What Kind of Christian Are You?

Written by:  Ben Clark

ARE YOU A REAL CHRISTIAN OR A FAKE CHRISTIAN?

Here are some signs to know whether you are fake or real.

Fake Christians:

Real Christians:

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Live a life of sin. Call themselves "Christians" to feel better. Go to Church on Sunday to feel like they're spending time with God, and then do whatever they want after church. Want people to think they're a Christian so they put on a "mask and costume" in front of them to make them seem like a Christian. Put money, jobs, and worldly things before God to avoid spending time with God or use it as an excuse as to why they aren't spending time with Him. Etc., Etc. & Etc.

Live a life without sin, and depend completely on God. Do what God wants. Spend time with God all the time. Are not "men-pleasers" or "ear-ticklers", and worship God with their heart ... not their lips. Teach, encourage, and help out others so that they may grow more spiritually and have a closer walk with God. Seek God's will and NOT their own. Etc., Etc. & Etc.

Do you try to cover up your life of sin by trying to deceive others, or even God, into thinking that you're a Christian?

Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

Jeremiah 17:10
"I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."

1 Samuel 16:7
"...for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."

Hebrews 4:13
"Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but ALL things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

There is no deceiving God. He knows all, and in Hebrews 4:13 and Psalms 139:2-6 you can see that He does. God knows whether you are, or aren't, a true Christian. He looks at your heart and not at that fake Christian life that people live.

Many people, claiming to be Christians, go to church, read the Bible sometimes, look for the next "best" preacher, and still continually live a double life and deceive themselves into thinking that they're going into Heaven. They think they can live a life of sin but proclaim themselves as Christians ... that IS a double life and that IS a direct road to Hell.

Matthew 7:13
"...for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:"

However; it does say in Matthew 10:32-33:
(32) "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven."
(33) "But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven."

Yea ... you might have told people that you believe in God and whatever else you might have said. BUT ... does the life you live confess that you know Jesus, or does it deny Him. Maybe you want to take a look at (James 2:19), which says "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."

In Isaiah 4:1, "And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by Thy Name, to take away our reproach."

It has even been said in the Bible that people will want to be called Christians, just so that they can feel better about themselves. All they want to do is to be called a Christian and then go live their life the way they want, even if it doesn't reflect the life of a TRUE Christian. That is why so many people look at these,"self-proclaimed Christians", and say "why should I become a Christian? They're living the exact same way I do and I'm not even a Christian!" Some are even worse than non-Christians!!

These people give Christians a bad name. These are the people that are fake Christians and they will stand before God being held accountable for their works.

Luke 12:47, "And that servant, which KNEW his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with MANY stripes."
Luke 12:48, "But he that knew NOT, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with FEW stripes...."

As you read (Luke 12:47-48) you will notice that the people that KNEW his lord's will and didn't do it will be beaten with more stripes than the people that didn't know the lord's will at all. These people that know the lord's will and didn't do it, will be punished greater than people didn't know and that had committed things worthy of punishment. So I encourage you to change your ways (repent) and live a life without sin.

In America there is a tradition on October 31 called "Halloween". What you're supposed to do is dress up in a costume to look like something that you are not. And that is the ONLY day out of the year that you do that. There are many people that do this every Sunday or even their whole life. They put on their "Christian Costume", go to church, and then after church they go home and live their life the way that they want to live it. There is no repenting or God involved in their life. Its just an "I'm going to church so I can go to heaven" or "I'm going to pretend to be a Christian to feel better about my life of sin". They have their many, so-called "important", reasons why they put on this "costume".

Let me tell you this ... on the inside of that costume is nothing more than a deceived person going to hell. "…For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." God can see straight through your costume and knows what you REALLY ARE.

Is being a Christian just a hobby to you? Or is it a lifestyle?

There are even some people that do live a life without sin, but they are always too-busy or too-this or too-that for God. They have maybe 5 minutes to read the Bible, so they can feel like they spent time with God. God wants you to spend time with Him, and not just 5 minutes!

If you really think about it. God desires you to spend time with Him. He loves you and wants you to be in His presence and just to be with Him. Yet, every day, you give God your leftover time. How would you like it if you had a serious problem such as a dying family member and you went to pray to God but He didn't have time for you? Or how would you feel if God said "let Me do this first, and IF I have time I will go and see what you want". Well it's a good thing that God isn't like that. He WANTS to be with you, so I encourage you to spend more time with Him. Give Him more than 5, 10, or 30 minutes of your time. Talk with God and read the Bible. Pray about things and spend time with Him.

How can you get closer with God if you never spend time with Him? Can you get closer to one of your family members without spending time with them? No! If anything you would start falling away and that's what happens when you let your worldly desires get in the way of your walk with God. It starts out when you say "Oh, I know I said I would spend 30 minutes with God today, but I have so much to do".

So are you going to put God last and spend time with things that are supposedly more important than God? How can you get to heaven by spending time with money? There is no "I had to do this or I had to do that and that's the reason I couldn't spend time with God". It is your choice and not serving God and not spending time with God is all YOUR choice.

Who is the one who tells you to spend time with God? YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DECIDES IF YOU SPEND TIME AND SERVE JESUS. You can have only ONE God. (Luke 16:13) "No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Luke 12:34
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

How do I become a True Christian and live the life God wants me to live?

Matthew 7:21-23:
(21) "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven."

(22) "Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name? and in Thy Name have cast out devils? and in Thy Name done many wonderful works?"

(23) "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity."

There will be many people standing before God and telling Him that they knew Him and/or even did many works in His Name. BUT they lived a life of sin and that's why He will say "...I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity".

So unless you repent from your sins and change your ways, you WILL NOT go to heaven. It even says in Luke 13:3 and Luke 13:5 "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

No matter how many times you sin, whether it be 1, 100, or 10,000 ... if you do not repent AND change your ways you WILL not go to heaven. If you constantly hold onto even 1 sin...whether it be lying, cheating, stealing, unforgiveness, coveting, etc., you won't be able to go to heaven. You might even say "well humans aren't perfect and we will sin and mess up every once in a while". That is true and you should ask for forgiveness but I would like to help you to understand what a sinner is.

• What do we call someone who constantly gets drunk and is rarely sober? A drunkard.
  
  
• What do we call someone who constantly lies and doesn't tell the truth? A liar.
  
  
• What do we call someone who constantly steals? A thief.
  
  
• So what would you call someone who constantly sins and hasn't changed their ways nor repented? A sinner.

You need to truly repent and ask for forgiveness and live a life WITHOUT sin. Repenting is not just asking for forgiveness and then going out doing whatever you want. You need to change your ways and keep sin out of your life. Although there is always temptations - there is a way out. Read this (1 Corinthians 10:2) "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

Jesus went through every single temptation possible. There isn't a single temptation that He hadn't overcome. Also it says that God will not let you be tempted above your ability. That means nobody can say "Well there was no way for me to get out of it. I had to sin." God even makes a way for us to escape the temptation.

So knowing all this ... the only way that you sin is, if you do it. There is no "well he/she made me sin" or "I had to sin" because God creates for you a way out and He doesn't allow you to be tempted above your ability. So what is the only way you can sin? You have to choose to sin. There is no other way. Yea, Satan tempts you but you are the one who commits it. You have a choice. Sin or don't sin. Please God or please Satan. Heaven or Hell!

And so this is how you can become a Real Christian. The walk with God doesn't stop here. That's why you need to read the Bible to find out all that God wants and to know more. You get about 1 hour of learning more about the Bible when you go to church, if even that. But you can spend ALOT more time than that, just at home, spending time with the Lord, reading the Bible, praying, and doing what He says. Remember, IT'S YOUR CHOICE!

*If you want to ask him any questions that you may have, you can email Ben Clark at:  click here