To Encourage You

Colossians 1:21-23 “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.” 

One of the greatest deceptions that the Bible warns us about is the self-deception of those who think they are Christians, when they are not.  Over and over again the Bible talks about perseverance, endurance, and continuing in the faith we proclaim that we have.  This implies that there are many people walking around today claiming to be believers because of some “experience” they’ve had or some commitment to God that they’ve made in the past; however, if you look at their lives today, they are indistinguishable from an unbeliever. Yet they still call themselves believers. 

In the verses above we are told that those “who once were alienated and hostile in mind, he has reconciled . . . if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast.” In other words, if someone has truly been reconciled to God, they will no longer be what they once were.  To “continue in the faith, stable and steadfast” is to no longer be like those who were never in the faith. Here such people are called “alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.” Over and over again the Bible warns us to not “rest on our laurels,” so to speak. It warns of those who began well but drifted away. The parable of the sower is one such example of this. Here we have the account of seed (the Word of God), that fell along the path, fell on stony ground, fell among the thorns, and fell on good ground. It is only the seed that fell on good ground, i.e., a good heart that was truly receptive to God’s Word over the long term, that produced fruit for that great Sower of the seed.  All the other types of soil, analogous to various unbelieving responses of the human heart to God’s Word, drift away. They don’t produce any fruit because they walk away as evidenced by their actions.  Although some begin strong, the cares of this life choke the Word, and they don’t persevere. Their belief was never genuine. It was perhaps an emotional response to an eloquent speaker, or an anxious reach of someone who was in great need and hurting at the time, but as soon as the emotions calmed down or the danger passed, it was back to the same old life that they had before. The heart was never changed. They did not endure, and their faith was never real. Jesus warned us that in the end, like the “goats” and “foolish virgins” of Matthew 25, there will be many who all along thought they were true Christians when they were not, and they will be lost. 

What about you? Are you a believer?  There is more hope today for those who admit that they are unbelievers than for those who think they are believers based on some past experience, when in reality their past experience wasn’t the real thing.  The latter is indistinguishable from an unbeliever, but unlike the unbeliever who admits as much, they think they are different, when they are not. 

So often the Bible warns us to examine ourselves with words such as these: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test” (2 Corinthians 13:5).  Have you ever done this?  Have you honestly asked the question “Am I truly a believer?”  Are you still “doing evil deeds” as a rule of life, as Paul talked about in his letter to the Colossians above, yet think you have been reconciled to God?  Or have you been changed, born again, a new person who is not what you were?  Any true faith will result in a changed life.   May God help us to honestly examine ourselves, for eternity will reveal the truth.  When Christ examines us, there will be no doubt if we are true or false believers.  It will be evident to all.  May we allow His Word examine us now, rather than await the horrible fate of the “goats” and “foolish virgins” of Matthew 25, who failed to do so when there was yet time.