Nominalism Part II

Last week, when the media hype was focused on whether President Obama was a Christian or a Muslim, I presented a third option—that he may be neither. And in my discussion, I suggested that the Bible gives us a pretty clear picture of what the essence of Christianity looks like, and I went on to say that certain Christian practices would naturally be played out in the life of someone claiming to be a Christian. While I believe this to be true, I do not want anyone to be confused about what makes a Christian a Christian. And the difficulty with trying to ferret out nominalism is that nobody but God truly knows any one person’s heart.

Scripture clearly states: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians, 2:8-9, NLT). Paul also reiterates to the Galatian Christians, who were being fooled and pressured by some of the local Jews who were twisting the truth concerning Christ, that “it is through faith that a righteous person has life” (Galatians 3:11, NLT). And Paul again makes it clear that “we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law” when writing to the church in Rome (Romans 3:28).

In view of these scriptures, if someone claims to have confessed with his or her mouth that Jesus is Lord, and claims to have believed in his or her heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, then who are we to claim otherwise. Basically, it is between that person and God. And while there are scriptures like 1 John 2:4 and 2:6, which say, respectively, “if someone claims, 'I know God,' but doesn't obey God's commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth,” and “those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did,” we need to be careful that we do not start thinking too much of ourselves, and begin casting judgment on others. As I said, in the end the truth about whether or not someone is a Christian is between that person and God.

So what do we do when someone makes what seems to be a specious claim about being a Christian? I suggest we take that person at his or her word, and not get drawn into a debate that cannot be won. And if we suspect that someone claiming to know Christ really doesn’t, then we ought to pray for that person. Nominalism exists, and there will always be people who claim some religious affiliation without being truly connected to that which they claim, and truth and love are the only forces that can overcome this. And if we want to to be men and woman of truth and love, then we should be praying for folks who we believe are misinformed about the truth of Christ, and we should be asking God to show Himself strong in the lives of these people.