An end-of-the-age report card on church history

The history of the Christian faith for the past 1900 years has been one in which those who named Christ utterly failed to keep Jesus Christ’s two highest injunctions.

Since the last apostle John died around 100 AD, all sorts of deeds – good and bad – have been done in the name of Christ but this report is in light of the pure vision Jesus and the apostles expressed in the New Testament.

Two Injunctions; Two Proofs of God

The Lord said it was a command that His followers would be 1) known for an unearthly and truly God-like love, and 2) His will they remain united in doctrine, purpose, and most of all Spirit so that their very lives and way of being would form undeniable evidence for God.

John 13 – 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 17 – 11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. …
20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

If one simply takes Jesus Christ at His word – as they should – He issued injunctions to all His followers for all times that form if-then propositions …

The first, in John 13, says if Christians would love one another as Jesus loved them, then all would know they were His disciples – this speaks of a direct witness of God in their midst.

The second, in John 17, says if Christians would become unified as “one,” then the world would know and believe that the Father sent Jesus as the Christ. The world would also know that the Father had loved the Christians just as He had loved Jesus. This also speaks of a direct witness of God in their midst.

The promise of the “witness” of God to His faithful followers is like in kind to what Jesus the Messiah Himself had while He was walking in the gospel times.

John 5:31-33 – 31 “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. …

The “witness” that Jesus knew was the unseen but potent presence of God’s Spirit. The Spirit gave assurance both within Jesus personally and radiated outward to the hearts of His humble hearers that He was of God. Jesus promised His disciples the same Holy Spirit. And Jesus, who had declared in Matthew 16:18 “I will build My assembly” was set to bear witness by the Holy Spirit in the midst of His disciples. This was so as to multiply their effectiveness and thus save many lives in this lifetime and from hell, while simultaneously establishing the authority and legitimacy of His eternal kingdom on earth. No dynamic individual or organization of man can ever fabricate this effect of the authentic witness of God in one’s midst who convicts sinners, and draws them to be reconciled with their Creator. It is an act of the sovereign God within those who are in covenant with Him, truly obeying His direct leading.

John 14:12 – “Most assuredly, 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 My Father.

Jesus had said He would do the work in them by the full meaning of grace which is more than the Protestant theological buzzword of “unmerited favor,” but also empowerment by Jesus Christ residing in a faithful person meeting God’s conditions, as the Apostle Paul so aptly demonstrated.

1 Corinthians 15:10 – But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Paul exemplified a manner of existence available to all who will surrender yielded to Jesus, be born anew, and learn what it is to walk according to the Spirit. He was thus taking advantage of Jesus’ promise to provide His disciples the ability to do God’s will as sons and daughters – a status elevated well above what God made available to the Jews of the Old Testament.

But to know this glorious state of being, there were no-compromise conditions Jesus called for outlining who were even fit to be His actual disciples (Luke 14:26-33). He also gave other commands including childlike surrender and faith, and all else that He said in the gospels including the Sermon on the Mount.

His will was known as non-negotiable and leading higher in what became the mission of the early church to make Christ’s name a praise. History records this was not hype, not mere words and arguments as is common for many of today’s defenders of the faith. Rather, it was a live demonstration of God in the midst of His people. Even first century critics of the Christians recorded observations of the remarkable people who were taught to make a vital connection with the living God (John 15).

The privilege of being granted the Holy Spirit in their own bodies was probably better appreciated by early Christian converts from Judaism than today’s desensitized modern Gentiles. The first Christians knew full well what an amazingly exalted status they were being offered. In the Old Covenant era, the Spirit had been granted only to prophets, priests, kings, and judges. This was the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, and who was the power behind all works of God since the creation. Equally sobering to the first Christians was being entrusted with Jesus’ name, spiritual authority, and effectively being made His ambassadors to a lost and dying world.

The birth of the original church in power at Pentecost (Acts 2) was a precious and sacred phenomenon that the apostles as guided by the Spirit of God were zealous to cultivate to maturity.

Ephesians 4 – 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

This was the Bride of Christ, an outflow of Christ in the Spirit, bought out of the world with His own blood, and she was not to be tampered with. The moment the Apostle Paul caught wind of false doctrine or the beginning of denominations or factions, he penned letters zealously batting down what threatened the delicate balance of conditions upholding Christ’s body and bride.

Galatians 1 – 6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be [b]accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

1 Corinthians 1 – 10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

2 Corinthians 11 – 2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!

Degradation of the Way

But after the first century, what happened in church history? For a couple hundred years the pre-Nicene leaders held on to what they had been passed on in trust. It is evident they were not of the caliber of the first apostles and some did branch into speculation, changing doctrines here and there. They are otherwise credited with largely preserving apostolic interpretations on many points and left valuable commentaries on the Scriptures. Sadly, these representatives of the bride of Christ ultimately succumbed to the wooing of the world.

That is, in 312 AD the Roman empire made an unholy union between the kingdom of God and what the apostles considered Satan’s kingdom. This led to the Roman Catholic faith which consolidated power and leveraged the fear of God and the name of Christ. Over time they blurred the true gospel for which the apostles once so earnestly contended. The Catholics introduced many egregious deviations from the original understanding of what it means to be a Christian.

In 1517, a sincere but naive and flawed Catholic priest named Martin Luther reacted and accidentally started the social firestorm that became the Protestant Reformation. The Protestants did a great service by printing the Bible for study, and re-introducing the doctrine of justification by faith. An unintended consequence however was they paved the way for a nearly democratic right to any individual who could make a cogent-sounding argument to reinterpret the faith – when the Bible itself speaks of one “faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

Not insignificantly, that original faith – sometimes called the “apostles’ doctrine” – was based on unchangeable truths in Christ’s eternal kingdom and was established by the Holy Spirit through trusted men. Beyond “justification by faith,” the apostles established all significant practices and made the foundation for the authentic faith to reach its maximum potential. The apostles set the tone for such issues as male and female roles, marriage practices, family values, the church’s regard toward worldly authority and more. It was not a mystery whether one could “lose” their salvation, or remarry after divorce, or whether human beings had free will or “irresistible grace,” as the reasoning of John Calvin termed it. Also settled by the apostles was whether children or adults could receive baptism, or what the Lord’s supper fully means. God Himself answered these and more questions for all time by the apostles and prophets of the New Testament (Eph. 2:19-22, 1 Cor. 3:10-13). If it can be shown the apostles merely established some practices for convenience sake or randomly or because of cultural and societal values, these may be disregarded as God leads. Otherwise the apostles established the foundation upon which the authentic Christian faith should be built. Therefore the apostolic foundation is in spirit never to be deviated from. The pre-Nicene commentaries written so much closer in time to the apostles are invaluable in answering many practices the Protestants were audacious enough to tinker with or utterly obliterate. This was the Protestants’ error.

That the Reformation was not a pure move of the Holy Spirit was also evidenced by some of its fruit – or lack thereof. Like the Catholics, the Protestants consented to capturing, trying, imprisoning, and even beheading and burning their theological detractors. This wrathful spirit was more akin to something from radical Islam than Jesus who said “love your enemies,” but who also knew those presuming to work for God would do such things anyway.

John 16:2 – They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.

The Protestants otherwise began debating with, arguing with, and accusing one another. New sects began, then infighting, then dividing some more, ad infinitum. There are an estimated 9,000 Protestant factions today all saying they read the same Bible and hear from the same God who once so urged for unity that only He could bring to the yielded and faithful.

Ephesians 4 – 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

So much for that noble ideal from the apostolic era when the real Holy Spirit was actually setting the tone.

And how did all the confusion and conflict over the faith happen?

As their Catholic sires did before them, the Protestants tended toward what is called “religious flesh.” That is, they made the Bible a study book just as though it were any other school subject. The Book itself says spiritual truth is spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2), and Jesus said Christians are directly “taught by God” (John 6:45). But the Protestants reasoned with what they thought was sound logic, establishing a new foundation based on “systematic theology” and scholarship using the intellect of fallen man to delve into the holy writ while hoping the Holy Spirit would guide them.

Colossians 2:18 – Let no one cheat you of your reward … intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

No doubt God did help where He was able, and Luther and company did shed light, but he and other Protestants carried forward more from the faulty spirit of Catholic understanding and practices. Especially problematic was the long-established church-state alliance and merger with the world that would have been decried by the apostles.

James 4 – 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

1 John 1 – 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Do you remember Jesus’ original dictate of John 13 and 17? He had called for His people to be separate and known for God-like love and unity in order that all would know, and the world would believe these were truly His people.

Today, when the average person thinks of Christians does he or she think of a remarkable people all united by a grace and Spirit? Do they immediately associate the name Christian with those possessing Jesus’ peace and love and with a marvelous way about them that is just so compelling? Are their church assemblies as clearly a work of God as though a foreign embassy grafted from heaven on domestic soil?

You know the answer.

Don’t Explain it Away

As has been the case in innumerable points of Christian disagreement, some may dilute the impact of Jesus’ seemingly radical statements, commands, and promises. They may say that His clear and unequivocal words are not so clear. Or they may reinterpret or explain-away what Jesus simply and emphatically said for all times, or turn to it a blind eye.

This article chooses not to do that but let Jesus’ words in John 13 and 17 have their full weight and impact. These after all are the words of the Almighty God’s Messiah, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. He knew what He was saying and meant it. To assume less is to perform a disservice to the Lord who gave His life for the accomplishment of His expressed will. This article assumes also that He was more than ready to back up what He outlined as His will – and give the power to see it come to pass. Also assumed is God who is Love wants the maximum good to come to people – so their lives as former slaves of sin may be made free to serve – deeply united with Him – and so that they may ultimately spend eternity with Him. All this article’s assertions are written in the New Testament for those with eyes that can see.

In short there is such a compelling weight of evidence expressed by the Bible. If anyone suggests Jesus meant anything less than the literal and plain interpretation of what He called for in John 13 and 17, such people would essentially also suggest that God is weak, or not real, or negligent, or even monstrous. That is, these would be implications assuming one lay at His feet all that has happened in Church history as His will or the best that He could or was willing to do.

No rather, one might call the injunctions of John 13 and 17 His Plan A, and instead those who took His name forced His hand in a sort of Plan B.

But let it not be said Jesus was not ready, willing, and able to accomplish Plan A in a people who would yield to Himself. God can never violate His word. And Almighty God is worthy of all praise – genuine and deep praise – because He is the one good entity – and the New Covenant was conceived by God as His root solution for sin and the works of the devil.

Jesus said He came to fulfill all righteousness, and it is the only righteous thing for His will to be sought out to the full and accomplished – just as many a Christian implicitly agrees to when they repeat with Jesus, “Not my will, but Yours be done.”

The Ramifications of Jesus’ Expressed Will

Having now acknowledged objections may arise to this article’s viewpoint, our hope is a reader who wants all of God may see what is being said is the truth, and not an imbalanced presentation of it.

The truth is Jesus gave a “better covenant with better promises” (Heb. 8:6) and He Himself was the guarantor of its fulfillment for good to emanate out far and wide to the entire human race if only His people had humbled themselves and fully obeyed.

The good that would be is that Jesus wanted a people united, full of love and good works, and on the road to becoming like Jesus Christ in nature and character (Rom. 8:29, Gal. 4:19). They knew also life depended on it – of those who they would influence, and their own lives as well. According to the teachings of the apostles, their primary reason for living was to be well pleasing to Him and to the praise of His glory.

He was fully invested in it. As noted, the church is to be the Bride of Christ He bought with His own life and intends to marry (Eph. 5:25-32). The work of the gospel is the culmination of God’s revealing Himself since the creation. It was to be as a testimony and witness against all the “sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2) and the evil spirits and Satan who fell.

As David was called a man after God’s own heart, God now sought to make an entire people after His own heart who were adopted into His very family, and one spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:17).

John 10 – 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Heb 8 – 10 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 in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

The John 10 verses about Jesus’ sheep and the Hebrews 8 verses outlining a prophetic New Covenant promise from Jeremiah 31 might sound nearly fantastical in some Christian circles. Indeed those naming Christ today argue what Jesus’ “voice” even is, and the promise all would know Him could sound like a promise nearly unfulfilled given pervasive disagreement over the faith.

In any case, Jesus Christ promised His voice could be known and He would be known. His voice is known not as the Bible read by the mind, but as the “still small voice” within the believer who has His Spirit and abides in Him. And His will is indeed that He would be known deeply and personally, as eternal life is to know God (John 17:3). His name is Immanuel – God with Us and He is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

The Lord made Himself available as His followers’ guide and strength and He committed His very life to His desired outcomes.

He was as a Seed planted in hope (John 12:23,24). God gave His all, and His hope was that those who loved Him would give their all in return.

John 14 – 15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

Jesus said His own love would be infused into His followers (Rom. 5:5). The mission was for them to lives lives of unimpeachable glory and grace so as to eclipse the greatest moments in Old Testament history.

2 Corinthians 3 – 7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

The superlative language of the above promise of the New Covenant might sound like Paul was being too exuberant if we did not know the Holy Spirit inspired His words. In the mind of God, an eclipsing glory was expected regardless if today mundane and mediocre experiences abound among those who name Christ.

Do you see what is meant by conditional promises? It means they happen if the conditions are met, and do not if conditions God requires are not met. But they are real promises just the same, and “let God be true, but every man a liar” (Rom 3:4).

Therefore, assuming Christ’s followers obeyed and let God do what He wanted in them, all that these united disciples would do would point back to the Most High. It would snowball. Their reputation would grow as His own special people – a peaceful people, a holy people, a wise people – who were made capable by the indwelling Spirit of Jesus.

The goal was a fulfillment at long last of what God has said to the Jews in the Old Testament. He told the Jews if they would follow His voice, He would make them a special people above all others.

Exodus 19:5 – Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.

Deuteronomy 7:6 – “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 14:2 – For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

But as the apostle Paul said in the epistle to the Galatians, and elsewhere in the New Testament, God knew the Jews had a hard heart and were not born again.

God had however laid out conditional promises then just as He did later for the New Covenant Christians. Again, a conditional promise is one in which God basically says
if you do this, then I will do that. And just as the apostle Paul had shown that God said the New Covenant would exceed the Old Covenant in glory in the 2 Corinthians 3 passage, the apostle Peter tied what was happening in the New with the Old:

1 Peter 2 – 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Note in the inspiration of the Spirit Peter echoed God’s will as first expressed to the Jews for a “special people” – and now attainable for those who would have Christ in them and obey Him. Peter then goes on to outline behaviors only those walking in true covenant – “kept by the power of God” – were expected to keep.

1 Peter 2 – 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation …

Unintended Consequences

Jesus called Christianity a narrow way that few find (Matt. 7:13,14). This is certainly not to say nothing positive ever happened in church history since the apostle John died around 100 AD to present. Much positive did happen – or in cases seemed to happen – but this is a focus on where those who named Christ fell short and why it matters today.

What was less apparent to the writers of the New Testament was how badly things would be subverted. They knew something wrong would happen however among those who wielded Christ’s name, as God had shown them:

2 Peter 2 – But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.

Acts 20 (Paul speaking) – 29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

As noted, the merger of the “chaste virgin bride” with Rome was the beginning in earnest of serious dilution, and has been called “Satan’s greatest coup.”

As long as the church was separate – persecuted even – it prospered as there was no great incentive to join what the ancient world considered outcasts and losers. For the most part, this meant only the serious and truly converted were inclined to join.

With the smile of the Emperor Constantine upon it, everything changed, and the Christian faith instantly got a social elevation. In time it became such that if you wished success in society you joined the church. If you wanted to marry the right person, get the good job, climb the political ladder, or take one of the state-subsidized jobs in the new clergy class of the church, membership in the Roman Catholic church clearly had its privileges.

Since then many unintended consequences in all directions have been the result. Within what is called “the church” – Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant – what was understood in the first century has been as hidden in plain sight. It is clear the first century Christians had something special such that they grew in the face of great adversity to the point of martyrdom.

The irony is that among the tens of thousands of subsects today, each implicitly or plainly states it is practicing the faith the right way and justifying its position in part or in full on the writings of the first century Christians.

Therefore, despite the assertions of some groups, what is understood as the Christian faith today is without clear spiritual authority. Instead, there are only vying factions, and claims. There are merely opinions among various Christians and absent is any unequivocal case of people who lead by example as was called for by the Lord and apostles.

Are You Really Sure You Know The Way of Christ?

It has long been established that nothing in the Christian faith is as solidly established as in the apostles’ day. Instead people either argue or separate into subsects. What one bases his or her faith on may be a combination of what is understood based on study or often simply what has been told by someone trusted to know God better, such as a pastor.

Spiritual birds of a feather flock together. And this has affected the very fabric of what ordinary Christians call the practice of their faith. The new normal is actually abnormal by God’s estimate who said true knowledge was revealed.

Ephesians 4 – 17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, … 20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:

1 Corinthians 2 – 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
… 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the [d]Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

God gives grace, but also mourns for His people when they perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). In love, God rolls with the punches, does damage control, and reaches who He can get through to in an air of general confusion.

That is, for any one version of Christianity in existence, there are others who claim they serve and know Christ differently and who bear witness against the validity of the other.

This is the elephant in the room, but less clear are the full ramifications of this: The real and present danger is that people are vulnerable to half-truths, outright falsehoods wrapped in a veneer of truth, and not always so discerning. People may however feel very sure of what they hold dearly as their faith for which they hope to meet God one day, but others claiming to know the same God deny them.

It is a simple fact that everyone cannot be right. Nor does the Bible contradict itself. For example, does it declare one may remarry after divorce while the original spouse is alive, or not? Some say yes, others no, and this is a pivotal issue. In question is whether the remarried will be rejected as adulterers at the judgement? And this is just one particularly contentious issue among many.

So, what Christians call their “discernment” in many cases may boil down to what a person feels. Is this covered under grace 100 percent? As usual in almost any question of the faith: Some will say yes, others no. As it is, people may come to conclusions by declaring they have “peace” about what they believe as though to settle the dispute – or at least to their personal satisfaction. But here too is a problem any honest Christian must face – “peace” means the Holy Spirit bears witness they are in the right, but He will not contradict Himself and say right is wrong or wrong is right.

There are countless examples of those who take positions with “peace” that another will say cannot be of God.

To many, the state of affairs is very disturbing, and as human psychology would have it, many ignore or avoid it as they would like to avoid having a tooth pulled, or wading into a contentious political discussion.

The thing is, the questions of what one calls their faith in Jesus Christ determines their eternal life, and usefulness to God in this lifetime.

Putting one’s head in the sand really serves no one.

The Test of Fruit

“By their fruits you will know them,” said Jesus. Theologians have added great layers of complexity in discussing things like predestination, the limits of God’s grace, and all topics.

God’s standard however is He knows and is known by His own – but great caution is in order. In evidence also ought to be “fruit of the Spirit” that the Bible emphatically calls for – and one must test the spirits and ultimately know from God directly that what appears to be of the spirit is not the fabrication of the soul.

The natural soul of man may desperately want assurance it is on the road to heaven, not hell. And, the natural soul of man may mimic true spirituality, just as a whispering voice of Satan may pretend to be God (2 Cor. 11:14).

Hebrews 4 – 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Note while some say the “Word of God” is the Bible, the Bible itself in verse 13 uses the personal pronouns “His” and “Him” meaning Jesus the Word (John 1:1, Rev. 19:13). There is no replacement for personal deep knowledge which is the goal of authentic discipleship.

That said, another obvious test is whether you have the Holy Spirit bearing witness in you that you are a child of God – and that you are not in error or presumption but under cover of the Blood and grace?

And if so, do you know Jesus’ voice? Are you zealous for good works, do you have compassion for the lost and a heart for souls and that Christ’s name become a praise?

A Berean’s Response

In sum history proves many did not follow Christ but assumed to use His name and Jesus says as much.

Today’s Christians are not responsible for sins committed by those before them. They have however inherited their legacy.

And human beings, even those who name Christ, are by nature very adaptable to less than optimal conditions – driven perhaps by a deep need to feel secure, comfortable, and they may easily say all is as it should be.

Matt 7 – 13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Jesus said there are “many” who will live their lives assuming to use the name of Jesus Christ and be rejected in the judgement.

Matt 7 – 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

These sobering facts bring into stark relief the statement “He who thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall.”

Indeed, the Bible indicates some may have never stood up and are not born again, or if born again, are in serious error and sin. Many people may presume without discernment what they have become convinced they know. But many, says God, may not really know with the deep knowledge only God can grant. They call this “head knowledge,” and not “heart knowledge.”

The one honest thing to do now is just admit the truth of conditions as they are, our great vulnerability, and seek God for His answers.

Also, we believe that Christians ought to “take ownership” of the awful fact that what God said was entirely His will and possible in John 13 and 17 never happened. As such, Christian history – due to sinful flesh and doctrines of demons – has many disturbing parallels to the Old Testament Jews who failed so badly that God gave them a certificate of divorce.

In fact, what is called Christianity today is not as God called for, and what happened in “church history” was not the express first will of God. Instead God has had to follow after His people and work in their foibles and missteps. His covenant of grace allowed for that to a point, but do not blithely state all was of God’s express perfect will.

This idea of the will of God can be confusing too. After all if a sinner sins, and never repents, it becomes God’s will they go to hell. But was it God’s will at first they go to hell? No, He always said turn to Me and live. But if a child wants to be willful, or disobedient, they force the parent’s hand or make him change plans to adapt to the problem child.

So while church history saw God working “in all things after the counsel of His will,” He was stopped, or limited by the disobedience, faithlessness, and ignorance of people.

Ps 78 – 40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!
41 Yes, again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.

By now, we hope you will see this is self evident truth as God does not call for contradiction and sin and people all naming Christ with irreconcilable differences and more in common with a couple in divorce court than loving family.

The amazing and terrible thing was those who named Christ declare by implication they have Christ’s Spirit in them unlike the Old Testament Jews. Paul said the law of Moses was the “schoolmaster” to lead people to their need for Christ. The full meaning of Paul’s statement is they seek not just forgiveness but also the power of the indwelling Christ to live holy obedient lives. One ought not be satisfied with being but a shadow of New Testament saints, or worse, claiming privileges of grace and garments of white that are little more than the emperor’s new clothes.

If this tone sounds too caustic, perhaps also you might object to how Jesus rebuked those He also loved?

Rev 3 – 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.

No friends, God’s first will was stated in John 13 and 17 for the sake of His great name and the salvation of many. It was not God’s will that billions fail to come to Christ and go to hell through the centuries right under the noses of those who claimed to be possessed by the Spirit of Jesus. He was not willing to waste so many souls just to gain a few but sadly He knew it would happen.

Nor was it God’s will that the secular world be emboldened and find points to criticize those who said they were the possessors of God and His answers for humanity. They did so however after centuries of those claiming to represent Christ wielded great influence. Perhaps the biggest crime was both the Catholics and Protestants had for a time the hearts and minds of a majority of society’s people in their hands, but they did not restore back to the apostles’ doctrine.

Instead, examples are countless of them abusing authority by starting wars, engaging in the affairs of the world with more zeal than yielding to the Spirit to produce a church Jesus would build; by advocating violence or killing even those named brethren under what they considered “just” reasons; by sexual improprieties including adultery, fornication, mistresses, prostitutes, and homosexual and pedophile acts. Those who have named Christ also may teach a prosperity gospel and the history of gaining wealth contradicting the Lord’s teaching goes back to the beginning. The list goes on …

Jesus said he came to deliver and set free the captives but many of the above evil acts were done by those who felt they were in the moral right somehow, justified by their doctrines, and thus justified by God.

Do you see why Jesus called for a witness and testimony? Do you see why the apostles were so zealous for unity and God-wrought love and proper anointed teaching in the unction of the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:1-16) that leads one to truly know and be united with Christ?

Nor was it God’s will that humanist thought and other philosophies and religions should maintain their strongholds, and even grow. Philosophies such as Darwinism, atheism, and those of secular humanism have found fertile soil in the stink and rot of infighting, contradictions, and hypocrisy among those who named Christ in Europe and now America who said they were serving the true God.

Indeed, who knew unfaithful and ignorant followers of Christ would help pave the way for a society that will ultimately embrace the antichrist?

And just as Peter once said the Lord’s second coming could be hastened, it is very possible it has been delayed far longer than what was necessary, because the New Testament says Jesus gave what was the social equivalent of an atomic bomb against sin and the devil.

This is not to say God was caught by surprise. No doubt Jesus knew when He said, “When the Son of Man returns, will He even find faith in the earth?”

As it is, all this also shows anyone with eyes and an honest heart that human beings are so very capable of accepting less or even a counterfeit and satisfying themselves that they stand in the truth.

The Takeaway

Anyone who has the love of God abiding in them should see the urgency – that is now at a peak and which really has always been. If what the Bible says is possible is not happening to the degree promised – including freedom from sin, innate knowledge of God, righteousness, peace, joy, powerful effective prayers, and more – maybe one might want to ask God why this is not so?

Certainly, God is invested in it. It is written into the pages of the New Testament as His will and the birthright of those who are truly His.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He says “come to Me.” There is no other life than this. Anything less is just death disguised.

Jesus would make you a weapon of righteousness in His hand. Go to Him and ask Him to renew you and make you all new from the inside out. And don’t let anyone tell you such lofty goals are impossible.

His full answer is the church – one as He would build (Matt 16:18) – which takes those of the same vision and Spirit. That is the subject for another day, but meanwhile whoever you are: believe God. He is looking at our hearts. He is the one who tests the hearts.

Lord bless you.