Ferris Bueller
Well-Known Member
I believe exactly what he says there. DEAD branches are cut off and burned. DEAD branches have no fruit on them. DEAD branches do not have the life giving sap of the trunk in them. That's why they are cast off from the tree and burned.
They aren't in Christ himself, they're in his earthly kingdom. Using a similar analogy, Jesus says this:
"38The field is the world, and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.40As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness. 42And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 13:
See it? He's talking about falseness in his kingdom here in this world. And at the end of the age they are burned off, purged by fire. Were they ever in Christ? What does it matter? They're going to the fiery place either way (no unbelieving 'son of evil' is going to inherit the kingdom of heaven'). So I say let's just focus on what the Bible actually makes clear: Believe, and keep believing, as evidenced by works of obedience summed up in "love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18).
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