Matthew 7:21 reads, “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 will enter.”
Scripture is clear that not everyone who claims to be in Christ is actually in Christ. There are many who profess Christ with their mouths, but their hearts are far from him. And how do we know? Because they don’t do what He says: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
Instead of loving Christ as he’s commanded—with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—many of these professing Christians turn God’s grace into an excuse to sin, and so encourage others to do so: “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4).
These people will quote the Bible, claim they love God, attend church, and seem very winsome or charming on the outside, but inside they are ravenous wolves seeking to destroy the flock of God.
Now, of course, none of us can see the heart (the inside), but we can listen to what people say and watch the fruit that comes from their lives (and Jesus defines “good fruit” as obedience). So we take what people say and what they do and compare it against the authority of Scripture to see if it is true and if that person is someone we should listen to, follow, or—well—preach the gospel to!
Texas Representative James Talarico—a professing “Christian”—unfortunately, Rep. is in seminary, studying to become a pastor. He wants to teach his false, unbiblical views to the church and influence people to become more progressive. So what do we do? We do two things: (1) call out his errors as we “contend earnestly for the faith” (Jude 1:3) and (2) teach truth so Christians can recognize lies.
We must raise up generations who know how to think biblically and who know what they believe and why they believe it.
