Do You Truly Believe?

     Statistically speaking, an overwhelming percentage of Americans claim to be Christians. A Gallup poll from December of 2009 indicates that 78% of Americans identify their religious association with Christianity. Gallup, This Christmas, 78% of Americans Identify as Christian, December 24, 2009, http://www.gallup.com/poll/124793/This-Christmas-78-Americans-Identify-Christian.aspx. I’m sorry to the people who worked on that study, but when I look around the country we live in, I cannot accept their statistic. I guess I can accept that those people claim they are Christians, but I will not concede that 78% of Americans are Christians.

     First of all, it utterly contradicts Jesus. Our Savior warned that most people are not on the road to salvation, and thus are not Christians:

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:13, 14 (NKJV).

     Those who have entered the narrow gate are those who have repented from sin, and through faith put their full trust in Christ’s death on the cross as the substitutionary atonement for their sin, thereby in God’s mercy and grace avoiding the punishment they rightfully deserve. Most people, however, are on the broad road leading to Hell, where they will have to themselves suffer the precise eternal punishment for the sins of violating God’s laws. Those are the many people who have rejected God’s free gift of salvation whereby if they would have only humbled themselves before God through Christ, Jesus would have taken their sin upon Himself. Those people reject God’s truth and authority because they prefer the “truth” they created in their minds and their own authority to live as they like.

     The gate is narrow because there is only one way to salvation, as Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6b (NKJV). The way is difficult because salvation through Jesus Christ means that you must trade your life of sin for His life of righteousness, and then live according to God’s will, as the Apostle Paul explained, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (NKJV). You can no longer live for yourself on the difficult way because once you enter by the narrow gate, “you are not your own … [f]or you were bought at a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19b, 20a (NKJV). Regarding this trade, Jesus said, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39 (NKJV).

     Secondly though, such an inflated statistic echoes what is possibly the most horrifying passage in the entire Bible. The Apostle Matthew recorded Christ’s warning that many false converts to Christianity will be denied entrance to Heaven because although they claimed to be followers of Jesus, they never repented and put their trust in Jesus alone for salvation:

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Matthew 7:21—23 (NKJV).

     What is so horrifying about this is the fact that many people will not enter Heaven, even though they claimed to be Christians! In fact, Jesus said that many people will do great things in the name of Christ, yet in vain. Although these people claimed to follow Christ, and even acted like they did, they never truly humbled themselves before Christ and put their trust in Him for salvation, but rather hung on to their good works trying to earn favor in God’s eyes. Jesus will not allow anyone to take credit for what He did on the cross, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8, 9 (NKJV).

     Do you identify yourself as a Christian? If you said “no,” repent and put your trust in Christ alone through faith alone. Then start reading your Bible everyday and do what it says. If you answered “yes,” make sure you are not a false convert, to whom Jesus will utter those horrifying words, “I never knew you; depart from Me.” Matthew 7:23b (NKJV) (emphasis in italics added). Make absolutely sure that you have repented and put your full trust in Christ alone through faith alone. The Apostle Paul advised the Corinthian Church, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” 2 Corinthians 13:5a (NKJV). It is so important to get it right the first time, because there are no do-overs. We have only one opportunity to get this eternally important decision correct because, “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” Hebrews 9:27b (NASB).

     I think the problem with Christianity today is that we have allowed the truth about God and His word to be watered down. We seem to no longer truly believe in the awesome but fearful nature of who God is, but rather we hold to a low view of who God is and a high view of who man is. Our problem then begins with the fact that we have are views backwards!

     Do you even truly believe that God is real? Is God some sort of cosmic genie, or ancient grandfather-like “man upstairs” that you can access when you’re in trouble? Or is He the One who spoke the world into existence, and has “the very hairs of your head … numbered”? Luke 12:7b (NKJV). Do you truly “fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”? Matthew 10:28b (NKJV). If you want wisdom in understanding who God and Jesus Christ are, you must approach Him with a healthy dose of reverent fear of His awesome nature, as the Proverb says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10 (NKJV). Consider who the Bible says God is, and then compare it to who you think God is. Then make a decision on who is right, you or God’s word.

     The very first line of all Scripture says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 (NKJV). Explaining that Jesus Christ is the very same God spoken of in Genesis, the Apostle John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:1—3 (NKJV). Do you believe that’s true?

     God was and is in active control over every single thing that you see around you. By His word, He spoke the universe into existence! Even before He created the sun and moon, “[] God said, ‘Let there be light;’ and there was light.” Genesis 1:3 (NKJV). As a side note, this same light will exist again without need of the sun when paradise is restored in the Heavenly City, as the Apostle John described, “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” Revelation 21:23 (NKJV). Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12b (NKJV).

     Not only did God speak the universe into existence, He is in absolute sovereign control over His creation, as the Psalmist wrote:

For I know that the LORD is great,

     And our Lord is above all gods.

Whatever the LORD pleases He does,

     In heaven and in earth,

     In the seas and in all deep places.

He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;

     He makes lightning for the rain;

     He brings the wind out of His treasuries.

Psalm 135:5—7 (NKJV). Even during the cataclysmic flood that destroyed the entire world, except for the remnant of creation that God specifically chose to save, “The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood, And the LORD sits as King forever.” Psalm 29:10 (NKJV).

     How dare we attribute His wonderful creation to some silly notion of exploding rocks and energy that came into existence all by themselves, and in turn apparently created everything! In response to Job’s questioning of God’s power and ability, God set Job straight with the following declarations:

Now prepare yourself like a man;

     I will question you, and you shall answer Me.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

     Tell Me, if you have understanding.

Who determined its measurements?

     Surely you know!

     Or who stretched the line upon it?

To what were its foundations fastened?

     Or who laid its cornerstone,

When the morning stars sang together,

     And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

…

Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?

     Tell Me, if you know all this.

…

Have you entered the treasury of snow,

     Or have you seen the treasury of hail,

Which I have reserved for the time of trouble[?]

…

Can you send out lightnings, that they may go,

     And say to you, ‘Here we are!’?”

Job 38:3—7, 18, 22, 23a, 35 (NKJV).

     How can we ever reasonably claim to know that everything came from nothing, despite not being present when it happened, and despite the mysterious fact that everything coming from nothing is impossible! Even the scientists holding to these views who are being honest will agree that it is only a theory. The Apostle Paul wrote of these “intellectuals” who would deny God’s existence when he wrote, “Professing to be wise, they became fools.” Romans 1:22 (NKJV). King David agreed when he wrote, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Psalm 14:1a (NKJV). Do you believe God is real?

     More incredibly than creating nature, God created mankind, but this time with the work of His own hands and breath, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7 (NKJV). When we look at the complexities of life, can we really believe that we evolved from monkeys, and ultimately rocks before them? I don’t know about you, but I’m no son of a monkey! As the Psalmist wrote:

Know that the LORD, He is God;

     It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

     We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Psalm 100:3 (NKJV). Are you a son or daughter of a monkey?

     Even more amazing, God did not turn His back on mankind when after making the first two human beings, they rebelled against Him and thus cast our entire race into the curse of sin. God has nevertheless been intimately involved in the creation of every single one of us, including you and me. King David praised God’s creative power when he wrote:

For You formed my inward parts;

     You covered me in my mother’s womb.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

     Marvelous are Your works,

     And that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You,

     When I was made in secret,

     And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

     And in Your book they all were written,

     The days fashioned for me,

     When as yet there were none of them.

Psalm 139:13—16 (NKJV).

     God knew each of us before any of us were even made! As mentioned above, God has “the very hairs of your head … numbered.” Luke 12:7b (NKJV). Doesn’t it give you comfort that in this chaotic world filled with confusion after confusion, there is a God in sovereign control, who not only made you but even knows how many hairs are on your head? It’s amazing to me that He even cares!

     God made us and all the creation around us so that we would have general proof of His existence, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Psalm 19:1a (NKJV). Because of the evidence God has given us for His existence, the Bible says that we have no excuse for denying it, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20 (NKJV). Do you have an excuse? God says you don’t. 

     In addition to His creation, God generally reveals to us the standards by which we should live through our conscience so that we would know when we broke His rules, even those of us that have never read the Bible, “for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law [they] show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness.” Romans 2:14, 15a (NKJV). What’s your conscience saying even right now? 

     Furthermore, He gave us the Scriptures so we would have specific proof of who He is, and what He desires for us, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 (NKJV). King David described how God’s specific revelation through Scripture is what leads to salvation:

The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;

     The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;

     The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;

     The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

Psalm 19:7—9 (NKJV). When was the last time you bothered to read His word? 

     So why would God continue to care about us when after giving us so much evidence for both His existence and His plan for us, we constantly thumb our noses at Him, and prefer to think we came into existence on our own? King David had a very similar question:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

     The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

What is man that You are mindful of him[?]

Psalm 8:3, 4 (NKJV). The Apostle Peter answered the question when he wrote, “The Lord … is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV). God is giving each of us time to repent from our way and turn to His way. Jesus assured us that he who ignores His Gospel, “shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36b (NKJV).

     Not only has He intimately made each and every one of us, and counts the number of hairs on our heads, and is so unbelievably patient with us, but God Himself even stepped into our world to take the exact punishment each of us deserve for our personal rebellion against Him. The Apostle John wrote, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (NKJV).

     The Bible makes clear that God did not simply create us in His image with the intention to have us live and do whatever we desired. He will let us live and do what we desire, but we will also receive the wages our sinful desires bring, “For the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23a (NKJV). But that is not what God desires for us. He made us for the purpose of glorifying Him, but because of our prideful hearts only wanting to bring glory to ourselves, we defy and reject our Creator’s very existence and His plan for our redemption from the curse of sin that our oldest ancestor’s brought upon us in the Garden of Eden.

     When Jesus was being tested by the Pharisees, who were trying to trick Him into saying something rebellious against Rome, the following dialogue took place:

“Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

     But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money.”

So they brought Him a denarius.

     And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

     They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

Matthew 22:16b—22 (NKJV). Moses taught that on the sixth day of Creation, “[] God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.’” Genesis 1:26a (NKJV) (emphasis in italics added).

     God wants us to give to Him that which has His image on it, us! He wants us to stop living for ourselves and live for Him; and if we do so, God promises us that He will give us a new heart, filled with desires that are pleasing to Him. Through the Prophet Ezekiel, God explained the transformation that comes with salvation this way:

     I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Ezekiel 36:26, 27 (NKJV). Do you have a new heart from God, one of flesh that desires God and not one hard as stone?

     Once God changes your heart, your desires will be pleasing to God and He will do as He promised through King David 3,000 years ago:

Delight yourself also in the LORD,

     And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD,

     Trust also in Him,

     And He shall bring it to pass.

Psalm 37:4, 5 (NKJV). Jesus taught this very thing when He said, “[] seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33 (NKJV).

     This is not to say that when you become a Christian everything will go precisely as you wish. Remember that Jesus described the Christian life as being like a narrow and difficult path. However, it does mean that the new things which the Christian heart desires, which is primarily to honor and glorify God, will be given to you. Do you desire to honor and glorify God, or yourself?

     Remember what the Apostle John wrote above regarding God’s love for us, “that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16b (NKJV). Do you truly understand and believe what this means? We have all defied God, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 (NKJV). Despite all the times we failed to honor God as He is described in Scripture, all the times we blasphemed His holy name, all the times we broke each of His commandments, God loves us so much that He stepped into our world for the sole purpose of dying on the cross, where God the Son took the wrath that God the Father, our Creator, had stored up for each and every one of us as the wages for which our sins justly deserve. Jesus said, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18 (NKJV). Do you believe?

     The same Holy and awesome God, who spoke the world into existence, who formed each one of us in our mothers’ wombs, and has power over all things, including the ability to cast our very souls into Hell for all of eternity as the just payment for our sins, died for us so that we could live with Him in eternity.  Jesus analogized his death to that of a seed when He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” John 12:24 (NKJV). A righteous man undeserving of death had to take God’s wrath so that we could be spared. All one has to do to receive this unbelievable gift of salvation is to believe God by repenting from sin and having faith in Jesus Christ, that He took that penalty one deserves from our Creator. Do you believe?

     Please make sure you are off the broad road that leads to destruction, and on the narrow path that leads to salvation. Too many people think they are Christians just because they grew up in the Church, or got baptized, or answered an altar call, but they never sought an individual and personal relationship with God through repentance and faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Do you truly believe you will meet Christ face to face? You should. The death rate is pretty consistent. Follow Paul’s advice and “Test yoursel[f].” 2 Corinthians 13:5b (NKJV). Contemplate just how powerful God is, and how weak you are in relation to Him. Remember that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” Proverbs 9:10a (NKJV). Make sure you fear hearing those horrifying words from the Savior on that day when you meet Him face to face, “I never knew you; depart from Me.” Matthew 7:23b (NKJV) (emphasis in italics added). Do as Jesus commanded, “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15b (NKJV).