Why Are You Called a Christian?

 

Q. Why are you called a Christian?  

Because I am a member of Christ by faith

1 Corinthians 12:12,13 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit (cf. Also vss 14-27).

and thus share in His anointing, 

Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions (cf. Acts 2:17 where it is quoted in reference to Christ). 

1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

so that I may as prophet confess His Name,

Matthew 10:32 Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 

Romans 10:9,10 …that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

Hebrews 13:15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

as priest present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to Him,

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 

1 Peter 2:5 …you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…. 

and as king fight with a free and good conscience against sin and the devil in this life,

Galatians 5:16,17 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

1 Timothy 1:18,19 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck….

and hereafter reign with Him eternally over all creatures.

Matthew 25:34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world….” 

2 Timothy 2:12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.

The Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 12