Psalm 1:5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
This verse in the very beginning of the book of Psalms asks a question that everyone who claims to be a part of the church should be asking themselves. Am I in our out?
Notice that the Psalmist puts two statements together as his words introduce the song book of Israel. One statement is about impending judgment and the other is about current standing among the people of God. The wicked (or ungodly) will not be placed well in either. The ungodly cannot be counted among the congregation of the righteous and the ungodly will not avoid the coming judgment of God.
The little red flag in our hearts can often fly high as we shout, "Are you questioning my salvation?" Well, no, I'm not ... but it would be hard to read the Scriptures and not realize that each one of us should complete a level of testing in ourselves to see if we are in the faith. If the ungodly have no current standing among the righteous, it would also stand to reason that elders of a local church should do everything humanly possible to ensure that the identification of the congregation of the righteous is taken extremely seriously.
Jesus makes a direct statement in a very similar way in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
What Jesus makes plain is that you can only call Jesus, Lord, in true sincerity if you actually do know him. Your works will not win the favor of God against his judgment upon your sin. You will find right standing with God only through truly knowing Jesus in faith. To be in faith in Christ is to trust him for his payment for your sin, for his resurrection life, and to live in that faith each and every day until he returns, or you stand before him. Trusting Christ is not a belief about Jesus, but a belief in Jesus that transforms our whole life now owned by him.
The Psalmist could say the same to any member of Israel as they approached the worship of God. The law of the old covenant pointed God's people to atoning sacrifice that would be their only hope of reconciliation with God. Obeying God's law and living in true worship of God would be the ongoing application of that saving faith. Unfortunately, as the Apostle Paul makes clear in Romans 9:6, "not all who are descended from Israel, belong to Israel." Being present in an assembly doesn't make you part of God's redeemed people. It doesn't mean you have saving faith in your redeeming God.
God's people have always been a spiritual people, a spiritual Israel. God's people have always been a people who respond to God's salvation by God's grace, through faith. That faith has always been a transformative change of life in the heart of a believer. It is a life that now makes us God's people, and Him, our God. It has real and ongoing effect in our lives.
Therefore, we all ask ourselves a question whenever we are prompted by passages like Matthew 7 and Psalm 1. Am I trusting Christ? Am I in Him? Is my faith in him alone for the day of judgment? Is my faith in him today as I stand in the congregation of the righteous? Do I truly know Jesus?
So, don't be offended if someone asks you to say why you believe you are saved. Answer the question honestly. It's a question that appears regularly in various forms in the Scriptures and it's a question we should all be willing to ask ourselves as we stand every day before the King of Kings.
Do I really know him? Am I in or out?
If you answer, "out," let me plead with you to trust in Jesus today! Repent and believe in the gospel!