The Biblical Christian feels compelled to divide truth from error. To avoid that division, the Neo-Liberal approach is to identify everything denominational, or call it man's doctrine. In an effort not to offend, even the preaching of the cross is tailored to please man and make him comfortable. God's Word speaks to this also....
"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness…." (I Cor. 1:18)
Evangelical ecumenism is committed to erasing any obstacle to its human goal of uniting all peoples and religions. That would include redefining words, definitions and doctrines.
Dr. Clay Nuttall shepherdstaff@juno.com
Jesus and Division.............
Remembering The Gospel!
Entire Sanctification!..........
Calvinisms TULIP..............
Discernment Links....
(Disclaimer note: As always, I do not necessarily endorse or agree with every single thing on these other link pages. So always remember to be good "Bereans" and check out any or all doctrines and teachings (including my own) with Scripture for yourself.)
Beware of Apostacy ... A look at many false teachings in the church today
The Watchman ...Exposes many of todays cults and religions
The Radical Pilgrim ...Looking for Jesus outside the camp
Catholic Concerns ...As seen from the standpoint of a former nun
Watchman Net ...First understand the Truth, then you'll know what error is
BDM Notebook ...A large collection of personal expose's. (Beware as they are Calvinists)
Let Us Reason ... A site exposing cults as well as false doctrines
Words of Eternal Life ...Some teachings against false doctrines
MacGregor Ministries (on cults) ...Exposes several of the cults
Jesus-is-Lord ...A Laying out of the Gospel
Cross + Word ...A look at what's happening over in the British Isles
Just For Catholics ... Two roads - one leads to destruction the other to life.
Fill The Void ... A nice layout of the Gospel - for teens too.
Bible Truths ... An excellent site for the serious believer!
The Interactive Bible ... Exposing several of the heresies, including Calvinism!
- Jesus and Division -
"Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, nay, but rather division. For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law." (Luke 12:51-53)
Who made such a statement, was it Karl Marx, Adolf Hitler, or some infamous anarchist seeking to overthrow the government? It was none other than the beloved, Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace! He is the author! (Lk. 12: 51-53, Isa. 9: 6.)
Jesus promoted unity and fervently prayed to his Father "that they all may be one". (Jn. 17: 21) Jesus gave man a belief system which has "UNITY" written all over it (read Eph. 4: 1-6). Jesus' unity is automatic in the sense that two or more who believe and accept the one faith and walk in the light are already united (Eph. 4: 5, I Jn. 1: 6-8). However, to truly understand Jesus' "Unity" we must understand Jesus and division.
The enunciation "I am come to give division" is considered a marshal. A marshal is paradoxical to common thinking and is meant to arrest the attention of the hearers. How could the "Prince of peace" have come to give division"? Many in and of the world today are totally unable to appreciate Jesus' statement and reconcile it with the Jesus they think they know. In similar fashion, a sizable number in the Lord's church cannot begin to agree and accept Jesus' mission statement.
Jesus' gospel is a system of singularity as opposed to multiplicity. One key word in the vernacular of the New Testament is the adjective of singularity - "one." Jesus said there was to be "one fold" (Jn. 10: 16). There is one shepherd and one door (Jn. 10: 1-18). The scriptures teach there is one mediator, one faith, and one way (I Tim. 2: 5, Eph. 4: 5, Jn. 14: 6). There is one hope of our calling, one baptism, and one body or church (Eph. 4: 4, 5, 4). Also, Christians are commanded to be of one mind (I Cor. 1: 10).
Jesus not only taught a system of singularity but also a system of exclusivity. He said he was (is) the shepherd and that all others are false. He also said he is the door and all other ways and attempted entries are futile (Jn. 10). Jesus often caused division among his brethren because of his teaching and uncompromising "style" (Jn. 7: 43, 9: 16, 10: 19).
Christians are to contend for the one faith. The gospel has an essential uncompromising nature. Christians are required to earnestly contend for the once delivered faith (Jude 3)! Paul was set for the defense and confirmation of the gospel (Phil. 1: 7, 17), and so are we. We must never compromise truth "no, not for an hour," the Spirit led Paul to emphatically write (Gal. 2: 5).
Fellowship is contingent on truth. "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed," John wrote ( 2 Jn. 10, 9-11). Christians are not only to avoid fellowshipping with anyone who walks contrary to God's word but also reprove and expose them as well (Eph. 5: 11).
Division is an essential characteristic of pristine Christianity. Beloved, in view of the demanding, uncompromising, exclusive, and combative nature of Jesus' gospel and the proclivity of man to do his own thing, division will be experienced. Paul wrote, "For there must be also factions among you…." Notice the positive nature of division or faction: "that they that are approved may be made manifest among you" (I Cor. 11: 19). We strive for unity with the word and peace with God in our uncompromising stand, however, we incur opposition because of our stand; hence, division becomes a reality.
The "religious" world cannot understand Jesus' statement: "I am come to give division", because they have changed the gospel into a "does not matter what you believe" and "we must tolerate all kinds of lifestyles and different beliefs." This same mentality of the last two decades has changed the thinking of many and has formed attitudes which are receptive to a denial of "I am come to give division." "We must avoid division at all expense…fire the preacher, run off all who love the uncompromising truth…do whatever it takes, but keep what "God" has to say far away from us," we too often hear.
The truth is "ecumenical unity" exists in all circles. Unity in diversity is a pseudo, political, and hypocritical unity that does not even resemble Jesus' unity!!! This "new" unity does not allow for division. The sad thing is many churches are severely divided, but they stay under one roof and have agreed to not disagree. It is comical to watch and listen to some of these pseudo unity preachers preach. They are masters at speaking around the truth and avoiding "the issues".
We, as had Jesus, pray for unity and do all we can to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace". (Jn. 17, Eph. 4: 3). However, we know division will come if we love the truth and uncompromisingly stand for it! Those who sinfully cause division are those who believe and preach "doctrines contrary to the doctrine which we received from Christ"... Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. Romans 16:17
In other words, those who promote "keeping the peace at any price" are the very ones that we (who love the truth) must avoid. It is they "who serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." (vs. 18.) In our generation, they have hidden under the guise of tolerating all doctrinal differences. If these people (and there are many) had their way (as more and more are), there would be no division of which Jesus said he had come to bring. Every doctrinal aberration would come under the broad canopy of Romans 14.
Dear reader and brethren, let us never forget Jesus said: "I am come to give division." Jesus came to cause division among loved ones and families! None of us (who love thus practice the truth) are to be spared the heartache of division. Yet, division is a necessary feature of Jesus' teaching which we will not deny or seek to preclude.
[ Editor's Note: The main purpose of Jesus' coming was not to cause division, but to save lost souls! His coming and our belief on Him results in divisions, persecutions, and tribulations which are all the secondary effects of His coming. Our believing on Him by becoming a New Creature in Christ is the primary effect of why He came. ]
This series of Encouragements is from my home page, and I've redone them. I believe we need a fresh reminder of what Christianity is all about. We hear and see so much being drawn into global systems that I have been thinking lately how we need to remind ourselves exactly what our salvation and life as a Christian is all about. Our salvation is individual and we are saved into something, a personal relationship with God through Christ and His finished work. We enter into that relationship through faith in what He has accomplished, remembering that that faith contains a hope that points to an eternity in His presence "that your faith and hope might be in God" (1 Peter 1:21).
If we look around us today, it is obvious the world needs a savior. But, the salvation of God is firstly for the
individual. Each person in the world has to believe on Christ as the Scriptures have said in order to receive salvation
from sin and self from God. That is then followed by one living in reliance on the Lord Jesus in the sure hope that He
is coming back to establish His kingdom on earth. In the pages that follow, I want to give some of the basics of our
faith in Christ , but I want to start here with some basic facts that show each man's need of salvation.
There are two major problems in the world, one of them being sin because men are born sinners who commit sins.
The Apostle Paul said,
All have sinned means all are born sinners. This verse is referring to our condition as fallen men rather than the sins
we commit. Those are only a result of what we are when born, namely, a sinner.
Another thing Paul said regarding sin is,
This leads to our second major problem: death. When we die, we receive our wages for choosing to remain a sinner,
separated from Christ, and that payoff is spiritual death. Just as physical death is when the spirit is separated from
the body, spiritual death is when the spirit lives separated from God. Physical death is temporary, while spiritual
death is forever.
What is the main issue with God in all of this? That man sinned in the Garden of Eden by turning away from what God
had said and prohibiting God from carrying out His plan to exalt His Son Jesus over all things. Through man's
rejection of God's word, and therefore, rejection of Him, man "slew" the life God wanted for Him. That life needs to
be "repaid" so to speak, or atoned for, and things made right with God.
"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in
these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that
your faith and hope might be in God" (1 Peter 1:18-21).
Our faith, then, is in God, that though the body dies, we can be redeemed from our sinful nature, the sins we commit
because of that nature, and from physical death when we die into His presence through the shed blood of God's
Lamb and the power of His resurrection:
"And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the
Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the
flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the
deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans
8:10-14).
This is what the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is all about. When we hear the gospel and believe the gospel and
repent of our sin, it is because we trust that through Christ's shed blood, death and resurrection God has established
salvation for men, He unites us to Himself forever by giving us the Holy Spirit to reside in our spirit. That is a result
of our believing in Jesus and eternal life, and to enter into it, each man must do according to what Peter said at
Pentecost when the gospel was first preached:
"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all
that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort,
saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized:
and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:38-41).
God says no matter what your sins are or how great they are or how many of them there are, He has provided in
Christ the way to forgive you and cleanse you of them. He has atoned for them by sending His Son, Jesus, to earth to
die for our sins and be our sacrifice offered to God for them. God says that no matter how much you think you are a
sinner who can't stop sinning, He has provided His Son to be your life and justification and righteousness before
Him. Through Christ we can stand before God in perfect righteousness just as if we never sinned and by His Spirit in
us live a righteous life.
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
Scripture clearly says,
26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath
he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9).
Man could not accomplish that through good
works because all he could bring forth onto the earth were more sinners. That's because we came from fallen parents
(Adam and Eve) and are of the same nature and like seed brings forth like seed. The problem here is not what men
do, but what they are. That is where Jesus enters the picture. Scripture says,
Recognize and acknowledge that we are all sinners and need forgiveness and a new life within, including yourself: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
Then, confess your known sins to Jesus, for
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If
we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us" (1 John 1:9).
We must each believe on Jesus for ourselves. Nobody can do that for us. It's an individual thing, personal between
you and God. This believing means to believe on Him as the Scriptures have said:
"12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John
1:12-13).
Believing on Him and receiving His Holy Spirit as He promised gives us eternal life, for
"12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I written
unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may
believe on the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:12-13).
All of this is not possible unless we believe Jesus is alive today, that He is indeed risen from the dead. Romans
10:9-10 says,
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raiseth him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation."
If you believe all I've written of my Savior, then you can turn to God now and thank Him for His salvation because if you believe Jesus died for your sins and is risen from the dead, you shall be saved when He returns:
"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Hebrews 9:28).
Jesus is coming back to complete our salvation by redeeming our bodies from death by giving us a new body to live in for all eternity.
Have you believed the above? Then you are saved because you believe in your heart in the Lord Jesus. If you have believed, read through this again and tell God our Father by confessing to Him your faith in Christ. You don't have to pray a beautiful prayer to be saved, just a heartfelt one filled with faith in Him and all He has provided in Jesus Christ. He is waiting to hear from you about His offer of a free salvation.
It is important that you have fellowship with other Christians once you have believed on Christ, but I must sadly tell you, the Church is in major apostasy right now because Jesus is coming back after a time of trouble on this earth that the Bible tells us about. Read about it on my home page: The Second Coming of Christ and on other home pages as well, trusting in Him to maintain you in the truth by your reading His word and relying on the Holy Spirit in you to teach you about Him. Read your Bible everyday, relying on the Holy Spirit in you to teach you the truth about Christ and the times we are living in. Ask Him to lead you to other Christians who are truly walking in Christ according to His word.
May he bless you and keep walking in His truth as the day of His coming draws near.
Read: NINE PART SERIES ON HOLINESS, by Ed
It does NOT mean that we can never sin again. It does NOT mean that after we are saved that we loose our salvation if we sin.
It DOES mean that we are 100% conformed to the will of God and have turned from ALL our sin.
But this turning away from all sin does not occur when we first turn to Christ because we are only aware of the gross sins of the flesh like our drinking, drug taking, lying, stealing etc. We are not aware at that time of the inward sins like having bad thoughts about someone, lust, getting angry. And then the spiritual sins like pride.
The testimony of those who have received the gift of entire sanctification goes like this.
"I was full of joy during the early period of my Christian walk and was so grateful for the Lord delivering me from my former lifestyle, but as time went on, I found that I became increasingly concerned about the struggle I was having with one sin in particular.
Then the truth was revealed by God on how to be free. It all happened at the cross, but just as our initial salvation has to be appropriated by us and believed in, then so does this to put it into action. We have our part to play and it is in agreeing with God that we will henceforth NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS IN THE FUTURE, there will be no disputes with Him or no issues. I will be 100% in His will for my life.
By giving ourselves up (i.e. "bowing") to God as He is in the light, He can change us so that the work can be done to enable us to live like this. It involves radical healing of deep hurts in the soul and He does it pretty quickly.
The more submitted to Him we are the faster He works. We end up in a position where obedience is easy as well as enjoyable: 'My yoke is easy and my burden is light' The experience of this has been described by various saints and is always on the same lines. It is like being lifted into the heavenlies in the power of His love.
No more is there a powerless struggle going on to keep us from sinning, even though we can always fall and will always be tempted.
Entire Sanctification is the most misunderstood doctrine there is which is not surprising as Satan's favourite thing is to get a Christian to sin.
No matter how hard I tried, I would not be able to stop myself falling into it and it brought me great shame because it ruined my testimony and I felt I let God down all the time. I knew He gave the power to overcome but I could not discover how to put it into practice and it became a heavy burden on my back, so that I was weighed down and I lost my joy.
Then at one time it became unbearable and I was in a desperate state so that I cried out to the Lord 'Please help me. Who can deliver me?'
I will just do what He says and not put it off or think that I cannot because I am a special case due to my background or nature. I will no longer have one foot in the world. I will no longer delay between two options. I will be dead to sin and trust Him to provide the power."
The great danger is of developing an idol again, this time in putting our service and popularity before God because of the wisdom we attain. But He provides the power to keep us.
Calvinism is a package system! Take all or none. Each point, alas, is false and contrary to the Bible, making the entire system fallacious and heretical. Calvin has placed his God in the box of Him choosing some to salvation while others He chooses to eternal damnation, and both classes are fixed and unalterable. This makes men nothing more than a bunch of zombies whose lives are controlled and directed by God for His pleasure.
Calvinism has permeated more religions than any other false belief system. Many religions today that have embraced "Calvinism," pick and choose which tenets they want. Some of these object to the "Total Inherited Depravity Gospel", because they do not want to so view their babies and have hope for them if they should die in infancy). Therefore, some religions attempt to omit Total Inherited Depravity altogether; on the basis of their children alone, while keeping the rest. Many others stand totally opposed to Calvinism's "Limited Atonement Gospel" or the "Irresistable Grace Gospel".
As seen, though, you can not consistently have one without the other four.
In other words, Jesus didn't die for ALL (as the scriptures clearly say and mean) but only for those whom God had chosen beforehand, whether anyone likes His decisions or not. Regardless of the fake god of the Calvanist's, God is still one who is "not willing that any man should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9). So, either He speaks the truth ("Thy word is Truth"), or else He is a liar....
More on Calvinisms false belief system
