By Miriam Elkomos Botros

A Christian is not someone who believes in Jesus Christ. Yes, you read that correctly. Believing in Jesus is the product of His grace. There is nothing that anyone can do to be Christian because everything has been done by Jesus. It if only through His grace that we are afforded the gift of being called His children.

But to believe in Him, we must first know Him. And so we�re presented with a difficult task: how can someone so limited comprehend an unlimited God? Is it possible to fit an ocean into a cup? The answer is no, but knowing this, God has given us enough to savor, appreciate, and love Him. He�s given us His word (the Bible), and the ability to talk to and meditate on Him. But most importantly, He�s given us His Spirit by which He abides in us, and we in Him.

Once we know Jesus, we must act on the truth we know. This is where we come in because although His grace is unmerited, we must make a conscious resolution to follow Jesus. Christianity is very much an active religion. As children of God, we�re called to obey Him and His commandments by which we achieve our Christian perfection.

Being a Christian means knowing the true God and following Him in truth. It is being saved by God�s grace through faith and seeking to please Him in deed by following his commands (Ephesians 2:8). This obedience does not save, but is rather motivated by love and is a response to being saved.