Anyone can claim to be a Christian. Anyone can say they are a Christian. But how can you tell if they truly are an authentic Christian? Is it possible to tell the real deal from one who is a poser?
In the letter of 1st John we find a number of benchmarks that point to the genuine nature of a Christ-follower. John is well positioned to help us sort out who is offering a false claim to be a Christian verses those who are in fact living their lives as a child of God in Jesus Christ because he was an eyewitness to the life, teaching, and ministry of Jesus. John declares in 1:1 that he heard, he looked at, and his hands have given witness to the life, teaching and ministry of Jesus. John is in a position to say, I witnessed straight from Jesus, and now let me tell you what an authentic Christian looks like.
The first mark of an authentic Christian, declares John, is seen in where they walk. Walk as used in the bible is a term to describe how we live our lives. Our lives, points out John, can be lived in one of two places: we can walk in darkness or we can walk in light. Light, is a metaphor for living our life within the will and ways and according to the purposes and values of God, while dark is living in the ways of the world. The mark of a true Christian is one who walks in the Light because as 1 John 1:5 says, God is light. Light is the character of God. The very essence of God is righteousness. God is holiness. God is purity. Light is the arena where God hangs out. Verse 5 continues on declaring that, in God is no darkness at all. So therefore, one who says, “I am of God,” must walk in the light as he is in the light. (Vs.7) If we say we are Christ follower, yet we walk in the dark and we are hanging out over in the world rather than in God territory, John says, we lie. In the light is where a Christ follower walks.
So, as John assesses the authenticity of your claim to be a Christian, would he find you to be the genuine real deal? Do you walk in the light?
God did not leave us in a position to have to guess if we are walking in the light of in the dark. God gives us clear direction about what light looks like in two places. The first is in His word. John tells us that if we are in the light, then we obey the Word of God (2:6). Psalm 119 reminds us that God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. When we are obedient to the word of God, we can be found in the light. The second place God guides us into light is found in the example of Jesus. 1 John 1:7 says, we walk in the light as he is in the light. Did you catch that? We are called to walk in the light as Jesus is in the light. Jesus is our benchmark for how we live out our lives. The standard of light Jesus set for us, was to be, Obedient to everything. Everything. Even going to the cross and giving up his life. “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).
Spend some time reflecting on your walk to day, and ask this simple question: Am I walking in the Light? In the light is where authentic followers of Christ can be found.
Lead Pastor Bob Karel
