Introduction to . . .

Come, Follow Me

By Michael Pelc

No experienced grief will cut deeper; never will greater anguish be expressed than when alone and on bended knees before the Lord, a man or woman who believed hears these words; “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness [sin],” (Matthew 7:23).

How is it possible that a man or woman can genuinely believe they are being obedient to the Lord and cling to a hope for eternal life, yet be condemned for everlasting torment and destruction? Certainly, their belief must have been sincere! How can you or I know we are not making a grievous mistake in our belief? What is the difference between knowing but knowing in error, and truly knowing you are in possession of a genuine faith that is designed through Christ? In a five part series, “Come, Follow Me” will reveal how and why such a large number of the churched today are deceived into embracing a false security for eternal life. We will also clearly answer the question “What does belief and faith look like in the life and heart of a person that responds to Christ’s call to ‘Come’ to Him, and to ‘Follow’ Him?” (Luke 18:22)—the answers may surprise you. We will then present practical, objective instruction from the Word of God in the practice of a faith that may then give scriptural assurance of salvation that so many in Christendom lack.

Part One: It is possible for a man to possess faith, to believe he is of God, and yet not have eternal life. This results when a man’s eternal hope is placed upon a false belief or dead faith. Here we look at the evidence that many have ‘come’ and many ‘follow’, but their hope and assurance cannot be justified or validated by the truth of God’s Word—though these men and women sincerely believe they are His, Christ knows them not. At the conclusion of Part One, we will note the biblical mandate of a perpetual, spiritual self-examination of belief and faith for whoever claims to be His. Without such examination, no assurance of salvation or spiritual maturation can be validated.

Part Two: There is a process of self-examination that is necessary to make certain we are a true disciple of Christ, a genuine believer possessing eternal life. Here in part two, we place our attention upon what Scripture openly offers as a practical and objective means to examine ourselves, to know if we are truly His. Outside of this scriptural guidance, there is no way of knowing for certain if you or I are His . . . or to know if we are ones that are judged already to eternal damnation (John 3:18).

Part Three: Many of the assurances that Christians are taught in the church to hold to, and which they then often give as evidence of their salvation, neither gives assurance nor takes from it. In this third series of five, these empty or false assurances of salvation will be uncovered and examined, then placed in their proper position in the life of a true child of God.

Part Four: With a heart given genuinely and truthfully to God, what is internal will be manifested externally as life practices. The Lord dispenses specific instructions for the life practices of a genuine believer. When exercised by an individual or assembly, biblical evidence of salvation is then present—when not observed, their lack is evidence that the Lord may not, or does not know him. Admonitions similar to; “if ‘this’, then ‘this’ will be the result” are common in Scripture. In this fourth series, we will explore specific, evidential practices that are of a genuine believer which are often given as principles and commands in Scripture.

Part Five: After we have humbly examined ourselves so we may know that we are His; after we have placed into practice the instructions leading to obedient and godly living; there is a requisite manner of conduct that will be our witness of the relationship we have with the Savior of whosoever comes. It is this manner of conduct that is evidence of spiritual maturation that we will investigate in the final part of this series.

'Come Follow Me!'

-Part One-

The Necessity of Examined Belief

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you^___unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

“Come, follow Me,” Christ proclaimed. Many have responded to this call, some ‘come’ with sincerity, and almost as many ‘follow’ . . . but it is not Christ they have come to, it is not the Shepherd they follow. The evidence is overwhelming that though Christ’s name is placed before scores of men and women, and they then believe they have eternal life . . . yet He will proclaim to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me,” as they make their claim of being His.

How is it possible that a person could believe they are of Christ, yet are not? How is it possible that even one person could make such a grievous mistake, with a result of them bearing the consequence of their error for all of eternity? Sadly, the Lord clearly teaches that it is not just one or a few that will make such a monumental and devastating error in judgment. Many more will make this error than those that have judged themselves correctly, and have responded as is necessary to Christ’s call, to “Come, follow Me.”

It is difficult to comprehend such misjudgment when man possesses approximately four thousand years of written history documenting the relationship man had with God and God with man; with mankind having received the ‘good news’ of Christ which is documented in four written accounts by four different authors; with numerous writings by men guided by the Holy Spirit, giving instruction, guidance and warnings regarding man’s reception of the gospel and man’s relationship with Christ; and concluding with a revealing prophetic account of what ‘was’, ‘is’ and ‘will be’ for all of creation, for all of mankind.

There are a multitude of reasons that encourage a man to believe what is untrue to be in fact, true. We will examine a number of these in part one of this series. Often, distortion of truth begins with taking scriptural words and phrases and then using the definitions of man to define them. With this in mind, let’s begin with the biblical meaning and application of Christ’s words “Come, follow Me”, as their understanding is necessary and applicable throughout this series.

To ‘come’ and ‘follow’ are two words often used in Scripture to illustrate an internal heart condition of a person (or people) expressed externally. Both words indicate a positive response leading to an action.

Coming to Christ;

Scripturally

The word ‘come’ is movement towards a specific person, place, or thing. In moving towards, there is also a distancing ‘from’ where the person was initially. To ‘come’ is never static if Christ is the object of the ‘coming to’. To come to an object, the object must be identified and its position known. To come is not random or accidental; it is not our placing the object we desire to come to in our path, otherwise the object would be coming to us, meeting us. Nor is it possible to come towards, and also bring along what we are to move from as our position would then be stationary—to do so would not be a ‘coming to’, but is instead a drawing to our position what should have been the object of our coming. The phrase ‘drawing to’ the man would be used as opposed to ‘coming to’ the object.

When Christ is the object of ‘coming to’, Scripture clearly states that a man, woman or child must know Christ, hear His calling, and then respond with a coming to Him. This results in a moving from what is not of Christ . . . that being the things of man, those things of the world. To say “I have come to Christ” without moving from where the person was before his coming, would imply the man is drawing Christ to him. Not only is it an impossibility to come to Christ without moving away from the things of man, it is bordering on blasphemy to suggest that such is possible. Coming to Christ is a repentant, saving faith. It is crossing over from the abode of the condemned, to abide with Christ as one of His redeemed.

To Follow Is A

Total Commitment

As a man comes to an object, he must then also follow that object (unless the object is static, which Christ is not); otherwise a man’s ‘coming to’ is incomplete and unfulfilled. With ‘to come’ and ‘to follow’ being so interlinked in their biblical usage, it is impossible to do one without the other. To ‘follow’ is to move forward to an object . . . an object that continues to appear to be moving from the follower, as the object is never overtaken by a follower. The object followed leads, it guides. As one follows, a man or woman has consistent movement from their present position. In ‘following’, he or she progresses to a point where the object of their following ‘appeared to be’; there is a constant progression, a continuous moving from a previous position of the followed object . . . hence, pursuing but not overtaking.

As a man or woman follows Christ they draw nearer to Him; all the while putting distance between them and the things of the world (darkness) . . . moving through spiritual immaturity towards maturity and Christlikeness. Following Christ is to walk as He walked, reflecting an ever-increasing Christlikeness. Not until reaching the eternal kingdom though, is a man, woman or child in the physical presence of the Lord, having ‘worked out’ their salvation and finished their race. (More on ‘working out’ one’s salvation later in this article)

To follow in total commitment, our gaze must be unwavering, fixed upon the the object being followed; our feet treading in the footsteps of that which walks before us. Following is not walking parallel to the prepared path of the is ‘followed’. If such were the case, our eyes would continuously need to inspect what was before us, allowing only periodic glances over to the object we were attempting to follow. In essence, walking parallel is clearing a new trail, thus nullifying a person as a follower of that what prepares, or lays a path. Such a trail blazer would largely be influenced by the hazards, temptations and allurements of what he comes across in his self-designed wandering.

When we remove our eyes from the object we follow, our focus is elsewhere and wandering will be the result. The longer our eyes view things other than the object of our following, the further we stray. It is impossible to aim accurately at a target while our focus is elsewhere.

To come to the Lord, is to become a child of God. To follow Christ is to be His disciple. To be His disciple is evidence of coming to Him; to be His disciple is to be obedient to Him in our following. Without following the path Christ has laid, salvation can never be assured. It is here we can begin to see how so many possess false assurances . . . what they believe to be in obedience to Christ and evidence of their salvation is in actuality, walking a path different than the one Christ laid. The obedience that is practiced is in reality disobedience to the Word of God.

The Clear Line of Division

At the conclusion of Christ’s “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 7:13-27), He draws a line dividing mankind into two distinct and separated groups. There are two paths and two gates with two destinations (vv 13-14), two types of trees and two kinds of fruit (vv 16-20), two types of men building two kinds of houses on two kinds of foundations (vv 24-27). But for many, each of the two kinds look to be but one as they ‘resemble’ each other, with both appearing to lead to eternal life.

There are also two divisions, two groups (Matthew 25:32-33; Acts 24:15), two resurrections (John 5:29; Revelation 20:5) and two judgments (for believers-2 Corinthians 5:10; for nonbelievers-Revelation 20:11). The line Christ has drawn is as clear and distinct as possible between the path that leads to everlasting life in the presence of the Lord, and the path that leads to destruction, suffering eternally in torment with gnashing of teeth. There is no other!

A Belief

That Does Not Save

Facet One-Prevent Salvation: This is the purpose and intent of the great deceiver and he revels in much success with his treachery. It is the first of three facets of attack upon man by the enemy of God—a false belief and faith which prevents a person from entering the kingdom of God.

There is only one road, one path that can be walked to follow Christ. It is not ours to choose from a variety of paths to Christ; it is not ours to design a path that leads to Him; nor are we able to straddle the two paths with a foot on each—we have but one choice in following Christ. That choice is to walk the single path He has revealed and mapped for us in His Holy Writ. Every man, woman and child will walk one path or the other, belonging to one group or the other.

Today, as it was almost two thousand years ago, many are responding with a professed belief and commitment to the Savior. Though a great number of these God has rejected, these people have attached the name Christian to their faith, or others give it to them; they then are included in the body as believers. How these men, women and children came to ‘believe’ is as individual and varied as people are distinct from one another. Assumed belief for some is often a result of being born into a family that participates in the Christian faith. Others may ascend to a level of belief as a result of religious teaching, sharing from a family member or friend, evangelistic outreach, Bible tract, church attendance, Christian concert, tragedy that is close or personal, Bible study group . . . the list goes on.

Despite the clear biblical distinction between the saved and the lost, virtually all men and women have a belief about God, and a concept of the relationship between God and man. While one man believes and has eternal life; another man seated beside him during a ‘church service’ believes and will suffer eternal death and torment. Both may believe they have a saving faith, or both may also have doubts of their eternal security. How can these two men both believe and have two very different outcomes that will affect them throughout all of eternity?

Certainly, confidence is not necessarily an accurate indicator of a man being right with God. Nor is religious or Christian activity, including baptism, a place for a man to rest his assurance. Yet, some will say that they “. . . believe and also have faith,” or “I believe and was baptized,” or “I am a Christian,” or “I asked Christ to come into my heart as I said the sinner’s prayer.” What many grip as assurance of salvation is nothing more than a shadow that can not be grasped . . . shifting sand that falls between their fingers the tighter they hold. Scripture clearly teaches that many of those who believe, know of God, have ‘experienced Christ’, and are baptized men and women of the Christian faith will be represented in the fraternity of the accursed.

Attributes of

Deception

Scores of Christian men and women in the churches today naively embrace the very attributes that the enemies of God possess—attributes used as the evidence in justifying their belief, as well as for their assurance of being righteous before a Holy God. Satan knows of the power of God, talks with and appeals to Him (Job 1:10; Matthew 8:29-31). Satan knows and can quote Scripture (Luke 4:10-11); the demons even recognized the Son of God and knew of His purpose (Matthew 8:28-29); and the demons also believe (James 2:19). As genuine believers are of the Light, Satan has then cleverly disguised his darkness by masking himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14—Scripture clearly teaches that Christ is Light, while Satan is of darkness), with his followers appearing as servants of the Lord’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15). Satan’s attributes are for no other purpose than to distort truth, to deceive the deceivable, and hinder the work of Christ.

Satan’s objective is to infiltrate Christ’s church. To many, Satan’s followers will be perceived as one of the Lord’s, as one of the sheep of the Shepherd (Matthew 7:15). In fact, the attributes Satan and his servants exhibit give them much credibility and acceptance among believers. They are enthusiastically welcomed and embraced in churches as they flavor their lies and deception with a liberal sprinkling of truth.

To know the power of God, to talk with God, to quote Scripture, to know the purpose of Christ, to believe, to appear right before God, to be seen as light which would appear as from Christ, and to be viewed as if Christ is their shepherd and they His sheep are all attributes possessed or portrayed by the enemies of God. Are these not characteristics often used as evidence of a Christian? Are they not used to gauge maturity of faith? Is there any wonder why it is called ‘deception’ and Satan “a liar and the father of lies?” (John 8:44)

Pastors, mothers, football heroes, evangelists, Bible teachers, grandfathers, and children of godly parents are represented as members of this accursed fraternity; most would consider them as good, decent people; nonetheless, they are an abomination to God and judged already (John 3:18) for eternal destruction. There are murderers, the filthy, adulterers, those that are poor, and drunks that will be forgiven and have eternal life. How a man or woman is ‘perceived’ by others has no bearing whatsoever on whether they have been or will be received by Christ! Accomplishments or titles are vacuous. Being good, attending church or participating in religious activities are of little value as an indicator.

Condemned Believers

There was a man that received much attention from the people; many called him the “Great Power of God”. He believed, was baptized and accompanied a true minister of God’s Word, yet would perish as he was. This man, Simon (Acts 8:9-24), was not unique in believing but yet not being of Christ. Simon typifies a historically held belief about one’s relationship with God; a relationship not characterized by concern regarding a belief that is acceptable to God, but whether the belief is palatable to self or to others.

As a nation, Israel witnessed the miracles of God and heard Him speak through His chosen leaders and prophets. Though they had seen the numerous times God worked through Moses and Aaron, Israel developed a false sense of their relationship and security with God. In disapproval of the leadership of Moses and Aaron, representatives of self-righteous Israel confronted them saying, “You have gone far enough, for all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst . . .” (Numbers 16:3).

God also sent prophets to Israel to give His Word to them, yet Israel rejected these prophets’ warnings saying “I am holier than you!” (Isaiah 65:5). His priests (which today would be analogous to the function of pastors, clergy, priests, religious leaders etc.), Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, “offered strange fire before the LORD,” and were destroyed because of their flagrant disobedience (Leviticus 10:1).

Rejection of God,
Rejection of Christ

The elders of Israel came together before Samuel, the first of the Lord’s prophets to Israel, demanding that he appoint a king to judge them as is done in the pagan nations that surround them. Greatly distressed, Samuel went before the Lord in prayer to inquire of Him. The Lord said to Samuel, “. . . they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them . . . .” (1 Samuel 8:4-9). Christ speaks very similar words, with the same message over ten centuries later when He warned His seventy disciples of the reception they should expect to receive, saying, “The one who rejects you rejects Me” (Luke 10:16).

Accounts of men that believed and knew God, yet rejected Him are found from cover to cover of the Bible. Cain, the first born of the first man and woman, likely received a first hand account from his parents of creation, the Creator, and his parents’ rebellion against their Creator. As Cain grew, he spoke with God and made offerings to Him. Despite such a unique knowledge of God, Cain experienced a hardening heart towards God. He became angry and his countenance fell, leading to the murder of his brother. Later he would leave the presence of the Lord.

We find that Balaam, a prophet of God, inquired of God, spoke with God . . . and God spoke with Him. He carried God’s message to the King of Moab (Balak), yet Balaam rejected this relationship with God and was later killed by Israel (See Numbers chapters 22-24, and Numbers 31:8).

There is also Esau; the Pharaoh of Egypt; King Saul, the Lord’s anointed; the Philistines; Ahab, a king of Israel; the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-27)—and the list continues on. All are men or nations that acknowledged that they knew the Lord or knew of Him. They spoke with Him and/or were witnesses to the mighty works of His hand, yet they chose to follow their own paths leading to destruction.

As mentioned earlier there was Simon, who accompanied Philip for a time during his ministry of bringing the gospel of Christ to the people. Simon was a man that looked and acted the part, believed he was genuine, had the confidence of the people, nevertheless was judged ‘condemned to eternal agony’ already.

Looks the Part-Acts the Part

The most recognized name of those that rejected the Lord was one of Christ’s chosen twelve, Judas Iscariot, the one that would betray the Son of God. Judas Iscariot had all of the signs of being a man of God. He was hand selected by Christ. He served and was discipled by Christ during His three year active ministry. He was called an apostle. Judas was given authority to perform miracles (Matthew 10:1, 8). By all appearances he was a true and sincere disciple of Christ.

Peter was so convinced of Judas’ faith that he included him as one that has “believed and have come to know that You [Christ] are the Holy One of God” (John 6:69). Being deeply grieved when Christ said that one of them would betray Him, each disciple asked, “Surely not I, Lord?” (Matthew 26:22). The ones that worked together, learned together, and ate together for three years could not determine who this “son of perdition” (John 17:12) was by external characteristics or behavior. Judas was a genuine believer to the men that knew him best. (In part two, we will discuss two primary reasons behind the eleven disciples’ inability to recognize Judas for what he truly was, and how these reasons are expressed in Christendom today.)

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