The Duck Test
STATEMENT
“If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.” This “Duck Test" is considered an axiomatic litmus test for verification of just about every assertion. What about a Christian profession of faith? Some lean on the Duck Test so heavily that the whole Christian walk becomes one life-long enterprise to prove you are a Christian. Others, go to the other extreme and deny there is any Duck Test for a Christian insisting that their profession of faith does not necessarily produce any actual change, transformation in character, modification in their way of life, etc. The legal status before God, which is apprehended by faith alone, is all that matters. You don't have to look, swim, and quack like a duck to be one - just believe - and those around you can and should be content with believing that you are a Christian. Your looks, your walk, and the sounds you produce have nothing to do with your legal status as a Christian. OK, agreed. The raises the question: does God produce only "Legal Ducks" or does He produce creatures with the "beginning of a new, duck-like obedience"? (Anonymous)
RESPONSE
Let’s take a closer look.
“If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.” This “Duck Test" is considered an axiomatic litmus test for verification of just about every assertion.
The “duck test” is frequently employed in our lives as a means of making determinations based on available evidence. That said, it is most certainly not a fool-proof or axiomatic litmus test for truth – far from it. Evidence is OFTEN either misleading or incorrectly interpreted. This problem arises from the logically fallacies that are often introduced in the process of acquiring or interpreting the evidence - the trouble of incomplete data, causation/correlation, and others come to mind. Simply put – the duck test may be a practical means of navigating many things in life, given that common evidences may support some conclusion. However, this does NOT establish that one’s opinion of the evidence ESTABLISHES the truth beyond all doubt. That is an incredibly important and applicable observation.
What about a Christian profession of faith? Some lean on the Duck Test so heavily that the whole Christian walk becomes one life-long enterprise to prove you are a Christian.
Those who lean on the Duck Test fail to recognize the underlying fundamental, namely that “duck-hood” is not determined by behavior but by genetics. Those who proceed upon the flawed premise that a duck must have a flat bill, webbed feet, and feathers run into insurmountable problems when they believe it murder to allow people to use the morning after pill.
Others, go to the other extreme and deny there is any Duck Test for a Christian insisting that their profession of faith does not necessarily produce any actual change, transformation in character, modification in their way of life, etc.
I understand the intent of this question, but it seems to deny that believing is an actual change. It most certainly is. It is an evidence of things not seen. An act that is not possible for one to produce in sincerity prior to regeneration. (Ephesians 2:8-9, II Thessalonians 3:2)
The legal status before God, which is apprehended by faith alone, is all that matters. You don't have to look, swim, and quack like a duck to be one - just believe - and those around you can and should be content with believing that you are a Christian. Your looks, your walk, and the sounds you produce have nothing to do with your legal status as a Christian. OK, agreed.
That is correct. Our personal behavior plays no participatory role in how a man is justified before the throne of divine justice. In fact, this is fundamental of the Christian doctrine of salvation by sovereign grace.
This raises the question: does God produce only "Legal Ducks" or does He produce creatures with the "beginning of a new, duck-like obedience"?
I believe the bible teaches that God most certainly produces “legal ducks” – indeed this is the most fundamental aspect of our eternal salvation – justification before the bar of divine judgment (Romans 8:33) This is done by God alone, monergistically, trough the work of dual imputation (II Corinthians 5:21) and not by works of righteousness which we have done. (Titus 3:5) Regarding the evidentiary fruits that follow from regeneration, the bible is clear that they are greatly varied from saint to saint in this lifetime. They range from great and readily evident before men (Acts 10:1-2) to a harvest of such small measure that it takes the perceptive powers of God alone to see the produce (I Kings 14:13).
It seems needful to direct this inquiry in a more practical direction. If someone has a Christian profession of faith and they show absolutely NO FRUIT in their lives from our vantage point (i.e., they seem to be living openly wicked, sinful lives) how should we respond? Should we train our efforts toward ascertaining their state of grace? Time would not permit us to examine the number of saints in the bible who exhibited great and wanton sin in their lives but who were blood-bought children of God nonetheless. I submit that all such “judgment” with respect to one’s eternal state is precisely the sort of judgment that Christ suggested we are to avoid (Matthew 7:1-2). Indeed, “the Lord knoweth them that are his.” (II Timothy 2:19b) Rather we should come alongside someone like this in love and attempt to correct them (James 5:19-20). This can ultimately lead to their being excluded from the church, but there is a loving, patient, disciplinary path to pursue (Matthew 18:15-17). This requires spiritual judgment regarding proper Christian conduct, not judgmentalism regarding another’s right standing before God. I suspect that if there was as much loving correction of wayward professing Christians as there is speculation regarding one’s state of grace, the body of Christ would profit enormously.
- Elder Daniel Samons