Why Don’t “Believers” Become Believers?

I praise God for the Bible teacher who once asked his class, “What is one of the evidences of being baptized in the Holy Spirit?” His message was on a cassette tape so I was unable to see facial expressions. I heard laughter though, when he answered the question, “War!” He went on to teach spiritual warfare and how to engage in it. He spent a lot of time teaching on the spiritual battles within that one could expect to engage in, especially on how to discern the convicting voice of God from the condemning voice of Satan. With regards to external spiritual battles, he warned that the greatest of these would come from “believers” within the church.

War is what it is! What I’ve discovered along the way though, the more I listen and act on the convicting voice of God, the more easy it is to discern the condemning voice of Satan. For example: if God speaks to me about being judgmental and I act on His counsel, I know I’m not being judgmental when a “believer” accuses me of it when standing up and speaking out for truth. The same applies for any sin. If I’ve dealt with bitterness or hurts and pleaded Jesus’ blood over them, then I know I’m listening to the voice of condemnation should I be accused of them when speaking up for righteousness. And on it goes with whatever. “Believers” hate truth and righteousness; these are a poison to them.

I have learned when accused of being deceived, that it is my accuser who is deceived, not me. It is my accuser who is bitter and offended, not me. It is my accuser who can’t see straight, not me. This is how the accuser of our brethren operates Revelation 12:10. He accuses you and me of what he does and is himself; the church is full of such people. Satan is not going to send a non-believer to attack you for your biblical stand when He can find a willing “believer.” Non-believers don’t know the Bible, “believers” do! How many of us have been tricked by someone quoting from Scripture who would never be tricked by someone not quoting from Scripture? It is “believers” who shut believer’s mouths far more effectively than non-believers.

“Believers” always want believers to ‘try another approach when expressing your so-called Christian opinion.’ They will always respond to truth as “your opinion” when it doesn’t fit with theirs. ‘Read a few well known Christian writer’s articles in order to get a clear view of what true Christian writing style is all about.’ ‘Your heart reeks of racism and hate. Seems you don’t have a clue about love.’ ‘You will be held accountable for spewing forth hate across the world. Just a reminder” “Believers” love to give believers “reminders.” This is what was expressed from the heart of a “believer” in response to a believer who wrote some hard but truthful things about the corrupt secular and church leadership of her nation.

How about this: ‘The stench of anger is still there!!……. Get a heart check lady.’ No, the stench of anger is not still there, it is still there! That’s where the heart check ought to be carried out too. “Believers” who write like that, are like that. As believers we must know this … that is not the language of God. The love of many will grow cold, Jesus said in relation to the time of the end Matthew 24:12. That’s the profile of a “believer.” The further they get from truth, the colder they become. Unloving (without affection), slanderers (false accusers), having a form of godliness but denying its power 2 Timothy 3:5. Not only does this apply to corrupt church leaders, but to those in the church like them.

Cold-hearted “believers” are increasing at a fast rate of knots around the globe. It is the natural outcome for one who rejects truth and sound doctrine. It’s called apostasy. “Believers” are an apostate people. The closer believers get to the word of God, the Bible, the closer they get to the Word of God, Jesus. That’s it; it’s that simple. So when we speak or write what God gives us, we do so with authority. They despise authority; that’s why lawlessness abounds just as Jesus and the apostles told us it would. Yes, they are very religious, but only to spiritual infants among us, not so to mature believers … we see (discern) them as rebellious. We act according to our Father, they react according to theirs! That’s the way it’s been since the days of Cain.

Just as believers are in the world but not of it, “believers” are in the church but not of it. They slip in wearing religious masks. As “believers” they quickly learn to speak our language, they give the appearance that they’re obedient to the Lord, they talk about the presence, fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit; but for all of that, they are not part of the true body of the Lord; they are not joined to Him! Hypocrisy is their deal, full of flattery and deception … plus anger and bitterness when exposed by the Holy Spirit. The problem being, however, instead of having nothing to do with them as the Scripture tells us to, spiritually infant believers get seduced by the lie that we are to love them and be tolerant with them. Love them yes, be tolerant, no.  

Does that mean we should throw “believers” out of the church? No. It means we believers should be so full of the word of God that we speak, eat, drink and live nothing else.  It means our believing leaders not only preach repentance and the cross, but regularly spell it out for what it means to embrace them or not to embrace them. In other words, “Do you want to live Life for eternity, or do you want to “live” Death for eternity? Your choice; but get real, stop playing games.” Believers should be so full of the Holy Spirit that we either attract “believers” or repel them; that they either throw themselves onto the Lord or throw themselves out of the church. If they were in Moses’ camp that would be the only two choices they’d have.

So full of “believers” is today’s church, it is the believers who are coming out … and glad are they to see us go. But, as Matthew Henry once said, “There is a storm coming that will try every man’s work. When God takes away the soul, where is the hope of the hypocrite?” Sadly, they believe themselves to have all the hope in the world and that it’s we who are building our spiritual houses on sinking sand Matthew 7:21-27. “Believers” are deceived. Many don’t care and are on their way to hell; some don’t believe it and will die in their deception to face either the mercy or the judgment of God. Others will turn to the truth but only after they’ve been shaken to their very core. That’s why believers need to be rock-solid and not cave in to them.

Believers often say of “believers”, “Let’s win them not offend them.” That’s a nonsense. Win them with what? If you don’t have the word of God in your heart and on your lips, what are you going to win them with? Your niceties are not going to do the job. They don’t have any respect for that; they’ll walk all over you in the church. “Believers” need to be offended. It is a false teaching that says we mustn’t offend people when preaching the gospel. Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, the apostles Peter and Paul – every one of them offended “believers” when they spoke the word of God. The people who had never heard the truth were the least offended when challenged with it.

Imagine being told by Jesus, “I never knew you (never approved your conduct; didn’t love you; you were never My friend); depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” Matthew 7:23. What a shock! In all their pretensions, these “believers” had never been true believers of Christ. It’s not only the false prophets who will hear those words, but all false professors of Christianity will hear them also. What a hell. All their effort, all their zeal now found to be useless because of a misguided, stubborn refusal to surrender their will to the will of the Lord. Yes, they bowed their heads with the rest of us and said, “Thy will be done, Lord,” but as they prayed they really meant, “My will be done.”

“Believers” love to chase after visiting ministries when they come to town. The idea that, “the Lord has some new thing to impart” is very appealing, so they can’t wait to get in on the act. It doesn’t matter if the “new thing” brought is not Scriptural because they’re not truth-seeking, they’re thrill-seeking. The fact that religious deception is one of the greatest signs of the times means little to them; the carnal is going to win out here, not the spiritual. If the visiting ministry proclaimed the gospel of true repentance and the need for water baptism plus Spirit baptism before one can live a holy, righteous, Spirit-led life, they would stay home and watch TV or spend time on the Internet.

They’re out there seeking miracles, signs and wonders, unappreciative of the reality that there’s no greater miracle to be experienced by anyone than to be led into the presence of Almighty God with true repentance in heart and receive His gift of salvation. What a miracle; what a gift, indeed. Salvation: to be reconciled to God, to be forgiven (redeemed, saved, sins remitted, sins blotted out, sins washed away, sins no longer remembered by God, set free, acquitted, pardoned, let off the hook, liberated) and delivered from the guilt and penalties of our sin (defiance, rebellion, self-will) to enjoy everlasting favors and fellowship with God in Jesus name, through the presence, power and ministry of the Holy Spirit … there’s no miracle its equal!

Based on the above glorious description of forgiveness, why don’t “believers” become believers? Firstly, it takes humility … and this is where the rubber meets the road. It’s at this point that most people get to discover that it really is hard to be humble, so they won’t go there. Secondly, it’s costly … it costs you your life. No more living for self; no more doing what I want to do; no more saying what I want to say; no more going where I want to go.

“Believers” don’t interpret these as liberty and freedom though, they interpret them as legalism and slavery and will freely accuse believers of being into such. The reality is, it is they who are legalists and slaves. How do we know this is so? They always accuse of what they are and do themselves. Believers, enjoy your war … you’re on the winning side. “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed” John 8:31. “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” James 1:22.