18 Oct 2011
Titus 1:16
Titus 1:16: “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”
This is true of all-too-many people today. There are many people who profess to be Christians but have never actually been saved. As Jesus said, they may talk a good line but their heart is far from Him. They may attend church (or even be in church leadership), they may tithe, they may be active church workers, and they may claim to know God, but the way they live their lives says otherwise.
Knowing God is not just something you say; it is something you do – it is who you are. If you really do know Him then your life will make that clear. If you don’t – well, your life will make that clear as well. People who are saved are fundamentally different from people who are not; as I John explains, when you become saved you become a different person. You change. You may still sin, but you are no longer comfortable with sin, and you are not who you used to be. There is a difference, and it shows.
I strongly suspect that the reason many people cannot tell the difference between a Christian and an atheist is because many people who call themselves Christians are not Christians at all. People these days love their sins and dislike repentance; they want to avoid Hell but they have no desire to bow the knee to God. They don’t want some sovereign God telling them what to do. So they pray “God, keep me from going to Hell, but stay out of my life. Don’t try to tell me what to do. Just make sure my life goes well and that I’m happy all the time. If you do that then we’ll get along fine. If you don’t then I’m going to get mad at you.” That’s not Christianity – but many people don’t see the difference.