Hi
Frank,
I just caught the tail end of your discussion with Mike W.
regarding the question on whether someone in the act of
committing adultery could be raptured. I doubt that
Mike is advocating such activity. But, I think that
his position is that a person is either saved or not saved
at the time of the Rapture – despite the ability to sin.
Unfortunately, we are still in sinful bodies this side of
eternity. And let’s face it – some of us are bound
to be in the act of sinning at the time of the
Rapture. It may not be something as extreme as
adultery; but are you saying that God is going to draw a
line between those who are in the act of committing
“lesser” sins and those who are committing “greater” sins?
If an adulterer is to be kept out of the Rapture,
shouldn’t the person stealing a box of paper clips from
his job be kept out as well? For that matter, what
about the person who is thinking sinful thoughts?
Remember that Jesus said that looking at someone with lust
can be deemed to be adultery. See Matthew
5:28. Sin starts in the heart. And what about
those with unrepented sins at the time of the
Rapture? Shouldn’t that make them ineligible?
Where do you draw the line between sin and an authentic
Christian? How much is too much?
We cannot see into a person’s heart. I agree 100%
that a person’s fruit, or lack thereof, is probably the
best indicator we have to determine the spiritual
condition of another. But only God knows for
sure. And remember that there will be those who will
enter heaven with absolutely no rewards (i.e. works) – and
only because of the fact that their foundation is Jesus
Christ. See 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. (This
passage would also confirm the position that faith in
Jesus Christ is the only requirement for salvation.)
I do not believe that the grace of God is a license to
sin. I hope that the presence of the Holy Spirit
will convict all of us to live spirit-filled lives.
I hope that our love for God will make us strive to become
more like Him. I agree that God demands our
obedience to His Word. But I also believe that Jesus
died on the Cross for all of my sins – the sins that I was
going to commit before and after I got
saved.
Those of us who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit have been
given an express guarantee by God.
"For all the promises of God in
him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by
us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in
Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed
us, and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts." 2 Corinthians
1:20-22.
"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this
we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our
house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we
shall not be found naked. For we that are in this
tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would
be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be
swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us
for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given
unto us the earnest of the Spirit." 2
Corinthians 5:1-5.
"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after
that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit
of promise, Which is the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory."
Ephesians 1:13-14.
An “earnest” is a deposit – a promise of future
redemption. According to the Blue Letter Bible
website, the Greek word means “money which in purchases is
given as a pledge or downpayment that the full amount will
subsequently be paid.”
So, God is either going to make good on His deposit of the
Holy Spirit in believers or He is not. If He does
not, however, He is a liar. And I think that we both
agree that God is not a liar.
Maranatha.
– Lisa Taylor