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THE LORD’S REAL COVENANT MODEL AND DISCIPLESHIP STANDARD [Part 3]
There were times when the Lord was tactful and parabolic in His teachings. There were other times He didn’t hold back a whit and came out with guns blazing.
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A STRONG POWERFUL MAN
“Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” [John 7:46]
No one taught like the Lord. No one ever spoke like Him or would ever do so again. During His ministry, the Lord Jesus, the great Yehoshua Ha`Mashiach, was the very epitome of the perfect Gospel Minister and the most excellent example possible to follow. He was the Living Word …and the Word was God.
Here was a Man who was strong as an ox, who had worked very hard at manual labor throughout His early life, specifically as a builder and carpenter, working with wood and stone, using by our modern standards relatively crude but effective tools and materials often straight from the fields. He likely hewed and harvested His own trees, loaded and hauled heavy rocks, made His own bricks, and possibly even forged metal though certainly used it as needed. All of it was extremely labor intensive and time consuming.
As a builder myself, and longtime carpenter and tradesman, I know what hard work is and have the “evidence” to prove it. Yet the work I’ve done is relative to the times which are wholly unlike the Lord’s times in that tools are a massive upgrade, the materials are often machined to the point of direct use, and most of all, we have electricity. There have been many times when I did remodeling work on relatively very old houses built prior to 1900 when local carpenters of that time did everything by hand using hand saws and drills. The first hand-held power saws were not invented until the early 1920s. The old material I worked on in those houses—old dark wood studs and framing—was somewhat rougher cut, thicker, and much harder—the latter likely being due in part to the passage of time. But those boys back then had to cut it all by hand without losing any precision or time. The milled lumber used for tongue and groove flooring, trim, and siding was all hand-nailed. It was very hard work and I think underappreciated by modern tradesmen. It did not matter what the trade was in the past, the men working them were much stronger and tougher. They had to be.
Keep this in mind when considering the work of ancient times. Most of the men the Lord chose for ministry were likewise strong and tough, wiry and ripped, and accustomed to hard labor whether they were carpenters, fishermen, lumbermen/millers, stonecutters, butchers—you name it. Whatever it was they did it was without the many later innovations and certainly without electricity which we all pretty much take for granted. This does not mean that modern workers do not work very hard in their own right or are not tough and strong as well (one has to be), but times must be put in perspective.
THICK SKIN TENDER HEART
No one is more tender-hearted than the Lord. No one loves as much, No one is more willing to serve and do whatever must be done in the process of saving souls from eternal death. It is why the Lord could use finesse and tenderness when called for, knowing a deft touch works wonders for the heart, especially upon those with broken, aching, and contrite hearts. Living in this fallen world of sin, pain, and suffering wreaks havoc on human hearts and the Lord was never one to pile on but expressed compassion whenever necessary. He was the essence of kindness.
Imagine such a strong Man with weathered thick skin and crinkling about His face and eyes showing such care and concern. He was the very picture of the ultimate Disciple, putting up with the rigors and necessities of life while also exhibiting the height of spiritual Light and Grace. He was a Man from heaven within but appearing ever much like a Man of his times without.
Yet, He was also a Lion and His roar could be heard at a distance. This was often the case when He had to preach to great crowds. To lesson the decibels, He would on occasion use natural means to make His voice go further, such as when He would preach from a boat just off the shoreline or at His Sermon on the Mount when He was actually at the base of the rise, allowing His voice to waft upwards as in a natural amphitheater.
I think He saved his greatest roar for those with the thickest hearts and thinnest skins. You know who I mean. Check out all His world-class “Woe to you” rebukeathons dispersed throughout the Gospel accounts. These were directed at non-men existing in the mere guise of humanity who hated people and wanted only to rule them, extract whatever wealth from them they could, and make them live in fear. In their twisted minds, people subjected to such conditions were far easier to control. The Lord greatly opposed such miscreants, those given over to false authority, especially those of the religious leadership variety. They were pretty much all sellouts, existing as mealymouthed persnickety hairsplitters, devious to a T, with less compassion than an angry rattlesnake. They were so evil they relentlessly attacked their very Creator, the One so infinitely unlike them. They were, as the Lord Himself stated, “of your father the devil.” This gives us insight into the hard-hearted thin-skinned one opposing all that is good and always falsely accusing the righteous.
WHY A COVENANT?
I spent many seasons as a coach. I put my own men’s softball teams together. I’ve done decades of team-oriented blue collar work in construction and the Texas oil field. Try working with people who refuse to be team players. These are usually not the higher minded and talented independent types able to forge their own path by God’s grace. If needing to be team players, such independent types almost always submit to teamwork because they are smart enough to know it works for the greater good and makes working together much more enjoyable and doable. The good guys often don’t care so much about who’s in charge but only that whoever is in charge is very good at it for the benefit of everyone else. Most people have no problem submitting to such leadership but there are always bad apples who can’t make it on their own and for whatever reason, can’t work so well within a team either (a covenant).
It is the same with many Christians. They either simply cannot understand the concept of covenant with God or refuse to do so, displaying a lack of perceived understanding regarding its required purpose, an incomprehension of its necessary full application, or an insufficient grasp of its inherent constitutional structure. Regardless, there is never any reason or excuse to violate it.
Speaking of which, there are times when tact and finesse won’t do. When the Lord has already put the very best deal together, one that can never be improved upon, He sometimes has to enforce it. Though it may be harsh, it is necessary. Here’s an example:
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! [Galatians 1:6-9][1]
This is why the Lord created a sacred covenant that each of His followers must sign on to in the beginning knowing it is forever and always and also knowing that one’s total submission to the Leader is a non-negotiable requirement. It is not because the Lord wants to rule and reign over His people and make them feel His weight (He can), but to simply make the whole thing work. He is the best. The best of the best. There is nobody better. He is the greatest Leader there could ever be and is infinitely trustworthy, loving, and kind. He is also stronger and tougher than anyone else, the greatest Alpha Male of all time, and proved it by His entire ministry.
The final proof came when He voluntary went to the cross, subjecting Himself to abject horrendous torture and shame on our behalf. There is no greater love than this. He deserves infinite glory for all eternity. One can never praise Him enough!
Therefore, whoever has a problem with signing an eternal covenant with such a Man has got a severe problem which likely demands spiritual deliverance. In other words, if the Lord will never wrong you (He won’t), if you can always trust Him (you can), if He will never walk out on you (He won’t), or betray you (He won’t), will always love you (He will), can always be counted on (Amen), and will forever do His best to keep His end of the deal (He will), then what’s the problem? There is no other covenant or contract or agreement that any of us has ever signed onto that is anywhere close to being as beneficial as the Lord’s covenant. And it’s eternal! Therefore, though church and ministry agreements are fine, they pale in comparison to the agreement each of us makes with the Lord. Anyone with a measurable IQ knows it’s the Lord who has by far the bigger challenge in such a deal.
WORTH IT ALL
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. [Romans 8:18]
It is understandable then, why the Lord has commandments that His followers must keep. Whatever it is they must do is nothing comparable to what He subjects Himself to in His Covenant. And no matter what the cost of Discipleship may be, it is next to nothing compared to the benefits both here and beyond. Those who sign up and stay the course make the greatest and best decision of their entire existence.
The names of every one are found recorded in the Book of Life.
© 2025 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
THE LORD’S REAL COVENANT MODEL AND DISCIPLESHIP STANDARD [Part 2]
The rebellion of Adam and Eve manifests itself as well through the many diverse forms of Christianity which purposely differ from the original and oppose the Lord.
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“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” [John 14:15]
COVENANT AUTHORITY
We know from the historical account of Adam in Genesis, which the Lord Jesus referenced during His ministry (Matthew 19:4-6), that in the very beginning there was perfect spiritual covenantal relationship between this man and God. The same relationship with God transpired with Eve. Directly afterwards, a new covenant was created by God, the marriage covenant between Adam and Eve which was also a perfect covenantal relationship.
Now, regarding the stipulations of these two covenants, and due to the fact that God gave Adam and Eve free wills (because they were sentient beings made in the image of God and not robots), the respective covenants could only work and remain in effect if the parties thereof remained true in heart to one another. This means their close covenant connections were founded upon an eternal adherence by each party to the basic terms thereof which promoted and maintained ongoing good relationship, which, primarily, is Faithfulness (fidelity, devotion, commitment, loyalty, etc.).
Yet, the foundation for such faithfulness is Love. It is why whoever would be in covenant with God must love God (with all one’s heart). Without this love, regardless of great effort and doing everything else right, this covenant could not possibly work. It is the same with marriage. Therefore, these two highest of all covenant relationships are unlike any other. The first creates spiritual life. The second creates human life.
DIAGRAMS
To get a better perspective of these three parties and their original covenant connections, one might consider the simple illustration of a three-sided pyramid. Each point of the pyramid is a covenant partner. At the top is God. At the lower left is Adam. At the lower right is Eve. Each side of the pyramid, represented by a straight line, is the relational connection. Thus, according to this illustration, God has separate direct relationships with both Adam and Eve, as represented by the left and right outwardly descending lines, and Adam and Eve have their own relationship as represented by the base line. Remember, the spiritual covenant Adam and Eve each had with God superseded the one they had with each other (marriage).
So, the pyramid figure starts with the highest point (God). God then creates another point on the lower left upon the creation of Adam. He then creates a line between these two points (the spiritual covenant relationship between God and Adam). Later, when God created Eve, He created a third point on the lower right, followed by a second line between these two points (the spiritual covenant relationship between God and Eve). Only after all this is accomplished is the final connecting line drawn at bottom, (the marriage covenant relationship between Adam and Eve extending left to right). One may notice there is no one else between each covenant party. Adam and Eve each have their direct line of relationship and communication with God and a separate direct line of relationship and communication between each other.
Okay. Is this model actually true? Not really. Is the flaw in this pyramid diagram readily apparent? It is certainly there. This illustration may appear as a good example but is actually in violation of the Lord’s teachings. To discover the flaw, if you have not already, the Apostle Paul addressed the correct covenant relationship model in the eleventh chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians:
…Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. [1Corinthians 11:3]
Consider the following full explanatory passage from the Amplified Classic:
Pattern yourselves after me [follow my example], as I imitate and follow Christ (the Messiah). I appreciate and commend you because you always remember me in everything and keep firm possession of the traditions (the substance of my instructions), just as I have [verbally] passed them on to you.
But I want you to know and realize that Christ is the Head of every man, the head of a woman is her husband, and the Head of Christ is God.
Any man who prays or prophesies (teaches, refutes, reproves, admonishes, and comforts) with his head covered dishonors his Head (Christ). And any woman who [publicly] prays or prophesies (teaches, refutes, reproves, admonishes, or comforts) when she is bareheaded dishonors her head (her husband); it is the same as [if her head were] shaved. For if a woman will not wear [a head] covering, then she should cut off her hair too; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her head shorn or shaven, let her cover [her head].
For a man ought not to wear anything on his head [in church], for he is the image and [reflected] glory of God [his function of government reflects the majesty of the divine Rule]; but woman is [the expression of] man’s glory (majesty, preeminence). For man was not [created] from woman, but woman from man; Neither was man created on account of or for the benefit of woman, but woman on account of and for the benefit of man. Therefore she should [be subject to his authority and should] have a covering on her head [as a token, a symbol, of her submission to authority, that she may show reverence as do] the angels [and not displease them].
Nevertheless, in [the plan of] the Lord and from His point of view woman is not apart from and independent of man, nor is man aloof from and independent of woman; For as woman was made from man, even so man is also born of woman; and all [whether male or female go forth] from God [as their Author].
Consider for yourselves; is it proper and decent [according to your customs] for a woman to offer prayer to God [publicly] with her head uncovered? Does not the native sense of propriety (experience, common sense, reason) itself teach you that for a man to wear long hair is a dishonor [humiliating and degrading] to him, But if a woman has long hair, it is her ornament and glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.
Now if anyone is disposed to be argumentative and contentious about this, we hold to and recognize no other custom [in worship] than this, nor do the churches of God generally. [1Corinthians 11:1-16][1]
Thus, the correct illustration of God’s covenants is not a pyramid but a vertical line.
It is the only spiritual hierarchy mentioned in the New Testament (a very limited hierarchy) and is uncomplicated and brief. It begins with God’s supreme presiding authority in heaven and descends to humanity on earth.
DEFINITIONS
Before going further, I must first address the meaning of the English word denoting this authority—“head”—used in 1Corinthians 11:3. It is from the Greek root word κεφαλή kephalḗ (kef-al-ay’). It is defined as: “the head (as the part most readily taken hold of), literally or figuratively:—head.” With regard to this verse, Thayer’s Greek Lexicon states:
“Metaphorically, anything supreme, chief, prominent; of persons, master, lord: τίνος, of a husband in relation to his wife, 1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:23; of Christ, the lord of the husband, 1 Corinthians 11:3 (cf. Buttmann, 124f (109)).”
To clarify this, think of the authority the Lord Jesus has over His disciples. Also, think of the Lord Jesus as the Groom and the authority He has over the Bride of Christ. With reference to God or the Father, keep in mind that the Father-Son relationship is a package deal. These two cannot be divided. In fact, the Apostle John writes that whoever does not have the Son does not have the Father, and vice versa. God is not three people but He did manifest Himself in three principal ways. The Lord Jesus is Immanuel: “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). He is the Image of God (2Corinthians 4:4, Colossians 1:15). During His ministry, the Man (the Son) subjected Himself to the Father. However, He often equated Himself with the Father. He even said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Therefore, this issue must be looked upon in a covenantal sense. For example, Paul stated:
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. [Galatians 3:26-29]
This means, in spiritual terms, that every actual member of the Lord’s real Community is equal regardless of nationality, gender, or social standing. However, a Christian slave remained subjected to his master. Workers remained subjected to whoever hired them. Citizens remained subjected to governing authorities. This also extends to marriage, but again, the marriage covenant is superseded only by one’s personal covenant with the Lord, which means it is obviously a covenant based on love and faithfulness. Nevertheless, the Word of God is clear that the husband is to have authority over his wife:
…Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. [1Corinthians 11:3][2]
CONNECTIONS
However, for the covenants to be in effect, the man first must be as Adam was before the fall, that is, in right relationship with God, and not as Adam was afterwards. And the woman first must be as Eve was before the fall, that is, in right relationship with God, and not as she was afterwards. The marriage covenant thus extends or emerges from the primary covenant with the Lord and is connected to it, just as the overall hierarchy of authority, the vertical line model, is connected through a series of links.
It is why the Lord’s real covenant model is overarching and so important, since every other covenant in the life of a real Christian is based upon it.
© 2025 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued…]
[1] © 1987 Amplified Bible Classic Edition. Used by permission.
[2] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
THE LORD’S REAL COVENANT MODEL AND DISCIPLESHIP STANDARD [Part 1]
It allows for no deviancies or dissent, is always per the authoritative command of the Lord Jesus, and requires absolute trust and obedience (even unto death).
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It is also entirely unforced and voluntary. The Lord never uses coercion. He never utilizes religious demands, false fear tactics, or compulsion to gain converts and grow His congregation. He also never engages in the payoff to buy the services of others. His model and standard is so unlike any other which must use such illicit methods of conscription to force compliance, it is truly a wonder He is left with any community at all. Yet His following grew quickly by leaps and bounds. He also had none of the usual personal incentives, such as the desire for social credibility and acceptance, a good living and hope of greater prosperity, and worldly religious power. These facts demand an otherwise unknown component, one based on a pure heartfelt willingness to submit to servanthood toward the Lord and one another, regardless of its perceived negative effect on personal choice and natural liberty. This hidden factor must be something great that God has done for those He loves before they could ever possibly do anything for Him.
SPIRITUAL COVENANT
The Lord Jesus taught that all who are apart from God and not in relationship with Him are dead in sin. Not most. Not a mere majority. ALL. In this He perfectly agreed with all previous Old Testament teachings and prophetic pronouncements on the subject. The Word of God thus makes it clear that personal sin separates one from God. From God’s perspective, this was a horrifying development which grew ever more so as the gangrene of sin spread evilly outward as a plague on mankind. He knew people in that condition could never fix themselves or transcend their situation. Something had to be done, of course, but it would have to start with Him.
Yet it is not possible for God to be in fellowship with sinners. It is primarily because He is holy and pure, which requires those in right relationship with Him to be the same. Though in the beginning, humanity had been created in the image of God, the original visage had become greatly marred. Some yearned for a return to the Garden. Most, however, adapted to sin and became comfortable in their fallen state. If such separation from God is desired, it is also an indication that the willful sinner places more importance on whatever causes the broken covenant than he or she does toward God or a relationship with Him. Regardless, in reality, human beings were not only created by God but created for Him. We were designed to be in relationship with Him and without Him we have a hard row to hoe.
Adam and Eve discovered this early on. Rather than continue to honor her husband as she had been doing and remain faithful, she made the fateful decision to honor another above him. In this she violated her covenant with Adam, which, because she committed gross sin, also violated her covenant with God. When Adam discovered that Eve had violated herself in sin, something from which she would not be able to recover, it was his duty to remain faithful to God and make sure the same terrible circumstance did not befall him. To keep everything intact he should have shown Eve the door. Instead, he allowed her deception to violate his good conscience because he apparently could not fathom life without Eve.
In that critical though brief interval of time when Eve was hopelessly corrupted but Adam was not, the man made a much more grievous decision than had the woman. Why? Because other than Eve, who had made her choice, everything else could still be saved. Adam’s covenant relationship with God could remain pure. The Garden could remain perfect, growing, and fruitful. God’s original plan for man could remain intact. This, however, would have required Adam to become as the Lord and be a savior.
Speaking of which, remember when Jacob’s son Joseph saved his entire family and future nation? He did so because he had apparently already subjected himself as a young man to the will of God. He therefore allowed God to use him for great good though it would cost him everything but his own life and also thirteen years of terrible trial, pain, and misery. Nevertheless, Joseph remained faithful throughout and completed his course. The famine which would have wiped out the tiny emerging nation of Israel in the land of Canaan would, though just as deadly in Egypt, have a solution against it there, again by the hand of God through Joseph, which also allowed him to save the most important thing of all—the generational line going through the children of his brother Judah that would result many centuries later in the coming Messiah, the real and greatest SAVIOR of all mankind.
Would that Adam had accepted his savior assignment. Instead, he did the opposite. Instead of saving everything He turned his back on God and effectively embraced the serpent as had Eve. She convinced him to partake of the dirty deed as she had done, because from her new perspective eating the forbidden fruit had become the right and good thing to do. This meant her life with God was already in her rear view mirror and she was not changing her mind.
Perhaps Adam had no natural defense or immunity from such powerful manipulation in that there is only so much God can teach us in His attempt to persuade us from making stupid idiotic decisions, the bad result of which we cannot perceive. Such a thing comes down to faith and trust and that even though it may look like God could not be more off base and wrong one will honor and obey Him anyway. Had Adam done this by simply fighting through the great temptation, something he was certainly equipped to do, and stating unequivocally as his future descendant did—“Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only,’”—everything would have been saved, save for Eve.
He also could have saved himself future misery by giving Eve what she wanted post haste, which she would get eventually anyway, by escorting her to the Garden Gate pronto and wishing her well in the wild world beyond which she seemed desperate to experience, you know, to push the envelope and enjoy life and rumble off on a Harley with her snake friend and no longer be cooped up in a boring Garden or under subjection to a measly man with incorrigible discipleship standards instead of being hooked up with a powerful demonic personage. Yeah, sure. What fun. See ya, Eve. Watch out for that screen door…
But no. Adam ended up forcing God’s hand to kick them both out. For God, this revolting development was not a surprise and was even something of which He had already made future provision:
For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. [1Corinthians 15:21-22][1]
© 2025 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued…]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS [Amplified Bible/Classic Edition]: INTRODUCTION
As a new Christian many years ago, I discovered and began using the original Amplified Bible as a secondary supplement to the KJV, my primary Bible as a new Christian. I read both from cover to cover early on and used both extensively in Bible study. In my experience, the two worked great together.
The Amplified is named appropriately. Though technically not a traditional translation due to its additional “amplifications” it remains true to the source data as an authentic word-for-word translation (formal equivalence). (It certainly is not a substandard paraphrase version). However, as it sometimes gives multiple nuanced definitions of difficult to translate source words in which only one definition may actually apply, though such are clearly set off by brackets/parentheses/italics, the only corrective is to use multiple Bible translations in seeking specifics, something most readers are not wont to do and appreciate instead the additional material in one volume, something otherwise not possible.
The Amplified Bible is thus in my opinion an exceptional scholarly work that allows for greater richness and understanding of the Word of God especially on an introductory basis prior to one’s deeper research. For those of you who may not be acquainted with the Amplified, I highly recommend it.
After a few years with the KJV I moved on to the NKJV as my primary and eventually added a great many Bible versions (dozens) for use in my research. Beginning shortly after it was first published, I have used the New American Standard Bible 1995 Update (NASB95), touted as the most literal, as my primary Bible for reading and for use in my teachings and writings, though I will certainly use and quote other versions as supplements when applicable. I also highly recommend this version.
Regarding the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, it was written in circa 61AD while he was imprisoned in Rome. After landing in Ephesus, this letter quickly began making the rounds in that area of the world, western Asia Minor, and was soon copied extensively, sometimes without reference to a city or with references to other cities. Paul wrote four letters while under house arrest in Rome from 60-62AD. The others are Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon. He likely wrote Ephesians soon after writing Colossians, since the two have so much in common.
I encourage all to read the Scriptural passages I will present here with open spiritual eyes and consider the great love and maturity of the Apostle Paul which is revealed in the composition. His letter to the Ephesians is foundational, ultra-edifying, and historical in context. As always, all praise to the Lord Jesus, the true Author and Living Word of God, for inspiring and anointing His servant Paul to add to the burgeoning New Covenant writings of that early historical period of the Lord’s Community.
I will be posting one chapter at a time. Enjoy and Be Blessed.
© 2025 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
HOW THE LORD CONFIRMS THE ACCURACY OF CHRISTIAN TEACHING: A DIALOGUE
“Look. Here’s the problem. It’s like we have to follow a script. It’s like we are limited in what we can do in ministry because of Scriptural parameters.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“Well, I don’t feel I am suggesting anything, I don’t think, but merely pointing out the problems that arise from always having to keep reverting back to Scripture, as in, well, ‘the Bible says this’ or ‘the Lord said we must,’ or ‘we have to apply this Biblical directive…’”
“You think your ministerial work is suffering because you invoke Scripture?”
“No, no, not necessarily, but because, well, because I think there are other applications that probably work better in some instances, and…”
“But don’t you realize that the application of Scripture, especially the teachings of Jesus, is exactly that which provides solutions?”
“But does it always? Sometimes I’m not so sure. I’ve seen…”
“Are you having a personal crisis regarding your faith?”
“What? No, no, I just think that, that, well, that sometimes I want to help someone get through whatever they may be dealing with and show, you know, my heartfelt sympathy or concern, and, I think that trying to quote Scripture at such a time is, just, not working, or won’t work, like it’s being cold.”
“My goodness. How long have you been doing this?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve obviously been attempting to minister to people while also holding a clear lack of faith in Christian teachings. Do you not see this?”
“No! No, that’s not it. I know the Scriptures are the Word of God but I feel like I’m hitting people with a book, like I’m merely parroting verses and passages instead of reaching them at the point of their need, and showing sincere concern, and…”
“Did the Lord engage in ministry in such a way?”
“Well the Lord was certainly right there and touching hearts, and…”
“Showing compassion?”
“Yes! Yes, that’s it. He showed compassion. He granted mercy, He…”
“He watered-down the Law of Moses because that might help people not feel offended?”
“The Law! What?”
“You have a problem with the Law!”
“Wait. We’re Christians! We honor the New Covenant not the Old! We…”
“The Lord Jesus was never against the Law of Moses! The Lord actually fulfilled the Law of Moses! What is wrong with you?”
“Why are you getting so upset?”
“Because you have obviously gone off the deep end and need strong correction! How long have you been carrying this lack of respect for the Law?”
“But Paul was always talking about the deficiencies of the Law. It’s throughout all his writings.”
“You’re exaggerating. Paul spoke of the New Covenant superseding the Old Covenant but he also strongly defended the Law of Moses! Yes! The Law as delivered originally by God through Moses was certainly not deficient but was simply in need of its final fulfillment which could only be done by the future Messiah. To state that the Law was deficient or that there was a problem with the Law is grossly incorrect.”
“Okay… I’m thinking… I’m wondering where I picked this up…”
“It could be through a simple misapplication of Scripture.”
“Yes… But no. I must have received my understanding of the Law through those New Testament passages which refer to the Law in a negative sense.”
“Then you have an incomplete understanding of Scripture and need further teaching. Or you could have received it through the teachings of others in that regard.”
“But that, that would indicate that there are Christian teachers that get it wrong.”
“Yes. And what else is new?”
“No, I don’t mean… I mean, that they are doing it deliberately…”
“Which would mean exactly that or that they also have been deceived by a false teaching regarding the Law. They are doing what they think is right or…”
“Or they are not deceived at all but are deliberately teaching something that opposes the Scriptures…”
“Yes. Some are deceived. But some are agents of the enemy who have infiltrated our schools and churches.”
“How do we… What do we do?”
“First of all I appreciate the respect you are showing an elder. All real ministers of the Gospel at some point come across this sad state of affairs, this deceptive invasion, usually when they’re relatively young, as yourself. I discovered it when I was a young minister but I had no elder to help me out. I’m glad you came to me. Secondly, what we do is what any real minister of the Gospel would do. You know the answer…”
“Study to show yourself approved.”
“Exactly. Paul knew so much, so much more than he could readily share. People have to be able to receive it… When he wrote those words to Timothy he knew that Timothy, though relatively young, had gained enough maturity to know what to do.”
“Even if he didn’t fully understand. Like me. Right now…”
“But again, Paul knew Timothy would know what to do and he knew he would work very hard to succeed. And would do anything he must.”
“Timothy had to study. He had to read the Word. He had to pray.”
“That’s right. Real ministers know they often don’t know so they work very hard so they will know. That’s how they learn. It’s an ongoing process. The Word of God is Truth. It is filled with spiritual truths. It is our job to work hard at finding those truths. Then we can apply them.”
“That’s what I thought I was saying at the beginning of our conversation.”
“Well, you were seeing that merely relaying Scripture or quoting verses was kind of, kind of wooden, in some instances. You want to connect with people on a heart level instead of simply give directives toward the written Word.”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. You can minister all day long but it will be worthless without the Word of God. And I specifically mean the teachings of our Lord. His teachings were pure and they were purely delivered. He never ministered without the Word. It would have been impossible anyway. He is the Word.”
“So I need to study. Wait. Can I see your Bible?”
“Sure.”
“Okay… I need to read this… Here it is: Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
“There’s a lot there.”
“He has given us His Word.”
“Yes.”
“He trusts us with it.”
“It’s a high calling.”
“And I feel ashamed, but not like, I mean, I know He understands. But I must work harder. I must be diligent.”
“It’s the only way. We only have so much time. And we have to get it right.”
“I need to focus more on the Word than on someone else’s teaching of the Word.”
“Well, there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. We just need to always make sure that our primary Counselor is the Lord Jesus. He will confirm the truth but also reveal untruths. For every untruth there is a lack of spiritual freedom. If you collect too many they act as chains tying you down. You came in here with a burden. We had to fish out its cause.”
“Thank you. I thought I knew what I was talking about.”
“You got a hold of some bad information. It wasn’t intentional. You see, if a believer gets some bad information in the context of Biblical teaching but doesn’t know it’s bad, and accepts it as truth, the only way to ferret it out is by reading and studying the Word. The more you read and study the Word the more likely it will get exposed. It is the Living Word you know. The New Covenant Scriptures were divinely inspired by the Lord and are actually alive. They will do the work as long as we do ours.”
“They didn’t even have written New Testaments in the beginning…”
“But they had Spirit-filled anointed preachers and teachers. There were a great many of them. They came to maturity rapidly.”
“And they handled the Word of truth accurately…”
“That’s right. And when they got it right the Lord confirmed what they taught with signs and miracles. Those miracles had a dual purpose. They acted as endorsements—a sign of approval.”
“That was the proof.”
“Yes.”
“And if they were somehow wrong…”
“No miracles. No attesting signs.”
“Wow. The written Word is a deliverance mechanism…”
“Well, yes. That is why it is so important that we get it right. We are charged with delivering the Gospel as He delivered it. When we do we get the results He got. The originals got it right.”
“On a colossal scale.”
“So you see why it is so important to never let anything foreign or false enter into our curriculums because they act as a drag on the power of the Word.”
“So a great many ministers want to get it right and many are very strong about teaching what they believe is Scriptural truth. They insist on their versions and doctrines. But they never test their teachings against the only proof that would confirm them. They are satisfied without proof.”
“Yes. Many Christian teachers never put their teachings to the Scriptural test. Instead of seeking God’s confirmation they get their confirmations from others. They seek the approval of others.”
“They mainly seek the confirmation of the congregation. Oh boy. You don’t want the church folks on your back. Or they seek the confirmation of their betters, their higher-ups. Whoever’s paying you. Whoever’s giving you permission to preach. That’s who most ministers are trying to please. …Yes, I get it. We must seek only the Lord’s confirmation. It’s the only way to know we’re getting our teaching right.”
“You mean His teaching.”
© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
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FOR FURTHER STUDY:
But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. [Romans 7:6-8:4] [1]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
WEBSITE ADDRESS: rjdawson.com
THE NEW TESTAMENT IS MANDATORY READING FOR EVERY BELIEVER
At the very heart of the teachings of the Lord Jesus is His desire to bring salvation and blessings to our lives. This can be accomplished only by properly applying His Word.
REVEALING THE PROPER PERSPECTIVE
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” [Matthew 24:35]
God is sovereign. He is also perfect. He is total good. There is absolutely nothing negative, incomplete, or deficient about Him. This is what the New Testament teaches. It also teaches that God became a human being and revealed Himself to the world as the Lord Jesus. The New Covenant writings thus contain the only authorized official written record of the original teachings of the Lord. They also contain the working out of His teachings among His first disciples in His original first-century Community. The New Testament is thus both a repository of His full written curriculum and an excellent overall living example of how to carry it out and carry it forth. And because the Old Covenant has been made obsolete by the New, the New Testament stands above the Old Testament as the highest revelation of God and His Word.
To gain a better understanding of this, the Lord Jesus reveals that His Word is eternal and is far more important and long-lasting than both heaven and earth. This is an extremely profound statement. Conversely, everything that comprises heaven and earth and all that one experiences at any moment through the five senses is wholly transient and temporary and will eventually come to an end. Such things are illusory in the sense that they appear as the most real (and apparently the only reality) but are actually only a mere limited reality in comparison to the eternal. This limited reality we all experience will one day pass away but the Lord Jesus and His eternal Word will never pass away. He and it will always exist.
One would think, therefore, if one is thinking correctly, that the Lord’s Word is vastly more important than anything in one’s temporal life and must consequently be honored as such. The only possible way this can happen is if an individual chooses to honor the Lord Jesus above everything and everyone else—He must be first. If He is first in one’s life His Word will also be first and will serve as one’s life instruction manual. In this way a person can apply the eternal good of God to his or her temporary spiritually fruitless life and be on the way to becoming an eternal abundantly blessed believer rather than one who will simply live within a temporary physical existence for a few years or decades and then cease to exist with no eternal record. This is the epitome of meaninglessness and the sad truth of the majority of human existence.
Therefore, in order for true followers of the Lord Jesus to become true disciples and prove their discipleship, each must read and study His teachings—His written Word—and become familiar with His full curriculum in order to know and understand what His instructions are and also how to fulfill them in one’s life.
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. [2Timothy 2:15]
THE REST OF THE BEST
In addition to the life events and instructions of the Lord in the gospels, He has also provided many New Covenant writings beyond the four gospels to show succeeding generations how the original believers actually fulfilled His teachings. For starters, we have a complete history book of the early Christian Community—an authentic thirty year historical record—beginning with the time of the Lord’s resurrection in 32AD until 62AD. In this work, the Book of Acts, are all the major events of that time period which illustrate the Lord’s actions in the earth and the necessary vital components of Christian Community and evangelization. There are also a large number of instructional letters in the New Testament which not only applied perfectly to the first generation of Christians but were and remain applicable for each succeeding generation into the future.
In total, including the concluding prophetic Book of Revelation, Christians are blessed by God with a total of twenty-seven modules of New Testament literature by several different authors. These men wrote by God’s inspiration and anointing in accordance with His will to create a written record of His eternal Word. They had each experienced His salvation and wonder-working power in their own lives and witnessed ongoing miraculous manifestations in the lives of a great many others throughout their travels. God’s Word was confirmed on countless occasions and if believed in and applied correctly at present will achieve the same results.
To conclude, the New Testament exists for our instruction and edification. It shines a light on spiritual truth and exposes error. It also exposes deception, forces out of hiding wicked forces, defines sin, and discloses the fallen nature of this current temporary world. Most importantly, the NT reveals the true nature of God and illustrates His great love and mercy.
At the very heart of the teachings of the Lord Jesus is His desire to bring salvation and blessings to our lives. This can be accomplished only by properly applying His Word.
“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
“But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” [Luke 6:47-49][1]
© 2024 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
WINNING THE SPIRITUAL WAR FOR THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD
What mysterious power compels one to shut off his mind to new truth? Why is this also true regarding many Christians and New Testament truth?
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THE NEW COVENANT WRITINGS
As currently known, constructed, and accepted, the New Testament is finite. If one reads it one knows all there is to know of it. If one studies it continuously one discovers greater spiritual truth which serves to open ever more doors of understanding. If one adds additional background information which aids his awareness, such as, for example, historical knowledge of the ancient first-century AD world in which our Lord Jesus lived, then one has greater ability to comprehend the New Covenant writings. This also aids in applying them.
We live in a time which is the greatest time for accessing such truths. If one wants to read the New Testament Scriptures it is a simple process. One can find many different Bible versions in most of the languages of the world and certainly the major languages. One can find these in print, digital format, or on the internet—pretty much any medium. Much of it is free. Some Bible translations are excellent and some not so much. Some purposely leave out particular words or add others or change the content subtly though deliberately which proves the authors thereof have a decidedly different agenda than revealing the truth of Scripture as given in the original. Thus, such versions only exist to deceive and lead one astray in order to fulfill a hidden agenda. This means one must be very careful of one’s choices and never assume “a Bible is a Bible.” This is simply not true. If one wants the actual full truth contained in the NT one must be selective and choose wisely.
Some New Testament versions are the very best we can do regarding word-for-word or literal translations (which is not easy with regard to the original Greek) such as the New American Standard 1995 Update. There is also a 2020 version though I personally have yet to use it and I do not think it necessarily adds much. I prefer the 1995 as it has been my go-to version since it first came out twenty-eight years ago. Prior to then I was primarily using the New King James Version but it is a lesser version by contrast though immensely better than the original KJV, which contains a decidedly authoritative bias. Still, the KJV is the one I cut my teeth on in the beginning of my walk and I know it well. It was the first Bible I read through completely and it did not take long.
At that time, after first getting saved, I used an old relatively tattered paperback KJV given to me by my original witness. It was already well-used and marked up and I probably added to it. I still have that Bible and treasure it. The next year I spent quite a sum for that time, over $40 (two days of warehouse worker pay) for a brand new leather-bound Thompson Chain Reference KJV which I still have in good condition. Later that year I also began using a hardback Amplified Version as an excellent supplement (I still have this also but it’s considerably the worse for wear.) Over the years since then and into the present I have also used any number of additional Bible versions (many!) to assist as supplements in my research, study, and writing as well as making good use of the original Hebrew and Greek.
We therefore have no excuses whatsoever as Christians to not read and know the New Testament. It is an absolute requirement for the person who actually follows the Lord Jesus. It is likely the case, however, that the majority of Christians are taught otherwise, or think only a few select “ministers” are supposed to read and study the NT. Again, such a belief is not Scriptural and arises due to ignorance of Scripture, because:
All true followers of the Lord Jesus are ministers, all are New Covenant priests, all are witnesses of the Gospel, and all comprise the fellowship of the saints.
Nevertheless, this is probably where the initial breakdown takes place for many Christians in that they neglect and/or refuse to read the NT in its entirety and thus never gain the spiritual knowledge within it as required. This greatly limits their effectiveness as Christians and makes it more difficult to live a Christian life. This neglect or refusal may also cause one to develop a closed-minded attitude toward Scripture in general in that one battles the conviction thereof by going in the opposite direction, in that one sinks to making excuses or even begins casting doubts on Scripture as a way to alleviate their conviction or assuage their conscience.
If one could only see this in terms of the New Covenant Writings being the actual written Word of God it would hopefully change their perspective. The Lord Jesus is the actual Living Word of God. By reading the NT one is showing his allegiance to the Lord by following Him and getting to know Him just as if one was following Him in the first-century. He said we cannot serve Him unless we follow Him and one cannot follow Him at a distance and also be a close disciple and develop unto maturity.
It is therefore actually quite the predicament and a crisis to have the vast majority of Christians in the world living in either a spiritually dead state, due to never being born again spiritually according the NT model, or they have been born again but remain stuck in an immature condition due mostly to being somewhat or wholly Biblically illiterate. We can gain more knowledge of this circumstance by studying the Parable of the Sower. In this story, only one person of four ever gains spiritual maturity and the Lord gives the reasons why. If one studies this and discovers the reasons, would he not then try hard to overcome whatever may be holding him back? But again, this would require reading the Parable and then studying it to the point of understanding which many Christians apparently will not do. So the conundrum is clear.
KNOWING THE WORD OF GOD
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me…” [John 5:39]
In a recent post, The Lord Jesus Demands Total Allegiance: What This Means for Every Christian, I had a great dialogue with my friend Susan who added much to a good discussion. You can access the discussion following the post as usual. At the end of our discussion she said my article and our dialogue connected somewhat with a post she recently read and she provided the link. For anyone interested I suggest reading the linked article also because the author refers to the aforementioned crisis at hand and adds much to the necessity of reading the Word as an initial way of showing the proper respect and honor of the Lord Jesus, growing closer to Him, and yes, demonstrating total allegiance.
Remember, the Lord Jesus needs Christians who know the Word of God, know it well, can apply it correctly, and by this serve Him in helping others receive salvation, teaching others toward gaining spiritual maturity, and showing others how to successfully fight and win spiritual victories.
The only way these can occur is if Christians know the Word of God.
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” [Matthew 4:4]
But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” [Luke 8:21]
But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” [Luke 11:28]
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. [John 1:1-5]
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. [John 1:14] [1]
© 2023 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
THE LORD JESUS DEMANDS TOTAL ALLEGIANCE: WHAT THIS MEANS FOR EVERY CHRISTIAN
The original NT definition has been blurred and undermined by centuries of erroneous Christian teachings, easy believism, and errant agendas.
ALL OR NOTHING
This is what He actually taught. This is what He demanded of His disciples. It was the only way His ministry could possibly work. It is in part why so many original followers turned away from Him. He kept speaking of the great demands their discipleship would require. He kept attempting to teach the deeper and greater truths they must learn but they were finding these difficult to comprehend. He also kept coming up with “hard sayings” that some couldn’t handle or understand, and which caused not a few to develop a problem with Him. Such pure teachings also served to weed out the pretenders, the half-hearted, and the rebellious—those which Christianity later became saturated with, which includes these present times, of course, as the clueless faux bros comprise the majority.
Unreal Christianity thus, by refusing to grant Him full fidelity, instead mocks the Lord and makes a mockery of His work. The Christians involved possess no true allegiance to the One they profess to follow. They may talk the talk but refuse to walk the walk and cannot be counted on. Their leaders expose themselves as mere men for hire (hirelings) in that they never or rarely work without a paycheck.
“WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING?” [LUKE 22:46]
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.” [Ephesians 5:14]
Though easy Christianity is more comfortable and acceptable it is also spiritually ineffective (understatement alert). That’s the tradeoff. Its lack of salt and light makes it wholly unproductive and largely fruitless in a fallen world growing darker and more sinful every day. In fact, the slow dissolution of American Christianity over the last quarter century into its current backslid, sinful, deceived, and wholly weakened condition is largely the reason the America that once was is now dead and no longer in need of restoration but resurrection. The majority of American Christianity remains locked in a deep sleep and shows no signs whatsoever of waking up. I have been preaching the WAKE UP sermon here on this site for twelve and a half years and the only change I have seen regarding the trending majority is deeper sleep.
Now, the Lord God was certainly successful early on in rousing a few and then later quite a few more though the percentage remains woefully low. This means many Christians have awakened and are doing their best to awaken others. Yet there are likely more awake non-Christians than awake Christians but that is certainly okay. Both are doing great work.
Nevertheless, the effect of the Christian deep sleep has been disastrous for the country. We are now in the exponential rise phase in which the enemy has accelerated his evil and is getting away with massive crimes with no remedy and corruption has run amok. America has suffered a spiritual coup d’état and those who wrested control are purposefully running the place into the ground. It is the end effect of serving mammon and not God. And to add to all of the above, real Christians not only continue being persecuted by the usual suspects but these now include, strangely enough, the deep-sleeping Christians, many of which act like the proverbial small child refusing to rise from slumber and get out of bed in the morning, even turning against those trying to rouse them.
WEIGHTY WITNESS
On the other hand, those Christians who are awake who go all out in service to the Lord make their presence felt. Others feel their weight. There’s something going on with them that causes sinners to feel uncomfortable in their presence. However, sinners searching for truth and trying to escape sin bondage are alerted by their presence in a positive way and see such people as a hopeful answer and seek them out. It is why transformed sinners so love the Lord and His real people. They get it. They know what it’s like to be under sin’s spell and delivered from it and will never go back. It is also why the relatively few dedicated disciples the Lord ended up with in the beginning transformed their world. Even the devil was afraid of them because he knew those people had the power and presence of God! This was their witness, the only real witness. It was all or nothing. It was total dedication or forget it. They were simple people, nothing special, just like you or I, yet their testimony was undeniable—they walked with God.
Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.”
And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 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 about what we have seen and heard.” [Acts 4:13-20]
This was their profound and powerful effect on a sinful world but also upon a deceptive autocratic bad-natured contrary monetarily-rich religious authority construct that had much to do with the world, the flesh, and the devil but nothing whatsoever to do with God. You will know them by their fruits. It is the same with every manifestation of Unreal Christianity. You see, it was because the world was so far from God that He needed those willing early disciples to push hard and far with all their might in the opposite direction to get as many people in the world back on course, saved, and close to God. In this process false religion would have to be overcome, defeated, and hopefully destroyed so people under its influence could be free and no longer subjected to its evil wiles.
It is why the Lord Jesus, with this in mind, throughout His 3½ year ministry, had to put so much work and wisdom into: Selecting potential disciples, instructing them, guiding them, and developing them with the intention of bringing them to full maturity. The crowning finishing touch was their profound Upper Room experience at Pentecost when they gained the indwelling spiritual power necessary for their walk and work for the Lord. Otherwise such disciples would never have been able to perform His will for the great task at hand. They would never have been able to win spiritual battles. In essence, without such strong dedication they would have been spiritually worthless and would never have been able to operate as the Lord did. The devil would have held them in derision as spiritual sissies instead of shaking in his shoes at their presence. They would have otherwise appeared as the majority of Christians in our era who cannot fight their way out of a wet paper bag and are just fine with such a sorry set-up.
Whether these mile-wide and inch-deep Christians know it or not, their pathetic “Christian” lifestyle has made real Christians appear as something strange and foreign that must be mocked and rejected even by them. They treat allegiance to the Lord (the Man who gave His life for them) in the same manner in that any low level of partial commitment is perfectly okay and acceptable. Hence, they justify their anti-discipleship and deny their potential strength as not only unworkable but something to be shunned. They believe such real discipleship is humanly impossible with far too high a cost.
Those who actually did it then and do it now would beg to differ, however. These decided the great spiritual results were definitely worth the high cost. The originals, against great odds, proved what was possible. They showed every succeeding generation how it was done. This spiritual ability and what they accomplished did not end with that first generation but continued on with each succeeding generation. The road certainly got tougher, however, especially with the great rise of fake Christianity which joined and then surpassed unbelieving Jews as the chief persecutors of real Christians. That most Christians refused to enter and partake of the Lord’s actual kingdom in this world had no bearing on the relative few who did and succeeded.
Again, the Early Church suffered the same egregious treatment as those persecuted by the later fake Christians because their total obedience to the Lord appeared to those without as something strange and untoward even though it brought great spiritual benefits and freed hundreds of thousands from bondage to sin. Those who thought them strange were the actual strange ones in that they put personal comfort and social status above spiritual effectiveness. Their place in the new universal fake Christian religion was much more important in their eyes and the last thing such pretenders wanted was for people to think they were part of a strange minority caste of religious misfits who took God far too seriously.
ALLEGIANCE IN ACTION
The discipleship the Lord instituted, then, demanded that a believer honor their Master exclusively and totally. This is how it was done with itinerant rabbis of that time anyway, in that their students pledged themselves to their leader in order to gain the requisite teaching and wisdom desired for their schooling. Do we not see the same approach in our traditional teacher-student relationship? If a student fails to honor the teacher and believe what he or she is teaching then the construct will fail and knowledge will not be disseminated. This means that any doubt of the process including doubt regarding the teacher’s character, intentions, and material will cause a failure of the process but especially a failure of the student’s development which will not bode well for the student’s future.
This is why the Lord Jesus was so demanding of His disciple’s recognition of His standing—of His place of eminence as their sole Teacher and Shepherd—and of His disciple’s attitude in not only honoring Him but also properly respecting their spiritual vocation in order to excel toward their own proficiency and spiritual effectiveness. In this way, as He did, they could also be effective in making and developing disciples in the future. In other words, great teachers make great students who become great teachers (who make great students who make great teachers…)
So we see why the Lord demanded that one follow Him completely and sincerely or not at all. He would rather have three thoroughly dedicated disciples obeying Him and fully applying His teachings than three hundred or three thousand or three hundred thousand who fall short of this standard. Sadly, the vast majority of Christians in the world over the last two thousand years, especially at present, have always appropriated the latter underachieving class who fail to properly honor the Lord and His clear standard. This intransigence, laziness, compromising attitude, and ignorance of the Lord’s teachings, though primarily their refusal to honor Him as they should, has likely resulted in a much bigger mess in the world than if they had never become Christians to begin with.
For example, what good does it do to obey the Golden Rule only in part? What value is there in treating others the way we want to be treated in only a selective manner? How beneficial can it actually be if we only love the Lord Jesus short of 100% or become believers according to our own terms rather than His? How can one’s relationship with Him be viable if one refuses to give Him all of one’s heart or decline to have one’s heart fully circumcised? Is He not worthy? Is He not the Teacher? He is not the Shepherd? Is He not God?
PROVING A CHRISTIAN’S ALLEGIANCE
The following Scriptural passages reveal the actual truth of the Lord’s teachings and commands regarding our allegiance to Him. Remember, during His time here the Lord Jesus was a man’s Man with a powerful presence and bearing and not the false depiction we so often see of a long-haired hippie spouting fake peace and love with flowers in his hair. One can rest assured that those who initially put forth this false image in the distant past did so in an effort to denigrate Him while exalting themselves.
In reality, the Lord was a Carpenter and Builder engaging in hard manual labor every day until He was thirty years old in a rough environment with no modern conveniences or power tools. He was physically ripped, bronzed by the sun, and weathered by the elements. Many of the disciples He initially chose were also like Him in this regard. They were extremely tough men used to battling the physical world and the Lord then used their strong abilities and character for spiritual ministry purposes which also made great demands upon a man. In this they were perfect for the work they were called to do. They ended up performing admirably and put the devil on the run. None of it was possible, however, without full allegiance toward their ultra-worthy Lord and Master who set the precedent and showed them the way. May we all learn from His example and obey Him as follows:
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” [Matthew 10:37-39]
“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” [Matthew 12:30]
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me…” [John 10:27]
“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” [John 12:26]
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” [John 14:15]
“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” [John 14:21]
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” [John 15:4-5][1]
© 2023 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
CHRISTIAN BRAINWASHING IS REAL
There are Christians so indoctrinated they will reject even the most elementary teachings of the Lord Jesus if His teachings violate their “Christian” beliefs.
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Rather than brainwashing, we may call it by less pejorative terms such as the aforementioned religious indoctrination or one of the following however it may apply: Training, conditioning, influencing, and even programming. Much of religion, if not all, uses such a process to gain low-denominator sycophants. It can go so far as to create mind-numbed robots who accept and believe things not because they are true but because they have been put forth as true for the sake of an ulterior agenda. Brainwashing/indoctrination is therefore a completely different process than what the Lord Jesus employs in making disciples—He is a Teacher. He teaches spiritual truth. He never uses coercion. He doesn’t force feed supposed facts and figures in a highly impressionable manner in the effort to stamp one’s mind. He doesn’t use manipulation or control tactics. He loves His disciples first and foremost and treats them accordingly. He obviously never violates His own commandments.
SEE IF YOU CAN FIGURE THIS OUT:
I was talking to a person once about the Bible. This person was a member in good standing of a particular Christian denomination. When the subject of the accuracy of the Bible came up this person said one can never believe what the Bible says overall which means all of it cannot still be true after all these years and that there must have been changes made to it since the beginning and it must contain errors.
There was nothing I could say.
It was not a matter of possible minor transmission miscues here or there in our Bibles, though some translations are better than others, but the fact that this person belonged to a Christian denomination based on the very Bible that was supposedly hopelessly flawed and which one could not put one’s faith in. This person just revealed belief in a flawed Bible yet belongs to a Christian denomination. Where is the logic in that? In other words, this person likely never read the Bible or very little of it and has little or no faith in its truth and accuracy but still wholeheartedly and faithfully belongs to a particular Christian denomination. If this is not the effect of pure religious brainwashing then what is?
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
By the way, my long time approach on this site has contained an effort at being parabolic with the truth in an effort toward promoting critical thinking. I want the teaching to be thought-provoking and stimulating. The Lord obviously did this and it worked great in that it drew out an understanding of otherwise hidden truths. He also used parables as a way to bypass religious indoctrination and mindsets set in stone. Rather than state otherwise plain truth and Scriptural truth in what some or many may perceive as being antagonistic toward personal beliefs (which happen to be incorrect) or see such teaching as too “preachy” (because it brings on conviction of sin and makes one feel uncomfortable), using the parabolic method compels one to ponder before emoting, the latter of which often causes one to reject truth.
Yet, though this method works well it cannot be used exclusively. There were other times, of course, when the Lord spoke the truth directly and very powerfully. He even told His disciples once that He would dispense with allegory altogether and would no longer teach them in such a way, probably because they reached a point of greater maturity and could handle it. He said He would do this primarily with regard to His true identity:
“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father.” [John 16:25]
MY LATEST POSTS
This has been brewing for a while. There have been times in the past when I have been more direct and less allegorical. However, I have felt compelled to step it up this year, especially after what I went through in the spring when it appeared I would never write again. Such an occurrence can compel a different mindset. When the Lord blessed and I was able to resume writing again in mid-summer, three and a half months later, though not at my previous pace, I decided on being more direct. I am still dealing with the situation so my mindset has not changed. Some of you may have noticed that my posts as of late contain a higher level of Scriptural truth and even more general truth than usual and that I have been addressing topics which appear controversial (to put it mildly). When one does this he or she must know there will be a cost.
On a good note, however, I want to extend my sincerest thanks to one gracious reader who put a link to my site on hers. I greatly appreciate it. I also thank the few of you who are still here with much appreciation and also to new readers. Blessings to all.
BEHIND THE LOOKING GLASS
But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” [Matthew 22:34-40]
Regarding my previous post about the Israeli-Hamas war, which was apparently the post that caused the most negative reaction thus far (though the posts I wrote on The Real Chosen People did well in that area also), I had decided to begin shining some light on the goings on in the Middle East including mentioning the war crimes of the state of Israel (uh-oh). Talk about exposing sacred heifers.
You see, once a Christian decides to go all in with the modern state of Israel and support it blindly and unquestionably, there is absolutely nothing Israel can do in their eyes that is considered wrong or sinful even if it means murdering and maiming innocent babies and small children by the thousands—blowing them to pieces and crushing them beneath destroyed buildings and infrastructure.
Such look-the-other-way support demands a corresponding hardening of the heart.
Many thousands of innocent women have also been murdered and maimed in the ongoing Gaza campaign. I must assumed these include young women, married women with children, middle-aged women, older women with grandchildren, and even elderly and infirm women. Helpless women and children are being murdered but are only considered mere collateral damage. Some of these are Christians. YET, MILLIONS OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA SUPPORT THIS ONGOING MASSACRE UNEQUIVOCALLY.
How can this happen? It has not occurred, of course, without considerable assistance from the biased major media yet such does not absolve one of personal responsibility. It is otherwise obvious that such Christians are no longer considering or obeying the Lord’s teachings but have transferred their allegiance to another whether they know it or not. Perhaps the following may cause Zionist Christians to give a second’s thought to their allegiance:
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” [Matthew 7:15-20]
It also reminds one of this:
And following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him. But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming…” [Luke 23:27-29]
Unless one is 100% true to the Lord Jesus one will place their allegiance elsewhere and consequently be subject to deception. Also, major Christian ministries, including major Christian television ministries, have now been outed for what they are, at least in part. Until they stop supporting this ongoing wanton murder of innocents which thereby influences millions of Christians to also support it, and call out this evil for what it is, they are revealing themselves in part as veiled propaganda outfits with alternative agendas and hidden paymasters.
And that brings the following to mind:
“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?
“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.” [Luke 16:10-15][1]
So yes Virginia, there is such a thing as Christian brainwashing. Such Christians go to churches that don’t fully support the Word of God or even believe it is real, violate the teachings of the Lord Jesus, even the most elementary such as the Golden Rule, and most do not even bother to read His teachings or study them. They also support feigning insincere hypocrites doing vile things to innocents. They even go so far as to believe they must bless such people or God will never bless them and will even get them.
What about blessing real Christians—the Real Chosen People? Above all, what about blessing the Lord Jesus? Does God attach any great blessings to the one who blesses the Lord Jesus?
Now, in case you may be wondering, there is only one cure for such Christian brainwashing. Christians who know this know what it is.
Sadly, Christians who don’t will likely reject it (or already have).
© 2023 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
THE OLD COVENANT IS OBSOLETE AND NO LONGER APPLIES
According to the teachings of the Lord Jesus and New Testament writings, the Old Covenant has been superseded by the New Covenant.
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If you want to delve into this topic deeply in order to remove any possible cloudy thinking on the subject, the Epistle to the Hebrews will give you a good start and likely answer most or all of your questions. That monumental treatise was written in the early 60s AD by Hebrew followers of the Lord Jesus to their fellow Hebrews in a concerted effort to teach the principles of the New Covenant and how it surpassed the Old Covenant.
The following seven Scriptural passages from Hebrews provide a good starter kit to gain the basic elementary facts of the topic and put to rest any objections against this truth as well as jettison the false assertions that certain Old Covenant legalities remain in effect which attempt to subvert the ratification of the New Covenant, hinder the spiritual freedom thereof, and claim benefits which have no legal standing:
THE NEW COVENANT OF MESSIAH JESUS
ONE:
Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. For it is attested of Him,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.” [Hebrews 7:11-17]
TWO:
For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. And inasmuch as it was not without an oath (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him,
“The Lord has sworn
And will not change His mind,
‘You are a priest forever’”);
So much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. [Hebrews 7:18-22]
THREE:
But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says,
“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord,
When I will effect a new covenant
With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
On the day when I took them by the hand
To lead them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not continue in My covenant,
And I did not care for them, says the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,
And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For all will know Me,
From the least to the greatest of them.
For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And I will remember their sins no more.”
When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. [Hebrews 8:6-13]
FOUR:
For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. [Hebrews 9:15-18]
FIVE:
After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”
He then says,
“And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.”
Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. [Hebrews 10:8-25]
SIX:
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. [Hebrews 12:22-24]
SEVEN:
Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. [Hebrews 13:20-21][1]
© 2023 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
THE LORD WILL NOT HOLD CHRISTIANS GUILTLESS FOR SUPPORTING SIN AND EVIL
Those who know the least are often those with the most settled, unswerving, and unchanging incorrect beliefs. It is an otherwise clear sign of indoctrination.
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THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITINGS ARE THE CURE
The New Testament must be differentiated from the Old Testament just as the New Covenant supersedes the Old Covenant. The apostle Paul wrote about this often and the teaching exists throughout his many writings. Those who know the New Testament and believe it to be the Word of God also know that Paul was taught the Gospel directly by the Lord Jesus in a one-on-one spiritual encounter that must have lasted quite a while and probably happened during his desert sojourn. It is also not difficult to correctly surmise here that Paul attended to his own forty day fast likely at the same time:
For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. [Galatians 1:11]
The man Saul was not only naturally brilliant, of course, and fiercely determined, but as Paul, he also came to be extremely knowledgeable of spiritual things. The Lord Jesus chose him for a reason and made a point to make it a special occasion because of one of Paul’s (Saul’s) other natural attributes: He was magnificently bullheaded.
The only cure for such if one will walk in the Spirit and do the will of God is to be humbled, and in Paul’s case and others like him, greatly humbled. In other words, the Lord Jesus sees all and knows all. He knows what one will be thinking next Wednesday at 1:37pm. He knows everything about every one of us. It is why it is so ridiculous when one tries to hide from God or think God does not see one’s every move. It is why so many people steer clear of the Lord because they know in their hearts that He knows this and they feel strongly uncomfortable and awkward about a possible meeting as a result. They do not appreciate the thought of having to encounter a holy God because of their many unconfessed sins which will undoubtedly be revealed as will be their sinful thoughts and thinking as well as knowing their intentions and justification for questionable activity will likely never pass muster. Such was possibly going through Paul’s mind when the following occurred:
Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. [Acts 9:1-9]
BULLHEADED CHRISTIANS
Most Christians, of course, had not needed such a dramatic conversion experience. Prior to salvation they were not so full of themselves, their own worth, or filled with pride to such a degree, especially the kind Saul/Paul had—religious pride—which is about as difficult to extract as the giant back teeth of a living and very angry Tyrannosaurus Rex. Only God can do it. And He certainly knows how. But He will never waste much or any time and effort on people whom He knows will never repent. He knew Paul’s heart beyond his indoctrination and also knew he would make the right decision though not without some extra help.
All real Christians living in the world at present certainly had to go through an initial humbling process to gain their salvation that may certainly have involved some level of what Paul went through. It all depended on how much pride they had and how soon they were willing to give it up. Sadly, most people never do and it is why most people never make heaven but receive instead the eternal dumpster fire by their own choice. They simply consider themselves just fine and dandy and awesome and pretty and strong and together and well-liked and appreciated as one can be and therefore have no need of any (dread!) repentance. Adam and Eve’s first son Cain was like that. As the first man ever born into this world naturally, it was not so good an omen…
It is why those who would be saved from sin and from themselves must be like Abel. They must be transformed from Cains into Abels. They must be changed from Saul to Paul. In Biblical terminology it must be as follows:
And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God. [Ezekiel 11:19-21]
And of course the vast majority of God’s Old Covenant “Chosen People” had their wicked sinful bullheaded stiff-necked conduct come down on their own heads just as the Lord said would happen. And the same thing will happen with unrepentant and unreal Christians who cannot help but exhibit the same behavior though with a quite benign and cheery faux exterior.
We must never forget that anyone can be happy and self-assured in their sin until they are convicted of their sin. Then their happy self-assured cheery exterior quickly vanishes and the true person hidden within comes raging forth. Regarding the fake Chosen Ones as illustrated in the New Covenant writings, here is a good example of that:
“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. [Acts 7:51-54] [1]
Gnashing their teeth? Have you ever seen anyone do this? Sounds demonic. Here’s the Greek:
βρύχω brýchō (broo’-kho); a primary verb; to grate the teeth (in pain or rage):—gnash. Usage: I. To grind, gnash with the teeth. II. To bite, to chew.
What kind of potent hateful psycho anger causes a person to do this? It is not unfair to say it relates to the behavior of wild or rabid dogs or a shark feeding frenzy. Of such are the natural excesses of unbridled human sinful behavior and an obvious case in point on why crucifying the flesh is a necessary and mandatory tenet of the Lord’s teachings.
SIDING WITH THE ENEMY
“You shall not murder.” [Exodus 20:13]
“Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.” [Exodus 23:7]
Which brings us back to the fact that the Lord will not hold Christians guiltless for supporting sin and evil. For example, one should know it is evil when multiple thousands of innocent toddlers and young bright-eyed children are being killed indiscriminately with a great many more to come toward a desired societal liquidation, and one would otherwise know such a fact clearly and absolutely if not for being taught that such is perfectly fine against certain people (but not others) and under certain conditions, because their kind are merely human animals anyway. Right? Speaking of which, rather than go through so much trouble trying to save and house and feed and find homes for so many hundreds of thousands of stray dogs and cats in America (probably more), why don’t they just shoot them? Then bulldoze them into unmarked mass graves? Wouldn’t that be easier and far less expensive? After all, it’s not like they have a soul and are going to heaven.
Therefore, in light of such, why is it that many Christians allow, support, and condone certain sins which the Lord teaches against and sometimes funds the people committing them? How is it that many Christians are so inoculated against proper conviction that they never think about such sins or attempt to stop committing them, or excusing others from the same and therefore tolerate and support evil behavior?
We should see that the Lord Jesus, who is PERFECT and NEVER sinned was always being falsely accused by his haters of some such offense that was never actually true. Why? They were operating under strong conviction and hated being outed for the evil people they were by One they couldn’t fool instead of being treated as righteous people the way they desired and were treated by the deluded and fearful due to their phony duded-up exterior and faux religious standing and behavior. It appears, then, that their sense of sin was contrary to His (understatement alert).
This being the case, what book or set of teachings were they being taught from and indoctrinated by? It was obviously not from the Lord’s superior, correct, and perfect teachings. And right there is your answer: Many Christians have been subverted by anti-Christian teachings and propaganda that they have accepted blindly and wholeheartedly even though such teachings violate God’s holy Word and such propaganda is used to manipulate them into siding with and giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
And even after being shown the error of their ways, many still refuse to repent, see the light, or change their way of thinking. They double down all the more, stick with their anti-Christian teachings all the more, believe the manipulative propaganda all the more, and attack those who are shining the light of Scripture all the more.
This is exactly what happened to Stephen. It is exactly what happened to the Lord. Both were innocent but both also spoke out very strongly against sin and evil. And both were attacked and killed by their own wayward countrymen—the stubborn, obstinate, stiff-necked, headstrong, and bullheaded (exactly as the attacks of Unreal Christians against real Christians)—those oblivious ones who find it impossible that they may possibly be wrong about anything and are determined to support their settled, unswerving, and unchanging incorrect beliefs, including religious beliefs that defy Scripture, even if it forfeits their place in heaven in order to remain in cognitive dissonance hell.
These types never do the proper research.
© 2023 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: A SWORD OF SEPARATION (4)
As we continue in this series, we must recognize that our Lord Jesus uses our powerful natural ability of human speech as an extremely purposeful medium of division.
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“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.” [Matthew 10:34-36]
THE REAL AND THE UNREAL
It is otherwise overlooked. The vast majority of Christianity does not understand this or show any desire to do so. It is something that has been rejected and even denounced by most. There have even been many preachers, some very powerful and influential, who have gone so far as to say that “tongues are of the devil.” If this doesn’t cause someone to perceive that maybe, just maybe, there is a big masquerade going on in much of Christianity and that there really are two completely different “Christianities,” then I’m not sure what else may bring about the necessary enlightenment to see pure Scripture for what it is and accept it.
I remember hearing a sermon several years ago about the nature of Christians in general and their reluctance to embrace all the Lord has to offer. The minister painted a good picture of what often happens when the Lord calls His people to greater truth. Some people are interested right off and make a relatively quick move to receive. Others are somewhat reluctant but due to their trust in Him and feeling a sense of duty and obedience they move forward though somewhat timidly. Others simply rush right in. As the minister continued to illustrate this process He related it to a nice spacious house with large furnished rooms. He said the interior is often left, curiously, only to a few. The large living room, with plenty of good places to sit down and relax—many couches and chairs—often has several empty places due to so few getting that far. The semi-enclosed entry room, or small vestibule, on the other hand, has people all stacked in like cord wood from floor to ceiling with each person seemingly acting like such a thing is perfectly normal and per custom. For some reason that’s as far as they’ll go. They feel they are obeying the Lord’s directive to enter the house but otherwise resist going an inch further. The outside porch is also filled to capacity with people spilling out into the front yard which contains hundreds of people milling around, perfectly happy to be outside with no desire whatsoever to even look in the windows. And when someone peers up or down the block he sees a sea of humanity going through prescribed motions many of whom cannot even see the house at all much less approach it…
How does this happen? One should know the answer to this. It is usually due to denominational or church teaching and custom. For whatever reason, most pastors refuse to obey the Lord’s command to tell the entire Gospel truth and make disciples and are content with perpetual pew-sitting congregants. Spiritual growth and development is simply not a priority. Church attendance is, of course, as is making a commitment to the church and keeping one’s overall religious obligation including monetary support. Whoever may want to actually go beyond the mere elementary church teachings and break free of the controlled common denominator status quo can thus enter “the ministry.” Such individuals might have “the call.” But it must be “official,” of course. Such people must follow the correct protocol and eventually receive the official denominational church stamp. We can’t have anyone going it alone, you see. (You mean the way the Lord did?) But everybody else need not worry about reading the Bible in-depth or studying Holy Writ or getting into God or actually following the Lord Jesus as He commanded. These kinds of Christians put too much pressure on everybody else and make it difficult to keep a congregation in unity. It gets so bad in some places that whoever desires such is seen as some kind of weird church nerd who takes Christianity far too seriously.
A NEW KIND OF FOOD
But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” [John 4:32]
I remember when I was a rookie Christian. I was born again as a young adult. In my new church, the emphasis on reading the Word was certainly refreshing but somewhat curious in that it was relatively rare in my experience. Somewhat strangely, rather than appealing to church authority, my new church friends based their Christian beliefs on the teachings of the Lord and the written Word. They used the New Testament to verify their beliefs and practices. Now, I had been raised in a Christian denomination but it was one those which dissuaded individual Bible reading and study. Such a thing was confined to only a ridiculously small clergy class whose members supposedly devoted themselves to such study. Only they could ever know what Scripture really meant. Only they could decipher the actual teachings of the Lord. The 99% must therefore yield to them and their universal studied opinions and never seek to go their own way or question authority. Hence, there was no reason to read the Word which pretty much everybody was apparently okay with anyway.
When I became a real Christian, however, and was filled with the Spirit of the Lord just like the 120 at Pentecost, I suddenly had a great desire to read the Bible. I wanted to devour the teachings thereof. I dived right in. I didn’t wait around. I was never told to never do such a thing in my new church or that I was not qualified but was actually encouraged to do so as was everyone else there. Every day I read and read. I was doing manual labor at the time working in a warehouse and sometimes spent my lunch hours reading the Word instead of having lunch. I had somehow gone from having no desire to read something so outdated and ancient and difficult to understand and strange and boring and even grim to completely immersing myself in reading and study and deep research. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.
I’m sure many of you have had this same experience. We understood as we continued reading that the written Word of God was actually spiritual food. When we were born again and filled with His Spirit we suddenly had a great need to feed our spirit. We never had this need before because our spirit was essentially dead and existed merely in seed form awaiting the proper ground to be planted in and the signal to open up and burst forth and thereby bring forth all the life within.
One may recall what happened to Adam and Eve: “But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Well, they disobeyed and did eat from it and they surely did die. But they were still alive. What died? Their internal spirit died. Their body and soul, however, stayed very much alive and did not die. From that point forward human beings were composed of only two-thirds of themselves. Until Pentecost. The miracle of Pentecost brought about the resurrection of the human spirit. This is why Pentecost was never a one-time thing for a few but an all-time thing for everybody.
Also, when one’s spirit rises from dormancy it takes authority over the soul and body. It also instantly requires FOOD much as new babies do or animals just born. These little ones are ravenously hungry and are not quiet about it. They must grow! They must develop! They need food! If baby birds in a nest just out of the shell could talk, for example, they would be constantly screaming feed me, feed me, feed me! Once born again, one requires nutrient-rich spiritual ground and living spiritual water and spiritual light. Reading the written Word, especially and foremost the teachings of our Lord Jesus, obviously greatly assist us in getting almost all we need and are hungry for in our initial start in following the Lord and learning from Him. Prior to this, what had before been a mere dead letter and never-touched dusty tome became a surging life-giving stream that was essentially easy to read and not at all difficult though we may not have understood parts at the time. It never stopped one from reading on, however.
Therefore, even though present followers of the Lord Jesus only read words on paper instead of sitting at the Lord’s feet as did those greatly blessed ones of long ago, the written Word still contains great power though in seed form just waiting for one to plant it in one’s spirit (the only place it can be planted). As all this reading is going on though, a new believer is also listening to anointed messages from anointed ministers, and praying and hearing from God, and fellowshipping with other believers in the spirit. All of these work to develop the spirits of new believers which were, again, essentially dead and lifeless not too long before.
THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT
Now, what does any of this have to do with human speech? We know the simple answer. Before the Word was written it was spoken. Before it was spoken it existed within God Himself, in His Mind and Being. Indeed, the written Word tells us that the Word of God IS God. It tells us that God was manifest in the flesh—that He became a Human Being—and that God Himself in human form SPOKE to us:
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. [John 1:10-14]
How much easier could He have made it? To this day that small portion of the overall world population that actually thinks about the concept of God and wonders if there actually is a God also likely wonders what it would be like if God became one of us and walked among us. Of course, real Christians have always known the answer to this: HE DID. And He left a record of His perfect teachings. And those who read His teachings are greatly blessed and enlightened even though they are only reading words on paper. The Gospel message therein brings about their eternal salvation. But it is only because the words of the Gospel were first spoken.
Now, at Pentecost we have this strange occurrence of “speaking in tongues” that most of the Christian world rejects experientially though they may acknowledge the true historicity of the account. Most Christians apparently cannot get past the strangeness and therefore never experience the magnificence. But it was never “strange” in the beginning except to unbelievers! How strange it is then that this “strangeness” has been applied to the experience by the majority of Christians! It is only “strange” by those who see it from afar, by those who never experience it, by those who were taught to reject it, but primarily by one’s own human nature that perceives the experience as absolute nonsense and something to be avoided.
Remember, when we were sinners apart from God everything spiritual was unknown to us because we were human beings with dead spirits. We were merely “natural” people with no awareness of spiritual things or desire for them unless we were hungry and searching. The apostle Paul was one such person at one time prior to His born again experience. Though a powerful intellectual well-studied Pharisee of high religious rank he was still just a natural man with a dead spirit. As a real born again Christian, however, like all real Christians, he saw life from both sides whereas the never born again only ever see one side and believe it is the only side:
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. [1Corinthians 2:11-16]
SPIRITUAL SPEECH
In Part 3 of this series we discussed the fact that human beings are extremely rebellious toward God in their sinful state prior to new birth and that those who desire to follow the Lord must overcome this natural rebellion and surrender to the Lord Jesus. We also learned about the most rebellious member of our body:
And because the tongue is the most unruly and rebellious member of the body it is the last to surrender.
Yet, like the illustration I used earlier in this article about the nice spacious well-furnished house with most Christians all piled up in the entryway and front yard refusing to go in one must also understand that a great many Christians do exactly the same thing regarding “speaking in tongues.” They may have otherwise completely surrendered to God but never surrendered the last member of their body to God. This means their speech never gained the spiritual quality God demands. It means their speech remains in the natural state.
Regarding what those initial real Christians did as recorded in the Book of Acts when they “spoke in tongues,” it is not at all “strange” if one understands what we have been discussing. These people, by surrendering all to the Lord including their tongue—their speech—they simply began praising God in a new language they had never learned. This proved the following:
(1) They fully surrendered their entire being and body to the Lord Jesus, as He commanded, including their tongue—their speech.
(2) To prove the tongue was fully surrendered, rather than speak in their normal language, the Lord verified the miracle and His direct involvement by having them speak in another language they previously did not know or have the ability to speak.
(3) The other languages they all spoke collectively (other tongues) were known languages heard by the crowd outside the Upper Room as their own languages spoken in the many parts of the world where they lived and from where they traveled.
(4) This phenomenon thus also served as a Gospel witness because everyone in the crowd below was an Israelite and they heard the Upper Roomers, whom they referred to as Galileans, “speaking of the mighty deeds of God” (Acts 2:11). In Acts 10:46 when Cornelius and the first Gentiles were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues others who understood the languages heard them “exalting God.” In Acts 19:6 in Ephesus when former followers of John the Baptist that had never heard of baptism in the Name of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit they were speaking in tongues and also “prophesying.”
We see then that the very first words these people spoke with their new “tongues”—spiritual speech—were words of great praise and exaltation of God! And we know this by the direct witness of the thousands of Israelite travelers who heard them speak in their own languages. As newborn babes they spoke that which was first, foremost, and closest to their hearts—that the Lord God was always to be praised! We see an echo of this with what happened during the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem during the last days of His ministry when He revealed Himself as King:
But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” [Matthew 21:15-16]
We also see it here:
So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. [Romans 8:12-17]
This latter statement about suffering puts the entire “tongues” question in proper perspective because we see it as yet another reason why the Lord created the phenomenon. Just as it is when new believers are water baptized in the Name of Jesus, it signifies a separation from the world. And this separation causes a new believer to be subjected to the worst forms of misunderstanding, insults, mocking, and scorn, and for some, even physical persecution and death. And all the while the real Christian is taught by the Lord to weather such persecution as it is part of a disciple’s “reasonable service” (see Romans 12:1).
In other words, the world is filled with sinners on their way to hell who have no understanding or care of spiritual things and will always engage in what comes natural against those “strange” people who engage in “strange” practices. This obviously includes much of Christianity.
I used to be one such sinner but I never mocked Pentecostals until the Lord sent a couple to witness to me, a couple I was formerly very close to, close friends, who somehow got weirded out and joined some strange church. I had heard about them and what they had done a few weeks before they came to witness to me. I thought they had gone off the deep end and I pretty much lost all respect for them though I had few details. When they called and wanted to come over and tell me about it I was very open to the visit and had a great attitude. It was good to see them. But when they began “witnessing” to me and I felt a little pressure, my good mood eventually changed and I told them if they didn’t stop they should leave. They left. But they didn’t stop.
They and their church began to pray for me. Much prayer went forth. I didn’t see them for quite a while. After three months they invited me to church again. In the meantime the Lord had been slowly destroying me from the inside out to prepare me for what was likely my last chance at salvation and the infilling of His Spirit. Long story short, it was soon my turn to become one of those “strange” people at that “strange” church. I then knew a joy I had never known before. My entire life changed for the better in every way. I met the Lord Jesus! But on the flip side, a veritable cascade of insults and mocking came my way by those who used to like and respect me. Like anyone truly born again I had then experienced life from both sides, from the non-spiritual and the spiritual, as an unbeliever and believer. I experienced the very sword of separation the Lord spoke about. Funny how that works.
Some may think such an occurrence is only in the extreme and not normal, yet real Christians worship a God who is the most loving Person who ever lived. Imagine the greatest times in His ministry when He was loved by tens of thousands. Then imagine Him all alone and rejected and beaten and bloody and nailed to a cross hearing all manner of horrendous insults and mocking from His own people. Is that not extreme? Well, so is it extreme when the Lord Jesus is at last given authority over a sinner’s tongue. It was possibly or even likely the case that some of those very people hurling insults at Him while He hung there dying were, seven weeks later, among those milling around the streets below the Upper Room greatly convicted at heart at Peter’s preaching:
Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” [Acts 2:37-39][1]
That very day another three thousand Israelites were immersed in water in the Name of Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit. Though Luke’s account does not say so specifically we know from the context and by what they did afterwards that the massive group had their own Upper Room experience though it was actually a Streets of Jerusalem experience.
And the great sound of their many new voices carried throughout the city. They were praising and exalting God with all their hearts, each in a new language with a new tongue and an entirely new perspective. No one there could deny the great miracle. The Lord Jesus was bringing salvation to the believing remnant of His people!
But He also brought a sword of separation.
© 2023 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued…]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Real Christianity is Acts Chapter Two—Acts Chapter Two is Real Christianity: THE SECRET PLAN (1)
STATING THE OBVIOUS
(Apparently not.) The obvious is a tough sell with the oblivious. Obvious proofs appear foreign to them. Facts are confusing. Truth provokes anger.
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THE RECEPTION OF DECEPTION
It is much easier to deceive people than convince them they have been deceived.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. [2Corinthians 4:3-4]
It is hard to understand how the oblivious can willingly reject truth and willfully embrace deception. This is easier to comprehend when one considers the great power of conventionality and traditional mindsets coupled with peer pressure and one’s desire to fit in to society. Adding intellectual laziness, little or no actual historical knowledge, a general lack of discipline, narcissism/vanity/pride, no interest beyond the moment (presentism), and the absence of a spiritual backbone to stand up for the Lord Jesus and the picture comes more into focus. Such people become much more accepting of prevailing shallow social norms, including cultural decadence, and fear any personal deviations so they can better “assimilate” and avoid being perceived as standing apart or “marching to the beat of a different drummer.” Historically, the vast majority has always chosen this path. It is that which the Lord Jesus referred to as the “broad way:”
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” [Matthew 7:13-14]
FLESH AND SPIRIT
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” [John 6:63]
Those who choose the broad way put all their confidence and assurance in what the New Testament identifies as the “flesh.” This term refers to the human body and human nature, that which is external, as opposed to the spirit. The Lord Jesus referred to these two several times and taught the clear distinction between each, instructing His disciples that one must not be governed by mere flesh and the lusts thereof but by the spirit, and that one must submit both to His leading.
Of course, due to the fallen sin nature of all human beings prior to being born again from above and obtaining a spiritual nature, living in the flesh will always result in personal sinful choices and opposition to God. Though some people living according to their fallen human nature may work hard at disciplining themselves and limiting their sinful choices they are still living according to a non-spiritual standard based on that which is, according to the Lord Jesus, “weak” and “profits nothing.” It is therefore impossible to please God while living according to the flesh, since one is not living by faith, which can only be accomplished by living in the spirit. This has never stopped people, however, from creating religions in which people continue living in the flesh according to mere human religious standards dictated by authoritarian leaders who eschew the necessity of a new spiritual birth.
The following Scriptural warning thus also applies to the majority of that which is referred to as “Christianity,” that which I term Unreal Christianity:
Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh… [Philippians 3:2-3]
Those who choose the broad way do so not only because it is far easier than the correct path—the narrow way—but also because they prefer the flesh to the spirit. In New Testament terms this means relying on one’s own carnal abilities and fallen human nature and that of others. They prefer groupthink, that which seeks agreement at all costs, though always results in irrational dysfunction. They simply cannot handle independent thought which might lead them to question unproven and contrived consensus narratives and otherwise obvious deceptions (which the Lord warned would lead to destruction). Rather than take their comfort in the Lord, the people who choose the broad way take comfort in one another and follow their own accepted and chosen flawed leaders. Such people are much more comfortable surrounded by those who believe the same and adhere to the same general social construct and are thus reassured, incorrectly, that so many people, the majority they meld with, can’t possibly be wrong.
Such superficial social constructs are ubiquitous and may appear in several forms. Most are well aware of the secular variety but these also include the religious realm, which include the “Christian” realm, which feature offshoot Christian social constructs including major traditional denominations. These are merely based on real Christianity, in various limited arrangements, and which attempt to make real Christianity more palatable and acceptable (easy), to gain a larger market share and influence (allow for large masses), which effectively more closely resembles the “broad way” the Lord Jesus warned us about…
Thus, many Christian bodies et al, existing as yet another form of digression to divert one from the one narrow way the Lord Jesus taught must be followed if one is to gain salvation and eternal life, often mimic the spiritually dead secular culture and its many spinoffs and cults thereof. This includes, of course, the ever-present and powerful contemporary deception cult of these times, the Cult of Woke, which was created by the agenda masters to help counteract and head off the current Great Awakening. It exists essentially as an anti-awake and anti-aware sleep-fest designed to be a reactionary antichrist insurgency driving decadence and ignorance against the massive emerging truth and spiritual freedom movement of our national American Great Awakening which began at least thirteen years ago.
This irrational, illogical cult is promoted primarily by the zombifying corporate television mass media and big tech social media firms (which are supported by many Christians that may not perceive the overall agenda) by way of universal 1984-style telescreens of every size dominated by agenda-based platforms utilizing superficial collectivist dictums, controlling consensus narratives, and censorship of truth. Sadly, this strange but trendy belief system has fully captured the willing minds of multiple millions in America to the tune of possibly half the country which would otherwise stand a good chance of being awakened by the obvious.
This, again, includes Christians and explains the many woke churches. The Lord Jesus taught that one must either accept Him and His full teachings or not at all which also explains why so many “Christians” are deceived and become more deceived going forward. Such slumber-induced deception also occurs for the most part due to an inability or refusal to properly identify one’s greatest threat—that of pure unadulterated masquerading evil—and its thoughtless proponents are even brainwashed to unknowingly embrace an ancient folly:
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
And clever in their own sight! [Isaiah 5:20-21]
The deceived ones living in their dream world therefore lose their ability to perceive wickedness guised in holiness (Matthew 23:27), cannot comprehend wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15), and fail to recognize Satan appearing as an angel of light (2Corinthians 11:14). This results in a flippant disregard of unseen evil—a dismissal of malevolent spiritual reality—and amounts to actually joining it, completely unaware of its true nature and hidden proponents. It also obviously disallows one’s vital defense against evil as portrayed in the following:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. [Ephesians 6:12-13]
ENTER THE KINGDOM
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe. [Proverbs 18:10]
Remember, there is only one Community of the Lord—the one the Lord Jesus founded in the very beginning—which, unlike various Christian bodies, includes ALL the teachings of the Lord and in which the Lord Jesus and no other is the principal Instructor and personage and His full curriculum the focal point, not just a portion of His teachings or the emphasis on a few, with the following two commandments as the greatest:
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” [Matthew 22:37-40]
These commandments are not honored, obeyed, and practiced outside the Lord’s Kingdom, which is a purely spiritual Kingdom, and is not of this world. Consequently, His Community needs no heavy-handed hierarchies, dictating religious authoritarians, and extra-Biblical enforcement doctrines to make it work and hold it together, as in the counterfeit Christian kingdoms, because the Lord Jesus makes it all work through His unconditional love, His presiding authority, His full curriculum, and His Holy Spirit. His followers make it work by trusting and obeying Him, working with Him and each other, and applying His Word.
Again, counterfeit Christian social constructs merely mimic the dead culture’s means and social mores instead of submitting fully to the Lord Jesus and granting Him complete authority, which would thereby establish His methods and measures. But this otherwise obvious spiritual solution is disdained as it portends a loss of religious control and status, resultant material benefits, and personal independence (which includes walking in the flesh). The following pretty much sums it up:
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” [Matthew 6:24]
THEY WILL BELIEVE ANY LIE—AND DEFEND IT
Also, to maintain such a low common denominator social construct, the committed advocates of such make anyone who differs from said construct pay, and pay dearly, for any apparent personal boldness and oppositional independence. Those who, without thinking and sans research, made the commitment and toed the mark and became just another nameless and faceless brick in the wall feel that those who don’t fully commit and become a fellow brick (a brainwashed brick), or do but then later question something about it, must have a problem with their perfect collective construct. They do not appreciate seeing that to which they invested in and gave their lives held in perceived low regard. In this they attempt to nip independent thought in the bud and set an example for any others so inclined.
And not stopping there, they become chief persecutors manifesting their hate and anger against those they persecute and discriminate against. Sound familiar? They will go so far as to destroy a person and his or her reputation and make it virtually impossible to continue living within such a construct unless that person apologizes and does penance, often to a grossly degrading degree, in order to continue partaking of the good there, which usually involves economic good and a better material life (Matthew 6:24), but primarily involves being accepted as a member in good standing. These submissive and submitted ones who care more about their social credit score than their place in God, by succumbing to the hive mind, thereby avoid being subjected to the infamous “third degree” of their overlords (their betters) and no longer have to watch their backs among their associates or worry about their wrath. They become fully conformed cult fellows having mastered doing all they are told and believing all they are taught.
Many of these people, likely most, unfortunately, by willingly subjecting themselves to such demeaning degradation and deception are never the same. They learn to toe the mark as they should and never again question anything in order to avoid the thought police, having their conscience seared with a hot iron (1Timothy 4:2). People do this because:
(1) They become greatly fearful; they give in to fear. They have no courage to walk in faith with the Lord.
(2) They don’t have enough self-confidence or knowledge to maintain an independent position or defend it (that which allows for additional information and truth) against the domineering crowd staring them down and threatening their social standing if they don’t conform.
(3) They do not want to appear as a deviant. They can’t handle the thought of being a social outcast.
The much better otherwise obvious course of action would be to get away from such a compromised band of mockers post haste as soon as possible. But most don’t. They’re too willingly unwise. They’re too willingly unwilling. Truth would assist their escape and make them free but obvious truth escapes them.
THE DOUBLE DOWN PRINCIPLE
Such choices thus eventuate in an overall lack of awareness, a dearth of knowledge, and common apathy. When these truths are revealed to them, through whatever means, it is not appreciated. In general, people don’t like it when they discover their ignorance. They don’t like it when their lack of knowledge is exposed. They don’t like it when their level of understanding is challenged. They don’t like it when what they believe to be true is proven to be false. They don’t like it when so much of what they believe is nothing more than the end result of successful propaganda campaigns. In the realm of religion such propaganda is often mere indoctrination and people don’t like having their belief systems challenged or exposed as not only incorrect but largely baseless. It throws them off. It rocks their boat. It craters their foundation.
Hence, the double down. Rather than calmly putting their ignorance, accepted knowledge quotient, level of understanding, concept of truth, personal religious beliefs, world view, and cult indoctrination TO THE TEST, they instead double down and consider any and all opposition as fighting words. This means ignorance is truly bliss but only until such a one’s ignorance is revealed. It is then that bliss often becomes anger. Quickly. And by doubling down against correction their ignorance becomes all the more set in concrete. Again, it is much easier to deceive people than convince them they have been deceived.
WHY CERTAIN PEOPLE INSTANTLY HATED THE LORD JESUS
But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. [Matthew 12:14]
It mattered not that He did everything He could to not tick people off; many got ticked off anyway. For the Lord, the anger He aroused in others by His perfect teachings was not intentional, not usually anyway, but merely the byproduct of exposing that which was incorrect by teaching that which IS correct. Those that had already figured everything out, knew it all, constructed and/or supported a fake religion or cult and built their lives on such sand foundations were bound to clash with the Rock who actually did know it all.
And because such ignorant virtue-signaling hypocrites walked around in great fleshly pride while the Lord Jesus presented Himself as a humble servant, it made it all the more infuriating. It proved their sense of superiority had no actual place except in an external sense because one cannot be prideful if one is incorrect, especially in the religious realm, so whoever inadvertently exposes one to be incorrect must be made to pay. If, on the other hand, through hearing the preaching of the Gospel, one perceives himself as incorrect, and especially an incorrect sinner, and wants to be freed from his sinful condition, he will repent and do his best to get right with the Lord and be reconciled to Him. However, if one insists he and his religious social construct are superior to the Lord and refuses to acknowledge his sin and repent then the Lord must be made to pay.
To repeat these choices:
(1) One will recognize himself as a sinner in need of a Savior and repent properly and correctly which amounts to throwing himself upon an altar of repentance and destroying his lower temporary life within the realm of fallen humanity (that which Scripture states is one’s initial crucifying of the flesh), in order to gain salvation and therefore preserve his spiritual eternal life (one must be born again according to the Lord’s instructions), OR
(2) One will advocate for and participate in crucifying the Lord.
Hence, again, those who clash with truth and perceive the Lord’s teachings as fighting words reveal themselves as the unrepentant indoctrinated who cannot be reached by stating the obvious.
In the Lord’s time, such people obviously consisted of those within the primary Israelite religious parties as stated in the gospels and New Testament literature. That the religious elite of these parties were brainwashed is obviously evident and is one thing (and some or many of them were demon possessed). Unfortunately, it is also evident and another thing that the elite had religiously indoctrinated many if not most of the Israelite people which in part served to effectively keep as many Israelites as possible from receiving the Gospel. They did this primarily using fear and control tactics. Many Israelites were thus forever fearful they would, (1) be put out of the synagogue, (2) lose their place in society, and (3) suffer financial ruin. Such was the power the religious elites held. It has been true ever since. Sound familiar?
WHY CERTAIN PEOPLE INSTANTLY LOVED THE LORD JESUS
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings. [Hebrews 13:8]
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30]
One will notice that those who appreciated the Lord Jesus and became His followers back in His time were most often humble and self-effacing. In essence, they were teachable. They had no problem having their ignorance and lack of knowledge pointed out because they were already well aware of it and wanted change for the better. They also knew they were sinners (though not necessarily by that term), in violation of their conscience, and burdened by shame, and wanted this to change also. However, interestingly enough, they were most often better informed and equipped than the unrepentant who falsely deemed themselves superior. They also already knew they were victims of false teachings or lack of teaching and wanted to be taught the truth. Though looked down upon they refused to do as so many others did, those who lived their lives by simply going along to get along. Those who loved the Lord had no regard for such low common denominator kindergarten knowledge levels—a child’s way of thinking—that so many adults incorporated without any thinking. Hence, those who followed the Lord were by and large critical thinkers. They wanted to know. By rejecting society’s false notions and its embraced general ignorance they were willing to be rejected by society in order to be accepted by the Lord. They loved truth.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” [John 14:6]
“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” [John 8:31-32]
In addition, new believers noticed right off that the bigwigs, both secular and religious, had rejected Jesus from the get go and, again, they personally identified with such rejection. Most of His followers were in some way solitary social misfits that somehow fit perfectly in the Lord’s band of spiritual brothers and sisters. When they found the Lord (when He found them), their lives suddenly made sense. Therefore, it was relatively easy for such people to put their acquired knowledge and level of truth to the test because whatever they had possessed to that point never got them much in life anyway. And they were also ready and willing to jettison anything that clashed with the Lord’s curriculum or stood in opposition against Him, including incorrect interpretations of His teachings, false doctrines, aberrant cultural traditions, fabricated social narratives and programming, religious indoctrination, or societal status:
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” [1Corinthians 1:26-31]
Those original followers of Jesus were serious disciples-to-be who developed into mature effective disciples in good standing and were part of those who turned the then known world upside down (Acts 17:6). They were a major part of the very first Great Awakening. They accepted their callings with joy. They took what the Lord gave them and ran with it. They fought the good fight of faith. They were excellent witnesses. They effected great spiritual change for the better, allowing the Lord to work through them shedding His Light everywhere.
Most of all, they proclaimed incessantly from the housetops and high hills that the Lord Jesus was not only the long prophesied Anointed One, the Messiah—Yehoshua HaMashiach—and was not only our Good Shepherd, and was not only our only Savior, and was not only the Son of God, but was and is also God Himself—the Creator of the Universe—something the Lord Jesus had proved repeatedly during His ministry for all who had eyes to see.
And just as their Lord had done so brilliantly, our first-century forebears spent the rest of their lives STATING THE OBVIOUS.
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” [Luke 4:16-21] [1]
© 2023 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
CHURCHES ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS THE ONES IN CHARGE
And the vast majority of church leaders refuse to allow the Lord Jesus to be in charge, the only one who should be.
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OBEY THEM THAT HAVE THE RULE OVER YOU
I have specified this header as a perfect example of a bad KJV translation pushing the highly authoritative theme within it. It is from Hebrews 13:17. Church leaders in general have traditionally used this verse and others like it as a control mechanism and even a hammer to bash over the heads of their congregants to force them to surrender wholesale to their Rule. And they are not shy in using the term Rule. They want everyone to know they Rule. The only way this could be true, however, is if they stole the rule of the Lord Jesus since they are not operating according to His instructions.
Here is the KJV version:
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. [KJV]
Even the NASB95, however, which is a far better translation, and interestingly does not contain the word “rule,” fails to get the true nuance of the writer’s intention:
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. [NASB95]
Here is a slightly better translation with greater explanation from the Classic Amplified:
Obey your spiritual leaders and submit to them [continually recognizing their authority over you], for they are constantly keeping watch over your souls and guarding your spiritual welfare, as men who will have to render an account [of their trust]. [Do your part to] let them do this with gladness and not with sighing and groaning, for that would not be profitable to you [either]. [AMPC]
The word “obey” is from the Greek πείθω peithō. Here is the Strong’s definition: a primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy, to pacify or conciliate (by other fair means); reflexively or passively, to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty):—agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be (wax) confident, make friend, obey, persuade, trust, yield.
From this we clearly gather that the writer of Hebrews was not instructing his readers to obey rulers. Here again is the authoritative bias in the KJV presenting itself, making the religious ecclesiastics which ruled the Church of England 400 years ago essentially the same as the English king. I can assure you that those Christian Pharisees in general were not serving the Lord Jesus, something that should be obvious. Therefore, we must not do as they say, or even their demands as inflected incorrectly by their hand upon Holy Writ, but do what the Lord Jesus says.
WE ARE TO OBEY FIRST AND ALWAYS THE LORD JESUS. This has never been optional. To that end, according to the spirit of what was written in the verse, a disciple willingly submits to spiritually mature Christian elders who obey the Lord Jesus in order to develop as good disciples. There is nothing about rule in this passage. It is instead a picture of the Lord’s people working in concert with Him and one another in love, harmony, and conciliation to be the best disciple in His service one can be and thus create the best and most effective spiritual Community.
Since He never created denominations our effort should be on joining and supporting His Church, the only one that exists and in which He is King and sole authority.
THOSE WHO RULE
Anyone who does even a modicum of research into historical traditional Christian leadership cannot help but notice that it is always top-heavy, largely unresponsive, and rarely in compliance with the Lord’s full teachings. The reason is otherwise obvious in that those who wrest control always apply their own stamp upon whatever they are in charge of whether they may be “good intentioned” or not. This makes it their own enterprise over which they rule. The rule of the Lord is subverted. Most church leaders thus always obey their denomination’s dictates and their congregation’s religious prejudices. To do otherwise is career suicide.
Keep in mind that many if not most non-denominational and independent churches also have their own respective doctrines that parallel those of the denominations their leaders are most familiar with or privy to, or from which they have come or in which they were raised. They do not necessarily advertise this, however, which can be deceptive. Others are aligned with denominations but often keep their fellowship connections under the radar. They have their reasons.
The majority of Christians are apparently unaware of such connections and may not understand that their church leaders are not working for them but for higher powers. These can be placed in only two general categories. One regards doctrine. The other regards money. Church leaders (pastor’s, ministers, priests, etc.) must obey these two. They must obey their doctrinal overlords and make sure they get the doctrine right including all distinctions thereof. Each denomination has their own divergent set of doctrinal bylaws, the “What We Believe” component or their “Statement of Faith.” These always vary. Thus, to be a minister within denomination 1, one better make sure he never preaches the doctrine of denomination 2 and vice versa. Denomination 2 does not pay him. He only gets a paycheck from the overlords of denomination 1. Therefore, such ministers must obey their benefactors.
They must also obey the constituents of the denomination. Of course, some denominations get cute by referring to their distinct denomination not by that term but as some other innocuous term such as “fellowship” or “communion.” But such names do not matter except as a surface feel-good diversionary tactic. The reality is that Christian denominations remain distinct because the big boys in control demand that all its lower prelates preach and teach only what they allow. Those who fully obey those who crack the whip are then compensated financially. This is how it has always worked and the only way it can work. Thus, such “ministers” do not work for the Lord Jesus as they claim. They ultimately only work for their higher-ups and their congregations.
HIRELINGS
This makes the majority of Christian ministers mere hirelings (KJV) or the hired hands of their respective denominations, which are actually religious enterprises that operate akin to businesses. They are hired by the denomination. They are supported by the congregation’s money and must keep the people of their church in line and contented. They are always much more concerned with the congregation as a group instead of with individual members. They serve the denomination and those who control it. They obey all of its laws and bylaws. They preach only what the denomination tells them to preach and allows them to preach. Also, such hirelings always prove their priorities when the going gets rough:
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” [John 10:11-18]
This passage of Scripture tells anyone with ears to hear exactly what the priorities of any Christian or Christian leader should be but rarely is. It’s a sad state of affairs and American Christianity is rife with this hired hand/denominational control by money and social status which routinely thumbs its nose at the Lord Jesus and the great sacrifice He made on our behalf.
Where do these people get off in deciding which of the Lord’s teachings they will support and those they won’t?
Real Christian ministers serve the Lord Jesus FIRST and ALWAYS. They will only work with those who also put the Lord Jesus FIRST and ALWAYS. They refuse to be compromised as are the hired hand sellouts who do a masterful job of covering up their duplicity. Also sadly, those who follow those who don’t follow the Lord Jesus though they think they do and they claim to end up like these unfortunate ones:
Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” [Matthew 15:12-14]
RELIGIOUS BONDAGE
Regarding how and why such a sad state of affairs can exist and has existed for so long, consider the fact that most Christians have been indoctrinated with their denomination’s beliefs and dogmas rather than being taught the fullness and purity of the Lord’s teachings. One of these enslaves and the other sets free. It is why there is so much fear among so many Christians who have been conditioned to believe that any questioning of their Christian authority figures must be and is verboten. It is why any real reform is impossible. Christian ministers fear career/monetary ruin. Congregants fear social ruin. Neither wants to be perceived as a deviant from the norm. Hence, serving the compromised uncircumcised-in-heart institution takes precedence over serving God.
Those who discover and honor the Light act otherwise.
“While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him.
This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.” These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.
Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” [John 12:36-43][1]
The bottom line here, again, should be obvious: When the Lord Jesus is allowed to be fully in charge, a relatively rare thing, one will know it. He is not some spiritually powerless ruling clergyite false authoritarian or fearful sycophantic bought-and-sold church pastor never venturing beyond the company line. When Christians submit to His rule and authority everything changes dramatically for the better: His ministry as it was in His time will break out. Pentecost will break out. The Book of Acts will transpire. People will WAKE UP and desire His direct management and control. Great Awakenings will not only happen but go into overdrive. This is His promise.
It is the evidence He is in charge.
© 2023 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
HOW THE LORD CONFIRMS THE ACCURACY OF CHRISTIAN TEACHING: A DIALOGUE
“Look. Here’s the problem. It’s like we have to follow a script. It’s like we are limited in what we can do in ministry because of Scriptural parameters.”
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“What are you suggesting?”
“Well, I don’t feel I am suggesting anything, I don’t think, but merely pointing out the problems that arise from always having to keep reverting back to Scripture, as in, well, ‘the Bible says this’ or ‘the Lord said we must,’ or ‘we have to apply this Biblical directive…’”
“You think your ministerial work is suffering because you invoke Scripture?”
“No, no, not necessarily, but because, well, because I think there are other applications that probably work better in some instances, and…”
“But don’t you realize that the application of Scripture, especially the teachings of Jesus, is exactly that which provides solutions?”
“But does it always? Sometimes I’m not so sure. I’ve seen…”
“Are you having a personal crisis regarding your faith?”
“What? No, no, I just think that, that, well, that sometimes I want to help someone get through whatever they may be dealing with and show, you know, my heartfelt sympathy or concern, and, I think that trying to quote Scripture at such a time is, just, not working, or won’t work, like it’s being cold.”
“My goodness. How long have you been doing this?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve obviously been attempting to minister to people while also holding a clear lack of faith in Christian teachings. Do you not see this?”
“No! No, that’s not it. I know the Scriptures are the Word of God but I feel like I’m hitting people with a book, like I’m merely parroting verses and passages instead of reaching them at the point of their need, and showing sincere concern, and…”
“Did the Lord engage in ministry in such a way?”
“Well the Lord was certainly right there and touching hearts, and…”
“Showing compassion?”
“Yes! Yes, that’s it. He showed compassion. He granted mercy, He…”
“He watered-down the Law of Moses because that might help people not feel offended?”
“The Law! What?”
“You have a problem with the Law!”
“Wait. We’re Christians! We honor the New Covenant not the Old! We…”
“The Lord Jesus was never against the Law of Moses! The Lord actually fulfilled the Law of Moses! What is wrong with you?”
“Why are you getting so upset?”
“Because you have obviously gone off the deep end and need strong correction! How long have you been carrying this lack of respect for the Law?”
“But Paul was always talking about the deficiencies of the Law. It’s throughout all his writings.”
“You’re exaggerating. Paul spoke of the New Covenant superseding the Old Covenant but he also strongly defended the Law of Moses! Yes! The Law as delivered originally by God through Moses was certainly not deficient but was simply in need of its final fulfillment which could only be done by the future Messiah. To state that the Law was deficient or that there was a problem with the Law is grossly incorrect.”
“Okay… I’m thinking… I’m wondering where I picked this up…”
“It could be through a simple misapplication of Scripture.”
“Yes… But no. I must have received my understanding of the Law through those New Testament passages which refer to the Law in a negative sense.”
“Then you have an incomplete understanding of Scripture and need further teaching. Or you could have received it through the teachings of others in that regard.”
“But that, that would indicate that there are Christian teachers that get it wrong.”
“Yes. And what else is new?”
“No, I don’t mean… I mean, that they are doing it deliberately…”
“Which would mean exactly that or that they also have been deceived by a false teaching regarding the Law. They are doing what they think is right or…”
“Or they are not deceived at all but are deliberately teaching something that opposes the Scriptures…”
“Yes. Some are deceived. But some are agents of the enemy who have infiltrated our schools and churches.”
“How do we… What do we do?”
“First of all I appreciate the respect you are showing an elder. All real ministers of the Gospel at some point come across this sad state of affairs, this deceptive invasion, usually when they’re relatively young, as yourself. I discovered it when I was a young minister but I had no elder to help me out. I’m glad you came to me. Secondly, what we do is what any real minister of the Gospel would do. You know the answer…”
“Study to show yourself approved.”
“Exactly. Paul knew so much, so much more than he could readily share. People have to be able to receive it… When he wrote those words to Timothy he knew that Timothy, though relatively young, had gained enough maturity to know what to do.”
“Even if he didn’t fully understand. Like me. Right now…”
“But again, Paul knew Timothy would know what to do and he knew he would work very hard to succeed. And would do anything he must.”
“Timothy had to study. He had to read the Word. He had to pray.”
“That’s right. Real ministers know they often don’t know so they work very hard so they will know. That’s how they learn. It’s an ongoing process. The Word of God is Truth. It is filled with spiritual truths. It is our job to work hard at finding those truths. Then we can apply them.”
“That’s what I thought I was saying at the beginning of our conversation.”
“Well, you were seeing that merely relaying Scripture or quoting verses was kind of, kind of wooden, in some instances. You want to connect with people on a heart level instead of simply give directives toward the written Word.”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. You can minister all day long but it will be worthless without the Word of God. And I specifically mean the teachings of our Lord. His teachings were pure and they were purely delivered. He never ministered without the Word. It would have been impossible anyway. He is the Word.”
“So I need to study. Wait. Can I see your Bible?”
“Sure.”
“Okay… I need to read this… Here it is: Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
“There’s a lot there.”
“He has given us His Word.”
“Yes.”
“He trusts us with it.”
“It’s a high calling.”
“And I feel ashamed, but not like, I mean, I know He understands. But I must work harder. I must be diligent.”
“It’s the only way. We only have so much time. And we have to get it right.”
“I need to focus more on the Word than on someone else’s teaching of the Word.”
“Well, there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. We just need to always make sure that our primary Counselor is the Lord Jesus. He will confirm the truth but also reveal untruths. For every untruth there is a lack of spiritual freedom. If you collect too many they act as chains tying you down. You came in here with a burden. We had to fish out its cause.”
“Thank you. I thought I knew what I was talking about.”
“You got a hold of some bad information. It wasn’t intentional. You see, if a believer gets some bad information in the context of Biblical teaching but doesn’t know it’s bad, and accepts it as truth, the only way to ferret it out is by reading and studying the Word. The more you read and study the Word the more likely it will get exposed. It is the Living Word you know. The New Covenant Scriptures were divinely inspired by the Lord and are actually alive. They will do the work as long as we do ours.”
“They didn’t even have written New Testaments in the beginning…”
“But they had Spirit-filled anointed preachers and teachers. There were a great many of them. They came to maturity rapidly.”
“And they handled the Word of truth accurately…”
“That’s right. And when they got it right the Lord confirmed what they taught with signs and miracles. Those miracles had a dual purpose. They acted as endorsements—a sign of approval.”
“That was the proof.”
“Yes.”
“And if they were somehow wrong…”
“No miracles. No attesting signs.”
“Wow. The written Word is a deliverance mechanism…”
“Well, yes. That is why it is so important that we get it right. We are charged with delivering the Gospel as He delivered it. When we do we get the results He got. The originals got it right.”
“On a colossal scale.”
“So you see why it is so important to never let anything foreign or false enter into our curriculums because they act as a drag on the power of the Word.”
“So a great many ministers want to get it right and many are very strong about teaching what they believe is Scriptural truth. They insist on their versions and doctrines. But they never test their teachings against the only proof that would confirm them. They are satisfied without proof.”
“Yes. Many Christian teachers never put their teachings to the Scriptural test. Instead of seeking God’s confirmation they get their confirmations from others. They seek the approval of others.”
“They mainly seek the confirmation of the congregation. Oh boy. You don’t want the church folks on your back. Or they seek the confirmation of their betters, their higher-ups. Whoever’s paying you. Whoever’s giving you permission to preach. That’s who most ministers are trying to please. …Yes, I get it. We must seek only the Lord’s confirmation. It’s the only way to know we’re getting our teaching right.”
“You mean His teaching.”
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© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
FASTING AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Our success as Christians must be defined in purely spiritual terms. Such success can never be gained without pure spiritual means.
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When I first came to the Lord many years ago and was filled with the Holy Spirit I immediately received an intense spiritual hunger for the Word of God. I was doing hard manual labor at the time, working in a massive warehouse distribution center. It was often the case that I would spend my lunch hour fasting and reading the Word.
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Fasting was something entirely new to my life but before my born-again experience I had already understood the need for organic food, proper vitamins, and etc. I even went so far as to become a vegetarian. That lasted about five weeks… Much new information had come forth by the 1970s regarding the chemical-laden junk food in the standard American diet, whether store bought or not, and that it was causing a multitude of health problems for a great many people, most of them unaware of the cause. I had read a lot on the subject of natural foods and still have one particular book from that time entitled Eating For Life. Such literature mentioned the benefits of periodic fasting so I was aware of the practice though had never applied it.
That changed with my new church. They believed in fasting though primarily for spiritual reasons. We were taught to fast at least one day per week, every week—a full 24 hours. I began practicing it, usually on a work day, and it became routine. We were also expected to go on a two-day fast every quarter which I also began doing. This was a bigger challenge. I noticed, however, that despite the difficulties presented the spiritual benefits were quite evident. One had better spiritual vision, clarity, and strength. The Holy Ghost within you was more pronounced since the Lord had less flesh to deal with. One’s witnessing was more empowered. Prayer was more powerful and effective. It was easier to hear from God.
Of course, the Lord fasted often and taught fasting. The original apostles and disciples fasted. It was a practice of the Early Church in the first century AD. And though there are only three men listed in Scripture who ever managed a forty day fast—Moses (twice), Elijah, and the Lord—there is no doubt the apostles and others must have done this as well.
It is not difficult to understand that fasting one day a week is a type of resting every seventh day as the Lord rested on the seventh day of Creation. Giving your system a break every seventh day is highly beneficial and allows for restoration and cleansing. We see this same practice in the Lord’s command to let the agricultural land lay fallow every seventh year. It allows the land to recharge and regenerate. It allows for a rebuilding of the nutrients in the soil. Whenever this form of land management is practiced consistently, in a natural environment, the soil never loses its ability to provide an excellent crop. It is the same for one’s physical body. Fasting is especially necessary in these days of ubiquitous toxicity in which environmental poisons have increased exponentially. But again, for the Christian, fasting is primarily for spiritual purposes.
Even though I was working hard on fast days I got used to it. When one has a regular fast day (same day each week) the body adjusts and though it can be a challenge it is simply not as difficult as one who doesn’t fast may suppose. Also, by reading the Word at the same time, one gains spiritual strength to make up the difference for a loss of physical strength. Incidentally, I was never very good at longer fasts but I have done them on several occasions. Yet, back then in the early days I worked with a guy once who was a master at it. I had become a professional carpenter by that time. A carpenter I worked and went to church with had, on one occasion, gone two weeks without food and never missed a day of work. That was impressive.
Though all new believers have a hunger for the Word of God I noticed early on that I had it to a much greater degree. It did not take me long to read through the entire Bible. I then began doing word studies. Back then, before computers, the general practice for those who wanted the fullness of study was to get a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance which had every listing of every word in the entire King James Version of the Bible. One could look up any word from any verse and find its meaning. Of course, it contained only the root words and their definitions but it was plenty for general study. A Strong’s Concordance was likely the first study book I ever purchased. It had a light green hardback cover. I still have it. I spent untold hours going through that concordance for many years getting up to speed on Biblical words and meanings.
I soon branched out to other study material but could only afford so much. I didn’t have much to spare on a working man’s salary. However, no matter how much I studied and read it was never enough. I was always pressing on. Again, this was not normal. My fellow congregants all read the Bible, of course. We attended church services four times a week. We did much outside witnessing. We were very proactive in attempting to fulfill the New Testament commands of the Lord. But when it came to reading, study, and research, I outdid everybody else, even some ministers, as I had eventually discovered. I didn’t realize I had a gift.
I didn’t find that out until I took my first spiritual gifts test about six or seven years after becoming a Christian. I had never been aware of such tests before. I was absolutely blown away at the results. Romans Chapter 12 lists seven spiritual giftings of which every real Christian has one which is dominant:
Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. [Romans 12:6-8][1]
When I took the test I came up very high on Teaching. A close second was Prophesying. Whenever I took a test after this over the following years it always scored out the same. This explained everything. It explained why I had such a powerful desire to read and study the Word. You see, one cannot be a teacher unless he knows how and what to teach. I also discovered something else, however. Having the teaching gifting does not necessarily mean one will be a standup teacher with a class. What it actually means is that one is gifted to be as a spiritual detective to work hard at going where no one without this gift will go. The Lord gives a person this anointing and strength. The one with this gift will thus spend hour after hour studying the Word, searching out clues, and doing research not only to gain general knowledge but the hidden knowledge most Christians never gain.
Now, I am not talking about some esoteric nonsense but the “hidden” knowledge of the Word. It is not actually hidden but is effectively hidden since most Christians either don’t read the Bible enough or study it in-depth. Many Christians have a rudimentary knowledge of the Word of God but it is usually not very deep. Many ministers obviously have greater Biblical knowledge than most of their congregants but much of it usually has a denominational bias. It is therefore not so easy to be an independent Biblical researcher, which I developed into, because one eventually discovers false doctrines and bad interpretations of Scripture and has to deal with the societal implications thereof if you get my drift. One must always guard against extra-Biblical stuff masquerading as truth and such non-truth must be exposed for what it is. Otherwise the Christians taken in by the false will likely never be set free from it. They become deceived and stay that way. (When one is deceived he or she is not aware of it.) Such deception effectively cuts one off from a closer walk with God. Accordingly, false teachings are not good for one’s spiritual health for two reasons: They replace the truth the Lord taught and restrict one from gaining further truth.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
As our greatest example in this area, look at what happened to God Himself when He walked this earth trying to reveal truth and expose error. The religiously brainwashed didn’t take long to resort to outright hatred against Him because He revealed them as posers. Simply by shining His light He revealed their ignorance and sinful motives. It was a severe blow to their spiritual pride. They didn’t appreciate that. They didn’t think they were posers. They believed they were highly accomplished. They thought He was a poser. See how that works? This is where Christian-on-Christian persecution comes from.
All real Christians will be persecuted, of course, but some will be especially persecuted. Again, the reason why should be obvious. Christians who are never persecuted probably need to check their oil because something isn’t adding up. Also, one must remember the Lord Jesus had all seven giftings operating at 100%. He was filled with the Holy Spirit without measure. He is God. He is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when He taught He was doing so with the highest and most pure form of spiritual light. His light would shine upon all darkness. Those fake religionists thus had no chance to hide. They managed to fool most of the people with their obtrusive costuming, smug manner, and societal standing, but the Lord performed what amounted to a spiritual X-Ray upon them which went right through their false façade and revealed to those paying attention exactly what they were.
The majority of Christian ministers do not do this. Why? Because rather than operating as an extension of the Lord Jesus they are actually doing the opposite. They cannot, therefore, shine a light on darkness because they are darkness or lack the light, though duded up to look otherwise. Many are mere Christian Pharisees. It is why they banish anyone who happens to reveal them for what they are. They are threatened by spiritual light. The only way they stay unexposed and in power, therefore, is to get rid of or silence those who would reveal them. It is the way all authoritarians stay in power.
The Christians who actually get what the New Covenant writings teach know that there is only one who must be in power and control. He is the one who has all authority in both heaven and earth. Sadly, of course, all of heaven and earth does not include many churches who are manned by counterfeits. The real Church has only one King. Everybody else in His Kingdom is not a king and are all on the same plane. When we structure our gatherings in such a way that the Lord Jesus is the only authority it eliminates the notion of a single “pastor” ruling a congregation. It supports the truth of the NT format in which a group of mature Spirit-filled elders oversee the operation from a secondary position to the Lord and in which the Lord is able to do anything He wants anytime He wants.
WE KNOW WHEN THE LORD JESUS IS IN CHARGE BECAUSE HIS GOSPEL DOINGS AND THE BOOK OF ACTS BREAKS FORTH.
Well, what self-respecting Christian minister wants that? The whole church would be in an uproar. The surrounding town or neighborhood would think he lost his mind. He would certainly lose his dignified status and pretty soon his job. He would quickly be knocked back to the Stone Age and have to start all over again (you know, like when one first comes to the Lord in real repentance). What Christian Pharisee would ever allow such a terrible outcome?
Remember, the fakers can last forever with their true identities hidden to the masses until the Light shows up. It is then when their cover is blown. Until Christians start waking up to the fact that many Christian ministers are simply not endowed by God, equipped, or gifted, and are not bringing the goods but are getting by on shallow non-spiritual blatherings that sound great but do nothing or little spiritually substantial, they will keep getting what they’ve always got: The needle won’t move and the creeping enemy will continue to take over until the local church looks exactly like the fallen world. The Lord Jesus did not give His life for that.
And such shallow Christians will also discover the biggest thing, something they REALLY don’t want: They will have to take upon themselves their own spiritual responsibilities, embrace discipleship, and do their spiritual work as the Lord commanded. It is no wonder then that most would rather maintain the status quo. The majority of the Israelites in the first century AD had the same attitude.
We must thank the Lord then, and show great gratitude and appreciation for those Israelites who saw it differently. They decided to give everything they had for the one who died to save them. Though in the minority, and though facing spiritual and cultural persecution, they didn’t hold back. They were great spiritual warriors who received the spoils of victory on a daily basis. Because of their foundational work way back then we have the opportunity today for every ability and gifting we need to do the work that must be done so that we can have the same outcome they had.
In future records, may it be written of our generation as it was for theirs:
“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” [Acts 17:6 NKJ]
© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 5)
There are two Christianities in the world: The first is the real one created by the Lord Jesus and preached in the first century. The second is the amalgamation of all others.
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UNREAL CHRISTIANITY
It might appear virtually impossible for all the various forms of Christianity on the planet to actually come together in general agreement. Imagine each Christian denomination and independent church great and small and here and there casting off and discarding their particular individual identities, distinctive doctrines, and exclusive characters, and then glomming themselves together in a worldwide kumbaya moment as one might throw various colored waxes into a gooey melting pot. Specific identifiable shades all fade out into an indistinct brownish gray-like beigey non-hue. Former Protestants sit with former Catholics around a welcoming campfire singing folksongs accompanied by an acoustic guitar or two while heart-struck with philia love and their new unity-mix faith which encompasses all God’s children in warm fellowship all aglow.
Right.
However, if you hold this painting before you using both hands and turn it just a tad and then tilt it up a bit to catch some light you’ll gain an entirely different perspective and suddenly see that our hypothesized mass union has in fact already occurred. The otherwise impossible unity has already been achieved. How? Well, you see, this particular Christian unity is not based on a consensus of doctrines and practices but on opposition against the original. Thus, it matters not that the bright white light of the first-century original real Christianity happened to fall upon a flawed oppositional prism and scattered out into a million different off colors each dissimilar in its own right. Why? Because each is tainted with the commonality of rebellion.
ONE FOUNDATION
“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” [Luke 6:46-49]
For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [1Corinthians 3:11]
Though the first of the preceding passages refers to individuals, the same holds true for individual Christian organizations (churches, ministries, denominations, etc.): They are either built on the only correct Foundation or they are not. The Lord Jesus is not only the Chief Cornerstone but the very Foundation of His Community (Church, Ekklesia, Qahal, etc.) and, of course, He should be. It belongs to Him. He started it. Original Christianity is His movement. When one becomes a real Christian he or she accepts the totality of the Lord’s teachings, not merely what one feels like accepting, and does what He says. He or she comes to the Lord, hears the words of the Lord, and acts on the words of the Lord. All of them. Whoever does this joins His spiritual Community. There is only one. And there is only one Leader.
It is therefore relatively easy to understand the process which resulted in so many different Christian organizations, each one different from the original to varying degrees. Whether those who started such were well-intentioned or not doesn’t change the fact that they failed to build on the correct and only Foundation. They also took liberties with their doctrines and practices. They each have different beliefs and traditions. And it may appear as though many churches and denominations are still standing though built on the ground sans the Lord’s Foundation but this is either because the flooding torrent has yet to arrive or they have long since died internally and only their outer shells remain. It could also be that outer shells is all they ever were.
The following is a third Scriptural passage regarding the one Foundation, the implications thereof, and additional truth regarding how the Lord’s actual spiritual house must be built and what happens if one strays from the blueprints:
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,
“The stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone,”
and,
“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense;”
For they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. [1Peter 2:4-8][1]
CHURCHES AS FRANCHISES
Most people understand the importance of uniformity when it comes to corporate franchises. Each franchise must adhere to the regulations and guidelines which allow for every franchise to appear and function as every other franchise regardless of location. It is why individual franchises within a particular corporation all look the same, function the same, and have the same product as every other one though they may be located throughout a large geographical area or even all over the world.
Interestingly enough, several Christian denominations mirror this exact model in that all their individual churches look essentially the same, function the same, and have the same product as every other one though they may be located throughout a large geographical area or even all over the world. They also have the equivalent of a corporate headquarters and a management hierarchy (a pyramidal tower). Their individual churches must also show a profit as do business franchises. That is, each must prove it is able to collect enough local donations to keep the doors open, provide for the pastor and leadership team, fund local sub-ministries, and support the denomination. Also, just as it is in business, correct advertising, financial, and sales methods must be utilized. And though independent churches without denominational support often must sink or swim on their own, member churches of a denomination have the comforting privilege of accepting assistance from the overall organization when needed.
One wonders then, seeing such uniformity within business franchises and denominational churches, why the majority of Christians including Christian leaders fail to see the same need for uniformity when it regards the Lord’s original. Why don’t they put the necessary effort into conforming to His standard rather than their own? Why do they allow for church and ministry leaders to gain such big spotlights there is no room for the Lord? And most troubling, why do they often remove the Founder from His own movement?
Could it be because it’s the only way to continue building their Tower?
© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 1)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 2)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 3)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 4)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 6)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 7)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 8)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 9)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 3)
The Book of Genesis states clearly that the land of Eden was located in the area of the Tigris-Euphrates headwaters in what is now a region predominated by eastern Turkey.
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EDEN
It is where YHWH Elohim planted the garden in which He later placed Adam and Eve. The garden is initially characterized as a garden of trees—an orchard—“every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food.” The Greek Septuagint calls this abundant fruitful garden Paradise. The home of Adam and Eve was a place of divine perfection and both natural and spiritual order.
Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. [Genesis 2:10-14][1]
Eden was located in what is now the Armenian Highlands, an area rich in water resources, the location of several rivers, their tributaries, large natural lakes, and springs. The source of the Tigris River is primarily Lake Hazar and is also fed by many small tributaries in the area. The Euphrates begins not far from the headwaters of the Tigris at the confluence of two smaller rivers, the Karasu and Murat, which flow west from the eastern ranges. This area of confluence is now Lake Keban. (There are many relatively new hydroelectric dams on these rivers.)
The greater region has most probably changed appreciably since very ancient times. It was likely a relatively peaceful place with a different climate before the advent of much volcanic activity and the associated uplift which created mountains, etc. For example, Mount Ararat is presently an inactive volcano which last erupted in 1840.
WHEN WAS ADAM?
Christians have postulated various dates for the creation of Adam based on different criteria, one of which follows an exact rendering of the listed patriarch’s ages in Genesis which gives a date of about 4000BC (Young Earth). Others say such a late date is unreasonable because it fails to consider and/or ignores scientific facts. These place Adam as far back as 50,000 years ago, or at various dates since, including just after the Ice Age, known scientifically as the Last Glacial Maximum of 11,000-8,000BC when the Pleistocene ended and the Holocene began.
As the great glacial ice sheets began melting and retreating to the north, the resulting meltwater caused sea levels to begin rising precipitously. From approximately 20,000-13,000BC, the ocean level rose about 45 feet. Then from about 13,000BC to roughly 4,000BC sea levels rose another 375 feet for an overall total of approximately 420 feet. Since 4000BC the ocean level has remained constant.
It was not until after the Ice Age that evidence of human habitation appears on the historical record. Evolutionary theory claims that homo sapiens sapiens first appeared from out of nowhere 200,000 years ago (the big leap forward) but offers no actual evidence of transition or habitation at such an early date. According to Young Earth theory, the flood of Noah took place around 2300BC. Yet, interestingly enough, we have clear evidence of three roughly distinct cultures emerging circa 6000BC or even earlier in the same Armenian Highlands location where Eden once existed. We also know that Noah’s Ark came to rest after the flood in that same region.
So here we have (1) Eden, (2) the garden of Eden, (3) the place where Noah landed the Ark (the mountains of Ararat) and likely began his sailing journey, and (4) the evidence of human habitation and the rise of three distinct cultures all in the same geographic area. It is a great thing that over the last few decades among a few erstwhile researchers, proponents of both science/ancient history/archaeology/etc. and the Biblical record have utilized both to come to a meeting of the minds rather than stay incommunicado over perceived insurmountable differences.
THINGS TO PONDER
There are central differences of opinion among Christians regarding our origins and the Genesis record. Most of what we believe is what we have been taught. It is most often the case that Christians do not challenge their beliefs to any significant degree if at all and therefore rarely change their minds. If we continue to frequent institutions which support our beliefs and ban any and all challenges to them we develop a mindset of enforcement rather than enquiry and thus do not see the need of any research regarding them. When a person in another institution in another part of town has an opposing view which he also refuses to test properly we should see why we do not communicate and why fellowship is not possible.
There are some who believe Creation commenced in 4000BC. There are some who believe it was earlier and likely much earlier. There are some who believe that Noah’s flood was worldwide. There are others who believe it was a local flood. Some believe that the Genesis 1 Creation story is the same as Genesis 2 but that Genesis 2 is more specific. Others believe these two are separate accounts, which means God created human beings in general in Genesis 1 but created two specific human beings (among the others elsewhere) with a distinct purpose in Genesis 2.
I have found that the best way to go about finding the truth is allowing what we think is true to be challenged. Our own individual research can do that. Over many decades of open-minded truth-seeking Biblical study and research, I am absolutely convinced that the Biblical record is true. I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. But I can guarantee you that I have tested many Christian doctrines against the Word of God and found many to be unsupportable. We can do the same concerning our ancient origins if we have an inquisitive mind to do so. I believe the benefits gained are well worth the effort.
Truth never fears a challenge.
© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 1)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 2)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 4)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 5)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 6)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 7)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 8)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 9)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 2)
In Part 1 we discussed the basis for the great sin of those who decided to settle on “a plain in the land of Shinar” to eventually build the Tower. What was their motivation?
.
I posted Part 1 last Thursday. I had hoped to post Part 2 the next day. Then my research took me to places I had not planned to go. The trail kept going deeper into uncharted territory. I had to keep following it. And as is often the case, new research has a tendency to take precedence over schedules…
For example, I found one interesting quasi-scholarly article from several years ago which put forth a thesis that the Biblical land of Shinar was not necessarily in the southern region of Mesopotamia, the place scholarly consensus locates ancient Sumer, but actually quite a ways further to the northwest in what is now eastern Syria. The author made many good points. He made enough good points that I had to question what I had come to believe in the past on this subject. And if you may be wondering, I have done some deep dives into far ancient history and the origins of mankind over many years. It is always interesting what one discovers.
I always start with Scripture. I believe Scripture is inspired by God. I use the Book of Genesis as an ancient factual foundation and framework from which to build out the historical record. Of course, Genesis is relatively brief and often starkly brief but God always gives the pertinent information necessary to get His point across. Due to its concise nature, however, it allows for many different scholarly opinions and perspectives regarding the actual ancient historical and chronological record. There are a few basic reasons for such differences:
(1) Some scholars are less interested in being open minded and going where the truth takes them and more interested in maintaining whatever status quo belief they have accepted as the truth. Such people have a vested interest in their interpretation of ancient history in that their churches, ministries, and Bible schools have adopted a particular viewpoint which disallows any further light or updates based on new information. In other words, it would be significantly inconvenient to modify their mindsets since such would cause systemic change which the majority within their institutions et al simply would not understand. They make the decision, therefore, to protect the institution and the majority opinion thereof at the expense of truth.
(2) Some scholars simply are not very good at their profession. It is why some have put forth the wackiest of ideas from somewhere out in left field. They either do not have the proper background information which usually easily disproves their notions, simply do not know any better, and don’t seem to care about becoming better informed, or maybe they are taking a sensationalist tack with their theories to gain attention and notoriety.
(3) And then there are those compromised by money. Most people are apparently unaware that money talks and in this case paychecks and prestige talk. If one knew the percentage of people in society who were willingly compromised in this way they would be shocked. It is not a small number. In fact, it is most likely a decided majority. That includes academic professors who generally teach what they are taught to teach and told to teach. There is no room for modifying their curriculum to include newly discovered information if it somehow puts a damper on what they have been teaching for years. But this is due primarily to economic reasons in that the entity—colleges, universities, etc.—are built on specific knowledge models which may or may not be true because such models work best for making monetary profits. Many churches work the same way.
I could go on but those are the basics. One may notice that it was all three of these, at least in part, that essentially got the Lord Jesus killed. He came in as a shining Light proclaiming pure Truth and those who didn’t put Truth first hated Him for it. They didn’t appreciate their hidden darkness being exposed. And keep in mind that some of the most wonderful, nice, and polite people, including ministers, can suddenly be transformed from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde when they are exposed for what they really are.
RETURNING TO THE GENESIS NARRATIVE
Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. [Genesis 11:1-2][1]
We must therefore understand that simply because a general consensus of opinion exists does not mean that opinion is necessarily correct. Most people are not of a mind to question authority or check their betters but simply believe what they are told in that they allow themselves to be indoctrinated. They have been taught that having everybody on the same page is healthy and good for society when the opposite is true.
I’m going to be running some things by you, my readers, in this series, that may appear to be somewhat foreign or unusual and it will require you to think deeper on the subject and consider doing some additional research. It’s all for the sake of truth. Also, please keep in mind that I don’t have any ulterior agendas. The preceding three points do not apply to me. This is a free site. You can take it or leave it. Of course, your contributions are most welcome. I certainly believe in community involvement, dialogue, and discussion. Comment threads on this subject will likely be quite revealing and informative.
Remember, the issue at hand is the sad truth that Unreal Christianity has built a modern Tower of Babel that puts to shame the original that existed millennia ago out on the distant windblown plain of Shinar built by religious rebels too fearful of Truth to honor it and too disobedient to God to honor Him.
Both stories have the same outcome.
© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 1)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 3)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 4)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 5)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 6)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 7)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 8)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 9)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 1)
Throughout our Christian Age, countless Christians have taken liberties to create and adopt beliefs and practices which were never granted or supported by the Lord Jesus.
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There is only one New Testament. It contains the only original record of the teachings of the Lord Jesus. It is upon His teachings that Christianity bases its entire existence. He is the chief Cornerstone. His teachings are the foundation of our instruction. They contain the code by which real Christians live—the standard—the only means by which to bring forth spiritual fruitfulness and please God. There should therefore never be any deviation in any direction to any degree from His original perfect curriculum.
Right.
In reality, there is likely no other major belief system or “religion” of any kind that contains more deviations, more divergences, more departures, more differences, and more digressions from the original. It is truly the saddest state of affairs among all such sad states, from a New Covenant perspective, which illustrates a complete disregard for the Author and Finisher of our Faith and the high price He paid to bring us the only perfect belief system in existence—so perfect that it’s full and correct application results in the only means to actually rescue people from eternal damnation.
But whatever.
LET’S PUT THIS IN PERSPECTIVE
There was a time in the very early days on this lovely earth of ours many millennia ago when all the people of the earth (a relative few compared to later billions), instead of venturing forth over the planet as the individual adventurers they should have been in obedience to the Lord’s commandment and positive desire for them, decided to instead all hang out together as an ancient collective, so to speak. They had an entire planet to explore but opted instead to be a congealed mass of low common denominator conformists believing only what everyone else believed. Sound familiar? It helped that there was only one language:
Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. [Genesis 11:1-2] [1]
The Biblical Shinar is the same as ancient Sumer. Though much research has transpired regarding this geographical area, one cannot be definite regarding all aspects. For example it is said that there was another people that existed in the area prior to the Sumerians. These are termed the Ubadians. They are said to have arrived as early as 4500BC. Some sources claim they spoke an earlier language than the later Sumerians who arrived roughly 1000-1200 years later.
Incidentally, I have researched ancient Sumerian, the language of ancient Sumer circa 3500-2000BC, and discovered that it was a language isolate in that it belongs to no known language family. This has been contested by a few but remains the consensus view. It is also the oldest known written language in the world. Archaic Sumerian, its oldest form, has been proven to exist as early as 3100BC. Sumerian gradually began disappearing as a spoken language in circa 1750BC but continued to be used in cuneiform writing until that medium ceased to exist at around the time of our Lord. [2]
Is Sumerian also the oldest spoken language in history? The debate at present usually names Sumerian and Sanskrit, the latter language indigenous primarily to India, as the earliest of the world’s spoken languages (Sumerian no longer exists), although there is ongoing debate about the actual origin of Sanskrit. Some claim it also originated circa 3000BC but this is a reach. However, Sanskrit is an Indo-European language (Indo-Aryan branch) which must share origins with whatever was the first Indo-European language spoken. That language was obviously distinct from Sumerian and must have come into existence later.
From the Biblical perspective, it certainly appears that Sumerian was the very language spoken at the time of the Tower of Babel incident, which would make it the one language spoken then and the original common language of world history. In this regard, one must keep in mind that the Old Testament historical texts contained the only general written world history for many centuries, going back to well over 2500 years ago. Moses had collected the world’s history through Egyptian sources during his time (1526-1406 BC). His history was passed down orally among the Hebrews until committed to writing centuries later. Yet, it was not until roughly two to three centuries ago that much ancient history as we now understand it was developed, aided in large part through the new science of archaeology.
During this entire time, then—three and a half millennia—the world had already possessed the record of Genesis. Of course, with the advance of science, primarily in the 1800s, the Biblical record of Genesis suffered ongoing attacks as being merely a collection of ancient myths unworthy of modern scientific knowledge. Yet, archaeology continued to prove the Biblical record as correct and the early “scientific” naysayers as wrong.
I have studied the beginnings of archaeology which took place in the early 1800s. I have studied the work of those men as they continued their pursuits in the Middle East and primarily the “Holy Land.” It was modern archaeology in its infancy. Palestine was one of their first targets. They wanted to dig up the tells (buried stratified city mounds) of ancient Israel to prove or disprove the Biblical record. From there they branched out to other lands mentioned in Holy Writ. Their discoveries were astounding. Hidden beneath the sands and strata of the Middle East were the actual long lost cities of the ancients and the Biblical record, proving to all but the most incredulous skeptics that the Bible was historically accurate.
And the rest, as they say, is history. Moses, the writer of Genesis, was right. The God who spoke to him was obviously right. The only legitimate time-tested record for the ancient origins of mankind, therefore, continues to name that ancient land between two rivers—Mesopotamia—as the place where it all began.
© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
[2] The Graeco-Babyloniaca Once Again © 2007: “The latest datable cuneiform tablet that we have today concerns astronomical events of 75 AD and comes from Babylon. It provides a terminus post quem, at least for Babylon.”
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 2)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 3)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 4)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 5)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 6)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 7)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 8)
A CONFUSION OF BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS: OUR CHRISTIAN TOWER OF BABEL (Part 9)
THE “LAST DAYS” DECEPTION: Editing the Lord’s Teachings (4)
There are two kinds of Christians in the world—those who are deceived, have always been deceived, and don’t know they’re deceived—and those who are no longer deceived.
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As I’ve stated here before, according to the teachings of the Lord Jesus, the default position of every single person born into this world is to die and go to hell. As distasteful as this subject may be, and as most may find it cringe worthy and fit for immediate denunciation, the Lord actually taught on it quite often. The reason He did is because there is no more important subject to teach.
“For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” [Matthew 7:14]
“Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” [John 3:7]
Regardless of so many wanting to rewrite the Gospels to arrive at something more acceptable, or recharacterize the Lord Jesus as someone more like their perception of Him may be, or make Him what they may want Him to be to make them feel more comfortable, it never changes the eternity facts He spoke about except on a temporary basis, that is, while one lives in this life under deception.
WORSE THAN JUDAS
The worst perpetrators of editing the Lord and His curriculum have been Christians. These people, regardless of their socially acceptable, outwardly benign, or religiously duded-up exteriors, have ulterior motives and are His greatest enemies. They are worse than Judas.
I say that not because Judas Iscariot was not a bad guy (he most certainly was), but that Judas was primarily a very confused guy and one who could never overcome his intrinsic understanding of things or his prior religious indoctrination. He was likely a Pharisee or Pharisee sympathizer of somewhat high standing though such was probably due to family and religious connections. He had a good report with those who controlled the temple and was apparently there relatively often. Yet despite all of Judas’ failings which ultimately led him to be possessed of the devil himself, he still had enough of a working conscience to know that after he had betrayed the Lord he understood that he had betrayed the Lord. Though he did not know it while he was doing it and likely thought in his warped thinking that he was doing something good, when it all came down and he understood that he had been thoroughly deceived by the devil and the devil’s religious authorities, the only thing that made sense was to go kill himself. At the moment his eyes were opened (when he finally woke up), he suddenly saw that he had done something absolutely horrendously terrible and that it might have been the greatest sin ever perpetrated since the original sin of Adam and Eve.
Thus, it may be said that Judas acted based on living in deception. And again, deceived people do not know they are deceived. Judas was likely deceived his entire life but I will leave some room for him here in case he had moments of true understanding regarding the Lord. Effectively, of course, he never overcame his lifelong deception and made a perfect candidate for use by the devil. Judas may have been sent on a mission from the very beginning by the devil and joined up with the Lord as the devil’s tool within the Lord’s inner circle. The Lord would have always known this, though, and alluded to it on occasion:
Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” [John 6:70]
Therefore, those Christians who deliberately edit the teachings of the Lord Jesus do far worse than Judas ever did because they apparently don’t have a working conscience as Judas certainly did. Everyone remembers, for example, their first big sin as a little kid or when they first became aware of right and wrong, when they instantly came to understand that they had done a very bad thing. The understanding came because their conscience did what it was designed to do. It pointed out their error. Whatever the age of accountability may be for each person, and though there may be a time as very small children when we do wrong and do not yet know it, we all reach an age, maybe five or six years old, when we become responsible for knowing our conscience works and can no longer escape its convicting power.
For some people in this world, however, this is not true. They never seem to have a working conscience. They do not appear to feel guilt. They do bad things and like it. They enjoy doing wrong and are not convicted. They do not appear to have the remorse gene. They make light of things of very high importance and lack the respect they should have for the true things of God. They may know it is wrong behavior and even engage in greater sin as they get older but usually never have any tendency to stop. Repentance is simply not in their vocabulary. When they grow up they are capable of doing wrong without regret. While Judas was so stricken by the grossly evil thing he had done once his veil of deception was lifted, the religious psychopath has no such reaction.
ARE THEY BORN THAT WAY OR MADE THAT WAY?
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! [Galatians 1:6-9]
There is only one original full curriculum of the Lord Jesus. Anything which purports to be His full curriculum but deviates from the original is false. This deviation from the original can be done by adding teachings and understandings that are not His or simply omitting teachings and understandings that are. Such newly created Christian curricula, regardless of how good they appear and how well they escape scrutinizing from Christians who should know better, are false and not of God. If they are not of God they must be of another source. That source must be evil.
Because we now have any number of false gospels masquerading as the real one and great numbers of Christians supporting such false gospels, we know there must have been a point A for each, a starting point, and that the starting point of each had to have been implemented in this world through human agency in tandem with a higher invisible agency. This worked the same way it worked with Judas in that the devil deceived Judas to believe his betrayal of the Lord was not a betrayal and was instead something good and right, though it was actually pure evil (Sound familiar?). For each false gospel on the planet there had to be an original hidden and sinister “Judas” or “Judas group” used of the devil to create it. Their supporters likely believe their false gospel is not false at all but the best gospel or the real gospel.
What kind of people are these? Maybe some are like Judas in that they eventually see their error. Most however, likely never care about any error to begin with and know very well they are engaging in editing the Lord’s teachings and enjoy doing it. Perhaps they have become so overwhelmed by religious indoctrination and staunchly supporting their false denominational beliefs that they justify their work as good. Perhaps they are mere religious underlings forced to carry on the work by their Christian cult leadership.
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. [2Corinthians 11:3-4]
Maybe they do it for power and prestige and as the willing price to pay for joining a higher social caste. Maybe they are overcome by the physical eye which overpowers the spiritual eye. Maybe they do it for access to fulfilling the lust of their flesh and having all that money can buy. These are the three roots of temptation, remember, that the enemy uses on everyone. But how evil must one be who would actually corrupt the teachings of the Lord for gain? And not feel bad about it? And never have the reaction Judas had? What is wrong with such people? It could be they are true psychopaths. Or it could be they know they are doing wrong but have such a great desire for the preceding three outcomes or any one of the three that they are willing to make a deal.
Here is a good test:
Let’s say the Lord calls a person to salvation but that it will greatly complicate his life and even place him in grave danger. But he does it anyway. Most of those around him who also receive the Gospel seed turn it down, maybe largely out of fear of social or religious rejection and castigation, but that one guy does not and is willing to go through any pain to gain salvation. He then works diligently to prepare himself as a good disciple by studying the pure Word of God and learning how to present it correctly. And let’s say that one guy is then given a specific ministry but no salary. And he somehow makes it work anyway. And there are confirming “signs and wonders” in his ministry to further prove his legitimacy.
The vast majority of Christian ministers, on the other hand, never agree to become ministers unless an acceptable salary is involved (failed test). Many of these must also desire social acceptance and prestige to some degree (failed test). And some even demand that their lust be satisfied even though it may only be in the “material” realm though such is done in a deceptive manner in that their lust satisfaction is deemed “success” and therefore not only acceptable but something also desirable by their followers (failed test).
But that other guy has none of those things, maybe for many years and maybe his entire life, and somehow fulfills his ministry anyway. Regardless of what may be an extreme example, this is actually not so uncommon. The others, however, are as fake as the day is long (though such fakery is rarely or never understood by the deceived). They are mere sellouts. The vast majority of Christian “ministers” in the world fail the test. What is worse, though, is that they preach false gospels and assist the devil in deception. Whoever listens to and believes these charlatans, though such supportive believers outwardly appear as “good Christians,” end up just as deceived as Judas was. They go through life believing all is well with their chosen walk and don’t know they are deceived and have believed a false gospel. Judas got the big idea while he was still alive. Many if not most of these others will never get the big idea until afterwards when it will be too late.
THE REAL AND THE UNREAL
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. [2Timothy 4:1-4]
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. [2Peter 2:1-3] [1]
Any deviation from the Lord’s presentation is an invitation to deception.
Once one crosses the line into the realm of deception his perception is changed. He will think he is doing good when he is not. He will even be happy and satisfied and completely unaware that his spiritual reality has become compromised. He begins operating according to a non-Kingdom understanding since he does not dwell in the Kingdom though believes he does. And even if the Lord sends messengers to rescue him and bring him into the light he will likely see no need because he believes he is already dwelling in the light. And because many more are living across the line with him, a decided majority, he has plenty of support from everyone there that all is well in their vast happy land of bliss and ignorance.
Praise God for Christian persecution.
© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
THE REAL GOSPEL
The odds are great that most Christians in the world have never experienced the real Gospel or are aware of it, and have embraced another gospel in its place.
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I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! [Galatians 1:6-9]
Christians in general are not so discriminating in their gospel choices. Rather than do the required reading and research which the Lord Jesus, as our Teacher, demands, in order to locate the real one, they accept whatever gospel they are most familiar with or the one their particular tradition mandates. Many apparently do not even refer to their respective denominational beliefs as a gospel. They have been taught, and have accepted, the notion that anything Christian is close enough and anything Christian is the gospel, and that denominational separation and variation are the norm. This attitude makes a mockery of the Lord’s extensive teachings as though His full curriculum were optional, as though one can deviate from it and create partial gospels based on segments of His teachings. It makes a mockery of all He went through and the struggles and great victories of the Early Church which they achieved through never-ending spiritual warfare and incessant prayer. What they accomplished was extremely difficult and demanded real discipleship. Such remains a foreign concept in most of today’s churches.
Therefore, what I write here is an attempt to set the record straight. The record, of course, is contained in the actual written Gospel presented in the New Covenant Scriptures. This record is our Christian foundation. And though the early first-century believers had no written New Testament, the written New Testament is an absolute necessity in our day. For by it we can discern truth from error.
THE GOSPEL, THE COVENANT
We call it a testament. The better word is covenant—from the Greek word diatheke. The writer of the Book of Hebrews explains the nature of this covenant (in a passage we will get to shortly) in a manner most often not acknowledged or fully understood by the very Christians who claim to invoke it. How is it that the majority of Christians spend their lives going through their respective Christian motions yet never participate in the covenant which decides their eternal fate?
A covenant is a binding legal contract or agreement between two parties. This is exactly what the New Covenant is. The Gospel, or Good News, announces this covenant. The Good News, or Good Tidings, or Glad Tidings, is that God has made a way for people to be delivered from the bondage of sin and have their sins paid for and remitted completely. It is an agreement instituted by our benevolent Creator for the sake of being relationally reconciled with the wayward people of His Creation. And unlike most contracts which involve the participation of both parties in the authoring of the contract, the New Covenant is a contract in which God authors the terms. But unlike authors of covenants who control the terms and thus write for themselves the best terms, God blesses the wayward offending party with the best terms—the highly beneficial terms normally granted by the controlling author to himself. And what is more, the Author of the New Covenant must not only be the Priest which divides the sacrifice to shed its blood (for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin), but be the Sacrifice and shed His own Blood. God has so loved the wayward people of his Creation that He was willing to become one of us, shed His blood for us, and die for us. There is no greater love than this.
The Greek word diatheke, translated into English primarily as covenant, is also translated in some Bible versions in a few locations as will, as in last will and testament, which is a covenant that goes into effect only at death. Paul uses it this way in Galatians 3:15, for example. For our purposes here, we may focus on Hebrews 9:16 in which most versions translate diatheke as either covenant or testament, but a few as will. Thus, the New Covenant necessitated the death of the Testator—the Author of the will—whose last will and testament went into effect only upon His death and which involves the rights of inheritance for the second party.
And due to the nature of the sacrifice He made for sin, it is also a covenant of blood—a Blood Covenant in that two parties agree that a sacrificial death must take place to institute it (the death of the Lord Jesus, the first party), but also that a second sacrificial death must take place to ratify it (the death of the second party):
15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. 17 For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. [Hebrews 9:15-17]
Now, the death of the first party of the New Covenant was a brutal physical death involving horrific torture and suffering. It was, of course, undeserved. The Lord Jesus was absolutely innocent of the false charges His accusers threw against Him. He never committed a single sin and kept the Law of Moses perfectly. This, of course, made His an extremely difficult and dedicated life. His love for wayward humanity was such that He subjected Himself to the otherwise impossible task and living a life with no sin so He could defeat sin and release us from the evil power of sin. The Lord had to be completely innocent and pure in order for the New Covenant to be instituted. He was the Sacrifice Lamb and the sacrifice had to be without blemish.
The death required of the second party in this covenant, however, is not a physical death but a sacrifice of the totality of one’s life. It is illustrated by the anguish, agony, and grief of the full repentance process as one expresses pronounced sorrow for one’s lifetime personal sins and is broken and “burnt” as an offering upon an intangible altar of sacrifice as one surrenders completely to the terms of the covenant which mandates such a death.
The second party, of course, has no leg to stand on as it were and no defense, since he or she is the guilty party, the party of sin. The Author’s terms which one must agree to in order to accept and ratify the agreement cannot possibly be any better, however, since they entail not only a brand new clean and purposeful life in the here and now but eternal life as well. And this eternal life, of course, demands that there also be a later resurrection after physical death, just as the first party had undergone resurrection. The Lord Jesus had died physically but later came back to life. The second party of the covenant will also undergo physical death and will also later come back to life.
But regarding the present, there is more. If the second party repents properly, correctly, and fully, which means he or she effectively dies, the pure Blood of the Sacrifice Lamb, the Lord Jesus, will then be applied to his or her life. The Blood is applied at repentance. Thus, if there is no real repentance, there is no application of the Blood, and there is no ratification of the New Covenant for any particular second party.
If there is real repentance by the second party, then he or she will be thoroughly cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb and all personal sin will be washed away. And since the second party does not actually die physically to ratify the covenant, the Lord Jesus has instituted full immersion water baptism in His Name—it must be in the Name of Jesus—as a type of burial for the “dead” second party. In other words, real repentance signifies death and full immersion water baptism signifies burial.
Now what? You’ve got a person, the second party, who is dead and buried. When he or she then emerges from the waters of baptism it signifies in one sense a resurrection from the tomb. In effect, however, though one is now clean and pure, his or her spirit must be resurrected as well in order to complete the process of attaining the same state that Adam and Eve existed in before they sinned. Remember, God had told them that if they ever sinned they would die. Yet, when they did sin, they did not die physically, but spiritually. They continued living physically but Adam’s spirit had died. Eve’s spirit had died. Because of this, their sin and their dead spirit cut them off from spiritual relationship with God. And because they were no longer innocent and pure they could no longer live in the spiritual Garden made for spiritual people but were required to leave the Garden and go into the wild world.
The last Adam, however, restores this spiritual relationship. He has made a way in which one can return to the Garden (His Kingdom). He does it through the infilling of the second party with His Holy Spirit:
But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. [1Corinthians 6:17]
TRANSFORMATIVE SPIRITUAL POWER
Thus, we now see the complete process toward total restoration. This is what was demonstrated in the early history of the Lord’s Community per the historical record of Acts. This is the fullness of the real Gospel. This is the Good News. The second party, previously completely helpless and bound by sin with no chance of changing his or her condition for the better, is fully transformed into a new creation by the sacrifice and power of the first party.
Therefore, the New Covenant is actually a covenant of transformative spiritual POWER. This was demonstrated throughout the ministry of the Lord Jesus in the Gospel accounts. He possessed and demonstrated the power of God. People were miraculously healed. They were miraculously delivered of possession by demons. The poor and downtrodden, those beat down and taken advantage of by others, were blessed with the uplifting Gospel of hope and joy. And the dead were raised to new life.
This great spiritual power and the one Gospel—the only real Gospel—were and remain a package deal. They go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. Not only was this great spiritual power (Greek: dunamis) demonstrated in the Lord’s ministry, it was also demonstrated after His initial ministry through the ministry of the Early Church in the first century. So the power never ended with His direct ministry, continued after His direct ministry according to the clear historical record, and was obviously intended to continue throughout the age of His Kingdom on earth until the present and beyond. To support this fact, we have these three passages for starters:
So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. [Mark 16:19-20]
“For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” [Acts 2:39]
After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. [Hebrews 2: 3-4]
The New Testament, therefore, is: (1) A written record which reveals the spiritual power of God in action, the very cause of the miracles which took place among them and without which the Gospel would have no power or ability to transform. (2) A written record which documents the full teachings of the Lord Jesus—the real Gospel—but also exposes any and all consequent false gospels.
ANY Christian teaching that deviates from the Lord’s pure curriculum is in essence a false teaching, either because it contains error, that which the Lord never taught, or it acknowledges only a portion of His teachings. Whatever gospel thus contains additions to His teachings denotes a false gospel. Whatever gospel thus contains omissions from His teachings denotes a false gospel. And whatever gospel that denies and does not possess the transformative spiritual power of God is a false gospel. It was none other than the renowned Apostle Paul who first claimed this fact in his second letter to Timothy when he wrote:
…holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these. [2Timothy 3:5]
For greater insight and clarification, the phrase “form of godliness” in the preceding verse is from the Greek words morphosis eusebeia. The first is defined as “a forming, shaping, semblance, a form, embodiment.” The second is defined as: “reverence, respect, religion, piety.” Putting the two together, using various existing Bible translations, we see much better the man-made formulation of the many false gospels in the world and their inherent character:
A Form of Godliness
A Form of Religion
A Form of Piety
A Pretense of Religion
An Appearance Indeed of Godliness
The Appearance of Godliness
The Form of Religion
The Outward Appearance of Religion
The Outward Form of Godliness
THE REAL GOSPEL
Partial salvation is not real salvation. Partial cleansing of one’s soul is not real cleansing of one’s soul. A partial born again experience is not a real born again experience. Partial healing is not real healing. A broken heart cannot be partially healed and actually be healed. The real Christians of this world know they had to surrender all and give their entire heart to the Lord in order to receive all that He had to offer and must be offered in order to be fully transformed. With the Lord Jesus, there are no partial or halfway measures. He will never allow a person to think he or she is okay when he or she is not okay.
HE IS NOT A QUACK MINISTER LIKE MOST OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTERS IN THIS WORLD, EACH OF WHOM HAVE THEIR PRICE AND HAVE SOLD OUT.
And a lawyer (a Torah teacher) stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” [Luke 10:25-28]
“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” [Matthew 12:30]
“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” [Luke 11:23]
According to the Lord Jesus, who is our only authority, real Christianity is a 100% proposition. One is either with Him or one is not. If one is with Him one is with Him 100% or one is not with Him at all. He has all authority and all power both in heaven and on earth. As part of His ministry, He shares his power with His real followers. He even said His real followers, those who believe in Him, could do anything He did and more:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” [John 14:12-14]
To this astounding statement, however, He adds an apparent caveat:
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” [John 14:15]
And it is here that we see the answer. We discover how real Christianity works. We understand how the people of the Early Church, not only the apostles, were able to be used of God to allow for the doing of the same miracles that the Lord performed. They must have loved Him with all their heart. No one would ever do all that He commanded otherwise.
Though they believed in Him and trusted Him completely, their obedience went beyond mere trust. They obeyed Him because they loved Him. This is why they kept His commandments. He loved each of them with all His heart. And they loved Him the same. We know the Lord was willing to do pretty much anything for anyone to help them and bless them and that His help went beyond the mere natural into the supernatural. He empowered His disciples to do the same works He did but they were only able to do them after they reached the same point of love for Him that He had for them, and by this they were able to love each other.
It was the bond of spiritual love (agape) which made the early believers so effective in doing miraculous works (ergon). Their love of the Lord Jesus meant that they trusted the difficult discipleship process they had to go through to receive the spiritual power (dunamis) through which the works were activated. Their love of their neighbor allowed them to work well together and meet the spiritual needs of their neighbor.
And this is why the one Gospel—the real Gospel—is founded upon spiritual love and works through the power of spiritual love.
“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.” [John 15:12-14][1]
© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
DENOMINATED MASS FORMATION GROUPTHINK
You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you…? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? [Galatians 3:1, 3]
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Most Christians continually embrace the status quo, as in “I’m a (insert name of denomination here) and I’ll always be a (insert name of denomination here) and that makes me just fine and dandy.” But what about the new birth? (John 3:1-21). Have we all been born of the Spirit as Jesus said we must be? Again, most of us reply with a snappy Biblical comeback such as, “Say what?”
And therein lies the problem. Most of those who call themselves Christians have been repeatedly told by their religious authority figures that the station of their spiritual life is basically as good as it’s ever going to get. They were never told of any new birth, and have therefore never sought it. This keeps them from ever entering the kingdom of God. (Off in the distance, one can hear that famous old choir hymn refrain, “The kingdom of what?”) We are a nation largely comprised of Biblically illiterate, multi-cultural quasi-Christians who have been sold a false bill of goods, and our first reaction to hearing such news comes from page 31 of the Ignorant Pulpiteer Manual—“Stick it in your ear!”
The second reason the Lord lacks full authority within our churches is because, by and large, it has been our choice. We don’t like to be told we are wrong and it is often simply our own human nature which compels us to protect whatever ignorance and bias we are associated with. The nature of the real Christian, the one who has been born of God, is to expose ignorance and prejudice. Could this be why the institutional clergy is growing ever more concerned about its standing? Could this be why some in its membership are starting to get the idea that Jesus is quite upset with their Pharisaical practices and that their gig is just about up? There is a gigantic hook reaching out across the stage which is about to yank the clergy spirit out of its stealthy position of prominence in the Church so that God’s people can be free to learn the truth from Him and receive His righteousness. When the enslaved Christians are set free, truth and righteousness will flourish.[1]
I penned the preceding 25 years ago in Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church. I wrote the bulk of this book in the mid 1990s and eventually published it in 2001. I began receiving the revelation of the book in 1992. I know this may sound as though the book is likely dated and therefore essentially worthless for our time but the opposite is true. My book was ahead of its time, maybe way ahead. The corrective has yet to be applied as it should and those entities which rejected the message and dug in their heels against the new move of God which was surely coming have grown all the more obtuse, inbred, and obstinate ever since.
We are told that doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting a different result is effective insanity. Thus, since this form of insanity has fallen upon or been appropriated in general by the major Christian denominations in America, it easily explains why they are generally a mere fraction of what they once were, spiritually speaking. Because they rejected the fullness of the Lord’s teachings they have been overcome by the sinful culture. This is what happens when a Christian or Christian entity rejects God—they no longer have the strength or ability to fight the good fight. They can no longer resist sin and temptation. Thus, in order to stay intact and keep their head, so to speak, they must make friends with the enemy. They must make friends with sin. If they go to war they know they will be destroyed in battle. They are not equipped and are ill-trained. Their generals are spiritual sissies. They are afraid of the devil. They reject the Spirit of the Lord and embrace the world. Again, this is what happens when one denies the Lord Jesus, the Lion from the Tribe of Judah:
“The Lord is a Warrior; the Lord is His Name.” [Exodus 15:3]
Because they feel the Lord is too strong in demanding discipleship and is restricting their lives and desires, they move on to be “free” but eventually discover they have far less freedom than before. Their blessings and favor go out the window. They have no choice but to embrace mammon since they rejected God’s providence. They put the full burden on themselves. This causes stress and often great stress. Such stress must be drugged. Such minds must be pacified. Godless religion works well at doing this. (Just do what we say and nobody gets hurt.) No wonder Marx said religion is the opiate of the masses. They foolishly abandon real freedom and subject themselves to spiritual slavery. They either never accepted the following or at some point rejected it:
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. [Galatians 5:1]
They had thought the great things they accomplished and were doing were largely due to their own good sense and hard work, not acknowledging the great role the Lord was playing. They made a god of themselves. They rejected the original and created a new fellowship in which they were the boss. Their pride caused them to walk away from the Lord because they felt they were being held back. After a fling without the Lord’s authority in their lives and the new fun and “freedom” they gained as a result, and likely a rise in income and influence due to making friends with the world and non-believers, they started experiencing adverse consequences they never foresaw or wanted. Gone were the productive crops and in came the weeds. Sin grew exponentially. They could no longer control it. Because they could no longer keep the invasion of sin at bay they renamed it and transformed into non-sin. They opened their doors to it. Suddenly, the vilest sins became not only okay but commendable. The worst abominations became praiseworthy.
Professing to be wise, they became fools… [Romans 1:22]
There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. [Proverbs 16:25]
The only reason the major denominations still exist is because, over time, they were stealthily transformed into something else. They are actually only mere shells of what they once were. And some were never that close to God to begin with after their early productive formative years. As long as the members keep supporting what is left, what is left will remain but in name only. They are essentially no longer Christian. They only appear that way. They are the denominations and churches of Ichabod (1Samuel 4:21). The glory has departed and they like it that way. If the Lord did bring a spiritual revival most of them would be greatly upset and would fight it all the more. Many of the major denominations, including those of the Pentecostal and Charismatic variety, have been resisting the Great Awakening from the beginning. They are rebellious children toward the corrective. Some have brought an excessive fight. It proves the Lord is no longer among many of them.
Twenty five years ago the situation with wayward Christianity was not at all that bad. There was still a good chance of making the proper corrections. When the directive came, however, designed to stave off what was surely coming without the necessary repentance, the “successful” blind guides rejected it. It likely sounded preposterous to them. Next to no one then foresaw our present day of depravity and spiritual famine among the ultra-organized world-embracing sellouts. Back then, in the mid 1990s, there was a booming economy nationwide and many ministries were flush with cash, especially the majors. Rather than needing repentance, the big boys considered their wealth and prestige a sign of blessing. I’m sure it was for some, but only those who were humble and obedient. Many were neither and still are not.
The Lord told me what was coming and about how we must prepare. I wrote an entire 330 page book encapsulating the message in great detail. It remains amazing to me that those who have read the book appreciate the message, find no fault with it, and have benefited from it, while others in influential positions who needed to read and support it refused. The results of such refusals and of the message in general are now all around us. The enemy has come in like a flood. We have been invaded by Midianites.
“But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.” [Matthew 19:30]
My book is still as topical and fresh as it ever was. It still contains a great message that, if applied, will bring spiritual success. There must be hunger for spiritual success, however, and this demands we stop supporting dead structures and rebellious compromised Christian leaders and their entities. This is in part what the Great Awakening is all about. Those who are awake get it. Those who remain sleeping never do.
I challenge all who read this article to do some research regarding past revivals and awakenings. Whenever the Lord opened doors into the Light of His Word and attempted to bring Life the main resisters were almost always initially the existing status quo “church leaders” of the time. They, their authority and authoritative positions, and their comfort level were threatened by the truth. The new moves of God exposed them as mere hirelings at best and workers of evil at worst. It was, of course, exactly the same in the first century. The most rabid enemies and persecutors of the early Church, composed only of Israelite descendants of Abraham for about the first nine years before Gentiles began being added, were fellow Israelites of the extreme unbelieving variety, the same who brought so much trouble to the Lord. This remains the case. The greatest persecutors of real Christians are unreal Christians.
THE GREAT AWAKENING
It has now been over ten years since I got the revelation, since the Lord spoke those words to me—“We are in the early stages of a national Great Awakening.” That was at the end of August in 2010. Well, we are no longer in the early stages. Massive amounts of truth have come forth. Massive amounts of hidden sin and iniquity have been exposed. The majority of denominational Christians still cannot see it which proves their continued resistance against it. They would rather have the old wine and the old wineskins. They would rather keep propping up something that died long ago. And though it may look like the best thing to do is obey the tyrants and surrender, and that those who comply will be treated best, the opposite is true. The Lord Jesus will never reward cowards, those that know better but instead embrace evil and look for the weasel way out. He will actually support and stand with those who resist evil and give them greater strength, ability, and means to do so. This is where the real blessing is and always has been.
Therefore, rather than chicken out and continue to beat a dead horse, it would be better to embrace resurrection and hope one’s karma chickens die of bird flu.
It would be much better to repent, get right with God, plead for His mercy, and ask sincerely for His Life. It would better to cease preaching false gospels, end the masquerade, and join the real Church, the one the Lord Jesus created, and the only one in which He has the rule and is King. It would be better to Arise, shine; for your light has come.
But many won’t.
They’ve gone mental.
They’ve embraced entrenched consensus denominated mass formation groupthink.
WHO HAS BEWITCHED THEM?
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [Galatians 5:13-25][2]
© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] © 2001 Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[2] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
UNREAL CHRISTIANITY IS A FLAWED MODEL (IT THUS DEMANDS CHRISTIAN PROGRAMMING TO MAKE IT WORK)
It appears to function properly. The people who exist within it appear to have a correct perspective. Appearances, however, can be greatly deceiving.
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In writing my book, Real Christianity—The Nature of the Church, I coined the term “Unreal Christianity.” This term is defined as everything Real Christianity is not. Real Christianity is: (1) The total curriculum of the Lord Jesus and everything He taught and carried out during His ministry as revealed in the New Covenant writings. (2) The sum total of everything taught and practiced by His initial real followers in obedience to Him during the first century AD as revealed in the New Covenant writings.
Discovering Real Christianity is not difficult. The Word of God reveals it. The Spirit of God is active in the world leading whosoever will to Life and Truth. There are millions of people with solid testimonials who have experienced it. We have historical records. The first century written record is a spiritual gold mine. Also, the central core of the Lord’s teachings regarding salvation are easy to understand and apply, and one does not need full knowledge of the New Testament to gain salvation.
However, one does need such knowledge to reveal the unreal. One must know the New Testament very well to overcome false teachings. Those who add to or take away from the Lord’s teachings are not working for Him. That should be obvious. The reason so many Christians are deceived and are teaching and practicing that which the Lord never did or does not support need the proper frame of reference to discover their error. They will never gain this within their limited circles.
The teachings and practices of the original Community of the Lord were commanded to be carried out perpetually from generation to generation. We have ample historical evidence that this is true. There is therefore no justification whatsoever for deviating from the original, though a great many Christians have done this and continue supporting false forms of Christianity. It makes no difference that the majority of Christians belong to the unreal camp. The majority is always wrong. The rigors and full commitment of real discipleship are such that only a relative few will follow the correct path. The majority chooses the broad well-traveled way.
Thus, Unreal Christianity is an all-inclusive term denoting every Christian belief system and practice that deviates from the perfect original. The New Covenant writings do an excellent job at defining the real and exposing the unreal. If one cannot find confirmation for his Christian beliefs and practices in the New Testament then such beliefs and practices are incorrect. There is no proof or reason for their existence.
TWO TYPES OF CHRISTIAN INTELLIGENCE
In general, there are two basic types of intelligence which Christians choose to adopt. The majority type can be referred to as programmable intelligence. This is characterized by people who accept indoctrination willingly. They rarely or never question authority. They never seek confirming proof. They go along to get along. Truth is much less important than fitting into the group. Therefore, the belief system of the overall group, the glue which binds the members together, is predominant with reference to any other belief system, including Biblical truth.
Of course, anybody can be programmed. Yet, to the consternation of religious tyrants everywhere, some people can only be programmed to a point. These people adopt the second type of intelligence. The time always arrives when such people, always in the apparent minority, will start to notice flaws in their programming and begin to ask questions. They will notice that elements of their indoctrination don’t add up. Because they are also independent thinkers, they measure their programming against the Word of God. They then become fully aware of their programming. It is a life changing moment when their eyes are suddenly opened, so to speak. It can be a shock, not only because they realize they were deceived by their previous Christian beliefs but that the ones in authority in which they trusted had lied to them. They then begin to deconstruct their programming and allow for the pure teachings of the Lord.
This form of intelligence can be referred to as non-programmable intelligence. Though these people can certainly be deceived, their deception is always temporary. Over the long term, it is impossible to keep them in an ongoing state of deception. No matter what the religious programmers do, they simply cannot keep these people programmed to a flawed belief system. The mindset of those with non-programmable intelligence, because they possess an inherent hunger of and love for the truth, is one composed of critical thinking, testing, and ongoing questioning of authority. Their only supreme loyalty is to the Supreme Being. They can hear His voice and will only follow the Good Shepherd. They know that the curriculum of the Lord Jesus is the only flawless Christian belief system.
Those with only programmable intelligence never notice any flaws in their programming. They also do not perceive that they have been programmed. Whatever denominational beliefs they espouse have been programmed into them. They are very well indoctrinated. Some would use the term brainwashed. These people never test their programmed beliefs against the Word of God. They never see the need to test them. They fully trust their religious authority figures. They simply believe what they are taught and look no further. They have little or no critical thinking ability regarding their Christian beliefs. Why question what is right? If by chance they happen to find apparent flaws in their indoctrination (or have them pointed out to them by others), they often chalk it up to concepts which can never be understood in this life and thereby invoke the spectre of mystery in that such concepts are impossible to comprehend.
Though there are certainly mysteries in this life there are none within the teachings of the Lord. It may appear that way if one never studies the Word. Therefore such defeatist attitudes actually reveal intellectual laziness and a refusal to search for available answers, as well as a strong reluctance to deviate from the teachings of the group because they fear rejection by the group. They know they can never make it without group support.
Those who choose mere programmable intelligence have this in common. They rank social standing very high. It is extremely important to them to belong and be well thought of by the overall group of which they are a member and that they fit in well and maintain their standing in the group. This demands that the overall members of the group have essentially the exact core beliefs. Core beliefs are so important they must never be questioned whatsoever and any member who does so is quickly rendered a social violator. The punishments of such social violators are the proverbial cold shoulder at best or excommunication at worst. In the middle exist all manner of punishments designed to inflict enough abuse to force one back into compliance. Any one of these punishments inflicts social humiliation and can be quite damaging though most are temporary. The abused accept their abuse willingly, though they still may not understand why they are being punished so severely. The last thing they want is cancellation because they consider actual removal from the group the worst possible outcome. It is the social death penalty.
Those with programmable intelligence could never handle such an outcome. Their place in the group is far too important. It is not only fear of banishment from the group, it is also the great fear of being thought of as different, strange, quirky, or as a deviant. They will do anything to keep either of these two outcomes from happening. They know they must strive to be a well thought of member of the group at any cost and will strive for that social standing. They crave group support to bolster the way they think about themselves. Doing all that is required as a member of the pack, the gang, the group, or the congregation validates their standing and shields them from outside attack. They must have a structured environment in which they are told what to think and believe. They often do not have the capacity to do their own research. They can rarely stand alone.
This means they must believe as the group believes. They believe the beliefs of the group are paramount. They do not understand, however, that the group has only a low common denominator set of basic elementary beliefs. And they also do not understand that the heart of these core tenets are founded upon control. The beliefs are used to keep everyone in the group under control to a higher authority. Though there is a higher authority—those few in control who dictate what will be believed and practiced—the members perceive their set of beliefs as their foundation instead of the sly controllers who use the “foundational” beliefs to program them and thus control them.
The members of the unreal assembly believe their chosen beliefs are fundamentally sound and true but they never test them. Their Christian beliefs appear on the surface to agree with Scripture. But because the beliefs are never actually tested against Scripture (and because any such testing is often forbidden) it does not take much further programming to convince the members that their beliefs are absolutely confirmed by Scripture (falsely). The controllers know those who are successfully programmed will never demand proof. Such followers believe that whatever testing is required has already been performed by the authorities in charge. Members learn that their core beliefs must never be deviated from by any member because it negatively affects the unity of the group. And even though most have undergone abuse to conform it will not stop the abused from engaging in abuse against others. All must defend their group and their group’s practices and beliefs, whatever the cost.
All that I describe here is the essential definition of a cult. Unreal Christianity contains a collection of Christian cults with a false façade. The leaders thereof are wolves in sheep’s clothing and are often demonic.
Such cultish thinking is based on primeval aspects of survival. Groups survive because they stick together against enemies (those who believe differently). Over time, small groups become large groups but their basic tenets remain the same. Whoever does not believe and act as the members are characterized as deviants and must be opposed. It becomes a joke when all Christian denominations adopt the same attitude—everybody is wrong except us—we have the full truth—our church is the right church—our leaders are the only real leaders.
Regarding Real Christianity, the Lord Jesus is the only Leader. His teachings are the only Christian truth. His Community is composed of the only Christian unity. His disciples follow and obey only Him because they love Him. They are not programmed.
AWAKING TO THE TRUTH
If the faux bros tested themselves against the Lord’s model they would discover their error. They would understand they possess a flawed model of Christianity. And then they may wonder how this happened. If they’re not careful they will start adopting the other form of intelligence, one that cannot be successfully programmed. And then, horror of horrors, they will start thinking critically. They will even test their beliefs against the Word of God. They will start questioning their betters. The next thing you know a great many Christians will break free from their Christian programming, stop being religious zombies, and actually gain more fear of losing their soul than losing their place in their chosen Christian society. It will dawn on them what living for God actually is and how blessed they are to have the opportunity to do so.
And they will see the Lord Jesus as He was at one time—rejected, betrayed, banished from the group, and left completely alone, and they will lose their fear. They will see that He overcame it all. It never stopped Him. He was victorious anyway.
He exposed the flawed models. He defeated the programmers. He did it all to set us free.
Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. [Romans 16:17-20] [1]
© 2021 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
WORSHIP JESUS
Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus. Worship Jesus.
DESTROYING DECEPTIONS THAT CAPTURE THE MIND
The Words of Jesus are Spirit and Life that overcome ingrained mental falsehoods. Knowledge of the written Word leads to greater relationship with the Living Word.
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My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge… [Isaiah 5:13]
“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” [John 8:31-32]
The Lord has made access to His written Word extremely easy. The essential purpose for initially accessing the written Word of God is to discover God. One learns who He is, how much He cares for us, and also what He requires on our part to facilitate a lasting relationship. By acquiring knowledge of the Lord’s pure teachings one can break free from misleading false narratives, lies masquerading as Truth, and disabling deceptions imprisoning one on the other side of an otherwise bridgeless chasm.
OVERCOMING GUIDELINE GRIDLOCK
One must remember that the Early Church of the first century had no New Testament. Many did not even have access to the Old Testament Scriptures. Even at that time, people often believed and practiced not that which derived from the pure Word but from some religious leader’s interpretation of it, whether his intentions were noble or otherwise. There were scads of rabbis, doctors of the Law, synagogue leaders, and most notably, casuistic Pharisees who went so far as to essentially rewrite the OT through their endless oral traditions filled with Truth-debilitating minutia. The more they attempted to explain the Word of God the more they took their listeners away from God. Moses never did this. The prophets never did this. Moses, who was himself a prophet, and all the other real prophets in those ancient times simply delivered what God told them to deliver. If anyone got the message and understood, great. For those who did not it was their problem.
It is no different in our day in that so much of what Christians believe about the Word of God is actually not what is written right there in black and white but interpretive slants delivered by questionable Christian practitioners who often merely parrot denominational precepts, much as the Pharisees did, and overlay them upon the written Word in such a way that they have precedence and gain priority. All one must do to verify this, short of actually reading and studying the Word of God on one’s own (a novel concept for a probable majority of Christians), is visit a few other denominational churches.
Rather than cementing oneself in one place forever and hearing ad infinitum the same old same old that everyone there believes is the verbatim veracious version of the Lord’s teachings as if delivered from on high, one must at least occasionally visit the weirdos in other locales who beg to differ. One will discover that those Christians are also burdened with the same attitude of budgeless caution which was inflicted upon them, again, with good intentions or not, by interpretive teachers doing interpretive word dances as the conservative counterparts to the strange artsy folk who engage in odd expositions of poetry and dance.
Some churches put forth what are essentially emotionless drones who must think God requires them to be religious robots and otherworldly autocratic automatons appearing as ecclesiastically-cloaked talking statues. Emotion with these guys is verboten. Other churches at the other extreme have moving, walking, emotive talker-shouters who appear as fidgety née ferocious hyperactives which may or may not be under God’s actual spiritual anointing. In between are all manner of speakers-forth delivering various shadings of the same Word of God though emphasizing some parts and neglecting others (and often violently rejecting others).
And God looks down on all this duded-up strangeness and wonders how such strayings have taken hold in the minds of apparent believers because the very opposite of His intentions have been established in that He came here to unify His children rather than Tower of Babel them into impossible religious divisions which were also all the rage in His day. He did come to separate, of course, but only the sheep from the goats. What Unreal Christianity has done is to separate, at least on the surface, the sheep from the sheep and in that process created a construct for the invasion of conquering goats who seek to rule the sheep and effectively shroud the Word of God rather than share it. And instead of assisting the Lord to create open green pastures of luxuriant spiritual richness containing much more sustenance than enough for all, we have the equivalent of a barbwire kingdom of sectioned off partisan neoranches each sternly guarded by hardened shotgun-wielding cowhands intent on maintaining division and hatred for those unlike themselves. Rather than a dude ranch it’s a rude ranch. There’s a vast ponderosa of non-ponderable opposing pardners.
A CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES
Like their ancient contemporaries though in reverse, Christian dissemblers have confused God’s one universal language into a multitude of languages and rejected His one Gospel for many counterfeit variations thereof. Rather than joining and supporting the Lord’s single Community created at Pentecost they have created thousands of non-relational communities each with its own distinct language. And they continue with ongoing multiple subdivisions. Rather than “accurately handling the word of truth,” [1] they inaccurately mishandle it and thereby create doctrinal divisions which further divide the people.
The only cure for all their resultant multitudinous nonsensical wordfare permeations is entirely bypassing the faux bloviaters pontificating from fixed pulpits and lecterns of luxation and going straight to the Word of God. When the middleman does not assist us correctly under God’s authority, eliminate the middleman! Christians must learn, on so many levels, to show some spiritual spine, but most of all through the simplest, most profound, and potentially abundant fruitful process of reading the Bible.
I know, it’s tough. It’s pretty much impossible. It’s so big! It’ll take forever! Working one’s life away to old age for money is much easier. Going to a million church services to hear mere drips which never get collected into so much as the bottom half of a bait bucket is far preferable to wrenching open a fire hydrant and flooding one’s soul with life-giving Word water from which one will never thirst again. Better to drag oneself through a religious desert and occasionally suck out the moisture from a dead cactus, thorns be damned, than float upon and dive within an endless bottomless fresh water ocean filled with nutritive spiritual plankton satisfying all hunger, answering every question, and fulfilling every need.
THE GREAT AWAKENING DEMANDS GREAT DISCIPLESHIP
We must be disciples. Considering what is now upon us, as I have been warning of for the last quarter century (it’s all mapped out in my book), fence-sitting not-clear-on-the-concept don’t-confuse-me-with-facts Christians in general will either get it together finally at last or never gain the required closeness to the Lord, spiritual strength and stamina, eyes to see, and knowledge of God’s Word to overcome. We are way past the watch out for weirdos stage and the I’m too cool for school cred demanded by the social media acceptance wokesters. The enemy is here. He’s not hiding anymore. He’s determined to get you. He’s no longer playing the long term deceive you gradually into oblivion game. Instead of slowly boiling the frog he is now simply stomping on it. If you are not ready for the fight you must get there quick. The battle is upon us whether we know it or not or acknowledge it or not. This is not a drill.
In the meantime, here is an encouraging word that applies forever in every instance on every applicable occasion and illustrates the Lord’s great love for His children and ability to kick the devil’s backside always:
The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” [Luke 10:17-20] [2]
Upgrade your New Testament reading plan now.
© 2021 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] 2 Timothy 2:15
[2] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
THE INHERENT RISK OF COVENANT RELATIONSHIP
When two are together in any venture in complete reliance upon the other, both are in an otherwise precarious position. Each one is absolutely vulnerable to the possible failure of their associate.
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The longer the relationship exists the more vulnerable each becomes. The dependency grows due to the progress accomplished. In other words, at the beginning of the contract or covenant, the only element gained is the relationship itself. The relationship is such that it is seen by both partners as having much higher value than the absence of it. Both parties had chosen to begin the relationship. Both had sowed the vital nutrients into it as it grew. Both parties benefited and continued to gain greater benefits until a point was reached when each party decided to make an absolute commitment to the relationship rather than maintain any portion of themselves apart from it.
Such a decision places one party at the mercy of the other. Though it is not perceived in that manner at the time due to the beneficial nature of the initial relationship which each party greatly appreciates, it must certainly be a consideration in the beginning. One must move slowly in learning who one can trust. We are instructed by God to guard our hearts. One must also seek the requisite compatibility. If the opposite party displays trustworthiness at the outset, the only way it can be tested is by a furtherance of the relationship. If each step reveals honesty and apparent fidelity, a sense of reliability emerges and increases. One has less reason to be self-protective. One has greater freedom to be open. One has more willingness to share.
At least, this is how relationships should proceed. It is obvious that many relationships do not develop in such a way, based simply on their finality, brought about primarily from endemic disharmony stemming from selfish and/or immature behavior. If the proper steps are not taken and applied, or if a relationship is fast tracked due to the immediate benefits of one particular aspect without paying any attention to all the other aspects, either because they are considered but rejected or simply not perceived, it allows for a poorly constructed and weak foundation which will certainly present itself in time when the growing pressures of derivative relationship accretion are placed upon it.
In the event, however, when all proper steps are taken and any evident inappropriate or harmful future possibilities are rightfully considered and all appears good to go, it still does not mean that the partnership or relationship will not be tested or suffer to some degree, only because such is the nature of life in this world and also the nature of humanity itself in that we are complicated beings subjected to many influences.
From a Christian perspective, there is always the possibility of the specter of temptation. Of course, both parties must be well aware of this and do their due diligence to avoid it knowing that so much rides upon it. Each party must have already been right with God in the beginning and must maintain their relationship with God throughout. Each party must also maintain their commitment to one another.
Any person who does not consider these aspects or embrace them are effectively attempting to create something which is bound to fail unless corrective measures are taken in the early stages to rectify any incorrect applications, improper attitudes, or selfish conduct which can only restrict or do damage to the relationship but more importantly, to the other party. The vulnerability of each partner which is always present as a necessary component of the relationship must always be considered by the other party when deliberating upon possible actions and choices, because wrong actions and choices will harm one’s partner and stand in opposition to the love one has committed to and should indeed demonstrate.
Normally, one would never do any wrong thing in this regard because their love or respect for the other would prohibit it. But human beings are not automatons. There is always the possibility of straying from one’s covenant promises and responsibilities, or failing in them entirely. Judas proved this.
On a positive note, there is also the possibility of applying forgiveness and walking in proper humility. This is relatively easy if not extremely so when one acknowledges the high price paid for saving grace. For best results, we must always prioritize the Lord’s perfect example.
YOKED WITH GOD: A NO RISK VENTURE
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30][1]
© 2020 by R.J. Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
DEFINING THE REAL CHRISTIAN (1)
To be a socially acceptable follower of the Lord Jesus, one must never stand up for Him the way He stood up for us. Those who do are cancelled by the culture. It is why traditional Christianity often bypasses the Lord and creates inoffensive derivatives so one can practice his faith safely and securely, largely beyond the reach of persecution, and maintain the desired worldly connections of wealth and social standing.
PROVING A CHRISTIAN’S AUTHENTICITY
What defines a real Christian? Is there a Biblical proof? How does anyone know who may be for real and who is merely posturing? To begin answering these questions, we actually have a treasure trove of New Testament tests to turn to. Keep in mind, however, that the Lord often employed parables, those wonderful story tales containing couched, embedded meanings revealing hard truth in a seemingly innocuous manner. Therefore, the answer we seek, which can only be derived from His teachings, wholly and exclusively, are often rejected by some due to an inability to understand His hidden connotations reserved only for those with “eyes to see.” The spiritually obtuse, whose perspective may also be marred by religious prejudice or predisposition, will thus likely never arrive at the correct definition.
The NT method for defining real Christians is also rejected based on (1) its perceived limited scope, in that extra-biblical references are excluded, and (2) its non-acceptance of mere traditional standards of socially acceptable behavior (actually a faux proof) which are believed by some to indicate virtuous intent though lacking actual NT familiarity and knowledge, most specifically of the Lord’s full curriculum.
In other words, defining a real Christian relates directly to one’s relationship with the Lord Jesus. If there is no actual relationship it is not possible that one is truly a Christian in the New Covenant sense, which is the only sense that matters in the spiritual realm. If there is a relationship, it is because a person made a decision to create one, meaning he not only said yes to the Lord’s invitation but fully accepted His predetermined terms (which apply to all and, of course, apply equally). This means a believer submits to New Covenant discipleship, subjects himself to the Lord’s entire curriculum, and does his best to learn it, know it, and apply it.
Based on these requirements, it is easy to see that the likely majority of those who profess Christianity are not actual disciples of the Lord simply because they do not fulfill the requisites thereof. Many, however, follow and obey the teachings of others who claim to follow the Lord, possess a willingness to accept doctrines that are not His, and subject themselves to traditional religious organizations claiming Christianity but which reject the Lord’s full standard. That many Christians are deceived makes no difference in the academic sense, and to claim ignorance speaks directly to one’s personal failure to have a personal relationship with Him, the lack of which is never the Lord’s fault.
“And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” [Luke 14:27][1]
Though Christian discipleship is not easy, neither was the price paid to make it possible.
© 2020 by R.J. Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
LORDING IT OVER THE PAWNS
Christians have been taught by those who rule over them to never question religious authority. Thus, those in control equate themselves with infallibility and inerrancy.
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And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.” [Luke 22:24-26]
This is obviously not the case among the majority of churches and denominational hierarchies. These always feature top-down leadership in which the congregants have very little say. Everyone is expected to merely obey what comes down from on high and respect their leaders with a respect deserved only for the Lord.
We could fix this and all the damage it causes by simply:
(1) Allowing the Lord Jesus to have full control, and
(2) Adopting the leadership method He taught and advocated for
We see His method very clearly in the New Covenant writings. One of the first things we notice was that there was never any “one man show.” There were always at least two men going out to minister together in evangelism and several men appointed as elders of groups. These were older men, hence “elders.” There was no central elder. The elders worked together.
This correct method eventually devolved over time into the incorrect method of rule by one man and this ruler became known as a “pastor” although there is no New Covenant authority for such “leadership.” Churches then devolved into clergy-laity set-ups in which the laity had no voice and were merely dictated to and told what to believe.
Whoever decided to invoke their God-given freedom to do individual research and study to become a better disciple was eventually falsely disparaged because his discovered truth always threatened those in charge.
Consider the following words of Paul written to Timothy, and remember such universal New Covenant discipleship terms applied to all Christians such as “servant” and “workman:”
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” [2Timothy 2:15-19] [1]
The Greek word translated as wickedness in this verse is defined as “injustice, unrighteousness, doing wrong, evildoers, iniquities, iniquity, injustice, unrighteous, unrighteousness, wickedness, wrong.” What could be more wicked than a Christian leader teaching anything opposed to the Lord’s teachings or refusing to teach the fullness of the Lord’s teachings?
CHRISTIANS ACCEPT THE REALITY OF THE WORLD WITH WHICH THEY ARE PRESENTED
At that time, the two guys mentioned by Paul had adopted a wrong belief and began telling others. It was up to Timothy, as advised by Paul, to avoid this type of “worldly and empty chatter” that leads to such “gangrene.” We know what gangrene is, and it is not pleasant. It begins with a small infection. The offhanded beliefs of the two men with no Scriptural backing were as an infection that invaded the community. The infection was teaching something as true that is not true.
Hence we understand the great need, especially in these latter days, to stand strong for the original teachings of the Lord Jesus and oppose strongly all the false teachings adopted by so many “Christians” since, who like those two men, have infected overall Christianity with various gangrene-like spiritual diseases which have spread far and wide.
It appears that in the majority of congregations, Hymenaeus and Philetus have taken over, and without much of a fight.
You will know them by their fruits.
© 2017 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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MAKING PROVISION FOR UNKNOWN TRUTH: BEING TEACHABLE
“The very nature of teaching is the act of revealing information that a student had not known previously. This means we only know what we know…”
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Before we address the content of this post I want to thank my faithful readers. Some of you have been following this blog for a few years now and I do appreciate it. The material here is not mainstream in the least and that causes a decided lack of traffic flow to begin with, but some of you are supporting me anyway. I know many of you do not agree with everything I write and it is refreshing that we continue to share in a level of spiritual fellowship. But the very nature of teaching is the act of revealing information that a student had not known previously. This means we only know what we know, which is not something we usually know that we know. It can also be stated this way:
“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.” [1]
This means we must be humble. We must be teachable. As followers of the Lord Jesus, it is dangerous to believe we know it all. We must be ever-learning. There’s a strange phenomenon that takes place in the soul of some Christian ministers when they insist on doctrines not supported by the Lord’s teachings. In order to enforce said doctrines, such ministers force themselves to adopt guises out of character with the fruit of the Spirit. They prove by their very actions that something is wrong with the teachings they espouse. They become less like Christians and more like hard-edged turf-defenders or stagnant dogma pushers.
They become quite used to having their way. They demand next to blind obedience. It borders on religious brainwashing. It establishes what can only be termed Christian cults. But when a cult goes mainstream by attracting (or forcing) great numbers of adherents, it morphs out of cult status into perceived orthodox status. When the authority of the Lord Jesus is circumvented in such a way and people are thus deceived (not realizing He is not in charge), it allows for great abuse which demands great reform. This brings us to the reality of the two different camps in overall Christianity:
CONTENDERS AND PRETENDERS
The usual traditional camp has already made up its mind what Christian truth is and spends all its time preaching what they know and attacking anything that does not agree with their chosen paradigm. I say chosen because that is exactly what it is. We all choose to believe whatever it may be. There is Christian truth that is obviously foundational that most Christians share, but so much of what the Lord Jesus originally taught is not being taught by most Christian bodies and this is obviously by design.
Such Christians make no provision for possible unknowns.
Consider the fact that the Lord and His original apostles had no religious superstructure surrounding them and one will begin to get the big idea what the dissemination of truth actually entails. He kept His operation extremely streamlined and materially limited and did that for a reason. He even taught very clearly that giving up one’s possessions is a vital part of discipleship. One can define that anyway one wants to but the best definition comes from simply studying the lifestyle of the early Church. We must also acknowledge that they had massive success with comparatively very few material resources. They did without that which most Christians insist upon as indispensable and still turned the world upside down. “Official” Christianity in the modern world can only be described by comparison as lacking.
The Lord knows we need stuff. We need food and water and shelter. In modern society we need a whole lot more simply to carve out a life of sustenance within a complex, ultra-developed, increasingly urban grid. But churches and individuals must be on guard against material props that actually hinder spirituality rather than help. Therefore, giving up one’s possessions does not necessarily mean going homeless and penniless by choice. Perhaps it means not allowing the material to outweigh the spiritual. It certainly means joining a spiritual Community in which the Lord Jesus is the sole Leader. Call it a love-based voluntary lifestyle of willing assistance toward others as echoed in the writings of the prophet:
A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” [Isaiah 40:3-5] [2]
It is in looking at the lifestyle and teaching method of our Leader that we gain all the insight we need to figure out how we should live and learn. I will have more on this later. In the next post we will consider America’s recent call to repentance in further preparation for the Awakening.
© 2017 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] D. Rumsfeld
[2] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
THE VITAL PREREQUISITES OF CHRISTIANITY 101
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When I was in college many moons ago I learned about prerequisite courses. I could not take a specific class, for example, if I did not take another class first.
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IN THE BEGINNING
The prerequisite courses were generally introductory 101s and oftentimes a repetition of basic high school courses. Much of the first two years of college contains classes like this. On the surface it appears to be a good idea in order to fill in any education gaps using a college level standardized form and facilitate a greater understanding of the foundational stuff required for the higher learning of junior and senior years.
On the other hand it is an opportunity to force students to extend their university years and bring more income into the institution. One might reject that notion, but colleges and universities exist to make money. Even public colleges supported by government subsidies are in it for a buck. Someone is making money somewhere, and a lot of it, or such institutions would largely not exist. If anyone thinks otherwise, one needs to check their naiveté filter.
Idealism runs high in the college level age group and can easily be taken advantage of. Parents face tremendous societal pressure to enroll their children in so-called institutions of higher learning even though many know such places are highly compromised with alternative education agendas and often deliver much less than advertised and much more that is never advertised.
This brings me to two points:
(1) Christians are generally uninformed and unaware of the real teachings of the Lord Jesus and the actual New Covenant writings.
(2) Christians face tremendous societal pressure to become members of “churches.”
These two are symbiotically connected. It brings me to two further points which explain the preceding points:
(1) Many “churches” generally keep people uninformed and unaware of the real teachings of the Lord Jesus and the actual New Covenant writings through alternative education agendas.
(2) Most “churches” strongly pressure people to attend all services and buy into everything being taught in order to be a member in good standing.
CIRCULAR REASONING
This process creates a low-denominational heavy traffic roundabout difficult to disengage from and pretty much explains perfectly why so many Christians continue to: (1) Work very hard doing what they’re told by religious authorities, because they want to do the right thing, and (2) No matter how hard they work at attending “church” and go through all the prescribed motions, they get out on the other side one day in the distant future still generally uninformed and unaware of the real teachings of the Lord Jesus and the actual New Covenant writings. What did they actually achieve?
It is the same reason why so many hundreds of thousands of college graduates are educated in specific areas but generally brain dead regarding subjects they should be extremely proficient at, and why their overall knowledge base is severely lacking on even the most rudimentary levels. When such young, bright idealistic though naïve students finish an extensive college academic program only to be dumb and dumber in much of the knowledge that matters most but highly skilled in subjective social indoctrination that is most often anti-Christian, anti-freedom and liberty, and pro-status quo in nature, it portends that a deceptive alternative agenda is in the works.
THE “BUSY CYCLE” ENFORCED BY SOCIETAL PRESSURE
Why do millions of people continue to support such an academic system?
Why do millions of Christians continue to support such systematic “churches?”
The answer to both questions are the same: Societal Pressure.
The only way to gain the necessary knowledge to exit the busy cycle is to leave the traffic circle. Why? Because the busy cycle keeps people from gaining the necessary information to escape it. Therefore, people have been conned to support the very thing that is keeping them from gaining the answer to get off the merry-go-round.
THE LORD’S PREFERRED DISCIPLES
This is why the Lord Jesus did not choose religious academics to begin His movement. He chose no clergymen or priests or reverends or rabbis or scribes or tenured professors or administrators or sold-out money-loving status quo addicts or the socially ascendant. Really. He never chose any of those kinds of people. He obviously knew such people were agenda-driven, that their agendas would clash with His purpose, that they possessed highly inflated self worth, that they would insist on attempting to build their own kingdoms within His, based on their limited and subjective knowledge, and that they would fight Him at some point or every point along the way. What He prefers are raw recruits willing to leave all and start over with total trust in Him as their only Shepherd and Teacher.
His discipleship course requires that everyone start at the beginning. He demands that His prerequisites be honored. He commands a born again experience.
The apostle Paul said this:
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.” [1Corinthians 1:26-31]
Thus, the Lord—a hard working manly Carpenter with a powerful though gracious bearing—preferred choosing regular down-to-earth people like Himself. He chose fishermen and blue collar workers. He chose those with searching, honest hearts who never fully engaged in what they deemed compromised programs. He also chose those often despised by society such as tax collectors. He even associated with great sinners. Any of these would have been the kiss of death for any “acceptable” ministry, and it proves that His ministry was the opposite of those who always respond to societal pressure and keep the wheel to nowhere turning.
He usually went outside the usual and found His disciples down by the seaside and along the roads in the small out-of-the-way places and among the societal rejects and so-called misfits. He never judged by the outer appearance but looked on a person’s heart.
DEFINING A NEW COVENANT CONGREGATION
As far as “church” is concerned, real disciples could congregate anywhere, with a building or not with a building, under a tree or in a boat, or even by the thousands on a gently sloping hillside. Finding a place to meet was never a problem.
Also, regarding how many people must be gathered to constitute an actual “church,” the Lord made this most profound statement:
“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” [Matthew 18:20]
This means that an authentic, genuine Christian meeting can be held virtually anywhere on the planet with as few as two people, and if the two are gathered together in His name He will support it. Not only that, He will attend it!
I know this may be a very hard concept to grasp due to so much anti-New Covenant Christian indoctrination, but real Christianity is actually quite simple and open in its approach and allows for a tremendous amount of learning and knowledge in both the natural and spiritual fields.
DISCIPLESHIP PREREQUISITES
There are certainly vital prerequisites, however, though these prerequisites commanded by the Lord Jesus have been rejected for one illegitimate reason or another, usually pride, by many Christians. They are designed to assist us in defeating the oppressive power of sin, break the spell of societal pressure, provide an exit from a fruitless, circular religious lifestyle, gain the powerful anointing and strength needed for our work, and open a giant secret spiritual entrance door into His kingdom:
Peter said to them,
“Repent,
“And each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;
“And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
“For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” [Acts 2:38-39] [1]
© 2017 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Two Days Before the Cross
“I’m concerned about Him. It seems He has a death wish.”
The noise of the city had died down considerably as evening descended. There was a slight cool in the air as the two men sat discussing the events of the day.
“I’ve never heard Him say anything against Moses. He honors Abraham. He speaks well of our prophets. Someone did a good job of raising Him in the beliefs of our fathers.”
“Yes, but He has also said some things that seem to oppose those beliefs. I was listening to Him one day several months ago and He seemed to discount our law. He was teaching against the concept of an eye for an eye. It seems He was saying there is a better way to go about things.”
“But how can anything be better than what Moses has given us?”
“Well, sometimes it seems we have to honor aspects of our law that go against a better outcome. I mean, if a man loses an eye through the accident of another, through the actions of a man who had no intent to do such a thing, such a man must be forced to pay with an eye anyway. Shouldn’t he be allowed to plead his case?
“But that would violate the law, would it not?”
“And why should a man of God ride a donkey into the great city in the manner He did? What was that?”
“It was another one of those coincidences that point toward prophecy. You know the scripture.”
“Yes, I know, I know. But then right after that His actions were completely unfounded. What man can come into our holy temple area and do what He did? Where is the justification for all the mayhem He caused? People were shocked at His behavior, many of them the same people who had been praising His arrival just before that. And you know He will never get away with it. It’s been two days now, and I fear for His safety. The men, the men He is dealing with will never stand for such actions.”
“Do you know of something stirring?”
“I feel it stirring in my heart. This man Yehoshua has not only attacked our traditions, He has attacked a cabal of powerful people, men whom even I fear.”
“But we both know there is graft and usury, and these men have become rich in the process. Between you and me, in these moments of hidden conversation, can we not at least mention the violations before us? This prophet, or whatever He may be, He saw as we see. Yet we would never make any attempt to correct the wrongs as He did. He has displayed a power of character and a courage we do not have.”
“And unless He has left the area, I fear He will pay for His courage. This whole thing against our religious traditions has continued building over time. He seems like a man who is starting a war. I had kept hearing reports of him, and also heard with my own ears on occasion, that He is constantly opposing some aspect of our religion, and has even railed against our holy men.”
“Yes, He has. But no holy man of ours ever had a viable retort. His teachings keep trumping our traditions…”
“But some of the things He’s done make a mockery of justice. I heard that He refused to press charges against a lowlife woman who was clearly caught and exposed in the very act of adultery. She should have been stoned according to our law. Moses gave no exceptions.”
“But I remember His answer. Its profoundness and simplicity still amaze me. Very clear…”
“That only one who has no sin can apply the sentence? How many times have such sentences been carried out in our long history? Were those who threw the stones always without sin? This idea makes a mockery of justice. Who is without sin?”
“Those who make the proper sacrifices, that’s who. Those who live a pure and clean life. Those who keep the Torah. It is the burden of the righteous.”
“I don’t know about that anymore. I have always believed in those things and supported our way of life and laws, but He has showed me that our application and interpretation of the law is not so pure. He keeps showing us holes and inconsistencies and misapplications within our traditions. He is showing that while the law may be perfect, we often do not do a very good job in its application.”
“You think she should not have been stoned? Isn’t it clear the law says she should be?”
“Yes. It says that. But they all dropped their rocks and walked away. They decided they could not be the ones who carried out the sentence.”
“But how did that happen? They had all been so sure.”
“It’s the same reason I’m wondering about all these things just now…”
By then the night had fallen. The streets outside had grown quiet and a cool breeze touched their faces. It was one of those moments when one respected the silence and comfort of the evening, when work was done, and when one thought of things usually not possible during the busy day.
The two men sat motionless, somewhat deep in thought. They happened to be looking east out a large window from a second story room, toward the Mount of Olives. Occasionally, one of them would take sip of tea. As they pondered the subject before them, not wanting to disrespect what seemed to be a holy time and a moment of reflection, they beheld an astounding sight.
There before them, peeking up from the high eastern ridge, was a bright orange waxing moon, almost full. In a few seconds they were bathed in light. The darkness of the room and city streets vanished but their eyes remained fixed on the natural wonder before them. Brighter and bigger it became until it lifted off completely from the earth, as in a slow ascent toward heaven. In that moment their thoughts also shoved off into the air, and they saw things a little clearer.
They could not express it, though. Both of these men knew there was something different about the Man of their discussion. They did not understand, what with all the competing thoughts and different doctrines and contrary applications of the great law. But each of them knew on a deeper level that this former carpenter from Nazareth, of all places, had captured their hearts.
And in the deep darkness of ancient Jerusalem, on an early spring night long ago, the Light had come.
© 2012 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
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[Thanks to all for visiting. Stay tuned. The third part and conclusion of this series, The Hebrew Month of Nisan: Atonement and Resurrection, will be posted tomorrow.]
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