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Is your faith “demonic faith”?
“You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” (James 2:19 NLT)
Has it ever occurred to you that demons are good theologians?
Think about it:
* Demons don’t debate who created the universe. They were there, singing praise to God with the rest of creation (Job 38:7)
* Demons don’t question the historicity of the Resurrection. They were there to witness the scene!
* Demons don’t question if the Bible has recorded the truth. In fact, they evidently know biblical prophecy so well that they asked Jesus “’What do you want with us, Son of God? they shouted. ‘Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?’” (Matthew 8:29 NIV)
* Demons don’t debate that Jesus is the Son of God. Rather in fact, they affirm Jesus is indeed the Son of God (Matthew 8:29). Also, “And whenever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of Him, the spirits would throw them to the ground in front of Him shrieking, ‘You are the Son of God!’” (Mark 3:11 NLT)
So, demons can check off all the theological boxes with perfect precision.
They would beat our best theologians in a game of Bible Trivia.
They know all the facts; but that’s all it is to them – facts.
You see, demonic faith is religion without relationship; it’s acknowledgement without acceptance; it’s reverence without repentance.
James is, effectively, asking his readers the probing question: “What distinguishes your faith from that of demons?”
So what James is revealing is that there is a difference between recognizing the facts about God’s existence and actually loving and obeying Him.
It’s possible to affirm His existence without giving Him your existence.
It is time for us to come to grips with James’ message and start practising what we are preaching!
It is time to stop mentally checking off the boxes of basic truths regarding Christianity and pursue the person of Jesus Christ in a living, personal way.
There is a huge difference between carrying your cross as a Christian versus just wearing one around your neck. What will your response to the Gospel be today?
Demons believe and shudder.
They believe and have an emotional reaction!
But they don’t get past facts and feelings.
Will you believe and act?
Don’t heed the popular voices of culture and mainstream Christianity.
Martin Luther, the Reformer, said in the sixteenth century: “The devil knows the truth, but he remains the devil.”
Good theology isn’t just believing facts; it’s about following Jesus Christ personally . . . and then behaving accordingly.
In Revelation 3, Christ sends two different messages to three very different churches.
Two of them (the church in Sardis and the church in Laodicea) have “demonic” faith, and the other (the church in Philadelphia) has vibrant, active faith.
Which one does your church have?
Which one do you have?
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