"Just believe" has been the gospel message for as long as I can remember. While it is true we must believe in what Jesus Christ did on the cross to pay for our sins, we must also obey the other things He said to be saved; change minds (repent), confess sinfulness and desire to be changed by Him. These are all a part of believing in Him.
Matthew 4:17
"17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Repent means to change one's mind about their sin and about Christ. When we realize we are sinners and cannot pay the penalty for our own sins, then we can trust in Christ. However, if we want Christ without admitting we have a sinful nature then we are not changing our minds about our sins. Christ said; "you must repent."
Then after we have changed our minds we must trust what He did for us and desire to be changed by Him. These are not works these are thoughts of the mind.
Many people for many years have been trained to only use the word; "believe" without any explanation causing many pretenders, and false converts who have no idea about holiness, obedience to the word, or desiring to be changed by Him. They said they believed and those with a false gospel accepted them in as brothers and sisters. This is the reason we have so many pretenders in the church today.
When Christ changes us in response to our confession, repentance and desire to be changed, we are no longer the same person.
With the pretender, they "believe" but remain the same person they were before they said they believed. No change has happened and there is no desire to be changed by Christ, most often there is no Bible study or there is academic study to appear more intelligent than others, but the commitment to Christ is not there in their heart.
Many of these pretenders went to Bible school and Seminaries to feel a sense of being above others or the need to work their way to heaven through knowledge. There are many pretenders who hold positions in the pulpits today who were not only not called by God to do it but are not even born-again.
Pretenders have the ability to "act" as they are expected to act around those they wish to impress but it is not the real them on the inside. A pretender is not regenerated by Christ but can fake it around those who expect certain things of them. This is the cultural Christianity that has been a large part of our Christian experience for many years.
A pretender can go from friendly and kind to angry and raging at the drop of a hat because the real them emerge when they are confronted with their false teachings. The nature of the pretender remains the natural bent of defensiveness when challenged. They do not have the Holy Spirit so pretending to be like a Christian is their mode of operation until they must account for themselves, then the real self rises to the surface. This is also one of the reasons we see elderly people who seem to get worse in their old age when they have been in church all their lives.
Those who have been authentically born-again do not rage at others no matter what is said and done. They may become adamant but they are generally kind all the time because it is their nature to be kind. The authentic believer remains the natural bent of the new nature in Christ when they are challenged.
Matthew 7:15-20
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?
17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 1
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits."
Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
The born-again believer does not have a need for a rule not to become angry because anger is not a part of their natural response in Christ Jesus. If they slip up and allow the flesh momentarily to act badly they quickly confess because they hate what they have done. The pretender is never sorry for their anger, in fact, often they justify it and never confess it. The pretender does not hate what they have done and in many cases are proud about what they have done that displeased God.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
The pretender is embarrassed by righteousness even repelled by it, but the born-again believer who loves Christ and His principles love His Law, they do not need rules against stealing, adultery or any other violations of the Law because they don't have any desire to do those things. The hate it when they fail, because they love the principles of Christ.
The godly person operates according to their new nature in Christ without pretense.
The ungodly operate according to their natural bent toward manipulation, causing people to believe things about them that are not the real them on the inside. They cannot "be" kind and loving, they can only pretend to be so.
We must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved, however, within the word believe is embodied confession of sinfulness and a desire to be changed by Christ.
Many people "believe" in Christ but never confess their sinfulness and have no desire to be changed by HIm, these are the pretenders, those whom God will not change because their belief is merely academic, not systemic.
Anyone can pretend to be a Christian with a few words they repeat and constant church attendance, but this does not mean there has been a transformation by Christ.
This is why as believers we need to have more in-depth conversations with people than the pablum coming out of superficial church gatherings.
Being on the right side of politics, doing the things that make someone a good citizen in the culture can be done by anyone who wishes to avoid trouble in their lives, it is not a measure of whether or not someone is born again.
One way to test a person's spirit is to challenge something they say they believe by asking for the Scripture that supports it. Most people either will not engage or they will bring up a Scripture out of context to support what God never said.
The pretender has two natures, the one they show to those they wish to impress and the one they show to those they dislike. One loving the other angry. The pretenders are controlled by their feelings more than rational thinking. The pretender can switch from friendly to rage on a dime because their feelings do not tolerate any correction or disagreement. Another thing I have noticed is that the pretenders gravitate toward familiar ritual that may not even be Scriptural. Rituals bring good "feelings." The pretender leans often if not always toward the feelings instead of the facts.
The born-again believer has two natures, the Christ-like nature that is the same on the inside as on the outside for others to see. The fleshly nature that is under the control of the Holy Spirit. They are not perfect, when they fail they hate it. They are generally self-controlled, as God said would be one of the fruit of the Spirit. They may feel angry at times but it does not control their actions and attitudes. and when they fail they confess to be cleansed as God commanded in 1 John 1:9
1 John 1:9 "1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
The pretender never grows in maturity,emotionally or spiritually because they never confess their wrongdoing. The born-again believer grows in direct proportion to how often they confess to be cleansed by God. Those who will not confess do not grow.
1 Corinthians 3:2-3 "…2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready,
3 for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? "
May many people who have walked in pretense all their lives realize they must change their mind to desire change by Christ and confess their sinful nature.
May those who withhold the gospel message out of fear they are judging, let go of their pride in desiring to be seen as a good person by the culture and speak the truth to those who might be perishing. In order to do this though, one must be steeped continually in prayer for guidance from the Holy Spirit and in the Word of God, His principles are the very essence of Who Christ is, they will guide all that we do and they will expose problems that need to be confessed.
God said "you shall know them by their fruit", I believe Him.
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