93 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
93 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
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Msg #: [209/226] Base: PAGAN-Spirituality
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Date : 13 Oct 93 20:47:08 Stat: Sent
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From : Jim Taylor
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To : All
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Title: Believers and Faith-Holders
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@INTL 93:9609/0 93:9004/0
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In Christianity, which is the faith I know, there are two main divisions
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among those who call themselves Christians. Jesus Himself identified them
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as "wheat", which is the useful grain of God; and as "tares", which is a
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grain-plant which, although it exactly resembles wheat when mature, is
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violently poisonous. "Tares" are false Christians, ravening wolves in
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sheep's clothing, who pass themselves off as Christians (and may even
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sincerely believe that they are), and yet they have nothing whatever to
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do with God, except to attempt to rob Him of those who are His.
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"Tares" are not Christians, though they are found in every Christian
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gathering, and God has said He will allow them to remain until the great
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and terrible Day of the Lord, when they shall be separated out for the
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destruction which they have freely chosen, to which they have condemned
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themselves; for they were free to choose salvation but chose otherwise.
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My subject today, therefore, is not the "tares", since they are not
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Christians. Rather, my subject is the two vastly different kinds of
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"wheat", i.e. the genuine Christians among us.
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Genuine Christians, too, fall into two categories: the Believer and the
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true Faith-Holder.
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The Believer is a true Christian. S/he has made a decision to follow
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Christ, to obey Him, to believe in Him, and to live the Life in Christ.
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The true Faith-Holder is also a true Christian. Unlike the Believer,
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however, the true Faith-Holder's Christianity is not a thing apart from
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the Faith-Holder, but an integral part of the Faith-Holder.
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One might consider that the Kingdom of Christ has two kinds of members.
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Most are civilians (Believers), whose citizenship is in Heaven. A minority
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are warriors (Faith-Holders), who give up their citizenship rights in order
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to be warriors.
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The major practical difference between the Believers and the Faith-Holders
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is that a Believer can always leave. A Faith-Holder cannot. When you see
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a person who used to be a Christian, he used to be a Believer, not a
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Faith-Holder, since a Faith-Holder can lose his life, but never his faith.
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Most Faith-Holders start out as Believers. At some time in their lives,
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something occurred which forced them to change, and instead of becoming
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ex-Christians, they instead became Faith-Holders.
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Every Christian, at one time or another, wonders how s/he will react if
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called upon to face martyrdom. The Believer will worry about this; but
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the Faith-Holder will not. The Believer will worry about it, because s/he
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is afraid that in that day, courage will not be sufficient, and s/he will
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deny God rather than suffer pain or death. The true Faith-Holder never
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worries about this, because there is no way s/he can deny God, any more
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than s/he can deny her/himself. The Faith-Holder's faith is internalized,
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and is part of her/his personal identity, not a separate thing which can
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be either gained or lost.
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The true Faith-Holder is IN NO WAY better than the Believer, just different.
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The true Faith-Holder has a much easier life than the Believer: it takes
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courage to be a Believer; it takes no courage at all to be a Faith-Holder.
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God honors both equally, since both are saved by God's mercy, not by any
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worthwhile quality in themselves.
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Now, here's the kicker: How do you tell the Believers and the Faith-Holders
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from one another, among the Christians on this echo?
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Actually, it's easy. When you run into someone who is working very
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carefully to guard and protect his personal faith, that is a Believer.
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When you run into someone who is doing absolutely nothing to guard and
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protect his personal faith, that is a Faith-Holder, because he does not
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NEED to do anything to protect his faith--it is a part of him.
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* Z
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* F O S
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* E
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Light & Life,
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Jim
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--- DB 1.54/003113
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* Origin: Home of the PODSnet Co-Moderator, SPIRITuality Echo (93:9500/2)
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