Before we even begin this 'series', you might be asking, "Is this even important? Why should I even be reading this? Is Pastor Ryan just being nit-picky? Is he trying pick a fight?
The reason I write this is because I believe that the answer to this question is one of eternal significance. How often I have heard of and even seen such people, whose "Christian" life was characterized by ungodliness & wickedness, offered assurance of salvation & eternal life, because they simply parroted a prayer their eager parents imposed upon them, raised a hand after an emotional sermon, or walked an altar because everyone else was doing it at the time. If we truly love people, even more than we love our boasting of how many people are getting 'saved' in 'our' churches by 'our' programs, we will tell them the whole truth and preach to them a whole Jesus, rather than duping them with a slipshod "gospel" that damns them to eternal Hell. This blog flows out of a genuine love for lost & perishing sinners who have believed "these lies" (2 Thes. 2:11); who, because their lives are characterized by "lawlessness" will hear those dreaded words trumpet forth from the Lord Jesus on Judgement Day: "I never knew you!" (Matt. 7:21-23).
Not only do I believe that such people are unconverted, I also believe that such "professors" are the greatest detriment to the advance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. How often, when trying to preach the gospel to people, I have been given the excuse that their friends who are "Christians" live just as wickedly as they do, and that all Christians are thus "hypocrites." Let it be known then that this post is also written for the great cause of the Great Commission. How tragic it is when false Christians, who in their disobedience to the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Thes. 1:8; 1 Pet. 4:17) bring shame & reproach upon it, enabling the nations to blaspheme God's name all the more (cf. Rom. 2:24).
This past Sunday, I preached a message from Ephesians 1:15, showing what Paul considered to be the two essential components/evidences/fruits of a regenerated heart. Today I will deal with the first: the Lordship of Jesus.
In recent decades, many 'evangelical' proponents have arisen, who advocate the notion that one can be a true believer in Jesus despite the fact that their lives are habitually characterized by unrepentant sin and indifference to the commands of Scripture. Such "Christians", they say, had received Jesus as their Savior, and thus their sins were forgiven. Hopefully, they admit, at some later junction or crisis in life such forgiven sinners will also make Jesus the Lord of their life, though this is not required for final salvation.
Following the example of our noble Berean brothers, we need to ask, "Do the Scriptures warrant such a division between trusting in Jesus as Savior versus trusting in Jesus as Lord? Or, we might ask in Paul's words, "Is Christ divided?"
When we do search the Scriptures, in context, we see that the unanimous answer is that, as the Puritans were oft to say, "What God hath united, let no man put asunder". One who does not "accept" Jesus as Lord is still dead in their sins, regardless of their profession. As John MacArthur once asked such people, "What is your profession worth to God?" His response: "Absolutely nothing!"
First of all, we need to see that when Paul uses the word most Bible versions translate "saint" in his letter's introductions, we need to understand that when he addresses his letters to such saints, the Greek word really means "[God's] holy people" (cf. NLT, NAB, NJB), since the noun is derived from the verb which means "to sanctify, to consecrate, to set apart for [God's] holy/cultic use." When Paul uses this word in his greetings, then, he is primarily referring to the believer's objective status before God: that is, that God has set them apart, or chosen them, for holy/cultic use (as in the OT). However, as almost every commentator notes, Paul is also reminding his readers that those who are set apart by God, are set apart for God. That is, He has set them apart to be holy in their conduct as well. Or as Paul tells Timothy, God has not only called us with a holy call, He has called us to a holy call (2 Tim. 1:9). Thus, those who claim to belong to God, despite living a life that is perpetually characterized by ungodliness and a love for sin, are most likely "saints" in name only. Such people are unable to "work out their salvation with fear & trembling" because God has never worked salvation into them (Cf. Phil. 2:12-13). As John writes, "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God." (1 John 3:9, ESV)
Likewise, when Paul uses the word "believer", the Greek word primarily emphasizes that one has "believed in" Jesus Christ for salvation. However, this Greek word also carries the connotation of "being a faithful follower" of Jesus. Thus, those who have faith in Jesus are the same as those "who are faithful in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 1:1, ESV). To say that one believes in Jesus even though their heart is bent on unfaithfulness to Jesus is an unbiblical anomaly. As the inspired apostle James repeatedly reminds us in his epistle, such spurious "faith" does not, nay cannot, truly save. Such is the "faith" Jesus warned us about in His parable of the soils (see Matthew 13; Mark 4), where He foretold that some indeed would "believe" in Him, even with the appearance of great joy. However, because the gospel never "took root" in their heart (i.e. no genuine conversion), these same empty professors would fall away (literally apostatize) just as quickly when things became uncomfortable & costly to them. How tragic it is when we as Christians pronounce as "saved" those whom Jesus would pronounce condemned. How foolish it is to call a thistle an apple tree! It might make the thistle feel better about himself; but the point of Jesus' parable is fruit-bearing. Those who bear no fruit evidence their root (i.e. an unregenerate heart). Let us who love our neighbors take note of what happens to 'trees' that bear no God-glorifying fruit: "If anyone does not abide in Me [i.e. Jesus] he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned" (John 15:6, ESV).
How much do we have to hate our neighbors to not tell them the truth?
In our next blog, we will look at some Biblical passages that show that the apostolic gospel message required the preaching of Jesus as both Lord and Savior; that is, we will survey the content of what was preached, and compare it with much of what happens in many pulpits Sunday after Sunday.
In Christ, who is Lord of lords,
Pastor Ryan
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