Life meets Doctrine

When you are studying what to say to your people, if you have any concern for their souls, you will oft be thinking with yourself, ‘How shall I get within them? and what shall I say, that is most likely to convince them, and convert them, and promote their salvation! ’ And should you not as diligently think with yourself, ‘How shall I live, and what shall I do, and how shall I dispose of all that I have, as may most tend to the saving o men’s souls? ’ - Richard Baxter (The Reformed Pastor)
 
It seems that the most common objections I experience to Christianity are related to a lack of any evidence of change in the lives of confessing Christians.
 
Of course, there are many false teachers and non-believers who use the title "Christian" which lead many astray, but there is a valid warning here for those who do believe.
 
Faith in Christ is not just something to be spoken, but when true faith exists it permeates the whole person and affects all aspects of life.  This is not to say that Christians will not continue to struggle with some sin, have to wrestle with inconsistencies between their beliefs and the expression of their lives, or make foolish and hypocritical statements.  We are still human in an imperfect condition, still affected by the fall.  But, true faith results in the Spirit of God working within us so that we are to have a passion for the pursuit of the ways of God.  His grace, his truth, and his love should be shining through the life of a believer in Christ, such that our greatest apologetic is the life that we express everyday within the body of the church and among unbelievers in society.
 
Confess, Repent, Believe in Christ
 
1 Peter 1:13-19