YES!!! There is a rapture and it is for the church who have been born again before the tribulation period. God does not beat up on His bride before taking them home to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Those of us who are born again will be taken to the marriage supper before the tribulation.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
"Those Who Died in Christ
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Corinthians 15:50-58
"50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."
The account of Enoch being taken up was a picture of the rapture, also Noah rescued from the wrath of God as well as Lot.
Hebrews 11:5-6
"5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death. He could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."
Genesis chapters 6-9 speak of the account of Noah. Genesis 19 speaks about Lot being taken out of Sodom.
It is not a hard subject to understand, one merely has to read the Bible and believe it. God gave us examples of these events to help us understand the purpose and nature of the rapture.
Monday, May 7, 2018
Its About Direction from the Holy Spirit
Why do you do things? Do you do them because others think you should, or are you hearing from the Holy Spirit to determine actions.
When you don't know what you want to do with your life, do not ask others, do not base your decisions on how others might interpret what you might do. Yes, you can counsel with those who have already been experienced in a particular area, but ultimately you must take the information from counselors to Christ. Just because something worked for others does not mean God wants you to do that thing their way.
God may even direct you to those who are more experienced in something, but that direction is from Him, not from others.
Base your actions on the direction of the Holy Spirit, always seeking Him. He knows exactly what you should do, people only have their own opinions, they do not know God's will for you.
Does it make sense to ask others when they do not know you or the future for you?
Christ Who lives in believers knows what tomorrow will bring and His purposes in it, we only know today and everyone else only knows what today has brought, they only have guesses about what will happen today.
Base your decisions on the Bible and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He knows His own will for us and He knows the dangers and blessings ahead of us.
John 16:13-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…"
When you don't know what you want to do with your life, do not ask others, do not base your decisions on how others might interpret what you might do. Yes, you can counsel with those who have already been experienced in a particular area, but ultimately you must take the information from counselors to Christ. Just because something worked for others does not mean God wants you to do that thing their way.
God may even direct you to those who are more experienced in something, but that direction is from Him, not from others.
Base your actions on the direction of the Holy Spirit, always seeking Him. He knows exactly what you should do, people only have their own opinions, they do not know God's will for you.
Does it make sense to ask others when they do not know you or the future for you?
Christ Who lives in believers knows what tomorrow will bring and His purposes in it, we only know today and everyone else only knows what today has brought, they only have guesses about what will happen today.
Base your decisions on the Bible and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He knows His own will for us and He knows the dangers and blessings ahead of us.
John 16:13-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…"
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Satanic Manifestations and False Miracles
I believe, this is just me, that those who are left behind after the rapture, having rejected Christ, will be sent the strong dilution, that being that aliens from outer space snatched the bad people away to make a better world as a part of that dilution. It is my belief that the great dilution will have many components that are all validating and enhancing the power of the anti-christ.
I am seeing inklings of this kind of thinking on the internet right now. The powers that be will deceive the remaining people that God took out the evil ones to begin making the perfect world.
Sadly there are theologies propagating the idea that the Christians must bring on the Christ through efforts to clean up the world. I want to ask them, "how is that working out for you." We don't see the world getting better, we see it getting worse as the Bible tells us it would.
2 Timothy 3:12-14 "…12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil men and Imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in the things you have learned and firmly believed, since you know from whom you learned them.…"
We can see right now how they are setting up this dilution, really having been in play the past 40 years as more and more people believe in extra terrestrials. I saw the fascination with aliens from other planets emerging way back when I was in my twenties. I researched Christian writings on it at the library before there was internet. It was probably not the beginning then, but it was beginning to become more mainstream, even believing Christians were confused and questioning all this.
When we know that demons are the perpetrators of these false miracles, we have our explanation. So many people are willing to believe things without scientific evidence, only experiences and guesses, since imagination has been elevated to the status of fact, there is no stopping any dilution from becoming accepted in our culture.
We also know in a "bad trip" on LSD, someone can see spiders crawling all over them, becoming completely insane with fear as they try to remove the spiders, the spiders are even biting them, they can feel it, but the spiders are not there at all. This is the same principle I believe is at work in the minds of those who believe they have been abducted by aliens, they really see it, they feel it, but it is not really there, its all in their own minds, placed there by devils.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 " 9 The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder, 10 and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.…"
The fascination with the occult and extra terrestrials is growing in television programming and in movies. Fantasy thinking in nearly every area of many people's lives has afforded them the luxury of believing what ever they want and claiming it is truth because they believe it.
Even Christians today are relying more on their desires and fantasies than they are truth from the Bible. We have much wrong doctrine and violation of God's Word because of this lazy thinking. If you question the truth of what I have said there is an easy way to test it. Just mildly disagree with or challenge someone on a wrong believe and watch what comes out of them. Often "church people" will rage and even avoid us when we use the Bible as the standard for belief.
Judges 21:25 " 25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."
When we see these false miracles or manifestations we must reject them, stay closely to the words of the Scriptures to remain untouched by the world. The more we know truth the less likely we are to be deceived by these terrible lies. Remember, if you are a believer indwelt by the Holy Spirit, He will warn you.
John 8:31-32 "31 So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
I am seeing inklings of this kind of thinking on the internet right now. The powers that be will deceive the remaining people that God took out the evil ones to begin making the perfect world.
Sadly there are theologies propagating the idea that the Christians must bring on the Christ through efforts to clean up the world. I want to ask them, "how is that working out for you." We don't see the world getting better, we see it getting worse as the Bible tells us it would.
2 Timothy 3:12-14 "…12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil men and Imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in the things you have learned and firmly believed, since you know from whom you learned them.…"
We can see right now how they are setting up this dilution, really having been in play the past 40 years as more and more people believe in extra terrestrials. I saw the fascination with aliens from other planets emerging way back when I was in my twenties. I researched Christian writings on it at the library before there was internet. It was probably not the beginning then, but it was beginning to become more mainstream, even believing Christians were confused and questioning all this.
When we know that demons are the perpetrators of these false miracles, we have our explanation. So many people are willing to believe things without scientific evidence, only experiences and guesses, since imagination has been elevated to the status of fact, there is no stopping any dilution from becoming accepted in our culture.
We also know in a "bad trip" on LSD, someone can see spiders crawling all over them, becoming completely insane with fear as they try to remove the spiders, the spiders are even biting them, they can feel it, but the spiders are not there at all. This is the same principle I believe is at work in the minds of those who believe they have been abducted by aliens, they really see it, they feel it, but it is not really there, its all in their own minds, placed there by devils.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 " 9 The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder, 10 and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.…"
The fascination with the occult and extra terrestrials is growing in television programming and in movies. Fantasy thinking in nearly every area of many people's lives has afforded them the luxury of believing what ever they want and claiming it is truth because they believe it.
Even Christians today are relying more on their desires and fantasies than they are truth from the Bible. We have much wrong doctrine and violation of God's Word because of this lazy thinking. If you question the truth of what I have said there is an easy way to test it. Just mildly disagree with or challenge someone on a wrong believe and watch what comes out of them. Often "church people" will rage and even avoid us when we use the Bible as the standard for belief.
Judges 21:25 " 25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."
When we see these false miracles or manifestations we must reject them, stay closely to the words of the Scriptures to remain untouched by the world. The more we know truth the less likely we are to be deceived by these terrible lies. Remember, if you are a believer indwelt by the Holy Spirit, He will warn you.
John 8:31-32 "31 So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Pressured by Ungodly Family Members
This is very common, when families place pressure on another family member to be with people who are not only bad for them, but do not honor God. Cognitive dissonance is an interesting concept, basically it is when we go against our own beliefs to please others. Sometimes its hard to obey God when we know entire families will judge us for not doing what they do or showing up where they show up. We live in a shame based culture in which there will be punishment on the part of family members for daring to walk our own walk on a different path.
Saturday, May 5, 2018
Wants are not Needs
Women who have remained in the home all their lives might relate to what I am about to say.
Narcissists are not satisfied with doing their own thing, they must intimidate others into accepting them and even doing what they do. The feminists have managed to brainwash many women into thinking they are without value unless they are bringing in an income to supplement their husband's earnings.
The world is getting worse because we are in the end times, that's why it is so important to know what the 2 Timothy 3 crowd looks like.
I don't have many friends except on facebook, because I have been in the home for 46 years taking care of my family, it was seen by many as a lower position in life, sadly.
Having been treated shamefully by family members who see me as stupid for not having a "career", I spend a lot of time being ignored at family functions because I had no talk about a "career. And yet my life was busier and more diverse than most working women. I worked hard in the home, as hard or harder than any woman who went outside the home to earn money.
We lived on my husband's income all these years and are completely out of debt for most of those years. I don't think women go to work for the money, they do it to appear successful by having a "career." I don't say these things to brag, only to demonstrate that it can be done if one is frugal.
I saved us lots of money by doing things that many people pay others to do, including painting the outside of several of our houses whenever we moved. I did the yard work, sewing and mending, cooking, errands for needs for the home and even volunteer work.
It is amazing how many things people buy today that are completely unnecessary while have a hard time paying the real bills, causing women to work outside the home, thinking they need all these things.
Over the years I have been left out of conversations as a non-entity, treated as though I had no brain for my choices, but I have a clear conscience and much joy that I obeyed God.
Nearly all women can do what I did, they just have to resolve themselves to the dedication of their family. I have always been fulfilled, never bored, a little lonely at times as the only homemaker in the neighborhood, but too busy to feel it much.
We used to live in a world in which all the women were home supporting their families as one would a company as the CEO. It was normal for women to take care of all the homemaking tasks, this freed the man up to be able to work bringing in the necessary money that was needed for the family.
God gave each of us roles, the man to earn the living and the women to use it to take care of family life for everyone in the household.
If one takes a close look at Proverbs 31 we see that the woman did all the household managing and even took some of her household money to buy a field as an investment. She did not work outside the home five days a week leaving the care of that household to others, the field was only a part of her duties.
Managing a business is a big job, arranging for everything to get done while shopping for the best buys to make the money go as far as needed. The Proverbs 31 woman was not a wasteful woman, she was dedicated to doing the best job possible, excellence for her home as well as managing the money well.
Of course over the years I had to learn how to manage the money well, it didn't come naturally for me, I made mistakes that had to be corrected, but the learning came as I went along.
No matter what income one has, if it is managed properly without spending on unnecessary things, it can be enough. Choosing a smaller house, leaving off things like cable tv, internet and other unnecessary things will leave the household with enough money to pay all the bills.
The fun stuff is only for those who have extra money after the bills are paid and there is enough in savings for important emergencies.
I know this is not going to sit well with some people who think the fun stuff is necessary, I am here to tell you it is not! We can be happy and fulfilled without all the play things we think we want. There was a times early in our marriage when there was no cable tv, no internet and only one car in the marriage. We still don't have cable tv, the cost is outrageous, we can afford it but I don't want to waste our money that way.
Often, getting the play things seem important, but once they come into the house they are used for a little while and then sit in the corner of a closet unused. We tire of things quickly, its human nature to want something we will never use. I know because the walls of my house have hangings that came from garage sales and thrift stores, they are not needed, if we could not afford them, I would not do it.
Lastly, we do not need the best of everything. We can live on garage sales and thrift stores but only on a budget and for necessary things. We don't need to eat out in restaurants either, I know many will think this is necessary, but there also was a day when doing something like this was once a year for a special occasion, mostly people ate at home.
If one evaluates every thing they are thinking of buying, most of it will not be needed, they could set the money aside and watch it pile up as they realize how little we buy that we need.
Philippians 4:19 "19 And my God will supply all your NEEDS according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
Did we see that? "NEEDS", not wants!!! We need food and clothing and probably far less of those things than we think.
Narcissists are not satisfied with doing their own thing, they must intimidate others into accepting them and even doing what they do. The feminists have managed to brainwash many women into thinking they are without value unless they are bringing in an income to supplement their husband's earnings.
The world is getting worse because we are in the end times, that's why it is so important to know what the 2 Timothy 3 crowd looks like.
I don't have many friends except on facebook, because I have been in the home for 46 years taking care of my family, it was seen by many as a lower position in life, sadly.
Having been treated shamefully by family members who see me as stupid for not having a "career", I spend a lot of time being ignored at family functions because I had no talk about a "career. And yet my life was busier and more diverse than most working women. I worked hard in the home, as hard or harder than any woman who went outside the home to earn money.
We lived on my husband's income all these years and are completely out of debt for most of those years. I don't think women go to work for the money, they do it to appear successful by having a "career." I don't say these things to brag, only to demonstrate that it can be done if one is frugal.
I saved us lots of money by doing things that many people pay others to do, including painting the outside of several of our houses whenever we moved. I did the yard work, sewing and mending, cooking, errands for needs for the home and even volunteer work.
It is amazing how many things people buy today that are completely unnecessary while have a hard time paying the real bills, causing women to work outside the home, thinking they need all these things.
Over the years I have been left out of conversations as a non-entity, treated as though I had no brain for my choices, but I have a clear conscience and much joy that I obeyed God.
Nearly all women can do what I did, they just have to resolve themselves to the dedication of their family. I have always been fulfilled, never bored, a little lonely at times as the only homemaker in the neighborhood, but too busy to feel it much.
We used to live in a world in which all the women were home supporting their families as one would a company as the CEO. It was normal for women to take care of all the homemaking tasks, this freed the man up to be able to work bringing in the necessary money that was needed for the family.
God gave each of us roles, the man to earn the living and the women to use it to take care of family life for everyone in the household.
If one takes a close look at Proverbs 31 we see that the woman did all the household managing and even took some of her household money to buy a field as an investment. She did not work outside the home five days a week leaving the care of that household to others, the field was only a part of her duties.
Managing a business is a big job, arranging for everything to get done while shopping for the best buys to make the money go as far as needed. The Proverbs 31 woman was not a wasteful woman, she was dedicated to doing the best job possible, excellence for her home as well as managing the money well.
Of course over the years I had to learn how to manage the money well, it didn't come naturally for me, I made mistakes that had to be corrected, but the learning came as I went along.
No matter what income one has, if it is managed properly without spending on unnecessary things, it can be enough. Choosing a smaller house, leaving off things like cable tv, internet and other unnecessary things will leave the household with enough money to pay all the bills.
The fun stuff is only for those who have extra money after the bills are paid and there is enough in savings for important emergencies.
I know this is not going to sit well with some people who think the fun stuff is necessary, I am here to tell you it is not! We can be happy and fulfilled without all the play things we think we want. There was a times early in our marriage when there was no cable tv, no internet and only one car in the marriage. We still don't have cable tv, the cost is outrageous, we can afford it but I don't want to waste our money that way.
Often, getting the play things seem important, but once they come into the house they are used for a little while and then sit in the corner of a closet unused. We tire of things quickly, its human nature to want something we will never use. I know because the walls of my house have hangings that came from garage sales and thrift stores, they are not needed, if we could not afford them, I would not do it.
Lastly, we do not need the best of everything. We can live on garage sales and thrift stores but only on a budget and for necessary things. We don't need to eat out in restaurants either, I know many will think this is necessary, but there also was a day when doing something like this was once a year for a special occasion, mostly people ate at home.
If one evaluates every thing they are thinking of buying, most of it will not be needed, they could set the money aside and watch it pile up as they realize how little we buy that we need.
Philippians 4:19 "19 And my God will supply all your NEEDS according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
Did we see that? "NEEDS", not wants!!! We need food and clothing and probably far less of those things than we think.
Friday, May 4, 2018
God Told Us to Run from Evil
God tells us to remove ourselves from those who hate Him and who will attempt to sway us to their ways. Intimidation is the best used method of wicked people, who are used of the devil, to manipulate our emotions, hoping us to fall into sin or leave God. They are too stupid to realize that sold out born again believers cannot be swayed and will run from the evil toward Christ Who lives in them.
Daniel never allowed wicked people to change him, he went to the lions den rather than be influenced by them.
Joseph did the same thing that Daniel did, running from the evil and toward God caused them both persecution but their stance toward God remained steady.
We can expect the pressure from the evil one to increase in these last days! Don't let it worry you, allow all those who hate God to go, never try to get them back unless they are completely repentant and the Holy Spirit is telling you they are sincere.
Hallelujah!!!!
Daniel never allowed wicked people to change him, he went to the lions den rather than be influenced by them.
Joseph did the same thing that Daniel did, running from the evil and toward God caused them both persecution but their stance toward God remained steady.
We can expect the pressure from the evil one to increase in these last days! Don't let it worry you, allow all those who hate God to go, never try to get them back unless they are completely repentant and the Holy Spirit is telling you they are sincere.
Hallelujah!!!!
Just Barely Saved
Matthew 7:21-23
"21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"
Notice that God says that "not everyone who says", meaning just because someone says their saved or even lives as though they were doing good works, does not mean they are saved.
We need to resist the temptation to judge people as saved or unsaved based on our own understanding. We will know people by their fruit, not works, that is "fruit of the Spirit", it is spiritually discerned.
Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
As human beings we can generally discern the fruit of the Spirit but not perfectly. When someone is a believer and lives in sin we must challenge them to ask if they are really saved because the fruit is bad, the character qualities of Christ are missing as mentioned in Galatians. However, we cannot know for sure if they are saved or not.
God says to leave the wheat and tares grow up together in the church because in the end times it will be hard to tell the difference between them, God will sort it all out later. Also in these last days there are more tares in the church than wheat, this is why we see so much sin in the church that is not dealt with.
When someone claims to be a Christian and lives sinful lives, we must discipline them, put them out so that God can deal with them without our enabling of them.
Whether or not they are saved will be evidenced in whether they return repentant or not.
1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil can be distinguished: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother."
Matthew 13:24-30
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, or lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"
Those who belong to Christ will be continually tormented with guilt by the Holy Spirit and return confessing their sin. Those who do not belong to Christ, who are pretenders, will not only not return when disciplined by the church but will become more hardened and remain in their sin, even growing worse as they become older.
We cannot always determine who is born again and who is not, but we can be discerning and obey God in disciplining those who continue in their sin, leaving them alone and out of our lives until they confess openly and stop the sin.
Sin does not lose one their salvation but it will bring the chastisement of the Lord until the sinning child confesses and returns in humility to be cleansed.
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
We must confess to be cleansed, without confession there will be no change, even possibly a deepening of sin and a hardening of heart. Perhaps even removing a believer earlier from his life to stop the terrible influence he may have over others.
Some people will not have works even though they are born again, the will barely make it into heaven with few if any rewards. They trusted Christ for salvation but they do not trust Him for the rest of their life. They may have a little witness, but their lives are still steeped in the world and they remain self willed.
1 Corinthians 3:14-16
…14 If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one being snatched from the fire. 16 Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?…
"21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"
Notice that God says that "not everyone who says", meaning just because someone says their saved or even lives as though they were doing good works, does not mean they are saved.
We need to resist the temptation to judge people as saved or unsaved based on our own understanding. We will know people by their fruit, not works, that is "fruit of the Spirit", it is spiritually discerned.
Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
As human beings we can generally discern the fruit of the Spirit but not perfectly. When someone is a believer and lives in sin we must challenge them to ask if they are really saved because the fruit is bad, the character qualities of Christ are missing as mentioned in Galatians. However, we cannot know for sure if they are saved or not.
God says to leave the wheat and tares grow up together in the church because in the end times it will be hard to tell the difference between them, God will sort it all out later. Also in these last days there are more tares in the church than wheat, this is why we see so much sin in the church that is not dealt with.
When someone claims to be a Christian and lives sinful lives, we must discipline them, put them out so that God can deal with them without our enabling of them.
Whether or not they are saved will be evidenced in whether they return repentant or not.
1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil can be distinguished: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother."
Matthew 13:24-30
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, or lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"
Those who belong to Christ will be continually tormented with guilt by the Holy Spirit and return confessing their sin. Those who do not belong to Christ, who are pretenders, will not only not return when disciplined by the church but will become more hardened and remain in their sin, even growing worse as they become older.
We cannot always determine who is born again and who is not, but we can be discerning and obey God in disciplining those who continue in their sin, leaving them alone and out of our lives until they confess openly and stop the sin.
Sin does not lose one their salvation but it will bring the chastisement of the Lord until the sinning child confesses and returns in humility to be cleansed.
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
We must confess to be cleansed, without confession there will be no change, even possibly a deepening of sin and a hardening of heart. Perhaps even removing a believer earlier from his life to stop the terrible influence he may have over others.
Some people will not have works even though they are born again, the will barely make it into heaven with few if any rewards. They trusted Christ for salvation but they do not trust Him for the rest of their life. They may have a little witness, but their lives are still steeped in the world and they remain self willed.
1 Corinthians 3:14-16
…14 If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one being snatched from the fire. 16 Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?…
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