Are You Sure You Are A Christian?

Many will Arrive before God's Judgment Seat and Fail this Test of True Salvation - the Stakes Couldn't be Higher for Your Soul. Test Yourself!

The most important thing you can do in your entire life is to ensure that you have eternal life. Since you don’t know the day you will die, the most urgent thing for you to do right now is to test your own heart and life to determine if you are indeed saved from the wrath of God and are found in Christ on the day of Judgment.

Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
— Acts 17:30-31

The scary reality is that many are woefully unprepared for that day. The Barna Group recently determined through extensive surveys that only 4% of professing Christians hold a Christian worldview. This means that only 4% of Christians hold to the essential doctrines required to be truly saved. It would seem that the broad and narrow way doesn’t refer to the world and the church alone but also to those who think they are saved in the church.

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
— Matthew 7:13-14

Many = 95%

Few = 5%

Seems accurate enough based on the definitions of the words, but scary at the same time to think that so many could be genuinely deluded about their relationship with God and their eternal state.

Jesus Told Us it Would Be This Way

Did you know that Christ taught that there would be many people in the church who call themselves Christians who are not actually saved? Not only did He assure us that this would be the case, but God has purposefully intended this so as not to uproot and destroy the genuine faith of the saved.

Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25  "But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. 26  "But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27  "The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' 28  "And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?' 29  But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30  Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."
— Matthew 13:24-30

Not only will the church in general not know who is saved and who is unsaved within the church, but we also understand that the individuals who are not saved won’t understand their own condition until it is too late.

Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. (22) Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' (23)And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
— Matthew 7:21-23

Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God.
— 1 Corinthians 4:5

If these statistics hold, many who read this article will be Christians in name only. However, one of the symptoms of being a nominal Christian is that they are blind to the reality of their own lack of true faith.

Scripture has a remedy for this: it commands us to test ourselves to see if we are in the faith, and whether Christ dwells in us.

Judaizers in Corinth Prompt the Test

The Corinthian believers were hearing from Judaizers who followed Paul in his missionary journeys and tried to convince the churches that they had to keep the law of Moses (which unfortunately hasn’t ceased even to our day). These Judaizers were (and still are) challenging whether Paul was a true apostle and whether he was saved at all. The gullible Corinthians then challenged Paul on this point to prove his own apostleship (see 2 Corinthians 11).

Paul flips this logic on them and challenges them to examine their own faith and salvation - for if Paul was a false apostle and did not preach Christ to them in truth, they would also be unsaved themselves.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.
— 2 Corinthians 13:5-6

The challenge to test ourselves is an unpopular notion to the flesh and makes people upset or feel bad about themselves. No one likes to be told that they are living a lie.

But love says that it is better to know the truth now while you have a chance to repent and change than to help you feel good about yourself until you die and you end up being one Christ commands to depart!

In a corollary passage we will revisit at the end, Peter makes a similar argument about evaluating our lives and our fruit:

For he who lacks these qualities [of a true believer] is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you…
— 2 Peter 1:9-10

Diligent here is translated from spoudazo which, according to NASEC, means to make every effort. This means hard and earnest work - all the more important because your eternal life rests on you getting this one fact right - that you are indeed in Christ!

I know that every time I have measured my life up against the plumb line of Scripture I have been both challenged and encouraged. Seeing the truth about your own soul is hard, but it is commanded by God, and we would do well to heed!

Ultimately, all we want to be able to determine to confirm that we are “in the faith” and are saved is whether “Jesus Christ is in you.”

So let’s jump into the test…

Essential and Evidence Questions

There are two types of questions I am going to present in the following test: essential and evidence.

Essential questions are deal-breakers as they are essential to saving faith. These questions deal with the “seed” of our faith. If you answer “no” to these questions, you do not qualify, according to Scriptural standards, to be called a Christian.

Evidence questions are those that test the fruit of your faith. Jesus says, that “you will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:15-20) If the fruit is a grape, you can be sure that the seed from which the vine grew that yielded the grape was a grape seed. If the fruit is a blackberry, then you can be sure the seed was not a grape seed.

The Test of a True Believer

Essential Questions

1. Faith: Do you believe in (trust in and rely upon) Jesus Christ alone, and His sacrifice on the cross in your place for your sins, for your eternal salvation from the wrath of God? (John 1:12-13, 3:16-21, 5:24, 6:29, 54, 17:3, 1 John 5:11-13, 20)

2. Born Again: Have you been born again out of spiritual death and into spiritual life and become a new creature in Christ? (Matthew 10:32-33, John 3:3-8, Ephesians 2:1-10, 2 Corinthians 5:14-21)

3. Holy Spirit: Have you received the Holy Spirit? (Acts 2:38, 19:2-6, Romans 5:5, 8:9, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 12:13, Galatians 3:2, Ephesians 1:13, Titus 3:5)

4. Confession: Have you publicly professed Jesus Christ as Lord outside of the church building? (Within the church is a given, but if no one outside knows, you might have a problem) (Matthew 10:32-33, Romans 10:9-10, 1 John 4:1-6)

5. Believing the Truth: We won’t go to in-depth into each of these doctrines here, but I do want to lay out some essential doctrines that are necessary for saving faith. As in, if you think you qualify based on the above, but don’t believe the following, the Scriptures testify of you that you are not saved.

   1. Deity of Christ - Jesus is the One Eternal God in Flesh, Fully God and Fully Man, Born of a Virgin, the Only Perfect Sacrifice for Sins, the Object of our Faith. (Mat 1:23, John 1:1,14, 8:24,58, 10:30-33, 20:28, Col 2:9, Phil 2:5-8, Heb 1:8, 1 Tim 2:5, 1 John 2:2, 4:2-3)

   2. Salvation by Grace - Salvation is by grace through faith, not of works (Rom 3-5, Eph 2:8-9, Gal 2-5), we cannot add to the work of God in salvation (Gal 2:21).

   3. Resurrection of Christ - Physical resurrection is the proof and cornerstone of our justification, and if He did not rise, our faith is useless. (1 Cor 15:14,17, John 22:19-21)

   4. Gospel - Jesus is God in flesh, who died for our sins, rose from the dead, and freely gives the gift of eternal life to those who believe. Jesus is the one and only Way to God the Father. (John 1:1,14, 10:30-33, 14:6, 20:28, Rom 10:9-10, Gal 1;8-9, Col 2:9, Phil 2:5-8, Heb 1:8)

   5. Monotheism - There is only one God, all other “gods” are false. (Exo 20:3-6, Isaiah 43:10, 44:6,8, 45:5,14,18,21,22, 46:9, 47:8, John 17:3, 1 Cor 8:5-6, Gal 4:8-9)

   6. Trinity - God is one Being in three distinct, simultaneous, eternal persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Gen 2:24, Mat 3:16-17, 28:19, 1 Cor 12:4-6, 2 Cor 13:14, Eph 1:4,7,13 4:4-6) The Trinity is an in-depth study in and of itself. I recommend this article by Matt Slick.

Evidence Questions

1. Baptism: Have you obeyed the Lord’s command to be baptized? (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16) Scripture does not teach that you have to be baptized in water to be saved, but if you claim to be saved and are refusing to be obedient to Christ’s command to be baptized, this is strong evidence that you are not saved.

2. Abiding:

   1. Do you abide in Christ? (John 15:1-10, 1 John 2:27, 4:13

   2. Is the increasing focus and desire of your heart to grow in fellowship and union with God above all else? (John 17)

3. The Scriptures:

   1. Does God’s word abide in you? (John 15:7, Hebrews 8:10, 1 John 1:10)

   2. Do you read the Bible every day? (1 John 2:14, 24)

   3. Have you read the whole Bible? (2 Timothy 3:16)

   4. Do you hold fast to the word of God? (1 Corinthians 15:2)

4. Prayer: Are you drawn to pray, and do you pray as a lifestyle? (Matthew 6:5-15, Ephesians 6:18-19, 1 Thessalonians 5:17)

5. Witness: Do you regularly share the Gospel with the lost who don’t know Jesus? (2 Corinthians 5:18-20, 1 Peter 3:15)

6. Growing Fruit: Do you see your life and heart changing and the fruit of the Spirit increasing in you, not by trying really hard to be a good person, but by the natural flow of His life in you? (Matthew 7:15-20) These fruits include:

   1. Love of God and Others (Romans 5:5, 1 Corinthians 13, 2 Thessalonians 3:5, Hebrews 6:10, 1 John 3:17, 4:7-21, Jude 21)

   2. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control (Galatians 5:22-23)

   3. Moral Excellence, Faith, Knowledge, Self-Control, Perseverance, Godliness, Brotherly Kindness, Love (2 Peter 1:3-11)

   4. Fruit of your efforts or the supernatural fruit of the life of Christ in you? (1 Corinthians 3:12-13)

   5. Increased humility or increased pride? (Romans 11:19-24, Philippians 2:3-11 James 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:5-6)

7. Sin: Are you living in consistent, unrepentant sin before God? (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Hebrews 10:26, 1 John 1:6-10, 3:9)

8. Suffering: When you are crushed, pressed, and beaten down by the storms of life (Matthew 7:24-27), what comes out of you?

   1. Good or Evil Words? (Matthew 12:33-37)

   2. Insistence on your rights or laying down your life for others? (2 Corinthians 5:5)

   3. Repaying evil for evil or overcoming evil with good? (Romans 12:21, 1 Thessalonians 5:15)

   4. Your faith is shaken and you doubt, or your faith is strengthened? (Matthew 7:24-27, 1 Thessalonians 3:5, James 1:5-8)

9. Persecution: When you are persecuted or afflicted for being a Christian, how do you respond?

   1. Do you fall away or turn back from God? (Matthew 13:20, Luke 8:13, 1 Timothy 4:1, Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:38)

   2. Shrink back from confessing Christ before men (Matthew 10:32-33)

   3. Rejoice, Count it All Joy (2 Corinthians 12:7-9, 1 Peter 5:12-19, James 1:2-4)

10. Life from Within: Do you experience God’s indwelling life and strength welling up from your innermost man? (John 7:37-39, 15:11, Acts 1:8, Romans 5:13, 2 Corinthians 4: 16, 12:9, Ephesians 3:16-19, 5:18, Philippians 4:13, Colossians 1:11,27, 1 Thessalonians 1:5)

11. Desires:

    1. Are you longing for Egypt or the New Jerusalem? (Numbers 14:4, Acts 7:39, Hebrews 11:9-16, 12:22-24, 13:14)

    2. The world or heaven? (James 4:4, 1 John 2:15-16)

    3. The pleasures of sin or the presence of God? (Hebrews 11:25, 12:1-17)

    4. Building your kingdom here below or building the kingdom of God? (John 12:25, 1 Corinthians 3:10-17)

Pass or Fail?

Let’s be honest: if you claim to have passed this test, you’re wrong. The standard is perfection. The only one who can live up to this standard is Christ.

Many people will go back to this list and go back to “try harder” to be saved. That isn’t the point at all - in fact, that is worse!

The point of the test is this: Is Jesus Christ In You??

The test isn’t whether you can live up to God’s standard of perfection. It isn’t whether you are good enough. It isn’t about your ability at all. All we want to know is whether Jesus has taken up residence in your soul and is living His life in you.

If Christ is in you, then His life will be manifested through you. This isn’t a life you can work up in your own strength and ability. God never intended you to be able to live the Christian life! He made you to be a vessel to be filled with His life so that He could live His perfect, divine life in and through you!

The most amazing assurance comes to your heart when you look back over a circumstance or trial you have just walked through and you see that there is no way you could have done that in your own strength or ability. Your life exuded patience and love and joy and the fruit that came from God Himself. It is as though, like Peter, you were able to walk on water as you looked to Christ. When you look back and see the fingerprints of a divine life, you can rejoice in the life within!

And let me tell you a secret that not everyone wants to hear: God is orchestrating the circumstances and storms of your life such that they will prove whether or not the divine life of Christ is in you or not! He doesn’t want this to be a secret - and He doesn’t want you to wait until the judgment seat to figure it out!

The same storms will hit the saved and the unsaved but with dramatically different results:

Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.
—Matthew 7:24-27

I’m reminded of a time I was talking to a young man who had lost his faith and left the church after his mother died of cancer. I listened to his story, then shared my own story about how my late wife passed away from cancer. I was able to reflect with him how the same circumstances that hardened his heart against Christ caused me to draw nearer to God’s throne. as Charles Spurgeon stated:

The same sun which melts wax hardens clay. And the same Gospel which melts some persons to repentance hardens others in their sins.

Consider also the following passages:

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
— John 15:5

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
— Galatians 2:20

to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
— Colossians 1:27

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
— 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

Hopefully, you are breathing a sigh of relief - this doesn’t depend on you!

But if this isn’t the reality of your life, you still must take action.

Make Certain His Calling and Choosing You

After detailing the work of the Holy Spirit within the heart and life, Peter concludes his test with two outcomes: increasing fruit or blind and shortsighted.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
— 2 Peter 1:8-11

Let’s break this down a little.

Are these Qualities Yours and Increasing?

Increasing comes from the Greek word pleonazō. This word means to superabound, abundance, more than enough. If we were to think of this in mathematical terms, we would say that it was exponentially increasing.

We want the fruit of the life of Christ to be a bumper crop from your life from year to year growing more and more. If this is the case, praise God! You are of use to Him, and your life is evidencing the reality of Christ in you!

Continue to press into His presence and draw from His life. Test yourself regularly to ensure your life continues to bear fruit for God.

Do You Lack these Qualities?

“Lack” is simply to be without. If you don’t have these qualities growing up from within you, popping out in your life in unexpected ways, then you have lost your vision of Christ and the life He intended for you.

Peter is not saying that you are not saved, but that no one except God, not even yourself, can tell whether you are or not. Your sin is blinding the eyes of your heart, and you are possibly deluding yourself into believing you are saved when you are not.

So what do you do if the fruit of your life is proving that the seed you thought was Christ is actually wrong? Don’t get discouraged or upset, and certainly don’t delay

Start back at square one.

Humble yourself before God.

Repent of your sins.

Believe on Christ.

Pray and ask God to begin to live His life in and through you as only He can.

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."
— Romans 10:9-13

Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, (6) who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. — 2 Corinthians 3:5-6

Did you like this article? Please share with others who would be edified by this.

Questions or further thoughts? I’d love your feedback in the comments.

• What was your favorite part of the article?

• What did you disagree with?

• What was most convicting for you?

• What would you love to learn more about?

Feel free to drop them in the comments and we can dive deeper!