Recently released from jail, a young communist disciple wrote to his fianceé, breaking off their engagement:

We communists have a high casualty rate. We are the ones who get shot and hung and ridiculed and fired from our jobs and in every other way made as uncomfortable as possible. A certain percentage of us get killed or imprisoned. We live in virtual poverty. We turn back to the party every penny we make above what is absolutely necessary to keep us alive. We communists do not have the time or the money for many movies, or concerts, or T-bone steaks, or decent homes, or new cars. We have been described as fanatics. We are fanatics. Our lives are dominated by one great overshadowing factor: The struggle for world communism. We communists have a philosophy of life that no amount of money can buy. We have a cause to fight for, a definite purpose in life. We subordinate our petty personal selves to the great movement of humanity; and if our personal lives seem hard or our egos appear to suffer through subordination to the party, then we are adequately compensated by the thought that each of us in his small way is contributing to something new and true and better for mankind.

There is one thing in which I am in dead earnest about, and that is the communist cause. It is my life, my business, my religion, my hobby, my sweetheart, my wife, and my mistress, my breath and meat. I work at it in the daytime and dream of it at night. Its hold on me grows, not lessens, as time goes on; therefore, I cannot carry on a friendship, a love affair, or even a conversation without relating it to this force that both drives and guides my life. I evaluate people, books, ideas and actions according to how they affect the communist cause, and by their attitude toward it. I’ve already been in jail because of my ideals, and if necessary, I’m ready to go before a firing squad.

Although deceived and misguided, this young communist disciple possessed what so many professing Christians lack: commitment. We may shake our heads in pity for his deluded belief, but at least his belief was proved to be genuine by his actions, something that cannot always be said of those who claim to be followers of Christ.

True faith always manifests itself by deeds. There is an inseparable correlation between belief and behavior. As Martin Luther wrote in the preface to his commentary on the book of Romans, “It is impossible, indeed, to separate works from faith, just as it is impossible to separate heat and light from fire.”[1]

How do you know a person believes what you tell him? If he acts as if he believes you. If you tell him a deadly spider is crawling up his leg, and he smiles and continues conversing with you, you can be sure he doesn’t believe you. Likewise, the person who believes in Jesus acts accordingly. His faith is evidenced by his obedience.

Although many professing Christians claim to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, it’s obvious by their actions that they don’t believe at all. As Paul wrote, “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him” (Titus 1:16).

Jesus, CEO

Imagine that you work for a large multi-national company. One day, as you are working at your station, a well-dressed man whom you’ve never seen before enters through a door on the far side of the room. He walks over to your desk and says, “Smith, I’m the CEO of this company. Straighten up the mess on your desk immediately!” What would you do? It all depends, of course, whether or not you believe he is who he claims to be. The CEO yields more authority than anyone else in the company. He is the one, above all others in the company, whom you wouldn’t want to displease. So, if you believe he’s the CEO, you’ll immediately obey him. If you don’t obey him, it would indicate that you don’t believe he’s the CEO.

The analogy is obvious. Believing in Jesus results in submitting to Jesus. We are saved through faith in Jesus, but our faith must be a submissive faith, otherwise it is not faith at all. This is why Paul twice mentions is his epistle to the Romans the “obedience of faith” (see Rom 1:5; 16:26). The entire goal of his ministry was to bring about the “obedience of faith” among all the Gentiles (see Rom. 1:5).

“Your analogy is flawed” some may argue, “because Jesus is not a CEO to be feared.”

Such an objection reveals the very heart of the problem. If the CEO analogy is flawed, it is only so because Jesus is much more than a CEO. He is the Creator of all people, the Judge of the living and the dead; He possesses a name above every other name.

In the minds of so many professing Christians, however, Jesus is Savior but not Lord. He’s a friendly neighbor, not the Head of the Church. He possesses all love but not all authority in heaven and on earth. He’s a best buddy, not King of kings. He’s a jolly good fellow, but not the One before whom every knee shall bow. He’s good but He’s not God. In reality, however, such a Jesus does not exist, and those who are convinced otherwise are the worst kind of idolaters—they’ve invented a god of their own imaginations.

The apostle James repeatedly warned against being deluded by a faith that is void of the works of obedience:

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves….If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless….What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? (James 1:22, 26; 2:14, emphasis added).

James couldn’t make his point more clear. Faith without works cannot save us. What we believe is revealed by our words and deeds. Moreover, it is possible to deceive our own hearts in this matter and possess a worthless religion.

James continues:

But someone may well say, “You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?….You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone….For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead (James 2:18-20, 24, 26, emphasis added).

James points out that even demons possess some degree of faith,[2] and their faith is manifested by actions: they shudder in fear. Yet how many professing believers demonstrate less faith than demons, demonstrating no fear of God? [3]

Jesus Called Non-Believers to Obedient Faith

Note also that James challenges anyone to show his faith without works (see 2:18). Works cannot be dissected from true faith. That is why true saving faith always begins with repentance. And that is precisely why Jesus’ calls to salvation were so often calls to commitment and obedience. Jesus called people to a faith that was obedient, and to the chagrin of many who would divorce works from faith, Jesus often said nothing at all about faith when He called people to salvation. His true followers would show their faith by their works.

Amazingly, Jesus’ calls to costly commitment are often shamelessly ignored by professing Christians. Or, if they are acknowledged, are explained away as being calls to a deeper relationship that are supposedly addressed, not to the unsaved, but to those who have already received God’s saving grace. Yet, sadly, so many of these “believers” who claim that Jesus’ calls to costly commitment are addressed to them rather than the unsaved do not heed His calls as they interpret them. In their minds, they have the option not to respond in obedience, and they never do.

First Steps or a Deeper Walk?

Let’s consider one of Jesus’ invitations to salvation that is often wrongfully thought to be a call to a deeper walk by professing Christians:

And [Jesus] summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:34-38).

Is this an invitation to salvation addressed to unbelievers or an invitation to a more committed relationship addressed to believers? As we read honestly, the answer becomes obvious.

First, notice that the crowd Jesus was speaking to consisted of “the multitude” and His disciples (v. 34). Clearly then, the “multitude” was not His disciples. They, in fact, were “summoned” by Him to hear what He was about to say. Jesus wanted everyone, followers and seekers, to understand the truth He was about to teach. Notice also that He then began by saying, “If anyone….” (v. 34, emphasis added). His words apply to anyone and everyone.

As we continue reading, it becomes even more clear who Jesus was addressing. Specifically, His words were aimed at every person who desired to “come after” Him, “save his life,” not “forfeit his soul,” and be among those whom He will not be ashamed of when He “comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” All of these expressions indicate Jesus was describing people who desired to be saved. Are we to think that there is a heaven-bound person who does not want to “come after” Jesus and “save his life”? Are we to believe that there are true believers who will “forfeit their souls,” are ashamed of Jesus and His words, and of whom Jesus will be ashamed when He returns? Obviously, Jesus was talking about eternal salvation.

Notice that each of the last four sentences in this five-sentence passage all begin with the word “For.” Thus, each sentence helps to explain and expand upon the previous sentence. No sentence within this passage should be interpreted without considering how the others illuminate it. Let’s consider Jesus’ words sentence by sentence in that light.

Sentence #1

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mark 8:34).

Again, note that Jesus’ words were addressed to anyone who wished to come after Him, anyone who wanted to become His follower. This is the only relationship Jesus initially offers.

Many desire to be His friend without being His follower, but such an option does not exist. Jesus didn’t consider anyone His friend unless they obeyed Him: “You are My friends, if you do what I command you” (John 15:14).

Many would like to be His brother without being His follower, but, again, Jesus didn’t extend that option. He considered no one His brother unless they were obedient: “Whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother” (Matt. 12:50, emphasis added).

Many wish to join Jesus in heaven without being His follower, but Jesus conveyed the impossibility of such an occurrence. Only those who obey are heaven-bound: “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” (Matt. 7:21).

In the sentence under consideration, Jesus informed those who wanted to follow Him that they couldn’t follow Him unless they denied themselves. They must be willing to put their desires aside, making them subordinate to His will. Self-denial and submission is the essence of following Jesus.

But to what degree of self-denial does Jesus expect? Was He speaking of giving up candy for Lent? Within the first sentence, Jesus used an expression that made His meaning unmistakable: “Let him…take up his cross.” It was, perhaps, not an original expression, but a common expression of His day. What does it mean?

In Jesus’ day, the only people who took up crosses were those condemned to die. Of course, it was the last thing anyone would want to do, because it was the last thing a person would ever do. When a criminal took up his cross, he lifted up the beam to which he would soon be nailed to die a slow, excruciating death. It was a dreaded moment of facing up to the inevitable.

Thus, the expression, “to take up one’s cross,” would have been synonymous with doing that which one wouldn’t want to do by natural inclination. It symbolizes a high degree of self-denial, doing what one was loathe to do. If it was a common expression of Jesus’ day, one can almost imagine fathers admonishing reluctant sons, “Son, you know it’s your responsibility to dig out the latrine when it’s full. Now take up your cross and get to it.” Or wives saying to grimacing husbands, “Honey, I know you don’t want to hear this, but today our taxes are due to the Roman government, and we do have the money that is being demanded by that dishonest tax collector. We don’t really have any choice in the matter, so why don’t you take up your cross and visit the tax collector’s office this morning?”[4]

Sentence #2

Jesus’ second sentence makes the meaning of His first sentence even more clear: “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it” (Mark 8:35).

Again, notice this sentence begins with “For,” connecting it with the first sentence, adding clarification. Here Jesus contrasts two people, the same two people who were implied in the first sentence, that is, the one who would deny himself and take up his cross to follow Him and the one who would not. Now they are contrasted as one who would lose his life for Christ and the gospel’s sake and one who would not. The one who wouldn’t deny himself wishes to save his life but will lose it, while the one who would deny himself loses his life but ultimately saves it.

Clearly, Jesus was not speaking about one losing or saving his physical life. The majority of His closest followers lost their physical lives sooner than what they probably would have because they followed Him, dying as martyrs. Moreover, later sentences in this passage indicate that Jesus had eternal losses and gains in mind.[5]

The person in the first sentence who would not deny himself corresponds with person in the second sentence who wished to save his life. Thus we can safely conclude that “saving one’s life” means “keeping one’s own agenda for his life.” This becomes even more clear when we consider the contrasted man who “loses his life for Christ and the gospel’s sake.” He is the one who denies himself, takes up his cross, and gives up his own agenda, now living for the purpose of furthering Christ’s agenda and the spread of the gospel. He is the one who will ultimately “save his life,” while the other will lose his. The person who seeks to please Christ rather than himself will ultimately find himself happy in heaven, while the one who continues to please himself will ultimately find himself miserable in hell, there losing all freedom to follow his own agenda.

Sentences #3 & 4

Now the third and fourth sentences: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37). In these the person is highlighted who will not deny himself. He is the one who wishes to save his life but ultimately loses it. Now he is spoken of as one who pursues what the world has to offer and who ultimately “forfeits his soul.” Jesus exposes the folly of such a person by comparing the worth of the whole world with that of one’s soul. Of course, there is no comparison. A person might theoretically acquire all the world has to offer, but, if the ultimate consequence of his life is that he spends eternity in hell, he has made the gravest of errors.

From these third and fourth sentences we also gain insight into what pulls people away from denying themselves to become Christ’s followers. It is their desire for self-gratification, offered by the world. Motivated by love of self, those who refuse to follow Christ seek sinful pleasures, which Christ’s true followers shun out of love and obedience to Him. Those who are out to “grab all the gusto they can,” pursue wealth, power and prestige, while Christ’s true followers seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Any wealth, power or prestige that is gained by them is considered a stewardship from God and is used unselfishly for His glory.

Sentence #5

Finally, we arrive at the fifth sentence in the passage under consideration. Notice again how it is joined to the others by the beginning word, for: “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).

This again is the person who would not deny himself, but who wished to follow his own agenda, pursuing what the world had to offer, and who thus ultimately lost his life and forfeited his soul. Now he is characterized as one who is ashamed of Christ and His words. His shame, of course, stems from his unbelief. If he had truly believed that Jesus was God’s Son, he certainly would not have been ashamed of Him or His words. But he is a member of an “adulterous and sinful generation,” and Jesus will be ashamed of him when He returns. Clearly, Jesus was not describing a saved person.

The conclusion to all of this? The entire passage cannot rightfully be considered a call to a more committed life addressed to those who are already on the way to heaven. It is obviously a revealing of the way of salvation by means of comparing those who are truly saved and those who are unsaved. Not once did Jesus say anything about faith or believing, although the entire reason a person would refuse to deny himself, continuing to pursue the world’s offers in sinful rebellion against Christ, is because he truly doesn’t believe in Christ. The fruit of unbelief is disobedience. Jesus was not proclaiming salvation earned by works, but a salvation that resulted in works, born from a sincere faith. By His definition, there is no such thing as an “uncommitted Christian.”

Baptism, Nepalese Style

The call to salvation is a call to commitment to Christ. In many nations of the world, where persecution is common, this is automatically understood by new believers. They know that by following Christ, there will be a price to pay.

Sundar Thapa, a Nepalese Christian who has planted over one hundred churches in his Buddhist nation, shared with me the eight questions he asks every new convert before his baptism. They are:

1.) Are you willing to be forced to leave your home and parents?

2.) Are you willing to lose the inheritance of your father?

3.) Are you willing to lose your job if people come to know you are a Christian?

4.) Are you willing to go to jail?

5.) Are you willing to be beaten and tortured by police?

6.) Are you willing to die for Christ’s sake if necessary?

7.) Are you willing to tell others about Jesus?

8.) Are you willing to bring all of the tithe and offering into the house of the Lord?

If the new convert answers in the affirmative to all eight questions, he then must sign a statement as a record of his answers, and then, and only then, is he baptized. How many of us would be considered Christians in Nepal? More importantly, how many of us will be considered Christians when we stand before Jesus?

“Believers” Who Aren’t Disciples

Perhaps the greatest example of wrongly interpreting Jesus’ salvation invitations as calls to a “deeper walk” is the modern theological classification that makes a distinction between Christian believers and disciples. So many in the church are convinced that one can be a heaven-bound believer in Christ without being His disciple. The level of commitment Jesus required for one to be classed as His disciple is so high that many professing Christians must readily admit that they don’t measure up. But, not to worry, because in their minds the step of discipleship is optional. Not understanding the nature of saving faith, they conclude that becoming a disciple is not synonymous with becoming a Christian, because there is a cost to become a disciple, whereas salvation is free.

But such an understanding is seriously flawed. An honest examination of the New Testament reveals that disciples are not more highly committed believers—they are the only true believers. In the early church, the modern distinction of “believers” and “disciples” did not exist. Everyone who believed in Jesus was His disciple. In fact, “the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (Acts 11:26, emphasis added).

To believe in Jesus was to follow Him obediently, and it still is. Salvation is indeed an unmerited gift, but one that can be received only by a living faith. The commitment that stems from such a faith is not meritorious; rather, it is validating. The grace that forgives us also transforms us.

Jesus’ Requirements for Discipleship

Let’s examine the requirements Jesus enumerated for one to be His disciple and, as we do, consider if Scripture teaches that all true believers are disciples.

We read in Luke 14:25 that “great multitudes were going along with” Jesus. Jesus, however, wasn’t satisfied. Big crowds of fair-weather fans didn’t impress Him. He wanted whole-hearted, unreserved commitment. He expected the highest allegiance and devotion. Thus He said to them,

If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:26).

No intelligent interpreter of Scripture would argue that Jesus meant that one must literally hate the most cherished persons in his life in order to be His disciple. Jesus was obviously using a figure of speech we call hyperbole, that is, exaggeration for effect. He could only have meant that our love for our loved ones should seem like hate when compared to our love for Him. He must be the supreme object of our affection. His disciples must love Him far more than any other person, and they must love Him even more than their own lives, being willing to die for Him.

Jesus continued: “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27).

Again, His words are obviously not to be taken literally. He doesn’t expect His disciples to carry wooden crosses with them everywhere. Carrying one’s own cross must be symbolic of something, and whatever that something is, who would conjecture that Jesus was speaking of something easy or pleasant? At bare minimum, committed self-denial is what He had in mind.

Notice also that this second requirement of carrying one’s own cross is exactly what Jesus required of all who wanted to follow Him, as we learned from our earlier study in this chapter of Mark 8:34-38. In that portion of Scripture, Jesus was unmistakably laying down the requirements for salvation, offering clear evidence that the requirements for salvation and discipleship are the same.

As Jesus continued His discourse on discipleship, He then admonished His audience to count the cost before they set out to be His disciples:

For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks terms of peace (Luke 14:28-32).

Who can reasonably argue that there is no cost to becoming Christ’s disciple in light of such words?

Jesus concluded: “So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions” (Luke 14:33). In order to be Jesus’ disciple, we must relinquish ownership of all our possessions to His control. We become stewards of what is now His, and our material wealth will be used for His purposes. Otherwise we are not His disciples.

Clearly, Jesus wanted to convey that becoming His disciple was a costly commitment. He must be first in our lives, and we must love Him more than our own lives, our loved ones, and any material possessions.

Another Requirement

On another occasion, Jesus explained what it meant to be His disciple. As He spoke in the Temple, John reported,

Many came to believe in Him. Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:30-32).

Notice that twice John specifically tells us that Jesus’ words of 8:31-32 were addressed to people who believed in Him. To those new believers, Jesus did not say, “Eventually you will want to consider becoming committed disciples.” No, He addressed them immediately as disciples. To Jesus, believing in Him was equivalent to becoming His disciple. In fact, the first thing He explained to those new believers was how to determine whether or not they truly were His disciples. Was their faith genuine? They could be sure it was if they would abide in His word.

To abide in Jesus’ word meant to live in it, making it your home. It implies the desire to know and obey His word, just as He said: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32, emphasis added). Specifically, Jesus was speaking about freedom from sin (see John 8:34-36). This again tells us that Jesus’ true disciples, those who have truly believed in Him and are thus born again, are characterized by growing holiness.

The Baptism of Disciples

In the Great Commission, recorded in the final verses of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus used the word disciple in a way that leaves no doubt about His definition of the word. He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20, emphasis added).

We first note that it is disciples that Jesus wants, and He wants these disciples to be baptized. Yet we also know that Jesus and the New Testament authors unanimously agree that everyone who believes in Jesus should be baptized as soon as possible after confessing faith in Christ. This proves once again that all true Christian believers are disciples. Certainly Jesus was not saying in His Great Commission that we should not baptize those who believe in Christ, only baptizing those who take the step of becoming committed disciples.

From reading the Great Commission, it is also clear that Jesus considered a disciple to be one who would want to learn all His commandments, with the goal of obeying them (see Matthew 28:20). Obviously learning is a process, so no disciple is instantly obedient in everything. However, every true disciple is obviously submitted to Christ, devoted to learning and doing His will, and so is every true believer since all true believers are disciples.

John’s Testimony

Further proof that believers and disciples are one and the same is found in John’s Gospel and his first epistle. Compare the following verses:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35, emphasis added).

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death (1 John 3:14).

Unselfish love for the brethren is what characterizes Christ’s true disciples, and it is also what characterizes those who have passed out of death into life, those who have been born again. The reason is simply because Christ’s disciples are the only ones who have been truly born again.[6]

Abiding Branches in the Vine

One final invitation to salvation that is often interpreted as a call to a “deeper walk” is found in John 15. Here, again, Jesus defines what it means to be His disciple:

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples (John 15:1-8, emphasis added).

How many sermons have been preached admonishing professing Christians to “draw closer to Jesus” and abide in Him so that they can bear much fruit? But Jesus does not want us to think that abiding in Him is an option for heaven-bound believers to consider. Abiding in Him is equivalent to being saved, as Jesus made so clear: “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:6). Those who don’t abide in Christ are damned.[7] Those who do abide in Christ bear fruit, proving themselves to be His disciples, just as Jesus said (see John 15:8). Again we see that truly saved people are fruit-bearing disciples.

Grapes can only grow on a branch that is attached to the vine. It is from the vine that the branch receives its flow of life and all that is necessary to produce fruit. And what a fine analogy of our relationship to Christ is pictured by the vine and branches. When we believe in Christ, we become a living, fruit-producing branch in Him. Just as the sap that flows from the vine is the source of the branch’s ability to produce fruit, so it is the indwelling Holy Spirit who is the source of the believer’s fruit.

And what kind of fruit is produced by the Holy Spirit? Naturally, the Holy Spirit produces the fruit of holiness. Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit found in the fifth chapter of Galatians begins with love, which, as noted previously, is the mark of Christ’s true disciples. That list continues with joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (see Gal. 5:22). These are what the indwelling Holy Spirit produces, and these are what characterize every true believer to some degree. For example, we read that the early disciples were “continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52).[8]

Of course, fruit can ripen and mature, and so it is true for the fruit of the Spirit. Young Christians often have fruit that is still green. Nevertheless, if the Spirit indwells someone (and He does every true believer; see Rom. 8:9), it is impossible for Him not to produce His fruit.

What About the Fruitless Branch in Christ?

But did not Jesus speak of the possibility of a branch “in Him” that produced no fruit? Yes, He did. His statement must be interpreted, however, within the context of His vine and branch analogy. First, note that the fruitless branch “in Him” was “taken away” (John 15:2). At bare minimum, this must mean that the branch that was attached is no longer attached. What happened to the branch after it was “taken away” is somewhat a matter of conjecture. However, once the branch was “taken away” and no longer attached, it obviously was no longer “abiding in the vine.” What happens to branches that don’t abide in the vine? Jesus said a few verses later, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:6).

We, of course, must be careful in interpreting any analogy, parable or metaphor. A metaphor is defined as a comparison of two things that are basically dissimilar but which share some similarities. When I tell my wife that her eyes are like pools, I mean that they are deep, dark, blue and inviting. But that is where the similarities end. I don’t mean that fish swim in them or that ducks land on them or that they freeze over in the winter.

Jesus’ analogies are no different. We can mistakenly search for spiritual significance in details long after the intended similarities end. For example, I would not use Jesus’ “vine and branches” analogy to prove that Christians bear more fruit in the summer months, as do grapevines. That is pouring unwarranted significance into the analogy.

Likewise, I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that Jesus was trying to convey that a true believer in Him might never produce fruit, especially when we realize that the main point of His entire analogy contradicts that very idea. The most logical conclusion is that the fruitless branch that was “in Him” represents a believer who apostatizes (cf. Luke 8:12-13). He thus becomes unfruitful and is ultimately cut off from Christ. In spite of what so many think, such a thing can happen according to Scripture (and I’ll prove it in a later chapter). The only other possibility is that the fruitless branch represents a false believer, supposedly attached to Christ, but obviously dead and not drawing from His life, as evidenced by the absence of fruit. Jesus, however, did not define the branches as including those who only profess to be in Him but are actually not. Clearly, He defined the branches as being those who are in Him.

Those who do produce fruit are promised a pruning by God Himself. Perhaps Jesus was speaking about the radical pruning that occurs at the new birth once a person manifests the initial fruit of faith and repentance.[9] Or perhaps He was describing the ongoing process of sanctification that God performs in the life of every cooperative believer (see Phil. 2:13). Either way, the analogy of God as a vinedresser speaks of His cutting away from our lives what is undesirable to Him. Anything that hinders fruit from being produced by the indwelling Spirit is susceptible to His shears.

A Small Objection

Grasping at spiritual straws, a question is sometimes raised about Joseph of Arimathea, whom the Bible states was a “secret disciple” of Jesus (see John 19:38). How could he be spoken of as being a disciple if his devotion was secret? Does this not contradict all I’ve written about the commitment demonstrated by true disciples?

May I first say that it always troubles me when, after presenting scripture after scripture that proves a certain truth, someone will dig up one obscure verse that seemingly contradicts what I’ve taught. Then he proudly quotes it as if that one verse somehow invalidates all the rest that we’ve just considered. This objection is a case in point. Everything I’ve written about the costly commitment of discipleship has been based on Scripture. I’ve said precisely what the Bible says. So the burden of reconciling the secret discipleship of Joseph of Arimathea with all Jesus taught about the costly commitment of true discipleship falls on all of us, not just me.

Now, to answer the objection: Joseph of Arimathea was very devoted to Jesus, by the biblical record, a “good and righteous man” (Luke 23:50). However, as a prominent member of the Sanhedrin, he kept his devotion secret for “fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). The Jews whom he feared must have been the other members of the Jewish Sanhedrin.

Obviously, Joseph of Arimathea knew there would be some negative consequences if he revealed how he really felt about Jesus. It’s quite possible that what he feared was removal from the Sanhedrin, which would have resulted in losing his opportunity before them as a positive influence for Christ. We learn from Luke 23:51 that Joseph had “not consented” to the Sanhedrin’s “plan and action” concerning the arrest, trial and condemnation of Jesus. And after Jesus’ death, he clearly risked facing what he previously feared, as we learn that “he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus” (Mark 15:43). He then personally prepared the body of Jesus and buried it in his own tomb. Surely there was every possibility that his actions would be discovered by the Sanhedrin! Yet once Jesus had been crucified, it seemed that he no longer cared what his fellow members of the Sanhedrin thought.

Joseph’s commitment to Christ was obvious, and the limited secrecy of his devotion was only temporary. Beyond all this, it is certainly possible to be a devoted disciple of Christ and yet be afraid of negative consequences that might result from that devotion. Joseph of Arimathea certainly had enough other fruit in his life to validate his commitment to Christ.

What About “Carnal” Christians?

Another objection that is often raised is the issue of so-called “carnal Christians.” They are a modern classification of supposedly authentic believers who continually yield to the flesh, and whose carnal behavior makes them indistinguishable from non-Christians. Although they have “accepted Christ” (a very unbiblical phrase), they display no commitment to Him. Many of them have no regular fellowship with other believers and are involved in all kinds of sin, yet they are supposedly secure in God’s grace, heaven-bound.

From where did this concept of carnal Christians originate? Its source is a commonly-held and very twisted interpretation of what Paul wrote in the third chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians:

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? (1 Cor. 3:1-3).

The King James Version translates the same word that the NASB translates fleshly, as “carnal,” thus the origin of the phrase, “carnal Christians.”

The question is, was Paul defining a category of Christians who are indistinguishable from non-Christians due to their following after the fleshly nature? In contradiction to what the rest of the New Testament teaches, many say Yes. “Did not Paul say to these Christians,” they ask, “that they were ‘walking like mere men’ (3:3), indicating that they were acting identically as unsaved people would?”

The answer is found by considering all Paul said about the Corinthians. As we do, we discover that the “carnal Corinthians” were certainly not indistinguishable from unsaved people, because their living faith was manifested by many outward indications of their devotion to Christ. Yes, being two-natured, as are all Christians, they faced the battle between the Spirit and flesh. Many of them, being spiritually immature, were to some degree yielding to their old nature (the flesh), not walking in love toward one another. They were arguing about who their favorite teachers were and showing inconsideration during the Lord’s Supper. Some were filing lawsuits against fellow believers. They needed to grow in the fruit of love, and Paul wrote much to admonish them to that end.

The primary reason for their problem was their own ignorance of what God expected of them. Because they were babes in Christ whom Paul had only fed with the milk of God’s Word rather than the meat (see 3:2), their knowledge was limited. That was why Paul wrote to them and addressed their various wrongs. Once he told them what God expected, he expected them to line up.

The Spiritual, “Carnal” Corinthians

What were some of the works of the Corinthian Christians that identified them as possessing a devoted faith? What characterized them as distinct from non-Christians? Here are some that are revealed by Scripture:

First, when Paul initially preached the gospel at Corinth, he met with great success. God Himself told him that there were many people in Corinth who would be saved (see Acts 18:10), and Paul stayed there for a year and a half. Many “were believing and being baptized” (Acts 18:8). Baptism was their first act of obedience to Christ.

Describing some of the Corinthian Christians, Paul wrote that they had previously been fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards and swindlers (see 1 Cor. 6:9-10). But now they have been washed and sanctified; they had been transformed. This, by itself, disproves the foolish notion that the Corinthians were indistinguishable from non-Christians.

Additionally, Paul instructed the Corinthian Christians “not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one” (1 Cor. 5:11). Obviously, the Corinthian Christians were not guilty of these things themselves, otherwise Paul would have been telling them not to associate or eat with themselves.

Paul’s first Corinthian letter was, in part, a response to a letter he’d received from them concerning several issues. They had asked him questions regarding what was right and wrong, indicating their own desire to do what was right. Was it wrong for single people to get married? How about those who had previously been married? What about eating meats that had been sacrificed to idols? Many of the Corinthian Christians, out of devotion to Christ, refused to eat such meats lest they offend the Lord, an indication of their living faith.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:2: “Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.” Are these people then indistinguishable from non-Christians?

The Corinthian Christians regularly partook of the Lord’s Supper (albeit somewhat inappropriately), obedient to Jesus’ command (see 1 Cor. 11:20-22). They also regularly gathered together for Christian worship (see 1 Cor. 12, 14), something not done by unbelievers in their day.

They were zealous of spiritual gifts (see 1 Cor. 14:12).

Just the fact that both of Paul’s letters to the Corinthian Christians are so full of exhortations to holiness indicates that Paul believed they would heed what he wrote. He instructed them to excommunicate a hypocrite (see 1 Cor. 5:13) and receive monetary collections for poor Christians in Jerusalem (see 1 Cor. 16:1-4), something they had already been zealously doing (see 2 Cor. 8:10; 9:1-2). In this way, they displayed their love for the brethren, exactly what Jesus said would mark His true disciples (see John 13:35).

Paul’s second letter indicates that many, if not most of them, had heeded the instructions of his first letter (see 2 Cor. 7:6-12). Between the two letters, Titus journeyed to Corinth and returned with a good report of their obedience (see 2 Cor. 7:13-16). The babes in Christ were growing up. Yes, there were still some problems in Corinth, and Paul would soon be visiting them personally to resolve what remained.

The conclusion? When Paul wrote that the Corinthian Christians were “walking like mere men,” he obviously did not mean that they were completely indistinguishable from non-Christians in every respect. They were acting just like non-Christians do in one way, but in many other ways they were acting like devoted disciples of Christ.

What About Works That Will Burn?

Another argument that is often used to support the idea of a special class of carnal Christians is based on Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15. In that passage, did not Paul assure the Corinthians that they would be saved even if all of their works were burned at the judgment? Does this not indicate that a person can be completely fruitless yet still be saved?

The context of that passage reveals the error of this argument. Clearly, Paul was writing about rewards that individual ministers will receive or forfeit, based on the quality of their works. Comparing the church to “God’s building” (3:9), and stating that he had laid a foundation “which is Jesus Christ” (3:11), Paul wrote that every minister should “be careful how he builds upon” (3:10) that foundation. It is quite possible to build wrongly. Paul then figuratively mentioned six different building materials that could be used: “gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay [and] straw” (3:12). The first three are of great value and incombustible, whereas the last three are of much lesser value and combustible.

According to Paul, the type of material being used by individual ministers to build God’s building is not necessarily evident now. One day, however, it will be very evident, because “each man’s work…is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work” (3:13). Paul continued:

If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Cor. 3:14-15).

It has been debated as to what kind of works constitute “gold, silver and precious stones works,” and what kind constitute “wood, hay and straw works.” It is undoubtedly true, however, that ministers who “build” God’s building with bricks of phony Christians and the mortar of a false gospel will find this passage to be very applicable when the Lord tests the quality of their work. Many unholy people who presently are within the church will ultimately find themselves in the fires of hell, and the minister who “won them to Christ” or assured them of their salvation by means of proclaiming a false grace will realize that all his efforts amounted to nothing in building the true “temple of God” (3:16). What he built will burn, and he shall “suffer loss” (3:15), receiving no reward. Yet he himself, if he is a true believer, “shall be saved, yet so as through fire” (3:15).

Clearly, Paul’s intention in this passage was not to assure so-called “carnal Christians” that they could be completely fruitless and still be confident of their salvation. He was writing about the rewards that ministers will receive or forfeit based upon the quality of their work that will be revealed at the judgment.

Yes, true Christians may sometimes act carnally. Any time they yield to the flesh, they can be said to be acting like “mere men.” However, there is no special group of “carnal Christians” in the body of Christ, heaven-bound but yielding completely to their fleshly nature. As Paul said in his letter to the Romans,

For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die [or “perish” as the NLT says[10]]; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God (Rom. 8:13-14, emphasis added).

And as he wrote to the Galatian Christians, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24).

What Would You Have Done If…

The story, probably fictitious, has been frequently told of a small church in a remote village of Central America. One Sunday morning, just as the regular service was about to begin, the doors into the back of the sanctuary burst open, and two unshaven men trooped in, wearing combat fatigues and brandishing machine guns. Belts of machine gun bullets were draped across their chests.

Fear gripped the hearts of the congregation. Communist guerrillas in their region had been known to unmercifully slaughter Christians. Was this their time?

One of the men called for silence and then spoke. “You Christians are always talking about going to see your Savior, the One you say is the Son of God. Well, today is your lucky day, because in a few minutes you are going to find out if your God really exists! Line up along the walls on either side of this church!

The congregation quickly moved through the pews to either side of the sanctuary.

“Now, before we kill you, we want to make sure that it is only true believers who die. Anyone here who really doesn’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God may exit past us through the rear doors of the sanctuary. Move quickly!”

Many didn’t hesitate. Within a minute, half the congregation was gone.

When the last person filed out, the doors were locked shut. The one guerrilla watched through a side window as those who exited the church ran from the premises. Then, as he laid down his gun, a smile filled his face, and he spoke once more: “Brethren, please forgive us. We wanted to worship the Lord with you this morning, but we only wanted to worship with true Christians. Now, let’s praise the Lord together!” And what a church service they had that morning!

This story is usually told to provoke professing Christians to consider what they would have done if they had been present that morning. However, believing this story to be authentic requires us to overlook the fact that two machine-gun carrying Christians acted deceitfully while breathing murderous threats and denouncing Christ, just to worship God among true believers! By their actions, did they not deny Christ every bit as much as those who ran from the church that morning?

This being so, I would like to alter this fictitious story just slightly, changing the ending. Although my alteration is also fictitious, it is the way similar stories have ended thousands of times:

Within a minute, half the congregation was gone.

When the last person filed out, the doors were locked shut. The one guerrilla watched through a side window as those who exited the church ran from the premises. Then, as he aimed his machine gun at the remaining group of devoted disciples, an ugly grimace filled his face, and he spoke once more: “Prepare to meet your God.” With those words his finger pulled the trigger. And what a church service they had that morning, in the presence of their Lord!

Footnotes

[1] John Dillenberger, ed., Martin Luther (New York: Doubleday, 1961), p. 24.

[2] Demons, of course, can’t possess saving faith because salvation has not been offered to them.

[3]How enlightening it is to examine what Scripture says about the fear of the Lord. For example, the psalmist wrote, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments….How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments” (Ps. 111:10; 112:1). In the New Testament, we are commanded to fear God (see 1 Pet. 2:17), and are admonished to “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1, emphasis added).

[4] If the expression of taking up one’s cross was not a common expression, but one that Jesus coined, then at bare minimum, it still must represent a high degree of self-denial. Some commentators suggest that it represents taking the first step in a determination to live the rest of one’s life on the journey to death to self. Others think Jesus meant that His followers must make a commitment of willingness to die for Him. Regardless, the remaining sentences in this passage expand on what it means to take up one’s cross.

[5] Also note a similar expression by Jesus recorded in John 12:25: “He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal” (emphasis added). Clearly, Jesus was referring to eternal life, not physical life.

[6] Note also that unselfish love, expressed by meeting pressing needs of Christ’s brethren, was what characterized the saved people at the Matthew 25:31-46 judgment, considered previously in chapter 3.

[7] Note that it was not their works that are burned, as some want us to think. The branches themselves were burned.

[8] The first believers of Acts were also noted for their love, peace, kindness and goodness; see Acts 9:31, 36; 11:24.

[9] This idea is supported somewhat by the fact that Jesus told His disciples that they were already pruned because of the word He had spoken to them (see John 15:3). The word translated clean in this verse in the NASB is the same word translated prune in 15:2.

[10] Obviously, Paul was not warning them about dying physically, because everyone, no matter how he behaves, “must die” physically. Rather, Paul was warning about spiritual and eternal death.

Standing on your right is an elderly Korean woman, the wrinkles of many hard years etched across her face. To your left stands a short, young Russian man. His worn clothing and calloused hands make you suspect he was a farmer or factory worker.

Like everyone else in the sea of people around you, those two silently stare at the raised platform off in the distance. From your vantage, hundreds of yards away, it appears to be at least forty feet high. It shines with a brilliance unlike anything you’ve ever seen, as if it were made from gold, encased in one huge diamond. A solitary piece of furniture sits on the front of the platform, what is obviously a king’s throne. The hushed multitudes gaze with wonderment. Obviously something awesome is about to happen on the surreal stage.

Daring to pull your eyes away for just a moment, you survey the crowd around you. There are more people than you’ve ever seen, stretching for what must be miles in every direction. In fact, you realize that no ground is visible in any direction; even the horizon is made up of far-away people bordered by a golden sky that stretches like a dome above them.

Studying those nearby, you note that they are a kaleidoscope of every kind of people—white, red, brown and black. Some are wearing business suits; others various kinds of ethnic dress; a few others wear only loincloths. The only similarity they share is that all are silent, and all stand transfixed, staring at the shining stage and its golden throne.

His Appearance

Suddenly, a sound breaks the silence. Coming from the platform is heard a deep, resonating chord, powerful and majestic, unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Its crescendo is like a mixture of a thousand symphonies coupled with the roar of Niagara.

A glistening rainbow arches over the stage, and then a Being appears, seated on the throne. His form is barely discernible, for His brilliance is like the sun. His presence is felt by all, and as they shield their eyes from His glory, one collective thought seizes their minds: He is pure—purer than the freshest spring water or crystal snowflakes. He is Holy. Nothing is hidden from His sight. Hearts race.

The brilliant Being lifts up His arms, hands clasped together, and then pulls them apart, sweeping His arms to each side. Instantly you feel an invisible power lifting you upward, until you find yourself floating, along with many others, above the heads of a few who remain in their places. Together, you are pulled by an irresistible force to the right, while you observe that the few below you are pulled to the left, and once the two groups are separated, the invisible force sets you down again on your feet. Neither the Korean woman nor Russian man are with you now.

The great Being speaks to the mass on His left. His voice is not audible, but deep within, you hear His unmistakable utterance. Obviously, from looking at the shock on the faces of those around you, everyone else is hearing the same words in his or her own language:

Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me (Matt. 25:41-43).

In unbelieving horror, the once-silent crowd collectively responds with a cacophony of questions: “Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?” (Matt. 25:44). “Surely You’ve never been in those conditions! You’re the Lord! We see You now, shining like the sun; if we had seen You before, we would have known it! What in the world do You mean that we had seen You before, starving, thirsty, homeless, naked, sick or in prison?”

He answers: “Those who believed in Me on earth became one with Me. They became members of My body and I came to live in them. I placed My love in them. Thus it is obvious who truly believed in Me. Those who did, loved My brethren. Those who didn’t love My brethren didn’t believe in Me or love Me. And those who did love My brethren demonstrated their love. They cared about their brethren who were suffering, and they did what they could to relieve their pain, even if it cost them money or time. They denied themselves, truly following Me. They didn’t do those kind deeds to earn salvation—they did it because they were transformed by My grace.

“I even warned you of this very judgment, and My warning is recorded in Matthew, chapter 25. You didn’t heed My warning, and now it’s too late. Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did not do it to Me. Depart from Me into the everlasting fire.”

The Condemnation

His words are final. There is no sense arguing. It seems impossible, but you are condemned. As a new gravity begins to pull you downward, images race through your mind. Together, they constitute your former idea of what Christianity is all about:

Church services. Hundreds of them.

Church dinners.

Church picnics.

Church choir practices.

Church committee meetings.

Sermons and more sermons. What did the pastor say about the judgment of Matthew 25? Now you see him standing in the pulpit: “This judgment of the sheep and goats is not a judgment that Christians will face, but is considered by many Bible scholars to be a final judgment of unbelievers.”

How foolish! Why didn’t we notice that there were believers at the Matthew 25 judgment scene? Why didn’t we notice that the crowd at this judgment consisted of “all the nations”?

Another scene flashes into your mind: Listening to a radio preacher in your car while driving to work: “This judgment of Matthew 25 is not one Christians need fear. Most likely, it is a judgment of various nations after the Tribulation Period. Those nations that extended kindness to the nation of Israel will be permitted to enter the Millennium. They are represented by the sheep. Those that were unkind to Israel during the Tribulation, the goats, will be sent to hell.”

As your descent accelerates, more images enter your mind, things that consumed all your time, energy and money on the earth, so that you had no time, energy or money to assist suffering Christians. Now you see all those things in a brand new light:

Watching TV and paying the cable bills.

Hobbies.

Taking care of pets.

Vacations.

Christmas time. Loads of new toys.

Sports.

Church services.

New electronic gadgets.

Eating out.

Buying the latest fashions.

Surfing the internet.

Seconds later, you stand before the gates of hell. One final thought springs into your spinning mind before the horror of your eternal nightmare overtakes every cell of your brain: Didn’t the money that I gave to the church count for something? Your conscience, now free from being suppressed by all the former lies, speaks clearly: The church you attended gave no money to help destitute and suffering believers. The small amount of money that you gave to your church helped pay for the mortgage, so you could have a building in which to enjoy church services. Your money also helped pay the utility bills, so you could be warm in winter and cool in summer during your church services. Your money also helped pay for the Sunday School curriculum so your children could have fun classes. Your money also helped pay for the pastor’s and staff salaries, whose time was spent completely on activities related to keeping the congregation happy. Your money thus benefited you, and it was not given out of love for God, but love for yourself. And, in fact, you gave less than your fair share compared to other church members, effectively sponging off them. Additionally, what little you did give required no sacrifice on your part. Demonic laughter echoes from the smoke-filled canyons beyond Hell’s gates.

In the past year, how many hungry Christians have you fed? How many thirsty believers have you supplied with drinking water? How many homeless children of God have you provided with shelter? How many naked Christians have you furnished with clothing? How many sick or imprisoned followers of Christ have you visited? If you were to die at this moment and stand in the judgment Jesus described in Matthew 25, would you be among the sheep or goats? These can be sobering questions for those whose lives more closely resemble that of the goats.

The Truth about the Sheep and Goats Judgment

Are Jesus’ words of warning in Matthew 25:31-46 applicable to us? Or did He describe a judgment from which Christians are exempt?

We can begin to answer that question by noting that there will indeed be saved individuals, Christian believers, who are a part of that future judgment. No one can intelligently dispute that the sheep, those on Jesus’ right, are not saved people and Christian believers. They “inherit the kingdom prepared for [them] from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). They are called “the righteous” who receive “eternal life” (Matt. 25:46).

The theory that the separation of the sheep and goats is not a separation of individuals, but of nations, based on how they treat Israel during the Tribulation, is also exposed as being absurd by considering these same facts. Moreover, are we to believe that after two chapters of warnings from Jesus’ lips that address the responsibility of individuals, His words now suddenly apply only to geo-political nations? And is He warning us in order that we will make sure we’re living in one of the “sheep” countries if we’re alive on the earth during the Tribulation? And are we to believe that the country we’re living in, regardless of our personal actions or opinions about Israel during the Tribulation, is what determines if we will receive eternal life or eternal damnation?

Also against this idea of geo-political nations being separated rather than individuals is the fact that the word nations (25:32) is not a reference to geo-political nations of the world, of which there are presently about two hundred. The Greek word, ethne, refers to ethnic groups, distinct from each other by such things as their language, culture, geographical location and such, and of which there are at least ten thousand in the world today. Jesus said that “all the nations will be gathered before Him” (Matt. 25:32, emphasis added), indicating that there is no ethnic group that will not be found at this judgment. Are we to think that He is going to separate ethnic groups from each other, into sheep and goat categories, based on how they treated Israel during the Tribulation? Will He take all the Koreans from among the scores of nations in which they reside, and allow them entrance into the Millennium if, for instance, the majority of them were kind toward Israel during the Tribulation? The theory becomes more absurd the more it is considered.

A Second Poor Theory

Is it possible that the believers mentioned in the Matthew 25 judgment are a special group of Christians, such as those who will be saved during the Tribulation? Perhaps, but such an idea is not even intimated by Jesus. Are you willing to rest your eternal salvation on something Jesus didn’t say?

Even if we suppose that only a certain group of tribulational Christians will be part of the Matthew 25 judgment, is there any good reason to believe that they will be judged by a different or higher criteria than all others who will ultimately “inherit the kingdom prepared for [them] from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34)? No, there isn’t, especially when so many other scriptures convey the same concept in other words. For example, in John’s first epistle we find an echo of Matthew 25:31-46:

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death….We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him (1 John 3:14, 16-19).

John couldn’t have made it clearer that true Christians, those who have passed from being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive, naturally love their fellow Christians. And the love of which John writes is not a mere sentimental feeling, but a true love expressed by action, specifically in providing essential material needs. John wrote that when we express our love for the brethren in such ways, it assures us that we are “of the truth” (1 John 3:19). If we have the means to help a fellow believer whom we know is facing critical, essential needs, but don’t help him, God’s love does not abide in us, and we will have no assurance that we have passed from death to life.

James and John the Baptist Agree

Another echo of Matthew 25:31-46 is found in James’ epistle. He also equated love of the brethren, expressed through providing pressing material needs, as a sign of authentic faith and salvation:

What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself (Jas. 2:14-17).

According to James, faith void of works cannot save us. And specifically what kind of works did he then mention to illustrate his point? The works of providing food and clothing for poor brethren.

Yet another echo of Matthew 25:31-46 is heard in the preaching of John the Baptist. No one can intelligently argue that John was not preaching a message of repentance that led to forgiveness of sins, referred to by Luke as being “the gospel” (see Luke 3:3, 18). John warned his audiences that unless they repented and brought forth fruit, hell was their destiny (see Matt. 3:7-12; Luke 3:7-17). Thus, John’s message should certainly be considered one about salvation.

When questioned by the convicted multitudes on what they should specifically do to demonstrate their repentance, John responded, “Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise” (Luke 3:11). John was obviously calling people to repent of their selfishness, selfishness manifested by their ignoring the desperate needs of their naked, starving neighbors. If they had responded by saying, “We have faith in the Messiah whom you say is coming soon, but we will not have compassion on the poor among us,” do you suppose that John would have assured them of their salvation?

Jesus’ Consistent Message

Additional echoes of Matthew 25:31-46 are found in Jesus’ other teachings. The rich young ruler (whose story is found in three of the four Gospels) came to Jesus seeking eternal life (see Matt. 19:16). Jesus told him to keep the commandments and listed six in particular, which the rich young ruler subsequently claimed to have kept from his youth. Jesus then told him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess, and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Luke 18:22). And this, the rich young man would not do.

Was Jesus actually telling him that in order to get into heaven, he had to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor? As difficult as it is for many to admit it, the answer is yes. Jesus’ very next words, as the rich man sadly walked away, were, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:24-25, emphasis added). Jesus was talking about getting into heaven (see also Matt. 19:23).

Obviously Jesus’ words have application, not just to one rich man who lived 2,000 years ago, but to any and all wealthy people who want eternal life but who refuse to repent of greed and selfishness as it relates to the poor. Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” (Luke 18:24). It wouldn’t be “hard” for them if they weren’t required to give up any of their possessions. But because they refuse to love their neighbor as themselves by sharing their material wealth, thus refusing to repent and submit to God, they can’t be saved. Is this not a very loud echo of Matthew 25:31-46? The rich young ruler will be among the goats.

It should be noted that Jesus certainly does not want anyone to believe that he can earn eternal life by giving away all his material wealth. Eternal life is received by believing in, and thus following Jesus. That was what the rich young ruler lacked. His wealth is what stood in the way of his following Jesus. His money was his master, as was evidenced by his actions, and so Jesus could not be his master. As Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24).

More Echoes

What is the obvious message of Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus? A wealthy, uncompassionate man who ignores the pathetic plight of an impoverished man at his doorstep, dies and goes to hell (see Luke 16:19-31). Another goat.

How about Jesus’ parable of the rich man found in Luke 12:16-21? Jesus prefaced it with the solemn warning, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). Then He told the parable:

The land of a certain rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, “What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?” And he said, “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.’” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?” So is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Although Jesus didn’t say the man went to hell, it doesn’t seem reasonable to conclude that this selfish rich man went to heaven. God called him a fool, because at his death, he was materially rich but spiritually poor. Jesus wasn’t condemning the man’s prosperity; in fact, God was at least partially responsible for the man’s prosperity—He sent favorable weather that resulted in a bumper crop. Jesus was, however, condemning what the man did with his prosperity. Instead of considering what God would have him do with his abundance, he only thought of himself, retired early, and planned to live the rest of his life in ease. The very night he made his selfish decision, he died. Will he be a sheep or goat at the Matthew 25 judgment?

Jesus pronounced that salvation had come to Zaccheus’ house after Zaccheus declared he would give half his possessions to the poor and pay back those he had defrauded fourfold (see Luke 19:8-9). How would Jesus have responded if Zaccheus had said, “Lord, I accept You as my Lord and Savior, but I will continue to defraud people and ignore the plight of the poor”?

Jesus, of course, lived what He preached. Perfectly obedient to the Law, He must have given to the poor all His life. Scripture informs us that He gave to the poor during His ministry (see John 12:6; 13:29). When Christ comes to live within a believer, is He the same Christ who gives to the poor? Of course He is. Jesus Himself said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also” (John 14:12).

The First Christians Care for the Poor

Matthew 25:31-46 echoes through the book of Acts, where we discover that taking care of the poor was a regular feature of New Testament life. Apparently those first believers took seriously Jesus’ command to His followers, “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys” (Luke 12:33):

And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were common property to them….and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, and lay them at the apostles’ feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35).

Notice Luke’s mentioning in the above passages that God’s grace was behind all the sharing in the first church. The same grace that forgave those early Christians also transformed them.

Scripture is clear that the early church fed and provided for the pressing needs of poor widows (see Acts 6:1; 1 Tim. 5:3-10). Was it because they were trying to earn their salvation? No, it was because they had repented of greed and had been regenerated by the Holy Spirit.

Paul, the greatest apostle to have ever lived, entrusted by God to take the gospel to the Gentiles, human author of a large majority of New Testament epistles, considered ministering to the material needs of the poor an essential part of his ministry. Among the churches he founded, Paul raised large sums of money for poor Christians (see Acts 11:27-30; 24:17; Rom. 15:25-28; 1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 8-9; Gal. 2:10). At least seventeen years after his conversion, Paul journeyed to Jerusalem to submit the gospel he’d received to the scrutiny of Peter, James and John. None of them could find anything wrong with the message he’d been preaching, and as Paul recounted the occasion in his Galatian letter, he remembered, “They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do” (Gal. 2:10). In the minds of Peter, James, John and Paul, showing compassion to the poor was second only to the proclamation of the gospel.

Paul’s Teaching Against Greed

Paul also warned against greed using the strongest terms. He equated it to idolatry (see Eph. 5:3-5 and Col. 3:5), and emphatically declared that greedy people would not enter God’s kingdom:

But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints….For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous [greedy][1] man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience (Eph. 5:3, 5-6, emphasis added; see also 1 Cor. 5:11; 6:9-11).

What is greed? It is a selfish desire for possessions and wealth. It is possible to have an unselfish desire for material wealth when one’s ultimate motive is to share what one acquires. In fact, one can’t materially bless others unless he is first blessed himself. However, when a person lives to acquire and accumulate material possessions for personal pleasure—when that pursuit becomes his highest priority—he is guilty of greed.

The Selfish Acquiring of Money

Greed is an attitude of the heart, but one that cannot remain hidden. It always manifests itself by what people do to acquire money and material things and by what they do with their money and material things once they are acquired. Let’s first consider the acquiring side of greed. When the acquiring of material things is one’s chief aim in life, rich or poor, that person is sinning. Jesus warned even poor believers against this sin, people who were tempted to worry about basic necessities:

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span? And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith? Do not be anxious then, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “With what shall we clothe ourselves?” For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you (Matt. 6:24-33).

Notice that Jesus began this portion of His Sermon on the Mount by warning about the impossibility of serving God and money. He equated greed with making money our god, that is, allowing money to direct our lives rather than God. Jesus warned His audience against making the pursuit of even basic necessities their consuming desire. How much truer are His words when applied to the pursuit of non-essential material things? The primary pursuit of Christ’s true followers should be “His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Of course, Christians can and must have other pursuits. Jesus didn’t say, “seek only,” but “seek first.”

Hard work in itself is not an outward manifestation of greed, but it can be. When a person works long hours in order to attain a certain standard of living, and his devotion to Christ is negatively affected, he has made money his god. The ancient proverb admonishes those who fall into this category: “Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens” (Prov. 23:4-5).

Making money dishonestly or unethically is always wrong and is another manifestation of greed. The Word of God states, “He who increases his wealth by interest and usury, gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor” (Prov. 28:8).[2]

Scripture commends the one who increases his wealth by honest means and who gives away a portion of his earnings (see Prov. 13:11; 22:9). Likewise, Scripture condemns slothfulness and laziness for several reasons, one being that the person who has no earnings subsequently has nothing to share with those who are needy (see Eph. 4:28). When the goal of making money is to have money to share, making money is virtuous.

The Selfish Use of Money

Now let’s consider how greed is manifested once money has been acquired. In this regard, greed is the selfish use of money. What is it that could make it morally wrong to spend all the money that you’ve legitimately earned on yourself? Does it have something to do with the fact that others, including many of God’s own children, who work just as hard if not harder (or who are unable to work), struggle just to survive, lacking basic necessities such as sufficient food? Is it morally right that one person lives in luxury while others fall asleep hungry each night through no fault of their own?

There are, of course, a myriad of excuses for doing nothing to assist desperately poor believers and non-believers, but well-fed Christians will find no solace from the Bible. Although no one can rightfully set up arbitrary rules concerning how much should be given and how much should be kept, the consensus of Scripture is clear: Christians who are able to give to the poor are expected by God to give, especially to impoverished fellow believers (see Gal. 6:10). Professing Christians who demonstrate no such concern are very likely counterfeit Christians, and this obviously includes many among modern Christendom who have bought into the modern lie of a customized Christianity of selfish convenience.

According to a Gallup pole, only 25% of evangelical Christians tithe. Forty percent claim that God is the most important thing in their lives, yet those who make between $50-75,000 per year give an average of 1.5 percent of their incomes to charity, including religious charity. Meanwhile, they spend an average of 12% of their incomes on leisure pursuits.[3]

Greed is not only expressed by what we do with our money, but also by what we do with our time. If all our time is spent on selfish pursuits or pleasures, we are being greedy. The time God has given to us on this earth is a sacred trust. We should spend as much of our time as we can in serving. All of us, not just pastors, can obey Jesus’ command to visit fellow believers who are sick or imprisoned.

Greed’s Justifications

Like every sin, greed has its excuses. One is that because we pay taxes, a portion of which is used to help impoverished people, we are relieved of any individual responsibility to help them.

I suppose it is good that our government feels some responsibility to help the poor. However, much of what the government gives to the poor is actually in opposition to God’s will. According to God’s Word, poor people who are able to work but who refuse to do so should not be supported: “If anyone will not work, neither let him eat” (2 Thes. 3:10). Moreover, poor people who are poor because of their practice of sin should first demonstrate some repentance before they are assisted. Governments should not offer monetary incentives to encourage people’s laziness, irresponsibility or immoral behavior. Unlike the government, our giving should be done intelligently, with the ultimate purpose of furthering God’s kingdom. When we help the unsaved poor, we should also share the gospel with them. This, the government does not do.

Additionally, our government does very little if anything to help impoverished Christians in other countries, and we have a responsibility to our world-wide family, not just those within the geographical boundaries of our own nation.

How Poor Are We?

Another excuse for our greed is that so many of us think we’re poor ourselves; thus we think we’re not expected to help the poor. But just how poor are we? 1.3 billion people in the world live on an income of less than a dollar per day. Another 2 billion live on less than two dollars a day. (I’ve just described more than half of the world’s population.)

According to United Nations statistics, 1.45 billion people still have no access to health services; 1.33 billion do not have access to safe water; 2.25 billion do not have access to sanitation. Since you began reading this chapter, over five hundred children have died from hunger or preventable diseases. Five hundred mothers are weeping right now over a child they’ve lost in the past 25 minutes due to malnutrition or a preventable disease. If we remain indifferent, how are we any different than the rich man who ignored Lazarus?

In his book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Ron Sider quotes economist Robert Heilbroner, who “itemized the ‘luxuries we would have to abandon if we were to adopt the lifestyle of our 1.3 billion neighbors who live in desperate poverty’”:

We begin by invading the house of our imaginary American family to strip it of its furniture. Everything goes: beds, chairs, tables, television set, lamps. We will leave the family with a few old blankets, a kitchen table, a wooden chair. Along with the bureaus go the clothes. Each member of the family may keep in his “wardrobe” his oldest suit or dress, a shirt or blouse. We will permit a pair of shoes for the head of the family, but none for the wife or children.

We move to the kitchen. The appliances have already been taken out, so we turn to the cupboards….The box of matches may stay, a small bag of flour, some sugar, and salt. A few moldy potatoes, already in the garbage can, must be hastily rescued, for they will provide much of tonight’s meal. We will leave a handful of onions, and a dish of dried beans. All the rest we take away: the meat, the fresh vegetables, the canned goods, the crackers, the candy.

Now we have stripped the house: the bathroom has been dismantled, the running water shut off, the electric wires taken out. Next we take away the house. The family can move to the tool shed….

Communications must go next. No more newspapers, magazines, books—not that they are missed, since we must take away our family’s literacy as well. Instead, in our shantytown we will allow one radio….

Now government services must go. No more postman, no more firemen. There is a school, but it is three miles away and consists of two classrooms….There are, of course, no hospitals or doctors nearby. The nearest clinic is ten miles away and is tended by a midwife. It can be reached by bicycle, provided that the family has a bicycle, which is unlikely….

Finally, money. We will allow our family a cash hoard of $5.00. This will prevent our breadwinner from experiencing the tragedy of an Iranian peasant who went blind because he could not raise the $3.94, which he mistakenly thought he needed to receive admission to a hospital where he could have been cured.[4]

What Can’t We Afford?

Our excuse that we cannot afford to help our desperately poor brothers and sisters in Christ is exposed as blatant hypocrisy by what we can afford: monthly cable TV, cellular phones, magazine subscriptions, pet food, expensive entertainment, hobbies and vacations, new cars, dining out, the latest fashions in clothing, cigarettes, junk food, the newest electronic gadgets, as well as hoards of senseless Christmas and birthday gifts for our children. Take a look around your home or apartment and note all that you possess that no one possessed a century ago. People survived for thousands of years without any of these “necessities,” and most of the world continues to live without them. Yet the income of many professing Christians is consumed by the acquiring of these things. All the while, the one we call our Lord cries out, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:19-21).

Not only must we have what the neighbors have, we must have what they have now, so we purchase these depreciating items by borrowing money, resulting in a good portion of our income going toward the paying of interest. In many cases, more than one-fourth of people’s income is spent on interest, and often only because of their desire for instant selfish gratification. Will God accept their excuse that they couldn’t afford to do anything to relieve the sufferings of His impoverished children?

I’m certainly not advocating that one must live in squalor to be a Christian, or that it is a sin for Christians to own modern conveniences. But Scripture teaches that God wants us to share a portion of our income with the poor. God blesses us, at least in part, to enable us to be a blessing to others.

“But what good would the little I could give do in light of the world’s needs?” some offer as an excuse. The translation of this excuse is, “I can’t do everything, so I’ll do nothing.” The truth is that you can give a little and dramatically improve one person’s life. By giving two dollars a day, you could double the income of one person among the 3.3 billion who live on less than two dollars a day.

“Didn’t Jesus say that the world would always have poor people?” some say. “Then why should we work to eliminate what Jesus said would always exist?” Yes, Jesus did say, “For the poor you always have with you,” but He went on to say, “and whenever you wish, you can do them good” (Mark 14:7). We will always have opportunity to demonstrate God’s love for the poor, and Jesus obviously assumed that we would, at least occasionally, wish to do them good.

Some think that our responsibility is only to assist poor Christians, thus we can maintain a clear conscience as we ignore the plight of poor pagans. Although Scripture emphasizes our responsibility towards fellow believers, it certainly doesn’t limit us to caring only for those within our spiritual family. For example, Proverbs 25:21 states, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.”

There are a myriad of other excuses that cardboard Christians use to justify their selfishness, but none of them nullifies the clear commands of Christ and the Scriptures.

What Must We Do?

The only proper response to any of Christ’s commands against which we are transgressing is to repent. Where do you start? Begin by doing a spiritual inventory. If you’ve lived a lifestyle characterized by greed, you aren’t truly born again yet. Repent of all known sins in your life and call on the Lord in faith to be your Savior and absolute Lord and Master. Turn over everything to Him and submit yourself as His slave.

Next, take a financial inventory. Do you have an income? Then you should be giving away a portion of it. The most basic standard under the Law of Moses was to tithe, which means to give a tenth of your income, and tithing is a good starting place for every Christian who has an income. If you decide to give your entire tithe to your church, make sure your church regularly and significantly gives help to the poor. Otherwise, I wouldn’t give my church a full ten percent. (Personally, neither would I attend a church that wasn’t regularly giving to the poor.)

You can’t afford to give a tenth of your income? Then something has to change. You must either increase your income or decrease your expenses. Usually the most feasible of those two options is to decrease expenses. Sure it will require self-denial. But that is what following Christ is all about (see Matt. 16:24).

How can you reduce your expenses? Make a list of everything on which you spent money last month. Then start scratching off that list the most non-essential expenses until those scratched-off expenses equal ten percent of your income. Until your income increases, spend no money on what has been scratched off your list. Now you can tithe.

Eliminating Debt

If you are like most Americans, you already have considerable personal debt. Now as a true follower of Christ, you should desire to get out of debt so you’ll have more money to give away. Begin by eliminating high-interest debt such as credit card debt. There are four ways you can get money to pay off your debt: (1) increase your income, (2) sell non-essential items you own, (3) pull out your expense list once more and continue scratching off the most non-essential expenses, eliminating them from your budget, and (4) lower certain expenses by economizing. For example, you can turn your thermostat even lower than usual in the winter months, add more covers to your bed, and save on heating bills. If people took all four of these options seriously, they could soon eliminate their credit card debt.

If you can’t control credit card spending (and if you have credit card debt, that’s a good indication that you can’t), then cut up your credit cards. (This is called plastic surgery.)

Next, work to eliminate all debt on depreciating items. You can do that by using the income you used to pay off high-interest debt. Once you’ve paid off what you owe on depreciating items, save and invest the income you formerly used for payments, and from then on purchase all depreciating items with cash. In other words, if you can’t pay for something with cash, don’t buy it. And don’t buy what you don’t need.

Using the same means, work to eliminate all debt on appreciating items.

Finally, chart your financial course for the remaining years of your life. Consistently smart, unselfish choices can result in enabling you to be a big blessing to the poor. There are scores of ways that most of us could live more simply, enabling us to give away more money. For example, the person who buys used cars all his life, paying cash, as opposed to purchasing new cars with credit, is enabled to give away tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars during his life, depending on the age of the cars he buys and how long he keeps them. We can make decisions regarding housing, clothing, transportation, hobbies, pets, gifts, vacations, destructive habits, food and entertainment that can enable us to save and give away thousands of dollars.

A Word to the Wealthy

What if you are a wealthy person even by American standards, and you have excess money saved or invested, should you give it all away? Yes. However, sometimes the shared earnings from invested capital can be a bigger blessing than giving away the capital. For example, if you have $100,000 invested that is earning a 10% return, you could give away $10,000 every year for the rest of your life. This is a good reason for any Christian to consider investing a portion of his excess money once he is out of debt.[5] Of course, as a follower of Christ, you should not invest in anything that would be displeasing to God.

Every follower of Christ, especially those who are wealthy, should realize that God is the source of his wealth (see Deut. 8:18). Thus the blesser has the absolute right to direct what the blessee does with the blessing. True disciples of Christ have turned over all their material possessions to Christ’s lordship. Jesus said, “So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions” (Luke 14:33). Every financial decision is a spiritual decision for those who have truly submitted themselves to Jesus.

Those who are blessed abundantly should be very generous. To Timothy Paul wrote,

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed (1 Tim. 6:17-19, emphasis added).

Clearly, Paul believed that wealthy people could only hope to “take hold of that which is life indeed” (eternal life) if they “rich in good works” and “generous and ready to share.” Greedy people go to hell.

How much of your income should you give away? As much as you possibly can. I guarantee that in heaven, you will not regret any sacrifice you made on the earth.

The more you deny yourself, the more you are like Christ. Keep in mind that the amount of money given away is not nearly as significant as the amount of sacrifice expressed in the giving. We read in Mark’s Gospel:

And [Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the multitude were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on” (Mark 12:41-44).

Channels of Blessing

How can you get money into the hands of the desperately poor of this world? There are many worthy ministries the serve the poor, but do your homework, specifically investigating the salaries of those who lead them. Some ministry heads are making hundreds of thousands of dollars each year while they solicit your gifts for the poor (see CharityNavigator.org for help).

Two branches of the ministry that I oversee, I Was Hungry and Orphan’s Tear, exist to meet the pressing needs of very poor believers in developing nations. 100% of your contributions are sent to the beneficiaries of your kindness.

God promises to reward those who help the poor as well as discipline those who ignore them:

He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered….He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses (Prov. 21:13; 28:27).

A True Story

In conclusion, I want to share with you a touching interview of a poor Christian man named Pablito, who lived with his family on the edge of a large public dump in Manila, Philippines. This interview was originally published in Christian Aid’s quarterly magazine, Christian Mission,[6] along with the following editor’s note:

In 1985 the Association of Philippine Churches (APC) sent a young missionary couple, Nemuel and Ruth Palma, to the poorest of the poor, Manila’s dump dwellers. Here hundreds of families live in rows of hovels stacked up like matchboxes, with dirty plastic sheets or pieces of flattened tin cans for roofs, and sackcloth and cardboard milkboxes for walls. An average family of seven lives in a structure no better than a pig sty, and no bigger than a full-sized bed!

The terrible stench, the utter filthiness, the continual burning of garbage, the presence of dens of thieves and hoodlums, prompted one APC worker to describe it as “man’s version of hell, where the worms do not die, and the fire is everlasting.” It is a place where rats outnumber children by the thousands, and flies outnumber the rats by the millions.

The Interview of Pablito

Q. When did you come to know the Lord Jesus?

A. I received the Lord as my Savior through the witness of an APC worker five years ago. But my faith has been greatly strengthened through the testimony of my three little children.

At the time when I came to Christ, I was a street vendor selling smuggled cigarettes. I immediately realized that this was not consistent with my Christian faith, so I stopped peddling cigarettes and started selling local newspapers and magazines on the sidewalks.

But though I was selling a lot and making more profit, I did not stay long in this business either because I found out that they contained dirty pictures and pornographic stories.

Q. How did you become a garbage scavenger?

A. I really wanted to live the life of a true Christian. So I built a small wooden pushcart and went around Manila’s public markets scavenging the garbage dumps for food leftovers, used bottles and tin cans which I sell for recycling.

Compared to cigarette and newspaper vending, it is very hard and dirty work. I am always tired after a day’s work and I smell terrible. But I feel clean inside, and that is what is important to myself and my family. We want to have clean hearts and minds before the Lord.

Q. How was your life affected when your children received Christ?

A. My family and I have a small home at the south corner of the dump. It is only a shanty built with things I found in the dump, but it is a home full of joy because we all love the Lord. We have family devotions every evening. Our daughters are always singing songs they have learned at Bible classes. How I love to hear them sing! They are the sunshine of my life.

My daughters’ enthusiasm for attending church and Sunday school, and praying, has greatly affected my wife and me. In the Palma’s classes they are taught about hygiene, so my daughters want to wear clean clothes all the time.

They also urge my wife and me to wear clean clothes when we are not scavenging. As a result, our family seems to stand out here in the neighborhood. Our neighbors tease me when I wear my Sunday best by calling me “Mr. Lawyer.” I just smile at this, because I know deep inside they, too, want to be clean—both inside and out.

Q. How do you grow in the Lord?

A. Our three little girls attend the feeding and educational program conducted by Nemuel and Ruth Palma. My wife and I attend the weekly Bible study for parents held by the Palmas at the dump.

I feel grateful to the Lord for making our lives happy despite our poverty. So much so that I find myself sharing this joy with my fellow scavengers. I hold a Bible study for my neighbors, and have started another Bible study for 12 people living on the west side of the dump.

But we need more Bibles here. Bibles are one thing that we can’t get from the garbage because they are never thrown away. But they are expensive. (Note: Bibles in the Philippine language cost about $4.00 each.)

Q. How do you make ends meet with scavenging as your means of livelihood?

A. Scavenging does not earn much. One earns 20 to 30 pesos (around $1.50) per day. But the Lord has provided for us very well from the garbage dump. See this pair of pants I’m wearing? They look good, don’t they? I got them from the dump.

Some months ago I found out that I needed reading glasses. I prayed to the Lord, and a few days later I found these! (Pablito points to a pair of glasses he is wearing, attached to his ears by a piece of string). I found them in a pile of freshly dumped garbage. And they were the exact power of lens for my eyes!

Almost everything we have and use, from my belt to my wife’s hair curlers and our little daughters’ shoes and toys, we found at the dump. God knows our small needs, so whatever we need is provided by Him just a stone’s throw away from us.

Q. What other important changes have happened in your life?

A. With Jesus in our hearts, Rosita and I have learned to accept the hardships of life with a smile. We stopped using foul language, and I learned to love my neighbors and to forgive quickly.

Do you know why I do not have a pair of shoes? Yesterday was Sunday, and I planned to be in church early for prayer. I put my best clothes on and my only pair of shoes, which I had found at the dump. I wanted to really look nice for the Lord because it was only two days after my forty-eighth birthday. So I convinced myself to spend five pesos to have my shoes shined by a bootblack. The bootblack took my shoes off to shine them, and I stood nearby.

Then I noticed a small flower stand just across the street, and I thought of buying the Lord a bunch of yellow flowers. I hurriedly crossed the street and bought them, but when I returned to the bootblack’s stand, he had run away with my shoes!

I almost wanted to cry! I was not surprised that I didn’t get angry, though I admit I was a bit self-conscious when I walked back home in my Sunday best, barefoot, with a bouquet of yellow flowers clutched in my hand. What a time my neighbors had in teasing me! And I was late for the morning service.

But when I prayed in church that day I knew that one day I will find a new pair of shoes, and unlike the old pair, they will be a perfect match.

Missionary Nemuel Palma (at the door) visits with Pablito (with eyeglasses found at the dump), his wife Rosita, next to him, and his three daughter: Luz (8), Rebecca (6) and Ruth (4), and two neighbors.

Several months after the above interview, a correspondent from Christian Aid visited Pablito and found that he was no longer scavenging for a living. Rather, he was drawing water in four-gallon plastic cans from a private faucet a kilometer away, and selling the water to fellow dump-dwellers for six cents a can. He was paying the owner of the faucet about one cent per can, and was thus able to earn $1.50 on a good day. However, Pablito worked only in the mornings on four of his six weekly workdays in order to conduct Bible studies for his fellow dump-dwellers in the afternoons and evenings. Pablito admitted to the correspondent that he often gave half of his earnings to “the poor.”

[1] The word covetous here is the same Greek word translated greed just two verses before.

[2] It seems reasonable to think that the kind of interest earnings condemned here are those that were forbidden under the Law: charging interest to impoverished fellow Israelites who were forced to borrow money just to survive. See Ex. 22:25-27; Deut. 23:19-20. Thus, lending money at interest as venture capital, or profiting from dividends and capital gains through ethical investment is not wrong. God promised to bless Israel so much that they would be able to lend to many nations if they obeyed Him (see Deut. 15:6), so obviously God is not opposed to all lending. Usury, also condemned, is the practice of charging extremely high interest rates from people who have no alternative but to borrow, thus selfishly taking advantage of them.

[3] These statistics are cited by Charles Colson and Ellen Santilli Vaughn on page 31 of their book, The Body, Word Publishing, 1992.

[4] Ron Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (Dallas: Word, 1997), pp.1-2

[5] On the other hand, giving $100,000 immediately to the proper missions organizations could have a greater impact in building God’s kingdom than giving $10,000 each year for the rest of your life. If giving $100,000 now results in one thousand people being saved, what those one thousand people give toward the gospel, and what their converts give to the gospel, could have a multiplied effect that would far exceed what your annual gift of $10,000 would accomplish.

[6] Christian Mission, May/June 1987, pp. 8-9. Reprinted by permission of Christian Aid.

By day he works in a downtown office. He’s a hard worker and has received steady promotions. Everyone likes him. He’s trustworthy and pleasant to be around. A model father of three children, no one would ever suspect his dark secret.

By night he stalks through suburban neighborhoods, crouching along fences and behind trees. He looks for modest homes, the kind owned by young couples, and only those that are single-story. That way the bedrooms aren’t on a second floor.

It’s another Friday, and tonight he’s back in familiar territory. His heart beats faster as he nears a house where he “scored” last weekend. Newlyweds recently bought the attractive ranch, and he smiles as he sees a dim light shining through a window from the rear of the house. He draws closer, hoping to hear soft music, which tells him that the window is open on this hot summer night. Yes! It’s faint jazz. This could be another score. Closer he creeps until he’s against the house, where he tiptoes silently to the window. His mind is filled with images of what he’s seen before.

A man such as I’ve just described is known by the familiar term, “Peeping Tom.” His activity is considered criminal, and rightfully so. Most of us agree that such people ought to be in jail. He’s a pervert, and he’s certainly not the kind of person we expect to see in heaven. Certainly no Christian would ever practice such behavior.

With this, the Bible agrees:

For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person…has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience (Eph. 5:5-6, emphasis added).

Are peeping Toms moral or immoral? Pure or impure? The answer is obvious. And according to Scripture, they have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Truly born-again people are not peeping Toms.

A Second Scene:

By day he works in a downtown office. He’s a hard worker and has received steady promotions. Everyone likes him. He’s trustworthy, pleasant to be around, and a model father of three children. He attends an evangelical church every Sunday morning and even teaches a Sunday School class twice a month. Elected a deacon last year, he’s close to the pastor and well-respected among the congregation. His car antenna has a white ribbon tied to it in protest against pornography. It is well with his soul.

After working hard all week, he likes to relax on Friday evenings. So on the way home from work he stops at the neighborhood video store. There’s a new release that he’s heard about and he hopes there will be a copy still available to rent. There is. It features several of his favorite actors and actresses. It’s rated R, and he knows full well that it will contain explicit sexual scenes and lots of profanity.

For a moment, his conscience speaks as he views the provocative photo on the slipcover. But his defense is already planned: When he discusses the movie with fellow believers in church, he will bemoan all the sex and vulgar language:

“Isn’t it a shame that movie-makers think all that filth is necessary?”

“Yes! Yes! What a shame!”

Once the kids are in bed, he slides the video into his VCR and sits down on the couch with his wife. She would never suspect how much he is looking forward to seeing the tanned and trim female bodies in various degrees of undress that are about to be paraded before him. He overheard some of the unsaved guys at the office talk about how the bedroom scenes are awesome. It’s another Friday night.

A Comparison of the Two Men

What is the difference between the first man and the second? The peeping Tom watched live sex in bedrooms. The other watched filmed sex in bedrooms. The peeping Tom could only see limitedly through a partially opened window. The other man had a close up and very intimate view. The peeping Tom watched two people who possessed a lifetime commitment express their love for one another. They would have been horrified to know they had company. The second man watched two unmarried people who were paid large sums of money to undress and engage in sex in front of a potential audience of millions, making them some of the highest-paid prostitutes in the world. In fact, a portion of his money went to them. In essence, he paid prostitutes to have filmed sex so he could be entertained.

Of course, the first man was a peeping Tom on the road to hell. The second man was a follower of Christ, on his way to heaven.

Or was he? Didn’t we just read that no immoral or impure person will inherit God’s kingdom? Which man was more immoral?

Two other points worth noting about the second man, the supposed follower of Christ: By renting a sexually-explicit video, he has financially supported the pornography industry, casting his vote that more of such movies be produced.[1] His dollars will thus provide others the opportunity to watch more of the same filth; thus he has promoted sin in the lives of others. This the peeping Tom did not do.

Second, the movie the “Christian” paid to view was filled with profanity. God’s name was frequently used as a swear word. Doesn’t it seem strange that one who prays every Sunday in church that God’s name will be hallowed would use his money to be entertained by people who repeatedly blaspheme God’s name?

Why Hypocrites Act Holy

If the second man in our scenario was more immoral than the unsaved peeping Tom, why is it that so many professing Christians act just like that second man, regularly fueling their lust, viewing graphic immorality as a means of entertainment? The answer is that they are not truly saved.

If you agree that the second man was equally or more immoral than the first, and you believe that immoral people will not inherit God’s kingdom (as the Bible states), then you must agree with my conclusion. But why are so many people deceived in this matter?

It’s safe to assume that the average professing Christian who regularly views explicit sex scenes in movies would never stalk suburban neighborhoods to peek through bedroom windows. In fact, he would consider the peeping Tom to be abhorrent. And why? Is it because he loves God? Is it because of his holiness or inward purity? No, those couldn’t be the reasons—or he would be equally abhorred with the thought of personally viewing filmed sex between unmarried people.

His inconsistency betrays what really motivates him not to stalk suburban neighborhoods at night: pure selfishness. If he were caught being a peeping Tom he might suffer negative consequences. His reputation might be ruined. He would be disgraced before his church. He could even end up in jail.

However, he’s found a way to regularly do, with no risk, just what the peeping Tom does. His “holiness” is patterned not after God’s standards, but the world’s. It has become quite acceptable to watch sexually-explicit movies in our culture, and so he has nothing to worry about. His reputation won’t be ruined. He won’t lose his wife or job. He won’t go to jail. If he were a true follower of Christ, however, he would have taken seriously Jesus’ very solemn warnings about the dire consequences of lust:

You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery”; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to go into hell (Matt. 5:27-30, emphasis added).

Whether he realizes it or not, the second man does have something to worry about that is much worse than losing his reputation or job: His lustful behavior will send him to hell forever. Yet he ignores or explains away what Christ clearly taught, trusting in a grace that forgives but doesn’t transform him, a grace that doesn’t exist.

When Virtue is Vice

Yet there is still more to say about the second man. His practice of immorality coupled with a life that outwardly appears righteous makes him a hypocrite. A hypocrite isn’t a person who’s a mixture of good and evil—a hypocrite is completely evil. The reason he tied a white ribbon to his car antenna is not because he’s opposed to pornography. That’s obvious, because he regularly spends his money to view graphic immorality and financially supports the pornography industry, thus supporting the exploitation of women and the corruption of children. The reason he tied a white ribbon on his antenna is because he wants to appear righteous. His public life is an act. His motivation is not obedience to God or compassion for those harmed by pornography—his motivation is pure selfishness—he wants others to think more highly of him. All of his “good deeds” are tainted by this same fact. He’s a hypocrite, opposed to “hard porn” but supporting “soft porn.”

Our character is revealed, not by what we do on Sunday mornings, but what we do all week. It is revealed more by “little” things and by what we do when alone. Take the sin of stealing, listed in the Ten Commandments and mentioned as a sin that, if practiced, is a sure sign that a person is going to hell (see 1 Cor. 6:10).

Very few professing Christians rob banks at gunpoint. Yet many regularly cheat on their income tax, effectively stealing from every American citizen. Some pay their employees “under the table” (or accept such payments as employees) to avoid paying taxes, again, stealing from every American. Many habitually steal small items from their employers. If they are given more change than they are entitled at the grocery store, they keep it. They illegally download music that they don’t pay for. They use pirated software on their computers. They are thieves. Thus the obvious reason they don’t rob banks is not because they are basically unselfish or love God—their small thefts prove otherwise. The reason they don’t rob banks is because they’re afraid they might get caught. The “goodness” that they do display is really just another indication of their selfishness. If they could rob a bank with as little risk to their reputation and future freedom as they can cheat on their income tax, they would. But the same selfishness that motivates them to steal small things that no one will know about also motivates them to be “good” in big things. Our true character is revealed when we are tempted to do wrong with little risk of adverse consequences.

God’s Hidden Camera

Imagine that you are an employer who has a favorite employee. That employee arrives early each day, leaves late, works hard, and is well liked by your other employees.

However, one day you have hidden cameras installed in your business, and to your horror, you witness your star employee conceal a company-owned item under his jacket, take it outside, and, after looking left and right, place it in his car trunk. Do you think to yourself, Ah, well, he’s still a great employee. He just has a small flaw. I’ll overlook it?

No, suddenly your entire opinion of your star employee changes. Now, all of his previous good points are seen in a different light. Now you begin to wonder why he comes in early and leaves late. Is it so he can steal from the company when fewer people are around? Is it to make you think more highly of him so you won’t be suspicious of him when certain items are discovered missing? Now that you know his true character, all his good works are exposed as evil. That’s how God sees every hypocrite. That’s how God views the second man in the previous story. His inconsistency reveals his true character. He’s not a Christian with a minor flaw. He’s a hypocrite who is entirely corrupt. His good deeds don’t offset his one minor flaw; rather, they are a damning revelation of just how evil and selfish he is.

One who has been truly born again is indwelt by God’s Spirit and is progressively made holy as he cooperates with the Spirit. He will not lead a double life. Certainly he may stumble at times and sin. But that is not his consistent behavior. His life is primarily characterized by obedience to the God whom he loves all the time. As the apostle John wrote: “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9). The new birth is the beginning of a new life of holiness. And as the true Christian learns more of God’s will, he is transformed more and more to be like Jesus (see Rom. 12:2).

Contrariwise, the one who has experienced only a counterfeit conversion does many things at home and abroad that he would never do at church or in the company of other Christians. His moral principles are patterned not after what God says but by what the world says, and the world’s standards are on an ever-downward spiral. That is why the counterfeit Christian habitually does what would have appalled even non-Christians just a few decades ago. Case in point: Today, multitudes of professing Christians don’t even flinch at the worst obscenity, profanity, violence and perversion portrayed in motion pictures—what would have shocked non-Christians in the not-to-distant past. Some nationally-recognized Christian leaders even recommend such films, as long as they contain some “redeeming” moral theme, such as courage, honor, or self-sacrifice!

True Christians are motivated to be holy because they’ve been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and because they love God. On the other hand, what motivates counterfeit Christians to be as moral as they are is their own self-interest, the same thing that motivates non-Christians to be as moral as they are.

Unholy Motives

Why do non-Christians restrain themselves from committing certain sins? It is because they fear adverse consequences. This principle has been proven repeatedly throughout human history during times when the usual moral restraints, such as governmental law or public opinion, have been removed. When brutality becomes acceptable, brutality prevails. The piles of human skulls in Cambodian killing fields and crumbling incinerators of Nazi concentration camps stand as mute testimony to the true nature of unregenerate human nature. What happens when murder is legalized, when the law of the State or public opinion says it’s OK to exterminate Jews or rip the unborn to pieces in their mothers’ wombs? No one has to speculate on the answer to that question.

How many professing Christians are motivated, in their limited morality and holiness, not by love for God and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, but by ever-changing public sentiment, the continually-revised law of the land, or peer-pressure of their fellow church members? Only God knows for certain. But through honest self-examination, each one of us can determine what truly motivates us. If every professing Christian would do that, many would be shocked to discover that all their goodness is really wickedness, motivated by nothing higher than self-interest.

Is it really possible to do good things, yet be motivated by pure selfishness? Absolutely. As I’ve already pointed out, most of the “virtuous” deeds done by non-Christians spring from selfish motivations. Consider the words of Paul in this regard:

If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing (1 Cor. 13:3).

Jesus, Exposer of Hypocrites

Most modern, professing Christians are opposed to pornography. But vocalizing disapproval of that evil is not the litmus test of authentic Christian conversion. If a person is motivated by love for God and fellow man in his opposition to this evil, his actions, thoughts and words will be consistent in that regard; he will practice in his own life an opposition to these sins and those sins which are closely related. Again, if the second man in the previous example had truly been opposed to pornography based upon his concern for the victims of pornography or love of God’s law, he wouldn’t be regularly watching sexually-explicit videos. His attitude toward all immorality would be consistent.

Jesus exposed similar hypocrisy among religious people of His day, revealing a timeless principle applicable to everyone who thinks he’s on the way to heaven. Let’s consider again His words that are found in a sermon about salvation, commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount. See if you can find the significance in His teaching for modern professing Christians who are vocally opposed to pornography, but who indulge in other forms of sexual immorality:

You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery”; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to go into hell (Matt. 5:27-30).

First, note that Jesus is warning certain people about hell. Contextually, they are people who are not physically committing adultery. They are, however, mentally committing adultery, and Jesus said that unless they repent, they are heading for hell.

The Letter and Spirit of the Law

Was Jesus adding extra requirements to the Seventh Commandment? No, He was closing a loophole that existed only in people’s minds and revealed the full implication of what God meant from the time He first gave the Ten Commandments. Contained within the commandment that forbade adultery was also a prohibition against lust. Obviously, if having a sexual relationship with your neighbor’s wife is a sin, then mentally undressing your neighbor’s wife is also a sin. Any honest, thinking person would have to admit that.[2] But Christ’s audience was like so many today—they keep the letter of the Law but ignore the spirit of it. They are vocally opposed to specific sins of which they aren’t guilty, yet practice the same sins in other forms. God’s will for our sexual purity far exceeds just abstinence from adultery, fornication and homosexuality. He expects that we be sexually pure in our minds, as Jesus made so clear, as well as in our mouths. For example, Paul wrote,

But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks (Eph. 5:3-4).

The New Living Translation clarifies the sins of filthiness, silly talk and coarse jesting as “obscene stories, foolish talk and coarse jokes.” Obscene stories and coarse jokes are obviously speech that convey sexually-immoral ideas in a positive or humorous way, and “foolish talk” may well describe the sexually-perverted conversations of people whom the Bible characterizes as fools. Paul’s point is that no follower of Christ should be involved in sexual immorality, any impurity, or anything even related to those sins, impure conversation included. What do you suppose Paul would say to Christians who entertain themselves by viewing today’s sexually-suggestive television sitcoms? What would he have to say about most PG-13 and even many PG movies being produced today?

Modern False Teaching

Sadly, some (so-called) Bible teachers use the above-quoted verse from Ephesians to counteract the “guilt-inducing” and “unbalanced” teaching that is being broadcast by teachers such as myself. Their logic goes like this: “It’s obviously possible for true Christians to commit sins of immorality and impurity, otherwise Paul wouldn’t have addressed the issue.”

I’m not saying that it is impossible for a Christian to commit adultery or fornication. Of course it is possible, because Christians are still free moral agents. A true Christian could fall into immorality. Paul’s purpose, however, in writing the above-quoted words was not to assure people who were committing sins of immorality and impurity that they were truly saved in spite of their lifestyles. Rather, he was writing to warn Christians to steer as far away as possible from any shadow of such sins, because they are sins that characterize hell-bound people. As Paul went on to say in the next two verses,

For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience (Eph. 5:5-6).

Yes, a Christian could yield to the temptation of immorality. But those who do so with any regularity mark themselves as being immoral and impure, and thus expose themselves as being counterfeit Christians. Because of the addictive nature of sin, particularly of sexual lust, the wise follower of Christ will avoid and resist any thought, word or deed related to sexual immorality. A very young Christian, perhaps, may not know God’s standards of sexual purity, but as soon as he reads Ephesians 5:3-5, his excuse of ignorance is no longer valid. That is precisely why Paul wrote what he did.

Other Cloudy Questions

To further cloud the issue and make meaningless the clear warnings of Scripture, some people ask, “What constitutes the practice of a sin? If I committed adultery once this year and once three years ago, does that make me a practicing adulterer who is thus proved to be a phony Christian? Or did I just stumble twice?”

The first question to ask is, “Did you repent and ask God’s forgiveness after you sinned?” There is a vast difference between the person who does and the person who does not. If a true Christian yielded to temptation and committed adultery, he would feel extremely guilty and should cry out for God’s forgiveness. If he does, God will forgive him.

Was his salvation in jeopardy before he asked for God’s forgiveness? What if he had not asked for God’s forgiveness and repeated his sinful act? How many times must he commit adultery before he is considered to be “practicing” adultery? The answers to these questions have been hotly debated. I don’t pretend to have the sure answer.[3] But any person who wants to know how many times he can commit adultery without repenting and still go to heaven should question his salvation. Those who have been truly born again desire to be holy—body, soul and spirit. They are striving to be completely pure, in thought, word and deed.

Others object, again, in an attempt to make the clear warnings of Scripture meaningless, by saying, “I want to be free from the practice of immorality, but I can’t. I love the Lord, and I truly and sincerely want to be free, but I’m not.” They are hoping that the determining factor is not what they do but what they say they desire.

They are, in an indirect way, saying that sin’s grip on them is more powerful than God, and that His salvation provides forgiveness but not transformation. The New Testament repeatedly affirms, however, that believers in Christ have been set free from sin’s power (see Rom. 6:6-7, 17-18, 22). Scripture also testifies of the complete deliverance from certain grievous sins and the dramatic behavioral differences experienced by true believers (see 1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Cor. 5:17; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 John 3:7-10).

Moreover, God has promised us that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to resist, and will always provide a way of escape (see 1 Cor. 10:13). In light of such clear and abundant truth, one’s excuse that he wants to stop sinning but can’t rings hollow. I’ve often found that those who claim they want freedom from sexual immorality or impurity are unwilling to remove from their lives what causes them to repeatedly stumble, whether it be discarding their TV, canceling a magazine subscription, avoiding certain places of business, breaking off wrong relationships, or disconnecting from the internet. Paul wrote that we should “make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts” (Rom. 13:14), and Jesus said that we should cut off what often causes us to stumble. Those who refuse to obey Jesus’ clear command reveal that He is really not their Lord at all. They have no intention of obeying Him.

Sin loses its grip when we repent, because that is when God forgives and delivers us. But repentance involves a turning away from all known sin. It is an attitude of our heart and an act of our will. People who truly repent demonstrate their repentance by their actions (see Luke 3:8; Acts 26:20).

If you’re convinced that you are a born-again person who can’t break free of the practice of immorality or some other sin, perhaps a simple question will help you understand your self-deception: Would you stop your sinful practice if someone offered you ten million dollars to stop? If you would, that proves you could; and if you could, you can; and if you can, you should! The problem is not that you can’t stop, but that you won’t stop. Why would you do for money what you will not do for love of Christ?

Of course, there is no way to avoid all temptation, and no Christian should think he’s abnormal because he’s tempted, struggles against sin, or has a healthy sex drive. As has been so well said: “You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair.” It is when we yield to what we know is wrong that we should be concerned.

Every Christian should strive for perfect sexual purity, in body, mouth and mind. Adultery, fornication, homosexuality, pornography of any degree (including advertisements and short bedroom scenes in “good” movies), “dirty” jokes, immoral fantasies, and reading about or listening to something sexually immoral for the purpose of entertainment are all wrong in God’s eyes. If we claim that we are continually stumbling but don’t remove the stumbling block as Jesus commanded, we are fooling ourselves.

Footnotes

[1] I realize that in more recent years, many would object to my labeling sexually-explicit R-rated movies as pornographic. Pornographic movies, in the minds of many, are only those that carry an X rating. But how would God define the word pornography, derived from the Greek word, pornia, most often translated “immorality” in the New Testament, and the word graphic, a visual display? Pornography is any visual display of immorality. Webster’s Dictionary defines pornography as, “The presentation of sexually explicit behavior, as in a photograph, intended to arouse sexual excitement.” Are we to think that God considers the acting in and viewing of sexually-explicit R-rated movies as not being immoral?

[2] Not to mention the fact that the tenth commandment forbids coveting one’s neighbor’s wife. Most men don’t covet their neighbor’s wife because of her personality.

[3] Later, we will consider what Scripture teaches regarding the possibility of a believer forfeiting his salvation.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? (2 Cor. 13:5).

In the above-quoted verse of Scripture, we find a succinct definition of what a Christian is: He is a person in whom Christ lives. This, as other scriptures reveal, is not a physical but a spiritual indwelling.

If Christ lives within a person, Christ changes him. Obviously, according to Paul, it is possible—and advisable—to determine if Christ actually does live inside of us by means of self-examination. Each of us who professes to be a follower of Christ should heed Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians, by examining ourselves to see if we are “in the faith.”

Quite obviously, Paul also believed that it was very possible for church members to be self-deceived, thinking they believed when they really didn’t. And what error could be greater? What presumption could have more serious consequences? If an unsaved person knows he’s unsaved, at least there’s a chance he’ll acknowledge his state, repent, and turn to Christ. But the self-deceived person is blind to his need. He’s smiling on the road to hell. Worse yet, he considers the peace and joy he feels to be evidence of his salvation, not realizing that they are only the fruit of his self-deception. In his case, unfortunately, ignorance is bliss, but only temporarily.

Transforming Grace

Ignorance was indeed the problem in the Corinthian church. Like so many in the church today, their understanding of the gospel was deficient. In their thinking, anyone who made a verbal confession of Christ was a true Christian, regardless of how he lived his life. Case in point: One of their members in good standing was living in sexual immorality with his stepmother. Nothing was being done to correct the matter.

Paul, however, needed no further facts before rendering judgment. He instructed them to excommunicate the man immediately, describing him as wicked: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Cor. 5:13).

Paul then offered the Corinthian Christians some important insight into the gospel: The grace that forgives also transforms. Thus, people who have not been transformed are not forgiven. They will not inherit God’s kingdom. They are all those who are unrighteous in their behavior, and Paul even went so far as to list several examples of the kinds of people God considers unrighteous. Notice he included fornicators in his list:

Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10).

Some of Paul’s modern readers have been puzzled over this particular passage. Why didn’t he instruct the Corinthian church to follow the three steps of church discipline given by Christ, that is, to first confront the wayward brother privately, then by means of a small group, and finally by the entire church, before excommunicating him?[1]

The simple answer is that Christ’s instructions apply only to dealing with a true Christian believer who has sinned. The immoral man at Corinth, however, had proven beyond all doubt that he was not a true believer in Jesus. He was a phony. His lifestyle betrayed his true character. He was living in fornication. Such persons, along with idolaters, the effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, the covetous, drunkards, revilers and swindlers, Paul categorically stated will not inherit God’s kingdom. They demonstrate by their lifestyles that they do not possess saving faith in Christ; they are not regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Christ does not live in them; thus they don’t belong to Him (see Rom. 8:9).

The Corinthians should have known better. Paul had previously written to them on this very subject, but they had apparently misunderstood him:

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one[2] (1 Cor. 5:9-11, emphasis added).

The immoral Corinthian church member was, according to Paul, not a true brother, but only a so-called brother. And failing to understand the inseparable correlation between belief and behavior, the church to which he belonged failed to discern that his confession of faith was bogus.[3]

Spiritual Babes or Phony Believers?

Realizing the far-reaching effects of such lack of discernment by the church, Paul had good reason to question, not only the salvation of one immoral Corinthian church member, but the salvation of others within the same church. There was strife, factions and jealousy (see 1 Cor. 1:10-12; 3:1-4). For those who have just been born again, these can be indications of spiritual babyhood, due primarily to lack of knowledge of God’s will. Until now, the Corinthians had only been fed the milk of God’s Word (see 1 Cor. 3:2). So Paul informed them how their selfishness displeased God, expecting that they, now enlightened to the truth, would repent.

Persisting in these same sins after enlightenment, however, is a different story. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul included jealousy and strife in a list quite similar to his Corinthian catalog, sins which, if practiced, are evidence that a person, like the practicing adulterer or fornicator, will not inherit God’s kingdom:

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21, emphasis added).

Clearly, what may mark one person as a babe in Christ can mark another person as unsaved. The difference between the two is time and knowledge. God expects that His true children will obey Him once they know what He expects. Those who profess to be His children yet persist in the practice of lawlessness even after enlightenment are deceived. People who have been truly born again yearn to be holy; they “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matt. 5:6). God is at work within them to complete the good work He began in their lives (see Phil. 1:6; 2:13). Thus, if our faith is not resulting in our sanctification (increasing holiness), let us not think our faith is resulting in our justification (being declared guiltless before God) either. There is no such thing as justification that is not followed by sanctification. For this reason Scripture says, “Pursue…the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14, emphasis added). Heaven is not for the unholy.

Is this Not Salvation by Works?

When Paul warns us that those who practice unrighteousness will not inherit God’s kingdom, is he not contradicting his own teaching that salvation is purely by God’s grace, received through faith? Is salvation earned by not practicing certain sins?

No, as we will clearly discover as we study more closely what Paul taught, those who truly receive by faith God’s gracious gift of salvation are transformed by His Holy Spirit. Because of His wonderful work in their lives, they become holy and continue to grow holier. They are born again, and the power of sin is broken over their lives. Christ lives in them. They become new creations. No longer are their lives characterized by the practice of sin. Certainly, true believers sometimes still do sin, but they no longer practice it. As the apostle John wrote:

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness….No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God (1 John 1:8-9; 3:9, emphasis added).

The salvation that comes through Jesus Christ not only provides forgiveness of sin, it provides deliverance from sin. A growing holiness is the result of receiving the free gift of salvation. Note carefully the words that follow Paul’s most well-known affirmation of the freeness of salvation:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:8-10, emphasis added).

Salvation is not a result of our good works; good works, however, are a result of our salvation.

God’s Purpose in Salvation

God’s purpose in saving us was not just to give us a legal stamp of forgiveness that nullifies our list of sins. His purpose was to make us holy, obedient people, conformed to the image of Christ. He gives not only an imputed legal righteousness, but re-creates us to experience a real and practical righteousness. One cannot be received exclusive of the other. In fact, the apostle John tells us who has truly received imputed legal righteousness: those who practice a lifestyle of practical righteousness:

Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:7-8, emphasis added).

Sin is the work of the devil. The salvation Jesus offers destroys Satan’s works in our lives.

James on Works

Of course, before we can receive the salvation that forgives and delivers us from sin, we must realize our need for it. Tragically, many church members consider themselves Christians simply because they’ve prayed a “sinner’s prayer” or acknowledged certain theological facts. They think they possess a salvation that has provided forgiveness, but that provides very little, if any, transformation in their lives. Yet it doesn’t bother them because they know that salvation is by grace and not works. In their minds, works are unimportant and optional.

Yet the Bible states that it is impossible to have a saving faith that doesn’t produce works. The apostle James wrote that a faith void of works is useless, dead, and cannot save:

What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?….Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself….But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? (James 2:14, 17, 20, emphasis added).

Thus, the true test of our faith is our behavior. And that is why Paul warns us, admonishing us to examine our lives to determine if our faith and salvation are bogus. Again, our works don’t earn us salvation; our works prove that we possess true saving faith and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Let us, then, heed Paul’s admonition to examine ourselves using his own God-given tests. Determining where we stand is the first step. If we discover that we fail the test of experiencing true salvation, then there is hope that we can and will receive it.

An Initial Self-Exam

Consider these three scriptures (two of which we’ve already examined), in which Paul lists specific sinful practices that characterize those who will not inherit God’s kingdom:

Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10, emphasis added).

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21, emphasis added).

For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience (Eph. 5:5-6, emphasis added).

From these three passages of Scripture, we can compile a list of sins, which, if practiced, are sure evidence that a person has not been regenerated. They can be classed in five categories, the first being sexual sins: fornication, adultery, immorality, impurity, sensuality, effeminacy, and homosexuality. The second are sins of larceny: greed/coveting, thievery, and swindling. The third are sins of intemperance: drunkenness, carousing and reviling. The fourth are sins of hatred: enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions and envying. The fifth are sins of false religion: idolatry and sorcery.

Notice, however, that Paul’s lists are by no means exhaustive. He states in general that all unrighteous people will not inherit God’s kingdom (see 1 Cor. 6:9). At the end of his list of sins in Galatians 5, Paul adds, “and things like these” (Gal. 5:21). We also note that neither murderers nor liars are mentioned in any of Paul’s lists, but this doesn’t exempt them. John wrote, “No murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15), and, “All liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 21:8).

Although it is certainly possible for a born-again person to reluctantly and temporarily stumble into one or more of these various sins, no true believer will practice these sins. His life is characterized by righteousness, not unrighteousness, because he has submitted to the Lord from his heart, and his spirit has been re-created by the Holy Spirit.

An Objection Answered

It has been proposed by some recent authors that when Paul warned practicing sinners that they would “not inherit the kingdom of God,” he was not speaking of eternal salvation. “Not inheriting the kingdom of God” is interpreted as being either (1) the forfeiture of certain earthly blessings or (2) the loss of certain heavenly “bonuses,” perks that more holy Christians will automatically enjoy.

Those who want us to believe that Paul was referring only to earthly blessings point out that Paul was speaking about the “kingdom of God,” and not the “kingdom of heaven.” Thus, they conclude that he was not talking about getting into heaven, but about walking in the full blessing of God’s kingdom now on earth.

A study of the phrase, “the kingdom of God,” however, as it was used by Jesus, reveals that it is synonymous with the phrase “kingdom of heaven.” Only Matthew quotes Jesus as using the phrase “kingdom of heaven,” probably in deference to his Jewish readership, whereas Mark and Luke quote Jesus using the phrase “kingdom of God” in parallel passages (compare, for example, Matthew 13:11 with Mark 4:11 and Luke 8:10). The kingdom of God is the same as the kingdom of heaven.

Some who subscribe to the theory that Paul was referring only to heavenly bonuses point out that he didn’t warn about not entering God’s kingdom, but rather, warned about not inheriting it, claiming there is a difference between the two. Unholy Christians will enter God’s kingdom, but not inherit it! They’ll supposedly miss out on some heavenly rewards.

Is this the true meaning of what Paul wanted to convey? Or did he mean that practicing sinners will not enter heaven?

Quite obviously, for a number of good reasons, Paul was speaking of ultimate salvation and entering heaven.

First, because that is the most natural interpretation of his words. Why would Paul’s warnings to practicing sinners be so solemn if those sinners were only in danger of missing out on some heavenly bonuses? And if forfeiting heavenly bonuses was the danger Paul had in mind, why didn’t he express his meaning more clearly? Like the innocent little boy who, after hearing his pastor explain “what Paul really meant” in a certain scripture passage, I also ask, “If Paul didn’t mean what he said, why didn’t he just say what he meant?”

Second, Paul pronounced God’s eternal condemnation upon homosexuals in his letter to the Romans (see Rom. 1:26-2:5). Are we then to think that his Corinthian warning to homosexuals that they will not inherit God’s kingdom is only a warning that they will miss out on some heavenly rewards on their certain journey to heaven?

Third, the apostle John wrote that immoral people and idolaters “will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). Are we then to think that Paul’s Corinthian warning to immoral people and idolaters is only a warning that they will miss out on some heavenly rewards on their certain journey to heaven?

Fourth, Paul used the phrase “inherit the kingdom of God” twice while writing to the Corinthians, once in his warning to practicing sinners and once in the fifteenth chapter. In the context of the second usage, Paul was unmistakably writing about the time when we will enter into heaven:

Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable (1 Cor. 15:50, emphasis added).

Paul was clearly communicating that our perishable, flesh and blood bodies cannot enter heaven. No doubt he borrowed the expression under consideration from Jesus Himself:

Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34, emphasis added).

Was “the King” speaking about receiving earthly blessings or heavenly perks, or was He speaking of getting into heaven? The answer is quite obvious. The King will say to the other group assembled before Him, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire” (Matt. 25:41).

For these and other reasons, we can rest assured that when Paul warned practicing sinners about not inheriting God’s kingdom, he was talking about entering heaven. His choice of words, using inherit as opposed to enter, only serves to emphasize that heaven is a gift of God’s grace, inherited, and not earned.

A Second Objection

One popular author claims that the initial text I’ve used for this chapter, 2 Corinthians 13:5, where Paul admonished the Corinthians to test themselves to see if they are in the faith, was written to encourage the Corinthians to “recognize the salvation they clearly possess.” That is, they should have been “checking themselves not for information but for confirmation.” Supposedly Paul was “very confident of their salvation” and certainly didn’t intend for them to question their possessing it.

Is this true? Clearly the answer is no. Let us consider Paul’s words in their immediate context. First, let’s consider the preceding verses:

For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there may be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances; I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced (2 Cor. 12:20-21, emphasis added).

Clearly, Paul was concerned that when he visited the Corinthians again, he would be disappointed by their behavior. He cites numerous sins of which he had previously mentioned in his letters to them, and he states his specific fear of finding them guilty and unrepentant of practicing impurity, immorality and sensuality. Paul listed those very same three sins in Galatians 5:19, stating that those who practice them will not inherit God’s kingdom. Additionally, Paul had written in his first letter to the Corinthians that neither fornicators, adulterers, effeminate nor homosexuals would inherit God’s kingdom (see 1 Cor. 6:9-10).

Beyond this, Paul also expressed his fear of finding strife, jealousy, angry tempers and disputes when he came to Corinth, four other sins which he listed in Galatians 5:20, stating that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s kingdom. Are we to conclude that Paul was “confident of their salvation,” as one very popular author wants us to believe, when he has made it so clear that people who act like some of the Corinthians were acting are obviously not saved?

Read carefully as Paul continues:

This is the third time I am coming to you. Every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again, I will not spare anyone (2 Cor. 13:1-2, emphasis added).

What kind of facts was Paul speaking of that were to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses? Paul could only have been speaking of the facts of the sins committed by professing Corinthian believers. The context as well as the phrasing points to this (see the verse before and after 13:1, as well as Deut. 19:15).

Paul then threatens those “who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well” that if he returns, he “will not spare anyone.” In what way will he not spare them? Will he tell them that they are doing wrong? No, he’s already clearly told them that. Paul can only be threatening that he will do what he ordered the Corinthians to do to a false believer in the church who was living in immorality: He will excommunicate them also as false believers, as proven by their continued practice of grievous sin and lack of repentance. Otherwise his bark has no bite.

Paul continues:

Since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me, and who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you. For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we shall live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you. Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test (2 Cor. 13:3-6, emphasis added).

Paul wrote, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith.” Notice the word if. That indicates the possibility that they were not “in the faith.” Paul did not say, “Test yourselves and you will see that you are in the faith, because I’m very confident of your salvation.”

Notice he also wrote that they should recognize that Jesus was in them, “unless indeed you fail the test.” Is this not a clear indication that Paul believed the sure possibility existed that some of them might fail the test? Certainly. This becomes even more clear in 13:6 when he contrasts himself and Timothy (see 2 Cor. 1:1) with them: “But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.” The Corinthians might fail the test, but he and Timothy would not. It was obvious that Jesus lived in Paul and Timothy, but it was not so obvious that Jesus lived in all the Corinthians who professed to believe in Him.

The Conclusion?

The biblical evidence is overwhelming: The new birth changes the behavior of sinners, sometimes radically in the case of gross sinners. Why is it then that the behavior of so many people who claim to be born again is not much different from those who don’t claim to be born again? For example, pollster George Barna has noted,

A recent study we conducted showed that born-again Christians substantially differed from non-Christians on just nine of the 66 variables on which we compared the two groups. Even more significant was the finding that Christians were virtually indistinguishable from nonbelievers on all 65 of the nonreligious variables we examined—matters of core values, defining attitudes and central behavior tendencies.[4]

Barna’s polls also revealed that, while 87% of non-Christians said they had watched a PG-13 or R-rated movie in the past three months, 76% of born-again Christians had done the same. Amazingly, non-Christians were more likely than born-again Christians to have given to a nonprofit organization in the past year, and were also more likely to have given money to a homeless or poor person.[5]

There can be only one conclusion: Many people who think they are born again are not. They think they are going to heaven but aren’t.

How do you measure up? If you’ve just realized that you have been self-deceived, you should fall on your knees before God, repent of all known sins, and cry out to God to change you by His Holy Spirit. Truly receive Jesus as your Savior from God’s wrath and sin, trusting in Him alone. Make Him your Lord and Master. He will begin a transforming work in you and deliver you from sin’s power!

Footnotes

[1] Some have suggested that the Corinthians had completed the first and second steps of proper church discipline, and that Paul was instructing them to take the final step. This is proven to be an incorrect interpretation, however, by Paul’s words in 5:2, which describe how the Corinthians were treating the wicked man: “And you have become arrogant, and have not mourned instead, in order that the one who had done this deed might be removed from your midst.” Rather than mourning over and confronting the sin of their fellow church member, they were proud of their toleration.

[2] If we are not supposed to eat with so-called brothers who are immoral, covetous, and so on, then we must have the right to judge those who are within the church in such matters. This Paul endorses; see 1 Cor. 5:12.

[3] Many modern commentators make the same mistake as the Corinthians, maintaining that the immoral man was a true Christian, thus completely missing Paul’s point in this passage. Yet there are at least five indications that Paul considered the immoral Corinthian man to be unsaved: (1) Paul called him a “so-called brother” (5:11); (2) Paul called him a “wicked man” (5:13); (3) Paul did not follow Christ’s instructions for disciplining a brother who had sinned, indicating that he didn’t believe the man was a brother; (4) Paul turned the immoral man over to Satan “that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (5:5), indicating that, if the man continued in his present state, his spirit would not be saved. However, by excommunicating him, there would be hope that he would repent and be saved once he recognized that the church didn’t accept his testimony of faith; and (5) Paul clearly stated that fornicators and adulterers would not inherit God’s kingdom (6:9-10). It is crystal clear.

[4] Igniting a Moral and Spiritual Revolution: Social Scientist Analyzes the Data, by George Barna, in the Promise Keeper, Vol. 2, No. 1, January/February 1999, p. 1.

[5] See The Second Coming of the Church (Word: Dallas, 1998), by George Barna, p. 6.