Two Kinds of Believers

The Lord said to me…”I will test my people with a Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)

The Plumbline is a blog to encourage the Body of Christ.

Two Kinds of Believers

How can this be? The believers make up the Church or the “Body of Christ”. Isn’t a believer a believer?  What could the causes be for a differential in the church?  Therefore, creating two kinds of believers. After all doesn’t the Apostle Paul declare in - Ephesians 5:25-27 (NKJV) 25 ….26 that He might…present her to Himself A GLORIOUS CHURCH…This is Christ’s goal – a glorious church, no spots or wrinkles, but holy, and no blemishes. Paul further instructs us in Ephesians 4:30 (TLB) Don’t cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete.

Let’s look to the Word for the answers to this problem of two kinds of believers.

                                                                             

 The two kinds of believers can be characterized as follows.

Number One: Spiritual Sons.

• Galatians 6:1 (NKJV…you who are spiritual restore…considering yourself…

• 1 Corinthians 2:15 (NKJV) …He who is spiritual judges all things…  

A person possessing the Spirit and guided by Him is able to evaluate and apply all things the Spirit reveals. The spiritual man can be judged only by God, not by unregenerate people or by worldly Christians. To have the mind of Christ is to be obedient to God’s revelation (Phil. 2:5-8), as were the spiritual people in the Corinthian church.

Number Two: Mature Sons.

•  Hebrews 6:1 (TLB) “…Let us go on…and become mature…”

• Philippians 3:15 (NLT) “Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things.”

• 1 Corinthians 2:6 (NIV) “We…speak a message of wisdom among the mature…”

In Paul’s disclaimer about his own brilliance he did not mean that God puts a premium on ignorance and rejects wisdom of any sort. There was a wisdom taught by the Spirit that Paul wanted his readers to grasp firmly. Some of his readers had done so (no doubt Paul hoped that someday all would do so). He referred to them as the mature, probably including the individuals mentioned in 16:15-18. My pray is that I would grow spiritually mature today.