Differentiating Between True and False Children of God (1)

NOT EVERYONE who attends church meetings is a true child of God; there are those who are false. They just attend church meetings just to avoid being labeled as unbelievers.

Scripturally, a child of God is someone who is born again, led by the Spirit of God and follows the leadings of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14).

Some Christians fail to pay attention to this truth and call any one who attends church meetings as a child of God.

But the Bible gives clear indications of believers who are false considering their character, the fruit they bear or their attitudes.

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus Christ emphasizes that He will say to some of His disciples on the day of judgment that He never knew them, and that they should get away from Him. The Lord then concludes in describing them as wicked people.

These words of our Lord are indeed scary and thought-provoking. How should He describe some of His disciples as wicked people?

It is because He knows that such folks are false children of God as they fail to do His desires. This should remind us that God is not necessarily looking for multitudes to be His children, but those who are willing to do His will.

False children of God are pretenders who mere act in most of the things they do supposedly in the name of the Lord Jesus. It can be prayers or Bible reading.

False children of God have no innate urge to read the Bible. For this reason, they never grow in the knowledge and grace of God after several years of being Christians.

However, they feel excited to work lotto papers and other non-Christian materials. Also they consider gossiping with friends as more profiting than reading the Bible which they often keep under their pillows for protection.

A false child of God cannot accept the teachings of the Holy Spirit. They want to be entertained in church meetings, love to listen to prosperity preaching, fellowship with churches have nice auditoriums.

Again, false children of God are not so much concerned about the preaching of the message of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for their salvation.

Very often they count on the prestige of their churches, pastor’s dressing and wealth to put them right with God.

In John 8:37, Jesus made it clear that even though the Jews who heard were indeed descendants of Abraham they are not children of God. In other words, they were mere religious people.

False Christians fall in the same line. Thus they deceive themselves into thinking that being a member of a church automatically makes one a child of God.

So, they say things like; “I was born into Christianity”, “I was baptized and confirmed by a European pastor, Bishop, Apostles.

But their actions show that they do not know God as they seem to please the devil. These people do not want to hear the truth about their sin.

The Jews in John 8 did not want to hear Jesus’ teachings and would have nothing to do with Him since it exposes their sinful works.

Clearly, false children of God attack or look down on those who convict them of sin. (John 3:19-21). They argue that they are not born of fornication; they have one father who is God.

Finally, false children of God are not able to understand or obey Jesus’ message, “Jesus asked, why do you not understand what I say? Because you cannot bear to listen to my message”, (John 8:43).

Jesus did not say, you did not hear my message but CANNOT bear to listen to my message. The people who had believed in Jesus lacked the spiritual ability to understand Jesus’s message because of sin (unbelief),

In the Part Two, we shall talk about true children of God.

By Michael Florida Asante