The word testimony simply means “witness” and all of us have a testimony. We show daily, evidence in our life of how we were raised, what we like or dislike, what direction we are headed in life and what master we are serving!  It sounds so simple, but so many are deceived into believing that you can live like the devil and still  be granted entrance into Heaven.  They say because God is the only one who really knows their heart and others don’t, but the Bible tells it another way. . . “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” Luke 6:45 

Your testimony tells people who you really are.  It tells what's really in your heart.  You will either have a good heart which produces good or an evil heart which produces evil.  Now, some pastors may tell you that you can't know if someone is saved or not.  They don't want you to be able to discern whether or not someone has a Christ-like testimony or is really a goat posing as a sheep.  They are making a gray area out of the Christian life.  The Bible says,  "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."  Matt 5:14-16

Some try to explain away a lack of spiritual growth in a person's life by saying it may take 3, 5, 10 or even 20 years for that to take place.  Granted that everyone does grow at different rates as the Lord gives light, but it should not take 3 years before you can tell if someone was born again (especially if you're around them for very long!)

Some pastors teach that as long as a person has said “a prayer” they are sealed and can never lose their salvation. This type of theology is creating a group of people that call upon the Lord claiming the promises of God, all the while, not bearing any fruits of the Spirit.  They have no victory over sin, nor do they bear evidence that they are a child of God.  This fruitless profession will not get you into Heaven.  “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Mat 7:21

When someone has come to the point of true godly sorrow and repented of their sins and asked Christ to come into their life, they will not have any problem showing forth evidence of the Holy Spirit in their life. “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt 11:30 They will want to be that testimony, that witness to others, that Christ brings love, joy, peace, and faith. They will be obedient to Christ. They will be an example and be Christ-like in their daily walk. The world needs to have living testimonies before their eyes, Christians, who will live holy, separated, and who have conformed to God's Word in their faith and practice.

This testimony of being Christ-like is not just a nice thing to do, if we have time. . . if it’s Sunday. . . if it’s convenient or if we are going with the preacher on visitation.  No, dear reader it will be something that we will do continually in our daily walk, out of love and obedience to our Saviour. Anyone who claims Christ as Lord of their life will be a witness that they are attached to the True Vine. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5  So many are being taught today, that if they will just believe in the record of God’s son, they will go to heaven when they die. What's that verse, "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Jam 2:20  The devil believes.  He has been trying to destroy the record of Jesus Christ for over 6,000 years. The devil shows his testimony, by his works, continually, that he is the enemy of God.

Don’t be deceived into believing that your testimony can be anything other than Christ-like. “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” John 15:2  It is our duty to bring forth much fruit, to walk in the light as He is in the Light, while we are yet in this body of flesh. We are not to walk after the flesh, but after the spirit; to be a witness in all that we say and do. If a lost person was looking for a substance of some kind, to change their life, would the evidence in your life, bear the testimony that Christ lives in you?

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal 2:20

The Christian testimony was not just for the disciples or for the Saints that are in Heaven. It is for the Saints who are alive, who are walking in the Light as He is in the Light, so others can see Jesus Christ shining forth from us. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1Jo 1:7  This is the true Christian testimony and is a requirement for those  who have become a new creature and are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, so "that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;"Phil 2:15  Wouldn’t it be great for the cause of Christ to see Christians who pattern their life after Christ and the Apostle Paul or even Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost?  We need to be able to do more than just regurgitate a few things the pastor has said, we need to know God’s Word. We need to live as a new creature to the fullest; to be consumed 100% by God, for God, in all that we do.  We, as Christians, need to be prepared and with the help and leading of the Holy Spirit, to endure as Stephen did as he was being stoned to death for his testimony.

But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep Acts 7: 55-60

It all comes down to YOUR testimony, not your preacher’s, not your mother or your father’s, but YOUR'S and YOUR'S alone.  "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? " Rom 6:16   Dear reader are you drawing near with a true heart in full assurance of faith to Christ as your Saviour from SIN?..... Does your life show evidence that the Holy Spirit has guided you into all TRUTH?.....Are you holding fast the profession of your faith without wavering?..... Is your testimony that others see, proof that your body is a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God?..... Or does your testimony show that you are still in love with the world and the things of the world?  Who is your master?.....  Whom do you obey?.....   Only Christ can set you free and help you overcome this world.  Your testimony will either bear that of Christ or the world......