Some people use religious phrases and pretend to follow God, when they do not. Wolves in sheep’s clothing have existed since ancient times and Scripture shows this. As such, we need to be aware of the frauds and also warn our friends.
Pharaoh accused Moses and the Israelites “May the Lord be with you if I ever let you go with your little ones. Clearly you are bent on evil,” Exodus 10:10. How could Pharaoh speak about the Lord when he was the evil one, prohibiting the Israelites from worshipping God? This Pharaoh was so evil, like his predecessors, he believed he was god, instead of obeying the True God. With his predecessors, he had enslaved the Israelite people. Yet Pharaoh was so steeped in his pride and sin, he had turned the truth into a lie.
A Levite abandoned the Levitical city (and also the Law of Moses) and went to live with a man who had idols and offered to pay the Levite to live with the man’s family. Then when the tribe of Dan came to ask whether they should attack a city, he never inquired of the Lord, but just tossed out this careless answer, “Go in peace. The presence of the Lord will be with you,” (Judges 18:4-6). This Levite was not in communion with God and had no idea what God actually wanted.
Old Testament King Saul did similar things, accusing his servant David of trying to kill him, when King Saul was the one trying to kill David. Saul acted piously and insincerely: “The Lord bless you,’ Saul said. ‘At last someone is concerned about me,’” 1Samuel 23:21. Saul was using religious phrases to cover his lack of faith. It was all a paranoid lie. David loved Saul and protected him.
All three of these men were liars, but Pharaoh and King Saul acted the most arrogantly and thought more of themselves than God did. They tried to exert control over their people, and as a result, many people died. Many Egyptians suffered and died, due to the plagues and their drowning in the Red Sea. Saul ordered the murder of 85 priests at Nob and then all of their wives, brothers, sisters, and children (1Sam.22:6-23.) Saul himself, with his innocent sons, died at war with the Philistines (1Sam.31:2.)
How can God allow unrighteous people to get away with such evil for so long? In 2Peter3:9, the Apostle Peter explained that though God promised to punish wrong doers, yet in his kindness, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.” God wants everyone to repent. Some, like Pharaoh never do. Many believe Saul did repent.
But in all these cases, (in Romans 1:28) God warned, “Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.” When people insist on loving evil and believing a lie, God gives them over to being deceived by the lie they want to believe.
Strong Christians already know many or all of these truths. But those of us who are stronger still need to be aware of the deception of fake faith because of the hazard those frauds pose to the unsuspecting unbelievers and weak Christians. Our friends could get hurt by these fakes. These women can be duped into thinking they are dating and even marrying a believer when he has no love for God.
People might come from denominations that don’t teach about the discerning power of the Holy Spirit, nor about a personal relationship with Jesus. These people may have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside their hearts and may have a personal relationship with Christ. But having never been clearly taught about these relationships (with Jesus and with the Holy Spirit guiding their lives), these people may live in truth, yet accept frauds, like King Saul. This acceptance may include enabling the authority of corrupt people (unjust bosses) or committing to a partnership or even marriage with someone who is at the least very far from God’s truths (saved but very carnal) or worse yet, unsaved.
It is essential we teach our children and help to nurture our vulnerable friends so they can see the truth for themselves. With children we can teach them explicitly about fake Christians. We can point out the ‘Words only” experience of fakers who talk about God but don’t love him. And we can contrast this with our own love of him, service for him, and worship of him. We can also explain the danger of legalism. This can mask a non-relationship with God in someone who performs “religious works,” without truly loving and valuing God.
We cannot be as explicit with other adults, if they consider our words condescending or preachy. But some people want to know the truth, and while they may balk at our telling them everything about fake Christians, we can ask them questions. On the other hand, some fake Christians believe they are saved, because they regularly attend church. They may simply need to understand what a living relationship with God means to help them surrender their will to God.
Some fake Christians will never surrender to God, like those Jesus described when he said, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness!’” (Matt.7:22-23.) These people, like Pharaoh, are full of pride and don’t want to know the truth.
Our friends need to understand the difference between deceived fake Christians, who will some day repent, and prideful fake Christians who do not ever repent. We cannot see into anyone’s soul, and some denominations say we are sinful for questioning the faith of someone without fruit of faith in his or her life. But when our intention is to pray for this person’s salvation, we are not judging to condemnation, but just judging the lack of fruit and being concerned for that person’s eternal life.
Listen to your friends and family. Be concerned if you sense they have a vulnerability towards believing the lies (or unintended deceit) of fake Christians. God can guide you in how to teach the children to discern about these fake Christians. And through sharing about your own life or through asking guided questions, you can help your adult friends and family learn to discern the difference between sincere believers and those who do not love and serve God.
The danger of fake Christians is real. They can oppress Christians and make unreasonable demands, because the faker knows he can manipulate a weak Christian. A fake Christian might marry a true believer and lead her into a painful and unequally yoked marriage. These fake Christians may lie and cheat and give the true faith a bad name. Jesus does not control others. He never lies or cheats. He never bosses the church, but instead laid down his life for her. He is no dictator. He is never insensitive to our fears, needs and hopes and dreams.
We can encourage our friends and family to compare the fakes with the original, Jesus Christ, and the Gentle Holy Spirit, and the Beloved heavenly Father, our triune God. True Christians aim to live like Jesus, and if they sin, they repent and don’t cover their sin.
There are may Bible passages we can direct our friends to look at to see how good God is. But let’s close with these verses from 1Corinthians 13:4-8, “Love is patient; love is kind. It does not envy; it does not boast; it is not proud. It does not dishonor others; it is not self-seeking; it is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” We could replace the noun “love” with Jesus’ name and the passage would still be true.
We must be diligent to teach our children about fake Christians, and gently encourage our adult friends and family to see the truth too.
Even if those we love have already been lured by a fake Christian and don’t want to know the truth to break free, we can pray and speak the truth about our personal relationship with Jesus and the truth about God. Sometimes, instead of telling our confused yet stubborn friends about what is wrong with a fraud, we can speak all the truths about God and pray our deceived and unwilling friends will eventually see the truth.
If we have been the deceived person, we can forgive ourselves for believing a lie and work on our loving relationship with God. We must always accept his forgiveness for our younger days of foolishly believing a lie and never condemn ourselves. This is the message we can give to friends recovering from the lies they believed in the past too.
God has such good plans for our lives, (Romans 8:28, “God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.”)
Thanks for joining us on this post. I pray we have equipped you and encouraged you.