How Can You Tell If Someone’s Really a Christian?
(Are Christians’ Hypocrites?, Part 15)
Many times, skeptics will observe the bad fruit from an unconverted “Christian,” and conclude that Christianity itself is at fault. In life generally, more often than not, the proof is in the pudding, so that’s understandable. Unfortunately, not all pudding is even pudding, which you certainly know if you’ve ever tried store-bought “pudding” snacks. There are a few key clues, however, in discerning the real from the fake Christian.
The “Tells” of Genuine Belief
The first and most important way of figuring out whether someone is a Christian or not is — sorry to have to bring this distasteful word up — doctrinal. Christians believe in a God of truth. (John 14:6) He not only is the source of all truth, but He is truth itself. Christians put their trust in the inerrant truth of His written revelation, the bible.
Christian faith is not in vague ideas about God, but in what He has explicitly and substantively revealed about Himself in scripture, including His moral laws and the way of salvation. The genuine believer is one who knows, assents, and trusts in “God’s word” – holy scripture, to which nothing may be added or subtracted. Certainly, a first step toward becoming a Christian is to really believe His promises of forgiveness and eternal life in scripture, as well as his warnings about the seriousness of sin and of hell for the unrepentant.
Christians worldwide agree on a number of basic biblical truths. They include things like the divinity and humanity of Christ, the tri-personal nature of God, Christ’s substitutionary atonement on the cross, His resurrection, and so on. C.S. Lewis referred to these basic, essential truths as, “mere Christianity,” in his eponymously titled book. Of course, there is disagreement on the finer (not to be construed as, “insignificant”) points of theology among the various Christian denominations, but agreement on the major ones provides for a basic doctrinal test.
In other words, if anyone denies any of these essential truths, he or she is not a Christian. Space prevents us from setting forth all of these truths in there entirety. However, Lewis’ Mere Christianity and many similar books lay out the doctrinal foundations of Christian orthodoxy. By the way, fully comprehending these truths is not required – it’s safe to say no one has complete and perfect command of them.
Christians believe them because God, who cannot lie, has clearly revealed them in scripture. (Hebrews 6:18) They form, then, the doctrinal boundaries of Christianity, and thus are enormously helpful in discerning who is a Christian, and who is not. Of course, if you want to use this test, you’ll need to be acquainted with them yourself, and Lewis’ book, Mere Christianity, is great place to start.
Behavioral Hints
If one looks closely enough, the genuine believer can often be discerned from the fake. As noted previously, Christ taught that a tree is known by its fruit. Believers will bear good fruit, while the fruit of the unconverted “Christian” ultimately will prove to be rotten. In each case, though, it may take some time either for the fruit to ripen into sweetness or else to be exposed as decorative, superficial, and sour. Of course, the lives of many genuine Christians will be unimpressive, especially in the infancy of their faith journey, unless you know their backstory and what they might otherwise be had Christ not redeemed them.
Early on, though, there are some telltale signs. For one thing, genuine believers will fail frequently, but they will also admit their failures and continually seek to repent of them. On the other hand, fake Christians are less willing to admit their weaknesses, or confess their wrongs. They may still fool some folks with false humility and good works for show, belying the true state of their hearts.
In short, although truly repentant sinners are never done with sin, they’re also never done with repenting of it. They live, so to speak, at the foot of the cross. Non-Christians will see believers’ sin, but if they also observe remorse and amends being made, they won’t necessarily deduce hypocrisy.
Also, real believers will readily admit they’ve checked themselves into a sin hospital (the church), and are being treated by the only effective sin doctor (Jesus). For many fake Christians, their association with the Church isn’t rooted in the need for forgiveness, but the desire for social approval. They’ll also often be reluctant to acknowledge their “faith” in Christ publicly. There is no such thing as “closet Christianity,” according to Jesus. He says:
Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33)
Moreover, as authentic Christians grow spiritually, so will their awareness of their own sinfulness, even though (ironically) they sin less. Moreover, as noted previously, believers realize that any good fruit they produce never occurs independently of God’s Spirit within them. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing,” Christ declares. (John 15:5) Accordingly, true believers are less confident in their own goodness, and thereby humbler than before they believed.
Of course, learning to yield to God’s Spirit and to live out one’s new identity as a child of God isn’t instantaneous. It’s a slow, often agonizing, and rocky ride that will last a lifetime. No one achieves sinlessness before dying, and infinitesimally few come anywhere close.
Nonetheless, Christians trust that there will be progress, and scripture promises that genuine believers will cross the finish line – upon their death or Christ’s return – by staying true to their faith in Him. (Philippians 1:6) Moreover, they are confident that, once in heaven, their battle with sin will be over. Christians embrace the scriptural promise that they will be transformed “in the twinkling of an eye,” becoming perfectly righteous, and therefore forever free from sin – and the accusation of hypocrisy. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
That’s all, folks! Hope you profited from these posts. Blessings to all.
SpoofsandProofs.com is written and produced by David Culver Brenner. For a free subscription to SpoofsandProofs.com, enter your email in the “Subscribe” box on the right sidebar. To learn more about his novella illuminating the dangers of socialism, go here.