A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34–35)This is about loving other Christians. It also is not an emotional sentiment. Christian love is action and wanting the eternal and present well-being of other believers. It is enjoying one another’s presence. There is a comradery that goes beyond any other common interest and a fellowship that is unknown to anyone outside of faith in Christ. We connect — because Jesus lives in us.
Another indicator is the attitudes in a person’s life. Jesus said, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33).
This fruit is described in Galatians 5 as the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22–23).
The last phrase means that spiritual fruit is not produced by duty or keeping rules. The fruit of the Spirit grows in the life of a Christian simply because we belong to Him and He does it. When I see those traits, I know where they come from, again remembering that Christian love, joy, peace and so on are not like the qualities described using the same words by those who do not believe. His fruit is unique and cannot be imitated.
A third mark of a true Christian is obedience. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36, italics for emphasis).
I see two important truths in this verse. One is that eternal life is a present possession of those who believe in Jesus. The other is that Jesus links faith with obedience and unbelief with disobedience. This is further emphasized by John later on in the Bible.
Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 John 2:4–6)Jesus lives in His people. We have the ability and power to walk as He walked because of His abiding presence. We can disobey, and sadly often do, but obedience is a characteristic that grows in us by His saving power. We are like a living tree — we cannot help but grow and to become more like Jesus because He is our source of life. He is who we are.
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Lord, sometimes I meet a person and their personality is strongly good. I hope that they believe, but in time am disappointed because there is no love for Your people, no spiritual fruit and no desire to obey You. Other times I meet someone that, at first, seems just like everyone else, but then I begin to see qualities that belong only to You and to Your people. What delight to realize we share Your Spirit and are both walking with You. I know that the rest of the world is confused. Some people go to church, give money, talk God and act religious, yet they are without love, spiritual fruit and obedience. Others are Your children but are in what we call a backslidden state. They act like everyone else, except that Your love shines through now and then, and so does the fruit. No wonder that at the end of this age, You will have to separate the sheep from the goats. Even the most discerning among us could not do it with certainty.
My prayer today is that Your people, me included, would act like it. Help me be more loving and increasingly fruitful. May I obey You in all things. Whatever else people think of me, I want to be marked as a genuine Christian.
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