Intellectual Belief Only
The self-deceived, while claiming to follow Jesus, do not possess the marks of a true Christian. The letter of 1 John was given by the Lord as a helpful guide that one “may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Genuine believers possess sound doctrine, including an accurate understanding of the gospel (1 John 2:23). They also hate their sin and pursue righteousness (1 John 3:7-9). Furthermore, they have a special love for God’s people (1 John 3:14-16). But the only mark false Christians achieve is that, many times, they pass the doctrinal test but do not pass the all-important exam of a gospel-transformed life. They do not hate their sin, they do not truly practice righteousness, and they do not have a special love for the body of Christ.
The book of James is also helpful in diagnosing a true believer from a false one. The apostle James writes that true followers of Christ are to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22). This is a frightening thought. One can have perfect doctrine. One can intellectually believe in the biblical Jesus, believe in the gospel, believe in the broad teaching of Scripture. One can even know more doctrine than the average Christian, and yet still end up in hell forever.
That last statement I have found to be true from my own experience. Some of the worst Christians I have ever met are those who know lots of doctrine. They can tell you the ins and outs of theology. They know church history. They may even know Hebrew and Greek, and yet they are lousy at fulfilling the most basic Christian duties. The people in their lives know that these people are knowledgeable, but they don’t know that these people love them. It may be that they don’t see the powerful, biblical love from these people because these heady Christians don’t actually have a saving relationship with Christ. In other words, Christianity is no more than an intellectual endeavor. Many have sound doctrine, but lack the true work of God in their lives.
Jesus Was Not Fooled
The same problem we have today concerning intellectual belief only was also a major issue in Jesus’ day. Many appeared to believe in Him, but really did not. Early on in his ministry, as the apostle John explains, he was not fooled by those who falsely believed in Him: “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man” (John 2:23-25). So, these are people who claimed to believe in Jesus, but he tells us that He never gave Himself to them. He was not fooled by their phoniness. Later on, John details a similar episode: “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ’If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples’” (John 8:31). They professed faith in Christ, but the truthfulness of their faith would be shown through following His teaching. Jesus tells them at the final judgment the terrifying words, “I never knew you.” He describes what is characteristic of all unbelievers: “Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). Jesus was not fooled during his time on earth and will not be fooled at the final judgment.
Works of the Flesh on Full Display
Those who profess Christ but do not possess Christ lack the presence of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. Their lives are full of fleshly tendencies, even if they don’t look so bad on the outside. When you look at their lives, wicked deeds show up: “enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy” (Galatians 5:19-21). They are typically not violators of the worst things mentioned, like sorcery, drunkenness, and the grossest forms of sexual immorality. More often than not, they are not the ones who commit the most egregious sins, but their lives are devoid of the fruit of the Spirit. The genuine believers who interact with these false believers frequently run into friction because drama follows them wherever they go. I wonder if many of the problems between individuals and what local churches face are because the believers are unequally yoked with the unbelievers in their midst (2 Corinthians 6:14). The Devil uses the unbelievers to stir up strife and sow discord (Proverbs 6:16-19).
What makes true reconciliation and unity impossible is that false Christians never admit wrongdoing, even to the most obvious sins (Proverbs 9:7). To them, sin is a vague concept outside of them that they have never truly applied to their hearts as true Christians have. So, the reality of continual repentance that Scripture speaks of (1 John 1:9) is not a reality to them. Their experience of Christianity is second-hand and not a personal one. Their relationship with sin is what Adam did in the Garden, as he blamed the woman and God for the sin that he participated in (Genesis 3:12). On occasion, professing Christians can even be those who are likable, but the power of the Spirit is still lacking in their lives. At the end of the day, these deceived people confess Christ, but they do not truly love him, and this is shown in the lack of the life of the Spirit in their lives. As Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). They do not truly love him, and their works of the flesh and deadness repeatedly demonstrate this.
The Temporary Benefit of Following Jesus
Like those in John 2:23-25, there is something that Jesus gives them that makes them want to identify with him. There are lots of people who follow Jesus because there is some benefit that comes with it. In the First Century, it was popular to follow Jesus because He was a miracle worker. It was trendy to be associated with Him and claim to be His follower. So, for a time, they had no problem saying they were His followers. Even in our day, in some places, it’s the fashionable thing to do. In America’s “Bible Belt,” it has been very popular to be a Christian because the culture is Christian. But that culture is full of those who profess faith but do not truly have Christ. Many would call themselves Christian, and a majority of them have a history in the church. In Polk County, Wisconsin, the rural area where I pastor, we also have lots of cultural Christianity where most people would, at some level, identify as a Christian because the culture is largely Christian. In these environments, they see that their neighbors are Christian and that living a clean life is a better life. In this environment of benefit, professing Christians abound, but they don’t necessarily have the presence of the Holy Spirit.
The Joyful Cost of Following Jesus
In recent American history, many have seen Jesus as fire insurance. Praying a prayer to believe in Him means that you’re not going to go to hell. However, people who go down this path, flippantly believing in Jesus, are often unconverted because they don’t understand His true teaching.
Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). Jesus is communicating that there is a cost to following him. In Luke 14:25-33, Jesus compares the decision to follow Him to a man who makes sure he has enough money to build a tower, or to a king weighing whether he can win with half his army against another king and his larger army. In both illustrations, the man and the king take time before making a decision, understanding that it will change everything. Sadly, over the last seventy-five years in America, the gospel has been watered down. It’s been softened to get as many people as possible to supposedly receive Jesus. Not surprisingly, the fruit of this movement is that many no longer continue in the faith, or do so only superficially.
At some level, I grew up in this “easy believism” Christianity, which is not Scriptural. As we have seen, there is a cost to following Jesus. You are truly signing your life away for your own blessing. Those who follow him find that they don’t lose their life. On the contrary, their life is saved, as Jesus explained in Luke 9:23-24. They leave selfishness behind to live an eternally abundant life found only in Christ (John 10:10). In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23), there are four seeds and four soils described. It is the second and third seed and soil where professing false Christians are described. The second seed and soil are those that appeared to believe in Christ, but when one’s faith is tested, that person falls away from Christ.
The third seed and soil are those that profess faith in Christ, but they are so caught up in the distractions of life that they are choked out. This seed and soil very much describe many American Christians. They profess Christ, but there is really no transforming work of the Holy Spirit taking place.
But Jesus hates mediocrity. He said this to the church in Laodicea, “Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). If Jesus is consistently on the back burner of one’s life, it may be because that person is not truly born again. If what you see looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, then you have a duck on your hands. We should not expect people to behave like believers when in reality they are not.
The Lord’s Work Evident in All Believers
One who is truly born again will show at least some fruit. In the Parable of the Sower, there are different levels of how much fruit people bear. As Jesus said in Matthew 13:8, “Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” What you notice with the fourth seed and soil is that each person does bear some fruit. If a person who professes Christ does not bear fruit, we see what happens in John 15: “If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:6-8).
We must listen carefully to what Jesus said. Through the Holy Spirit, He works on His own. He is the Master of true believers, and as He works on them, they bear fruit, and as they bear fruit, they prove to be His disciples. Wherever they go, their words and actions are life-giving (Matthew 5:16).
Do Not Be Deceived
Some claim to belong to and abide with Him, but their lives show the absence of God-honoring fruit. Their life is not one of blessing to others, but is marked by a self-serving spirit that will be shown on that future Day (Matthew 25:41-46). The future for these people is dark and tragic as they are on their way to hearing from the Lord Jesus the sober and terrifying words, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23). It is the wise that are willing to examine themselves to truly follow Christ knowing they have not deceived themselves (2 Corinthians 13:5). As they examine, they see that Jesus is a wonderful Savior and what a gracious gift His salvation is. The wise then spend the rest of their lives putting to death sin with the Spirit’s help (Romans 8:13), so that it will one day forever be in their past.
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