By Mark W. Christy, PhD
John MacArthur, in a sermon entitled “The Distinctive Qualities of the True Christian, Part 3” offers five non-proofs of salvation: “a past supposed conversion event,” moral living, “head knowledge,” “religious activity,” and “service in the name of Christ.”[i] Relying on Philippians 3:3, he argues that true Christians long (in their hearts) to glorify, praise, and serve God. They rejoice in Christ and desire to see Him exalted among people. Finally, he contends that authentic Christians are humble.
Before considering these various qualities which define a true believer and offer such a person solid biblical encouragement and assurance in regard to their salvation, one should first consider the Bible’s message on the need for such an assurance. This task is even more necessary in this present age of decisionism (found among many Southern Baptists in particular) where converts are told frequently to gain their assurance of salvation from the confession of faith in Christ.
John the Baptist encountered Jewish religious leaders who readily responded to his message and yet rebuffed him because their hearts were not in alignment with the truth he was proclaiming (Matt 3:7-10). Despite their head knowledge of Scripture and their willingness to respond to God’s chosen messenger at this time, they were inwardly deceived because in their hearts they trusted in their identity as physical descendants of Abraham. Jesus Himself encountered this false hope among the Jews during His ministry.
Aware of the propensity for people to deceive themselves in regard to their supposed beliefs, Jesus offers a shocking wake-up call:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matt 7:21-23).[ii]
These false professors of Christianity are portrayed as boldly and expectantly approaching Christ in heaven. The proofs which they regard as sufficient to prove the authenticity of their faith are completely rejected by Christ. For them, they have rested their assurance of salvation on their teaching and external actions. In response, Jesus demonstrates that people can believe they are saved and yet remain unsaved and completely deceived (cf. Matt 13:18-23).
In Acts, the story of Simon the Magician’s conversion is told: “Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed” (8:13). To put this in line with the decisionism found in many Southern Baptist churches, Simon now had a definite moment that he could look back to and know that he was saved.
When Peter and John visited Samaria, they began laying their hands on the people so that the people who had believed were receiving the Holy Spirit. Seeing this, Simon offered the Apostles money so as to receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:18-21 records this experience and the Apostle’s reaction:
“Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.”
Clearly, Simon’s expression of belief in response to the gospel declaration of Philip was not an expression of authentic saving faith. Rather, Simon had deceived even himself to such an extent that he willingly came forward in an attempt to receive the Holy Spirit under the ministry of Peter and John. In their rebuke, the apostles pointed out that the condition of his heart was “not right”. To put this another way, Simon responded to the gospel with a false motive for he had yet to receive a new heart made available by the regenerating work of God and made ready to receive the Holy Spirit.
The propensity for self-deception exhibited by Simon seems to have been a constant concern of the New Testament writers. In Romans 10:2, Paul talks about the zeal of the unbelieving Jews for God. In 1 Corinthians 13:2, he was concerned about those who placed to much emphasis on miraculous gifts instead of love for others. Throughout his letters, he frequently warns his audience about false teachers and false believers (2 Cor 11:13, 26; Gal 2:4; Phil 3:2; 1 Tim 6:20).
Likewise, Peter warns believers about false teachers who will “exploit” them and “who will secretly introduce destructive heresies” (2 Pet 2:1-3). James, also concerned about the potential of self-deception, (James 1:12; 25-27) argues that the truly blessed (i.e., real Christians) will persevere through the trials that they face, blame themselves for their sin and not God, humble themselves under the Word of God and its teachings, allow the Word to inform their daily living, and demonstrate their love for others actively (James 1:12-27). In the rest of his epistle, James portrays authentic believers as righteous doers of the Word who speak in line with its teaching because they love God and hate the world.
John, in his letters, makes it clear that real believers acknowledge their sin instead of denying it (1 John 1:8-10). Furthermore, they follow Jesus by living according to the Word while loving others because they hate the world (1 John 2). While they do indeed sin, they do not continue to practice it but rather confront sin with the Word of God by repenting and relying on God’s grace to grow in the likeness of Christ (1 John 3). In 1 John 4, he demonstrates that true believers are characterized by their love for God and each other. Finally, he reveals his motive and his reason for having written these characteristics that define authentic faith: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5). Instead of pointing to a single event whereby a person claimed faith in Christ and even submitted to baptism, John directed believers to examine their lives to see if they were living in obedience to the Word of God.
Given the potential for professing Christians to be deceived in their belief regarding their salvation, Paul warns the Corinthians, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Cor 13:5). To be saved, Scripture clearly teaches that one need only to repent and believe, and that both of these conditions are gifts from God; therefore, a person is saved purely by the grace of God and not by self-effort (Acts 11:18; Eph 2:8-9; 2 Tim 2:25). Since repentance and belief are ultimately works of God that play out in the inner person, how might a Christian receive assurance that their confession of faith was genuine?
They certainly cannot simply look back at their decision since it is entirely possible that they deceived themselves. Instead, they must examine the quality of their lives in light of the Scriptures. If indeed they are truly saved, they should find themselves hungering for the word of God, applying its teachings to their lives, repenting of sin, loving God and others, and acting out that love through their words and deeds.
A person who examines themselves faithfully and finds themselves to pass the test of Scripture is indeed a true believer who is now following Christ through the sanctification process. In this process, work is required of the convert even while the Spirit continues His renewal work in the inner person. This work, however, is not in any way associated with salvation. To better understand sanctification, Paul offers some excellent guidance in Philippians 2:12-13: “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
In these verses, Paul is addressing real Christians who have already exhibited obedience (“always obeyed”) in such a way that was discernable to Paul. He then commands them to work out their salvation even while stating that God Himself is working within them. This inner work of God is performed by the Holy Spirit; it involves the renewing of the mind with the truth of God’s Word (Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 4:16; Eph 4:23; Col 3:10).
As the believer studies the Word and examines themselves in light of it, they will grow in their assurance of salvation if indeed the quality of their lives is increasingly conforming to its teachings. Conversely, the false convert will find themselves completely out-of-sync with its teachings and devoid of any Christ-like transformation.
[i]John Macarthur, “The Distinctive Qualities of the True Christian, Part 3”; Available at: https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/50-29/the-distinctive-qualities-of-the-true-christian-part-3
[ii]All Scripture references are taken from NASB1995.