The invisible church (those who are the chosen and elect of God) is spread though out the spectrum of denominations...just as God has ordained. The unity is often revealed in the fire of tribulation and trial. In those moments the character of a wolf is quickly revealed as self-preservation gets center stage above the glory of God.
I observe my Coptic brothers and sisters who are dying for the faith in Egypt and I find unity in the bond of Christ, even though I consider some of their rituals to be peculiar and of little edification.
I suspect that in the heat of trials we would quickly find out who is a pretender at the CH and who it is that has genuinely been gifted faith by God's grace.
Yes, to a certain degree thats true, however, we're not saved by how well we always respond to given situations, that would be works/self-righteousness, and many of us have failed in situations many times, and probably will again.
That doesnt mean we werent saved then, or arent now.
If someone is fruit-inspecting, or wanting to SEE something (sort of like in JAMES faith/works treatise, a popularly misused letter) then they might see a poor reaction (in their opinion) and want to judge the person as unsaved, but perhaps the REAL test there would be how to treat the person.....do we ostracize, ignore, cast aside, ex-communicate .....or do we seek to restore the person in humility, knowing we might not be so 'strong-in-the-faith' ourselves in a certain situation?
Until you really know a person...what led up to the position theyre in now, you cant really judge their reaction in a situation and call them unsaved.
The better gauge is when the bible says we shall know them (wolves) by their fruit, it's the fruit of doctrine (especially when writing/speaking is all there is to go on).
Are they trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation, and encouraging others to do the same?
Or is there some sort of religion, ceremony, law-keeping, works, ritual, etc, in practice or in doctrine, creeping in and pulling them from the liberty they once had (or could have) in Christ?
Theyre described as being DISGUISED as messengers of light ... Whats their message... Salvation by grace thru faith in Christ alone?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved?
Or is it, hmmmm not REALLY...You must obey this, confess that, perform this, stop that, start the other, etc?
And in sheeps clothing...
They look like sheep, they behave like sheep, theyre docile, theyre nice, they talk nicely, they dont fight, always get along (ahhh, but depending who you are, because they despise grace and the message of it)
They dont want you set free in Christ, mainly because they dont enter in themselves, thru Christ alone, or have been told you cant, thats not good enough, so they pass that message on to you, but they just seek who they may devour, and constantly cast judgement, preach fear, and point fingers at your behavior, as if theirs is ever so holy and righteous. Watch out, they'll seek to cast you out, not invite you in. If they pretend to, it will be on THEIR terms and standards, and theyll keep you guessing so you never know where you stand, or if this day, or that 'behavior' or just on their own whim, will be when the hammer falls.
They SEEM like sheep, they have a DISGUISED message, but a denial of the gospel and all that comes with it ... Grace, mercy, love, joy, forgiveness, fellowship, goodwill, not finger-pointing, judgement, condemnation and ex-communication.
Those are telltale signs, not necessarily a mighty response in trial.
But yes, its good for us to grow in grace, and the knowledge of Jesus, and if we notice a brother straying, not staying in the liberty of Christ, we should help him, encourage him with the love and grace and salvation of God, or if their struggling with some besetting thing, we should help them, making sure we're not judging them, bc we all have our own weaknesses and temptations that can harm us if we're not careful. So doing good as God lays out for us is right.
But thats more of a personal thing between a believer and God that comes thru sanctification, it's not the determiner of being justified freely by His grace.
Having that, (having Jesus) and our faith in that as our unity, moreso than our response to trial under fire, (but not purposefully having either one to the exclusion of the other) is ideal to aim for.
Sound doctrine and grace do compliment each other, but its sound doctrine, who and what we believe, that saves and unifies us in an eternal sense, not our responses to certain situations, good or bad.
(Btw, I know that you know that salvation is the gift of God and not based on our performance, but not everyone seems to believe that, and I was just making the distinction here, in the hopes of encouraging unity.) Let whosoever will take and drink of the water of life ... freely.
Believe in Jesus and be saved.
What greater love, what greater unity, than unity in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?
