Fruit/Proofs of authentic Christianity

Todd Friel lays out a list from the MacArthur Study Bible.



I. EVIDENCES THAT NEITHER PROVE NOR DISPROVE ONE'S FAITH
A. Visible Morality
B. Intellectual Knowledge
C. Religious Involvement
D. Active Ministry
E. Conviction of Sin
F. Assurance
G. Time of Decision

II. FRUIT/PROOFS OF AUTHENTIC/TRUE Christianity
A. Love of God
B. Repentance from Sin
C. Genuine Humility
D. Devotion to God's Glory
E. Continual Prayer
F. Selfless Love
G. Separation from the World
H. Spiritual Growth
I. Obedient Living

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For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

Excellent brother!

Todd Friel can tear it up on secular university campuses preaching the gospel.

Anyway, the first list i agree with 100%
If i was making the second list i would keep #1 there for sure in big bold letters, and for #2 i would put love for God's people. The catch is not everyone who professes Christ possesses Christ, and i am especially weary of supposed professors that will gnash and grind their teeth at the thought that God is sovereign in the salvation of men. Enough of that though. For #3 i would have devotion to and a developing understanding of the glory of God. IMO if the above 3 are there in a professor of Christ, it goes to follow that he is enabled to turn from his idolatry to serve the living God, as well as the flavors of the fruit of the Spirit.

Nice post bro.

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If more Christians believed Galatians 5:19-21, we would have a lot less problems within our churches.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Originally Posted by Vince53

If more Christians believed Galatians 5:19-21, we would have a lot less problems within our churches.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Amen! I always like to see questions about Biblical matters answered from the Bible. Let’s look at some additional passages from the Bible:

Matt. 10:38. “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”
39. “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

Matt. 16:24. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
25. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Mark 8:34. And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
35. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.”

Luke 9:23. And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
24. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”

Luke 17:33. “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”

John 12:25. “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
26. “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”

Matt. 22:36. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37. And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’
38. “This is the great and foremost commandment.
39. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’”

Mark 12:28. One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”
29. Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;
30. AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’
31. “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Luke 10:26. And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”
27. And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
28. And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.”

A genuine follower of Christ Jesus is a person who has denied himself, has taken up the cross, and is following Jesus. (In the Greek text of Matthew 16:24, the verbs translated deny and take up are in the aorist imperative; the verb translated follow, however, is in the present imperative. The significance of this is that a genuine follower of Christ has, once and for all time, denied himself and taken up the cross, and is, on an ongoing basis, following Christ). He is also a person who loves God with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loves his neighbor as himself.

(All quotations from the Scriptures are from the NASB, 1995)

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Yeah, what he said above /\

Hello LiveInSpirit! I would like to thank You for Putting That Link on there For all of Us, and I am greatfull to have the Use of it in a small devotional that I had with a Senior Group at My Church Last Night. They all contributed and there was a great discussion following. Very Good and We are Blessed to have Guy's on here Like Yourself that can forward packages and also their talents to others Thanks Again and God Bless You and Others on this Post and Whoever views this link....Dave

Originally Posted by Vince53

If more Christians believed Galatians 5:19-21, we would have a lot less problems within our churches.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

I agree, but this isn't the fruit of the Spirit nor proof of Authentic Christianity.

Galatians 3:11: "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, IT IS EVIDENT: for The Just shall live by Faith"

Galatians 5:22-23
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

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For God did not send his Son into to the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:17)


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That's wonderful! I am glad I could be of use to the glory of God. I keep my eyes peeled for good teaching and when I heard this on Wretched I was inspired to chop it up and make a video for youtube. Praise the Lord for godly men like John MacArthur and Todd Friel.

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For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

I agree, this is a nice post. I also have a book by John MacArther called "saved without a doubt". Its a great book but unfortunately it caused me to have a lot of anxiety so I had to put it down for a while.