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The Message: Difference between revisions
→Is the "Bride" a special category of Christian?
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==Is the "Bride" a special category of Christian?== | ==Is the "Bride" a special category of Christian?== | ||
William Branham was not the only one in our age to use the parables of Jesus to split the Church into various groups, such as the bride, the friends of the bridegroom, the virgins, the guests, and the servants. Many exclusive groups do this to make themselves feel special. But this is pressing the analogy too far. We must be careful that we do not become like Nicodemus when he pressed the analogy of birth too far by asking how we could go back into our mothers’ wombs and be born again (John 3:4). | |||
Another common teaching is that the Rapture will be limited to a special group of “overcomers” (the Bride), and that the main body of the Church will be left behind to go through the Tribulation or to go up in later raptures. If we examine what the Bible has to say about overcomers, however, we see that only those who overcome will eat from the tree of life, they will not be hurt by the second death or the lake of fire, and will not have their names blotted out of the Book of Life (Rev 2:7, 11; 3:5). | Another common teaching, which was also espoused by William Branham, is that the Rapture will be limited to a special group of “overcomers” (the Bride), and that the main body of the Church will be left behind to go through the Tribulation or to go up in later raptures. If we examine what the Bible has to say about overcomers, however, we see that only those who overcome will eat from the tree of life, they will not be hurt by the second death or the lake of fire, and will not have their names blotted out of the Book of Life (Rev 2:7, 11; 3:5). | ||
To overcome means to conquer, to win. If we do not win, we lose. These verses in the Book of Revelation indicate that those who do not overcome lose out forever. | To overcome means to conquer, to win. If we do not win, we lose. These verses in the Book of Revelation indicate that those who do not overcome lose out forever. | ||
Who then are the overcomers? | Who then are the overcomers? I John 5:4 tells us, “''This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith''.” All the born-again believer has to do to overcome is to believe (be an obedient believer and keep on believing) that Jesus is the Son of God. Then God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:57). He makes us winners.<ref>William W. Menzies, Bible Doctrines: A Pentecostal Perspective, ed. Stanley M. Horton (Springfield, MO: Logion Press, 1993), 218–219.</ref> | ||
John declares: | |||
#Those who have been born of God do not sin.(1 John 3:9) | |||
#We know that those who are born of God do not sin. (1 John 5:18) | |||
#No one who abides in him sins. (1 John 3:6) | |||
#Everyone who does what is right is righteous. (1 John 3:7) | |||
#Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil. (1 John 3:8), and | |||
#All who do not do what is right are not from God. (1 John 3:10). | |||
Some have suggested that John refers to an elite group of Christians who have reached a special status in which they no longer sin. But the text does not restrict godly living to a special group of Christians but rather claims that all believers without exception — anyone born of God — do not sin. Hence, a spiritual elite cannot be in view here. <ref>Thomas R. Schreiner, New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 567.</ref> | |||
===What William Branham taught=== | ===What William Branham taught=== | ||