid baptism), are not heresies, but separate religions. Examples include Muslims, who do not practice baptism, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, who do not practice valid baptism.

So, to be Christian you must believe in the Apostle's Creed.

For an almost line by line discussion of the Apostle's Creed you can look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church as it will reference not just the Bible but writings of the Early Church Fathers.

People will disagree with each other on some teachings, but there are certain core beliefs all should have, but there are also areas that I think should be cut and dried, such as the non-violence teachings of Christ that many people seem to disagree with. Bill Maher summed up this quite well pointing out how some will disagree with what Jesus taught, even though it isn't what I considered core beliefs to be Christian.

Upvote:2

Matthew 16:24-25 (NRSV)

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

The two imperatives are "take up your cross" and "follow me."

Upvote:3

Nowhere in the New Testanment is there a clear, condensed definition of a Christian or a Brother in Christ. The definition is written throughout the new testament. But there are a few things which are stated that make it fairly clear. A Christian can be defined as someone who:

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