Does Living In Sin Prove That Someone Is Not A Christian

Matthew 7:15-16, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”

1st John 4:1-2, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.”

I read a disturbing comment on YouTube this week in which a man accused Pastor Steven Anderson of not being saved, because of the recent problems with his four oldest children. I felt compelled to weigh in and correct the man for his foolish assumption (typos are his)...

Ronnie Nichols: Just to be clear .... This guy is "not" a Christian, much less, much less, a man of God! .... He will answer to God this this.

Me: One's behavior has nothing to do with whether or not they have faith in Christ to be saved.

Ronnie Nichols: you must read your bible. You need to start with Matthew 7:16 "You can identify them ( "them being, a believer or follower of Jesus Christ ) by their "fruit", that is, by the way they act. " ... Your ACTIONS, prove more than your words. that vdo is proof of his actions.

Me: Well then half the saints in the Bible weren't saved according to your flawed theology. Noah got drunk. Samson chased unholy skirts. Abraham was a liar. Sarah laughed at the promise of God. Solomon was a sex pervert. Jacob was a cheat. David was an adulterer and murderer. Jesus found Peter butt naked in public after He resurrected from the dead. Ananias and Sapphira were killed by the Holy Spirit for fraud. Demas loved this present world and forsook Paul's side on a missionary journey. Kindly, you are the ignorant one.

It is sad that your hypocrisy and hatred is so strong that you want Steven Anderson to burn in Hell. You're no better than he is. Romans 6:1 teaches a Christian falls "in grace" but never "from grace." By all appearances the false prophets in Matthew 7:21-23 were saved, but Jesus denied knowing them as His sheep. You foolishly assume that "fruit" means one's behavior, but the only way to determine if someone is really saved is by a direct testimony from their own mouth concerning Jesus Christ. Pastor Steven Anderson has his faults, as also you and I do too, but he is a born again Christian according to the inspired Word of God, if you believe 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. SOURCE

Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty.

Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work.

If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from?

The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.

If salvation is truly by grace, then you don't need to start or stop anything to be saved. Eternal life is a free gift from God (Romans 6:23). 

One is saved by God's grace through faith in the finished Work of His Son on the Cross as payment in full as our pardon for sin.

If you have to look at your life to prove that you're saved, it just proves that you're not. The only thing that you and I contribute to our own salvation is the sin that made it necessary.

And once you get saved you are still a horrible sinner, and you will continue to be one until the good LORD calls you to go home to Heaven. That is the great deception behind the entire “repent of your sins” crowd today, because No one has ever repented to turn away from their sins; NO ONE! You may try hard to sin less, but you'll still be a dirty sinner.

There are only two categories:

1. You are either a saved dirty sinner whose sins have been washed away by the precious blood of Jesus in response to your faith in the Gospel.
2. Or else you are a lost dirty sinner who is still hellbound in your sins; living dangerously under the condemnation of God's Law.

Either way you and I are still dirty sinners! The only thing that makes you or I any more righteous than Jeffrey Dahmer, Judas Iscariot, Taylor Swift or Adolf Hitler is the blood of Jesus Christ that saves us (Romans 5:9; 1st Peter 1:18-19). I have no righteousness of my own to offer God, and neither do you (Isaiah 64:6). The only reason why I am going to Heaven one future day is because I am trusting in God's imputed righteousness, which is by faith alone in Jesus (Philippians 3:9).

Our POSITION in Christ is forever settled the moment we get saved. Our CONDITION in Christ depends upon our faithfulness day by day, which is discipleship not sonship. Lest we pervert the Gospel of free grace, it is imperative that we always keep salvation (Galatians 3:26) completely separate from service (Romans 12:1). Living in sin doesn't in any way prove that someone is not a born again believer.

It is a dangerous folly to attempt to judge who is saved or lost based upon one's manner of life. What saith the Scripture? 1st John 3:24, “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” It is the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit that confirms our faith in Jesus Christ as taught in the Scripture, giving us the full joy of assurance (1st John 1:4). The test is not how someone behaves; but rather, do you have the Holy Spirit?

If your whole trust is in what Jesus Christ did through Calvary's cross 2,000 years ago to pay for your sins—believing that He died on a cross in your place, and was buried, but then bodily resurrected from the dead three days later, you are saved. Your behavior has absolutely nothing to do with your decision to rely upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. You simply need to believe that Jesus did it all for you.