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Pretenders
Private James Henry put on his uniform and went about his business. The first private he passed snapped him a salute. Private Henry thought that was odd, but he returned the salute. After about ten more privates had saluted him in the same way he became suspicious. He soon discovered that his jacket bore a shiny gold bar on the shoulder. An officer had worn it and forgotten to remove his insignia. So everyone who saw him thought he was a Second Lieutenant.
In the same way many people are being saluted as believers in Christ, when they are not really Christians at all. They may have joined some church, and may live a respectable life. They may attend all the meetings and support good Christian causes. They may even teach a Sunday school class and preach in the pulpit, and not have eternal life themselves. For these things do not make a person a real Christian, just as the gold bar on the jacket did not make Private Henry a Second Lieutenant.
Judas was a professor, a pretender, and we read, “Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place” (Acts 1:25). What God wants is, “truth in the inward parts” (Psalm 51:6). Are you real?
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