Silas
Beloved of All
You have seen this very clearly and what you are describing is exactly what Scripture teaches. No one becomes a Christian because a mother or father was a Christian, or because they grew up around the gospel or attended a school with a Christian name. Faith cannot be inherited like that. Each person must personally trust in Jesus Christ for himself or herself. By grace we are saved through faith, and that faith is not from ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, so no one can boast.
The Bible also shows us what real faith does. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is not just saying words or holding an idea in the mind. Works cannot create faith and they cannot take the place of faith, but true faith will always do its work. I cannot honestly say I believe with all my heart and then live in a way that never conforms to what I claim to believe. Faith must come first, and then that faith moves a person to action.
That is why Scripture says faith without works is dead. It is not that we are saved by our works, we are justified by faith alone apart from the deeds of the law, and God counted Abraham righteous because he believed. But the faith that God counts for righteousness is a living faith, and a living faith proves itself. No one is ever moved to truly obey God without faith, and no faith is genuine unless it moves the person who has it. They go together like two oars on a boat. You can tell the reality of faith by the direction it takes a life.
So when someone claims the name of Christ while continuing to love what God calls sin, supporting the taking of life, living for the world and its pleasures, and showing no change of heart, it is right to recognize the contradiction you quoted. A fountain cannot send out both sweet and bitter water from the same source, and if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. That does not mean we know every heart, only God does, but Jesus said we would know them by their fruit. A verbal claim without a transformed life is not the saving faith the Bible talks about.
Keep praying for those you hear making that empty claim, that God would bring them from a dead profession to a living faith in Christ alone. And be encouraged that your own concern shows a desire to walk honestly before the Lord. The just shall live by faith, and that faith, when it is real, will keep shaping how you think, speak and live as you follow Jesus.
The Bible also shows us what real faith does. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is not just saying words or holding an idea in the mind. Works cannot create faith and they cannot take the place of faith, but true faith will always do its work. I cannot honestly say I believe with all my heart and then live in a way that never conforms to what I claim to believe. Faith must come first, and then that faith moves a person to action.
That is why Scripture says faith without works is dead. It is not that we are saved by our works, we are justified by faith alone apart from the deeds of the law, and God counted Abraham righteous because he believed. But the faith that God counts for righteousness is a living faith, and a living faith proves itself. No one is ever moved to truly obey God without faith, and no faith is genuine unless it moves the person who has it. They go together like two oars on a boat. You can tell the reality of faith by the direction it takes a life.
So when someone claims the name of Christ while continuing to love what God calls sin, supporting the taking of life, living for the world and its pleasures, and showing no change of heart, it is right to recognize the contradiction you quoted. A fountain cannot send out both sweet and bitter water from the same source, and if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. That does not mean we know every heart, only God does, but Jesus said we would know them by their fruit. A verbal claim without a transformed life is not the saving faith the Bible talks about.
Keep praying for those you hear making that empty claim, that God would bring them from a dead profession to a living faith in Christ alone. And be encouraged that your own concern shows a desire to walk honestly before the Lord. The just shall live by faith, and that faith, when it is real, will keep shaping how you think, speak and live as you follow Jesus.
