SAVING FAITH OR DAMNING BELIEF

What is the nature of saving faith? That is the touchstone of the controversy. As one preacher said "It is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone." Repentance always accompanies saving faith. What we want to examine is the reality of the existence of a faith that does not save or what one writer of a bygone generation once called "-damning belief." The very phrase rings with controversy. But in the light of much scandal that has come into the Church in the last decade or so accompanied by the poor state of many churches, we do not believe that this is a subject to be taken lightly. The reality of a false damning faith must be faced since millions are sleeping the slumber of death thinking they are on their way into the Celestial City simply because they "accepted Christ" with no idea of what true saving faith is.

We seemed to have forgotten the sobering words of our Lord in Matthew 7:13, "Enter ye in at the strait gate" (KJV). The gate is a straight gate: a gate which few find. The Greek word for straight is 'stenos' meaning narrow from obstacles close about. This is foreign to many who would make the road wide with many going in. A careful examination of this and other portions of Holy Writ should have every true child of the King on his knees before God in deep self-examination lest we, too, prove to be reprobates.

What exactly was our Lord speaking of when He said to enter the straight gate? Luke records our Lord saying that we should strive to enter this gate (Luke 13:24). The word "strive" in Greek is 'agonizomia' which is the word where we get our word agonize from. Jesus said we are to agonize to enter. Why? Is this teaching works for our salvation? God forbid! It is not in anyway inferring works, but it is showing the error of the easy believism of our day.

What then is our Lord telling in this passage? As the reader looks at the passage in Matthew, he will notice that our Lord puts two ways before us. In telling us to enter the straight gate, He tells us why by stating that the broad way leads to destruction and that many are on it. What are these two ways? Obviously, the straight gate is true conversion, but what is the wide gate? Many well-meaning Christians will say that it is the road that all of the unsaved Take. This, of course, cannot be the case because everyone, by nature, because of the sin of Adam, is on the road to hell. They do not enter in; they are born there. This wide gate is a gate that people willfully enter into. This, along with the reason our Lord gives us to strive to enter in at the straight gate, could only point to one thing: FALSE CONVERSION! This wide way is filled with people who truly believe that they are on the right path when they are on the road to destruction.

Many will take offense to this type of teaching saying that we have no right to make such judgments, but is it is our Lord who gave us these warnings. This portion in Matthew actually has four consecutive passages which should be adequate for any serious student of God's Word to ponder (exclusive of our Lord's other warnings, including those in the Epistles).

Let us look at this straight gate; there are two things we need to look at. First, the gate itself is straight. The best illustration of this would be that of a turnstile at a subway. This is the type you would see that one cannot enter with a lot of baggage. To enter into this true conversion, one must denounce all self-will, self-effort, and self-pleasing. This is what our Lord meant when He said that to follow Him meant self-denial (compare Matthew 10:38-39, Luke 9:23 and Luke 14:27). Secondly, we see that our Lord also says that the way is straight. After we have entered in, our whole life is a life of self-denial. Many will try to squeeze through the gate and expect the road to be much more compromising. (This, course, is not the case.)

It would be important to remember that these two, the straight gate and straight path must go together. Some try to make a wide gate and a straight path. This is the curse of modern evangelism. Get them in any way you can, then try to get them to walk the straight path with all their baggage. IT CANNOT BE DONE! You must enter in at the straight gate!

Our Lord goes on in verses 15-20 to warn us of false prophets. We must see the connection between His statement of the straight gate and His warning of false prophets. These false prophets are the preachers of the wide gate. His warning in verses 16 and 20 tell us that we will know them by their fruits. This verse is commonly used by Christians to refer to fruit in a Christian's life. (This is not the case.) It is the false prophets that are known by their fruits. What are their fruits? Their converts! Notice the use of the plural "fruits" as opposed to the the singular "fruit of the Spirit" Gal. 5:22.

When a particular ministry produces "Carnal Christians," you can be sure that is not the straight gate that they are preaching. We need to ask if a ministry is producing converts that are truly seeking after holiness.

Our Lord continues His sobering words by telling of those who will go all the way to judgment day to hear those horrible words, "I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity"(KJV). We must see the connection in this progression of our Lord's discourse. After warning of the broad gate of false conversion and then the false prophets of this way, now He shows the end result of those who go their whole life believing they were born again only to find out the fatal truth on judgment day.

Who are these people? Are they those that follow some well known cult? Are they maybe Roman Catholics? I think not. First we notice that these are ones who confess Jesus as Lord. A person cannot confess Jesus as Lord unless they are sitting under preaching that is proclaiming the Lordship of Christ. If these will scarcely be saved, how will those be saved who do not even confess this much? Secondly, they expect to enter into heaven, which neither cults nor Roman Catholics teach that anyone can expect salvation for sure.

Thirdly, we must remember that these people claim to do many wonderful works in His name. They had a lot zeal, but not according to knowledge. It was a fleshly zeal that was not concerned for God's glory only for their own selfish gain.

It would be important to notice that these people were never saved at all. Many think that these are people who lost their salvation. Our Lord said that he NEVER knew them. Compare this verse with John 10:14 where He says that He KNOWS His sheep.

Who are they then? It should be obvious to any serious student of Scripture that these people are professing, but not possessing Christians.

That brings us to the final section beginning with verse 24. The word "Therefore" connects these sections. Our Lord clearly shows that the ones building on the Rock, which are the ones on the narrow way, are those that hear His words and DOETH THEM! Nothing could be clearer. Obedience! It is clear that if there is any reserve in your obedience to God's Word you are on your way to hell!

In the light the many passages such as 2 Peter 1:10 which tells us to "be diligent to make our calling and election sure," we need to see how far a person can go in outward appearance and still be lost. Since this process of self-examination is so important to the professing Christian, we will examine the areas that this false faith is similar to saving faith and then examine the deficiencies.

First, we see that this false faith also has Christ as it's object, John 2:23-24. Here, we read that many believed in His name, but in verse 24 we read "But Jesus did not commit Himself to them because He knew all men". It was not Christ Himself they were committed to but His signs and wonders. Many today in the Church are only interested in what Christ can do for them. This is the result of an man-centered evangelism, which focuses on the happiness of man instead of the glory of God.

Secondly, we read in Hebrews 6:4, that this faith can be produced to an extent by the Holy Spirit. There, we read that some "have become partakers of the Holy Spirit". As we said before, we know that this is not salvation because in verse 9, we read "But beloved we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation." This, of course, teaches that this was not true conversion.

Thirdly, we read in Matthew 13:20, in our Lord's parable of the seed, that the stony ground hearers (another term for false conversion) received the word with joy. So just as true conversion produces joy, so does this false conversion. In fact, we read that the stony ground hearer "immediately receives it with joy". These people actually exhibit joy quicker than the true believers, due in part because there is no real conviction for their sin. Do you know anyone like that?

That brings us to the fourth area and that is from the same text in Matthew 13. This faith was produced BY THE WORD! This may sound strange but look at the text. In verse 20, we read that they received THE WORD with joy; the seed is the Word (Mark 4:14). This may be a hard pill for many to swallow, but we must remember that these are the very words of our Lord, Himself. We must also note that this faith is produced in those who already have their hearts changed. The soil was already changed before the seed hit it. The Holy Spirit must regenerate the sinner before the word can do its work. The gospel is not the means of this regeneration since that is the work of the Spirit alone and is produced by His immediate operation.

The fifth area of similarity is that these people are looking for the second coming as we see in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25). The foolish virgins were waiting and ready, but they had no oil in their lamps, a figure of the Holy Spirit.

Oh, how sobering these truths can be! It is frightening to see how far one can actually go and still be on the wide road that leads to destruction. These passages, alone, should be enough for any professed believer to be diligent to make his calling and election sure.

What are the deficiencies of the faith? If one can go this far and not be saved, then what are the defects that prove their faith false? Let us now look at these areas.

First, these people are more than willing to be saved from hell, which can be a natural instinct for self-preservation that exists in all; but they are not willing to be SAVED FROM THEMSELVES! They want to be saved from the wrath to come, but not from self- will, self-pleasing, and self-love. Jesus said in Luke 9:24 "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself take up the cross daily and follow me." Christ saves from sin's power, pollution, and it's guilt; the root of all sin is self-love. Christ will save on His terms or NOT AT ALL! This type of gospel preaching is foreign to many today.

Secondly, these people have, as an object of their salvation, their own self interest. Another curse of modern evangelism is that Christ is presented in such a way as to focus on the person's happiness. Let me give an example. A preacher in St. Louis had a radio broadcast in which he presented the Gospel. He received a telephone call from a man that had been listening to the broadcast wanting to talk to him about the Gospel. When the preacher arrived at his home and talked with him, he found out that the man had problem after problem. His wife left him, he lost his job, his children did not want to see him, and all sorts of problems. When the preacher pointedly asked him, "If I tell you that if you commit your life to Christ that these problems won't go away and you may even have more, do you still want to be saved?" Do you know what the man said? "NO!" What would most preachers have said to him? This preacher answered, "Well then I have no Gospel to offer you."

Many will take offense to that, but that is the way our Lord presented the Gospel. In the story of the rich young ruler, how do we find this story ending? After Jesus tells him to sell all and give it to the poor (because this was obviously the man's god). What happened? Mark records the words (10:22), "but he was sad at this word, and went away grieved, for he had great possessions." It is interesting that our Lord does something modern evangelists would never do, He let him walk away sad! What would many today have said? Many would widen the gate just to get him in. The words of a servant of a past generation are quite perceptive: "Christ calls men to carry a cross; we call them to have fun in His name! He calls them to forsake the world; we but assure them that if they just accept Jesus the world is their oyster! He calls them to suffer; we call them to enjoy all the bourgeois comforts modern civilization affords! He calls them to self-abnegation and death; we call them to spread themselves like green bay trees and perchance even to become stars in a fifth-rate religious zodiac! He calls them to holiness; we call them to a cheap and tawdry happiness that would have been rejected with scorn by the least of the Stoic philosophers!.......Whatever is foreign to the Spirit of the Man of sorrows and contrary to the teachings and practices of His apostles is un-Christian, no matter whence it emanates," Oh, if that would just be the heart of many over-zealous Christians today.

A third of deficiency in this faith is that it is not grounded in a true understanding of the character of God. Instead of preaching a holy God who is in absolute control who does whatever He pleases, (Dan. 4:35) modern evangelists preach a god is no more than a god invented with their own mind. A god who can be summoned by the whims and wishes of sinful men any time they wish. This is no less than IDOL WORSHIP!

A fourth area is that of the false doctrine that we can accept Jesus as Savior and some time later submit to Him as Lord. THIS IS HERESY! When we commit our lives to Christ we do so on HIS terms, submitting to HIS absolute Lordship over every area of our lives. There is no accepting Christ as Savior without total submission to Him as King of King and Lord of Lords of our whole life. A fifth area is that of seeking the praise of men. Our Lord said in John 5:44, "How can you believe, who receive honor from one another and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?" Are you seeking the honor that comes from God alone or are you seeking to be someone in the eyes of men?

The final and just possibly the most common is that these false professors know nothing of biblical heartfelt repentance. There just is no true saving faith that did not originate with a heartfelt repentance. True saving faith is a combination of repentance, belief and obedience. It starts with repentance, leads to belief, and results in obedience. We see this in 1 Thessalonians 1 where we read in verses 8b-9, "Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God". Here, we have a declaration of the faith of the Thessalonians by describing repentance as "turning to God from idols" and obedience "to serve the living and true God." The word translate "to serve" is 'douleuein' which is a present active verb meaning 'to be a slave to". The interesting thing about these Thessalonians was that this was what other people said about their faith. Sadly to say, there are multitudes teaching a cultic damning delusion that repentance is not a part of the salvation message. The very idea of weeping and mourning over sin is offensive to many today; but nonetheless, Jesus came to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32).

After this sobering look at true saving faith, this should bring us to see the importance of real scrutinizing self-examination. This duty, which is commanded in Scripture, is vastly neglected in the Church today basically for three reasons. First: There's ignorance. If a person is not aware of the danger of self-deception, he will see no need to examine himself. This should not be the case, since we are commanded this in Scripture.

The second reason is laziness. The Bible says that in Proverbs 1:32 "the complacency of fools will destroy them". This word 'complacency" means an abundance and quietness like the attitude of the Laodicean church in Revelation 3. The quietness is not the peaceful quietness that comes from the Holy Spirit, but the quietness that comes from being satisfied to the point of lazy neglect. The attitude that says "I'm happy with what I have so don't bother me to strive for anymore" while he lives in povery, refusing to labor. He is self deceived. Just as this exists in the physical realm where men do not want to work and are contented to live in poverty, this is also true in the spiritual realm as well.

It was said by someone once that we have as much of God as we want, implying that Christians are as much along in their holiness as they want to be. This truth can be applied to the false professor as well since he is happy in his carnal state and does not desire to see where he is spiritually, actually saying he is nowhere spiritually.

The third and most important reason is fear. Many fear of what they might find out if they examine themselves. There are many today who refuse to go to the doctor when they suspect something serious because they are afraid of what the doctor might say. Sad as it is, this is true in the spiritual realm as well. "What they know won't hurt them" so the saying goes. It is far more serious when your soul is at stake, but many still fall into this deception.

We can not conclude without mentioning that the doctrine of assurance is closely tied to this duty of self-examination. Where do we get assurance from? Unlike what many say today, assurance is not automatic. In fact if you are a professing Christian and you are living with known unconfessed sin and your assurance is not damped somewhat, I doubt if you have really been born again. Our assurance does not come from some past experience. If that is what you are looking at to strengthen your assurance, you are on dangerous ground. Present grace is proof of past grace. The stony ground hearers had a past experience but they proved to be apostates. Do not trust you heart dear reader for "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool" (Proverbs 28:26) and "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). As a servant of a bygone generation said about self- examination as a duty in keeping the heart "Those that put their stock in the hands of the unfaithful or suspicious servants, will be sure to make short reckonings with them."

How do we know that we are truly saved? Can we know? Most assuredly, but it does not come from past experience or feelings. It comes from present perseverance. In John 2:3 we read "By this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments." Assurance comes from obedience. We do not lose our salvation when we sin, but our fellowship with God is broken and He may hide His face from us at times because of sin. It is then that our assurance becomes weak. We need to repent when we are aware of sin and seek to follow after holiness in daily mortification of sin. Self-examination is needed if we are to make our "calling and election sure" so we may now possess" and receive "a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it" Revelation 2:17.

Your comments will be greatly appreciated.