Ever wonder if someone you know or yourself is a fake Christian? Then the 11 signs of a fake Christian in this post will help you determine if someone or yourself is a fake Christian or not.
If someone isn’t a true follower of Jesus Christ, many signs will show that indeed that person isn’t a true Christian at all which will be evident by the lifestyle they live.
Having said that, here are the 11 major signs of a fake Christian that someone will show if that person isn’t a true follower of Jesus Christ.
What Is A Fake Christian?
A fake Christian is simply someone who professes to be a Christian but live a life that is contrary to the bible or to that of Jesus Christ and produces no good fruit to support their claims.
And usually, someone who is a counterfeit Christian will be very religious on the outside or even go to church every Sunday but will be just like the people of the world without any fruit of righteousness in their lives
In short, a fake Christian is merely a Sunday Christian who just goes to church every Sunday but with dead faith, no eternal life and the fruit of true Christianity in their life all true believers have.
11 Signs Of A Counterfeit Christian.
below are the 11 signs of a counterfeit Christian that will show if you or someone is a counterfeit Christian who is still in need of genuine repentance that brings salvation.
- Religious.
- False Convert.
- Disobedience To God’s Word.
- Not Living A Holy Life.
- Love False Teachings.
- Unable To Endure Sound Doctrine.
- Hypocrisy.
- Worldly.
- Sinful.
- Unloving.
- Tell Lies.
1. Religious.
If you are a fake Christian, you will be religious and practice vain and empty religion but with no fruit and life of Christ in you as evidence if you professed Christian faith.
Sure, you may go to church every Sunday but the life of Jesus Christ won’t be in you as you will just be mere religious with just a label of Christianity on you.
And if you are religious, you will just profess the name of Jesu Christ with your mouth but you will deny Him in your actions and the way you live (Titus 1:16).
And there are so many such religious people nowadays who merely go to church on Sunday but the life of Christ is still absent in them which is seen by the way they live their lives.
If you are not a fake Christian, you won’t be religious and just go to church on Sunday for formality but the life of Jesus Christ will be evident in your life by following after righteousness and not sin.
2. False Covert.
False conversion is one of the top signs of a fake Christian that you will notice if someone is not a true Christian who has been truly born again by the sanctifying power of the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin.
A false convert is simply someone who claims to be a converted or saved Christian but bears no fruits of repentance and the 9 essential fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23) that always accompany someone who is truly saved or converted to Christ.
If you are a false Christian, you will certainly be a false convert with no fruits of true repentance that mark true conversion and genuine salvation (Luke 3:8).
You will claim to be born again but your life will prove otherwise and will continue living in your filthy sinful lifestyle even if you religiously go to church every Sunday.
So if you realize that you are a false convert who was never really saved in the first place even if you felt like so, you need genuine repentance in your life so that you can be truly saved and converted to Christ Jesus before it’s too late to do so when you die.
Must Read: 11 Signs Of A False Convert (That Indicate Someone Isn’t Truly Saved At All.)
3. Disobedience To God’s Word.
Another sign that will show that you are a fake Christian is that you won’t live in accordance with God’s word nor will you be interested in obeying His word with will be offensive to you.
You can’t say that you are a true Christian if you are disobedient to the word of God and not living by it and sadly many so-called Christians are like that even if they go to church every Sunday.
And these types of fake Christians Jesus Christ talks about in Matthews 15:8 will profess to love God with their lips but their heart are completely far from Him made evident by the way they live
Jesus Christ said in John 14:15 that if you truly love Him, you will obey and keep His commandments which is a vital litmus test that will prove if you are His or not.
If you claim to be a true Christian but live in disobedience to God’s word, you are just lying to yourself, dear and if you die now or if Christ returns now, you will certainly not make it for heaven for sure.
4. Not Living A Holy Life.
If you are a false Christian, you won’t live a life of holiness of which without, no one will see the Lord as Paul in Hebrews 12:14 wonderfully puts it.
Living a holy life is very crucial as if you claim to be a true Christian because it’s the only thing that will qualify you for heaven when all is said and done which is why Jesus Christ said in Mathews 5:8 that only those with a pure heart will see God.
But if you are a false Christian who just practices empty religion, you won’t live a holy life that all true believers in Christ who are en route to heaven live. Instead, you will even say it’s not possible to live godly in this present evil world.
Rather, you will instead live and enjoy a life of sin the way every sinner does because you don’t yet have the new nature of Christ that every real Christian has to help you live a holy life and detest sin (Ephesians 4:24).
Like most so-called fake believers, you will give meaningless excuses as to why you can’t live a holy life and justify yourself that none is perfect and that we are all sinners incapable of living a life of godliness and righteousness in this present evil world.
5. Loves False Teachings.
The love of false teachings from false apostles who claim to be of Christ in false lukewarm churches is one of the signs of a fake Christian that will show if you are not truly saved with the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ yet.
This will be so because you don’t have the Holy Spirit of truth Christ gives to every truly born again believer that leads into all truth (John 16:13).
Instead, you will have a spirit of falsehood in you which makes you hate the truth that by the true prophets of God. You will instead love false teaching from false prophets and false teachers due to the itching ears you have for the truth.
And this is the case with many fake believers today who profess Christ who only goes to churches that tell them what they want to heart and make their sinful flesh feel good or comfortable in their sins.
No wonder Paul in 2 Timothy 4:3 warns of such people who will no longer endure the sound doctrine of the bible that talks about holiness and against sin. Don’t be among such people, please.
6. Unable To Endure Sound Doctrine.
If you are a fake Christian, you won’t endure the sound doctrine of the bible especially those concerning sin and living a godly life of holiness in this present evil world.
Instead, the sound doctrine of the bible will be offensive to you and make you feel uncomfortable because your sinful flesh loves sin and hates holiness. Only a few Christians today are willing to endure the sound doctrine which is sad.
Like the fake disciples in John 6:60 who forsook Christ Jesus after He told them what true Christianity is all about, you will find yourself leaving churches that teach sound doctrine of the bible.
And there are many such fake Christians today who have departed from their real Christian faith and fallen for the seducing spirits and doctrines of devils from false churches 1 Timothy 4:1 talks about.
Instead, they have found false churches that only teach falsehood and fables that don’t even bear fruit or help such people grow in the Lord and no wonder such false churches are always filled every Sunday.
7. Hypocrisy.
If you are a fake Christian, you will also be a hypocrite or Sunday Christian who pretends to be of God but in reality, you are far away from Him.
You will pretend to have virtues that only true believers have or try to act like a Christian just for show business but in reality, you are not any of those things (Galatians 6:3).
Instead, you will be just like the Pharisees Jesus rebuked in Matthews 23:27 who pretended to be holy and virtuous outside but were full of dead men’s bones and all manner of hypocrisies in their hearts.
Hypocritical Christians don’t have the virtues of Christ which is why they try to pretend or fake their Christian lives so that they can look like believers in the eyes of other people but God knows the heart of every person and none can lie to Him.
But one thing you must know if you are a hypocritical Christian as You are reading this dear is that there is no such thing a faking it till you make it in Christianity because a tree is always known by its fruits and if you are a hypocrite, your fruits will manifest in due time for all to see.
8. Worldly.
It’s just a matter of fact that if you are not a real Christian you will be worldly and mind the corruptible things of the world more than the things of God which are incorruptible.
Worldliness has crept into many churches today and this is seen by the kinds of lifestyle so-called Christian live especially in the way they dress and their association when the Lord calls us to be separate from the world (2 Corinthians 6:17).
Nowadays, it’s very difficult to tell a difference between a Christian and a heathen or worldly person because that distinctive difference that must exist between true believers and worldly people has been blurred.
Christian dressing and godly living principles are no longer followed by the majority of Christians today which is sad indeed and if you are a fake Christian, you will just look like the world and dress just like the world does.
Instead, you will be full of worldliness in whatever you do be it in your dressing, way of thinking and how you live your life which ought not to be so dear if you claim to be of the Lord.
9. Sinful.
Living a sinful life is one of the signs that will manifest if you are a fake Christian as true Christians don’t live sinful lifestyles but live lives of holiness that reflect the character of Christ.
A lot of people nowadays claim to be Christians yet still live in sin and worse yet, still enjoy their filthy sinful lifestyles like pigs swimming in sewages which is sad indeed.
The bible in 1 John 3:8 says that if you sin you are of the devil who sinned from the beginning and the father and author of sin as we know it today. But if you claim to be a true believer in Christ, you will be righteous even as He’s righteous.
No wonder it’s no surprise today that you will so someone claiming to be a Christian bit is still involved in beer drinking, sexual immorality, lying, and many other sins that characterize a sinner.
And if you are such a person, dear, you need to stop that and start getting serious with God concerning your Christian faith as the bible says in 2 Timothy 2:19 that a person who names the name of the Lord must depart from iniquity which will be so if you are truly saved.
Must Read: 7 Major Characteristics of Sin That Make Us Do Bad Things
10. Unloving.
Paul in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 says that one of the signs that will show that we are in the last days is that many people will be unloving without any natural affection for their fellow human beings.
And if you are a fake believer who just goes to church on Sunday practising vain and empty religion void of our Lord Jesus Christ, you will lack this special agape love only true believers have.
As a result, you won’t be able to truly love others selfless the way Christ expects you to. Instead, you will be filled with selfishness and self-centredness which will manifest in the way you treat others.
Rather, you will be unloving negatively fulfilling the scriptures. One thing you need to know my dear reader if you didn’t is that as human beings, we are naturally selfish which is why we are incapable of truly loving others in a selfless manner.
To a selfish and fake Christian, love is all about what you can get from another person rather than what you can give. The bible in Romans 12:9 says that our love must be without dissimulation which is only possible if you are truly born again with a new nature of Christ.
11. Tells Lies.
When someone isn’t truly born again yet with a new nature of Christ, they will tell lies even when it’s not necessary to do so.
One thing you must know is that whether you tell white, blue, black or grey lies and whatever fancy name you may want to call your lies to justify yourself, you are still a liar and remember that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire (Revelations 21:8).
And if you are a counterfeit Christian, lies will just be part of your life and character in whatever you do. You won’t be honest and straightforward with other people.
There are a lot of many fake Christians out there who tell lies and lie to others without feeling anything bad about it which is sad indeed which is why it’s difficult to even trust many Christians today as most of them are full of lies and deceit.
Remember, lies won’t take you anywhere and will just land you into hellfire if you don’t repent of them as they are like a snare that ensnare the simple and fools who lack understanding.
Conclusion.
I hope the 11 signs of a fake Christian above will now help you know if you are a true Christian or not and make you repent if you realize that you are not a true Christian yet.
And if you feel that you have been a fake Christian all this time after reading this and want to start anew, read this post on how to be truly born again and be sure of heaven in 7 simple steps.
In closing, kindly let me know in the comments below if you enjoyed this post or if you have any questions on what you have read here and don’t forget to share this post with others.
Further Reading.
- 63 True Christian Quotes To Live By (+ Powerful Sermon).
- 7 Major Dangers Of Lukewarm Christianity (+Sermon)
- 11 Characteristics Of An Unbeliever To Help You Know (If You Are A True Believer Or Not).
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I believe its good message. But you seem very legalistic Jesus came to set us free from rules and regulation. But I do believe you are right there needs to be a change in a person who profess Christ as savior
I am glad you enjoyed the message indeed if you are a true Christain you will show the fruits only true Christians with the new birth experience can show. Be blessed.
Thank you for this. I have been repenting of many sins these past months and am getting into God’s word more and more and actively asking his help to stop my sins of lying and swearing. I confess I have lived too much like the world in the past.i was badly backslide for many years.
Just keep on doing that dear and you will be restored in no time if you are truly repentant and vow to sin no more in your heart. God bless.
I am very thankful of this message it helps me a lot in examining myself if really I am a genuine christian.I hope and pray that the Lord will help not to be satisfied in just reading the bible,going to church every Sunday but to put into practice what I have learned .I realized that the true service is not inside the church ,but rather loving and service to others are important.
You are most welcome, dear and I am glad that this post was a blessing to you and helped you examine yourself as God’s word commands all of us to do so that we can know whether we are standing in the Lord or not. God bless.
Amen Brother,
It’s so sad and even heartfelt and mindfully conflicting struggle to us believers when our secular family members and many church members profess being Christians as we want to believe they are, but their continual bad fruit reveals their true selves. Many of them read the Bible, but don’t abide, nor obey God. The Lord says test the spirit. He is right. Their actions prove that they are blinded by the darkness. God shouldn’t be like a light switch in there mind where they turn Him off and on. Being born again John 3:1-8 is God transforming us into new creations by His Power from above and not by our doing.
True indeed dear brother in Christ there are mank fake believers today who profess Christ by name but deny Him in works but we as true believers must not follow such people in their ways leading to destruction but must be the light in this dark world we live in.
Paul didn’t write Hebrews.
Oh, really? Could you elaborate more on this? Thanks and God bless.
A good message, but what about false doctrines? I think false doctrines are the bigger problem, because they undercut the truth and give false understanding of Gods word . The deceived are deceiving others . As Jesus said in Matthew ch 24 v4,5 thanks
That’s a nice point as well indeed false doctrines are part of the big problem especially in the times we are living in which is why there are many fake believers today who aren’t ready to listen to the raw truth of God’s word. Thanks for your great input. God bless.
you tube user Jan C. Brennan, IS a FAKE christian!!! Jan C. Brennan on you tube, is about as christian, as I am a big business boss, of a big business company, LOL Jan C. Brennan IS A TOTALLY FAKE christian.
Thanks for your reply. God bless.
Trying to turn our beautiful democratic nation into a ‘Christian’ nation is treason. I hate what your religion is doing to my wonderful home. I was raised ‘Christian’. I have never met so many hypocrites. Christ would hate American ‘Christian’s’.
Don’t let a few fake Christians hinder you from experiencing true salvation and God’s love. It’s true that there are many hypocrites in this world but salvation is strictly a personal affair. God bless.
I think there are a lot of good arguments for the decision many now have that Paul was a liar
and if you can read his works without the blinding holy veil that trained you his words are true religion – the kind of fellow he was – an utter hypocrite (saying think nothing or think nothing and then condemning, e.g),or misogynistic comments except toward the women who funded him, or stuff that directly contradicts Jesus lie not only claiming he’s a teacher (Jesus said only the Messiah) or saying he was a father to an adult man (Jesus said call no man, only God, who is Spirit, Father. Some church people even say yes,, but we do it anyway. (Catholics) And Paul underscored he was no liar
Jesus claimed to be the truth but if you know liars you might be familiar with Paul’s protest. Point is, Jesus said don’t judge but also to be wary of false doctrine. That Paul’s works are here so quoted concerning fakes is richly ironic. Yep, beware false doctrine.
Where did you get the strange info that Paul war a liar?