How many times have you heard non-Christians, judging one who professes Christ, say in disgust: "Well if that’s Christianity, I don’t want any of it!"
How many judge GOD by the way professing Christians live? How many assume that one must live a perfect life, before he can become a Christian?
How many say: "If I could give up smoking, I’d become a Christian."
How many think a Christian is supposed to be perfect, never doing anything wrong? Suppose you do see or hear about a Christian doing something WRONG. Does that mean he is a hypocrite — that he is not really a Christian, after all?
Is it possible for one to actually SIN, while he is a Christian and still remain a truly converted Christian?
The startling TRUTH is that few know just what is a Christian. Few know HOW one is converted — whether suddenly, all at once, or gradually. Does conversion happen immediately, or is it a PROCESS? IT’S HIGH TIME WE UNDERSTOOD what constitutes REAL CONVERSION.
DO CHRISTIANS ever sin? If one does, is he “lost”?
First let me ask — and answer the question “What is true Christian conversion?” “What is a real Christian in the sight of God?” Does joining a church make one a Christian? Does saying, “I accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour” make one a Christian?
Let’s get the Bible definition. In Romans 8:6-9 you will read: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind [fleshly mind] is enmity [hostile] against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh [fleshly minded] cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
A Christian, then, is one who has received, and in whose mind dwells the Holy Spirit of God. Otherwise he is NOT Christ’s — NOT a Christian.