Saturday, November 15, 2008

Them That Are His

2 Timothy 2:17-19 KJV
And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.


Just a couple of observations
There were, in that early church, already some who twisted and made the whole thing look horrible.It is not impossible today to meet people who want nothing to do with Christianity because of those whoa re a part of Christianity. It seems too bad to me that the church is not able to prevent people like Hymenaeus and Philetus; but if the church under the leadership of men like Paul was not able to prevent them, neither will we. And since the Lord did not prevent them - and He is well able, then perhaps there is more good done through the controversy o them that we suppose.

Sometimes the simplest of principles are often overlooked.Gill says of the phrase "overthrow the faith of some" that it is, ".... of nominal professors of religion; not of true believers, for true faith cannot be overthrown..." That is a true statement and we get really messed up theologically when we forget it.

"...the Lord knoweth them that are His..."What a comfort those words bring to my mind! To know that the Lord knows whether I am His or not; wow! What a blessing! But those words also have a certain terror too. The Lord also knows them who say they are His, but are not.
He knows the pretenders.
He knows the deceived.
He knows those who believe they belong to Him because of some good or religious deed they have done.

To be His: that is the true test of faith. And those who are His cannot be overthrown though they surely will be tested.

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