2 Cor 13:5 (KJV) tells us: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”
How does one examine his or herself? Clearly it is of the utmost important to test ourselves and know our true status as believers before we meet with our Lord on the day that He judges us. I am sure we already know that this judgment will have eternal consequences – for the good or for the bad.
Matthew 7:22 tells us: “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?”
First let us examine a very prevalent message in the mega churches today – some call it “hypergrace”. It is a theology which tells us that grace covers everything and we are not at risk, no matter how we live. The modern message is also replete with the idea that God exists to bless us and to make our lives better. It can be a very “me” centered version of Christianity. One quick look at a modern message will tell us: “does this message emphasize me more than Christ or Christ more than me”. The message of Jesus was very much one of obedience and sacrifice as opposed to the enrichment of the believer.
Leaving that heresy, among those who determine to take Christ and religion a bit more seriously than that – we find another set of possible pitfalls. These are deceptions causing one to feel secure in their faith, when perhaps they should not be. Borrowing a bit from John MacArthur and a few others, we can categorize some sources of false assurance for the “believer”. Let’s examine them.
First, we have the “feelings” believer who seeks the higher highs of the worship experience in the form of great music, manifestations of the spirit, etc. When these are encountered the person feels assured that he or she is saved.
Then we have the “high activity” believer. This person derives assurance of salvation from frequent church attendance, good works of all sorts, Bible studies, Sunday School, etc.. Staying busy with religious things provides them with (perhaps) false assurance of their true status.
Many believers feel assured that they are saved by the number of blessings they are experiencing and in fact adhere to a theology which espouses the fact that God must provide us much financial and other blessing. The more blessed our life is, the more we are confident that we are true Christians. If something terrible happens – we must not be true Christians – so let’s be mad at God and give up.
Other people in the church take their assurance and comfort from the fact that they love to learn theology and eschatology and hermeneutic and homiletics, etc. In other words, they read and study and listen to sermons ad nauseum – which they are genuinely interested in perhaps – and this provides assurance that they are true believers for many. They study, and therefore they feel assured.
So – how many of those categories are you in? Actually, I am all of them! So, what is the answer? The answer is: THE REASON we do it!!!! What is the reason you do some of all of those things? The reason is the most important thing! What is your true motivation? It makes all the difference to God. Pray to love Him. Pray to be sure that the reason you serve God is because you love Him. Be sure the reason you serve others is because you love them, and you love God, and you are very thankful.
The scripture is full of examples and warnings for those who think they will wrestle salvation from the hand of God. It is only awarded by faith to those who humbly submit to Him in obedience and who are transformed by His love – because He first loved us. Oh – surely you will fail in your quest to obey often – but you want to obey and you want to love God.
Only God Himself can get you there. So, realize that, and love Him for it – and go as He leads you – not as you dream up in order to impress. Romans 8:29 (KJV) tells us “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Eph 1:4 (KJV) tells us: “According as he hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him”.
Fear not! If you are His, He will get you there. You may not know how you get there, but it will be Him. From your perspective – you choose Him – but in reality, He chooses you, and gets you all the way home. Watch your lane – trust and obey. Learn to love.
So DON’T PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE. Put the horse (LOVE of God) before the cart (everything else you do or say) and you will be welcomed in the heavenly kingdom when your time comes.
John 15:10 tells us: “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” Its connected!
