If I'M Saved Why Do I Live Like the Devil — E.A. Johnston

The American Church's Tragedy

In the last 60 years in this country, a national tragedy has occurred. And I'm not referring to a presidential assassination or a widespread pandemic or a terrorist attack. But I'm talking about the tragedy that has taken place in the American church.

Modern Evangelism and False Assurance

We have gotten people to accept modern evangelism. And we have called that salvation. If your profession, friend, is based on a proposition, that if you did what the preacher told you to do, then you are saved.

Whether it was to walk an aisle or raise your hand or repeat a prayer, all to come and accept Jesus. But you never got a good look at the Christ of the gospel because man's methodology was blocking the way.

The Hidden Christ and False Conversion

The Lord Jesus is a hid thing to many a man. The Pharisees heard Jesus teach on many occasions. But they had not hearts to understand nor eyes to see him, for they were blind to who he was. When you get a bunch of lost religious people together, they will crucify afresh the son of God.

The only believed gospel has led many astray, giving them a false faith. The stony ground and thorny soil hearers believed, but they had a stone at the bottom. They had a head knowledge, but no root of saving faith.

Examining Whether Faith Is Genuine

Can you ask yourself an honest question, friend? If I'm saved, why do I live like the devil? Are you a good church attender, but a devil in your home? I used to be a member at a church where the staff minister of prayer, the man who led the church in the weekly prayer meeting, that man who would stand up and pray before a large congregation, was privately raping his 14-year-old son.

His son eventually came public with this, but this went on for years in that church, all the while that man was leading the prayer ministry. This man looked and acted like a Christian on the outside, but this man was a devil in his home.

I knew a person who was a saint to their friends, but who was a devil in their home, making their family's lives a living hell. If I'm saved, why do I live like the devil? Sam Jones said that being a Christian meant quitting your meanness.

Questions for Self-Examination

You may also ask yourself, friend, the following questions in regard to your daily living. Does sin remain in power? Is self still on the throne? Do I have a me-first mentality where self must always have its way?

Is there an act of witness for Christ in my life? Is there a pursuit of holiness in my heart? Do I want to bring Jesus' pleasure on His throne with my daily living? Do I desire to be Christ-like in all my dealings with my fellow man?

Am I honest in my workplace? Am I guarded in the company I keep? Am I patient and kind or impatient and rude? Do I have a burden for the lost, and am I using my time, talents, and money for the spread of the gospel, or am I using my time and talent to accumulate as much of this world as I can?

Saving Faith Receives Christ as King and Savior

In the end, a man's life must be sealed with the Spirit by being born from above and washed in the blood, and to have this is to have saving faith. When a man truly believes, he receives Christ for the end the Father sent him.

To be king and sovereign of the whole man is well as a savior. There is a wonderful assurance here to the believer, Roman declares, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature should be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And that's the key, friend. We have assurance of faith when we know Christ, and we know He is our Lord. We cannot divide Christ in halves and choose the one we want. If He is truly our Savior, we will gladly have Him as our Lord.

A God-Centered Life of Obedience

If I'm a saved individual, I will fear God and obey Him, and love Him with all my heart, my soul, and mind, and I'll live a God-centered life for His glory. And if I'm not, I'll love myself and my sin more than Him, and live like the devil when no one is looking, and do my best to try and smuggle my soul into heaven when I die by hanging on to my profession and hanging on to everything else.

The Wedding Garment and False Profession

Many can come and fellowship at the banquet table undetected, but when the king comes in, he will say, Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless.