5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest continue to redress the things that remain, and shouldest ordain Elders in every city as I ap- pointed thee.
6 If any be unreproveable, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, which are not slandered of riot, neither are disobedient.
7 For a Bishop must be unreproveable, as God’s steward, not froward, not angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre,
8 But harberous, one that loveth goodness, wise, righteous, holy, temperate,
9 Holding fast that faithful word according to doctrine, that he also may be able to exhort with wholesome doctrine, and convince them that say against it. Titus 1:5-9 (1599 Geneva Bible)
It doesn’t take very long for me to discern whether the person I am dealing with is truly God’s man or woman or is a pretender. That personal interaction is necessary for me to see the true nature and focus of the person….
As we debate or discuss doctrinal or church issues or even secular issues it soon becomes very clear whether I am dealing with someone who is walking within the Lordship of Christ or is their own man or woman. Their values soon become apparent. All of us are in various stages of spiritual growth and repentance to be sure, but the mark of the washing of regeneration is there to be seen in all of God’s people that cannot be counterfeited. Of course, this is only discernible by those who are looking for it and then only through God’s testing fires. <Continue reading post>