Quote:
Originally Posted by zeek
You are misappropriating what I said. When I asked "What else is there?" I was referring to the individual's subjective experience. To turn that around and make it an "absolute proof" by which judge other's "anointing" subverts my meaning. Based on Jesus' dictum "judge not lest ye be judged", I submit that all judgments of our fellow human beings should be provisional not final in recognition of our own fallibility.
What you're asserting about calling on the name of the Lord is, based on my experience in the Local Church ill advised. People used the name of the Lord for all kinds of reasons and motives, some of them pure and others not. There's nothing magical about it. You have to make human judgments about intent and it's best to recognize that you may be wrong. "Discerning spirits" is at best an art not a science.
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1 John 4:2-3, 1 Cor 12:3, 1 John 4:15 seem absolute to me.
If we cannot test the spirits in an absolute and clear way, then we also cannot know if someone is saved or not according to believing and confessing Christ.
The two ideas are related.
Interestingly, Catholics do not believe in the sufficiency of 1 John 4:2-3, 1 Cor 12:3, 1 John 4:15 neither do they believe we can know if we are saved or not.
I see this like passport control at an airport. 1 John 4:2-3, 1 Cor 12:3, 1 John 4:15 is like a test to see who has a passport or visa and who does not. The officer does not care what kind of person you are as long as you have the correct passport and visa.