2. The perfect submission includes therefore a break with every conscious sin. A believer can't live in any sin for which the redeemer and saviour had to give His life on the cross. This should go without saying for every Christians, but is unfortunately not the case. Especially lying plays a large role with some believers and in fact not just with hangers-on, but with leading personalities who are undeniably born-again Christians. When mentioning leading personalities I mean ministers of the Word of God. It is obvious that a shepherd can't spiritually advance his flock any further than he himself is. So if the shepherd himself is still living in open or hidden sins, he, of course, can't show his flock how to get freed from the bonds of sin. This is not about venial sins that every believer can sometimes commit or he can occasionally be caught unawares, but about gross transgressions. There is, for example, a fellowship leader who on Sunday preaches the Word, but during the week becomes guilty of telling the most outrageous lie; and not only deviations of the truth, like Ananias and Sapphira, but turning the facts upside down and even making a journey to slander a brother.


Or I am thinking of an adulterer who can, at the same time, boast about the greatness of full salvation of all our sin. And how often does it happen that believers give knowingly false details and lie, in order to profit, maybe to get a higher pension or to save taxes.

Since the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of truth, it is apparent that those people don't have the Holy Spirit, even if they once had Him. When it says in Revelation 14.5 of the firstfruits: "No lie was found in their mouth", it doesn't mean they never lied; because according to Romans 3.4 all men are liars. Philadelphia-Christians and Laodicean-Christians can be distinguished in that the first ones confess their lies and therefore receive forgiveness, while the latter ones maintain their lies and without forgiveness remain liars and consequently will not be worthy for the rapture at His coming. To what extent lying can be found even with so-called converted and born-again Christians, the following everyday example illustrates:

A woman who had a child out of wedlock and then got converted and supposedly found peace with God, accused the alleged father of the child, to have broken his promise to support her, although he also claimed to be a converted and born-again Christian. On the one hand this man swore under oath that he was not the father of the child and that he never had any relations with the woman; on the other hand the woman testified under oath as well that no other man had ever touched her. To my presentation that the liar by maintaining the lie would gamble with their Salvation, they both agreed to, but stuck to their assertions anyway.
The above mentioned fellowship leader, who without doubt had had experienced a conversion and new birth, went on record to say that the slandered brother had had told the truth, but nevertheless maintained that not he but the other brother was the liar. These are not isolated cases, though; because two of the fellowship leaders and a row of the members of the assembly, in order not to fall out with him, helpfully agreed with him.

Has still anyone any doubt that there are two kind of Christians? Or does anyone believe that a slanderer, who maintains his lie, will be ready to take part in the rapture of the church when the Lord comes.