Be careful. This is my advice to sincere Christians. Before I was saved I thought that by being a good person I would get into heaven. In fact, with my superior knowledge, I would ponder, who else is getting into heaven — as if it were Harvard or Yale or some other prestigious university. My superior ability in saving myself by being a good person (speaking sarcastically now) allowed me to judge other people who weren’t saved by works, like me. I spent my whole life believing that people were saved by their good deeds — basically, I believed that God would be forced to let me go to heaven because He would be so impressed with my self-righteousness. However, as we know, self-righteousness is likened to filthy rags in the bible and God is not impressed by it (Isaiah 64:6). God knows that the only man without sin was Christ Jesus and without Him, we have no passage into eternal life (Romans 3:23). Before I was saved for real, I knew nothing of the Holy Spirit. It was not in my life. Incidentally, there would be times when I would run into someone that did have the Holy Spirit and I would instinctively know that there was something different about them. 2 Corinthians 1:22 says about the Holy Spirit, "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." When one accepts Christ into their life, by repenting of his/her sin and asking Jesus for forgiveness, Christ endows them with the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 11:19). Let me just tell you, this Spirit is much to be desired.

First and foremost, it is the tool by which God uses to save His people. It is the actual Spirit of Christ Himself and is called the Comforter (2 Corinthians 1:4). The Holy Spirit works with the innermost parts of one’s being, changing and reforming, refining, and building, ultimately creating a new person redeemed in Christ from the inside out. It is like a whisper that speaks to one’s heart, teaching a godly way in its host. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God.  It cannot be purchased or earned.  One cannot work themselves into heaven.

The reason I started this posting with a warning was to advise sincere believers that there is such a thing as a person who claims to be a Christian but is not yet saved. You see, Christians are not self-made. A person cannot attend church and automatically become a Christian. Christians are to be recognized by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit isn’t present — beware. You are dealing with a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Christ warns in Matthew 7:15, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."

You may ask, "How do I recognize the Holy Spirit?" There are a number of indicators but simply put, they will have the character of God. Granted they will make mistakes, being human, but you won’t see someone with the Holy Spirit also having a spirit of meanness, vengeance or harmfulness. I know from personal experience that every time I sin (now being indwelt by the Holy Spirit), I not only recognize it, it hurts me terribly. I don’t like to sin. When I do, I feel the need to repent and change my way because I know that God doesn’t approve of my actions.

It is impossible for someone without the Holy Spirit to please God. Likewise, it is impossible to fake it. When someone doesn’t have the Holy Spirit, they don’t act like a Christian. Sure, they may attend church, but chances are they don’t pray sincerely...they probably don’t like Christians with the Holy Spirit. If someone is not seeking God’s heart by way of the Holy Spirit, he/she will not receive His blessing on your relationship with Him. Chances are, they will not have a relationship with Christ. On the last day, He may say "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" (Matthew 7:23 NIV). Don’t fear, however, if you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you would have by now recognized that you are seriously lacking something in your "faith." You are probably feeling repentant. That’s a great thing! Once you repent and ask Christ for His presence in your life, He comes. But pretending like you’re a Christian, with your high and mighty "good works" when you don’t have the Holy Spirit is insulting to God. You are basically claiming to be without sin and better than or equal to Christ.

For all those sincere Christians, I am sorry that there are fakers out there. It’s truly disturbing. I was one of them and I can say from first-hand experience, some people just don’t know any better. It’s scary because oftentimes those that aren’t saved have a spirit of condemnation. They condemn people that don’t meet their standards of self-righteousness. In doing so, they pile condemnation on their own heads because in all respects, they commit the same gravity of sin as those they condemn.