A couple of years ago I got to read a book by John Bevere entitled “Driven by Eternity” and I cannot forget a line there that opened by eyes and made me put my guard up. It said “One of the greatest surprises Christians will get when Jesus returns is that many who think are saved are not.” That got me thinking… Imagine after all these years of thinking you’re okay you’ll eventually see Jesus and He’ll tell you “I never knew you.”

So in my message last Sept 2 during our company big group, I shared to them how to know whether you’re Christian. No, this didn’t come from the book but out of my quiet times. To make it easy to remember, i’ve created used Grace as an acronym. If you’re a Christian, consider this a checklist. It’s is not a 75% passing grade but to my opinion, you must get all to feel safe.

G – rowing – How do you know if you’re growing? Here’s another set of Gs. Do you attend GO to church? Do you read the GOSPEL willingly and do you understand it? Are you a GOOD Steward of what God has given you (How’s your GIVING?) and Do you attend small GROUPS. All these things are indicators of your growth… Though it is possible to go through these and not be really growing, it is difficult.

When I wasn’t a Christian yet, I went through all of these just to please Monique. A pretending christian or a forced one if I may say. But eventually, the word penetrated my heart. Slowly… and I decided to give Jesus a chance.

R – edeemed – When asked if they are going to heaven. Real Christians would say yes with full conviction. Not because they are proud or they feel they are sinless but they believe what Jesus did on the cross is enough to pay for their Past, Present and Future sins.

A lot of people don’t believe this and say it should be accompanied by Good works and even quote the book of James… True, but it is not the Good works that save you. It is still faith. Good works is a result of your faith. So you cannot continue sinning deliberately simply because you know you’ll be forgiven because you’ll be questioned whether or not there was true conversion in the first place.

Paul stressed this in Galatians 2:21 by saying if we could be saved by doing good works, then there was no need for Jesus to die.

A – mazing Joy – We are humans. I’d be a hypocrite or a robot if I said that I don’t feel sad, or mad, or worried. When my grand father died I cried a bucket of tears. I was his favourite grandchild and he was like my dad. My uncles and aunties thought I was going to be most affected by his death but they were shocked to see me ok. Thats because I know that death is not the end, it is a temporary goodbye. Eventually we will see each other. Death is not enough to take away the joy i have in Christ.

Christians know… Jesus is enough. Everything else (if you have money, good business, a partner etc.) are just bonuses.

C – lear calling – God has a purpose for everyone. I repeat — for everyone. No exceptions! True Christians know that at the very least, that when they feel God has forgotten to give them their orders, all they need to do is look around and find the closest person who don’t know Jesus. They make a check list of everything they have and every talent they were given and see which among these things are not utilized for God’s agenda because every Christian should be part of God’s kingdom building…

E – xcited for Jesus return – Honestly, I don’t know why some people get so attached to this world. What can you possibly want? Its full of traffic, corruption, problems, natural calamities, crime, sickness and death etc. If you’re a Christian, you know what the coming of Christ means — its an total make-over and an upgrade. Imagine you’ll be in a place where there is no more sickness, no more crying and we’ll all be in glorified bodies (no need to workout).

If you are a Christian, be excited for Jesus return cause that our ultimate victory. When we can finally say the struggle is over and Jesus can say “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
Sometimes, the biggest hurdle / obstruction as to why people don’t commit to Christianity is because of Christian’s themselves. So lets be careful that people do not stumble because of us. If we say we are Christians, lets truly live Christian lives.

So that’s about it… I don’t know where you’re struggling but keep this list handy. Remember, God did it all for you. He made a way for you to make it back to heaven. We are not meant to be in this world. I pray that we’ll all get to see each other in heaven where we can party with our brothers and sisters.