Jesus made a lot of claims about himself, and backed up his words with his actions. On top of that a lot of the things we know about Jesus come through the prophesies that were fulfilled by him–how and where he was born, how he lived, how he died, and even coming back to life. So the Bible is pretty clear about who Jesus is.
Now, thinking about all the different people who claim to believe in Jesus or to be his followers, can you really believe in Jesus if you don’t believe all the things that he said about himself or if your opinions about who you claim to follow don’t match up with the facts of Scripture?
In Matthew 7, Jesus said that on Judgment Day many people will claim to know him and will claim to have done great works in his name, but Jesus will say “Go away, I never knew you.” The sad thing is it’s obviously religious people who will be making that claim because they will be telling of all the things they did for Jesus. So just claiming to know Jesus and doing religious stuff won’t get you into Heaven.
I don’t know about you, but that’s a big motivator for me to make sure I know Jesus for real, for who he claims to be, and to focus on doing what he wants me to do and not just various religious acts. Lots of people talk about having a relationship with Jesus. Clearly having a relationship is more than just knowing somebody’s name or doing things in someones name. So common sense would say, if you want a relationship with Jesus, don’t repeat some empty prayer and expect that will save you, but learn about who he is from what he said. Then if you’re really willing to invest your life in a real relationship and maintain ongoing communication and caring (like you would for any other real life, love relationship), when Judgment Day comes, Jesus will recognize you and not have to say “Go away, I never knew you.”
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