Deniers, Confessors, Professors and Lovers

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

There are basically two categories of people in God’s eyes. Matthew 25 identifies individuals as either sheep or goats. Sheep people look to their Shepherd, Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Master. Goat people rebel and refuse to accept the lordship of Jesus over their lives. But there are other subcategories of people as well. I call these the deniers, the confessors, the professors and the lovers.

 

DENIERS

 

Those individuals who fall within this category deny the existence of God either by their words or deeds. They fail to accept any evidence that God is living and active in the world. They use the existence of evil in the world to dispel any potential belief in a supreme being. Many smoke screens are employed to hide their sin and lifestyle or their spiritual rebellion. Those who deny softly know deep down that God exists but they love their sin more than seeking to believe or they are fearful that God might actually change them if they did believe. They value control over their own lives even though in reality they have no ultimate control over their destiny. Therefore they strive to hide their soft dedication to denial. God can still work in their lives if His servants will strive to minister to these deniers of the faith and bear witness of the gospel to them. Those who are hard-hearted in their denials have seared souls and hearts from years of sin, a life of pain or suffering or simply a strong distaste for belief in the existence of God. Sin can coat a heart with so much death and disease that it can be impervious to anything but a miracle of intervention by God. Pain and abuse can so traumatize a person’s heart that it becomes callous in an attempt to protect itself. Persistent rebellion to the truth of God desensitizes the heart to receptivity to the gospel of our Lord. God’s love is the only thing that can penetrate such a callous soul. Left to themselves the heart of these deniers becomes hard as stone and unreceptive to words of life from any believer. Deniers are never hopeless in God’s eyes, but they choose their own path to destruction if they continue to fail to respond to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Several scriptures give us some insight into the spiritual condition of the heart of the denier of God.

 

Matthew 13:14-15

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’”

 

1 Timothy 4:1-2

“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.”

 

Hebrews 3:12

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”

 

Jude 4

“For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”

 

CONFESSORS

 

Confessors are known for the confessions of their shortcomings. When you first consider this you might think this is an admirable trait. Confessions of wrongdoing are beneficial and godly but the problem is that these individuals confess for the wrong reasons. The confessions of these confessors are an excuse for a lack of repentance. These individuals feel that as long as they confess what they did wrong, that is enough. They don’t see a need to repent and change their activities and behaviors, because they feel confessing evil actions are enough. Confessions of such confessors are done with the mind not the heart or with the heart but not the mind. There is no connection or interaction between these two portions of what makes them human. They will intellectually admit and confess wrongdoing, but their hearts do not convict them of the pain their actions have caused God. There is no emotional input from their soul as to the severity of their behavior. Or on the other hand they may feel horrible in their heart about their actions and confess but disengage their mind and avoid any discipline to change their behavior. They make no plans to avoid sin in the future feeling emotionally better after their confession. Whatever their motivation or process of confessing, the confessor’s motivation is to please man or to please themselves and their wellbeing. There is no conviction or desire to confess for righteous, holy or pure reasons. In their lives confessing is only a way of removing guilt that they may have or avoiding punishment from God and has nothing to do with restoring a loving relationship with God. It is always a selfish fulfillment to confess and continue on with life. There truly is a difference between a fleshy desire to confess and a spiritual conviction to confess.

 

John 12:42-43

“Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.”

 

PROFESSORS

 

The people in this category are not the intellectual men and women we all studied under in college. By professors I mean those who profess their belief in Christ but have no relationship with Him. Profession of true faith is good, but only if it springs from the heart of a true believer who has a relationship with their Savior. Fleshly professors toot a good horn. They expound upon what they know of God and put on a good act as to their dedication. The problem is that as the Holy Spirit examines their lives there is very little, if any, spiritual fruit to speak of. It reminds me of the hamburger ads you see on television. You drool and salivate as you see the juicy large beef patties, crisp lettuce, luscious tomatoes, and creamy spice sauce on those sesame seed buns. You measure with your mind how tall, thick and wide this beautiful hunky meal must be. But, when you go through the drive-thru and obtain your prize in the appropriately marked bag and travel home you receive the truth behind the advertisement. The burger is half the size of what it appeared on television. The lettuce is limp. The tomato mushy and there’s barely enough sauce to give the buns any color that it is even there. We won’t even talk about the round cardboard beefsteaks that portray themselves as one of the important food groups. It’s the same with professors of faith. There is no substance to their claims and proclamations. It is fleshly boasting about a nonexistent faith in a god made in his or her own image. The commitment of such professions is shallow never reaching any depth of their minds or hearts. Several scripture passages speak of such individuals.

 

Matthew 15:8-9

“’These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’”

 

Titus 1:15-2:1

“To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”

 

LOVERS

 

Finally we come to the true child of God, the servant of the Lord, the sinner who has been saved by the precious blood of Jesus. These are members of God’s family. Believe it or not these servants of the Lord most high are deniers, but they are deniers of the lies of Satan. They believe in the truth and deny anything that opposes the truth of the Bible. They also confess when they sin or fail in their witness, but they mean it. Their hearts are convicted by what they have done and their minds agree and desire to seek ways to avoid such behavior in the future. The Holy Spirit finds a receptive vessel for molding into the image of Christ in such individuals. The conviction of the heart and mind with the willingness to listen to the Spirit of God results in true repentance and change. This progressive behavior leads to spiritual growth and a maturing of faith. The process of sanctification can be observed in action as these servants of their Heavenly Father seek to change their behavior to match their professions of faith. Scripture speaks of the proper motivations behind such confessions. Christians are always confessors, but confessors are not always Christians.

 

James 5:15-16

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

 

1 John 1:9-10

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

 

Christians are professors as well. It is part of the Christian life to proclaim, profess and expound upon the faith that one has. A servant of the Lord can’t help but tell others of his wonderful Lord and Savior and profess his faith to others. The true profession of faith originates from the confession of a repentant sinner who has been saved from their sin and is in a close relationship with the Holy Spirit. A child of God shares the gospel and professes their faith in God because they love the Lord with all their heart, mind and soul. True Christians are always professors of faith, but not all professors are Christians.

 

Hebrews 4:14-15

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.”

 

Hebrews 10:22-25

“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

 

Christians confess and they profess because of their love for their Savior. Confessing and professing is as natural to the Christian as eating and breathing. They love their Lord because of what He has done for them in His sacrificial death and resurrection. They love Him because of the gift of His Comforter, the Holy Spirit that He has given to them. Because of the love shown to Christians by Christ, they naturally seek to love and minister to others. Gracious, generous love was and continues to be, poured out upon Christians and they can’t help but pour this love out to others.

 

Matthew 22:37-40

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

 

As a redeemed royal priesthood Christians stand in contrast to the false confessors and professors who lack any love for God and seek the praise of men. Unfortunately when Christians stray from the faith they can become members of the false confessors and professors. In such a state they violate their relationship with their Heavenly Father and play with the possibility of becoming deniers of the faith as well. Christians who become false confessors and professors must repent and truly confess so they can once again profess the faith that they are called to share with others.

 

As Christians we must all pray for one another as we seek to allow the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us as we demonstrate our love for our Lord in our actions, thoughts and behavior.

 

If you are a believer may God bless you as you show your love for Him by denying the temptations of Satan, confessing your failings humbly and professing your faith with excitement. It will bring you great joy and praise from your Father in heaven if you will seek to live as a member of God’s family.

 

If you find yourself convicted as a denier, an insincere confessor or a boastful professor I would challenge you to seek the Savior and let the Holy Spirit minister to you. You will never regret responding honestly to the grace of God.