Just a short post today on what it means to be a witness for Christ

Just a short post today on what it means to be a witness for Christ. First off I want to point out that there is no mention in the scriptures of the popular modern terminology of "witnessing" for Christ. What is mentioned is "bearing witness" UNTO Christ, and BEING a witness OF Christ. The modern Christian mindset of "witnessing" is based on trying to get someone to "come to your church." Funny, neither Jesus or the apostles EVER tried to get anyone to "go to church." Jesus WAS and IS the only person or place that anyone needs to go to. He had the goods when he was here, and it was up to those around him to be able to perceive that and benefit from it. He is still the only one with the needed goods, and anyone who is TRULY "bearing witness" to Jesus is a partaker of those goods. Jesus said it this way: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" (Jn. 15:4,5). The only way to be in that vine is to be baptized with the holy Ghost into it, as the apostle Paul said: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body [of Christ], whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (I Cor. 12:13). To "drink into [that] one Spirit" is the same as the branches drinking life from the vine. That is the only way that Christ is in anyone, and therefore that is the only way that anyone can actually be a witness of Jesus. Again Paul clarified how this takes place: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have PUT ON Christ" (Gal. 3:27). And yet again; "But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (I Cor. 6:17). We become "one spirit" with the Lord by "putting on" the Lord, of whom the scripture also says, "Now the Lord IS that Spirit" (II Cor. 3:17). So again we see clearly by the scriptures that it is indeed the SPIRIT BAPTISM that puts us into the body of Christ, or makes us a branch in the vine; whichever way you care to say it. And Jesus said that those who are of him bear the same fruit that he bears, and that those who do NOT bear the same fruit that he bears are NOT of him (Mat. 7:15-20). So it is obvious that those who are in the vine, and who abide in the vine, are going to bear the fruit of the vine. The apples of the branches of an apple tree plainly show that it is an apple tree. It's really that simple.

The beloved apostle was in perfect agreement with these things: "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked" (I Jn. 2:6). And he didn't stop there: "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil" (I Jn. 3:5-8). It is not just being baptized with the Spirit that brings forth the right fruit, but learning to WALK in the Spirit as well: "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall NOT fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Gal. 5:16). And again; "For as many as are LED by the Spirit of God, THEY are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14). So would someone please inform me as to how you can be a partaker of the religion of Christianity, which declares that "we're all sinners," and be a witness for Christ at the same time? That's not a real question, as it is evident that the idea of the whole thing is a farce. If we claim to be a witness for Christ, and abide in a religion that proclaims us to all be sinners, then we are not a witness of Jesus, but rather we become a FALSE witness. And we know that God has commanded us to not be a false witness against our neighbor. How much more are we required to not be a false witness of his Son, who died and rose again to TAKE AWAY our sins, as John stated? Jesus is the firstfruits of the truth of BEING a witness, as he stated in his own words that he was "the faithful and true witness [of the Father]" (Rev. 3:14). That is how he could say, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (Jn. 14:9). People are a witness of what they are abiding in, and that usually means the Christian religion and their "church;" NOT Jesus Christ. It's just a really bad joke my friend, and like any bad joke, it is not funny at all. And who do you suppose has perpetrated this wicked joke, or trick? Yeah, you guessed it (Eph. 6:11). The truth is, there are so few people today who are actually bearing witness TO Jesus, that it's been an easy endeavor for the devil to replace BEING a witness for Christ with "witnessing" for Christ with empty religious "church" rhetoric. Anyone who truly IS a witness for Christ does it the way he did it and the way the apostles and early believers did it. They go forth and everywhere they go, the fruit of the vine is there for all to eat of; and everyone they are around knows it. It just becomes a matter of who is hungry for that fruit of the vine, and who is too full of something else to BE hungry. And those who ARE hungry for the true fruit of the vine of Christ are fed by true witnesses OF Christ with the same life that they have drawn out of the vine. Amen.