22 Having purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, to love brotherly without feigning, love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born anew, not of mortal seed, but of immortal, by the word of God, who liveth and endureth forever.
24 For all ,flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth away.
25 But the word of the Lord endureth forever: and this is the word which is preached among you. 1 Peter 1:22-25 (1599 Geneva Bible)
The Puritans had a term they used in their theological writings and discussions describing professing believers who fell away or were in some way not consistent in their walk. They called them “temporary believers.” This may be a little offensive to many these days, but there are untold numbers of Pastors, Deacons, Elders, Evangelists, or whatever in our churches in our time who would not even qualify for membership in a 17th Century Puritan Church….
As I have stated many times, I grew up in Oklahoma as a Southern Baptist. I have seen literally hundreds (if not more) of “invitations.” In a large percentage of these invitations, people walked an aisle, prayed a sinner’s prayer, was Baptised, and made a full member of the church. All of this taking place in a just a period of days. I have also observed a staggeringly high percentage of those professing believers last only a short period of time before disappearing from church never to be seen again. <Continue reading post>