How do we know what we believe?

How do we know what we believe? The question seems nonsensical in a way, but the bible affirms that our hearts are dishonest.

How do we know we have faith or are a true follower of God? I suppose than answer is not easy. First the question is if we have doubt "do we want to believe."

You see the desire to believe is usually a sign of faith.

A lot of people try to look negatively at the issue: how righteous am I. The whole issue is that righteousness is not a lack of bad actions. This is always the worst way to look at the situation especially since the issue with a dead heart is it does not see sin.

The main two ways to truly perceive faith are: where is your time and where your treasure is.

First where is your time? I'm not speaking about outward usage of time when people see us. There can be a bit of a deceptive nature to this. But when we have time and no one is watching what are we doing.

I'm not talking negatively saying are we sinning or not sinning. I'm saying when no one is watching is there a sense in which we positively live to the glory of God.

Did we happen to pick up a bible or a devotional when no one was looking? Did we think about anyone we knew in need and how they might be helped?

Did we have any contemplation of how the world might be better? Did we think of God? Was there anything good or noble or praise worthy we do when no one is around of which no one will know.

You see when we do good in private - real good of which we may not receive praise from men then we are following God. This is possibly one of the surest signs of faith.

Another is where is our treasure. The bible says where your treasure is there your heart is. We all have possessions and some of us are fortunate to have investments. But the simplicity is this have we done anything with our money for God.

Statistics suggest for most of the church the answer is no. Most of the charity of church members is done by 20% of its members. 20% of members account for 80% of giving. Usually giving to religion is also coupled with increased giving outside of religion as well.

Again there is a giving which has a nature of showiness to itself. The question is where is our money put when we have no benefit. Maybe we give but do we give if no one knows or praises us.

Obviously the quality of faith is difficult to judge. God knows and not man. If we want to believe we probably do.

I simply wish to point today to two signs of faith: the private use of time and money as what is done in secret is more important that what is not done. And absence of bad behavior is a much less interesting sign than what we infarct positively do when no one is looking.

Sheep & Wolves

There are always seem to be a bunch of bad apples in the Church. Does this mean that there are bad apple Christians?

Christianity is a transforming power. The gospel slowly changes us to become better people. True saving faith always produces fruit. It may take time, but God is at work in the heart of the Christian.

God meets people where they are and proceeds to make them better. The bible also warns about not making hasty judgments of others.

But the reality is there are a lot of unsaved people in the church. Often they cause great harm to the church. Sometimes they are attracted to the community of the church and sometimes the church is a place of standing for them to find business or social advantages.

It's always important to not simply trust a person because they attend this or that church. As Jesus reminds us that we will know his followers by the fruit they produce in their lives.

If you interact enough with some well esteemed Christian business men and women in the church in the business world you will quickly find out that things, at times, may not be as they seem. Can these "godly" people be wolves in disguise?

The answer is possibly. It is always difficult to know the status of another before God. But the bible teaches us to test the spirits.

We should not simply assume that because this person has a good reputation that they will act in a Christian way. The church often judges very superficially.

People are impressed by main things which are of no spiritual significance. So if you meant a man with a great Christian reputation, it may because he is a great Christian or because he just knows the right things to say and do.

Saying the right things is of course of no use. Many people say the right things but they have not penetrated into their heart. Salvation is a matter of the heart, not necessarily an ability to speak the right words.

What Is Christian Faith?

What is Christian faith?

It is a loving of God primarily.  There is no saving faith in God apart from a love for God.

Romans 8:28: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Notice the connection those who love God are the ones who are called according to his purpose.  Those aren’t two distinct categories.  If you are called by God (thus saved) you love God.

I would just like to urge everyone to ponder their faith.  We all need to test ourselves to see that our are love for God is true, not like the sad story in Matthew 7:20-23:

So then, you will know them by their fruits. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

How do we know this is not about us?  It is by our fruits, by our love for God that we can see our election.  If our fruit is scarce test it to see that it does not taste of self love for personal gratification in heaven, but that it longs for deeper satisfying union with the creator.  If we believe we all need to repent.  Even the best Christian’s do not savor God’s precious goodness enough.

As Psalm 63:3 puts it: "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you."

Ponder that God's love is better than life.  Search deeply and diligently to see its truth.

Bearing Good Fruit

A brief piece of writing I composed on a fundamentally important question.

John the Baptist spoke in Luke 3:9, "The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." Lack of good fruit is proof of a fatal condition in a man's heart. We all tend to brush over such verses carelessly. The reason for this is that God causes fruit to spring forth in the lives of all Christians. We know this because all Christians have the Holy Spirit helping them daily become sweeter and sweeter. And since we are Christians we must have this fruit. We as Christians, however, should check to see that we truly are bearing good fruit. For we may be being deceived by the devil.

Jesus speaks of this deception in Matthew 7:21-23: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. 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 preform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you, away from me you evildoers." This passage should be of great concern for us for Jesus speaks of this group as consisting of many.' These people surely displayed what looked like good fruit and yet they were thrown into the fire for lack of it. For this reason we need to contemplate deeply what truly constitutes good fruit, so that none of us will be thrown into the fire of hell because we were deceived by the devil and our wicked hearts into believing we were saved.

How does a person know if they have good fruits? John the Baptist spoke that the fruits must be good, not any old fruits will do. How can we be sure that the fruits we see showing up in our lives are not the fruits similar to a kind and generous atheist. For our fruits may well look good by human standards, but how can we know that they are the kind that flow from the Holy Spirits infusion of Christs righteousness into our lives. I believe that the answer can be found in our attitude toward God. God demands from us all to love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. We on earth will surely never be able to give him this, but if Christ's righteousness is being given to us in increasing measures we will surely see strides as our love grows for God.

If we see our love for Christ growing daily this will be a sure sign that we are saved. But, if our love to Christ is very similar to what it was five or ten years ago we should begin to wonder what is going on in our lives. In Jesus's parable of the sower the good see that produced fruit multiplied thirty or sixty or even a hundred times. Since the Christian life is meant to multiply in such terms faith that multiplied but a very small crop must be examined carefully. Those who the spirit is creating fruit in will naturally have a greater desire and love for God.