Are you a Christian? Sometimes people are confused about this. Maybe we grew up in a Christian community and culture, and Christianity is just our default identification. Or maybe we walked an aisle at some point in our life and prayed a prayer and got dunked in the water. But that seems so long ago and so far away.

Apostle John gives us a solid way to know if we are a Christian or not. The Holy Spirit says through him in 1 John 2:3–6, “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

So, there you have it. How do you know if you are a Christian? You know you are a Christian if you obey God’s commandments. Now just to be clear, obeying God’s commandments doesn’t make you a Christian. People are made Christians by grace alone when the put their faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. But obeying God’s commandments is the result of being a Christian or the fruit of being a Christian.

How do I tell the difference between an apple tree and a peach tree? I look at the fruit they produce, and that fruit tells me beyond a shadow of a doubt what the nature of that tree is.

And so, obeying God’s commandments is the fruit on the limbs of a Christian’s life. So, are you Christian? Is your life one that consistently bears Christian fruit? If not, you need to check your heart and turn to Jesus Christ.

Change begins in you!