IS MY FAITH GENUINE?

 These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Matthew 15:8 (NIV)

                Do you ever question if your faith in genuine or not? This is a question I have pondered often through the years. At times when I feel dry or disconnected from God I wonder if my faith is real. My faith has been affirmed many times in various ways, yet that nagging question remains.

                The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were the religious elite. They dedicated their lives to the study of the Torah. They were obsessive about keeping all of the ceremonial laws. From the outside, they looked like they had it all together spiritually. If anyone was right with God, it had to be them. But Jesus didn’t agree.

                In Matthew 15, some Pharisees challenged Jesus about his disciples not following all of the traditions of the elders. Jesus countered their complaint by showing that they were willing to set aside what was written in the Torah in favor of their own traditions. Then Jesus quoted from Isaiah 29:13.

"'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"
Matthew 15:8-9 (NIV)

                Jesus’ pointed words remind me that it is possible to say the right things and do the right things and still not be in a right relationship with God. Throughout history, the Church, like the Pharisees, have added different rules and traditions to the scriptures. These rules have become the measure of a person’s faith and spirituality. If a person did not wear the right clothes, or use the right words, or conform to the right interpretation of the Bible, then their faith was called into question. In that environment, it was easy to become a “checklist” Christian. If I do these things and I don’t do these things then I’m in. God has to accept me. Faith became a matter of outward appearance and not of the heart.

                For many years I fell in the camp of being a “checklist” Christian. I was very legalistic in my views. There was a right way and a wrong way and nothing in between. I most often applied this to my own life, judging my faith by how well I was living up to the checklist. The outcome was that the question of the genuineness of my faith kept surfacing. Was I really placing my faith in Jesus, or was I just going through the motions. As I gained a fuller, more mature understanding of faith, I came to accept that my standing before God was not based on my performance, but upon what Jesus has done for me on the cross. The more I looked to Jesus, the less I depended on the checklist.

                The question, is my faith genuine, is a good one to reconsider regularly. For my faith can become stale and unproductive. The question is not am I saved, but am I genuinely living out the reality of my salvation. As Paul writes, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. I think even Paul struggled to make sure that his faith was genuine. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul hints at the spiritual struggle that he went through.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)

                Paul did not want to stumble and fail just before the finish line. He wanted to make sure that his faith was genuine right up to the end. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he challenged them to examine their faith to see if it is genuine. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?
(2 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV)) Paul was telling the Corinthians and us not to be complacent about our faith. We need to regular test our faith to make sure that we are on the right track.

                I don’t believe that a person can lose their salvation, but a person can let their faith grow cold and be unproductive. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, what we have done with our salvation will be tested by God.

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (NIV)

                Is my faith genuine? I believe that it is based on what God has revealed in His word. My faith is genuine, but it is not completely mature. I still have much work to do to make my faith is what it needs to be. So I will press on toward the goal to win the prize in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)