Joe Misko wrote ; "This leaves two possible results”.
While I don’t disagree with this brother, there may be more than two possible results... ?
There seems to be a (substantial) group that sincerely sought the Lord tho lacked any idea how to, other than to attend a church or ask an acquaintance about coming to the Lord. Often there is an embarrassment and extreme shame in ones life before this takes place producing a vulnerability which the Lord uses to the good. However it seems this group quite often gets led astray by deception from either the acquaintance or the pulpit... when they read the words of the Bible and are convicted by them they offer this to their fellow Christians only to be met with other scriptures that serve to refute and confuse them to such a point that, tho they may still attend the fellowship, their growth is stunted if not outright aborted.
This produces a fruit nobody wants but everyone tolerates and acts normal about and around under the guise of "grace”....
this is not about honesty mistakes or immaturity, this is about deception that has been coddled and normalized which has served to rob the Word of its effectual work in the hearts and lives by the millions. Often this goes not only unchecked (corrected) but effectively promoted by the "church” resulting in a self focused plasticized fruit in the would be believer - while it’s not necessarily an evil thing to desire universal salvation which serves to dismiss the doctrine of hell (eternal torment) it is an evil thing to lay this charge at the foot of the cross where the propitiation for sin was made as an offering not only to God but also to humanity. At the end of the day, a gospel without hell is a gospel that saves "in sin” not "from sin” and serves to cement the recipient in a perpetual (and exhausting) feat of working to get on the "good” side of the wrong tree and is characterized by self-righteousness.... producing Martha’s instead of Mary’s.
There is a bit of this in most if not all of us as a latent tendency (flesh) until which time we have eyes to see it (Romans 7) and seek the Lord for deliverance (Romans 8). Many of us fall short of the objective of this revelation due to deception being taught,... mistaking Gods patience for tolerance, which effectively denies Christ His right to command His own body - May the Lord have mercy and may we seek that mercy while it can be found, for the day is coming where the provision of mercy is off the table of service of the LORD.
Revelation 22:
11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
