You can have a past spiritual event.

You can live a moral, ethical life.

You can know the gospel in your mind.

You can even believe that it's true.

You can be dutiful in your religious ceremonies.

You can go to church, get baptized, take communion,

and you can even render service to Christ preaching, teaching, if need be,

and still not be a true Christian.

Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson.

You live by the Golden Rule. You have an excellent work ethic. You're committed to

raising your kids to respect God and the law and others, and you're available to serve in your church

and your community. That sounds like the kind of lifestyle that people would applaud. How could you not

respect that way of living? Well, you know, there are people

who are leading what appear to be exemplary lifestyles, and they have confidence that they're going to

heaven, but sadly, they're actually on the road to nowhere. To see if that describes you,

stay here as John MacArthur continues a study designed to help you understand what makes a person a Christian and what doesn't.

So now join John in Philippians chapter 3 as he begins today's lesson.

I want to give to you some characteristics that do not verify your salvation.

All right?

Some characteristics that do not verify the reality of your salvation.

You can't look at these.

These are not appropriate tests, and I think you will be surprised.

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