True and False Faith
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 2 Timothy 3:2-5
The power of God is rooted in holiness, prayer and worship. Faith is what binds all three together. Any faith that does not manifest holiness, prayer and worship is not faith but a form of godliness that actually denies the power of the gospel. Holiness itself is all about submission to the word and will of God. Faith is all about believing and obeying.
You must believe that the blood of Jesus redeemed you and ushered you into a covenant relationship with God. You must believe that your past forsaken sins are cancelled and you must wait upon the Lord and seek Him for restoration, transformation and renewal. You must also obey the new covenant by submission, prayer and worship.
Without believing, there is no relationship and without submission, prayer and worship your relationship is dead even when you claim to believe. Any one who believes must behave like a believer and anyone who has received the love and mercy of God must show love and mercy to others. There is no short cut.
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. James 2:19
Actions will always prove the faith of a true child of God but faith without actions will always be dead faith. A faith without life. Some murderers, kidnappers and terrorist go to Church and confess Christ and the gospel just to deceive others but does that mean that they are believers? Demons believe in God but they don’t obey God so are they believers? True believers are those who do not deny the power of the gospel and false believers are those who have a form of godliness but in their actions and practices deny the power of the gospel. They are the fakes and the hypocrites. Not everyone that confesses Christ is of Christ and by their fruits you can easily detect them.
Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. Matthew 7: 15-20
Also beware of false believers. If you take a look at the lives of Jesus and Paul, they were submissive to the word and will of God. In fact, Jesus Himself is the word of God, so He was in complete union with the word and will of God. He was also completely led by the voice and direction of the Holy Spirit and He obeyed the instructions that He got from the Holy Spirit. He knew the secret of the Spirit and the word. Jesus was full of worship and thanksgiving and He always set aside time to pray and seek His Fathers face. He mostly prayed at night and there is a reason why – night prayers are more effective. These were the roots of His success. By His actions, He never denied the power of the gospel that is why He manifested the power of God.
Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. Matthew 7:21
All the faith doctrines you hear nowadays that are rooted in lust, self worship, human exaltation and the flesh are not the type of faith doctrines that Jesus and Paul preached and practiced. There is a false faith and a true faith. There is the real faith and a fake faith message. The true one glorifies Christ, His word, His Spirit, His blood, His sacrifice and His ways. The false ones glorify self and relegate the grace and power of God to nothing. Those ones will never attribute help and power to the grace of God. Beware! Power belongs to God and you can never control God.
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you–unless, of course, you fail the test? 2 Corinthians 13:5
In order to keep Satan from getting the upper hand over us; for we know what his plans are. 2 Corinthians 2:11
And do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:27
Always compare your doctrines and actions with the requirements of God. Test yourself to see if you are really in the faith because the heart of man is completely deceptive. Self deception happens everyday without the victims awareness. It is the work of the devil but if you don’t cooperate with the devil, he will not have an upper hand over you.
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