Do I possess what I profess?

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.  Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” - 2 Corinthians 13:5

To profess something is simply to make a verbal statement, it’s just words.  To possess something means you actually have it; it’s real and solid and obvious to others.  Can our faith be defined in terms of profession and possession?

R.C. Sproul once made the statement that there are only three types of people.  Those who know they are saved, those who know they are not saved, and worst of all those who have deceived themselves into believing they are saved, but in actuality are not.  Obviously, most of us would agree that there are those who know they are saved and those who emphatically know they are not, but is it possible to think you are saved and not be?  Is there Biblical proof for this?

Let’s examine one of the most terrifying passages in all of Scripture.  

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus tells His disciples of people who professed faith in Christ, did good deeds in the name of Christ, and who had even deceived themselves in thinking that they were saved by their deeds and profession.  Listen to Jesus, God’s response to them: “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Their good deeds meant nothing.  Think of Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

Our righteousness, our goodness, our best is disgusting when compared to the perfect standard of a holy, righteous, and sinless God.  Even when we try to do the “right thing” we can’t do it, for nothing in us is enough.                       

Consider the pharisees in Jesus’ day.  In Matthew 23, Jesus rebukes the pharisees openly.  The pharisees professed to have great faith in God, and had all the outward appearance of it, but Jesus calls them hypocrites and confronts the reality that “all their works they do for to be seen of men”.

The major difference between a professor and a possessor of faith must be the ultimate motive behind their works.  Our works may impress men and fool them, but they will never be acceptable to God.

Listen to what Matthew Mead, the puritan, had to say about false professions of faith in his book, The Almost Christian Discovered:

“Many rest in a notion of godliness and an outward show of religion, and yet remain in their natural condition.  Many are hearers of the Word and not doers of it, and so deceive their own souls.  He that ignores the teachings cannot be a true Christian.” 

Here’s what Mr. Mead said about the true Christian in contrast:

 “When a man’s heart is thoroughly renewed  by grace, the mind savingly enlightened, the conscience convinced, the will truly humbled and subdued, the affections spiritually raised and sanctified, and when the mind and will and conscience and affections all join issue to help on and with the performance of the duties commanded, then is a man altogether a Christian.”  

We are to have some sort of real change, but it’s not a change in behavior that men can imitate.  It’s a deeper and sincere change of heart.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

    - 2 Corinthians 5:17

Just because we make a profession of faith, doesn’t mean we are saved, but if we truly are a Christian and are saved we will profess our faith in the Lord Jesus, but just because we profess faith doesn’t mean we actually possess it.  Clear as mud, right?

Test your faith with questions from the Puritans:

Is your faith primarily a mental assent to the truth of the gospel?  You agree with the Bible, but that’s just about as far as it goes.

Does your faith totally rely on Jesus for forgiveness of sins, or is there a part of you that tries to do your best and let Jesus take care of the rest?

Does brokenness of heart over sin accompany your faith?

Does your faith produce a willingness to endure hardship for the interests of Christ?

Can you honestly say that you delight in God?

Do you enjoy communion with God?

Do you fear and revere God and yet love Him as well? (Isaiah 66:1-2, 1 John 1:3)

Do you welcome examination of your heart by the Scriptures?

Is Jesus precious to you?

Is this even Biblical?  Take a look at Galatians 5:19-21.  These are the works of the flesh (remember that Christians are no longer slaves to their sinful flesh i.e. Romans 6:14-23).  Notice in verse 21 that after such a long list it says: “of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”  This doesn’t mean that Christians never sin, it is just not characteristic of them.

Now compare these with the fruits of the Spirit  that all believers should possess in Galatians 5:22-24.  Verse 24 succinctly states the difference between a false profession of faith and someone who actually possesses that saving faith in Christ Jesus: “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”  (cf. Romans 6:6, 8:13; Colossians 3:5).

Christ says to us: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” -Luke 9:23.  The only reason someone would be carrying a cross would be because they are headed to their own execution.  The possessor of faith has come to the end of themselves with the realization that there is no other way for them to be saved from the just wrath of the Father God, then to surrender and beg God for mercy through His Son, Jesus. (Romans 12:1-2)

This is not to say that the Christian won’t sin, but after what you must go through in the painful realization of your hopeless estate apart from the Savior, you won’t want to.  But when a Christian does sin, they will handle it differently than a false professor.  Hebrews 6:6 says that: “If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”  The sinning Christian will repent of their sin and cling to the cross of their most beloved Savior to forgive them. 

Perhaps now you are saying, “What should I do if I think I might be only professing to have faith, but not possessing it?”  Consider again, what Mr. Mead would say:

Seven Suggestions from Matthew Mead:

Do not rest until God has changed your heart until you know it.  God always gives a true believer a new heart with new desires.  Don’t rest until He has given it to you.  Seek Him earnestly until you know He has changed you.

Change begins with a conviction of sin.  Puritan Richard Baxter said, “God brings a conviction that will make a man feel his sin as the heaviest burden in the world.  The man will be crushed in his heart over his sin.  God’s Spirit will make him understand that he is liable to God’s wrath and curse.  He will make him see that he is a lost man facing damnation unless pardoned by the blood of Christ.” - The Reformed Pastor, p. 250

You must be wounded for sin and troubled under it before Jesus will give you peace.  You won’t receive forgiveness until you understand the vile and wretched nature of your own sin.

You must understand that performances, prayers, tears, self-righteousness, religious practice will not help you.  Only an infinite righteousness can save you.  Our sin has offended an infinite God.  

 Your case requires infinite mercy to pardon you, infinite merit to reconcile you to God; infinite power to renew your heart, and infinite grace to save you from hell.

 Know that you cannot come to Him by your own power.  You are dead in your trespasses and sin.  Call out to Him to make you alive.

Make sure you understand how offensive your sin is to God an know that sin is who you are, not what you do.

Do not rest in your convictions until you are thoroughly convicted of your sin and you have pleaded with God for mercy and you know that He has granted it,

Do not despair, but know that if you don’t know you are wrong you cannot be corrected.  Truth is often hard to handle, but that doesn’t change its truthfulness.  Rest in God’s Word and let it be the filter for your life.  Do not trust in anything or anyone else, including these words I have written, but only in the Holy Word of God.