Telling someone the truth is not judging them. When we keep quiet because people say when you speak the truth you are judging them- we are not loving them. We must speak the truth of God in love, and in love means not attacking the person with insults or treating them with disrespect.
One issue I see people claim we are judging is when a religion claims to be following Jesus and following the bible, but they are not following the same Jesus or the Bible.
They are in fact following a counterfeit Jesus. How can you tell if a religion is not following the true Jesus? Simple, what does the Bible tells us about Jesus and who he is? Is this other religion teaching something else? Everything we base our beliefs on must be based on what the scriptures tell us.
Just because something 'sounds' good or right doesn't mean it is. There are a few basic truths about Jesus we MUST believe and accept or we are not following the real Jesus.
Any
faith that teaches less these things are not following the same Jesus
Christ the Messiah.
These are the basic truths about who Jesus is:
Jesus according to the Bible, is fully God as much as he was fully Man.
He is NOT the spiritual brother of Lucifer, He is NOT an angel, He was NOT created by God- He is God.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made." John 1:1-3
He was sinless. "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin." Hebrews 4:13
He is the ONLY way to heaven and to God the Father. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
He was crucified for the sins of every human being past, present and future and because of this we are forgiven when we confess and repent. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
Important to note that we are only forgiven when we confess our sins to God and REPENT! "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". 1John 1:9
Jesus said, "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish". Luke 13:3,5
Jesus will return and all will see him when he does.
There are some religions who teach Jesus has already returned secretly, but that is not true nor is it biblical.
His second coming will not be a secret and it will not be hidden from the world. "Behold, He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him". Revelation 1:7
(27)“For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (30)They (the nations) will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory” Matthew 24:27,30.
Jesus said, "Then if anyone says to you 'Look, here is the Christ or, Look, He is there!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect." Mark 13:21-22
He rose on the third day in his physical body.
Some religions claim Jesus did not rise from the dead in his physical body, which is a complete contradiction to what the Word of God tells us. Jesus himself assured the Disciples when he appeared to them that he was NOT a ghost or a spirit but still a physical being with flesh and bones. I often wonder how they can ignore or explain away the scriptures that contradict their teachings and beliefs.
In fact, in Luke 24:39 he said, "Touch me and see because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have". Jesus went even further and in Luke 24:41-42, he asked them if they had anything to eat, they gave him a piece of broiled fish and "he ate in their presence".
Matthew 28:9 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary "took hold of his feet and worshiped Him". Spirits don't have feet, nor do they have flesh and bone.
There are numerous other instances in the Gospels of Jesus appearing to his disciples and others and he reassured them by telling them to touch and feel that he was indeed truly risen and not merely a spirit.
If we are not following the true Jesus and sticking to what the Scriptures tell us, then we are following a counterfeit Jesus and THAT has eternal consequences. It is not loving others when we ignore or are afraid of offending them so we keep quiet. What's more loving, to offend someone with the truth or to allow them to end up spending eternity in hell?
One last thing - It is so important to remember the warnings about false teachers/teaching of 'other gospels' the veer from the truth.
The Apostles warned us about false teaching and 'other gospels'. Not only did they warn us they said anyone who tells of any other gospel they should be accursed.
"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some who trouble and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 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 accursed. As we have said before, now now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1: 6-9
Are you following the true Jesus?
No comments:
Post a Comment