The Counterfeit Coin of Profession
Some time ago I was trying to get a ticket from the parking meter to affix to the car windscreen and adhere to the parking regulations that were in place. After numerous attempts with a one pound coin that kept being returned the person behind suggested that it may be a fake coin. When I tried a different one it worked. Seemingly at that time there was a glut of counterfeit pound coins in circulation making it hard to distinguish the false from the authentic. The parking meter was one way of telling the difference, it recognized the counterfeit!
Recently I’ve been reading Prof. Donald Macleod’s superb book on Scottish theology Therefore the Truth I Speak and in the last chapter he introduces us to Robert Leighton who he describes as an ‘Episcopalian Calvinist’.
Leighton, he notes, viewed the church as a field of evangelism as not all of his parishioners may be born again even though they had been baptized, were good church attenders and were communicants. Profession without possession, the counterfeit coin, was a matter of great concern to him and he warned against the danger of mistaking superficial change for true conversion. He challenged his congregation to ask ‘What is a Christian’?
It is a fundamental question for today and we remember our Lord’s challenging and solemn words ‘not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven’. (Matt.7: 21)
Distinguishing between the true and false professor is highlighted when Jesus and his disciples are at the last supper, (Matthew 26), his words that one of them would betray him led to the disciples asking among themselves ‘Is it I, Lord?’ They could not tell who the betrayer was. It gave an opportunity to the disciples to examine themselves and Paul charges us likewise, ‘Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith’. (2 Corinthians 13:5)
A profession of faith that makes no difference to the way we live it is empty and can never save anyone.
HIDING BEHIND THE MASK
Note that the text speaks of ‘many’, not just a few, that in itself should be a warning! Many are on the broad road that leads to destruction while assuming that their good works and kind deeds done in the Lord’s name will see them right at the judgment. We are warned time and time again ‘do not be deceived’!
We have all become accustomed in recent days to face masks and when you meet someone in the street its often hard to tell who it was that greeted you, their true identity is hidden and you are left wondering “who was that”?
In ages gone by masks were often used in classical Greek theatre, the actor could play two different characters in the one drama and so become someone else for a moment.
The false professor is like an actor, hiding behind the mask of outward appearance while inwardly the true identity is hidden from public view. Jesus spoke to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:27, outwardly they appear beautiful and righteous to others but within they are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Michael Green comments “Spiritual death under a religious veneer is no less a possibility today than it was then. It is to be avoided at all costs”.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SOLID FOUNDATIONS
It is not without significance that the closing verses of Matthew 7 point us to the importance of building, here our attention is drawn to two houses, two men and two foundations. The false professor builds upon the sand but the one who hears the words of Jesus and does them is like a wise man that builds his house upon a rock. Everything about this story that Jesus tells shows us the difference between the counterfeit and the true profession of Christianity.
The mark of the true Christian is characterised by hearing God’s Word and obeying it. He desires knowledge, truth and understanding, he seeks to grow in his faith, and he wants to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.
True faith always shows itself in the believer’s life. He loves God’s Word, he delights in the fellowship of God’s people and his desire is to seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness.
The apostle Paul tells us “No one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ”, (1 Corinthians 3:11). A sure foundation withstands the falling rain, the floods and the blowing winds that beat upon us.
The true Christian can sing with confidence ‘In every high and stormy gale, my Anchor holds within the veil’ because,
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
