Pastors, academics, friends, and others talk about Jesus—they just don’t talk about the same one. To some He’s the man from Galilee, others call Him Savior and Lord, and others define Him as the greatest pacifist, socialist and guy who loves and saves everyone regardless of their behavior or belief.
How do you know which Jesus is the real Jesus?
People crave messages offering simple truth about the times we live in. Trust is something remembered from the good old days, not something you teach your children today by pointing out any politician, doctor, news anchor, minister, or teacher. Watch the news long enough and you have ample reason to distrust all the above.
False Teaching
False teaching is the greatest hazard within Christianity, a condition unchanged since Jude penned his book. How do you know that one of your core beliefs isn’t the result of false teaching or false prophecy?
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” – 1 John 4:1,3
The Beginning of Confusion
Barna Research discovered that only a small fraction of Christians in the US believe that the Bible is the inerrant and inspired Word of God. If there are 100 people in your church next Sunday, chances are most of them hold beliefs that came from somewhere other than God.
When you talk about the Bible today, the written word of God, you must clarify which Bible you mean: the Protestant, the Catholic, the Hebrew, or one of the more creative translations or paraphrased books labeled “bible.”
Bible scholarship is simply that—the study of a book titled The Bible. Every academic who studies the words printed in the book is free to teach whatever opinion he or she draws from the exercise. The best, brightest, and most credentialed academics across twenty centuries don’t agree on what the Bible says.
Where does that leave you? Simply put, the responsibility to “rightly divide” the Word of God is yours alone. (2 Timothy 2:15)
The only way to know if something is true is by checking it against God’s word and comparing it to the character and heart of the Father.
God or Not God
One choice eclipses all others, the choice between God and Not God. It may sound like an easy choice, but don’t be deceived. Most Christians would probably say, “Of course I choose God.” Unfortunately, many of them would be wrong.
Society today is divided on every topic from ecology to abortion. If there is one thing most people could absolutely agree upon, it would be that there is no such thing as absolute truth.
Do you believe that anything is absolutely true or right in all instances and circumstances without exception? What would that one thing be? How many might agree with you?
Confusion Delusion
The following five words no longer have a single common definition which makes speaking or debating issues of politics, culture, or faith a real mess. In fact, it isn’t even possible to define these words unless you first resolve the issue of whether absolutes exist.
- God
- Jesus
- Christian
- Grace
- Antichrist
There are as many unique relationships with God as there are humans. The experience of a friend, pastor, teacher, or writer won’t be the same as yours. Although they are children of the same true God, no two will ever walk identical paths of sanctification.
Why Do You Believe What You Believe?
Are you sure you know why you believe what you believe?
Do you define God the same way your friends do? Lessons about tolerance and spirituality taught in public schools aren’t consistent with God’s Word. Does your pastor preach the words of the apostles or those approved by a more progressive theology?
Unless you know exactly what simple words like Jesus, Christian, and Grace mean to them, how will you know if what you hear is true?
How can you be certain that the Jesus you know is the one who needs to know you? Of course, some popular Christian denominations will assure you it doesn’t really matter and that all will be well. They’re wrong.
This is the End Time. Perhaps you will see Jesus Christ today. When you do, be certain that He’s the one you expect to meet.
Do your beliefs conform more to the world or to God’s Word? You don’t want to be surprised when you meet Christ face to face.
Make your calling and election certain today!
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Matthew 7:21-24
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7 Responses
The Jews trusted their Scriptures and didn’t recognize Christ for Who He is; many ‘christians’ hold the Bible is inerrant, as if God dictated the book to those who wrote it. It’s important to remember, while the Lord has indeed INSPIRED the Word of Truth, men like Jerome and Augustine handled and translated it, Studying Scripture AS LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT while praying ceaselessly is the only way to enfold Scripture into one’s life in a disciplined manner. Everything else is hit or miss and results in private interpretation galore. No wonder so many ‘believers’ are deceived – THEY’RE DECEIVED OF THEMSELVES.
Thank you for adding to the conversation, John. This topic is a semantic minefield, much like the discussions of “once saved always saved” and “election v. free will.” I believe that the God-breathed scriptures given to the Israelites/Hebrews/Jews were and are accurate, and some specifically noted as the result of pure dictation from the LORD. They didn’t understand them at the time because, like all of God’s Word, they apply to what was before, what is, and what is yet to come. We have the luxury of hindsight when it comes to understanding writings centuries before Christ, but must admit uncertainty about unfulfilled prophecy that remains.
The question I always circle back to is this, “What is the standard that does not waver, the foundation that cannot be moved?” You are absolutely right that the way to rightly divide and understand God’s Word is by the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. We know that because God’s Word clearly states it.
Your comment, “Studying Scripture AS LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT while praying ceaselessly is the only way to enfold Scripture into one’s life in a disciplined manner.” is spot on, and I offer an Amen! The difficulty arises when each one who believes his or her unfolding is the only or correct way then becomes “private interpretation.” If God’s Word leads to private interpretation considered errant, then how does private interpretation that differs from the Word resolve the problem?
God is orderly, consistent, unchanging, clear when He wants to be and veiled when He chooses. His Word is the only standard He provides to compare the “spirit-led interpretations” of the masses against truth.
And so we come full circle. If God’s Word is suspect because it is the product of men led by the Lord but fallible in their communication, then we have the same problem for everyone’s interpretation “as led”, and we are reduced to “everyone does what it right in his own eyes” because he or she believes that they have a better idea of what God meant than what is written. The bottom line for me is to be obedient and submissive to His Word as written. If it doesn’t track with my understanding today, that’s not God’s lack but my own. Given the choice of obedience to His Word or my opinion of it, I choose the Word, both written and alive in Christ.
The last question I ask myself is this, “If I trust the power of the Holy Spirit in my life today, is it logical to doubt His power to guide biblical scribes and prophets in earlier days?”
Thank you for a considered and solid comment.
And, if I misinterpreted any part of your note, please forgive that as an example of the semantic minefield. This is a fabulous topic, even more so when the conversation isn’t by message!
Blessings,
Lynn
Lynn, Your article about knowing the real God is enticing, but it doesn’t tell me who the real God is. I like to start with calling God YHVH. I pronounce it YaHavah. Let me give you my outline of the gospel. I lays everything in the Bible out and leaves not confusion.
These seven essentials are the who, what, when, where, why, and how of Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Core Bible Doctrines
1. PERSON OF YHVH (YaHavah)
a. YHVH is pure Spirit, aka, the Holy Spirit. (Word of YHVH Bible (WYB)-
Gen. 2:1; John 1:1-5)
b. YHVH is infinite with no beginning and no end.
c. YHVH is all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present. (Isaiah 40:28-31;
Genesis 16:13-14; Genesis 17:1; Jeremiah 23:24)
d. YHVH created and fills the heavens and the earth by the presence of
his infinite Spirit. (Genesis 2:1 WYB)
2. PERSON OF SATAN
a. Sinned against YHVH in heaven. (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:11-19; Rev.
12:3-4)
b. Initiated default sin on earth through Adam by the knowledge of good
and evil.
c. Default sin is perpetuated through every father to his offspring (default
sin nature). This is the reason YHVH is the birth father of Jesus.
3. PERSON OF JESUS
a. Son of YaHavah (no default sin nature from his father, YHVH).
b. Son of man (human by his human mother) (Gen. 3:14-15)
c. His purpose was to fulfill the Law and Prophecy (that is the spoken
commandments and prophecies of YHVH). (Matthew 5:17)
d. His identity as Messiah in the OT and Christ in the NT.
Both mean anointed in the Spirit of YHVH.
i. For Jesus it was the anointing that fulfilled the name of
Immanuel, YHVH with us, not that Jesus was YHVH but that he
was fully led by the infinite Spirit of YHVH.
ii. For humans, anointed means regenerated out of the default sin
nature of Adam, aka, born again by remission. (Jesus is the only
human born of woman who did not have the default sin of
Adam.)
e. His Death was in payment for Adam’s sin according to the Law. Jesus is
the offering without blemish for the peace offering, sin offering, and
trespass offering.
f. His Resurrection from the grave by the power of the Spirit of YHVH.
g. His Ascension in heaven by the power of the Spirit of YHVH (mission
completed).
h. His Glorification. (Comforter and seven spirits sent out to anoint all
true and repentant believers — Rev. 5:6; Acts 2:1-5).
i. His Return
i. to save all Spirit anointed believers from YHVH’s wrath, aka,
taken out of harm’s way and to deliver the wrath accompanied
by the angels of heaven.
4. PRAYER
a. Consulting with YaHavah.
5. SPIRIT ANOINTING
a. In the Spirit of YaHavah and his seven spirits through Jesus. (Isaiah
11:1-2; Revelation 5:6; Acts 2:1-5) Remission of sin is the cancellation
of Adam’s sin in a believing and repentant heart by the favor and
presence of the Spirit of YHVH through Jesus.
b. The title Christian means anointed in the Spirit of YHVH. If a person
believes a false doctrine, he or she cannot be a true christian because
YHVH will not go where there is false doctrine.
6. BIBLE PROPHECY
a. Knowledge of the Law and Prophecy to understand eschatology.
7. TESTING OF DOCTRINE
a. By Bible and Spirit only.
b. Set aside every other doctrine. (Repent)
I don’t know if this outline will show in the form it is supposed to. It seldom does. Anyway, it is the simplest way to say who God and Jesus are because of the multitude of ways they are portrayed.
Mary, your point is well taken. This post is about raising awareness that it’s possible to meet the wrong Jesus and the great need to gain clarity more than the details of which Jesus is which. Your last line is the perfect summation, “Set aside every other doctrine. (Repent.)”
No other gospel.
There is only one Jesus Christ with the power to save and only one gospel.
Blessings,
Lynn
Excellent Lynn!! And so true in today’s world! I so appreciate your bible based teaching! And a bonus that you include horses! Hallelujah!!
Thank you, Julie. I wouldn’t have the understanding I do if it weren’t for horses. 🙂 God is good!
Julie, may I use your last sentence on my website to help visitors decide if they’d like to subscribe?
No pressure, I love you either way!
Lynn
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