This man calls himself a Christian, but he worships only the idea of God, and not the nature of God. He says, “God is sovereign!” Of course God is sovereign, but what does God do with his sovereignty? God declares that he forgives all our sins, and heals all our diseases. He declares that if we have faith, we would perform the same miracles that his Son performed, and even greater miracles. He declares that anyone who follows his Son can heal the sick and cast out demons. This is his sovereign declaration. This is what he does with his sovereignty.

A sovereign God can promise anything he wishes, but once he has promised, he will always fulfill his word in his sovereignty. The false believer affirms the mere idea of the sovereignty of God, but he condemns what this God says that he does with his sovereignty. That is, he uses the idea of God’s sovereignty to avoid God’s own enforcement of his sovereignty. He uses the idea of God’s sovereignty to avoid committing to any definite belief or outcome, even when this sovereign God has already declared what we must believe or what outcome we must expect.

This man worships the idea of God, which is his own projection of one such deity, but he does not in fact worship God. His God is a spiritual hologram. The same is true with the Bible. The false believer loves the idea of the Bible, but he rejects the content of the Bible. He says, “I will even die for the Bible!” But before the alarm clock sounds in the morning, he will have denied biblical healing three times on social media.

Many historic heroes of the faith, many framers of various creeds, and many modern theologians and leaders, are like this foolish man. They are admirers of Jesus Christ, and they want us to admire them for being such admirers of Jesus Christ, but they have never been believers. They admire, but they do not commit.

You say, “Some died for what they believed.” Did they die for what they believed, or did they die for what Jesus said? Jesus commanded the ministry of healing, prophecy, and miracles. Did they believe this? Did they heal the sick and cast out demons? And did they teach that all believers should do the same? Hearing me say this, some people strive hard to dig up one or two obscure references in their favorite heroes where they seem to have supported or experienced these things. But if you need to do this, you have already answered my question. Just stop. Jesus made this a most obvious doctrine. How come they died for what they believed about Christ, but they did not believe what Christ actually said? You see, they died for themselves.