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Msg #: [209/226]                        Base: PAGAN-Spirituality
Date : 13 Oct 93  20:47:08              Stat: Sent 
From : Jim Taylor
To   : All
Title: Believers and Faith-Holders

@INTL 93:9609/0 93:9004/0
In Christianity, which is the faith I know, there are two main divisions
among those who call themselves Christians.  Jesus Himself identified them
as "wheat", which is the useful grain of God; and as "tares", which is a
grain-plant which, although it exactly resembles wheat when mature, is
violently poisonous.  "Tares" are false Christians, ravening wolves in
sheep's clothing, who pass themselves off as Christians (and may even
sincerely believe that they are), and yet they have nothing whatever to
do with God, except to attempt to rob Him of those who are His.

"Tares" are not Christians, though they are found in every Christian
gathering, and God has said He will allow them to remain until the great
and terrible Day of the Lord, when they shall be separated out for the
destruction which they have freely chosen, to which they have condemned
themselves; for they were free to choose salvation but chose otherwise.

My subject today, therefore, is not the "tares", since they are not
Christians.  Rather, my subject is the two vastly different kinds of
"wheat", i.e. the genuine Christians among us.

Genuine Christians, too, fall into two categories:  the Believer and the
true Faith-Holder.

The Believer is a true Christian.  S/he has made a decision to follow
Christ, to obey Him, to believe in Him, and to live the Life in Christ.

The true Faith-Holder is also a true Christian.  Unlike the Believer,
however, the true Faith-Holder's Christianity is not a thing apart from
the Faith-Holder, but an integral part of the Faith-Holder.

One might consider that the Kingdom of Christ has two kinds of members.
Most are civilians (Believers), whose citizenship is in Heaven.  A minority
are warriors (Faith-Holders), who give up their citizenship rights in order
to be warriors.

The major practical difference between the Believers and the Faith-Holders
is that a Believer can always leave.  A Faith-Holder cannot.  When you see
a person who used to be a Christian, he used to be a Believer, not a
Faith-Holder, since a Faith-Holder can lose his life, but never his faith.

Most Faith-Holders start out as Believers.  At some time in their lives,
something occurred which forced them to change, and instead of becoming
ex-Christians, they instead became Faith-Holders.

Every Christian, at one time or another, wonders how s/he will react if
called upon to face martyrdom.  The Believer will worry about this; but
the Faith-Holder will not.  The Believer will worry about it, because s/he
is afraid that in that day, courage will not be sufficient, and s/he will
deny God rather than suffer pain or death.  The true Faith-Holder never
worries about this, because there is no way s/he can deny God, any more
than s/he can deny her/himself.  The Faith-Holder's faith is internalized,
and is part of her/his personal identity, not a separate thing which can
be either gained or lost.

The true Faith-Holder is IN NO WAY better than the Believer, just different.
The true Faith-Holder has a much easier life than the Believer: it takes
courage to be a Believer; it takes no courage at all to be a Faith-Holder.
God honors both equally, since both are saved by God's mercy, not by any
worthwhile quality in themselves.

Now, here's the kicker:  How do you tell the Believers and the Faith-Holders
from one another, among the Christians on this echo?

Actually, it's easy.  When you run into someone who is working very
carefully to guard and protect his personal faith, that is a Believer.
When you run into someone who is doing absolutely nothing to guard and
protect his personal faith, that is a Faith-Holder, because he does not
NEED to do anything to protect his faith--it is a part of him.

*     Z
*   F O S
*     E

Light & Life,
Jim

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