The genuine Christian will show by his life and by his beliefs whether or not he is truly part of God’s family. And it can be hard to tell at times, which is why we must also recognise that while folks can fool others, they cannot fool God.

We now have plenty of men claiming to be women. Simply claiming to be someone or something does not make it so. In the same way, there are plenty of people who think they are Christians. But again, thinking or claiming to be something does not automatically make it to be the case.

Let me explain. Simply put, a genuine Christian will show evidence of his or her faith in two major areas: orthopraxy and orthodoxy. That is, their life and practice will bear evidence of their commitment to Christ, and their beliefs and doctrines will also bear evidence of that. Both are needed.

We should be living a life that honours God and shows a change of heart and attitude. Instead of just going with the flow and running with sin and self, the real believer will want to please God in all things, bring him glory, and turn from sin to holiness.

And we should be clear on the importance of maintaining and promoting biblical teachings. Christianity is not some airy-fairy feeling but is truth-based and doctrine-rich faith. We need to affirm what Scripture clearly teaches and reject what it rejects.

As such, just being a cultural Christian or a nominal Christian or second-hand Christian (‘I was born in a Christian home’) does not cut it. A believer will show by his life and by his beliefs that he is a new person in Christ. Sure, some folks who claim to be Christians may only show half of these marks of the true believer.

That is, some might have all the ‘right’ head-knowledge: they have lots of theology and good doctrine, but they are still living like the devil. But some can seem to be all rather nice, smile a lot, and appear to be fairly decent folks, but they have no grasp of basic Christian teachings, nor do they care about them.

Cults are a clear example of the later. Cultists can often seem like decent, upright people. They might not smoke or drink alcohol or even partake in tea and coffee and the like. But they believe in that which is clearly heretical: eg., denying the triune God or rejecting the deity of Christ, and so on.

So the genuine Christian will show by his life and by his beliefs whether or not he is truly part of God’s family. And it can be hard to tell at times, which is why we must also recognise that while folks can fool others, they cannot fool God. He knows those who are truly his.

Case in Point

Let me speak to this on a personal level. I have mentioned before on these pages that in my twice-a-day dog walks, I try to pray for all my neighbours whose houses I pass by. I know at least half of them by name, and sometimes I have chats with some of these folks. One couple had even invited me to join them for Christmas lunch five months ago, knowing that I lived alone.

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