“Nominal Christianity”
2 Corinthians 13:5-6
Scripture Reading
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
2 Corinthians 13:6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.
I think it’s very important and needful to define the term “Nominal Christianity.” Here are two definitions gleaned from a web search:
Mainstream/Secular definition: A nominal Christian is one who says he/she is a Christian but hardly ever goes to church. Or, someone who selects "Christianity" as their religion for any official purpose (e.g. national census), but consider him/herself to be a non-practicing Christian.
Christian definition: A nominal Christian is one who says he/she is a Christian, but does not possess a trusting, faithful, dependent relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ; a relationship made possible by Christ's propitiation on the cross and the gift of the Holy Spirit to those predestined by God the Father. The church attendance of a nominal Christian is not relevant to whether they are nominal or not; a nominal Christian can attend church weekly or rarely. A nominal Christian may undertake religious activities (especially at Christmas/Easter), and proclaim fellowship with followers of Jesus (for example, through being a "member" of a church), but in their heart they will possess apathy or even unbelief toward the sovereignty of Jesus Christ.
I. The Truth about Nominal Christianity
a. An observation – First, let me say that where this subject is concerned, I do not pretend to have all the answers. I am in the same boat as you are, so to speak. I do not have a personal axe to grind or a pet theology, my only desire is to help those who may be struggling or who may be sincerely wrong about this issue of what it means to be a Christian. There are so many organizations and institutions that have rigid requirements for membership and you have to provide concrete evidence to support your claim as a member. In the book, “Am I Really a Christian?” author Mike McKinley makes the following statement: “A lot of subcultures and cliques are notoriously picky about who really “belongs.” For instance I am a member of the AARP and there is an age limitation and a financial obligation involved in being a member. If I didn’t meet those criteria then I could not be a member. Yet, whether or not I belong to AARP is not of eternal consequence. Let me give you another example: Spend a little time with my friend Scott and you will find out that he is a huge Alabama football fan. He follows the team closely, wears the memorabilia, has the team logo plastered on his vehicle, his home, and his business, is a season ticket holder and goes to the games, and depending on whether they lose or win, he may be in a bad mood (thankfully for Scott, they win most of the time). I have another friend who also claims to be an Alabama football fan but he does almost none of the above. I would not consider him to be a “real” Alabama football fan. That being said, whether or not you are an Alabama fanatic or just a fan is pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of life. In the final accounting it will matter. However if we turn the topic to whether or not you are a Christian we leave the trivial pursuits of life and get into some very deep water!
b. An obstruction – I’m afraid that to some degree the church is complicit in this problem and must take some responsibility for the development of nominal Christians. Let me share 6 things that have been critical in this issue. First, there is:
1. A false assumption where the Gospel is concerned. In this post-modern culture that we live in we in the church assume that folks know what we means when we use the word Gospel. This might have been true in the past but it is true no longer. We must tell them what it is and make it plain.
2. A failure to appreciate the seriousness of sin. You can see this in the terms that we use to describe and define sin. For instance, a drunkard is an alcoholic or someone with a deep set inferiority complex, a liar is someone with an over active imagination and a thief is just trying to get even and is not really to blame. See what I mean?
3. A failure to take church membership and discipline seriously. This subject was treated very differently in the early church. Peter took bold and decisive action where Ananias and Sapphira where concerned and Paul directed the Corinthians to discipline a member who was living in sin.
4. There is also the issue of equating conversion with external action. Praying the “sinners prayer” or “baptism” or “shaking hands with the preacher” doesn’t make you a Christian any more than sleeping in a garage make you a car.
5. A failure to connect justification with sanctification. There are millions who make a “decision” but never make the connection between this response and “growing and grace and knowledge,” which is called sanctification.
6. A failure to emphasis the dire warnings found in the Bible. For instance, the Word of God says:
1 Corinthians 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5. And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
6. If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
c. An opportunity – Friend, Jesus taught that the world was divided into two groups of people who will experience radically different fates. One group will experience abundant life now and eternal joy in the hereafter while the other group will waste their time here on earth and ultimately experience the wrath of God poured out against sinners for all eternity. The stakes could not be higher. Nothing could be more important than knowing whether or not if you are a genuine Christian. Read Matthew 25:41-46 and you will find that it is about a group of people who come to realize the truth about themselves but only after its too late!
Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Dear friend, the greatest tragedy that I can think of is for you to think you are right with God when in reality you are all wrong! How can you know for sure? You can be certain and you can know that you are saved and on your way to heaven.
II. The Test of Nominal Christianity
a. Profession – You are not a Christian just because you say you are. The one opinion that really matters is God’s! He knows His own.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
b. Possession – You are not a Christian if you haven’t been born again. In John chapter three Jesus tells a very religious man that, “…ye must be born again…” This is not what Nicodemus was looking for. He was looking for a spiritual fine tuning but the Lord prescribed a radical over-haul of his spiritual life! The most important question for this man was how do you experience the new birth? The bad news is you cannot do it yourself; the good news is that through his life death and resurrection, Jesus secured this new life for all those who believe on him.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christfrom the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
c. Purity – You are not a Christian if you enjoy sin! The Bible makes it plain that if your life is characterized by a casual and comfortable attitude towards sin, then you should stop and think about whether you have ever truly been born again. Nowhere is this clearer than in 1 John, chapter 3:1-10a.
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
8Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God… ESV
Do you see what John is saying? The habitual practice of sinning is associated with the nature of an unregenerate sinner and the habitual practice of righteousness is associated the nature of a child of God! Whoever makes a practice of sin is of the devil. Its like a brand on a cow, it’s a mark of ownership! Just the opposite is true of a Christian! Listen to what Paul writes to the church at Rome:
Romans 6:11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. ESV
d. Perseverance – I’m going to make a statement that you may or may not agree with but it’s based on sound Bible truth. If you do not endure to the end then you are not a Christian! Before you tune me out, please let my finish. In Matthew 10:22 and 24:13 we read;
Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Again in Mike McKinley’s book he makes the following observation; “In 2004, in the SBC, there were over sixteen million members spread across over 43 thousand churches. Sixteen million were baptized and sixteen million people joined a church. Yet only six million of those sixteen million actually attended a SBC church on any given Sunday. The percentages in the NAFWB are very similar! The realization of what I’ve just described is staggering! Millions of people who once professed allegiance to Christ now have little or nothing to do with Him. This is not a new problem for there are numerous examples in the Bible of those who professed Christ but abandoned the truth of the Gospel, made shipwreck of their faith or like Demas, who “…loved this present world.” I don’t have time to get into a theological discussion as to the reasons for this problem but it is enough to say that there is a problem! Whether you call them apostates or backsliders a majority of those who profess Christ do not follow Christ to the end (death or the second coming). Friend, don’t place your family and friends, or some preacher left with trying to determine whether or not you were “in the faith” when you died. Better to stay true to Christ and remove any doubt! Amen?
Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
e. Passion – You are not a Christian if you do not love other people. One of the most important changes that occurs when you become a Christian is a growth in genuine love for people. The truth is, if this kind of change didn’t happen to you then you need to ask yourself whether or not you are a Christian.
The apostle John put it this way:
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ESV
We are to love God, love are neighbor, love our wives, love our enemies and love our brother. As a matter of fact love for our brother is an evidence of salvation:
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
This kind of love normally manifests itself in the local church and we should care for each other physically and spiritually. We are taught to “do good unto all men, especially those of the household of faith!” Peter understood how difficult this would be sometimes when he writes:
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ESV
With all this being said, let’s review these five cannots of what it truly means to be a Christian:
1. Profession – You are not a Christian just because you say you are.
2. Possession – You are not a Christian if you haven’t been born again.
3. Purity – You are not a Christian if you enjoy sin.
4. Perseverance – You are not a Christian if you do not endure to the end.
5. Passion – You are not a Christian if you do not love other people.
Finally we come to the question; “can I ever really know if I am a Christian?” the answer is yes but the foundation for our assurance can be summed up in one phrase; “Christ alone.”
1. Our assurance must be founded on His righteous character alone!
Philippians 3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-- EVS
2. Our assurance must be founded on His redemptive work alone!
Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ESV
ILL - Names like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods roll from the lips of those who talk about golf’s premier event, the Masters. One name that will probably never surface in a conversation about golfing legends is Doug Ford. Few people would have any idea that Ford won the 1957 Masters. He never won another green jacket and he hasn’t made the cut since 1971 (four years before Tiger Woods was born), but he is invited to play in the Masters every year. The Masters’ rules include a lifetime invitation to every champion of the event. Ford only won the tournament once, hasn’t qualified with his golf skills in nearly three decades, and hasn’t been able to break par in the event since 1958. Nonetheless, he gets to play in the tournament every year because on one single occasion he won the jacket. Our salvation is similarly linked to a single event. Christ’s work on the cross was a one shot deal. He died once so that all could live eternally.
Houston Chronicle, April 10, 1998, p. 1B
3. Our assurance must be founded on our realization of His promises alone!
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I want to close with a quote from Dr. Donald S. Whitney. He writes, “Can any question in life be as important as knowing whether you are right with God—whether you are going to heaven or hell! I’m quite sure that every person now in eternity—with not a single exception among the billions there—would affirm the urgency and priority of pursuing the answer to such a question….Some day, on a day as real as the day you entered the world, a day as real as today, you will enter another world. There you will remain forever. Are you ready?”
ILL - An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others.
-- A. W. Tozer
