Two Tests For Our Christian Experience

"Therefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints" - Ephesians 1:15 (NKJV)

In Ephesians 1:15, Paul gives us what I call the visible proof of our Christian experience: "Therefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints..."

He gives two specific tests to show whether you are one of God's children. I'm so glad that he didn't say because of your Christian perfection. I'm so glad he didn't say because you are sinless, because if he were to say that, none of us would make it. But he said, "You want to know if God has done a work in your life? Here are two tests you can ask yourself."

First: Do you really have faith in the Lord Jesus? Not just faith in the story of the gospel, not just intellectual knowledge of the salvation message, but have you placed your faith, the whole of your weight, on the Person Who is Jesus Christ?

When my wife and I were doing mission work in another country, we were partnering with the local church there and going out on the streets to talk to people who did not have access to the gospel or Bibles. I'll never forget this bold teenage girl who could see that people were trying to sidetrack us with different kinds of conversation topics. She just kind of interrupted our nice little conversation and looked straight at them and said, "What do you believe about Jesus? What do you believe about Jesus?"

She said, "Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus died for your sins." She got it. She was trying to get them to see that at the core of our beliefs is our faith in Jesus. And it's not just Jesus, it's the Lord Jesus. It's faith that Jesus is not just a good teacher, but that Jesus is Lord.

Second: Do you have love for all the saints? Isn't it interesting that if you and I were writing this today, we might say love for all those who get along with me, love toward those who like me. Do you love your family? Do you love your neighbor? No, he doesn't say that. He says love for all the saints.

In John 13:35, Jesus says, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another." The world can see the reality of our faith by how we treat one another. It's interesting how we can say we have faith in Jesus, saying "yes" to Jesus, and yet say "no" to His church, no to spending time with people who love Jesus together.

This passage doesn't say when I heard about how perfect you are. It says that when I heard about your faith in Jesus and your love toward all the saints, it was visible. Paul could see it.

Reflection Question: If somebody was watching your life this week, could they see these two visible proofs - genuine faith in Jesus as Lord and supernatural love for fellow believers?

Heavenly Father, help my faith in the Lord Jesus to be real and evident, not just head knowledge. Give me supernatural love for all the saints - even those who are different from me or hard to get along with. Let these two evidences shine clearly in my life for the world to see. In Jesus' Name, amen.

Check out: "Seeing With the Eyes of the Heart" (Ephesians 1:15-19): https://www.joshfranklin.org/media/td3gnp7/6-seeing-with-the-eyes-of-the-heart-eph-1-15-19