Today, many people believe that God is loving and nothing more. It is believed that God will only send the worse type of people (the Hitler’s) to hell, and the rest will certainly be forgiven for whatever small things they do wrong. However, many people have a false assurance of their own salvation, and wrong conception about the nature of God, and how He will judge the world in the last day.
Because of the nature of this misunderstanding many will be mistaken about their standing before God, and consequently, they will be horrified to find out on the day of judgment that they will be rejected and forsaken forever by Him. The New Testament writers and apostles were responsible to avoid misunderstanding with regards to this vital truth. Jesus Himself during the great Sermon on the Mount said in Matthew 7:23, “On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’, which He then followed with the eleven most surprising words in all the Bible, “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
The reason these eleven words are the most surprising in the Bible is because men presume upon their eternal state, they are deceived or deceive themselves into believing they have received Christ, but all the while reject Him. Such men in the last day will be horrified when they are forced to accept the reality that they were never saved at all, but merely pretended to be a Christian for all the wrong reasons.
Jesus never taught that saving faith did not have to produce fruit, the very nature of true saving faith is that it repents of the sin of rebellion toward God and turns the sinner into an obedient saint. We see this truth illustrated in Jesus story about two men; one built his house on a rock the other on the sand. The man who built his house on the rock, in Jesus words, is the man who hears the words of Jesus and does them, which is the natural fruit of saving faith.
The apostle James taught us that faith without works is dead being by itself alone. He then asked the question, can such a faith save you, and the implication is no. Why? Because saving faith always produces obedience to God.
Peter tells us, in chapter 1 of his first letter, that “by God’s mercy he gave us a new birth… an inheritance imperishable… who by God’s power are protected through faith.” Such a faith that is produced by the power of God stands any test, as the apostle says, “…although you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials. Such trials show the proven character of your faith.” True faith always endures!
The apostle John, otherwise known as the apostle of love, does not mince words when talking about the validity of faith and salvation, “If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.” 1 John 1:6, which is consistent with the whole of his letter.
The apostle Paul told the Corinthians “Test yourself to see whether or not you are in the faith.”
If you question your salvation ask yourself these simple questions, which Jesus do I believe in? Is it the Jesus who declared Himself to be the Lord and God of the created universe? Is it the Jesus who demands complete say over my life, where I go, what I do, who I marry, what I think, and every other part?
Any other Jesus does not save. Any other Jesus than the biblical Jesus is a deception and a fraud!
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