Not all or even many of the body of Christ are functioning as the body of Christ
Membership in the BOC
- Thread starter Samie
- Start date
genuineoriginal
New member
This happens when your name is written in the Lamb's book of the living.
This happens when your name is blotted out from the Lamb's book of the living.
AMEN
And when is one's name written in the book of life?
And when is one's name blotted out from the book of life?
genuineoriginal
New member
If you confess Jesus as your Lord and master and believe in the power of God, your name will be written in the book of life.
Romans 10:9-10 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. |
Typically, the confession is made publicly during your baptism.
Mark 16:16 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. |
If you keep the faith until the end, your name will not be blotted out.
Matthew 24:13 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. |
If you stay in unrepentant sinfulness, your name will be blotted out.
2 Corinthians 12:21 21 And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed. |
It is not falling into occasional sin that will get your name blotted out, but habitual unrepentant sin that will.
This is the difference between a righteous person and a wicked person.
Proverbs 24:16 NASB 16 For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of calamity. |
Your answer that unless one confesses, etc., he cannot be written in the book of life, tells us that before his confession, etc., his name is not in the book of life and he is not yet a member of the BOC and therefore not yet "in Christ".
Smells of salvation by works, don't you think?
For unless one "does this and that" (confess, etc.), he cannot be written in the book of life and only those written in the book of life will be allowed in the heavenly portals (Rev 21:27).
genuineoriginal
New member
The method is the same, the results are the same, the only difference is who is determining which people are having their names written in the book.
It used to be the Father, now it is the Son making that decision.
Malachi 3:16-18 16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. 17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. |
Not at all.
Salvation by works implies that you can obligate Jesus to save you by what you do.
Ultimately the decision is all His, but He refuses to write the names of anyone that does not confess Him as Lord and master, and He chooses from those that do confess Him based on whether their hearts are near to Him or far from Him.
Are you lacking faith that He will make the right decision?
Or are you attempting to obligate Him to accept you while you are still in rebellion against the righteousness of God?
Yes, that is the truth.
Jesus is very discriminating and will only choose those that meet His standards.
Many modern Protestant denominations have not been informing their congregations about those standards.
While NOT a member of the BOC, one is not "in Christ" and he is spiritually dead because Christ is our life (Col 3:4). So, how can he do the spiritually act of confessing while yet spiritually dead and not yet "in Christ" Who said that separate or apart from Him one can do NOTHING (John 15:5)?
If while separate or apart from Christ one can confess, then he can do SOMETHING, making Christ's statement false?