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True Christianity?

"People love power and glorify. It is a part of human nature to seek power and glory. As a result many people have used Christianity to gain power and glory for themselves. They may be calling themselves Christians, but their actions are not those of a Christian." - S. Hudgik

"So why do you call me 'Lord,' when you won't obey me?" (NLT) - Luke 6:46

Anyone can call themselves a Christian. But does calling oneself a Christian mean everything you do is a Christian act?

"Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder." (NIV) James 2:18-19

What James is saying is something we all know to be true--your actions speak louder than your words.

You can call yourself a Christian, you can even believe in God (the prince of evil, Satan, believes in God), but your actions will reveal who you really are.

"You believe there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe -- and tremble!" (NKJV) - James 2:19

Christians are not perfect: However, Christians sometimes make mistakes. That is also a part of our nature. We all make mistakes. Even when we are doing our best as Christians, we make mistakes. We are not perfect. We are sinners (yes, Christians are sinners) who continually stray from following Christ.

A Christian can honestly be trying to follow Christ and trying to do what the Bible teaches, and be doing evil.

It seems that I have just contradicted what James wrote--that we can tell who is a Christian by their good actions. Or have I?

How do we tell the difference between those who are truly Christians and those who profess to be a Christian, but have not truly accepted Christ in their heart?

One of the most famous quotations from the Bible is, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged" (KJV Luke 6:37). This quotation is frequently taken to mean that we should not judge others in any way whatsoever. But that is not what Jesus is saying here.

What Jesus is saying is that we should not judge the hearts (motives and character) of other people. Only God can see into people's hearts, and only God can judge whether someone has truly accepted Christ as their Lord and savior.

Should Christians judge others? Yes! We should judge people's actions--judging between good and evil. And we must judge, based on their actions, whether other people are true Christians. 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers." (NIV)

In answer to the comment, "I see Christians doing evil things, so Christianity must have some problems. It is not perfect. It is not the true religion." There are two points:

1) It is possible that someone claims to be a Christian, but is not truly a Christian.

2) It is possible for someone to truly be a Christian in their heart, but make mistakes in their actions.

In either case, do not judge Christianity based on the actions of people. Judge Christianity on the actions and person of Jesus.

More information:

More about judgement and tolerance.

More about, loving everyone but hating sin

Why don't most American Christians act like Christians?