The Marks of A True Believer

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Scripture

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

~Matthew 5:21:23, NIV

Quote

Matthew 7:21-23 is the most frightening passage in the Bible.

~A.W. Tozer

My Thoughts

First of all, let me share the entire passage…Not everyone who says to Me, LORD, LORD, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, LORD, LORD, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me you evil doers.
I do agree with Tozer: this is a disturbing passage. Is it possible for a person to be deceived about their own salvation? The people Jesus mentions were confident in their salvation: they knew, that they knew, that they knew, but Jesus said, “I don’t know you and I have never known you, depart from Me you evildoers.” There are a couple of things you need to notice: not only are they shocked at Jesus rejection, they are focused on their works. “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ There is no mention of the atonement; it is all about what they did in His name {under the heading of being a Christian.} Martyn Lloyd-Jones has something to say about this passage. He gives us the characteristics of a true believer in his book on the SERMON ON THE MOUNT {Chapter 30}. Do you really want to know the truth now or had you rather wait and have Jesus reveal it on judgment day? There are things that a natural man [unregenerate] cannot do. He can join a church. He can act like a Christian; matter of fact, his acting may be better than our living, but there are things the natural man simply cannot do.

  1. The natural man will not confess his utter depravity. You will never hear them make Paul’s confession, “In me, that is my flesh, there is no good thing.” They will not confess with Isaiah that all their righteousness is impure and like filthy rags. They will persist in saying that they do good things. They cannot identify with the wretchedness that a true believe feels deep in his soul. The natural man cannot be poor of spirit: it is impossible. A work of grace must be performed to change his way of thinking. Without this new birth, this radical change, he will go to judgment believing in his own righteousness and he/she will be damned.
  2. The natural man cannot deny himself. Death to self is a work of grace and no natural man can crucify himself. Our salvation is in our crucifixion with Christ {Galatians 2:20}. This is not something we could or can do for ourselves or anyone else. This is something that only Jesus could do for us. Mary of Bethany understood this when she washed Jesus feet and anointed them with the expensive perfume. She knew Jesus was about to die. She also knew that she could not prevent His death, nor die in His place. His death could atone for her sins but not vice-versa so she did the only thing she could do, she loved Him and she expressed that love in public.
  3. The natural man is driven by vanity. He may have such a temperament that he or she always appears under controll. The natural man can be morally good but it is impossible for him to be purely good. His motives will betray him. The natural man is concerned with reputation, recognition and renown. Jones says, “The natural man may stay busy doing good but he keeps a record of it.” He may not come right out and boast about it, but he will make subtle hints so as to work it into the conversation.
  4. The natural man can meet the measure of the law {walk a mile} but he cannot meet Christ demans which is to be motivated by love which goes beyond the law.
  5. The natural man cannot love his enemies. He can love those that love him but not those who despise him.

One thing is certain: we are all at the LORD’s mercy and none of us deserve to be saved. I struggle with loving my enemies and forgiving them. At the same time I confess I have no right to withhold forgiveness from anyone. My only hope is His grace and mercy. As followers of Christ we can get hurt and we may struggle for a time with forgiving the person who hurt us, but we cannot hate nor should we glory in the destruction of another human being. I don’t like Muslims or Marxist but I prefer that they repent, not die in their sins and go to hell.

Extra

Not making the progress I want to make but God has a way of bring good out of bad situations. No more sciatic pain and now I have plenty of time to read and study. The problem is, I can’t do anything, not even sleep laying down. I can ride without pain unless June hits a pot hole in the road. We are going to Kerry Voss’ visitation this morning and then to the doctor in Cullman. I dread seeing him; I weighted 182 the last time I saw him and now I am back to 200.

Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.

Extra/Extra

We take a lot of things for granted. Being helpless is an humbling thing. Practically anything I want done requires help. I am not accustomed to asking for help. People tell you they want to help but they are always busy with their own affairs. It is not a pleasant feeling depending on someone else. Health is a precious gift. Being able to run, walk, lift, move, work is a wonderful blessing.

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