HOW YOU CAN TELL WHETHER YOU ARE TRULY A CHRISTIAN Pt 2

“HOW YOU CAN TELL WHETHER YOU ARE TRULY A CHRISTIAN” (Part II)

I.                   Have You Enjoyed Fellowship With Christ and the Father?

II.                Are You Sensitive to Sin?

III.             Do You Obey God’s Word? I John 2:3-5

If you want to know whether you’re a Christian, ask yourself whether you obey the commandments of Scripture. Jesus described a true disciple when giving His Great Commission to go into all the world and make disciples Matthew 28:20. Obedience to the commands of God produces assurance – the confidence of knowing for sure “that we have come to know Him”. It involves not only the act of obedience, but also the spirit of obedience – the willing, habitual safeguarding of the Word, not just in letter but in spirit!

I John 2:4, 5 How can you determine if you are a Christian? Not by sentiment, but by obedience!

If you desire to obey God’s Word out of gratitude for all that Christ has done for you, and if you see that desire producing an overall pattern of obedience, you have passed an important test indicating the presence of saving faith.

IV.              Do You Reject This Evil World? I John 2:15

This love speaks of our deepest constraints, our most compelling emotions and goals. Christians won’t feel that way toward anything in this world because they know that until Christ returns, this world is dominated by God’s enemy (I John 5:19). Satan, for now, is “the god of this world”

(II Corinthians 4:4).

As frustrating as it is to fall into sin from time to time, we who are believers can be grateful that sin is something we hate and not love. That’s because our new life in Christ plants within in us love for God and the things of God.

I John 2:16 – 17 The world and its fleshly pre-occupations are but temporary realities. The true believer, in contrast, has eternal life and will abide forever!

Do you reject the world? Do you reject its false religions, damning ideologies, godless living, and vain pursuits?  Instead, do you love God, His truth, His kingdom, and all that He stands for? That doesn’t come naturally to any man or woman because the human tendency is to love darkness rather than light to mask evil deeds (John 3:19 – 20). Unbelievers are of their father the devil, and want to do the desires of their father (John 8:44). If you reject the world and its devilish desires, that is an indication of new life in Christ. And since that new life is forever, settle into it with an abiding sense of assurance.