Do You Have Faith?
Are you a Christian? Are you sure? Did you know that it is possible for an unsaved person to have assurance of salvation - some unsaved people think they are saved? Jesus tells about a group of people who do a lot of 'good' things in the name of the Lord but will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).
Strong emotion about one's belief does not guarantee true belief. The presence of numerous and intense religious feelings is possible in a person's life who is not saved. The person may even believe these feelings are supernaturally given. The person may miraculously think of Scripture, or the person may even experience physical manifestations of the supernatural. However, none of these are reliable evidences of saving faith. An unbeliever can possess all of these. A person may evidence spirituality - but not all spirituality is connected to saving faith.
Disciples of other religions trust in something other than Jesus Christ for salvation. Some who believe that they are Christians are also trusting in something other than Jesus. Are you trusting in your religious affiliations (church, ministry group)? your religious work? your religious experiences? your prayer for salvation? your religious talk? your religious devotion? your religious thoughts? your passionate participation in religious observances? your consistent attendance at religious meetings? your faith? your goodness? your warm feelings for the welfare of others? your happiness? the situations in your life (lack of problems or abundance of persecutions)? To trust in any of these is to not trust in Christ.
Part of the confusion (deception) is the lack of understanding of saving faith. Saving faith is more than having correct beliefs (James 2:19). It is more than agreeing that Christianity is the true faith. To have saving faith (faith through which Christ saves) means to live for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:15). To believe in Christ is to depend completely on Him. It is to love Him more than anything else. It is to submit to His will. It is to obey Him.
Are you living for yourself? your family? your friends? your church? your community? Or are you living for Christ? Does your life mimic the society, or does it conform to God's Word? Do you insist on your 'freedom' as a Christian, or do you seek to honor God? Do you strive to fit in with the culture, or are you resolved to be salt and light in the midst of a godless world (Philippians 2:15; Matthew 5:16)? Are you absorbing the values of the culture like Lot's family, or are you an example of purity (1 Timothy 4:12)? Are you reaping riches in this world, or are you laying up rewards in heaven? Is your Christianity resting on a one-time event (a prayer for salvation, baptism, confirmation), or is it resting in Christ alone? And are you now living for Him?
Are your hobbies, interpersonal relationships, dress, music, and plans chosen to please Christ or to please yourself? Are they representative of the high standards of the holy God, or are they camouflaged with culture? If your life in these areas is indistinguishable from that of the general society, it is advertising the ways of mankind rather than advancing the Kingdom of God.
To live for Christ and to love Him is to have a deep-seated attraction to God and His ways for their own sake, to be zealous for Biblical truth, to use one's time and resources sacrificially to help other people, and to advance the things of God.
Does your life evidence true saving faith? Have you turned from your sins and from living for self? Have you been changed in your inner nature? Has God given you the following? a Christ-like spirit and Christian character? the fear of God? an all-consuming hunger for God. perseverance in serving Christ? unqualified obedience and sincere reverence to God's Word? a genuine concern for the souls of people that goes beyond thought to deed?
There is no salvation in false faith or incomplete faith.
Do you have saving faith?
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test? 2 Corinthians 13:5
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