|
KNOWING JESUS CHRIST AS LORD By Larry Kreider A Solid Foundation Day 6: The Genuine Or The Counterfeit? Christianity, to some people, is only based on their outward appearance or on what they do. Perhaps they are a church member and give money in the offering every week. They may help other people and even give their lives in service to others. But these good works can never make us into a true Christian. If I give you a counterfeit twenty dollar bill, you would have to look very closely to determine if it really was a counterfeit. However, if I said, "Here is a counterfeit seventeen dollar bill," you wouldn''t even have to look at it. You know there is no such thing. Sometimes counterfeit Christians and genuine Christians look so much alike on the outside that you can hardly tell the difference. God wants us to take stock of our own lifes to be completely sure that we are not counterfeit. The Scriptures tell us, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?; unless indeed you are disqualified" (2 Corinthians 13:5). We must look closely at ourselves and compare what we are to what the Scriptures say a Christian must be. Police officers, who are trained to spot counterfeit money, spend much time in training and studying the real thing. When we study the real thing, the Bible, and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us, we will know the difference between reality and the counterfeit. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. We can trust Him! Once time a friend gave me a fake candy bar. It looked great on the outside, but he had eaten the real candy bar and placed a piece of wood inside the wrapper. When I opened the wrapper, I found that he had played a trick on me. What a disappointment! And what a disappointment when we find those who look like genuine Christians on the outside, but when we really get to know them, we find there is no real spiritual life on the inside. How about you? Is there genuine life inside of you? Is Jesus living His life through you today? 
Questions to Consider: Read 2 Corinthians 13:5. What does God tell us to do? Are some professing Christians counterfeit? How can we know the difference? What is the real thing that we need to study? Read John 16:13. Who do we trust to help us and lead us into all truth? ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________
|
