Just as all high school students, even those with all D’s, will graduate as long as they stay in school, likewise all believers, even carnal ones, will inherit eternal life as long as they remain in Christ. Just as some high school students graduate with honors, so some believers graduate or depart from life with honors, granted an eternal glory far surpassing that of the carnal believer and granted rewards far surpassing other believers who exhibited little spiritual growth or character.
When one reads the opening chapters of the Book of Acts they will see that the early church had within its ranks, or membership, those who held widely differing beliefs and religious concepts. Some were Sadducees, believing in neither angels or spirits as well as rejecting the belief in a resurrection, while Pharisee believers accepted both. Some were temple priests while other were Gentiles fresh out of paganism. You can well believe these folks did not come to see eye to eye in all their beliefs overnight. In the body of Christ, the church, there are individuals holding and believing widely different doctrines and having differing religious practices. Some worship on Sunday, some on the Sabbath. Some believe you can’t lose your salvation, some believe you can. Some are convinced a believer goes instantly to heaven when they die while others believe you remain dead until the day of resurrection. One can be truly converted, actually have God’s Spirit imparted to them and yet be in error as to what the Bible teaches on a variety of subjects. Thus, the body of Christ has within its ranks Baptists and Amish, Presbyterians and Lutherans, Mennonites and Pentecostals. It is interesting to note that a voice from heaven cries out to Babylon the great, “Come out of her, my people!” (See Revelation 18:1-4). God evidently has truly converted sons and daughters even in the great fallen church spoken of in Revelation chapters 17 and 18!
When God first enters a human life that person generally is far from the truth in their religious beliefs or understanding of the Bible. Through process of time God, through the Holy Spirit, strives to bring that believer closer to truth, freeing them up from error and perfecting them in the faith. Some remain spiritual infants all their days. Others grow mightily into fully mature sons and daughters of God and will comprise the bride of Christ upon His return.
We have all done it at one time or another – thrown a pebble or a rock into a still body of water, a pond, a lake, even a puddle. And what did we observe? From where the stone entered the water at first a circular ripple appeared in the water. Then a concentric circle with a greater circumference appeared, then another, and another, and another until the energy produced by the cast stone dissipated and no more concentric circles appeared. One might liken that first circular ripple to the truth of God – all the truth, but when God first enters our conscious awareness and stirs our interest we are in the outermost concentric circle or nearly so. You might say a non-religious, worldly-minded person would be found in the outermost circle. An unconverted church-goer might be found in one of the circles nearer to the primary circular ripple that is the pure truth of God. God is working in the lives of all those regardless of which circle they are in, wanting to draw them into the tiny first circle in the middle. Keep this analogy in mind when looking at the next guy. He might well be in a circle closer to the center than you yourself.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley