by Jacob Ninan
"You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder" (Jas.2:19). There are many who believe that God is one, and they also believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died and rose again from the dead. But many of them do not shudder or tremble before God! It looks as if demons have more 'faith' than they do, even though they believe that they have faith that has led them to salvation. No, obviously, demons do not have the kind of faith that saves them. But how can you know that you have real faith? By checking your trembling! When you are tempted to sin in any way, if you casually give in, obviously you are not worried about what God thinks, how you will have to give an account to God one day for what you have done, what consequences you are going to have from God, etc. "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!" (2Cor.13:5).
Many years ago, when I was looking out to buy a house, I came across one which appeared to be good in every way. The only problem was that I was being asked by the owner to undervalue it on paper for the sake of reducing taxes. The new believer that I was at that time, the immediate thought that came into my mind was how I would answer God on the final day when I stood before Him. The owner's answer to my concern was that this was a very common practice, and that even pastors and bishops did it! But I could not, because I trembled before God.
But just look around, and you see 'believers' tell lies, sign false statements, cheat, manipulate, spread slander about their competitors to get a jump over them, pay bribes to circumvent rules, marry unbelievers, run shady businesses, play loose with flirting and casual affairs, etc., without any trembling. Christian leaders create false reports of their work, claim miracles that never happened, preach messages to impress people and get cash or fame out of them rather than give them what will meet their spiritual needs, etc. The apostle Paul knew without any doubt that most of his co-workers had selfish goals and were not focussed on serving God (Php.2:20,21). When people don't tremble before God, but they assume they are believers, they deceive themselves.
On another side, people call themselves believers even when they have no desire to do everything that God tells them (Matt.5:18,19). They choose instead, to follow what their families have been doing for generations, allow themselves to make decisions based on what other people will say about them, allow their status in society or how much money they will lose or gain to decide their actions, etc. Many are more keen to maintain the traditions of their churches than to obey what God has taught in the Bible. Even people and churches who profess to follow the Bible strictly modulate their interpretation to fit with their traditions. Many bend the words of the Bible to fit in with modern trends and what is acceptable to the people of the world. Where is the trembling before God?
God looks at our heart. He knows how frail we are and how we are made of dust, and He is always willing to forgive us when we repent and confess our sins to Him (Psa.103:13,14). But He sees very clearly whether we are sorry for our sins, and whether we really want to stop sinning. He knows only too well if we are just confessing our sins because we want to escape the punishment, and if we don't fear Him and tremble before Him. He will not forgive us if there is no fear of God in our heart (Psa.130:4). If we don't fear God and if there is no genuine sorrow in our heart for grieving Him, He would have to be quite unrighteous if He forgave us.
Addressing the church in Corinth, Paul said, "Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame" (1Cor.15:34). It was obvious to him, but not to the people themselves, that some of them did not even know God. Yet they were in the church, considering themselves to be believers in Jesus and different from the heathen religions they had left behind.
The over-emphasis on grace to the extent that the holiness, righteousness and justice of God have been sidelined, is the reason why many people think of the Gospel as an easy walkover to God's side. Some preachers emphasise that since Jesus 'finished' the work of salvation on the cross, there is nothing we need to do from our side but to simply receive it as a gift. Some others point out that since Jesus died once for all for all sin, our sins have already been paid for and therefore we can just reach across and claim it. Still others point to the love of God and say that this loving God has put aside all the demands of the Law and that since we are not under the Law any more, no matter how we live, we have been accepted by God forever. This adds support for the wrong doctrine that once God has accepted us, no matter how we live, we cannot lose our salvation. As a result of all such false teachings, the rotten fruit we can see is that people do not bother about sin, to acknowledge their own sins and sinful nature, turn away from the sinful way of life or to become careful how they live. And they consider themselves as believers.
However much the concepts may appeal to us, hyper-grace, eternal security, "Jesus has done it all, nothing is there to be done from our side," etc., are false, and therefore deceitful. However much God loves us, He CANNOT simply forgive our sins and overlook our sinful life because if He did that it would make Him unrighteous and unjust. Holiness, righteousness, justice, impartiality, etc., are aspects of His character which He cannot ignore or override for the sake of love, mercy, etc. He has to fulfil all aspects of His character simultaneously. That is why, in order to be morally able to forgive us sinners, He first had to see that our sins were punished. His love caused Him to take that punishment on Himself. Now He offers us forgiveness freely. But it would be unrighteous for Him to give it to those who don't ask for it. Those who ask are the ones who have been convicted in their heart about their sins and who do not want to sin again. That kind of faith includes repentance from sin on one side and the leaning entirely on God for salvation on the other side. So, even though God wants all to be saved, very few actually receive it (Matt.7:13,14). Now we can also understand that once we have received this forgiveness, if we show by our lives that we like to sin and get some pleasure for us, we disqualify ourselves from eternal life (Heb.3:12). We can see that Satan is behind this deception where salvation is made cheap and which moulds people into a carelessness towards sin (Jude.4).
As the time on earth draws to a close, now is the day of salvation for those who will humble themselves before God, acknowledge the truth about their life to God, plead for forgiveness and recognise Jesus as the only One who can save them. When God sees this heart, He will give you a new heart, and put His Spirit within you. Then you will discover that your attitudes towards God, sin and the world have changed and become new. What you used to do gives way to what God wants you to do. Then you can assure yourself that you have become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.