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Thank you for your clarification regarding Christian views regarding actions and how they serve as an expression of one’s beliefs.

I have a question for you that has always puzzled me, and I wonder if you could shed some light on it.

There are two people:

Person A calls himself a Christian and proudly displays his Christianity before the world. However, he does not wholeheartedly follow through on the actions that would display a consistently Christian belief. Instead, he merely talks about Christianity and goes through the socially acceptable religious rites. He commits what Christians would call sins on occasion and always repents in words, though his chances of committing further sins are not diminished by this.

Person B is an atheist but one with a firm moral code which coincides with Christian morality on most issues. Indeed, in his outward behaviors, he is virtually indistinguishable from a good Christian. The sins he commits are few, rare, minor, and sincerely regretted so as to reduce their likelihood in the future. He never talks about his ideas on morality with anybody but merely attempts to act according to his best moral judgment. But he does not believe in any God and considers Jesus to have simply been an influential human being with many good things to say.

Where actions are concerned, Person B is thus in far greater accord with Christian values than Person A.

But, from your best judgment as a Christian (if your beliefs can possibly allow to make a prediction on this matter), which of these two people would achieve greater favor in the eyes of God?

Nice question Stolyarov.

The answer depends on something that man cannot know with certainty, and that thing is the 'heart' of the man who calls himself a 'Christian'. Salvation/Rightness before God in Christian belief can ONLY come from faith in Jesus Christ.

This faith is not simply a statement of acceptance of Christ as Saviour, but also an acceptance of him as Lord. In essence it is a turning away from sin (rebellion against God and His ways), and a turning back to our Father who created us and knows us.

This can be seen refleced in such scriptural passages as "Believe in the Lord Jesus (note the use of 'Lord' before Jesus) and you will be saved" (Acts 16:3).

Becoming Christian is not simply accepting his salvation, but also involves subsequent change in life (not through your own action, but through the work of the Holy Spirit upon you). In 2 Timothy 2:19 we are told that everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from sin.

We cannot know the struggles that the 'Christian' in your comparison is going through, or whether there is slow difficult change being enacted in his thinking which will eventually play out in his action. In some ways, becoming Christian can be seen as a 2 step process (though in actuality they are both expressions of a single change).

The 1st 'step' is acceptance of Christ as Lord and Savior. The second step is allowing the Holy Spirit to work upon you to purify and change you. This latter is often called 'sanctification' and is what is meant by Protestants when they refer to 'Saints'.

The answer is that the athiest would have no opportunity for salvation, since his actions (however laudable) can never be enough to satisfy the standard of perfection that God embodies. Even if he had a desire in his heart to know Christ, he never softened his pride enough to accept Christ as Lord. Even in his noblest actions, he sadly falls short of God's glory, and in the final analysis is still in rebellion against God. Instead of accepting God, he is trying to 'become' God/perfection.

The Christian in question has possibilty of salvation, through God's fair judgement upon him. God does not judge by outward appearances, but by looking at his heart (Galatians 2:6, 1 Samuel 16:7).

The Parable of the Sower in Mark 4/Matthew 13/Luke 8 also has bearing in this. Please read it over and tell me your thoughts. My constant prayer is that I and my household run the race to the end, and be fruitful and glorify God.