Seven Indicators of a Genuine Christian

Spiritual development is a necessity in genuine Christianity. This
is because genuine Christianity is a live organism. And any live
organism needs to grow, to develop. This kind of Christianity develops
spiritually.How can you distinguish between a genuine Christian and a
nominal Christian?If you do not have the Spirit of Jesus it is
impossible to distinguish between a real Christian and a nominal
Christian. Both may speak the same language, dress in the same way, go
to the same church, perform the same religious activities, play the
same sport, live in the same neighborhood or subdivision.But one is
alive-the genuine Christian, the other is dead-the nominal one, in the
life of the Spirit. The first is heading to the joys of heaven, the
latter to the torments in hell.The following indicators therefore are
not external criteria by which we can segregate the genuine Christians
from the nominal ones. They are indicators which we can reflect upon
and search within ourselves to discern whether we are genuine or
nominal Christians.Of course, the elements in these indicators
naturally and normally surface in the lives of people who are genuine
Christians. But again their manifestations can be imitated by the
ingenious nominal Christian.For example, we may think that a person
who devotes one hour every day faithfully in praying while kneeling in
a church has a personal, growing love for Jesus. Such may be very
deceptive. It may be true that indeed he has a personal, growing love
for Jesus. It may also be true, as Jesus once commented, that he is
pretending to pray long prayers in the hope of devouring the houses of
widows. The Pharisees were performing long prayers but Jesus told us
they were not following him; they rejected him.While it is true that
there are millions of Christians who are satisfied and comfortable
with their nominal Christianity, there are a few though who sense that
their lives lack something which they may not be able to pinpoint out
or even vaguely describe. For these few the indicators described here
may help them reflect on their lives and motivate them to search how
to live a genuine Christian life.It may also happen that a nominal
Christian reading these indicators may come to the realization that
what he has been presuming all along his life, namely, that he is a
real Christian, is an illusion. Upon knowing this he may want to move
from nominal to genuine Christianity.These indicators are to be taken
as an integrated whole set of indicators, not each one separately. If
an indicator is missing, most probably the person is not a genuine
Christian.Here are the seven indicators.1. The person has experienced
God speaking to him personally, either through a preacher, a book, or
other circumstance.2. The person has experienced listening to an
explanation of the Bible or reading it such that he felt his mind was
opened. His reaction is: Now I know, whereas before I did not realize
this was the meaning. If he is literate he has experienced a thirst
for reading God's word. If he is non-literate he has experienced a
thirst for listening to the reading of God's word.3. The genuine
Christian has a personal, growing love for the person of Jesus the
Christ, talking with him with more and more time of his day.4. He has
a certain or sure conviction of the forgiveness of his sins, whether
past, present or future. He has no fear of being punished.5. He has a
complete distrust in his works as a means of pleasing God.6. He has a
deep and growing love for other genuine Christians and he seeks out
their company.7. He has a compassionate love for the non-Christians
and the nominal Christians and desires to bring them to genuine
Christian life.