"If a man abide not in Me"

Hello To All:

Today marks a day, that, most probably, is destined to get me into a lot of trouble. The Spirit of God compels me to deal, in a very direct manner, with a subject that is very polarizing; and often, very divisive. It is a subject, that, perhaps, I would rather avoid. But, our Lord Jesus Christ has caused me to recognize, that unless this subject is properly dealt with, and properly understood: we will not make progress in our journey, towards victorious discipleship in Jesus Christ. We cannot rightly believe - unless we rightly understand!

There are many competing perspectives, in the Christian communtity, particularly in the West. I say perspectives - because I do not believe that you can rightly call something, from a Christian perspective, a teaching or a doctrine from the King's Book - if it does not accurately present the revealed truth of the King's Book. Many of these perspectives, as presented by various Christian groups (read for groups: institutional/ denominational positions), are fundamentally in conflict with one another. And yet, each group takes the position that they have the true understanding; and that their position is the one to follow.

This positional attitude and this positional conflict is the greatest source of unbelief, in the lives of all who call themselves Christian! The stronghold of unbelief (see posting of 7/25/11, titled: "The Oppression of Unbelief"), feeds from this conflict and grows strong because of this conflict! We will not be victorious, unless we submit to God's way of freeing us from this conflict. God's way is in and through His Son Jesus Christ. God's way demands that we submit to and embrace the Truth! Can we say Amen and Amen and Amen!

Now we come, to one of the most troublesome of the issues, that visibly divides the Church: The Body of Christ. The question, that the Spirit of God compels me to address, on this day; and to begin to answer, on this day, is this: Can we, that is, those of us who are converted to Jesus Christ; and follow Him as His disciples; and are amongst those who can rightly be called Christian: Can we loose our salvation? Can we turn our backs on Jesus Christ? Can we follow after our sinful nature; and thus, be amongst those upon whom the wrath of God will fall? The simple answer - the straightforward answer - the correct answer, from the King's Book - is this: YES!

Please, my beloved brethren: I beg you: Please do not click away from this posting? Your very life may depend on staying with me, in this, and reading and comprehending what is written. If you are at all familiar with this blog - then you know, that I do not write, unless I believe it is the truth. But, you also must be reminded, that I make no claim to having a perfect understanding. If I am in error - then: Please correct me? Let us, together, call a Berean council (see posting of 12/13/09. titled: Discipleship: The Berean Principal); and let us, together, search the King's Book, to see if what has been written, in this blog, on this day (and for that matter - on any other day) is true!

Let us continue, then, in our examination of this most difficult of questions: Can we loose our salvation? Our title, for today's posting, comes from John 15:6, where we find written: "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." This is a portion of the text, from yesterday's posting titled: "Abide IN Me, and I IN you."

As we compare yesterday's title to today's title; we should recognize two opposing possibilities: two opposing attitudes. One is a command, from our Sovereign God Jesus Christ to: "Abide." The other is a statement of condition, identified by our Sovereign God Jesus Christ: "Abide not."
Both conditions, are the result of an act of will, on the part of "a man." Here, once again, we are confronted with the tension between the Sovereignty of God and the free will of man.

We have, in previous postings, been reminded of this tension. It is this tension, that has created the conflict in the Body of Christ. Our limited and finite human intellect, cannot reconcile these seemingly conflicting positions. We are compelled to find a rational perspective, that we can get our "pea brains" around: a position that we are comfortable with: a position that we can call truth. Our rational approach has caused us to either embrace the Sovereignty of God and reject the free will of man; or to embrace the free will of man and diminish the impact of the Sovereignty of God. We have come to this place, especially in the West, where we have convinced ourselves that truth must be rational, and comprehensible by our natural intellect. We are not comfortable with, nor are we tolerant of, any mystery, regarding our relationship with and our understanding of: our Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Mystery is outside of our comfort zones!

Enough said for a beginning. In preparation for our next posting, I invite and encourage you to consider the opposing realities of the command to "abide;" and the stated position to "abide not."

As you ponder these opposing realities, consider these Holy Spirit inspired words, from the great teacher, raised up by Jesus Christ - the apostle Paul. We find written (1 Corinthinians 4:1): "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God."

Until next time, by beloved brethren, in Christ Jesus, I continue to be:

Your servant and your fellow pilgrim,
Elder Theophilus