Quote from Forum Archives on September 5, 2002, 5:28 pm

Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>

            A Phony Faith

 

"Now the end of the commandment is charity out of

a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith

unfeigned: From which some having swerved have

turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers

of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor

whereof they affirm."  (I Timothy 1:5-7)

 

"When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that

is in thee"  (II Timothy 1:5)

 

Twice Paul, the Apostle, gives us the term UNFEIGNED

with the word FAITH.  Paul apparently was aware of some

who had a faith that was indeed "feigned".  This follows

right in line with Satan's deceptive methods ever since the

Fall of man in the garden down to this hour.  He creates

nothing new.  Rather, he is an imitator, an imposter,

and one who perverts and mocks the things that God

has already created.

 

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,

transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into

an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his

ministers also be transformed as the ministers of

righteousness; whose end shall be according to their

works."  ( II Corinthians 11:13-15)

 

Satan, therefore, is certainly in the business of offering

a counterfeit religion, a false gospel, an empty hope of

everlasting life, a salvation that does not truly save, and

a faith that is but a weak and despicable presumption.

 

This brings me back to the main idea of this Bible Note:

Many people today, have a phony faith.

 

To illustrate:  Just this week I met a man who told me

that he is a Christian, but he does not believe that he

has to go to church.  After I had given him several

Scripture verses and the admonition to read the

epistle of James, he basically told me that all he

needed was John 3:16.  He obviously believes that

all he has to do is "believe" and that God and Jesus

require nothing more out of his life.  I warned him that

many people only accept the parts of the Bible that

they like and just skip over or ignore the parts that

they do not like.

 

I have met numerous people with the same faulty,

unscriptural concept.  They think that they can simply

have faith in Christ and He will overlook all their

current and continuing disobedience.

 

A phony faith will fall far short of the real thing.  There

are some definite evidences that one has real faith;

and, these will be absent when one instead is leaning

upon the broken staff of presumption.

 

Here are a few ways to tell whether you may have

a phony faith:

 

1.  Phony faith will cause you to continue languishing in

the bondage of sinful living.  Real faith on the other hand

brings true deliverance from sin.

 

2.  Phony faith will make "Doubting Castle" your continual

home.  In other words, you will be missing the witness of

the Spirit that makes one certain in his soul that he is

indeed a child of God.

 

3.  Phony faith will leave your heart empty of the love of

God.  It is the love of God that causes us to want to be in

God's house, attending to His Word and worship, and to

want to fellowship with the saints.  Therefore, this phony

faith will find no true satisfaction in these things, though

one may outwardly attend them faithfully.

 

4.  What naturally follows is that your phony faith will

cause you to lack any real concern and heart-rending

burden for lost souls on their way to Hell.

 

5.  Phony faith will require you to make excuses for your

lack of true love and devotion for God and the things of

God.

 

6.  It will also tend to make you testy towards those who

have genuine faith.  When they speak of duty to God, it

will put you on the defensive.  Phony faith requires that

you defend it so that it will not be exposed for what it is.

 

Enough about the negatives of a phony faith!  If you will

truly repent of your sins and turn your heart and life over

to the Savior, He will enable you to believe Him with a

faith that is real, lasting, effective and satisfying to your

soul.  Let us prove Him today with a heart that truly

believes Him and accepts His Word as the final authority

on everything in our lives.  "There's no other way to be

happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

 

Let us then trust and obey that we may have faith

unfeigned rather than a phony faith.

 

"Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works:

shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee

my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God;

thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.  But

wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"

(James 2:18-20)

 

Yours In Christ,
Martin Overfield

 

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