Of all the definitions that might be given for "Christian," this statement by Jesus is for me the best. It will be noticed that it lays down four conditions which, when fully met, perfectly delineate the status of a Christian. First, a Christian is one who is a sheep in Jesus' flock. Sheep are frequently used in the Bible to represent the people of God. It says in Psa. 100:3 that "We are His people and the sheep of His pasture." Even more emphatic is the scene of the Great Judgment drawn by Jesus in Matthew 25. There all mankind is summoned before God and divided into two vast groups. We read in v.33 that "God shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left." The significance of this division is made clear in the declarations of vs. 34 and 41. "Then shall the King say to those on His right (the sheep), 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' ... Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.'" A Christian, then, is beyond doubt a person who qualifies as a "sheep" in the flock of Christ. This spiritual "flock" is identified in the New Testament as the church, (e.g., I Pet. 5:1-4). A Christian is therefore one who holds actual membership in Christ's church.
Second, a Christian is one who hears the voice of Christ. Jesus used the verb "hear" in His teaching to mean "to listen attentively, respectfully, and obediently." At any point in life a person is always being exposed to numerous voices that would persuade him to put his faith in them and follow their way into some supposed utopia. Religions and philosophies, both esoteric and popular, line the roadside of life like billboards along a highway with strong appeals for us to turn aside into them to participate in their activities and conform to their interpretation of the human condition. But it is the distinctive trait of a Christian not to be distracted by these appealing voices. He will not "hear" them but will keep his attention riveted on Jesus. In Jno. 10:4-5 Jesus proclaims that "the sheep follow Him because they do not know the voice of strangers."
Third, Jesus identifies a Christian as a person whom He knows. In this special usage of the verb "know" Jesus means both knowledge and approval. He certainly has knowledge of the vilest sinner, and in the End will visit eternal punishment upon him for his impenitent evil. But Jesus confers approval upon those whom He knows live in faith by His standard of righteousness. So we read in II Tim. 2:19, "The firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, 'The Lord knows those who are His.'" To be known by the Lord is to belong to the Lord and to bear His own seal of approval.
Fourth, a Christian is a person who follows Christ. He has developed the solid conviction that no leader or teacher on earth really knows where he is going or what lies ahead, except Jesus. For no one other than Jesus knows where or what heaven is, and no one but Jesus has the wisdom and foresight to know what lies ahead and whether it should be welcomed or shunned. Jesus always leads His followers through the shoals and narrows of life safely, but other leaders suffer their followers to shipwreck their lives all along the way. Only Jesus, having finished His ministry, can say, "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your (the Father's) name whom You have given Me, and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, (Jno. 17:11-12)."
