{"id":15119,"date":"2024-10-15T08:33:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T13:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/?p=15119"},"modified":"2024-10-15T08:40:09","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T13:40:09","slug":"the-who-of-christianity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/15119\/the-who-of-christianity\/","title":{"rendered":"The Who of Christianity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pastor John,<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a question from yesterday morning\u2019s\u00a0Father and Son<\/em> reading,<\/span><\/p>\n

( Father and Son 22<\/a><\/span>) .<\/span><\/p>\n

We know the current condition and future salvation of our souls depends on our faithful following of a\u00a0who<\/em>\u00a0in Christ, and not a\u00a0what<\/em>; as the Apostle Paul said, \u201cFollow me as I follow Christ.\u201d\u00a0 So we know that God\u2019s children are called by God to follow His representative(s) that He sends to lead them home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, in the religious system of Christianity, members appear to follow after the Christian institution instead of following a true representative of Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example-<\/span><\/p>\n

Brother Brad pointed out this morning that Christianity’s ministers often are hired and fired, or move on to other positions in the institution, leaving their sheep behind.\u00a0 I have seen Christian ministers leave their people behind for better jobs in the institution, and I have seen the minister’s flock stay behind, not following the minister, remaining faithful to the institution\u2014their church\u2014instead of the man.\u00a0\u00a0So, it appears that Christian ministers and their sheep, at least some of them, honor the institution first, above everything else.<\/span><\/p>\n

My question is, if life in Christ means a lifelong relationship between an anointed\u00a0who,<\/em>\u00a0a representative of Christ, and his flock, then who is the\u00a0who<\/em>\u00a0(if there is one) that represents the institution of Christianity, since it commands such devotion from people?\u00a0\u00a0Can a dead thing such as an institution, being comprised of a bunch of buildings, symbols, and conflicting ideas, hold on to men\u2019s hearts the way Christianity does?\u00a0 Or is there a spirit behind it all, a living\u00a0who<\/em>\u00a0that is not Jesus?<\/span><\/p>\n

==========<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, Jerry, there are spirits which brought about the religious system of Christianity and which sustain it.\u00a0\u00a0One is the perverse spirit of fallen man, and the other is Satan.\u00a0\u00a0They work together (cf. Mt. 16:23).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

==========<\/span><\/p>\n

If there is a\u00a0who<\/em>\u00a0represented by\u00a0the institution of Christianity, such as a spirit, Satan, etc., then that makes Christianity appear more like a place representing “anything but Christ” instead of representing Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

==========<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, it does.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

==========<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, if it is not a spirit or Satan behind Christianity that is inspiring such devotion from unwitting men,\u00a0is it just man\u2019s misconception of Christianity that is provoking their devotion\u2014the misconception that Christianity represents the\u00a0who<\/em>, Christ, that men know in their hearts they should be reverencing?<\/span><\/p>\n

==========<\/span><\/p>\n

Wrong ideas do not just appear out of nowhere.\u00a0 They come from living beings.\u00a0 So this question is the same as your last one: “Is there a\u00a0who\u00a0behind Christianity?”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

==========<\/span><\/p>\n

I have heard it said, and I believe it, that God may be allowing Christianity to exist as an off-ramp, so to speak, a place where His children may go to hide from holiness when they do not want to do things God\u2019s way.\u00a0\u00a0But men serve Christianity in a way that makes it appear to be more than just a bad idea.\u00a0\u00a0It almost appears that Christian leaders and organizers feed their people to that institution until folks are consumed.\u00a0\u00a0It sucks the life out of them.\u00a0\u00a0It seems spiritual.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you,<\/span><\/p>\n

Jerry<\/span><\/p>\n

==========<\/span><\/p>\n

It certainly is spiritual, Jerry; it does not just seem to be.\u00a0 Peter warned God’s people that men would come (with their institution) teaching wrong things, that many would follow them, causing the truth to be evil spoken\u00a0of, and that those men would exploit God’s children (2Pet. 2:1\u20133).\u00a0 That is a perfect\u00a0description of Christianity.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The most successful lie in history, to date, is that the religion of Christianity represents Christ.\u00a0\u00a0The whole world believes that (cf. Rev. 12:9).\u00a0 We were all fooled.\u00a0\u00a0I would have given my life for Christianity; indeed, I\u00a0was\u00a0giving my life to it.\u00a0\u00a0But Jesus has rescued me, and you, and others, and I am very thankful.\u00a0\u00a0Knowing how much God loves His people, I am hopeful that He will rescue millions more of our brothers and sisters who, as you and I were, are still blinded by the appearance of goodness and the worldly honor that Christianity enjoys.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Christianity has nothing to do with the real Jesus, other than what it claims.\u00a0\u00a0What an amazing, fearful revelation that was to me when I finally received it!\u00a0 It is only\u00a0because He loves them so much, the Father is crying, \u201cCome out of her, my people!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0I am so thankful that I heard that call!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Now, to be a good example of the meekness and love of Christ.\u00a0\u00a0That is our job, Jerry.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks for writing.\u00a0\u00a0I hope I have adequately answered your question.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Pastor John<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Tell us what you think:<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/WitnessofSpirit\/status\/1846183495309115618<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pastor John, I have a question from yesterday morning\u2019s\u00a0Father and Son reading, ( Father and Son 22) . We know the current condition and future salvation of our souls depends on our faithful following of a\u00a0who\u00a0in Christ, and not a\u00a0what; as the Apostle Paul said, \u201cFollow me as I follow Christ.\u201d\u00a0 So we know that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-qa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15119"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15119"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15123,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15119\/revisions\/15123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}