| Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I find myself more and more troubled as I go through my daily life, encountering folks along the way who I would never guess were Christians were it not for the fact that they make such a profession.
One example is that of a young woman, the daughter of a minister, who has a manner of speech that would make a salty sailor blush, and who unashamedly declares herself to be a lesbian, yet maintains that she is a Christian.
Another example would be the folks in the break room at work, both men and women, giggling over the pornographic images which they send one another over their cell phones, several of whom I know to consider themselves Christians.
While only God knows their heart and their eternal condition, I cannot help but fear both for their salvation and the salvation of those in their lives to whom they are a source of influence.
The Holy Bible is chock full of indicators that professing salvation is not the same as being saved.
Consider the following scripture -
Matthew 25:31-46 (KJV)
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
It is abundantly obvious what the role of a true believer is to be and the message is well paralleled in -
James 2:14-26 (KJV)
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Lest we fall into the trap of thinking that ‘good deeds’ alone merit saving Grace, we will look to the apostle John for wisdom:
1 John 1:3-10 (KJV)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Let us reflect for a moment on the various elements presented thus far, concerning SHEEP status, i.e., true salvation as opposed to the false sense of security which is the condition of the GOAT.
Firstly, one must believe in God, but as noted in the scriptures above, mere belief is not enough; “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
If we were to rely solely upon the writings of James cited above, we could leap to the conclusion that belief in God + Good Deeds = Salvation. And, having done so, we would be doomed, for that is a totally false presentation of the concept of salvation and clearly demonstrates why it is so vitally important to be well-read in the Word of God, to be able to ‘rightly divide’ scripture, applying it ‘line upon line’ and ‘precept upon precept’.
While there are numerous scriptures pertaining to the necessity of belief in God and the Son, Jesus Christ, [the most widely quoted undoubtedly being John 3:16] we need look no further than the scripture from 1 John above; “ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Let us now revise our formula to: Belief in God + Faith in Christ + Confession of Sin = Salvation.
We’re getting closer, but we are not quite there, for we have not yet covered the concept of ‘repentance’ which is, from the Greek ‘metanoia’, to reconsider, to change one’s mind. Again, we will find repentance taught throughout God’s Word, such as in Acts 20:21 where we find Paul “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”, which neatly ties together an almost complete formula: Belief in God + Faith in Christ + Confession of Sin + Repentance = Salvation.
Praise God Almighty for His abounding Mercy and Grace!
But wait! Before we get all warm and secure in our sanctification and eternal security, beware of the hidden snare of complacency, which is what the core message of this missive is about.
Couple the very stark and clear message of Jesus’ words as related by James regarding SHEEP vs. GOATS, with John’s teaching of “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:”
It is evident to me, that folks who wallow in their former lifestyles, with no turning away, no changing of mind, leading to changing of walk, are, clearly those who walk in darkness, and their profession of ‘I am a Christian’ is a lie. Plain and simple. Also, it is made all the more tragic as they are lying to themselves! They have a false sense of security and will meet a GOATS tragic end!
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
PRAISE THE LORD!
Thus walking in the light entails turning from sin and evidencing fruit of the spirit…
Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
…the greatest of which is clearly described in the actions of the sheep, and may be summed up in a word: Charity [Love].
1 Corinthians 13:4-13 (KJV)
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Let us now finalize our formula to read: Belief in God + Faith in Christ + Confession of Sin + Repentance = Salvation if evidenced by the fruit of the spirit.
In closing, I leave you with the following passage and the opening question; Sheep or Goat: Which are you?
John 10:24-30 (KJV)
24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
 
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The metaphor you selected is an interesting one since a sheep is a sheep and a goat is a goat. Never heard of a sheep becoming a goat or a goat becoming a sheep. The whole issue is “Has the person been born again?”
The Bible speaks of sheep in contrast to goats, sheep in contrast to wolves, and sheep in contrast to ‘lost sheep’.
“For by grace are ye saved”… not by choice are ye saved. A goat does not decide to become a sheep, but by grace sheep are in the fold. And the Christian life is about being found by the One who came “to seek and to save that which is lost.” After all, He came to “save his people from their sin.”
Hi Mark,
While I agree with you to a point, I think you need to move on from Ephesians 2 and take a good, long look at:
Ephesians 4: (KJV)
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.