Reference: Mark 16:15-16 and Acts 16:30-31
In the realm of the religious world todayI would say that there are millions of people who will say they are saved whenasked the question. Of these millions of people who confess to be saved I doubtif there are five percent of them who truly are concerned enough to really knowif they are saved or whether they have been deceived by the many false prophetsthat Jesus said would rise and deceive many.
If you were to ask the average person thatconfesses to be saved just exactly how they know that they are saved, I'll justabout guarantee that most of them will say they know it because the Bible tellsthem so. The two most used verses of scripture that people are basing theirsalvation on is found written in John 3:16 and Acts 16:31.
When the jailer asked the apostles what hehad to do in order to be saved, they told him to believe on the Lord JesusChrist and he would be saved. Now it seems that everybody has taken for grantedthat this verse of scripture simply means just to confess to the fact that youbelieve on Him and that he died for your sins and this confession saves themand makes them a new creation in Christ ready and prepared for heaven. Righthere is where Satan is deceiving many millions of people. The word of God doessay to believe on Christ in order to be saved, but to believe on Christ doesnot simply mean to just believe that he existed and that he died for the sinsof the world.
What people are failing to consider is whatand who Christ is. All that most people can see and understand is thatChrist was a man that lived hundreds of years ago and that he came to earth todie for the sins of the entire world. This of course is very true, but whatpeople are being blinded to is the fact that Christ is the Word of God and notjust a man that came to earth to die for the sins of the world.
To believe on Christ in order to be savedmeans that we must believe the truth of God's holy and righteous word revealedin the gospel. To believe that you are saved on a mere confession on Christ asbeing Lord and Saviour will cause your mind to close thinking you are savedwhen actually you are cutting yourself off from the truth that the gospelcontains in its fullness.
Just to confess to the fact that Christ isthe Lord and Saviour and that he died for the sins of the world cannot and willnot save you and make you a new creature in Christ like many false preacherswill tell you. Allow me please to tell you that believing what the word of God says will have some sortof an effect on your whole being, but if you are not believing the truth of thematter, then your believing is all in vain just like Paul says in I Corinthians 15:2.
In this verse of scripture Paul tells usthat it's by the preaching of the gospel that will save you, but you mustunderstand what the gospel is that he is talking about. The average preachertoday will tell you that the gospel is simply believing on Christ and acceptinghim as your own personal Lord and Saviour.
They base this teaching on what a verse ortwo of scripture says. These verses are found in John 3:16 or Acts 16:31. Now thesescriptures very plainly states that in order to be saved then we must believeon Christ, but what most people are failing to understand is the fact that tobelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ means that we must believe the revealed wordof God. Jesus said that we must believe and live by every word of God and notjust a verse or two.
If you believe that you are saved by justbelieving a verse of scripture then you are absolutely cutting yourself offfrom the truth that the gospel contains in its fulness. This is exactly thecondition of the religious world today. All they believe is that Christ istheir Lord and Saviour on a mere confession on his name. This is why they arestill yet in the flesh and still live in and commit sin.
Just to believe you are saved on a simpleconfession on Christ as Lord and Saviour is no different than thinking you area medical doctor or some other profession by just thinking you are withouthaving the proper training that is required to put the profession intopractice.
Your confessing to be saved is actuallybelieving that you are a new creation in Christ and that all things have becomenew and the old things have passed away. Now if the old things have passed awayin your life, why then do you yet manifest some (if not many) of the old sinfulhabits that you manifested while not confessing to be a child of God?
The religious world today will not acceptthe plain truth about the subject of sin simply because they know that they yetare prone to sin's power and manifest the works of the flesh. They will notcome to the light of the truth because to do so will mean that they will haveto make a drastic change in their way of life. They are content in theirdeceived state thinking they are christians having been deceived by some lyingso-called preacher who also can't cease from sin.
There is only one way to truly know thatyou are saved and this is done by your walking in the revealed truth and allowthis truth to totally convince you that you are a born again child of God. Thetruth will have a transforming effect on your whole being of body, soul, andspirit.
There are many people who say they believein growing in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, but they can't truly growup in Christ simply because they think they have already been saved and becomethe new creature in Christ upon their confession on him as Lord and Saviour.
The average confessing christian todaywon't accept the fact that they must walk in the truth in order to be savedsimply because they would have to cease from their sinful way of life. As longas they can think and believe that they are saved in the state they are in,this will sort of ease their conscience, but to tell them the truth of thematter will cause them to get angry and they will throw a fit. They will dothis because the truth will reveal their true condition in the sight of God.
The religious world will hate the truechild of God because they will proclaim the truth and the truth will bruisetheir head just like God's word said it will do. Many will say they are saved,but when you attempt to tell them just exactly what it means to be saved asaccording to what the Bible has to say about it, they can't accept it becausethey have been deceived by the false prophets that Jesus said would rise in thelast days.
When God's word throughly convinces youthat you are truly saved then there will be nothing nor anybody who can move orshake you from the truth. There are many people who can't be moved from whatthey may believe, but I'll guarantee that if they are void of the truth thenthey will get mad as a hornet when they are confronted with the truth of theBible.