Today our message is entitled “How to Know You’re a Christian.” Before we get to that question, we need to talk about how we know things We live in an increasingly strange world today. A world in which the concepts of right and wrong, truth and lies are blurred.
Judges 17:6 (ESV) In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
This verse speaks of an evil time in Israel’s history. A time in which there was no righteous authority or standard. So everyone did what was right in his own eyes. That is the kind of time that we are living in today. In other words, people live by what they think is right. What’s wrong with this kind of subjective thinking? Right and wrong on not based on what any particular person thinks.
Proverbs 21:2 (ESV) Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart.
This verse tells us that there is an objective standard of right and wrong. And that standard is the Lord. He decides if what we think is right is really right. Let’s think about one of many examples in our world today.
Genesis 1:27 (ESV) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God’s Word tells us the truth. God created and continues to create two and only two genders, male and female. We understand by science today that men have XY chromosomes and females have XX chromosomes. Nothing a person does and nothing a person thinks can change the chromosomes they received at conception.
Today, some people think that they are the opposite gender of their DNA and bodily characteristics. This is a mental disorder called gender dysphoria and those people need help. Yet some today encourage and celebrate those who have their bodies mutilated to unsuccessfully change their gender. When what you believe about yourself is not in fact true, it causes major problems.
What do these issues have to do with our topic today – How to Know You’re a Christian? All though knowing whether you are male or female is important, knowing whether you’re a Christian or not is of supreme importance. Today, in America 69% of people believe they are Christians. 35% even identify as born-again Christians. Yet only 6% have a biblical worldview, which means believing basic truths of the Bible about God and themselves.
Do you see the problem here? This poll and many others tell us that many more consider themselves Christians than actually are Christians. Unless a person comes to realize they aren’t a Christian, they won’t become one. The end result is a person lost from serving God in this life and the next. So, today, we’re going to look at Jesus’ teaching on what it means to be a disciple of His, that is a Christian.