Discerning True Believers



Today I feel it is very important that we are able to distinguish true believers from those who say they are, but really are not.  I felt led to read I John 2, and have quoted parts of it here: 

1Jn 2:1    My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

1Jn 2:2    And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1Jn 2:3    And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

1Jn 2:4    He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1Jn 2:5    But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

1Jn 2:6    He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 

To get a clearer perspective,  according to verse 4, if someone is simply spouting familiar Christian terms and saying they know the Lord, but they are not intending to follow Him (keep His Word), is lying and do not know the Lord even though they say they do.  They may talk the talk, but are they walking the walk? 

1Jn 2:7    Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

1Jn 2:8    Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

1Jn 2:9    He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

1Jn 2:10    He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

1Jn 2:11    But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 

Take notice of verse 7, "I write no new commandment unto you."  If you research and are following what is going on in the Christian world, it is amply evident that there are groups balking at tradition and trying to come up with something new and different all the time.  Earlier this week I found a site that shed light on the "emerging church."  Click here for the link.  This is exactly the kind of thing to be wary of when someone comes up with new and revised ways that run contrary to Scripture or ignore it altogether.  God doesn't change and neither does His Word, or His commandments.  These are what we must adhere to, not the whims of man.   

1Jn 2:18    Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1Jn 2:19    They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 

Today there are many "antichrists" who oppose the truth of God's Word and this can come in many forms.  For one, some think that the proponents of the emerging church are the ones who will help usher in the one-world church, where all religions blend into one, and you are no longer allowed to go against the stream of popular opinion.  Are we getting close to that now?  This should be no surprise since we know we are living in the last days.  In verse 19, we have a telling way to expose whether a person is sincerely a true believer in Christ or not.  Once you expose the truth of God's Word to them, as it's been revealed to you (through the Holy Spirit, confirmed by other Scriptures, and experienced by you in your own life), do they retaliate and argue, run and hide, or graciously receive the Word as it's been given?  If they do not receive it, then we have to question whether they are true believers, or are they just trying to lead us astray from the Truth of God's Word.  

 If we say we are true believers and followers of Jesus Christ, then we have been given the Truth for a reason, and it must go beyond ourselves (in fact, it is commanded).  We must not be passive in these last critical days.  We must stand up and make a difference, for there are many lost souls who will not stand a chance of receiving salvation if we do nothing to dispel the influence of such a heavy cloud of deception currently over our world.