https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=I+john+1%3A5-7&version=NET (I John 1:5-7); https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=I+john+2%3A3-6&version=NET (2:3-6); https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=I+john+3%3A7-10&version=NET (3:7-10) Recently I was having a conversation with someone about a professional baseball player, and my friend said to me, I really like that guy. He’s a real Christian. It made me wonder what he meant by that statement. How would you describe what real Christians look like? What is the mark of a real Christian? Someone might say it is someone who is nice, doesn’t swear, and goes to church a lot. Someone else might quote Jesus and say a Christian is known by how they love one another – “By this people know you’re my disciples” (John 13:35). Another may say a Christian is a person who has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and asked Him into their heart. I believe this is an important question for us because according to surveys three out of four Americans describe themselves as Christians. So how do you know if someone really is a Christian? Maybe you even wonder if you are one. After the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, early Christians struggled with questions like that. They questioned their own faith as well as the faith and teachings of some preachers whom the apostle Paul called liars – people dangerous to the faith. The apostle John, one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples sets out to answer this question in today’s text. What are the signs of a real Christian? John describes three litmus tests, so to speak, that tell us if a person is a Christian. 1. The doctrinal test. What do they believe? 2. The ethical test. How do they live? 3. The relational test. Whom do they love? In today’s passage, John is describing the second test. How do real Christ followers live? First, John says, a real Christian is someone who walks in the light. John starts by saying the message from Jesus is that God is light and in Him is no darkness (evil). What does this mean? Light refers to God’s holiness, His goodness, His perfect conduct and character. He is describing the ethical, moral conduct and character of the Almighty. Therefore God’s children – those who trust Jesus – are to walk as children of light. They are to act with holiness and goodness, walking in God’s light, not in the darkness of evil. They are to put aside all sin. John tells us of the benefits of walking in the light: we have fellowship with one another and forgiveness. It makes sense, for obstacles are removed and we enjoy fellowship with other light walkers as we obediently and sacrificially love one another as Jesus commanded us to do. We no longer trip over one another but enjoy and serve one another in holy fellowship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We also have access to forgiveness when we sin against God and one another. We will never be perfect, but as we walk in the light of God, we also walk in the light of the gospel of forgiveness. We have a Savior who has gone to the cross to pay for our sins and cleanse us in God’s sight. His blood payment for sin provides a never-ending stream of grace, cleansing, and forgiveness for those children of light. The second thing John points out to us is, real Christians not only walk in the light, but they also walk as Jesus did – obediently. John writes, “Whoever says ‘I know him’ (Jesus) but does not obey his commandments is a liar . . .” That’s strong language. “By this we may know that we are in him,” John says, “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which Jesus walked.” So if someone says they are a Christian, John is saying here, their faith will be evident in their life. Are they walking the talk? Are they living obediently to God’s commands, walking as Jesus walked? Unfortunately, many contemporary Christians are not making that kind of connection in...