Hello Pastor John,
I was reading Michelle’s recent letter in the Mailbag this morning, and one thing she wrote stood out to me. She said, Satan “offers people an alternative, using the name of Jesus”. (https://pastorjohnshouse.com/mailbag/15539/the-iron-kingdom-chapter-5/) The reason it stood out to me, is because a few days ago I had a brief correspondence with someone I had met at the Bible College more than 20 years ago, and I basically told him the same thing.
First, I shared some thoughts on Facebook that the Spirit had impressed on my heart about why Christianity is “such a mess”. I wrote, “The reason for that is that it’s not from God, and it never was.” I wrote about how the only true religion is whatever comes from the holy Ghost, and encouraged those who had already received its baptism to get quiet and hear the Spirit call out to them, “Come out of her, my people.”
Not much later, this friend of mine sent me a private message, telling me that he agrees with my post, saying that “the American Christian church” is indeed a mess. He said he had hardly attended any church meetings the last 10 years and that he had cut ties with the church that ran the Bible College we both had gone to. He added, “The pastors have zero accountability to anyone, and often overstep boundaries, and preach to friends.”
For a day, or so, I didn’t respond to him, because I didn’t know what to. (I had already had a correspondence with him about a year earlier, I already knew he was critical of the church, but he hadn’t accepted the truth from me back then. He had also said something like, Babylon was the United States.) But then I had a feeling that I did need to respond to his message, so I started typing, and this is what came out:
Hey, thanks for writing. When I say “Christianity”, I mean the whole religious system (regardless of geographic location) that claims to be the religion Jesus has started by his death and resurrection. I believe that Jesus died, resurrected, and went back to the Father (in Acts 1) to offer himself up as a sacrifice in heaven, so that all who repent and believe in him can receive the born again experience (Acts 2:1-4), and be saved in the end, if, after being born of the Spirit, they stay faithful to God.
Life in the Spirit (a life of holiness) is what Jesus gave his life for. Christianity, on the other hand, offers an alternative path (another Jesus, another gospel, another spirit; see 2Cor. 11), that includes ceremonies, such as water baptism and communion services – as a substitute for the real baptism of the holy Ghost (the new birth experience) and real communion with God and His people, in the Spirit.
If you’re interested, here’s a really good gospel tract on the difference between the way of Christ and Christianity, that my pastor, John D. Clark wrote many years ago:
https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_tracts.html?tname=tract-059-christorxty
I haven’t heard back from my friend since then.
Zoli
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