"Unmasking the 'Almost' Christian"

Introduction

-In the United States, approx. 30-35% of Americans identify as Evangelical Christians

-Averages about 100-115 million people

-Considering that the U.S. has a population of nearly 330 million, this is a significant number

- Every two years, Ligonier Ministry releases what they call a ‘State of Theology’ report. (Gauge beliefs on key Biblical topics)- Professing evangelical Christians in America

‘Jesus was a great teacher, but He was not God’- 30% agree

‘Modern science disproves the Bible’- 17% agree

‘Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature’- 46% agree

‘God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam’- 42% agree

‘Gender identity is a matter of choice’- 22% agree

-What does this information tell us?

1. Many profess to belong to the fold of Christ, yet a significant portion of these are ignorant and, therefore, in opposition to a number of clear, Biblical teachings that are meant to shape and define our lives as God’s people.

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

I. It is not the confessing who will inherit eternal life, but the obeying

(V. 21- “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”)

A. Terrifying reality- there are those who proclaim the name of Christ with fervency, and yet do not belong to Him.

1. Emphasis- LORD, LORD!

i. Fervency, desperation, passion

B. (Contrast) ‘Does the will’ > ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα

1. ποιῶν > ποιέω > carry out, practice, commit

2. θέλημα > what one desires to accomplish through the working another

3. Put together > to do the will of God = making a consistent practice of allowing God to work through you and accomplish His purposes in your life. (Highlight the importance)

a. John 4:34- “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”

b. John 6:38- “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

c. Matthew 12:50- “whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

d. 1 John 2:17 “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

C. Understanding and practicing the will of God is the pinnacle of Christian existence. Or, to put it another way, the Christian life is a continuous response to the will of God...But what does it mean?

1. When Scripture speaks of ‘the will of God’ it can imply one of two things...

a. ‘Sovereign/efficacious will- God’s unique and mysterious governance over all affairs in existence

i. Deuteronomy 29:29- “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us...”

ii. Acts 17:26- “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation...”

iii. Ephesians 1:11- “...works all things after the counsel of His will...”

b. Disposition of God/what pleases Him

i. We can know this one! Romans 12:2- “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is...”

ii. Lord’s Prayer- “Thy will be done.”- Not necessarily referring to the sovereign or efficacious will of God…In the Lord’s Prayer the request is rather that what pleases God might be increasingly realized in our lives and in the lives of others.

iii. Ephesians 6:5-7- “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men...”

iv. 1 Thessalonians 4:3- “this is the will of God, your sanctification...that you abstain from sexual immorality;”

D. The ‘Almost’ Christian will be one who is largely unconcerned with the consumption of those things that are pleasing to God and in accordance to His will.

II. It is not external acts of obedience that commend us to the Father, but the internal reality of a renewed life

(V. 22- “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’”)

A. (On that day…) Refers to the final day of judgment. A day in which...

1. Isaiah 2:11 “The proud look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will be humbled, And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.”

2. Malachi 3:17-18 “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”” “So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.”

3. Matthew 25:31-33- “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.”

B. The individuals mentioned here seek to commend themselves to God through their many significant works (prophesy, casting out demons, many miracles/mighty works)

1. Not merely philanthropists seeking a tax write-off

2.

C. Romans 12:2- “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

1. God does not judge by outward appearances, but He looks at the internal transformation of the heart. (1 Samuel)

III. The final result of a falsified life of faith is eternal separation from the grace, peace, and love of Christ

(V. 23- ““And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”)

A. ‘I will declare’ The word used is ὁμολογέω- context=public

1. Used similarly in Titus 1:16, Paul speaks of those who, ‘profess to know God, but deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.’

2. (John Stott) “Christ’s confession to them will be like theirs in [that it is public], but unlike theirs in [that Christ’s confession is] true…For although they had used his name freely, their name was unknown to him. The reason for [such rejection] is that their profession was verbal, not moral. It concerned their lips only, and not their life. They called Jesus ‘Lord, Lord’, but never submitted to his lordship, or obeyed the will of his heavenly Father.”

B. Not knowledge of existence, but intimate knowing

1. Genesis 4:1- Adam knew Eve and she conceived and bore a son

2. John 10:14- I am the Good Shepherd and I know my own and my own know me

3. 2 Timothy 2:19- …The Lord knows those who are His.

4. John 17:30- “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

5. (15-20) Jesus speaks of false prophets. These were deceivers, whereas those spoken of here are self-deceived. Acceptance depends not on profession, nor even on apparently Christian activity, but on whether Jesus knew them.

C. To those who do not share in this intimate mutual knowing with Christ, He commands them to depart.

1. Imperative, forceful command > Go! Get away from me!

D. You who habitually work or make a practice of ἀνομία- no/without law

1. 1 John 3:4-10 “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God...”

2. (Leon Morris notes) “They are not condemned for an occasional error but for consistent wrongdoing. Lawlessness is basically the rejection of the law of God. The word is often translated in terms of wrongdoing (“evildoers”), which is, of course, involved. But the term points to a refusal to submit to the law of God; all the wrongdoing follows inevitably from this refusal. The words of these people may be good words, but their lives are lawless.

i.. The life of faith will be one that takes hold of the law of God and seeks His strength to obey.

ii. 1 John 5:3- We keep His commandments, and they are not burdensome to us. (Legalism?)

E. A love poem delighting and relishing over God’s perfect law- Psalm 119 (176 verses)

a. (14, 24) Your testimonies are my delight

b. (47) I find my delight in your commandments

c. (48) I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love

d. (72) The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces

e. (97) Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day

f. (119) I love your testimonies

g. (127) I love your commandments

h. (129) Your testimonies are wonderful

i. (159) Consider how I love your precepts

j. (162) I rejoice at your word

Conclusion

On the Day of Judgment, there will be some who claim to be Christians who will be turned away from God’s kingdom. They will be like counterfeit money when it reaches the bank. Suppose you are given a counterfeit bill in change at a store. Thinking it is genuine, you use it to pay for some gas. The station owner uses it to pay one of his employees, who then uses it to buy groceries. From there it goes to the bank where the teller says, ‘I’m sorry, but this bill is counterfeit.’

The bill may have been used to do a lot of good while it was in circulation, but when it arrived at the bank, it was exposed for what it really was and put out of circulation. A counterfeit Christian may do many good works, but still be rejected at the gates of judgment.