On Faith

The "Christian" gospel of this modern age is so abstract that it would not cause the champions of faith from the past to roll over in their graves; it would cause them to VOMIT from their graves. So what do I mean by 'abstract?' Webster says first of all about the word 'abstract,' "thought of apart from concrete realities." That says it all my friend. And here is how it applies to the gospel of Christianity: The first and foundational element of the true gospel of Christ is FAITH, plain and simple. So the way that the Christian gospel defines faith in Christ sets the tone for the remainder of the religion. What I want you to see here is how Christianity defines faith in Jesus, as opposed to the way the BIBLE defines faith in Jesus. And the reality is that Christianity does NOT define faith at all. Rather it is left wide open to be anything you want it to be. That is the abstract of it, because as Webster states, it is "apart from concrete realities." Ask any upstanding 'Christian' how they know that they are born again, or have the remission of their sins, and they will almost invariably say because they "believe" in Jesus. They will even give you scripture, like for instance, "Whosoever BELIEVETH that Jesus is the Christ is born of God" (I Jn. 5:1). Or maybe the universally known John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVIETH in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And let's not forget the ever popular Ephesians 2:8: "For by grace are ye saved through FAITH; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." Hey, these are all great passages of scripture, that is if you understand what they are saying. But few who profess faith in Christ will offer anything from the scriptures that actually show how faith in Jesus is defined more perfectly. I mean, as long as we just leave it at "faith," we can define it any old way we feel like defining it, and that is exactly what the designer of the powerless Christian gospel wants you to do. In the old testament, the prophets called it this "[walking] in the imagination of their [own] heart" (Jer. 13:10). Here is a rule of thumb that you can count on to be accurate: If you ask someone how they got right with God, and they give you a scripture, they are not right with God. And I will explain how that is. The reason for this is that scripture makes NOBODY right with God, but rather a living, powerful, transforming EXPERIENCE is the only thing that makes any one right with God. And guess what, that experience comes ONLY by FAITH in Jesus Christ, and his death and resurrection. And this is where we see how the SCRIPTURES define faith in Jesus. Speaking of faith in Jesus, JESUS himself said this: "He that BELIEVETH on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. [But this spake he of THE SPIRIT, which they that BELIEVE on him should receive...] (Jn. 7:38,39). Now that makes really good sense, especially seeing that the same Bible tells us that we are washed from sin, which is to say sanctified and justified, by receiving the Spirit of God (I Cor. 6:11). So then let's define what receiving the Spirit is a little more clearly, and at the same time tie faith into the whole thing again: "For ye are all the children of God by FAITH in Christ Jesus. For [BECAUSE] as many of you as have been BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST have PUT ON Christ" (Gal. 3:26,27). You think that's talking about water baptism? Only if the Bible says, "Now the Lord is that water," which it does not. But it DOES say, "Now the Lord is that SPIRIT" (II Cor. 3:17). So to "put on Christ," which the above quoted scriptures says is done through baptism, is to "put on" the Spirit of God. Which is to say that the only people who are truly the children of God, as the apostle stated in Galatians 3:26, are those who by faith in Jesus have been baptized with the Spirit, as he also states in Galatians 3:27. Still not convinced? Well, the same apostle said very plainly that the only way into the one body of Christ is to be baptized with the holy Ghost (I Cor. 12:13). And how can you be born again, right with God, or any way you want to say it, and still not be in the body of Christ? Where would you be in that case?

But everything that I have written here, which is irrefutably confirmed by the Bible, can STILL be abstracted just as easily as saying "it's by faith." That is except for this one thing, and this is absolutely the clincher, and it is also where you will really uncover all the balking of the abstract faith talkers. There is unequivocally NO baptism of the holy Ghost in the Bible without the supernatural sign of speaking with other tongues. And that is because such a thing does not exist. That sign was present with EVERYONE who first received the experience on the day of Pentecost, which believers were the very first to become members of the body of Christ after Jesus went back to heaven (Acts 2:4). And a few years later, after innumerable souls had received this justifying experience, the apostles and elders were still recognizing this sign as the evidence that anyone was baptized with the Spirit: "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For [BECAUSE] they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God" (Acts 10:44-46). And later Peter recounted this experience again: "And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us... purifying their hearts BY FAITH" (Acts 15:8,9). Not enough? How about this? When Philip preached Jesus to the Samaritans, the scripture says that they believed and experienced a number of supernatural things through their faith, like being literally delivered from demon possession, healed of incurable diseases, delivered from the bondage of sorcery, and having "great joy" as a result of these things (Acts 8:5-8). And yet the scripture says that Philip and the apostles in Jerusalem upon hearing these things, knew that these people had not yet received the Spirit (Acts 8:14-16). Wow!! What a statement of divine truth! Today if anyone experienced anything remotely similar to what the Samaritans experienced, and someone said that they had not yet been born again, or have the remission of their sins, they would automatically be branded a heretic. Why? Because no one is thinking with the mind of Christ today, but rather with the religious mind that Christianity has dictated. But the apostles DID know that the Samaritans were not yet born again, BECAUSE they recognized the sign of speaking with other tongues as the evidence of the experience. And anyone who is honest and willing enough to prefer the truth of God over the falsehood of Christianity will recognize it today, because NOTHING HAS CHANGED ABOUT THE GOSPEL! It is still the same gospel of faith that "was once delivered to the saints," and it will remain so until the second coming of Jesus back to this world (Jude 1:3; Mat. 24:14). And it remains the truth, that "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9). Amen.