Deception runs rampant in our world today. Just look around. False teaching, twisted values, distorted truths, and outright sinister lies bombard us from every side. Even in the church, not all professing believers have embraced the genuine gospel— which means not all who claim to be saved are, in fact, saved. And this is the most frightening deception of all.
As Jesus warned in Matthew 24, spiritual deception will flourish in the last days. “Take heed that no one deceives you,” He told His followers, “for many will come in My name… and will deceive many.” Sobering words.
Why did Jesus put such emphasis on not being deceived, especially regarding the nature and name of Christ? Because our eternal destiny hangs in the balance. If we get this one thing wrong, what true salvation entails, then we lose everything. The cost is eternal damnation. Remember, on judgment day, many will claim to know Jesus as Lord, only to hear Him say, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23). This is the essence of self-deception or counterfeit salvation, believing you have a relationship with Jesus and discovering, when it’s too late, that you don’t. Can you think of anything worse?
It’s dangerously easy in our deceptive culture to assume we are saved when we lack true spiritual life. We may profess faith in Christ while possessing little beyond a religious heritage, church attendance, a reasonably moral lifestyle, or a past prayer. And the church as an institution doesn’t help much either by accepting, without question, our claim of salvation even when our lives show little or no evidence of it.
Salvation is the one thing you don’t want to get wrong. Because if you do, you’ll have all eternity to pay for it. And nobody wants to do that. Remember, the Bible says today, right this minute, is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2)— not tomorrow, or next week, or as soon as you clear your calendar. Today means today. Right now. Before you run off to do the next thing.
Jesus warned us, saying the deception in the times we now live in would be so prevalent that, if it were possible, even His elect would be deceived (Matt. 24:24). Since that is true, how can we make sure we are not part of that statistic and are deceived regarding our salvation? How can we make sure the object of our faith is Christ, and Christ alone, and that we possess saving faith and not non-saving faith (Jas. 2:19). And how can we know the difference? We know by carefully examining our lives in light of Scripture to determine if our faith is authentic and will endure honest scrutiny.
God’s Word provides sobering tests to examine ourselves and avoid deception. Let’s take a look at a few of these and then do the hard part, honest self-reflection to make sure we are not disqualified spiritually. Remember what the Bible commands:
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.
Let’s begin that test together.
Here are some red flags that may indicate counterfeit conversion. See if any of these are true of you.
Lack of Spiritual Fruit
Jesus said you would know His disciples by their fruit (Matt. 7:16), not by their profession or church attendance or the Follow Me to Church bumper sticker on their car. Therefore, one key sign of false faith is a prolonged lack of consistent spiritual fruit. When we are born again, the Holy Spirit enters our lives and begins sanctifying us, to make us more like Christ. And over time, this process...
