Your profession of faith in Christ may be worthless, Has that thought ever crossed your mind? You might say, "Yes, but I just remind myself of Roman 10:9", "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." But think, are there people in the bible who call upon the name of the Lord and still burn in the fiery puts of hell? Let's check out Matthew 7:21-23, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.(lawlessness)" He says depart from me, those of you who claim to have the spirit living in your heart and yet you live as though I never sent a law.

Modern day evangelists would have you believe that as long as you can think back on a day when you walked an isle, and prayed a prayer, your salvation is secure. They send you off with statements to never doubt your salvation. That doubt comes from the devil and we are to war against it. That is not what the bible says! The bible says to "examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith." (2 Corinthians 13:5) How does the bible give us assurance of our salvation, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5: 17) If you don't feel a regenerate heart within yourself, maybe that doubt isn't coming from satan at all, maybe it's God pricking your heart.

You say , "Well, yes, a close examination of myself reveals that I still have many of the sins of the world in my life but you know, I'm never going to be perfect, and none of it is really that bad. Well, maybe some of it is bad, but I know I'm forgiven and maybe I'm just one of those carnal Christians 1 Corinthians 3 talks about. Let's examine those passages a bit.

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" 1 Corinthians 3:1-3.

Here is the jist of your modern day evangelists interpretation of these, few, short, passages. There are three types of people; The natural man who is unsaved and on his way to hell, the spiritual Christian who is saved and regenerate. you can see evidence of Christian growth, and the carnal Christian who is saved, but while there may be short bouts of "revival" the pattern always leads back to the old life and there is no real growth. Well let me tell you, if that's true and the rapture comes, this planet is gonna be mighty empty because almost everyone that I know is a Christian. The Bible says, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matthew 7:13-14. Either my bible is lying to me or a large chunk of those people walking forward during the Billy Graham crusades are false converts.

And hmmm, did those verses point at all to this third person, the carnal Christian, who supposedly gets into heaven with the smell of smoke on his clothes? Nope, only two ways there. Notice it said not only the gate was narrow but the path as well. But let's look for that third person in some other passages. Matthew 7:16-19, "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." No third person there, only good trees and bad trees. How about Luke 6:46-49, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great." Nope only two, and those of you who what to say that this is an example of a spiritual and carnal Christian and the only thing the foundation of sand caused was a messed up life here on earth would have to be blind not to see the similarities between "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" and "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord... And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that practice lawlessness."

What does Romans say about this carnal living, "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (8:5-9) "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (13-14) It does not say here that fleshly, carnal living bring about a loss of reward, it says the result is death! It does not say that spiritual and carnal Christians are the sons of God, it says only they that are lead by the Spirit!

The fact is, Christians, though walking in the spirit, do falter from time to time and act like carnal, unsaved men. A period of time such as this was all Paul was addressing in 1 Corinthians 3. David committed murder and adultery but this bout of carnality was not the defining characteristic of his life. To stretch these verses to apply to someone living a life of continued sin is heresy!

One of my favorite teachers has changed the words of an old hymn to reflect this version of Christianity, "Free from the law, oh happy condition, sin all I want with Jesus permission." Paul says, "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Galatians 6:7-8