“I know enough about the Bible to get by.”
You say you’re saved, but you share that glorious news with almost no one, you have a testimony of a life of sin and open rebellion against the Most High, but no one has ever heard it. You read your Bible, but you share what touches your heart with none that you meet, you call those who sit in the pews with you your brothers and sisters in Christ, but you do not ask them what burdens they are carrying, what they are reading in the Scriptures at home at the moment and how it has affected their life, what it has done to modify their walk with the Lord.
You say you have been saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ and faith in Him, yet the average person you meet on the street would never be able to tell that.
“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” (Matt. 7:16)
You could tell them that you attend a church on a regular basis, but so do Romanist, Mormons, and other members of cults. You could never curse, swear, drink alcohol or other strong drinks again, but such is the life of so many “good” people. You obey the laws of the land you live in; you are generally happy, polite and kind in front of those you meet, but so are the majority of other human beings.
You are just like them and offer no proof that you are what you believe yourself to be, a child of God.
Which verse shall I offer you today? “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matt. 7:20) What fruits? Church attendance? Maybe that cross you wear around your neck? Because you own a Bible you are a servant of the Most High? “Jesus knows I love Him.” Really? Are you sure? How does He know that, by what actions to the outside world have you offered proof of this supposed salvation you say you have been blessed with?
“For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.” (Mark 9:26)
Those who serve the Risen Savior serve Him openly for all to see, those who love the Lord speak to others about the Lord, those who claim to be obedient servants serve. “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.” (Luke 8:16)
I don’t know you, so I cannot judge you, but “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” (1 Cor. 11:31)
Continuous, predetermined sin is a sure sign that someone is not saved, the one who shows no interest in Jesus Christ is not concerned with what the Lord thinks of him or his actions or deeds. Thinking about Jesus is not serving Jesus, saying you are saved does not make you saved, works performed within the confines of that building that has a cross within it somewhere does not a Christian make, nor does being polite and kind to others.
There are a lot of “once a week Christians” out there, there are a lot of people that say they believe in God, but there are fewer and fewer each day that will profess the name of Jesus Christ to the lost that they meet nearly every day, that will initiate a conversation with a stranger about their eternal soul, that prove the faith they say they have.
I am not really concerned with what excuses you have in this area, you are not accountable to me, or to anyone else for that matter. You may continue to think that the Lord will accept those excuses, be merciful to you, understanding of them and then fling open the gates of heaven and let you enter into His joy and rest. But if you are the person I just described in this short letter, I would not expect that if I were you.
You are deceiving yourself and are being deceived. Feeling like a Christian does not make one a Christian. “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” (Matt. 7:22)
