Matthew 10:35-37 "…35 For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;…"
John 15:18-20 "18 the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. 19 If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. 20 Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.…"
The more we think with the mind of Christ the less we will be thinking about ourselves and not feel hurt when others reject us because we know it happened to Christ and foretold to us that it will also be our life.
John 17:14
"I have given them Your word and the world has hated them. For they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."
1 John 4:1-6 "4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world.
4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."
"Confess" in this passage means to agree with God about Who Jesus is.
Is it possible to "agree with God about Who Jesus is" and still ignore His word. If we say we agree with God but it does not lead us to obey Him, then perhaps our words are nothing.
Mathew 15:7-9 "7You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8 These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ "
Merely saying things does not make the words evidence that we believe. Faith and works as well as words and works prove whether or not we are telling the truth.
James 2:18-20 "18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
Authentic confession of faith in Christ is always proven by our attitudes and actions. Many in our day are claiming to be Christian but have no fruit of the Spirit and will hear one day, if they don't repent, "I never knew you."
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."
Believers recognize one another because of the character qualities of Christ that are seen Spiritually in one another.
Those who believe they are saved but only "said" they were Christians, are not born again and will hear the following frightening words from God:
Matthew 7:21-23
I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"
Many people will claim to have faith but follow men instead of Christ, this is a dead giveaway. When someone defends a religious teacher they are placing more emphasis on that person than they are Christ, in other words, they count the person as above Christ.
May each one evaluate whether or not they are following Christ or placing their trust in men.
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