Was Linda a Christian, as taught by the Word of God the Bible?
To the best of my knowledge no. But I must add that she heard the good news of Christ's salvation from many people and friends over the years.
Jesus forgiveness is free available to anyone who with place their trust/faith in Him and Him alone.
The message of the gospel is this: we are all infected with sin (Romans 3:23). We are all worthy of eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23). Jesus died on the cross, taking the punishment that we deserve (1 Corinthians 5:21;1 John 2:2), providing for our salvation. Jesus was then resurrected, demonstrating that His death was indeed a sufficient payment for the sin penalty (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). If we place our trust in Jesus as Savior, all of our sins are forgiven, and we will be granted entrance into heaven after death (John 3:16). That is the gospel. That is to be our focus. That is the cure for what is truly plaguing humanity.
One might read this and say; yes, I believe the above.
The following example will reveal what true belief is:
We know that a parachute (i.e., our Savior Jesus) will save use. But, what if we had to jump from a burning plane (i.e., our life of sin) and we are not willing to jump, because we do not really trust that our parachute will work.
If you really trust the parachute (Jesus) you would put it on and jump—just knowing about something won’t do you any good if you don’t trust it enough to use it.
That is the difference between knowing something (…that we are sinners) and trusting something (…that Jesus will save us from the penalty of our sins).
Real trust (faith) will aways produce an ACTION (our salvation).
Please read —John 3:16-18 and " take the jump."