Are you Qualified to be a Christian?

 

 

To be just about anything in this world you have to be qualified. You have to have education or training, or the necessary certification to work in most professions. Well then, it should come as no surprise that to be a Christian you also must be “qualified”.

 

Now, by qualified I don't mean that anyone is really and truly qualified to be a Christian or to be saved; not of themselves, but I just mean that those who will be saved will bear certain characteristics or qualifications that are essential to being saved.

 

I want to consider seven of these essential qualifications this morning.

 

 

1. The first of these qualifications is a thirst for God and for spiritual things…

 

One thing that is clear in the Scriptures is that people don't naturally desire to know God, or thirst for spiritual things. It's just not in man to do so! Yet, when the Lord begins a work on our heart, He gives us a spiritual thirst for Him…

 

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

 

John 7:37-38 In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

 

Revelation 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

 

So one of the first things that takes place in the heart in conversion is a sudden thirst for spiritual things including a desire to know the Lord.

 

 

2. The second qualification is a broken heart and contrite spirit… 

 

People by nature are proud and haughty in heart…

 

Psalm 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek [after God]: God [is] not in all his thoughts.

 

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

 

Proverbs 16:5 Every one [that is] proud in heart [is] an abomination to the Lord…

 

God hates a proud heart. So there must be a change in the heart if we will ever know the Lord. That is what happens when the Lord starts working on our heart. He changes our heart, and gives us a broken and contrite heart. That is, a feeling of sorrow, and penitence, and guilt because of our sins.

 

Psalm 34:18 The Lord [is] nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

 

So then there must be a change of heart, and the Lord is able to do that! This is part of what repentance is, to be humbled before God.

 

 

3. The third qualification is to come to see that we are sinners… 

 

If there is anything that people won't admit to, it is the truth that we are sinners, and that we are under the judgment of God for our sins. No one wants to admit to that fact. But one of the qualifications for salvation is to admit and confess that we are sinners, and to see our need for Jesus to save us from our sins.  

 

And, beloved, it is the law of God that God uses to reveal to us that we are sinners…

 

Romans 3:19-20 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin.

 

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

 

And when the law reveals to our hearts that we are condemned sinners, the Lord then reveals the remedy for sin, which is Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our sins.

 

1 Timothy 1:15 This [is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

 

Matthew 9:13 But go ye and learn what [that] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

 

Romans 3:23-24 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

 

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

 

So when we come to see we are sinners, we then can see the purpose for Jesus coming into the world, which was to die for sinners.

 

 

4. The fourth qualification is coming to Jesus…

 

We see next that the thirsty, broken hearted sinner will come to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. They will come by faith through the leading of His Spirit and His Word.

 

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

 

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 

The Bible teaches that we are drawn to Jesus by the power of God. We won't naturally come to Jesus - we can't, we won't, and we don't come of our own will! But when the Lord draws us by His mighty power, we will come!

 

“Thy people [shall be] willing in the day of thy power…”  we are told in Psalm 110:3. The Holy Spirit doesn't drag us to Jesus kicking and fussing, as it were, but He makes us ever so willing to come to Jesus that we might have life!

 

 

5. The fifth qualification is that we will hear the voice of Jesus… 

 

We hear Jesus by faith in the Word of God. Jesus speaks to us through His Word today. He doesn't speak to us audibly, or through dreams or visions, but He speaks to us through His Word. And the Word that He speaks to our hearts is the message of the gospel.

 

Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David.

 

John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

 

Jn 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

“My sheep hear my voice”, that is, when the message about Jesus is preached.

 

The only way that anyone can know Jesus and about what He did on the cross for sinners, is by hearing His Word.

 

 

6. The sixth qualification is that we will believe in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.

 

Another essential qualification of a Christian is saving faith in Jesus. This almost goes without saying. The rest of what we've said already this morning would be pointless if we didn't come to believe in Jesus as our Saviour.

 

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

 

John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

 

1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

 

So it is clear from the Word of God that salvation and eternal life come by believing in Jesus as our Saviour. Believing that Jesus the Son of God died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again for us the third day.

 

 

7. The seventh qualification is to confess Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.

 

Jesus doesn't want secret disciples, but He expects those who believe in Him to publicly confess Him and follow Him in scriptural baptism, and service in His Church.

 

Romans 10:9-11 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

 

Confession of Jesus is unto salvation. That is, confessing that Jesus has saved you by His grace through His death on the cross for your sins. And you should want all the world to know that Jesus has saved you, and forgiven you of your sins, and given you eternal life, and a sure hope of heaven with Him!

 

 

Conclusion… 

 

So we've seen seven qualifications of a Christian. And we've seen that these qualifications were not part of our nature, but they were given to us by God. All glory belongs to God and His amazing grace!

 

Again, these qualifications are:

 

- A thirst for God and the things of God.

- A broken heart and a contrite spirit.

- Able to see that we are condemned sinners before God.

- Coming to Jesus through faith in His Word.

- Hearing the voice of Jesus by faith in His Word.

- Believing in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.

- And finally, confessing Jesus, and following Him in Scriptural baptism and service in His Church.

 

So then, are you qualified to be a Christian this morning?

 

You might have the first six of these, but have you publicly confessed Jesus and followed Him in baptism and service in His Church.

 

If not, we invite you to do so this morning.