Are You Always in All Ways a Christian?

Always.

It’s such a small word loaded with longevity. 

Always.

The idea is never ceasing. At all times. On all occasions. 

Always.

Just the word makes me tired, let alone doing anything for “always.” 

Yet I’ve been struck by how often Scripture talks about how Christians are to be always in all our ways a Christian.

Duplicity + Hypocrisy

To be a Christian in some moments but not others is called duplicity. Or you could use the word hypocrisy. 

In either case, the idea is that what you say and how you live is incongruent. How you talk and live Sunday morning at church is different than how you live and talk with your friends Friday night.

You become a chameleon who changes colors—or in this case, lifestyle—based on circumstance, people, or environment.

Biblically, there is no place in the Christian life for duplicity or hypocrisy. We are to be always a Christian … everywhere, with all people, regardless of circumstance.

God is an “Always” God

We are called out of duplicity and hypocrisy because our God is always the same. 

We are His reflectors, His vessels, His mouthpieces and people in this world—and our lives are supposed to showcase Him. We do not lie because He is Truth itself and in Him there is no lie. We do not commit adultery because He is faithful and never will. We are called to not murder or even hate because God is love. Our lives should reflect the heart and character of God. 

It is an amazing thought that God never changes. He is always the same. Look at these passages:

• Numbers 23:19 – God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
• Psalm 102:27 – You are the same …
• Malachi 3:6 – For I am the LORD, I do not change …
• James 1:17 – [God], with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
• Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
• See also: Psalm 33:11, 90:2, 102:25-27, 119:89-90; Isaiah 40:8, 40:28, 44:6; Jeremiah 10:10; 2 Timothy 2:13; Hebrews 6:13-19, 7:24; James 1:17; Revelation 22:13

Even God’s Name—the unspeakable Name God gave Moses while talking to him in the bush (Jehovah, Yahweh, YHWH – which is “I AM that I AM”)—bespeaks of God’s unchanging nature.  This NAME was considered to signify God as Eternal and Immutable, who will never be other than the same (The God who IS, who WAS, and who will always BE the same).

Always a Christian

And God calls us to be “always a Christian.”

There is an interesting tension in this idea, for as Christians we are continually being sanctified by God—He is ever-changing us to look more like Jesus. It is a constant journey of allowing the Holy Spirit to refine, purify, and make holy every area of my life. As such, I am always changing.

And yet there is to be no hypocrisy or duplicity in my life. There is supposed to be a constancy in my life that always focuses upon and points to Jesus Christ.

My lifestyle as a Christian shouldn’t change day-to-day, instead I am to be a Christian always in all my ways.

Always in all ways a Christian

This concept is all over the Bible. Here is a collection of scriptures that call believers to be always and in all ways a Christian in how we live:

• We set the LORD always before us: and because He is at our right hand, we shall not be moved (Psalm 16:8).
• We ought always to pray (Luke 18:1), and without ceasing make mention of others always in our prayers (Romans 1:9).
• We thank our God always (1 Corinthians 1:4), always abounding in the work of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58), for He always causes us to triumph in Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14).
• We are always bearing about in our bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body (2 Corinthians 4:10).
• We are always confident (2 Corinthians 5:6), and due to His abounding grace, we always have all sufficiency in all things in order to abound to every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8).
• We are giving thanks always for all things (Ephesians 5:20), and always making our requests with joy (Philippians 1:4).
• And we are always magnifying Christ in our bodies, whether it be by life, or by death (Philippians 1:20). 
• We are always obeying (Philippians 2:12).
• We are rejoicing in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4), praying always (Colossians 1:3), and our speech is always with grace, seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6).
• We are always laboring fervently for others in prayer (Colossians 4:12) and giving thanks to God always for others (1 Thessalonians 1:2). 
• We always follow that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:15) and we rejoice always (1 Thessalonians 5:16).
• We are bound to thank God always for our brothers and sisters in Christ and we pray always (2 Thessalonians 1:3,11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13), making mention of others always in our prayers (Philemon 1:4).

What if that was our heart’s desire: always in all ways a Christian.

Is that true in your life?

Are you an “always Christian”? Or are there secret shadow areas that you hide?

Would you be willing to humbly come to the foot of the Cross and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal any and everything in your life that needs to be transformed and changed? Would you allow Him to purify, sanctify, strip down, heal, restore, and transform your life afresh?

As believers let us rise up and always be Christians.

Want to take the idea deeper?

Listen to this message called “Always in All Ways a Christian” taken from Philippians 4.