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Originally Posted by Ohio
With all due respect to your grandmother, there are many exceptions to this rule. Elvis Presley comes to mind. He loved God and would sing gospel and love songs to the Lord. (We had this CD.) Yet he later became swallowed up in the sinful indulgences of stardom. So Elvis was never born again, nor saved?
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My grandma is still a free gracer
and she told me this when I was discussing Lordship salvation with her haha.
Gonna put my LS+C hat on again:
We never know what happens before someone dies. It's possible the Holy Spirit will convict everyone to repentance before they die. Jesus said he would not lose anyone that belonged to him. Saying this I also realized It's possible WLee was born again and that's why he was driven to repentance at the end of his life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
bearbear, many of us were also idealistic in our younger days ... and judgmental. I have heard that a Christian could never commit suicide, yet a close friend of mine in the LC did just that not too long after I left. He loved the Lord and spoke the gospel to all his friends and family. Will he then go to hell for such a massive failure on his last day on this earth?
Shortly after I got saved, I visited a brother who was filled with love and joy. He greeted me with a big hug when I first walked in his door. I felt so special in his presence. He loved the word and was sharing with us. About an hour or so later, he sheepishly asked to be excused to go out smoke a cigarette. I thought how could this be? Well ... buddy ... wake up, were not perfected yet, but we are on a wonderful journey!
Things happen. The Christian life is not perfect. God is much bigger than we are. We all are prone to failure. Who is without sin? So we have nothing to boast in but the Lord who loves us and has saved us.
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Cigarette smoking is one thing, but whatabout sins that involve hurting your brother or sister deeply? If this brother went and set up a money laundering operation to defraud saints of money would that be okay?
I guess at what point do we draw the line? What if Ron Kangas pulled out a machine gun and started mowing all the FTTA grads down during the winter training? Could we still accept him as a child of God and brother in Christ if he didn't repent and continued his murderous rampage?