How many times have you heard non-Christians, judging one who professes Christ, say in disgust, “Well, if that’s Christianity, I don’t want any of it!”
How many judge God by the way professing Christians live?
How many assume that one must live a perfect life before he can become a Christian”?
How many say, “If I could give up smoking, I’d become a Christian”?
How many think a Christian is supposed to be perfect, never doing anything wrong? Suppose you do see or hear about a Christian doing something wrong. Does that mean he is a hypocrite — that he is not really a Christian, after all?
Is it possible for one to actually sin, while he is a Christian, and still remain a truly converted Christian? I suppose nearly everyone would reply in the negative. But here is a vital point you need to understand!
It’s hard to believe — but true! Few know just what is a Christian. Few know how one is converted — whether suddenly, all at once, or gradually. Does conversion happen immediately, or is it a process? It’s HIGH TIME WE UNDERSTAND!
The truth is that there is a sense in which true conversion does take place at a definite time — all at once. But it is also true that in another sense conversion is worked out gradually — a process of development and growth.