Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:18)
Part of why religious organizations today are so plagued by corruption, scandal and immorality is because these organizations do not conform to the qualities of the body of Christ. Just because one attends church services, has their name on the membership roster, gives money, talks about the grace of Jesus like the free love social movement of the 1960s and calls themselves a Christian doesn’t make them a true follower of Jesus. These are all works which the Bible tells us cannot make us righteous or save us. Jesus warned us about this.
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 7:22-23)
We need to re-examine what it means to be a believer. We need to ask ourselves if we really are true believers. True believers will have no trouble discerning sin and will have no hesitations about acting to save their neighbors from sin. Instead, we mostly today see people openly engaged in conduct they know to be immoral. We see those around them sitting back watching as if it’s just another horrible story on the evening news without the will to get involved. This lack of courage is called cowardice and is one of the characteristics that Jesus through His testimony in Revelation tells us describes those who will suffer the second death in the lake of burning sulfer. (Revelation 21:8) God destroyed the earth with a flood because people were sinning so much.
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. (Genesis 6:5)
Jesus told us the last days would be like the days of Noah.
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:37-39)
Believers aren’t perfect people. Believers do things sometimes that hurt their fellow believers. The main difference between a true believer and someone who isn’t a believer is a penitent heart and attitude of repentance. King David and King Saul are examples of this distinction. Neither man did everything right. Both men did some pretty rotten things. Both men were called and appointed by God. David is known as a man after God’s own heart in spite of his shortcomings. What’s the difference? The difference is a love for God that is stronger than the desire to assert self-interest along with genuine repentance.
Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. (Matthew 22:37-38)
Believers understand that this life is nothing to desire, that what mankind has been created for will be realized after Jesus returns.
Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. (John 22:24-26)
Job is known to be one of God’s most faithful examples of one who believes.
Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut off my life! Then I would still have this consolation—my joy in unrelenting pain—that I had not denied the words of the Holy One. (Job 6:8-10)
True believers see with open eyes the sinful nature of mankind and the sinfulness of life here and now. These believers recognize Jesus as the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the only path to righteousness and salvation. These believers put their faith in Jesus. This is in stark contrast to those in this world who seek worldly things leaving their souls to chance. When confronted with their shortcomings true believers will be sorrowful and repent placing their faith in Jesus. If a true believer is confronted by an accuser, another believer who claims to have ought with them according to Matthew 18, he will be sorry and will seek to reconcile with his fellow believer. It is the false believer who fails to reconcile. Matthew 18 is a reliable test of true believers. Jesus tells us that when a professed believer fails to reconcile that he should be cast out and treated like a heathen, like a non-believer. No true believer will fail to reconcile with their brother or sister in Christ. Of course, only God knows our hearts. The counsel Jesus gives us is not given for judgement of each other but to extend every option and pressure to demonstrate repentance.
Believers are stakeholders in the Kingdom of Heaven. Believers are reborn sons and daughters of God. Believers are soldiers in the great controversy of sin. Believers are evangelists of the Gospel Commission. You aren’t a true believer if you use church as a form of entertainment or as a social club. Believers are a remnant, a small number among the masses of self-indulgent sinners.
If you wonder why all the creatures around you look and act like a brood of vipers it just may well be because you are in a snake pit. True believers see the character of God through the life of Jesus and hate sin so much that they are actually converted. Converted, now there’s a word that we don’t pay enough attention to. Converted means changed, reborn, transformed. Converted means to put off the old and put on the new. Converted means to die to sin and to be reborn into grace. Vipers and wolves just pretend they are converted, they just talk and sing about grace.
The church is composed of true believers who come to Jesus initially with repentant hearts and then continue to live out this sinful life with repentant attitudes. Believers act according to their hearts.
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)
True believers will not avoid the accountability Jesus requires in Matthew 18.