Drollinger: Take the Biblical Test of True Faith
You are not married to your spouse until you say “I do” to each other.
Neither being in love emotionally nor agreeing intellectually that the one you love is a good match for you makes you married. Emotion and intellect play a part in marriage, for sure, but it is the act of volition, or will, that establishes marriage.
So it is with Jesus Christ.
The parallel to human matrimony is a wonderful metaphor for being united with Christ. The analogy also aids in the understanding of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 7:21-23:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.’”
A popular, faulty theology of “salvation” is known as “easy believism.” There is a “belief” in Jesus without the consideration of the biblical definition of who He is. Followers thus “receive” Jesus according to their understanding of who they think Jesus is — in contrast to what the Bible reveals about Him.
Romans 10:9 states, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
“Believe in your heart” (pisteuo kardia) is the Greek idea of a volitional commitment — a commitment that Jesus said was not present in those He was speaking about in the Matthew 7 passage. The “Lord, Lord” quote refers to the tragic faultiness of intellectual assent only versus the volitional commitment that is indicative of authentic salvation.
These passages more than suggest that to be truly saved, one must not only give intellectual assent but volitionally submit to Jesus as Lord (kurios). Kurios is used as a descriptor of Jesus 747 times in the New Testament!
Biblically informed belief in Jesus, then, requires a person to turn from all other understandings of who Jesus is and bow the knee to His Lordship. Self-informed thinking of Jesus will not get us there (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:4).
In James 2:19, Scripture indicates that the kind of belief a person possesses is profoundly important: “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”
Demons display a correct intellectual understanding of who Jesus is, but their intellectual assent is insufficient, as evidenced by their volitional rebellion against the Lordship of Christ. Just like those whom Jesus was addressing in Matthew 7, the demons show that it is possible to acknowledge or “believe” in Christ without bowing the knee to His Lordship.
James’ point is that that kind of “belief” — what we call “easy believism” — does not save a soul from hell. Christ will say to the easy believers, “I never knew you! Depart from Me.”
What, then, are the signs of false belief?
Ephesians 5:5-7 is an excellent passage that provides us with tremendous insight and discernment regarding true salvation. Let us drill down, ponder and meditate on this passage:
“For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.”
This week’s Bible study examines the characteristics Paul lists so that no one can “deceive you with empty words” lest you be “partakers with them.” The indicators of these false teachers of Jesus Christ include immorality (porneia), impurity (akatharsia) and covetousness (pleonektes) or greed.
Each of these words illustrates an “all about me” mentality descriptive of someone who thinks the world revolves around him. The truly saved, on the other hand, are dead to self (Galatians 2:20) and are more concerned about others (Philippians 2:3). They live to serve their Savior!
God wants you to know for certain whether or not you are saved and to possess the ability to discern true saving faith. When the list of indicators of false belief provided in the above passage is combined with the list provided in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, the question of who is saved and who is not loses much of its mystery. It reads:
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”
It is certain that persistent, unrepentant sinners like the sexually deviant, impure and greedy are not inheritors of Christ’s kingdom. But believers have already been assured that they have the secure hope of inheriting the glorious life to come (cf. 1 John 5:11-12).
Test yourself to see if you are in the faith; examine yourself!
Click here to read the full Bible study.
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