If one has to pose this question to people living in the Western hemisphere, the majority of them will answer in the affirmative, and no one dare refute or challenge their claim because their first reaction will be, who make you a judge, only God can judge me! But the scripture plainly says; "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe --- and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2: 19-20). Furthermore, this is what the Lord Himself said; "...He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him --- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak" (John 12: 44-50). This profound statement made by Jesus Christ, verifies the fact that it is the word which judges, and therefore, from the words spoken by Jesus Christ one can verify who is and who is not a true believer in Jesus Christ. And the words spoken by Jesus Christ with regards to believing Him is so simple, yet so profound, and so assertive, that anyone who does not believe these words are definitely not a true believer in Jesus Christ. Believing in Jesus Christ is the most important work anyone who believes in God has to do, because the people who knew Jesus Christ whilst He was on earth asked Him; "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God: that you believe in Him whom He sent." Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the dessert: as it is written, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat." The manna was a definite sign and proof that God was with them during their journey in the wilderness, and they were instructed saying; " And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him" (Deuteronomy 8:2-6). Jesus Christ compared Himself to the manna with which the children of Israel were fed during their journey through the wilderness by saying; "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the true bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven: For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world---Your father ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:29-33;49-51). This simple straight forward statement from Jesus Christ offended the majority of those who heard it.
About the Author: Lucius Joseph is President of a non-profit organization "Essentials of Life Ministry Inc." and the founding Pastor of a non-denominational congregation established in the Island of Saint Lucia in the West Indies. I became a Christian when I got baptized in 1970, and was ordained a deacon in 1979 and a Minister in 1988 in a World-wide religious organization. I began an independent ministry in 1995 when what I was taught by the Holy Spirit were not readily accepted and allowed to be taught. What I have been taught is the reality of the life that is in accordance to the Spirit, which is at variance with the life that is in accordance to the flesh, and how imperative it is for those who live in the Spirit to also be walking in the Spirit. I believe that there is a formula for the unification of the body of Christ, or else Jesus would not have prayed and said; "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me" (John 17:20-23).. And neither would the apostle Paul urged believers and say; "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1Corinthians 1:10). It is the Lord's desire to sanctify and cleanse the church with the washing of water [flesh] by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.