Quote:
Originally Posted by David
... I have a hard time trying to figure out who exactly is a real Christian or not... I read Matthew 5:20 about how Pharisees and scribes may search the Scriptures, but they aren't truly believers. Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel yet he wasn't a believer either. So this confuses me about how to tell if someone is a believer because how can anyone know about God but not believe in what he says?
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I wouldn't be so quick to judge Nicodemus. He is shown in John 7:50-51 defending Jesus in the Sanhedrin, and in John 19:39 is shown cooperating with Joseph of Arimathea in the embalming and burial of Jesus.
Which brings up a larger point. We only see others at one point in time. Some loudly declare allegiance to the Christ, then fall away. Others falter or even seem rebellious, then repent and do the will of the Father (cf Matt 21:28-31). We only see a "snapshot": a point in time of their journey. Don't judge others on what you perceive. You see such a small fragment of the whole that making overall assessments is probably not worth it. Leave that to the Judge of all.
I have long felt it safe to assume everyone, and I mean
everyone, is "ahead of me" in the race. When I think I am doing well, I stumble. When I confess that I am empty, broke, utterly failed, then God comes in His mercy.
I like Psalm 136; it says 26 times to praise and thank God "...for His mercy endureth forever". Do you think God is making a point there?
Evaluating others' relative positions vis-a-vis God's mercy doesn't seem profitable to me.