Those who have been raised in church all their lives and become a born again believer do not lose their faith just because they are surrounded by people who say there is no God. The one who says they “lost their faith”, was never born again.
Often those who say they are Christians will follow whatever is going on in the church, not authentically believing in Christ, they pretend to fit into the standard for that organization. Perhaps even fooling themselves in order to have friends.
Authentic born again believers might question some things about their faith because they are challenged, but they never completely lose it to become an atheist.
We can teach our children about God and what to do to be saved, but we cannot make their decision for them. Every person, even our children, will have to make their own decision about Christ. It is not wise to just believe are children are saved merely because of an emotional response to the gospel at church.
The problem is that so many who claim to be “Christian” have only had an emotional response to the gospel, desiring the acceptance of others without the desire to know Christ and follow Him.
When someone becomes born again, their actions, attitudes and demeanor change so drastically that others see the difference. They no longer walk the same paths as they did before, nor do they have the same responses to life as in the past. They even lose all the worldly friends they had because the friends can no longer tolerate the new them.
If there has not been a dramatic change in their overall demeanor while their lifestyle remains the same, then it is likely that they never had an authentic born again experience. This is the state of the apostate church today. Believers are not making anyone accountable for anything, the fear of driving off the new converts has compromised their own witness and walk.
As a result of this fear of losing bodies, has been the watering down of Biblical holiness and even a dumbing down of the gospel. Our churches are now full of hypocrites and pretenders, perhaps more of them than authentic born again believers.
The church needs to return to accountability, questioning new believers about their understanding of the gospel and watching their lives to see if their faith is more than just talk.
2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Romans 13:13 “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.”
James 3:13 “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.”
James 2:26 “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
IF there has been no change in the person, and I mean visible change, then there has not likely been a salvation experience.
Our job as believers is to keep others accountable and allow ourselves to be accountable. If someone claims to be a Christian and resents accountability, we may be looking at a pretender.
James 5:16 “ 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail."
2 Timothy 4:2-3 “ 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.…”
No comments:
Post a Comment