Christianity, once we are saved, is going to result in a personal inward revelation of Christ.you will know Him — and He is THE Truth. If that is really happening — and I emphasize REALLY HAPPENING — then what you believe in the way of doctrine is going to reflect Him and agree fully with scripture.
There is NO other possible outcome of knowing Christ — even if you cannot state the Truth doctrinally,you will believe in your heart.. The idea that what we believe doesn’t matter is utterly contrary to the Bible — for there is simply no way to know Jesus in Truth and continue to live in, practice, and preach error. We are to walk in the light as He is in the light — we aren’t mindless robots. We need to know the Truth.
But having said that, we are all in a process. There are many who have faith in Christ — maybe their heart is right before God — and yet believe error because they have yet to grow — whether their heart is right with God will be exposed once God gives them light. The true church (Body of Christ) is not an organization, but comprised of all people who are in Christ — both living and dead. There are many others who have little or no faith in Christ — maybe they are not even saved — but who intellectually are able to sort out doctrine and even theologically teach it. They are not in the church (body of Christ) because they are not yet in Christ.
There is Truth that God will absolutely reveal to each person whom He is calling — and therefore all who ARE saved will believe this Truth once they are saved. (I am not speaking about knowing the theology as much as knowing in your heart.) In short, if you are saved, YOU GOT SAVED because God revealed to you certain Truth about Jesus Christ, and you put your faith in Him
Therefore, for example, if a person says they are saved, but does not believe they were lost in sin, then they have never seen they are lost in sin — so they could not have possibly turned to Christ in faith as their only Savior. They could not be a saved person — they are denying the Truth necessary to embrace to come to Christ.
Another example: If a person does not believe we need to repent of sin, then how is it possible that they could have repented and come to Christ? Or, if a person does not believe that Jesus is God, or the ONLY way to be saved, then they have NOT seen the true Jesus — because they are denying essential Truth about Him.
How could their faith in a false Jesus be real? I could go on. But the point I’m making is that salvation, while it is the beginning of seeing and embracing the Person of Jesus in Truth, is nevertheless exactly that — seeing Christ in Truth.
One Bible example: Paul writes, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” That is a doctrinal teaching. Well, what if a person is claiming they are saved, yet denies that Jesus is Lord or that He was raised from the dead? Are they saved? — they have denied the very Truth they will see and believe in order to BE SAVED. So NO they are not saved.
The point is, what we believe matters. Not what we say we believe, or merely the doctrines we hold, or what we, “feel,” but WHAT WE BELIEVE IN OUR HEARTS
If someone is saying to you that you are not a real Christian because you don’t believe this or that, so what? Make sure you know the Truth. Make sure you are not denying essential Truth — and if you are, take yourself to God. Know your Bible, and grow to know Christ. People are going to judge. They are going to hate. People will call us heretics if we don’t agree with them. What else is new? Let God be your judge.
Keep your heart open to Him. That is what matters. And do not render hate for hate. Let it go. Someone once said, “In Christ, all debts are cancelled.” That is awesome. We would all do well to realize this — to realize that God is not on, “our side,” but on HIS OWN SIDE — and let go of the burden of overly caring what people think, and let go of the burden of holding resentment. Christ died for them too, and we need to make His mind our mind on these matters.
Who Am I – Casting Crowns (w/ lyrics)
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