False Spiritual Security and the Danger of Deadwood Faith

Summary

False spiritual security is like diseased plants that appear healthy while dying unseen. Many trust church membership, good deeds, or shallow grace instead of a living connection to Christ. True believers are known by faith expressed through love, obedience, and fruitfulness. Scripture warns that disconnected “deadwood” faith faces judgment, while those who truly belong to Jesus follow Him and produce lasting fruit for God.

In 2024, I ordered Green Machine zucchini seeds from a company that advertised: “An excellent disease package keeps the plants healthy and producing for a full season harvest.” I pictured an abundant harvest from June through October.

It didn’t happen. Squash vine borers killed every plant by the end of July. I had a false sense of security. I trusted the promised disease resistance, while another enemy silently killed my plants. Furthermore, Green Machine was vulnerable to downy mildew, killing a second planting.

False Spiritual Security

Many professing Christians have a false sense of spiritual security. They belong to a church but not Christ. He doesn’t know them (Matthew 7:23). He said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27 NLT).

In Church but Not in Christ

Many are in a church record book, not the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15). They know about Christ but are not following Him, a characteristic of those who are His (John 10:27).

Trusting the Wrong Foundations

Some trust good deeds or their church’s teachings to make them right with God. Others place their faith in a grace that requires no change in their character and conduct. They are at best part-time Christians, not believers 24/7 whose beliefs shape their behavior.

Ignoring What Salvation Is For

Some believe Christ delivered them from the penalty of their sins without considering what He set them free to do—to live for Him who died for them (2 Corinthians 5:15). They focus on God’s kindness while ignoring His sternness.

Faith Proven by Love and Obedience

They forget the only thing that matters to God is faith, whose reality is demonstrated by love (Galatians 5:6). Eugene Peterson’s version of Romans 11:19–22 warns us about “deadwood Christians” not connected to the root by belief and commitment.

Deadwood Faith Faces Judgment

“It’s certainly possible to say, ‘Other branches were pruned so that I could be grafted in!’ Well and good. But they were pruned because they were deadwood, no longer connected by belief and commitment to the root. The only reason you’re on the tree is because your graft “took” when you believed, and because you’re connected to that belief-nurturing root. So don’t get cocky and strut your branch. Be humbly mindful of the root that keeps you lithe and green.

If God didn’t think twice about taking pruning shears to the natural branches, why would he hesitate over you? He wouldn’t give it a second thought. Make sure you stay alert to these qualities of gentle kindness and ruthless severity that exist side by side in God—ruthless with the deadwood, gentle with the grafted shoot. But don’t presume on this gentleness. The moment you become deadwood, it’s game over” (Romans 11:19–22 The Message). Those who belong to Jesus follow Him and “produce a harvest of good deeds for God” (Romans 7:4 NLT).

Photo: Image Creator (microsoft.com)