Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Goats in Sheep’s Clothing
(Matthew 7:21-23)
Jesus not only warned of false teachers, “wolves” as He called them; He also warned of those with a false profession of faith. Today’s passage describes some who claim to be Christians, appear to be Christians, but—in reality—are not genuine believers. These false-professors are more difficult to detect than wolves, but their influence can be equally damaging. Our passage gives us several characteristics of those who profess Christ, but in reality do not know Him.
First, the passage describes them as having a verbal profession. In other words, they verbally acknowledge Christ as Lord. Their words are spoken out of convenience, not conviction—similar to a lot of Hollywood Christianity. Rising stars frequently climb their way to fame on the backs of gullible evangelicals by mentioning “Jesus” a couple of times—maybe at some awards ceremony.
Secondly, some of these false professors will have spectacular “works” to which they can point as proof of their faith (22). Unfortunately, good works do not always demonstrate genuine faith. Those who trumpet their works frequently do so to hide their true spiritual bankruptcy.
Genuine Christianity is not a verbal profession and resume of good works. Rather, true Christianity is a relationship where the believer knows and is known of God (23). Anything short of a relationship with Christ is a sham and will lead the religious phony to an eternity in the confines of the damned. Verbal testimony and good works are not proof of saving faith. The “real deal” involves a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
