Are You Actually A Christian?
How to stop doubting your Salvation.
Strangely enough, only a Christian would be concerned about this!
Was I ever really saved? You wouldn’t worry about losing Salvation if you didn’t know you had Salvation!
Even so, I doubted a time or two. Getting Born-again was a fantastic experience, and after that event, I expected to FEEL good all the time. Add to that the Salvation by works or proof of Salvation by works type of preaching that contradicts the new birth experience, and it doesn’t take long to get confused.
- The message about Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost, but for us who are being saved, it is God’s power. 1 Cor.1:18 — Good News Translation
So Who is a Christian?
- Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Rev. 3:20
- For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
- I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
- The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
As “Christians,” we are not who we used to be. That’s a Fact.
Naturally, we were born through human flesh and separated from God by sin. Now Supernaturally, we’re Born-again of the Spirit.
Before, we always walked by the flesh as that was all we could do. We lived our lives under the power of sin. Now we can freely walk by the guidance of the Holy Spirit if we choose to.
Do Real Christians still sin?
So many people say they are Christians, but they live like, well, enough said. I got so confused that I didn’t trust God to ask Him about it or listen for a reply about any of it. And I became one of “those” Christians who relied on the old nasty-self program, which produced nasty-self behavior. So it seems to make sense you can’t always tell a Christian by their behavior, at least not on the surface.
To use a computer analogy, I used old heart software to run my new heart life. No wonder it didn’t run smoothly! I did and do have new life in Christ, though.
Sadly we Christians can choose to walk by the flesh. Yes, the old self died with Christ, but the old self’s memories, feelings, thought patterns, and automatic habits remain for now! Therefore;
- I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16:
I didn’t trust God for many reasons to live my life His way, so I relied on my old nature ways. Still a Christian. I was, however, walking by the flesh.
Say what!? I haven’t attended church service in years because almost no one teaches these Holy Truths. What I did know about being a Christian was rarely taught or lived out by those in authority. I guess most of us were in the same boat.
You Will Stop Doubting As You Grow
So much more can be said, but it is enough now to know it is normal to sometimes question our identity in Christ. And, as a natural person is born and grows in the knowledge of their world, so too. Born-again people need to grow in Grace and Understanding of their Lord and Savior, Jesus.
- Some parts of his letters (Paul) are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 2 Peter 3:16
- 17 You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your stability.
- 18 (Instead) grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
Paul writes in Romans 8:16: “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
Final Thoughts
A true Christian has God’s Holy Spirit living within, and He teaches our spirit that we are Holy Children. And we have Eternal life. Not on-again, off-again life.
We must let the Holy Spirit, replace the old-self data bank/memories and install/hardware the new program for the new heart, which takes time.
- So, brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives (in this body) as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship. Romans 12:1 *And so -
- Do not conform to the patterns of this world (as you did in the past without a choice) but be transformed by renewing your mind. Then you can test and approve God’s will — his good, pleasing, and perfect will. Romans 12:2
*Allow your behavior to start reflecting your new heart.*
