Quote:
Originally Posted by Trapped
I still personally have trouble with the concept of a genuinely saved, Spirit-filled believer being described as "beating fellow servants and eating/drinking with drunkards", but.....I know others say it's possible.....so I guess that's why there is a contention about this parable (is it a parable?)
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Believers still have the flesh. They are capable of commiting the same sins as unbelievers. Believers mistreat other believers all the time, everyday. The "
beatings" can be physical, emotional, sexual, psychological, spiritual. It has happened throughout history and will continue to happen; have you not seen a website, called
Local Church Discussions? It has many detailed reports of how some servants have been beating fellow servants for years. You should check it out.
There are thousands and thousands of genuine believers in all kinds of sinful situations. Have you not read in the Bible about how a believer was committing fornication with his stepmother? Have you not read how a believerīs heart was filled with Satan and how he conspired and lied to the Holy Spirit? The first one repented and was spared some severe discipline. The second did not repent and was punished directly by the Lord with death. (Both were believers, and no it does not matter whether they were Jew, or Pharisee or Gentile.)
Genuine believers can and do commit murder, lie, have idols, steal, commit fornication, cheat, love the world, are in adultery, use porn, get drunk, bribe, cover up, gamble, brake the laws, do not forgive others, use drugs, practice homosexuality, deny the Lord. Will all of that go undealt with by their Father, by the Judge of the living and the dead? Shall we make a mockery of His Righteousness and Kingdom by saying, "all is well, they are believers, they have been forgiven already." No, they need to confess and repent in this life. There is a judgment coming to believers: "
we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ, that each may receive back the things done through the body according to what he did, whether good or evil." 2 Cor. 5:10.