I was talking with someone yesterday who mentioned that someone s/he knew was saved yet had no appetite (my word) for the things of God and most especially His church. So I inquired as to how s/he knew this person was born-again (s/his word) and s/he told me because that is what his “saved” person said.
I wonder about that. So many people believe that they are born-again, yet there is no evidence as to their salvation. I mean fruit, the fruit of the Spirit (for example) or love for the brethren or love for the church that Christ died for. Is there a proof text that shows that many claim to know God and claim to be born-again yet they are lost?
My Lord and Savior Jesus addressed this exact point when he said: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven (Mt. 7).”
Do you see that word “doeth?” It implies that doing the will of the Father is a regular practice in this person who will enter the kingdom of heaven. Then Jesus said that in that day, the Day of Judgment, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we….” And these (the many) communicate various things that seem to prove they must be born-again, but He tells them to depart from me for He never knew them. Never: not that they were saved and lost their salvation. No the text is clear there was never a time when they were born-again.
Oh how I want to live in such a way that my life portrays that I know Jesus and that He has made me a new creature. Oh how I want to know God and love Him with every fiber of my being.
There is a big difference between saying and doing. The Apostle James addressed this idea in his short epistle when he says “I will show you my faith by my works” good works (of course) that glorify the name of God. Lord Jesus, please help me to be a doer of your word. My prayer is that Christ would be formed in me and every member of His church at 517 Glensford Drive.
