Legacy · Gospel E-Word
Religious Unbelief
Unbelief has many different forms by which it shows itself. We know that there are some who don't even believe that there is a God. Others believe that there is a God, but say that no one can really know for sure who He is or what He is about; but that He is Whoever you see Him as being . Although this may appear to some to be a degree of faith, it really is not because it leaves God as an abstract, and basically without any real meaning. This form of unbelief is really not any more benefit to one than atheism because there is actually no one and nothing to put any faith in,; certainly not the true and living God. Then we venture into the realm of religious unbelief and see that many believe that Allah is God, or Buddha, or Hare Krishna, or whatever else men have managed to invent. This certainly constitutes unbelief because whoever believes in these idolatries is placing their "faith" in something that really doesn't even exist, except in the minds of those who believe that they exist. God addressed this type of unbelief through the prophets in statements like this: "Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together" (Isa. 44:10,11).
Religious unbelief is truly the most dangerous form of unbelief because it dictates a god to someone; and whatever that god is, it is always a god that allows and promotes sin. An extravagant example of the harm of this brand of unbelief is the present day reality of terrorists all over the world who are committing horrifying atrocities against their fellow man in the name of their god. Being taught the wrong things about God paints a picture of God in the minds of those who receive such teaching, that simply is not God. And anytime this happens, the one in that picture is Satan, who has always had the ambition of being "like the most High;" which ambition was his very downfall (Isa. 14:12-15). He is always the one who gets the glory when people are believing in the wrong god. The Apostle Paul made this clear by saying, "... the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God:" (I Cor. 10:20). And in actuality, all unbelief is about the allowance and promotion of sin.
But this article is not about terrorists, or the atrocities they are committing, because these things are not the things that are misleading God's sheep. But rather it is about an even more deceitful form of religious unbelief which has crippled the faith and the spiritual strength of the saints of God. We've seen thus far, and I'm certain that we are also in agreement, that being taught erroneously about God is a very damaging thing that reaches far and wide. But what about being taught the wrong things about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? I'm persuaded that anyone who is reading on this site believes that Jesus is the Lord, and that He is the son of the living God; and also that He died for our sins and was raised on the third day, and is now set at the right hand of the Father. But understanding the truth about Who Jesus really is, and what He is about, goes much further than these very basic elements of the faith. And almost universally God's people are not being taught the Jesus of the Bible. And this is a very grave matter, because as you may be able to consider at this point, Satan's favorite disguise is as "the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom (He) sent." In other words, to whatever extent someone is believing erroneously about Jesus, and His gospel; then to that extent they are being caused to believe that Satan is Jesus, without realizing it of course.
There is a scripture that has always stood out to me, in regard to unbelief, and it is found in Romans 11:20: "Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:" The thing that has always stood out to me about this scripture is the nature of the unbelief that caused the Jews to reject Jesus. The Apostle Paul described what I'm talking about perfectly: "For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge" (Rom. 10:2). The Jews were believing in the right God, or rather they thought they were. They didn't profess a wrong God, not in word anyway; and they certainly upheld many of the customs that God had established under the old covenant. But they erred by straying from the most important elements of the law, and by inserting their own invented customs, as though they were of God (Mat. 23:23; Mat. 15:3). Jesus quoted Isaiah to them, saying "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Mat. 15:9). In other words they rejected Jesus, not because they didn't believe there was a God, and not because they believed in the idols of the gentiles; but because they were believing the wrong things about the right God.
And this dear one, is the danger of believing the wrong things about Jesus. Because it can and will cause us to not recognize what the real Jesus is actually doing; and it will cause us to not be able to hear His voice. In His messages to the seven leaders (angels/messengers) of the congregations of God in Asia, in the book of Revelation; Jesus ended each message with the same exhortation: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the [congregations]." The doctrines that are being taught to God's people today are not what the Spirit of God is saying unto the body of Christ; and I want you to see in short order how that this leads right back to the same roots that all unbelief and idolatry has always had in common: that being that they all allow for sin.
The Bible plainly projects that the experience of being baptized with the holy Ghost, with the initial evidence of speaking with other tongues, is what puts any one of us into the body of Christ (I Cor. 12:13). The Bible states that we become a new creature (obviously through a new birth) by being in Christ (II Cor. 5:17). Again according to I Cor. 12:13, we get into Christ through the baptism of the Holy Ghost. We also are plainly told in the Scriptures that the Spirit of God is what washes us from our sins, sanctifies us, and justifies us in the sight of God (I Cor. 6:11; Rom. 15:16; Titus 3:5; etc.). Without the Holy Ghost in our lives, we are told in the Bible that we're "none of His" (Rom. 8:9). And there is no such thing in the Bible as receiving the Holy Ghost before or apart from being baptized with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues.
Yet as I previously stated, God's people are universally taught contrary to these plain Bible truths. People are being made to believe that they are born again when they "get saved," or "accept the Lord as their personal savior." These things have a great religious sound to them, but the problem with them is that there is absolutely NOTHING in the Bible to support these doctrines. There is not one single instance in the Scriptures of ANYONE EVER "getting saved" or "accepting the Lord." It just did not happen. And on top of these unscriptural "new birth" inventions, the people of the Lord have also been taught that they receive Salvation when they "get saved," or "accept the Lord." The holy Ghost baptism is taught as a secondary experience for those who already have Salvation. And yet the Bible clearly teaches that salvation is the end reward for a life lived in true holiness till the end; and that for someone who has truly been born again the Bible way, meaning the holy Ghost baptism (I Pet. 1:7-9; Heb. 12:14,15; Mat. 24:12,13; etc., etc.). So hopefully you can see the dilemma involved with accepting these and other wrong doctrines as though they are from God. If we are made to believe that we are born again before we have the experience that actually takes our sins away and gives us new life in Christ, then we have been deceived into staying in sin while professing righteousness through Christ. In other words we have not been caused to believe in the Jesus of the Bible, because the Jesus of the Bible is the Jesus who baptizes with the holy Ghost to take our sins away, and to make us a member of His only Congregation (I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4). So we see that the result of this error is that we keep our sins, while believing that they have been taken away. Who do you suppose is behind that cunning craftiness?
And the same thing runs true for Salvation. If we are made to believe that we have received Salvation, through a non-existent man-made "new birth" doctrine, before we have even truly been born again; then we are believing that we're saved without even actually being in the body of Christ, or forgiven of our sins. And this man-made "Salvation" doctrine, which really is the age old trick of the Devil known as "eternal security," or "once saved always saved;" certainly robs us of the fear of the Lord that we must have in order to continue to strive after pureness of heart; without which we will NOT be in the first resurrection, or the rapture of the bride of Christ (I Jn. 3:2,3; Rev. 20:6). And we certainly cannot purify ourselves "even as He is pure," if we haven't even received "power from on high," with which to do so. And even when people do receive the baptism of the Spirit after having already embraced the man-made "new birth" and "salvation" doctrines, their spiritual strength is sapped by having the mindset that they are automatically "locked in" to salvation. Believing that one is already saved, and that they don't have to be pure in heart in order to inherit eternal life, will not compel anyone to "work out (their) own salvation with fear and trembling;" and it will not motivate anyone to "strive to enter in at the strait gate," because these flesh pleasing teachings do not keep anyone mindful of the scriptural reality that "many... shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able" (Lk. 13:24). Again, the end result is a doctrine that promotes and allows for sin. And this is the highest form of religious unbelief, and the most deadly, because this is the kind of unbelief that has by subtle and deceitful means, turned God's sheep away from hearing the voice of their Shepherd.
The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans gave this admonition to the Jews among the assembly of God's people, who were trusting in circumcision, or in being Jews, for their salvation: " For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision"(Rom. 2:25). Circumcision, for the Jews, was supposed to be a sign that they were keepers of the commandments of God, like Abraham (Rom. 4:11). But as he said, if they did not keep the commandments of God, then their circumcision was of no profit, and actually was the same as uncircumcision. And the equivalent of this today could be said thusly: "If your faith in Christ is not based on the truth about Christ, then your faith is made unbelief because it is based on some other Jesus than the Jesus of the Bible." And believing in the wrong Jesus also causes God's people to not believe the truth if they hear it, because they already think that something contrary to the truth is the truth. Like God's people of old (Israel), the body of Christ has been taught into having "a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge" (Rom. 10:2). And like God's people of old, this has resulted in God's people today "being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Rom. 10:3). The Congregation of the Lord, my friend, has been connived by that master of illusion, into embracing "another Jesus," and accepting "another gospel," and receiving "another spirit;" even as the Apostle Paul warned would happen (II Cor. 11:4). God's people have been persuaded, by erroneous doctrines cleverly put together by that spirit of antichrist, to believe that Satan's ministers are actually God's ministers, and that Satan is actually Jesus (II Cor. 11:14,15). And the end result, as it always is with any unbelief, is the allowance of sin, and the destruction of souls.
Friend, your soul is far too precious to take chances with. Please read this article again, study the references, and seek the Lord with honest and contrite urgency, as to the truth of these matters. I have dealt with only two major points where faith in Jesus has been turned into unbelief, concerning the doctrine and reality of Christ. There are many other very serious points where the same thing is true, but time and space will not allow for those at this time. Bookmark this site, and come back later. I'm sure you will find more information regarding these matters at that time. Trust in God's Spirit to "guide you into all truth," and may the Lord deal with you in extraordinary grace. Amen.
