“He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.” (John 8:47)

Here Jesus gives us one of the BEST tests of whether a person is a genuine Christian or not: do they have a love for the word of God? Do they gladly hear His words? Do they love to read it, study it; do they memorize it, and most importantly, do they apply it in practical ways in their own life?

This is a much better test than, for example, just “do they go to church?” LOTS of people “go to church” but do not really “hear the words of God” while they are there. They merely “put up with” church; they drag themselves there for whatever motivation — perhaps the pressure of family or others — but they don’t really “hear” the words of God which are proclaimed there. In truth, they can’t wait for the sermon to be over!

Thus if there is no patience with or love for the word of God, then there is every reason to question whether that person is really of God. Have you no love for the words of God? Then you had best fall to your knees and ask the Lord to have mercy on you, and to save you. You are not His. For “He who is of God hears the words of God.”