How Do We Identify the Followers of Christ?

Jesus’ words in Luke 9 have already given us the basic answer as to how we might identify the “followers” of Christ, but let us address another scripture for the moment:

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death”  (Rev. 12:11).

As we consider the content in this verse, it might be good to ask ourselves some questions.  First of all, who did the overcoming here in this passage?   The answer is, it was “they”.  At this point, we might assume that “they” represent the FOLLOWERS of Jesus.  Next we might ask, by what means did they overcome?  We are told that there are several facets to this answer.  First, they overcame by the blood of the Lamb, which is based on the unselfish giving of Himself.  In other words, overcoming was not simply the result of a magical substance called “blood”, for blood would not have been available if selflessness had not first been the primary motivation.

The ones who overcame also did so based on not loving their own lives, even to the point of the supreme sacrifice ‒ unto death.  In both cases, the requisite for their actions was self-denial and unselfish motives.  If that is the case, then the reference to “they” in this passage could not possibly be a reference to just any old Christian who has resisted self-denial, run from any daily application of the Cross, and did everything else he could to follow a Christianity that was all about comfort, blessings, and saving his life.