If you are a Christian then you need to be able to prove that fact to the world, not you should be able to, for that would allow the escape hatch of traditions and obligations to be opened, you would be able to say, “I go to church,” or “I read the Bible.” These do not make a Christian, they can indeed be shown, when done for the glory of God, a work of the Spirit of God, if church attendance is for worship and not small talk of the provisions or upcoming week that either you or the world has experienced, although to a small degree they cannot of course be avoided, nor does simply reading the Word of God ensure your salvation, or attain any favor in the eyes of the Lord unless you approach it each time in thanksgiving and reverence, having a zeal to read in such a manner that you will be blessed with the ability to apply what the Scriptures teach.
Both of these actions, if not done for the appropriate intent, are no more going to draw you closer to the Lord than any other earthly exercise. If you are sure of your salvation, than you are at work for the Lord, every day, in all that you do, and the proof of that is those in the world who can see your good works, and they give God the glory. (Matt. 5:16) Our responsibility as servants of the Most High is to proclaim His name to the heathens, the ones this overly enabled and fearful to speak the truth in love generation likes to call the lost. You meet some of them in church, they are excellent pretenders, their lips speak the appropriate words, but their hearts are far from Him. But the place that you meet most of them is out there in the world, scurrying around looking for the next new thing, jostling for position on the ladder, and if you have not or do not speak to them of the Savior, then you are not proving to them the fact of your supposed salvation.
The right haircut, the proper clothes, adhering to the values of the nation and general geographical location on this planet that you live in make a good person, but they do not show a true faith in Christ. Ghandi was a great person, but unless something happened in the final moments of his life, he is not in heaven, Mother Teresa did wonderful works, but unless she renounced the only way to heaven that the Roman Catholic Institution preaches, that there is no salvation outside of the Roman Catholic Church, then she now lives in hell.
Our works have no value to the Lord, they are all as filthy rags, (Isaiah 64:6) anything that we attempt to do that does not include Christ is a complete waste of time. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” (Prov. 11:30) If no souls are coming to the cross because of your lack of obedience to the Holy Spirit, then your salvation is in question, the Lord said “some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” (Matt. 13:8) He did not say some zero.
In this particular time of great deceit, many have believed that the proof of their salvation is nothing more than kind words, polite speech, adhering to the societal views of their peers, and just in general never reproving or correcting, in other words, there are a lot of good people out there that believe they are saved, but they are far from the kingdom. Many of those sitting in the pews of this world every Sunday morning are not your brothers and sisters in Christ, they are pretenders, and the only person they are deceiving are themselves.
Ask them the most simplest of questions, set your embarrassment to the side, ask them who they witnessed to this past week, how many individuals did they invite to the cross, how many heard from their lips, “You must be born-again.” The majority of these individuals will not seek out your companionship again, at least not for a lengthy portion of time, for they have not done so, not last week or even last year. Their so-called faith in Christ rests only upon their obligations, upon sinking sand, they will become defensive, even verbally combative, and you will be seen by them as judgmental, but you will be blessed, for your desire is not to ferret out the unbelievers who fill your congregation, but to bring one who is lost to the Lord, the same as you should be doing each and every day in the world outside of the church walls.
Our heart needs to be toward these individuals as much as it is toward the heathen of this world, for their end is the same, hopelessness and eternal separation from the Lord. They should be as much, if not more, of a burden upon your heart, for those in the world who care not at all for the things of Christ will see in these pretenders what they believe the church of the Most High to be like, and we must not only correct their mistaken ideas of what a true born believer is, but lead them then to the truth.
The one in the congregation who has no proof of their salvation, who cannot say in confidence and back up the words of Matthew 7:20, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them,” is to be pitied, but he is not to be left to his own accord, not as long as he continues to darken the doors of the congregation. Let them call you contentious, let them see you as judgmental, as too adamant, it is the Lord’s view you are concerned with, and by doing these works of the Holy Spirit by His power, in love, you have proven your salvation.
