"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 7:21 NIV
I'm a chemical engineer. Do you believe that? You shouldn't because it's not true. Just because I say I'm something doesn't make me that thing.
If I claimed to be a tree you would laugh at me and probably discount everything else I say. Why? Because I don't look like or act like a tree. I'm obviously a human being.
How can you tell I'm not a chemical engineer? I might claim to be one so how can you know for sure? The best way to tell if I'm a chemical engineer is to test me to see if I am doing the job. Listen carefully, I didn't say to test me to see if I can do the job. A person might know a lot about the subject but still not be doing the job.
How can you tell if a person is a follower of Jesus Christ? Is that even possible? Ultimately, you and I cannot know the heart of another person with absolute certainty. But their actions do portray the heart and sometimes betray the lips.
Let's say a person claims to be a Christian but their actions don't testify to it. Should you believe them and not be concerned about their salvation? Maybe we should take the position of our friends from Missouri and say to that person, "Show me!" God can see the heart, we can only see their actions.
A person doesn't become a Christian because of their lifestyle or actions; but they do demonstrate their faith in this way. Paul wrote in Ephesians that we are save by grace through faith exclusive of works. He continued by saying we are saved to do good works that God had planned for us along ago (Eph 2:8-10).
Pray that God will help you match your testimony of words with a testimony of actions so others will know you belong to him.
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