Quote:
Originally Posted by pelathais
A lot of what made up the early Apostolic movement ("early" as in "early 20th Century") was a desire by many people from different denominations and backgrounds to "get back to the roots" of the NT Church. Basically we are the spiritual heirs of those who left their denominations, or were asked to leave. Even after all this time we still feel a connection with them and they are usually unavoidable in the society around us.
So how do we interact? That's one of the biggest questions and is really part of the "When is the Blood Applied?" debate. If the blood is applied at repentance then these people are at least nominally "brethren." If it isn't applied until all 3 steps are completed, then these people are the lost.
In the real world this issue is infinitely nuanced to the point that it is difficult if not impossible to clearly separate the "One Steppers" from the "Three Steppers." But people of both persuasions believe that there as fertile a field of evangelism in the church world as there is among "sinners."
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Whatever the perspective is (i.e. "until all 3 steps are completed...these people are lost")....the fact remains that there are many more unbelievers who are godless and living sinful lives...so from a pure numbers perspective, the focus needs to be where the harvest is plenty and stop putting all energy on saved individuals (that is, saved from the perspective of "One Steppers")....this is futile and waste of valuable resources, namely time.
It's like saying, let's focus on the one tenth of 1 percent (that "may" be saved) rather than the 90% that are lost undoubtedly (I'm obviously using unsubstantiated numbers just to make a point)
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