LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

Submitted to Dr. William B. Higley

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the completion of

DSMN 520-B03

BLOG
Real Christian: Bearing the Marks of Authentic Faith

Submitted by

Laurie Pelosi

October 18, 2017

 Real Christian: Bearing the Marks of Authentic Faith by Todd Wilson is very insightful

as the author discusses the character of the standard and substance of authenticity. [1] Wilson

carefully builds theories as he defines what it means to be biblically Christian. What the author

does is allow everyone to take own their own self inventory and reflect on their own Christian

walk.

He begins by addressing his Christian outlook when he was just a youth in high school in

1992, and he found the Good News by illustrating the chapter and verse by sharing with us one

of Pauls letters, Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. (2 Cor: 5:17 NIV) the

author understood that at this point he knew he was real and authentic.

The author is correct when he writes that the world of today has skepticism, deceit

and with the postmodernist, views of truth are changing the image of a true Christian... When he

writes about the Christian image he tells us that we are own worst enemy as how we tend to

place our issues on another thing, never sin. Wilson further adds that being real is something that

can be seen. real Christens are radically changed and have new desires and the real Christian

will bear these marks and will be visible for all to notice. [2]

The author has a great reverence for Jonathan Edward's book Religious

Affections which he cites frequently to show what the true signs for Christians is authentic

faith, which provides the church with a modern day look at the marks of authentic

faith. Christians without chests is a highlight of this book as the author address the heart of the

__________________________
1 Todd Wilson, Real Christian, Zondervan, 2014n.d. pg.86
2 I. Bid., pg. 10
1.
person and the foundation of our character, Wilson writes, we need to become real, we need to

have a transformed heart from humility to hunger. [3] Real Christian are those who seek the

Lord, the Bible invites us to give thanks to the Lord. Wilson begins by illustrating that, there are

only two types of people in this world the once born who are not real, but the twice born are real,

as we see as he references Nicodemus questioning his new birth in John 3:4 NIV.

Wilson illustrates six marks of authentic Christianity which he lists as humility,

meekness, contrition, wholeness, hunger, and perfected love." [4] These six marks provide us

with the standard and substance of authentic faith. On the one hand, they provide a biblical

standard for whether we are real; on the other hand, they unload the true substance of what

mature faith looks like. [5] The author discusses what it feels like to honor your faith in the Lord

because of ones own vanity it can be distorted. Humility he explains can be hard, our human

nature can get in the way and our pride sometimes allows us to convince ourselves that we are

something that we are not. He states "our depraved heart is a flattery factory, which mass-

produces agreeable thoughts about ourselves at a furious pace. [6] We can easily lose sight of

who we are and convince ourselves we're someone more attractive or cleverer or kinder than the

evidence in our lives supports. [7] Humility is allowing yourself to love others of those who are

different then you so ultimately Wilson is biblically stating that we are all equal in Gods eyes.

One of the marks discussed is contrition and this facet is one that should be unique to

Christians. The Christian response is to be contrite we should experience both joy and sorrow at

the same time. In other words, we should acknowledge our pride and remain humble before God.

___________________
3. I.bid,98
4. I.bid;114
5. I. Bid, pg.120
6. I. Bid., Pg. 122
7 I. Bid., Pg. 80 2.
 We certainly need to be reminded that we fall short and we are sinners and need to humble

ourselves and free ourselves from pride and be contrite. We must have the appropriate response

to our sin, but we must admit this to ourselves first. The author continues to magnify how

serious of an issue this is, we live in a society that does not use the word sin we live in a

world where the world defines sin as bad but in more modern terms we may say something is

politically incorrect, or chose the word corruption, but sinful corruption is certainly still within

us. As a reminder he tells us that evil is all too willing to show us deceit, basically the author is

writing that we have to say we are sinners, but we should not take the forgiveness of God for

granted. We need to grieve over our own sin as an act of repentance. Wilson notes an important

sign of contrition is when we look to Jesus for salvation we should view this as facing our own

sin in Gods mercy. A contrite heart wants salvation from sin such as, deliverance, purging and

cleansing. [8] We dont want this just because Jesus is our savior, but because we can never

outgrow Jesus there is truth in the change of heart and He provides the joy of seeing truth.

Another mark described by the author is that of wholeness, the Full Image of Christ

should show that real Christian are Christlike; theyre whole, balanced people. [9] He continues

to show us that we should stand out in a crowd and not wished to be viewed like a non-

Christians, as the author writes, There are non-Christians, who are spiritually off-balance and

morally lopsided you just have to look at their lives, but real Christians are morally and

spiritually proportional. [10] Because when youre real, youve received not half of Christ but the

whole Christ. [11] When we see Christ we see him as a beautiful symmetry.

__________________
8. I. Bid, pg.104
9. Ibid 110
10. Ibid. 115
11. Ibid. 116
3.
 Another mark is that of Hunger: A Torrent of Spiritual Desire Hunger shapes the lives

of real Christians and is ultimately reflected in ones spiritual vibrancy. [12] Here, Wilson shares

the difference between real hunger and fake hunger, he tells about David and Bathsheba and

his hunger for contrition. The real danger lies in those who only seek out this hunger when there

is a problem in their lives. The problem is that God is being downplayed, the role of hunger is

real and vital and is noticeable. Our relationship with God can never stop because He alone is

the one who can transform ones heart and keep it alive with his grace. The author looks at the

sixth mark which is, Perfect Love, Mark of Marks, this mark has traits of a real Christin,

because it is the most reliable way to know if you are real. Wilson writes, Gods love is so

fierce he will allow severe things to Happen to us so that we can taste the sweetness of his

grace. [13] This form of humility exemplifies the surest evidence of authentic faith. This mark is

the quintessential of all marks for we all need to show a real deep hunger for this mark shapes

ourselves as a Christian and we understand how God works in our lives.

These marks provide a great dose of reality to the true seeking Christian. This is a great

little book that should be shared with Church groups, pastors and leaders. We all are aware of

these types that infiltrate the Church. However, the main criteria the author is expressing is we

must do our own self-inventory before diagnosing others. The moral is we either embrace Jesus

or we dont. Being fake will not create us in the image of Christlikeness and being fake we will

never be viewed like new creatures. Becoming radically different from inside out will reap

benefits of joy that others can see.

_____________________
11 I. Bid., pg. 129
12 I. Bid., pg. 131
13 I. Bid., pg.145

Bibliography

[1] Todd Wilson, Real Christian, Zondervan, 2014n.d. pg.86

[2] I. Bid. pg.80

[3] I. Bid., pg. 85

[4] I. Bid;114

[5] I. Bid, pg.120

[6] I. Bid., Pg. 122

[7] I. Bid., Pg. 80

[8] I. Bid, pg.104

[9] I. Bid, pg. 110

[10] I. Bid., Pg. 115

[11] I. Bid 116

[12] I. Bid., Pg. 129

[13] I. Bid, pg 131