PUBLIC TESTIMONIES OF FAITH
There is a prevailing attitude among Christians that sharing faith through testimonies of one kind or another is a good and right thing to do. Thus we see testimony times in churches and social media reports about how people were saved, healed from some disease, or blessed because God answered a prayer.  These kind of public reports are widely encouraged as evidence of personal righteousness. They are also fake faith.

For evidence that public testimonies of faith are fake faith, consider the following verses:

John 5:31-32 31 “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. 32 “There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.

COMMENTARY:

John 5:33-36: “You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34 “But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 “He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish -the very works that I do –testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.

COMMENTARY: Jesus’ testimony (i.e. what he had to say) does not come from religious teaching he has heard from men. Because what he said comes directly from God, his words are greater than John’s words.

The reason he said what he said was so that people could be saved from religion which is based on the teachings of men.

Jesus works focus on salvation from the sin of religion. Thus he healed the sick and restored sight to the blind, and set captives free from religion.

Being fully satisfied knowing that God knew his heart, Jesus had no need to make reports or give personal testimonies of what God told him, spoke through him or did through him. Religious people, on the other hand,  not, understanding that God’s focus is on the heart, always have a need to receive praise, honor and glory from men for their religious activities. This is fake faith.

John 5:37-38 “And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at anytime nor seen His form. 38 “You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.

COMMENTARY: See commentary above.

Romans 14:22: The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God; happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves.

COMMENTARY: Jesus had faith he had a good, clean heart and had faith that God knew his heart. For him, this knowledge was all that mattered. He had no need, therefore, for his righteousness to be judged (i.e. evaluated, approved) by others. Jesus understood that religious people are always doing religious things to gain approval and honor from others. He was careful, therefore, to avoid making a name for himself by making verbal reports of his faith to others or by doing anything that would suggest that he had a unique, favored, relationship with God.

STUDY TIP: See this link for more about inter-religious favoritism and partiality.

Old/First Covenant religionists do not understand that God looks at the heart. They believe that God judges/evaluates them on the basis of the things that they do just like their coreligionists do.

Like Jesus, New Covenant disciples do understand that God looks at the heart and not at the external person.

https://www.biblestudytools.com/nas/passage/?q=mark+8:27-30;+matthew+8:1-4;+matthew+16:13-20;+luke+9:18-21;+matthew+9:27-30;+matthew+12:16;+matthew+17:9;+mark+1:44;+mark+3:12;+mark+5:43;+mark+7:36;+mark+9:9;+luke+4:41;+luke+8:56;+luke+9:21