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To: JPX2011; caww
Oh yeah. I forgot. "Those other people aren't real Christians. And you determined that how and by what authority?"

Did you forget that sacred Scripture tells us what makes a Christian? Jesus said, "By their fruits you shall know them.". We cannot look upon a man's heart - only God can do that, but we only see the outward appearance. Whether or not a person continues in the faith is also an outward sign. The Apostle John experienced people who claimed to be believers but something happened to them. He said:

    They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. (I John 2:19)

A sign of genuine faith is that the person will continue in the faith. That does NOT mean they lost their salvation along the way, but that their leaving demonstrated the faith they professed wasn't real. The book of Acts also speaks of such people:

    Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. (Acts 20:30)

Paul also mentioned the trouble he had with such people perverting the truth in his epistle to the Galatians:

    I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

    I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Gal, 1:6-12)

That is why the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of Scripture to write it in the first place - so we, two thousand years later, can know the truth of the gospel and recognize a perversion of the gospel when we hear it. The authority we all have is God's word so that when anyone tries to turn us away from the truth, we will know it - no matter who they claim to be or what authority they claim they have.

However, in the end, it is ONLY God who sees every person's heart and He knows those that are His. All we can do is observe how a person lives and the truth he says he believes and either accept him as a brother/sister in Christ or correct him in his error. If he refuses correction, then we are told to take notice of him and not fellowship with him or take part in his sins. We have no authority to condemn a person to hell - that domain belongs to God alone.

442 posted on 09/28/2014 3:11:27 PM PDT by boatbums (God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.)
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To: boatbums

...”The authority we all have is God’s word so that when anyone tries to turn us away from the truth, we will know it - no matter who they claim to be or what authority they claim they have”......

The scriptures are available ‘to everyone’....that’s a very important matter to remember as you know... many people have begun their search by picking up a bible...not attending any church. God works through the scriptures each and every time.


466 posted on 09/28/2014 3:48:41 PM PDT by caww
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