Believior Determines Behavior
The Christian faith rests on faith. We receive the benefits of the gospel by believing the gospel. We don’t receive the gospel through good works or behavior. However, the revelation of God is crystal clear that genuine belief will be evident in how one behaves; thus the phrase “believior determines behavior”. What you believe drives what you do. We see this in verse 27 of Philippians 1: “27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,” The conduct or behavior of the Philippians was important to Paul. And Paul connected their behavior to the “worth” of the gospel of Christ. What Paul wasn’t saying is that their conduct would earn them the benefits of the gospel. He isn’t saying that at all and many portions of Scripture deny this. However, the gospel is so glorious and so transformational that conduct or behavior WILL be changed. There is no conceivable way that a person who genuinely believes the gospel will not behave in a Christ-like way. Can there be periods of time when this is not true? Sure. However, this is not the norm and when confronted with the gospel of truth, repentance should be sought and forgiveness received…and changes in behavior made.
I’ve had many conversations in my life with young adults and older adults who professed to have made a “decision for Christ” as a child or a teenager but whose lives have shown no change and no desire to follow Christ. When asked to follow Christ they have no interest but they “fall back” on their claim of a salvation experience; as if they had been given a “ticket” at some point that they hope to redeem at a time of their choosing. Salvation is not revealed that way. If there is little to no evidence of transformation in your life…if your conduct doesn’t seem “worthy” of the gospel of Christ, please contact me. Let’s talk. It is likely that you’ve never really received the gospel of Christ…and that’s something I know you’ll want to change.