Volume 2 Issue 6

ONE WAY

“A

nd there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Peter in reference to Jesus Christ made this statement as he and John stood before the religious leaders. Peter and John had started proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah to a crowd of people who had gathered around them after they had healed a lame man. They did not like Peter telling the crowd that they had killed the Messiah, Jesus, that they must repent of their sins and acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior. Nevertheless, they could not deny that a man who formerly could not walk now could. They asked Peter and John by what power or what name they had used to heal the lame man. This gave them the opportunity to witness to the Sanhedrin that it was through Jesus’ name that the man had been healed and that through Him alone was salvation possible. This infuriated the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes that were present. They were primarily responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus and they did not want anyone telling others that they were to blame for the death of the Messiah. They threatened Peter and John and told them to cease preaching about Jesus Christ. “But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard.’” (Acts 4:19-20) This response took great courage. They were speaking to the same people who had conspired to put Jesus to death, a Man most Jews thought of as a prophet, a Man who had performed many miracles, including raising Lazarus from the dead. If they could murder Jesus and get away with it, having Peter and John killed would be simple. They were risking their lives by answering the Sanhedrin in the manner they did. Yet they would not deny their faith. They were convinced that salvation and eternal life come only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. All that the Sanhedrin could do was kill their physical bodies. “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) These words that Jesus spoke to them while on the earth must have been ringing in their ears. They had learned to trust in their Lord and were no longer the fearful men that hid in the Upper Room with the door locked.

Unfortunately, Christianity is being questioned once again about with what power or in what Name we trust in for overcoming sin and the evil in the world, with what Name we rely on to bring healing and salvation to the Lord’s creation. And unlike Peter and John as they stood before these powerful religious leaders and boldly proclaimed the Name of Jesus as the source of their faith, Christianity is bowing before the religions of the world and denying the Sovereignty and Lordship of Jesus. How are they doing this?

In order not to offend the religious sensibilities of others Jesus is being removed from Christianity. That may sound strange or even ludicrous, but it is true. Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, New Age adherents, Humanists, and even practitioners of witchcraft (Wicca) have no problem with the belief in God. They also believe in a god. They recognize that there is a power, either within themselves or outside themselves, that is greater than they. For Christians to talk of God less Jesus Christ is not an offense. In fact, as good as the television show “Touched by an Angel” is, and it is a good, uplifting show, most do not find it offensive, but that would change if they made a point of including Jesus Christ in the story line and not just God the Father. For the world one god is as good as any other god. In the mind of the Hindus their god (or gods and goddesses) offer them salvation so for Christians to come along and say that, “there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5) is an affront to their beliefs; and so it is with any religion. Even belief in the true God outside Jesus Christ is not sufficient to save anyone. Jesus told the Jews, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He YOU SHALL DIE IN YOUR SINS.” (John 8:23-24) These are VERY strong words, particularly when being said to a group of people who believe in the true God. The Jews were making the same mistake as the nations around them. They thought that by keeping the Law, this is, BY WORKS, they would be saved. This, however, is a major lie used by Satan. “But Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, BUT AS THOUGH IT WERE BY WORKS. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and A ROCK OF OFFENSE, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.’” (Romans 9:31-33) It is the name of Jesus that brings down the wrath of non-believers and Christians who have sold out to the world upon those whose faith is in Jesus Christ. Belief in God is not enough. “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” (James 2:19) The demons are fully aware of the heavenly Father, but that knowledge does not save them.

Jesus plainly said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, BUT THROUGH ME.” (John 14:6) The Apostle John also boldly stated, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (1 John 5:12) The word for life used here is “zoe”, a Greek word that refers to divine life. Without Jesus there is no divine (eternal) life. No amount of works, no belief, no religion, including a Christianity that denies Jesus, bestows salvation upon us. The world tells us otherwise, but their belief is based upon a lie. “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? THIS IS THE ANTICHRIST, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.” (1 John 2:22-23) We are saved by grace THROUGH Jesus Christ. The name “Jesus” means “Savior” and the purpose of His birth was to bring salvation to a dying, fallen, sinful world. Having this knowledge obligates us as Christians to witness to the world the truth of the impotence of any religion to save their followers. Man has within him an innate desire and NEED to worship for he recognizes instinctually that something greater than himself is present. It is primarily this quality of mankind that sets him apart from the animal kingdom. No animal ever built an altar to worship God. Only man, because of the spirit within him worships. It is the spirit, something animals do not possess (and another reason why evolution is not true), that makes us “God-conscious”. But who we worship, how we worship, and why we worship is all-important.

Jesus told the woman at the well, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24) Outside of Jesus Christ our worship originates from the soul, our own will, intellect, and emotions. It is worship that is built upon the lie that mankind is acceptable to God because of who HE IS RATHER THAN WHO JESUS IS. Jesus said He was the Truth (John 14:6) and worship must be done in spirit and truth, but if the Truth is rejected, worship becomes impossible.

When we think of jealousy we might think of a green-eyed monster or an emotion that causes pain or anger and has the potential to tear the heart out of a relationship. It is doubtful that most, when thinking of jealousy would think of God. Nevertheless, jealousy is a characteristic of the heavenly Father. “For you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, WHOSE NAME IS JEALOUS, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14) A name designates the nature or an attribute of something. Biblical names often were given for this purpose. The Lord changed Abram’s name to Abraham, which means, “Father of a Multitude” because he was to become the father of the Israelite nation through Isaac and Jacob. Jeremiah means, “Whom the Lord has appointed”. The Lord told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I HAVE APPOINTED YOU a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) These are just two examples of countless others that reveal names contain hidden truth. Thus, for God to be called Jealous should cause us to search for the truth hidden here. It seems strange at first glance because it strikes us as contradictory with a God whose most basic nature is love. Paul said love “is NOT jealous…” (1 Corinthians 13:4) How do we explain this apparent inconsistency in the Bible?

It is explained when we remember that God is not a man with a base fallen human nature. He is Spirit. “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) Man’s love is not like the Lord’s; nor is our forgiveness. God loves unconditionally at all times; He forgives without malice. Only after we become Christians do we begin to experience this type of love and forgiveness by the Holy Spirit living within us. I might also add that our anger and wrath, warped by our sinful, fallen nature is not like God’s either. That is a subject that deserves its own exploration; one that we will do in the future. Knowing that our love or forgiveness is not of the same character as the Lord’s, should it be surprising to think that His jealousy would not be like ours?

We get jealous because we fear losing something. A man becomes jealous of his wife because he senses unworthiness within himself, though he may deny it, and fears she will find worth in someone else. The normal reaction of a jealous person is to hold on so tightly that the life of a relationship is in danger of suffocation. He becomes the prisoner of his own emotions. “Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, but who can stand before jealousy?” (Proverbs 27:4) Human jealousy is a killer because it is self-centered. This is the key to understanding how God can call Himself Jealous and still be righteous. God does nothing from a self-centered motive. Indeed, EVERYTHING the Lord does He does for our good being motivated from a self-sacrificing love. Thus, when God says He is jealous He means that WE are in danger of losing HIM; that WE are about to be hurt. Does that make sense? We get jealous because we fear we are losing someone near to us, and the thought of living without that person causes intense anguish. The Lord gets jealous not because He fears losing us, but because He knows WE ARE LOSING HIM. He can live without us; we cannot live without Him. Paul told those at the Church in Corinth, “For I am jealous for you with a GODLY JEALOUSY; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.” (2 Corinthians 11:2) Paul was not concerned with himself. Rather, he was concerned for the Corinthians. He feared they might turn from the Lord to a false religion or set of beliefs that would hurt them spiritually if not physically. The Psalmist understood this. “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are IDOLS, but the Lord made the heavens.” (Psalms 96:4-5) The word “idols” literally means “nothings”. The idols were incapable of helping their worshipers, incapable of providing salvation from sin. They sensed the emptiness that was within them and sought to fill it by reaching out to something greater than them through worship. But the worship of idols, of anything that takes first place in our lives outside of God the Father through Jesus Christ, results in the worship being rejected by God, and us being deceived into believing otherwise.

“But IN VAIN do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.” (Mark 7:7) A precept is a rule, law, or commandment imposing a particular standard of action or conduct. The precepts of man focus on the EXTERNAL rather than the INTERNAL; that is, the body rather than the spirit. The precepts of man are, “Live and let live”, “Don’t rock the boat”, “I’m OK, you’re OK”, “Right and wrong are relative”, “There is no absolute truth”, “Man is innately good”, “God is who we say he (she) is”, and so on. Tragically these precepts are taught not only in the secular schools and institutions, but also in some churches. These churches, these denominations have forsaken the offense of the Cross and have set up the idol Tolerance in their sanctuaries. They are afraid to speak out against evolution, abortion, or homosexuality. They fear they will be ridiculed and mocked by the scientific community as uneducated buffoons. They fear they will be perceived as anti-woman, interested only in subjecting women to the domination of men. The teaching of evolution and the acceptance of abortion, even the acceptance of the hideous procedure of partial birth abortion, have done more to destroy the sanctity of man than all the other lies Satan has planted the heart of God’s creation. When we teach our children they are the result of blind, random chance, when we show them by example that human life can be legally snuffed out at the whim of an abortionist, violence, immorality, and evil, will NATURALLY increase. Teaching these sorts of lies dehumanizes us; animal rights become as important as human rights because they reason that humans ARE animals. Violence against a human becomes acceptable in the mind of some, especially the mind of the young who can no longer differentiate between right and wrong, between good and evil. Life becomes meaningless. The survival of the fittest becomes the first and greatest commandment. How contrary this is to what Jesus says is the first and greatest commandment: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:29-30) This leaves no room for worship or belief of a deity outside the Bible.

We live in a society and a world that embraces inclusiveness. We are told that one man’s religion is as good as any other; that truth is relative to the situation or culture, that absolutes concerning morality are divisive and destructive. Christianity is viewed as exclusive and thus, evil. In fact, Christianity is exclusive, but not evil. Paul emphasizes the exclusiveness of the Christian faith when he says, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6) Some Christians are embarrassed to state publicly such an exclusive doctrine, afraid of offending non-believers or believers that have betrayed the faith. They are in affect ashamed to proclaim Jesus as Lord. But Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for SALVATION to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16) It is the gospel, the good news, of Jesus Christ that brings salvation, not a religion or belief that teaches equality or inclusiveness of beliefs of any and all the perverted ideas of fallen mankind.

In the book of Revelation the Church at Laodicea is described as thinking of itself as rich, wealthy, and lacking nothing. They considered themselves good Christians, doing all kinds of deeds in the name of Christ. However, the Lord sees them differently. “You do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me GOLD refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.” (Revelation 3:17-18) Gold is a symbol in the Bible of DIVINITY. It speaks of the life of God. The Ark of the Covenant was made of acacia wood (symbolic of mankind) covered with GOLD. There was also the GOLDEN Altar of Incense and the many GOLDEN utensils used in the worship of the Lord. The Laodiceans thought they possessed gold because they were materially wealthy, but in fact they were poverty stricken. Their BELIEF that they were standing in God’s favor was founded upon a lie. Instead of possessing gold, they possessed FOOL’S GOLD.

This is exactly what the world and some churches also possess. Thinking that one set of beliefs is as good as any other is fool’s gold. They may shape their beliefs into a form that is acceptable and inoffensive to others, but what they have created is an idol. It is no coincidence that most of the idols in the Bible were made of GOLD. They molded it and shaped it INTO THEIR IMAGE instead of allowing the Lord to shape them into His image. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to the GOLDEN idol Nebuchadnezzar had made and were thrown bound into the fiery furnace. Instead of dying, however, they were set free. So it will be for the Christian who remains true to Jesus.

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