Christians In Name Only

By Ray Gano

When was the last time you did a check up from the neck up?

Paul wrote the following to the Corinthian church, and these were Christians he was addressing.

1 Corinthians 6:9 (KJV) Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

1 Corinthians 6:10 (KJV) Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:11 (KJV) “And such were some of you:…”

What Paul is pointing out is that many were Christians in Name Only.

Read the quick definitions of each of these that Paul writes about here quickly.

Fornicators - The Greek word is pornos {por'-nos}, from which we get "pornography" These people are doing the deed before marriage.

Idolaters - The worship of idols, images, or any thing made by hands, or which is not God

Adulterers - It means to have unlawful intercourse with another's wife or husband. If you read Playboy, watch porno movies, ect, you are committing adultery. You are having sex in your mind and not with your spouse.

Effeminate - To make womanish; to unman; to weaken, a sissy boy.

Abusers of themselves with mankind – Sodomites one who lies with his or her own gender. This is an abomination unto God.

Thieves –

1. One who secretly, unlawfully and feloniously takes the goods or personal property of another. The thief takes the property of another privately; the robber by open force.

2. One who seduces by false doctrine. John 10.

3. One who makes it his business to cheat and defraud; as a den of thieves. Mat 21.

Covetous - Inordinately desirous; excessively eager to obtain and possess; directed to money or goods, avaricious.

Drunkards - One given to ebriety or an excessive used of strong liquor; a person who habitually or frequently is drunk.

Revilers - To feast with loose and clamorous merriment; to carouse; to act the bacchanalian. (feasts of Bacchus – hedonism – if it feels good, do it)

Extortioners - The act of extorting; the act or practice of wresting any thing from a person by force, duress, menaces, authority, or by any undue exercise of power; illegal exaction; illegal compulsion to pay money, or to do some other act. Extortion is an offense punishable at common law.

Do you fall under any of these? Is it possible that you are a C.I.N.O / Christian in name only?

You might be if you are living one or even several of these sinful lifestyles.

In Scripture Christ tells us the following…

John 14:15 (KJV) If ye love me, keep my commandments.

I know that a lot of people do not want to hear that. In fact many churches are filled with people who are seeking the social gospel and don’t want to know that they are sinners in need of a savior.

In fact, it would not surprise me at all to hear of Christian men deciding to meet at “Hooters” for Monday night football and “fellowship.”

Mat 5:28 (KJV) But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Do you remember the first part of 1 Corinthians 6:9?

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?”

As I stated before, what Paul is describing here are in fact Christian in name only. But more than that, God is letting them know that they will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Folks, this is God’s Word… not mine.

You need to ask yourself are you one of the unrighteous…Christians in Name Only?

Some have woken up to the fact that they were living in sin and have corrected it. They have fully committed their lives to the Lord. They have come to realize the duty “Which is your reasonable service.”

I was raised in the church, went to a Christian school, did all the right things and said all the right words, I had accepted the Lord as my personal savior, and I was a backslidden Christian in my early life. I say this because there are many out there who have given their lives to the Lord and are backslidden. There is a difference between them and Christians in Name Only.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world… And yet there are the many trappings that we refuse to let go of.

Being backslidden and having C.I.N.Os in the church has brought us back to the days of the Corinthian church.

Read these definitions again from 1Corinthians 6:9-10.

• Fornicators
• Idolaters
• Adulterers
• Effeminate
• Abusers of themselves with mankind
• Thieves
• Covetous
• Drunkards
• Revilers
• Extortioners

These sins are the norm in today’s churches, not the exception. “Christian” Singles sleeping around, going out getting drunk / partying, jealous of cars, homes, material things. Yes, this is normal in today’s church, backslidden and Christians in Name Only.

What is sad is that it is causing many to choose a carnal life and not the life of the Lord.

The C.I.N.O. says “It feels so good to wallow in the flesh, so who cares about obeying God’s Word, we are sinners saved by grace.”

If you are one of these partakers, it feels good now. But do you live for the Lord as is your reasonable service or do you live for Satan and wallow in the trappings of this world slapping the word “Christian” on it?

Are you a Christian in name only? (C.I.N.O.)

Again here is what scripture says…

Revelation 3:16 (KJV) So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.

1 Corinthians 6:9a …”Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?”

Folks if you are one of these partakers of the flesh, here is what you should expect and in fact Jesus himself warned us…

Mat 7:21-23 (KJV) Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Many people confuse these verses with cults like the Mormons, JWs, Moonies, ect. The problem is that these cults and false religions DO NOT call Jesus Christ Lord when the rubber meets the road.

Who is Christ addressing? Christians in Name Only. They pay lip service and have great works, but they have not turned their hearts over to the Lord.

Folks, when you become a Christian it is a life changing event. You just don’t say some cute little prayer or check off some box and you get to heaven. Your life reflects your decision. Your reasonable service will show through. You can’t help but to show it, that is if you are one of God’s children, He will have it no other way.

Identifying a C.I.N.O. - Here is what God’s Word says…

Isaiah 8:20 (KJV) "to the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

1 Corinthians 10:21 (KJV) Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

1John 2:4-5(KJV) He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

If you are backslidden, have the Lord in your heart, and still living in the world; odds are that your life is miserable because you are not serving Him as is your reasonable service.

Being a Born Again child of God we have a duty to the Lord. That is to live a proper life with out being involved in those things mentioned in 1Corinthians 6:9-11a as well as in other passages in scripture.

If you are not willing to give those things up, then you need to ask yourself, Are You A Christian in Name Only?

A Christian KNOWS in their heart what is and is not acceptable to the Lord, Jeremiah 31:33 states that God’s law is written on the hearts of men. So to put it bluntly, there are no excuses for “not knowing.”

Being saved by Grace is not a license to sin either. But when we look at the church today, that is just what they are doing. So many have backslidden and many are C.I.N.O.’s

Romans 12:2 says “And be not conformed to this world…”

The sad thing is that out of ignorance of God’s Word, we as the church have become so conformed; there is no separation between the two.

We either live FOR Him or live AGAINST Him. We need to stop playing games with ourselves and make the choice.

Joshua 24:15 (KJV) And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?”

Which Kingdom will you inherit?

But more importantly, are you born again or are you a Christian in Name Only?

Who Do You Serve?

Jesus stated the following…

John 14:6 (KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

If you do not have Christ in your life, you will spend eternity in hell. This is a fact. It does not matter if you believe this or not, it is the truth spoken by Jesus himself. If your name is not written in the Lambs Book of Life you will go to hell for what you have not done and that is accepting Christ as your personal savior. To be placed in the Lamb Book of Life, you need to turn your life completely over to Him. Having “head” knowledge or “just believing in Christ” is not the same as having “heart” knowledge with Christ living in your heart. Even the “devils” believe in God.

James 2:19 (KJV) Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

We work hard at Prophezine to show that Bible Prophecy is coming to pass. Because of this fact, we know that the Bible is true. Since the Bible is the true and is the inerrant word of God, there is a heaven and there is a hell.

If you claim the title of “Christian” then take account of yourself this day. Many claim the title, but we read in God’s Word that the title does not get you into heaven.

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Who you serve will determine where you will spend eternity. If you are not serving Christ and a true child of God, then you are serving Satan and a child of the enemy.

If you are not 110% sure, then take account of yourself, your very life depends upon it.

1John 1:9 (KJV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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About the Author:

Ray & Tracye Gano are the Executive Directors of Prophezine. Prophezine deals with Bible Prophecy and World Events from a Pre-trib, pre-millennial, dispensationalist stand point. They currently serve close to 70,000 (and growing) people world wide with a weekly newsletters, daily news updates, community based website and Internet radio shows. Ray recently released his latest project “Escape The End Time Money Snare – The CD a multimedia CD co-authored with Wilfred Hahn focusing on how to escape the trappings of mammon and learning how to live simply in God’s abundance.

Please visit Prophezine by going to http://www.prophezine.com