Does the Bible ever say that God's ministers appear as, or can appear as, ministers of darkness? Ever? The answer to that question is obvious. It is a resounding "NO!" Satan's ministers can appear as ministers of light, and often do, doing good works that may be able to fool us as to whether they are genuinely saved or not, but they will never fool God (Matt. 7:21-23; 25:41-46). God's ministers, however, will never fool anybody (the church or the world) into thinking they are ministers of darkness when really they are ministers of light. Remember, tares impersonate wheat, not the other way around (Matt. 13:24-30). Wolves come in sheep's clothing, not sheep in wolves' clothing (Matt. 7:15).
When someone jettisons the faith, it is clear evidence that they were never saved to begin with: "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us" (1 John 2:19). They are not "carnal Christians" because there is no such thing (such a term is an oxymoron; carnal means worldly—look up what the Bible has to say about worldliness, being worldly-minded, and loving the world; it all leads to spiritual death). The fact there is no such thing as a "carnal Christian" is found in the answer to the above question: Does the Bible ever say that God's ministers appear as, or can appear as, ministers of darkness? There will be no Christians in heaven who people thought were unsaved due to their ungodly, carnal lifestyle. Jesus made it abundantly clear: "You will know them by their fruits" (Matt. 7:16, 20). He stated it twice for emphasis. He uses that statement as bookends, surrounding His key point:
When someone jettisons the faith, it is clear evidence that they were never saved to begin with: "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us" (1 John 2:19). They are not "carnal Christians" because there is no such thing (such a term is an oxymoron; carnal means worldly—look up what the Bible has to say about worldliness, being worldly-minded, and loving the world; it all leads to spiritual death). The fact there is no such thing as a "carnal Christian" is found in the answer to the above question: Does the Bible ever say that God's ministers appear as, or can appear as, ministers of darkness? There will be no Christians in heaven who people thought were unsaved due to their ungodly, carnal lifestyle. Jesus made it abundantly clear: "You will know them by their fruits" (Matt. 7:16, 20). He stated it twice for emphasis. He uses that statement as bookends, surrounding His key point:
"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits."After making this point abundantly clear, Jesus then launches into the next segment of His lesson: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'" The entire New Testament contradicts the false teaching that supposed "Christians" who live ungodly, carnal lifestyles will make it into heaven. To believe such a lie is to say that God's ministers can appear as ministers of darkness. They cannot! All genuine Christians are evidenced by their lifestyle of holiness, righteousness, and obedience to the Father (Matt. 7:21b: The one who will enter heaven is "he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven"), and by bearing (showing, demonstrating) "fruits in keeping with repentance" (Luke 3:8; i.e., evidence you have actually repented of your sins).
"God will not justify those He does not sanctify. Christ justifies no man without also sanctifying him. God will not declare a person righteous without also making him or her righteous. Perfection is the standard; direction is the test. If your life does not reveal growth in grace and righteousness and holiness, you need to examine the reality of your faith." –John MacArthur
"If you are after you've been saved what you were before you were saved, then you've never been saved." –D. L. Moody
"There is no one who can live in sin—drinking, swearing, lying, and so on—who can truly declare that he is one of the Lord's chosen people." –John MacArthur
"If you do not have a testimony of what the grace of God has done in your life... then has the grace of God ever done anything in your life?" –Unknown
"The doctrine of grace has for its object to make us new creatures; but if we are new creatures, we are different from what we were before—if therefore we were before unholy, now we become holy." –Charles Spurgeon
"The true believer is going to bear fruit. If you are a true believer, you are going to bear fruit. You have to bear fruit because you really are a branch and you really are connected to the Vine and you cannot do anything but bear fruit. But the Father comes by and He prunes you and He disciplines you and He shapes you and He cuts you and He ties you and He does everything He has to do so that you will bear more fruit. Discipline will not make you bear fruit. You are going to bear fruit. If you are not going to bear fruit, you are not a believer!" –Paul Washer (i.e., It is impossible for a Christian, including a babe in Christ, not to bear fruit!)
“If there is not, then, a yearning in our hearts to live a holy life pleasing to God, we need to seriously question whether our faith in Christ is genuine. True salvation brings with it a desire to be made holy. Scripture speaks of both a holiness which we have in Christ before God, and a holiness which we are to strive after. If we know nothing of holiness, we may flatter ourselves that we are Christians but we do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.” –Jerry Bridges
"There is a great deal of difference between God electing you, and your electing yourself; a vast deal of difference between God justifying you by His Spirit, and your justifying yourself by a false belief, or presumption; this is the difference: you who have elected yourselves, and justified yourselves, have no marks of the Spirit of God; you have no evidence of genuine piety, you are not holy men and women, you can live in sin, you can walk as sinners walk, you have the image of the devil upon you, and yet you call yourselves the children of God. One of the first evidences that anyone is a child of God is that he hates sin with a perfect hatred, and seeks to live a holy, Christ-like life." –Unknown
"If there is one fact, one doctrine, or one promise in the Bible, which has produced no practical effect upon your temper or conduct—be assured that you do not truly believe it." –Charles Spurgeon