Jesus Loving You

As the midnight hour for humanity draws ever closer, the time for playing 'church' is over. Regardless of what you might think concerning the nearness of 'THE END' times, all believers would do well to heed God's warnings as found in his Word.

II Cor. 13:5 - “Examine yourselves, whether ye be 'in the faith; prove your own selves, Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ IS in you, except you be reprobates?”

The first question we must all answer is this. Why would God include this TRUTH in his Word if such a thing were not possible??? The answer should be obvious to any who can read if only on a 5th grade level.

Do not these words plainly say that a person can believe himself to be 'IN THE FAITH' and yet NOT BE?


Ask yourself this. Can someone be saved and yet not 'Know' it? Or better still, can someone

believe' they are SAVED, and yet 'NOT' BE? According to 2nd Cor. 13: 5 they can be. Consider the fact that only God can save anyone, is it wise to ignore 'His' WARNINGS?


When one first reads the words in the title of this article any number of reactions are possible.

The picture these words (The Unsaved Christian) paint in your mind might be something along this line, “ That's ridiculous! How could someone be a 'Christian' and still be unsaved?”. That would be an excellent observation.


The title of this article 'THE UNSAVED CHRISTIAN', is intended to describe a strange , but all to common, condition which describes the majority of those who claim to be Christians but in reality have' NEVER known' either God or Jesus. Many 'Christians' will be offended by this last statement. Better to be offended and learn THE TRUTH that leads to salvation than to die lost and end up where 'no one' wants to spend their eternity.


Americans love polls. We take polls on every subject imaginable. One in particular comes to mind which is but absolute proof of it's own 'inaccuracy'. In the most recent poll results which answers the question, ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN? The answer came back somewhere in the neighborhood of 80% answered YES, YES, YES.


Whether the participants in this poll included children or not they never said. Here is America, 300 million in number, and if my math is accurate, that would mean 240 million Christians in America. That would make the U.S.A about the MOST Christian nation in the entire earth. How wonderful that would be if that were true, but so, so, SO, sadly to say, according to God, it's far from it.


The very first thing to realize and admit is this simple TRUTH. There is a GREAT difference between someone 'saying' “I am a Christian” and in reality 'BEING' a Christian'.


The gospel that Jesus commanded the disciples to take into all the world is far, far different from that which is promulgated thru' out the majority of 'so called Christian churches'.

I'm thinking the best place to begin anything is 'at the beginning'. Because I can think of NO better place, let's begin with the most famous verse in God's entire Word.

John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”


Before we examine this verse we would do well to answer the question, which Bible translation is best, which is the most accurate, and' which one' are we to believe???

First, we'll begin by saying that the majority of later translations are little more than Satan's subtle attempts to pervert the gospel. The majority of these are nothing more than attempts by men to profit from God's Word by making merchandise out of 'THE TRUTH'. This fact alone should speak volumes.


Now, long story short, when all things are considered, there is no better or more accurate translation than the original King James Authorized version. One needs however to consider that there are wordings found there which could be confusing or misleading due to the choosing of a wrong word when 'a better' and 'easier to understand' word choice was available. The word we need to look at very closely in John 3: 16 is 'BELIEVETH'. The translators of the Authorized King James version chose this word 'BELIEVETH' as the best because they understood exactly what the meaning of that word was. From their day until now the meaning of that word has changed considerably.

In our time, we have 'cheapened' the meaning of that word until it now means nothing more than it would mean if you said, “I believe in the IRS.” Today this means simply that we 'believe' they EXIST. Well, La Te Da. Anyone who doesn't believe that, just quit paying your income taxes and you'll learn sooner or later that they 'do' indeed EXIST.


A far better choice of words than 'BELIEVETH in' would have been 'TRUSTETH' in. Yes, I 'believeth' the IRS exists, but trusteth in, I do NOT think so. Every demon from Hell 'BELIEVETH Jesus exist. Far more than that, they KNOW it for a fact. They were there at Calvary. They were also present when God raised Jesus from the dead. Would you suppose that just them KNOWING this will lead to their salvation? I trust you to know this is not TRUE.

What God actually said in John 3: 16 regarding salvation is that WHOSOEVER 'TRUSTETH in' Jesus with all their heart would be saved. The difference may sound so trivial and mi-nute but it is the difference between being 'SAVED' or LOST'. The difference between a REAL CHRISTIAN 'or' this strange creature we're looking for and calling 'the UNSAVED CHRISTIAN'. This verse has been even further watered down until it means nothing more than 'SAYING' I believe in Jesus. That this is a one time occurrence, some magical incantation, some sort of unexplainable eternal insurance policy.


It is my hope and prayer that all who read these words will be able to see the difference between believing that Jesus 'exist' (every devil knows that), and 'TRUSTING in' Jesus for your salvation. If you believe that you can just speak these 'magic words' and then walk away and that is the end of it, well, THE TRUTH is, that's NOT what God said.


Do these strange creatures described as UNSAVED Christians exist? You better believe it. Your very life depends on knowing the difference between a fairy tale and what God 'actually' said. It seems like there is a church on every corner in America. How many teach and preach that Christians are to put their TRUST in Jesus and live there lives accordingly? Not many! Being a Christian is a life-long walk and a never ending journey from the day you put your trust in Jesus until the day you depart this existence here on this earth.


Consider the following words from 2nd Philippians 2: 12 “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (partial). Another good question: Why would any of us need to work it out, if as commonly believed, it's a done deal?


When looked at in the light of the words of this article, do not the words of this verse make sense?

John 1: 12 “But as many as received him, (Jesus) to them gave he power (the right or privilege) to BECOME,' TO BECOME' the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” (Jesus)

Another good question; Why would you need 'TO BECOME' a son or daughter of God if it was only necessary to say those magic words found in John 3: 16?

The answer is simple. It's so easy to see. To 'BECOME' is an active never ending process. To confess your belief in Jesus, you only need to do 'ONE TIME'. To completely TRUST in HIM is a 'never ending lifelong process'. His way becomes your way. Jesus becomes your very life.

One day Jesus ask a group of men “why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do NOT the things I say?” Those to whom Jesus spoke that day are our examples of those written of in the title of this article. If you have in reality made Jesus the Lord of your life then you must know that Jesus is more than just some magical name you 'once' claimed to believe in.

In the words of a famous TV advertisement, “just set it and forget it.” Unfortunately this slogan does NOT apply when it comes to Jesus. I simply want all who read these words to know, to believe and to understand that Jesus is much more than that. When your day comes for you to leave this life here on earth, leave here' TRUSTING IN' Jesus. To quote from the title of a once famous song, is Jesus “JUST SOMEONE I (or you) USE TO KNOW? Or is Jesus just someone you 'never' KNEW. Or is Jesus THE ONE you spent the rest of your life TRUSTING in? There is a big difference. Every person must answer these questions for himself. Have 'you' heeded God's advice as quoted in 2nd Cor. 13: 5 ???

I close now with the words of Jesus, “He (whosoever) hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”