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Your Question:
What's the difference between a good Christian and a bad Christian?
Answer:
As a pastor and a Christian, I've often been asked about the difference between a good Christian and a bad Christian. In my experience, it's not about outward conduct or moral behavior, but about the heart. Jesus said, "No one is good except God alone." This means that even if a person appears to be good, they may not be inwardly good. The key difference between a good Christian and a bad Christian is not their behavior, but their relationship with God. A good Christian recognizes that any good they do comes from the Christ-life inside them, and that they are made good because God loves them. On the other hand, a bad Christian may be trying to earn God's love or approval through their good deeds. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Christian faith, which teaches that we are made righteous through faith in Christ, not through our works. In my experience, I've seen that even Christians can be prone to moral failure, not because they're not good people, but because they're innately sinful. As the Bible says, we are "veering toward selfishness like a car with a misaligned steering wheel." This means that even good Christians can struggle with sin and moral failure. But the difference between a good Christian and a bad Christian is not whether they fail, but whether they recognize their failure and turn to God for forgiveness and guidance.
Sources:
mere christianity
c s lewis
christian theology
millard erickson
why does god allow evil
clay jones
elemental theology
emery bancroft
concise history christian thought
tony lane
confronting christianity
rebecca mclaughlin
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