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NOW we're treading on taboo waters AREN'T we??
You might say to be a "Christian" and be "unsaved" seem to be contradictory terms.
Yet the bible seems to indicate that there is a segment of the Christian faith who have claimed the name of Christ and yet will still be rejected by Him in the end.
The New Testament includes a large percentage of it's text distinguishing the truly saved from the charading pretenders...John taught on it, most of the epistle of Jude deals with it. Jesus taught on it extensively and it's my personal belief that the confrontations Jesus had with the religious leaders are given to us by the Holy Spirit to teach us and warn us of the same dangerous trap people are in today. Hypocrisy in the church is rampant and not preached against for fear of stepping on toes.
It's true that only God can ultimately determine which among us are saved and which aren't, and that we are not to set ourselves up as judges since we cannot see a person's heart as God does,...yet since the bible focuses most on issues that are most vital to us, it's safe to assume that we should make every attempt to validate at least our own faith and examine ourselves as God said.."to see whether you be in the faith". Once you become more keenly aware of what the signs are to look for in "making your calling and election sure" and "working out your own salvation with fear and trembling", then you naturally become aware of those signs when you see them or see them lacking in others. The motive isn't to place yourself as a judge over someone, it's to be equipped with the knowledge of God for preserving your faith and assisting others in the preservation of theirs. God wants us to have each other's backs.
I say these things to qualify my intentions for posting this list, as the knee-jerk reaction of many is to feel defensive and judged. I truly feel a passion for pulling a person out of the fire if necessary even if their ego gets bruised in the process. Heaven and hell are at stake and we're to exhort one another in love, so in that spirit here is 10 signs for concern regarding salvation.
(10).. There is no definitive point of your life you look to as being the day of your saving confession of Christ.
You profess to be a Christian because you just have always been aware of Him and maybe you were raised in the church maybe not, but all your life you have believed in God and tried to live according to His standards.
I do not have a problem with people who say they have believed in God since they were a child or as far back as they can remember,...I myself had an awareness of Him as a child.
I just think that there should be a definitive time in one's life where they make a conscious decision to serve God over serving themselves. Although you knew God was real as a child, children are not responsible for their actions until they grow to that mysterious accountability age...until then your parents and adult caretakers make decisions for you.
The bible says in Psalm 51 that we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity, therefor Jesus tells us of the need for a "rebirth". He says in fact you MUST be born again in order to see the Kingdom. So if you think you were born into the faith or have always known God,...your belief flies in the face of God's command for regeneration.
I will concede that an "affirmation" of your lifelong faith you made when you became an adult by being baptised or rededicating your life could stand for that "saved" time reference marker.
(9) You made a public commitment to Christ in church or somewhere but when you look back on it , nothing special happened to you.
You prayed a "sinner's prayer" , responded to an alter call, or in some way made a conscious decision confessing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, yet you are not 100% deep down convinced that you're going to heaven. Maybe you expected trumpets to sound and fireworks and feelings of liberty and warmth to wash over you so that from that moment you would be a completely different person full of power and the Holy Ghost.
The problem is salvation is not a transformation that occurs when we say magic words. It's more like the crossroads we come to when we acknowledge that God is what we need and we surrender to Him finally all our heart and the life we've been trying to tug away from Him. I'm not sure how far my theology extends into the realm of pre-destination at this point, if at all, but i do believe that the bible clearly shows there are some who were ordained before time to be His, and some who were also destined to be condemned. Although God indeed desires all come to know Him, at least in the sense of His foreknowledge He is aware of who those are that are "truly His" even before they know it.
So this red flag is just knowing that, just because we made a confession of faith, we don't have a lock on salvation. The scripture says "if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved"....belief of the heart is the key. In reality the heart belief precedes the mouth confession even though Romans 10:9 states it in reverse. It's not enough to believe intellectually. Real heart-felt belief spawns change and spiritual growth. Otherwise all you have is fruitless lip-service.
(8) You pray but what is prayer to you? Are you just chanting ritual mantras and holy sounding devotionals?
All prayer is is communication with God. Talking to Him. The Spirit-filled born again saint will not pray out of religious habit, but out of love for His Lord. The will of God is that we come to know Him better each day until we see Him face to face. The illustration Jesus gave of the disciples scolding children thinking they bothered Jesus then Jesus saying "suffer them to come and forbid them not" was showing us that. He wants us to become intimately acquainted in our hearts with Him....."draw near to God and He will draw near to you". If you do not find yourself talking to your Saviour every day more and more as you grow in love with Him,...chances are you do not have a saving relationship with Him at all.
(7) You attend a church but your church life is separate from your other 6 day life.
Do you repeat that ignorant phrase "i don't care to discuss politics or religion",...and tell people that your religious beliefs are personal?....that "what you believe is fine for you, i've got my own beliefs and it's between me and God"
Shame on you.
Nowhere do you find in the bible God encouraging "personal religion". The reason we are commanded to be baptised is i believe largely as an act of public confession of who you are aligning yourself with. The whole point of the Christian life and gospel message is God loves us and we're to love Him and others. Keeping your beliefs to yourself defeats the whole purpose of what a real belief in Christ even is.
(6) You are a Christian and fully embrace all that Jesus is, but you reject the institution of church.
Some hold to faith in Christ but refuse to attend a local church citing reasons of hypocrisy, money-grubbing, institutionalising of men, ect. I personally feel that the majority of people saying this are using an excuse to not got to church for no other reason than they aren't comfortable going to church period. They quote verses saying "the temple of God is not made with hands" and it's anywhere 2 or more are gathered in His name that is church.
If you are uncomfortable in church, it may be because you're uncomfortable with God.
The true Christian church is the body of Christ. There is no perfect church because there is no perfect people. If you are put off because you know people in church are loving and kind on Sunday but hypocritical the rest of the week, you have unrealistic expectations. Churches are made up of sinners and their true born again members don't attend to be in a self-righteous clique and make non-members uncomfortable, they go to gather with their Christian family and find all the things that true Christian fellowship and Godly instruction bring. I look forward to church each and every week. I dont go out of religious obligation. I go to worship God and learn, grow, receive correction, get comfort , and enjoy the presence of the Lord in the hearts of other Christians.
There was no stained glass buildings with pews and steeples in the first century. In fact the very first assembling of believers in Christ happened of all places in the Jewish synagogues. Then in homes.
(5) You say you read the Bible or have read it, but there really is no hunger for God's word.
It's my passionate opinion that what the Bible is to you, is directly connected to whether you are truly saved. If you feel one or two scans through it in your life were sufficient to get the gist and that maybe you're good getting by just hearing Bible teachers preach it and others commentate on it, after all, it was interesting up until you got to Leviticus but...., and when you opened originally to revelation you were lost and didn't get that,...so.
True Christian faith and knowledge of God's word are inseparable. The key is whether that knowledge is an intimate soul-connection with the Bible or mere head knowledge. The Bible isn't an ordinary book or written text of any kind, to say the least. It's not on the level of any other reading material the world has ever seen. It's literally a Spiritual medium. It's the divinely inspired Living word of the Living God and It's author is the Holy Spirit of God Himself speaking through men and transcending time and space to reach the hearts of every born again Christian everywhere in the world at any time in history every day of that believer's life. Jesus basically said read it, you think you're a Christian?...search the scriptures. those scriptures are what told you about Me in the first place.
(4) Does your life model Christianity in any way to the world, or are you indistinguishable from those outside of Christ?
Are the language, habits, and interests you have in your life pretty much the same as they've always been?...or is there a change that took place when you accepted Jesus. The bible says "because they have no changes, therefor they fear not God"
Do you tell people "It's whats inside that counts"..or have you been known to say "God knows my heart, judge not lest ye be judged brother". ?
According to God in the book of James true saving faith is accompanied by real discernible actions and deeds. "A tree is known by it's fruit, what kind it is" The bible says "come out from among them and be ye separate unto God" God says if you love the world or the things in it, you are His enemy. Spirit filled Christians aren't interested in fitting in here. We know we have a home waiting for us in heaven where there is no more pain or sorrow. And the very presence of God Himself lighting our lives and hearts will be all that we need for eternity. If you truly love Jesus Christ, make a stand. Sell out for Him. If you're going to do something do it all the way. If you are "luke warm" in your fervency towards Him,..He said He will spit you out.
(3) Are you more comfortable around non-Christians than around Christians?
Paul rebuked Peter for being ashamed to be seen sitting with his new-found family of believers, by the Christian contingent from Jerusalem that had arrived. If you feel like you are happy to be with Christians when you're in church or at some religious event, but at work or elsewhere you still relate better to the unsaved, there's a problem. You believe the gospel and the Bible and the Christians you know are nice people and all, but you just don't feel you have much in common with them. You don't feel you're being a Christian means you have to sit around discussing the Bible all day and talking about God. You just aren't cut out to be Ned Flanders so you keep your company with "church people" at a minimum.
It's tough to break clean from the spectrum of people who always made you feel good being around them , that's understandable. And God isn't calling us to turn our back on loved ones, friends or family once we've committed our lives to Christ. What He does want is for us to be bold in our faith and unashamed of our new life. If you've truly embraced the life of Christ there should a delight in you about your salvation and welcomed connection with other believers. Being around other believers helps us grow in our walks of faith.
The reason that your new "religious fanatic" friends have a stigma in the mind of your old friends, is lines of demarcation have been drawn. Non-Christians are not comfortable with Christians usually because of what God's conviction does to them through their consciences upon witnessing the faith of those Christians. You don't have to say a word to them and they feel judged by you. Of course its not YOU they're really uncomfy with.
It's without question difficult to jump ship because of that, for fear of losing your friends. But God promised that if anyone loses family or friends for His sake, God will restore them to you a hundredfold.
(2) Are you teachable?...do you consider yourself open to correction?..do you feel "humble" describes you in the way the bible uses the word? Or is pride still a monkey on your back and you have issues with anyone giving instruction or advice because after all, they are no better than you.
This one is a huge red-flag for me when i deal with nominal, pseudo-Christians. God speaks of us putting on a spirit of meekness. Of becoming childlike in faith and allowing His Spirit to mold us.
The defensive Christian is an immature one and unless they humble themselves as God says they will fall. "pride goes destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall". God tells us that if we refuse to receive instruction, we will be eventually cut off. He means business because a heart of pride cannot stand in the presence of God. Too many Christians sadly have not understood that their love of argumentation grieves the Spirit. The bible says "only by pride comes contention".
Mature Christians likewise have the obligation to "Exhort one another daily lest we be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." To exhort is to give loving correction or better still to "lift up"...to say "let me show you a better way". I believe Christians fail gravely in this due not only to a lack of Spiritual maturity but because exhortation sadly, isn't welcomed .
The unsaved are chippy because the pride of life is the way of the world. And the colder hearts and love grow in the world the more guarded and defensive people become. Hosea tells us "break up your fallow ground". The untilled crust of self-righteous ego needs to be broken in order for seeds of Spirit led change to take root.
(1) Maybe the clearest litmus test of all, is what does the name "Jesus" invoke with you. Is it just a religious iconic name?...or does the sound of His name make a warm feeling well within you?
Beyond any signs or fruit a person bears in their life, for me the simplest way to know if i'm dealing with another real believer is the actual confirmation of the Holy Spirit Himself in me.
I always say if God is living inside me, He obviously knows Himself inside the hearts of others, and there should be a natural connection Spiritually. I'm always suspicious when i meet someone at work or other secular setting who says they are a Christian with the enthusiasm of someone saying they have the flu. They render idenification with Jesus to being a demographic questionaire answer. It disturbs me every time because, i just feel like that discovery about each other's common salvation should be an exciting revelation!...if you were lost in a country where everyone spoke some foreign language you couldn't understand, and you desperately wanted to get information about something having searched a while, then finally finding one who spoke your language, there would be a thrill about that!...A rush of welcomed relief and pleasant feelings. How much more wonderful should it be to meet a rare fellow heaven-bound newly-discovered family member who's experianced and shares your blessed experience of grace and eternal reward?? yet so many say the words "I'm a Christian" with no feeling whatsoever behind it let alone the kind of exuberance i think there should be. That's a dead give-away to me that the person is religious and has no relationship with God 99% of the time.
I realise though that sometimes it's just maybe you've asked them about it right when they happen to be going through some difficult trial or something else on their mind is distracting them or something but you can tell after talking them some more about their faith how enthusiastic they are, gut wrenching trials or not.
Once again as with all my other pointers you just never know but these are more often than not common symptoms found in unregenerate Christians.
When i get asked it, i light up :)..I might even stand up and SHOUT IT. YES...I LOVE JESUS
Scripture speaks of Christians being joined together in love and one in the Spirit. Being knit together by His Spirit and of the "same mind"....of "one accord". The Christian experience in it's very nature is one of love. One of unity and family. We are drawn to God by the Father who created us for that need to love and be loved by Him and one another, so we come and make our confession of faith being prompted by Him in our hearts.
Some people will repeatedly use the name title "Christ" when referring to Him, and seldom say "Jesus". Others neither Christ or Jesus, but God only. Some go around making an issue over what His actual name is, citing the meanings of the various translations of the name and how it should be pronounced and so on.
Ever see an infant react to the sound of it's mother's voice?..how it responds and perks up to her?....there's that maternal connection. I believe it's like that with a Christian and His Lord. Jesus said in John 10 that the shepherd calls His sheep and they hear his voice and follow him because they know him. He said "I am the good Shepherd" I know My sheep and they know Me.
No other name evokes as much passion, controversy or feeling as His name. No name in history. There is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved it says, and i personally believe no one is indifferent to the name of Jesus Christ. His name is definitely set for a rock of offense and His name polarises people into camps of enemies and allies.
If you are either uncomfortable saying or hearing His name, or the name "Jesus" just isn't part of your normal vocabulary, i believe there's something seriously wrong with your version of Christian faith. Either way very soon every knee will bow and every tongue confess His name.
Jesus.
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