Knowing vs. Doing - Which is the evidence of saving faith?

Welcome to Three Minutes of Theology, I'm Pastor Alan Nelson, pastor of Perryville Second Baptist Church in Perryville, Arkansas.

Jesus says an interesting thing in Matthew 7, verse 21, He says, Not everyone who says to me,

Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Now we want to be careful because certainly we want to avoid the mistake that we can earn our salvation with good works or something like that.

No, salvation is a gift of God, it's received by grace alone, justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Faith in Christ alone is how a person is justified.

What Jesus is getting at in Matthew 7, verse 21, though, is the reality, in the context of the

Sermon on the Mount, is the reality that those who put their faith in Christ live differently.

I preached through the Sermon on the Mount one time and entitled it Kingdom Living. This is what it looks like to live in the kingdom of Christ.

And so what Jesus is saying is, it's not enough for people to just know what it is they're supposed to do, but those who have faith in Christ live in a different way.

They don't just know what to do, they live differently. The problem in the

Bible Belt today is that many people equate knowing with believing. So since they know the things of Christ, since they know about the church, since they know what

God wants of the world, since they know they should be reading the Bible, in their mind then, they equate that with they believe.

Because they know, then they believe. But I can't tell you how many people I run into all the time that say things like, well,

I know I should be doing this more, I know I should be going to church, I know I should be reading the Bible, I know I should be leading my children in family worship, but they're not doing these things.

Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my

Father in heaven, not knows the will of my Father in heaven, but does it. Again, this is not earning your salvation.

It's the reality of those who are born again, those who have been granted the gift of repentance and faith, those who look to Christ in this way, they desire to now not just know what

God would have them to do, but to actually live it. You need to consider that about your own life today.

Are you one who just knows the right thing to do, but then doesn't do it, doesn't consistently apply it?

Are you one who does it? Saving faith ultimately results in people who desire to do, not just know, but do.

Don't be deceived and think that just because you know about the gospel, just because you know what

Christ has done, just because you know the church is important, just because you know the Bible is

God's word, that that means then that you actually have faith in Christ.

Knowing and doing are not the same thing. Consider these thoughts. Thank you.