By Reformation Charlotte

Being a Christian is by far the greatest blessing one could receive. Who can reject the glory of God, and the awesome love and forgiveness that Jesus has to offer? Yet, sadly, there are many out there who have convinced themselves that they are Christians, when, unfortunately, they are not. Here is a shortlist of signs that you can use to examine yourself, or someone else, to test whether or not you are truly in the faith. This is by far not an exhaustive list, nor is it meant to discourage true believers.

Sign #1, Avoiding Persecution

There are many who claim to be believers and claim to know Christ as their Savior, and will even put on a good show of morality most of the time, but when proclaiming the name of Christ gets tough, they back down. This is not to say that a Christian will never have moments of weakness. We know from the Bible that even the great Apostle Peter denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26:34). But if you repeatedly find yourself retreating when you are being persecuted, or purposely deny or hide your Christianity in order to avoid persecution altogether, you probably have no reason to believe you are saved.

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

Matthew 13:3-9

In the above passage, the Parable of the sower, Jesus speaks of those seeds that did not fall on good ground—they have no roots or foundation. Since they don’t have this good soil where they have been able to establish healthy roots, the intense heat of the sun just dries them up, and they wither away. This is what happens to professing Christians when they have no foundation to stand on. When they aren’t grounded in true saving faith, they tend to wither away when they face opposition. They won’t stand up for what they believe in because they don’t really believe it. Matthew 10:32-33 says,

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

If you don’t see yourself facing persecution, and standing your ground, or at least trying to stand your ground, you very well may be a false convert. If you find yourself resorting to acting like a carnal man when around other non-Christians in order to “fit in,” you may want to examine your heart to see if you are truly saved.

Sign #2, Constant Worry

This one seems to be one of the biggest problems among professing Christians. There are some who have a preoccupation with worry, especially about worldly things like food, clothing, and money.

“No man 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.Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 

  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:. And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. —Matthew 6:24-34

God promises us he will provide us with everything we need. If you find yourself constantly worrying about making ends meet, or you are not content with what you have been provided with, this is evidence that you are not putting your trust in God’s promises. Faith is the key requirement for salvation, for, without faith, one cannot be saved (Eph 2:8-9). Luke 8:13 says the false convert will receive the Word with joy, but the joy will be short-lived. You will eventually fall back into your state of worry and unfaithfulness. If you are perpetually worried about these things, then you are relying on yourself, rather than God, and you might be a false convert.

Sign #3, Unfruitful Relationships

Another sign that you or someone else may be a false convert is having little or no desire to develop friendships with other believers. When you are truly converted, and your desires are aligned with the will of God, you will long for friends that will lift you up in your walk with Christ, as well as hold you accountable (Ecc 4:9-12, Proverbs 27:9). Moreover, James 4:4 says,

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

A true Christian wants to develop relationships that honor God. This does not necessarily mean that we can’t know and befriend any non-Christians at all, in fact, we are required to do so for the sake of sharing the Gospel. But that’s the key, our priority with non-Christian friends should be sharing the Gospel with them. The Bible also says

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? —2 Corinthians 6:14

Taking any friendship with non-Christians to the level of partnership, or fellowship is forbidden in Scripture. Yes, it’s understood that you have obligations to family members, and you are required to be close to them, but again, your priority with them as a Christian should be showing them the love of Christ. So if you find yourself putting off invitations to hang out with people in your Sunday School class because they make you feel uncomfortable, or if you find yourself more content with hanging out with non-Christian buddies from work, yet no desire to develop deep relationships with Christians, you might be a false convert.

Sign #4, Self Indulgence

Many Christians struggle with sin after they are saved. Bad habits are hard to break, even for the most faithful of believers. Some people may have smoking addictions, some people might curse. Some people may have a certain affinity towards self-gratification, indulging in things like unhealthy amounts of television, sports, entertainment, etc. Whatever the sin is, the true Christian will struggle with this.

This is one of the tougher areas for the Christian to attack because it takes an ongoing, conscious effort to break habits. However, one sign that you are a true convert is if you are actually struggling with this activity. If you are a true Christian, your desire is to be obedient to Christ and to become more Christ-like (1 John 2:6). As a Christian, you now represent Christ, and it is no longer you who lives, but Christ who lives in you (Galatians 2:20). You now live by faith, fending off your sins and worldly desires.

This is not to say that you won’t sin, or fall, but if you find yourself never struggling with your sin, never feeling any Godly sorrow for your sin, perhaps you need to rethink your standing in Christ. Christ gives you a new heart when you are saved, and removes your heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). If you’re always too busy to spend time in the Word of God, you might not be saved. If you’re putting off your relationship with Christ, skipping church, not reading your Bible, and not ministering to your family, yet you are watching football, you curse at work around your buddies, you find yourself angry and unforgiving often, and you feel no Godly remorse, you very well may be a false convert.

Sign #5, Pride

Probably the biggest tell-tale sign of a false convert is pride. Pride is the root of all of the other signs of a false convert. Proverbs 16:5 says “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.” Arrogance is Satan’s number one tool to stop you from believing the Gospel, it stands in direct opposition to any form of repentance, and anyone who is proud cannot be saved.

However, there are many who are proud yet profess to be Christians. They run around naming the name of Christ, might have Christian bumper stickers on their cars, and they may even try to share the Gospel with others, but if you try to rebuke this person, or call this person out regarding their sin, they will reject you. They absolutely cannot stand to be told that they are wrong about something. They will mock you and argue with you, and never accept responsibility for their wrongdoings. Proverbs 9:8 says,

Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.

The scoffer, or mocker, will not be corrected, but one of the marks of being saved is someone who is humble and open to reproof. James 4:6 says,

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Those who are humble in spirit are repentant and receive God’s grace. If you always have an argumentative heart towards correction and reproof, and you are unable to hear when someone is confronting you about sin in your life, you very well may be a false convert. I’ll end with the following two passages addressing pride:

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner^. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

—Luke 18:10-14

When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

—Luke 14:8-11

Conclusion

All Christians struggle with certain things, and some more than others. If you are a relatively new convert, expect to struggle more than the seasoned Christian who has been saved and serving God for 40 years. The fact is, you should be improving constantly in all of these areas. There may be ups and downs, but if you take a look at the last year of your life, and you see no improvement in any of these signs, I would suggest you start praying and ask God to open your eyes and reveal himself to you. I pray that this list is glorifying to God first and foremost, but also that it be edifying to those who take the time to read it.