Not everyone who says they are a Christian really know the Lord

I am a born-again Christian. I believe in the one and only true God. I have a manual for life, the living Word of God, the Holy Bible. It is my map and my guide. It is the truth. It is the only way.

As a Christian, it is my responsibility not to accept someone else’s opinion as truth without testing it against God’s Word. I must read the Bible for myself so that I know the truth firsthand. It is also my duty to speak the truth about God and His Word without twisting it to fit my desires or to make myself or others comfortable with sin.

The only approval I need is the approval of God Himself.

I am a sinner, saved by God’s grace. I live for Him and Him alone. If I am not living according to His Word, then changing His Word, or reshaping someone else’s view of it, accomplishes nothing for my good, because He is the ultimate Judge.

So I say this: do not follow someone who claims to be a Christian if their beliefs do not align with Scripture. God’s Word does not change.

Read your Bible. Seek the truth from God Himself. Ask Him, and He will reveal the truth through His Word.

People may lead you astray. Churches may lead you astray. Even pastors may lead you astray. Do not trust anyone’s words without confirming them with Scripture you have read and studied for yourself.

Churches are filled with sinners, that is why it is church. You do not go to church to seek the approval of the people in it; you go to worship God and to hear from Him. If a pastor is not preaching the truth, confirmed by your own reading of Scripture, then you need to find a church whose pastor does. There you will grow in your walk with the Lord and find others who believe the truth to fellowship with. You will hold one another accountable and worship the Lord together.

You will see many people on social media and television who claim to be Christians and tell you what they believe, often seeking your approval. Read your Bible. Know the truth. If what they say is for their own gain and does not align with Scripture, then they have lost the approval of the only One who truly matters.

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬