True or False?

One of my cousins holds a position in a denomination and claims that her hope is in Christ. She is a nice person and we connect on many levels, but when it comes to faith and the Word of God, I sense a barrier. Her ‘faith’ is not the faith that Scripture clearly describes.

Today’s devotional speaks of ‘false faith’ and the difficulty of detecting it, yet Jesus knew it. He knows the hearts of people . . .

“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” (John 2:23–25)

They “believed in his name” but something was missing.

In other passages, Jesus describes these who claim to believe and appear to have faith, but He said they did not and their false faith could be recognized by their fruit. This is a euphemism for what faith produces. Christians are filled with love, joy, goodness, etc. (see Galatians 5:22-23) but not false teachers:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:15–20)

This ‘bad fruit’ can be hidden behind a show of goodness, good deeds, and so on, but Jesus knows the heart. The quality of our fruit will eventually show up, particularly in trials or when tested by opposition.

Obedience to the will of God is another marker. False faith may claim to do God’s will, but Jesus knows the motivation behind what they do. He distinguishes between ‘good works’ and actually doing His will . . .

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21–23)

That is, miracle workers and self-proclaimed prophets are not what they claim or appear to be because they do not have a person relationship with the Lord. In another passage, some said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:28–29).  

In that conversation, Jesus goes on to explain that doing the will of God begins with first believing in Jesus and also relying on His very life for everything. The outer man can mimic the deeds, but cannot have the heart of Christ if they do not have a saving relationship with Him.

Another marker that differentiates true and false is ‘hearing and obeying.’ Jesus told them:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24–27)

Genuine faith follows through with obedience, yet faith is always the reason for those actions.

Today’s devotional goes on to say that false faith cannot produce a heart broken over sin, broken to the point that all it can do is cry for mercy, not use good works trying to earn God’s favor. True faith relies on Christ alone for salvation, on grace not works, on mercy not performance. True faith knows total helplessness.

False faith fails in the submission department too. Unless that sinful nature has been changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, it cannot believe or submit to Jesus as Lord. Even genuine Christians know how that old nature continues to attempt to ‘do its own thing.’ Without the glory of being made new, I would not be able to say yes to God. New birth changes the heart and without it, being ‘religious’ is a sham.

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, You know who is who — and what each person believes. At times, I sense false faith in others, but cannot rely on that without being careful to look for obvious evidence. Better yet, I need to examine my own life, make sure that I am believing in You and giving evidence to my faith by staying true to what You say and how You tell me to live. Most of all, I need the integrity of living out what You have put in, of letting You rule my life from the heart. thank You for being my Savior and the Lord of my life. I let you down at times, but You never fail and are the One in whom I place my trust and my life.

Spiritual fruit and serving God

My mother often told me, “You are never happier than when you do things for others.”

For a time, I wondered if that was a selfish reason. We had a neighbor who said, “I love doing things for others because it makes me feel good.” I realize now that is not what my mother meant.

Loving others is how Christians show their love for God. It is also tied to being filled with the Holy Spirit and bearing fruit. Like a tree does not bear fruit for itself to eat, so also do Christians not bear fruit for themselves. His “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23) is for others.

While bearing fruit does feel good, biblical love is a sacrificial love; I don’t do it for myself just as Jesus sacrificed His own life for the sake of humanity. That means that bearing fruit has an element of sacrifice in it and is closely tied to loving other people. These verses show that connection:

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” (John 15:15–17)

Yet, as Jesus points out, bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit is not about serving God as a servant (the Greek word is bond-servants or slaves), but as His friend. Fruit-bearing and loving others are about relationships of love, not servitude.

I remember getting up in the middle of the night to take care of one of my children who just threw up in his bed. That is not the action of a servant! I was motivated by my love for that child. As Jesus indicates, we love and serve others because we love and serve Him — as friends who love each other, not as ‘me master, you slave’ with emphasis on making a sacrifice to do the serving.

Actually, if I’m feeling like what I’m doing is a sacrifice, I’m very likely not filled with the Spirit and bearing spiritual fruit. From what I know about it, Spirit-filled fruitfulness is not a chore, not something I would ever resent or consider difficult, or measure by how much I had to give up to do it.

This is why Chambers can talk about “the joy of self-sacrifice” and why it happens to those who absolutely abandon themselves in devotion to the Lord. “The final aim of self-sacrifice is laying down our lives for our Friend. When the Holy Ghost comes in, the great desire is to lay down the life for Jesus; the thought of sacrifice never touches us because sacrifice is the love passion of the Holy Ghost.”

Jesus delighted to do the will of His Father. What He did for God the Father was never about slavery or servant-hood, but about their relationship. This is how it should be for me too, that I walk with Jesus as my friend, the One that I love and the One who knows and loves me more than any other.

Chambers rightly says that this friendship is based on the new life created in us and has no affinity with our old life. It is humble, pure and absolutely devoted to God — because it comes through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in me.

If it is not there, then I am walking in the flesh and need to repent.

Appearances can be deceiving

November 11, 2008

When we lived in California, our children wanted to visit Disneyland. As we entered the gates, it looked like a beautiful resort, but disappointment soon hit. Most of the vegetation was plastic. The lineups for the rides and attractions looked short, but their coiling length was hidden inside their entrance gate. While the children enjoyed themselves, I felt somewhat cheated. Appearances can certainly be deceiving.

My husband tells of meeting a woman when he was in his single days. She was about as perfectly attractive as a woman could be. He was dazzled – until she opened her mouth. Again, appearances can be deceiving.

In Mark 11:12-14, Jesus curses a fig tree. I’ve never understood this story until this morning. The passage says, “Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, ‘Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.’ And His disciples heard it.”

My study Bible tells me that fig trees are harvested twice a year. While it was not the season for figs, that particular tree had lots of leaves. The notes say that the figs grow with the leaves, so this tree was in leaf and ahead of season in that department. It should have had figs along with its leaves but did not. In other words, its appearance was misleading.

With this, the Lord reminds me of the times that I’ve caught myself in church putting a big smile on my face and trying to look joyful when I was not. What was I trying to do? I have to admit that I wanted others to think that I was spiritual when I was anything but. Appearances are so deceiving.

Jesus cursed the fig tree for its “hypocrisy” and gave an object lesson to His disciples, me included, about the seriousness of faking it. True spirituality produces fruit. Faking it produces what might look like fruit, but Jesus knows what is and what is not genuine and I know it too. Such nonsense is merely leaves.