False Believers

John 2:23-25

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By way of recap, the last time I preached here, we were at the Passover celebrations in Jerusalem where Jesus whipped people out of the temple for making it a house of merchandise:

And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade (John 2:15-17).

We learnt a few things at the Passover feast in Jerusalem.. We noted that Jesus is The New Temple through whom believers meet God. We also noted that Jesus Is Our Passover lamb. Finally, we learnt Jesus requires reverence in worship from the New Testament believer just as he demanded it from the temple worship.

This morning, we continue our series through John and we are still at the feast of Passover in Jerusalem… Apparently, apart from whipping people in the temple, Jesus performed other miracles or what John calls signs. Look at verse 23: “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.”

But whatever signs were done are not recorded for us. This affirms what John said towards the end of his gospel that not all miracles or signs of Jesus were recorded: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book” (John 20:30).

This morning, I want us to look at what I have titled False Believers.

Unlike Jesus

Our text presents us with a very interesting picture. People believed in Jesus, and he rejected them (John 2:23-24). This we may say is unlike Jesus. They came to him, and he turned them away. That is like going against many of his own words. For example John 6:37 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Ah, but he is casting them out? He did not entrust himself to them. That is, he didn’t commit to them. Why didn’t he entrust Himself to people who believed in Him? Because they were False Believers.

Who Is A False Believer?

A False believer is someone who has falsely believed in Jesus. A False believer is one who never truly or genuinely believed in Jesus. Their faith is fake. False believers are those who are moved only by the spectacular and miraculous but they never truly believe in Christ. Why did the people mentioned in the narrative believe in Jesus? “when they saw the signs that he was doing.” Their faith was in the miracles they saw, and not in the person who worked the miracles. Jesus’ words in Matthew 7 illustrates this very well. Look at verses 21-23

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

The reality is that it is not everyone who claims to be a Christian who is truly one. Eventually, time will tell. And I believe everyone of us may have known or know people who professed to be believers but eventually fell off the way and rejected Christianity. They were never Christians at all. They never experienced a conversion. They never experienced a change of heart.

A false believer then is one who has not truly believed in Jesus and repented of their sins. To repent is to turn away from sin and turn to God through faith in Christ. In Luke 15:10, Jesus said there is rejoicing over one sinner who repents. The word repent also means to change one’s mind. It is a change of mind over sin. A change of mind in our affections.

For all of us here who have come to faith in Christ, I believe we can point to something peculiar that happened to us when we came to know the Lord. Some people report a sudden hunger and desire for the Bible. Others report a hatred for sin. To some it was a peace that came over their troubled heart. Yet for others it was an insatiable desire for prayer. All these point us to the fact that something different happened to us. Pause to ponder over it. What happened to you when you first came to the Lord? Let’s call it your first love. Is it still there?

At the cross, where I first saw the Light
And the burden of my heart rolled away, rolled away
It was there by Faith, I received my sight
And now I am happy all the day

Now if we contrast the verse .22 with the verse 23-24, we may see the reason why the people who believed can be considered False Believers. Because they didn’t believe the gospel: It is there, see:

When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken (v.22).

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing (v.23).

The difference between v.22 and v.23 shows God’s ordained means of bringing people to salvation: the preaching of the gospel, that is the death and resurrection of Christ. This is exactly what the disciples believed in v.22. After the resurrection, they believed the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken. Where the gospel is revealed through faithful preaching of Scripture lives are changed, genuinely. When the Jews asked for a sign, Christ gave them the sign of His death and resurrection, which is the gospel: “So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body (John 2:18-21).

For conversion to be genuine, it must be grounded in the gospel and in Scripture. It is in Scripture we see the gospel. The disciples “believed the Scripture”. The other people believed the miraculous deeds.

Sadly today, many people are chasing after miracles and in the process believing many false teachings that is injurious to their soul. The premium people place on miracles is even absent in the Bible. Miracles were not everyday occurrences and were not even meant to bring people to faith.

This incident for us is a Call To Self-Examination

We see in the text that Christ is Omniscient–“he knew all people” “He himself knew what was in man.”

24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people. 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

This is a divine attribute. Jesus knows our heart and we cannot deceive Him with a false faith.. And so rightly, this calls for introspection and self-examination. An unexamined life is not worth living says the Greek Philosopher Socrates. Paul also says examine yourself to see if you are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Have you truly believed in Jesus? Are you truly saved? Are you a False Believer or True Believer? Has there been any change in your life since you believed? If we knew you before you became a Christian, will we see any visible changes that truly this one has become a Christian? Paul used the analogy of the changing of cloth to differentiate the former sinful life from the Christian life: Ephesians 4

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

“Put off…Put on” Just like you change dirty cloths and put on new ones, Paul says “Put off your old self…and put on the new man”

A False believer is one whose conversion is not genuine. A true believer will then be one whose faith and conversion is genuine. It is conversion which produces a change of heart and life. Faith can be superficial and shallow based on the spectacular and that is what we clearly see here. The crowd believed Jesus because of the miracles they saw. They didn’t have a true change of heart. And we see this often in Jesus’ ministry. They see miracles and they believe but when Christ speaks the truth, they walk away (John 6)

Are you truly saved?

Be encouraged also: Jesus knows all people and what is in them is not only threatening. It is also comforting. You who have truly believed in Christ, take comfort in this that Jesus knows you. He knows your heart. Even if outwardly men may call your Christianity to question, Jesus sees the honesty and sincerity. That is, if you are truly honest and sincere.

Jesus accepts genuine faith, and he rejects ingenuine faith.

Let us pray.