Pastor and missionary in Costa Rica
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Category — Theology

Why don’t Christians act like Christians?

by greg

I’ve presented that question (“Why don’t ‘Christians’ act like Christians?) to many people and I’ve heard every possible answer. The only biblical answer we can give this side of eternity is simple: Because they’re not Christians! The purpose in all of this is to point out a glaring difference between what that Bible describes as a “Christian” and what is pawned off as a “Christian” today in modern, evangelical churches.

  • (Acts 11.26) The Bible says that a “Christian” is a “disciple” of Jesus Christ — he is a “student, apprentice, follower” of the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • But, today many who say they are Christians live in sin… gross, open, flagrant sin. They go to church on Sunday morning and practice illicit sex during the week (sleeping with their girlfriend / boyfriend, etc.), they get drunk, they “use” pornography, they (women) dress like hookers, they lie, they cheat, they steal, they use foul language… They go to church on Sunday, but they never read their Bibles… they never pray… they have no interest whatsoever in reaching the lost (and much less in foreign missions — reaching the unreached).

A Christian is a sinner who has “converted” to Christ (1Thes 1.9) — he has repented of his sins (repenance toward God) and placed his faith (his complete confidence for salvation) in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20.20-21). He is no longer a follower of self but rather a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 2.20). He has been regenerated (“born again”) and the Holy Spirit of God lives in him (Titus 3.5; John 3.3-6). He is a completely “new creature” (2Cor 5.17) even though is “old man” is still present in his flesh tempting him to indulge in sin that he used to love but now he hates (Rom 7.14-24).

If a “believer” (someone who says he is a Christian) gives no outward, visible evidence of the new birth and the presence of God in his life, why would we accept his “profession of faith” as valid? Think of it this way: If you walked up to a tree that had apples on it, what kind of tree would you think it to be? Obviously: It’s a pear tree! Now I know that sounds ridiculous to you because, frankly, it’s not that hard to figure out what kind of tree it is if it has apples growing on it. It’s an apple tree! Why, then, do we complicate the matter of why professing Christians don’t act like Christians; Jesus said it was as easy as discerning apples on an apple tree!

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. [Mat 7.16-20]

I recently posted a quote by Charles Spurgeon that stated the case quite clearly: “If the professed convert distinctly and deliberately declares that he knows the Lord’s will, but does not mean to attend to it, you are not to pamper his presumptions, but it is your duty to assure him that he is not saved.”

All of this deals with the issue of repentance in salvation. A sinner converts to Christ when he repents of his sins and places his faith in the Saviour. By his repentance he is recognizing the lordship of Christ (he is submitting to Christ as Lord) and by his faith he is trusting in Christ as Saviour. Repentance and faith are the two sides of the “coin” of salvation. You cannot turn to Christ without turning from sin. Therefore if the “believer” has not turned from his sin (if he has not repented), he most certainly has not turned to Christ for salvation. He has merely placed a vain hope in the “fire insurance” of “easy-believism” or (worse!) “quick prayerism.” Paul says that those who believe without repentance have believed in vain (1Cor 15.2).

This is not to preach “Lordship salvation” (that if Jesus is not “Lord of all” then He is not “Lord at all”). Lordship salvation teaches that the sinner must make Jesus Christ absolute Lord of every area of his life before he can be saved. That is impossible! That is works righteousness — placing works as a condition of salvation. No! Salvation is by grace through faith, not of works (Eph 2.8-9; Titus 3.5). Biblical repentance, though, is NOT a work. It will result in works, but it in and of itself is not a work.

If you would like to study this issue further, I would like to recommend some material. As always, be like the Bereans and search the Scriptures to see if these things are true (Acts 17.11; 1Th 5.21). Like Spurgeon once said: “Brethren, we shall not adjust our Bible to the age, but the age to the Bible.”

Two books that speak volumes about this issue (the first I would highly recommend; the second is good also, but there is a lot of hypercalvinism to weed out):

  1. Today’s Gospel: Authentic or Synthetic by Walter Chantry (it’s only 93 pages; easy to read and powerful).
  2. Today’s Evangelism: Its Message and Methods by Ernest C. Reisinger

A very good (eye-opening) video can be found on the following web site. It’s a sermon Paul Washer preached at a youth conference and he clearly exposes the existance of false converts in the modern church (hit the first link, scroll down a bit; it’s the sermon labeled “Shocking Message”):

Here are some other links to messages, videos, audios, etc. that deal with the issue of conversion and the role of repentance in the salvation of a sinner:

Paul Washer consitently brings out this issue in many of his sermons. Some of my favorites can be found here:

Last (and certainly least) is a message I preached on the subject of the need to call men to repentance.

Let me finish this “short” little post with a quote from David Cloud’s article on Biblical Repentace (see link above):

Pastor Dave Sorenson says: “Saving faith includes repentance. Repentance is not doing anything. It is not a deed, act, work, or rite. Rather, it is a change of the direction of one’s heart. It basically means an attitude of the heart in turning from sin and self and turning to God. That’s what Paul was referring to in Acts 20:21 when he referred to ‘repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Saving faith is the human heart turning to God and then trusting in Jesus Christ. … Even as there is the part of trusting Christ, there is also the part of turning to Him. That may seem inconsequential, but I believe that here is a spiritual reason they some go through the motions of believing in Christ but are not really born again. They seemingly want the fire escape but there is no interest in turning to God. There is no interest in repentance. They have the attitude, ‘God, gimme salvation, but I’m gonna keep on doing my own thing.’ … However, if there is no real turning to God from the heart, they have missed the prerequisite for actually trusting Christ” (Sorenson, Training Your Children to Turn out Right, 1995).

Repentance and faith are two separate things that come together for salvation, but they act together as one thing.

“Repentance is included in believing. Howbeit, repentance is not faith, nor faith repentance. ‘He that believeth,’ implies repentance. ‘Repent and be converted,’ involves faith… (James Stewart, Evangelism, pp. 48, 49).

“While it is true that upwards of one hundred and fifteen N.T. passages condition salvation on believing, and fully thirty passages condition salvation on faith … nevertheless, repentance is an essential condition in God’s glorious Gospel… (James Stewart, Evangelism, p. 49).

January 23, 2009   8 Comments

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