I like keeping things simple and easy to understand. There is a virtue in making sure we make things understandable for people, especially when it comes to salvation. We are not Gnostics with some special knowledge that is only for us. We have a life giving message that our Lord commissioned us to proclaim to everyone on earth. We don’t have time for a 1000 page dissertation on what it takes to become a Christian. So let’s break it down to three essential questions and answers we can give to someone who would ask us about what is required to be a Christian.

1. How much am I required to know?
You have to know something, but you don’t have to know everything. The Apostle Paul summarized it well in his letter to the church at Corinth.

“1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
(1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

You must believe that Christ died, was buried, and rose again. That is the Gospel message. But that leads to the next question,

2. What must I do about what I know?
You must participate in that death, burial, and resurrection, too. It’s called baptism. It sums up what you believe and shows that you have turned from your old way of life (called repentance). Again, Paul illustrates it for us, this time in Romans 6.

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, (Romans 6:3-5 NASB)

In effect, we are participating in what we know.

3. What happens after that?
We gather with other believers and remember that death, burial, and resurrection and encourage one another as we strive to follow Jesus.

Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:16 NASB)

This walk of faith is not designed to be done alone. We gather to remember what Christ has done and to be equipped to share that message with others.

I realize this is very basic, but we must all begin somewhere. If we focus our evangelistic message on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, we also make sure that the message is not about us — it’s about Jesus. We are not commanded to convert people to us; we are commanded to make disciples of Jesus.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19, 20 NASB)

There are our marching orders. He tells us to make disciples and also tells us how to do it. Let us go forth in the simplicity of devotion to Christ with the truth of Jesus’ death burial and resurrection as our message. Amen.

Tonight at sunset, members of the Jewish community will celebrate the festival of Yom Kippur, also known as the Day (yom) of Atonement (kippur). This feast was ordained by God in Leviticus as the day in which the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood of a lamb on the top of the Ark of the Covenant. This was the space between the golden cherubim and was called “the mercy seat.” (Leviticus 13 & 26)

While that is very interesting, what does it symbolize for us today? Glad you asked!

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:11-15 NASB)

In Christ, we now do not need to wait for a yearly day of atonement in order to be forgiven. Nor do we have a high priest who is continually offering he sacrifice of His blood to atone for our sins.

For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. (Hebrews 9:24-28 NASB)

This is a one time sacrifice that has been offered once-for-all and needs never to be repeated. As a sacrifice of infinite value, it cannot be added to.

By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:10-14 NASB)

That is why He can continually cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:9) and why we can enter into His presence boldly.

With that in mind, every day is part of the one eternal Day of Atonement for Christians. So we should rejoice in the salvation that has been purchased with the blood of the Lamb of God. Christ has fulfilled the feast, and as our high priest has completed the atonement once for all!

Words are vehicles which carry thoughts. They are a way of informing, but also a window into the heart of the one who is speaking. Words also let someone else know how you operate so that they can know you more intimately. God has chosen to use words given through inspiration to convey to humanity His ways and His thoughts. God spoke about the power of His Words to Isaiah.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:8-11 ESV)

He starts off talking about His thoughts, and let’s everyone know right away that His thoughts are on a higher level than ours are. And we are not talking about them being just out of reach. They are exponentially higher than our thoughts. So when we critique what God has said, or second-guess His ways, we can rest assured that we are completely unqualified to do so.

Then there is a transition to the containers of the thoughts of God, His Word. It is impossible for God to speak an idle word. Think about that. Every single word that goes forth from God has His power and creative force behind it, and is unalterable. No word of God ever returns back empty, indeed it cannot do so! (Have you ever stopped to contemplate the chaos that would ensue if every one of rout words had that power? Yikes!)
The writer of Hebrews puts it this way:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

The created universe we see around us was created by that word.

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. (Hebrews 11:3 NKJV)

And that same world is held together by the power that is still resident within the One who is the Word made flesh, Jesus. (John 1)

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (Hebrews 1:3 NASB)

But how do we access that powerful word today? Where would we find it?
Here’s a hint:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 NIV)

We can have complete confidence in the wisdom, veracity, and power of the Word of God. There is no need to subject it to the criticism of men, since it’s divine Author is so far above our thoughts and ways. Ours is simply to have faith in what He has revealed and walk in the ways He has prescribed for His children. When we do so, we have the most powerful force in or out of the universe behind us!

I can’t stand things that rip me off. Whether it’s a vending machine, or a product that doesn’t work as advertised, many of us feel humiliated and/or embarrassed that we have wasted our money, and have nothing to show for it. The same thing is true of our lives. Jehovah God spoke through the prophet Isaiah and asked some penetrating questions, and then gave an open invitation for all who would heed His call.

“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And delight yourself in abundance. (Isaiah 55:1, 2 NASB)

Each of us, at some point in life, have felt spiritually dry. We thirst for fulfillment and satisfaction that somehow evades us. We search n our own and try to figure out some way to quench that longing and only end up filling it with other poor substitutes for genuine nourishment for our souls. In the first verse, God initially calls out to those who realize their spiritual poverty. He r
Invites only those who are conscious of their spiritual bankruptcy and utter helplessness before God. No invitation is wasted on those who have any confidence in their own ability to satisfy their spiritual thirst.

God then says something counterintuitive at first. He tells broke people to “come, buy and eat”! How can that happen? Only because of grace. We are all invited to nourish our souls without paying for it ourselves. What is being offered is of tremendous value, but it is being offered to us freely by the one who alone possesses it and can provide it to us.

God then reiterates the futility of our current predicament. He uses a question to remind us of how we are wasting our substance on things of no eternal value. We are attempting in vain to quench the thirst and satisfy the hunger that can only be filled by God.

How do we partake in this abundance? By listening to the Word of God. Jesus Christ proclaimed that He was the fulfillment of these verses when He said,

“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” (John 6:35)

Only as we take in this One, who is the Word of God (John 1:1) that we can experience the joy of having our spiritual hunger and thirst finally satisfied.

So if you have a hunger and a thirst for something real. A hunger for something that is not spiritual junk food, then come to Jesus and be filled. Come to the waters of baptism and delight yourself in spiritual abundance. Heed the advice of the Psalmist and “O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! (Psalm 34:8)

Isaiah records the invitation in this passage a few verses later.

Seek the LORD while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the LORD,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6, 7)

People come from many different backgrounds. For many, the spiritual environment in which they were raised has a tremendous effect on their view of doctrinal tenets, religious practices, and definitions of religious terms. Such is the case with the word translated as “confession” in the New Testament. So when I say that confession is a necessary precondition for forgiveness I need to clarify some biblical concepts and terminology.

The Apostle John, in the first chapter of his general epistle says this:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NASB)

So is John saying here that we must go before a priest and orally confess our sins in order to receive absolution? No, and here is why. Rather than meaning admitting what we have done, the Greek word used in 1 John 1:9 is “homologeo” which means “to say the same as”. So what is required is that we say the same thing about our sin that God says about it.

Rather than being a “get it of jail free” card, this confession entails changing our minds about our sin, so repentance is included in it since the word translated repent means to change your mind. This change must be deep enough that we begin saying the same thing about our sins that the Bible says. There is nothing biblical about just admitting what we have done, or even asking God to forgive us of our sins if we have not forsaken them. It’s not about saying the magic words. We need to not only forsake our sin, but actually hate it.

And our hatred of our sin, and the realization of our personal culpability of those sins being part of the reason Jesus was murdered, will also lead us to say what God says after we have been forgiven. When God has forgiven us, we have no authority to continue accusing ourselves before Him. To do so is to align ourselves with “the accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10).

Our confession is also one which encourages accountability. James said we are to “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” (James 5:16) Our secret sins are the ones which entangle us like the little wooden chair left out in the living room at night that finds our shin and throws us to the ground. But being open and honest about our struggles with our fellow believers helps us to overcome those habitual sin patterns so that we can walk in the light, not the darkness.

but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).

As long as we walk in fear of being exposed, we will never know the freedom that could be ours in Christ. Jesus put it this way:

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (John 3:19, 20)

So let us hit sin with the very weapon that will cause it to shrink back — the light. King David discovered this secret thousands of years ago, and God has preserved it for us today in Psalm 32.

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. (Psalm 32:1-5 NASB)

First of all, that was not a typo. I want to briefly take a look at an incident the happened with the Israelites in the wilderness. God was judging them with poisonous serpents. The nation chose to repent, and God gives Moses a cure for the snake bites that is very unusual.

The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. (Numbers 21:6-9 NASB)

One of the things I wonder is how many people rejected the solution because it was just too easy, or because it didn’t make any sense to them. Many people are that way about salvation even now. Many reject it because it can’t be that easy. There has to be something we have to do to earn salvation rather than just receiving the free gift by faith in the resurrection in baptism! Or even reason that they are not worthy of it because they have so much sin.

But what does this story really have to do with us today? It was a shadow of what Jesus would do for us so many years later. Jesus himself said so.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. (John 3:14, 15 NASB)

Just as the serpent was lifted up for the salvation of all those who will look to Him. But why was it a serpent? In the whole Bible, the serpent represents sin, and Jesus was without sin. How could a serpent represent salvation? Here’s how:

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:20, 21 NASB)

When we look to Jesus, we need to see Him as the one bearing sin. Not just the sin of the world in general, but our personal sin debt. As we look at Him as our atoning sacrifice for sin, we can claim the freedom that He purchased for us from that sin. In fact, we did provide something that day at Calvary. We provided our sins for Jesus to bear for us. When He died, we died with Him so that we can be free from the power of sin.

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. (Romans 6:4-7 NASB)

Now that the sin debt has been paid, we should continue to look to Jesus for the strength to endure. As we look upon Him and what He has done, we also look forward to the day when we, too, will be before the throne of God.

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 NASB)

Have you ever been listening to someone, or just reflecting on a situation and come to the sudden realization that you were wrong? You know, that sinking feeling that you have totally blown it and are helpless to make things right? It is a terrible feeling when it comes from within us, and is even more frightening when it comes from the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. That kind of terrifying reality check is what happened to those gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost in Acts 2.

Peter is bringing his sermon to its end and says this:

Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? (Acts 2:36, 37 NKJV)

What hit the audience that day was nothing short of cataclysmic. It would be bad enough to find out that the promised Messiah that you have been waiting centuries for had been killed. But Peter brings home the point that THEY had been the ones to have it done by the Romans! Could there be any sin in the universe greater than the murder of the Sin of God?

The word Luke uses here for being cut to the heart is only used once in the New Testament. It connotes being stabbed in the heart suddenly. This was not a slowly building realization of discomfort. This was a divine piercing through of the heart. And it must have been accompanied by the sudden dread of judgment for what they had done, for in verses 34 – 35 Peter had said,

“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

This was not a picture of someone using you as an ottoman. The picture that would have come to their minds was that of a heel on the neck. These men had been convicted by the true gravity of their sin, and their utter helplessness before a righteous and holy God. It must have been something akin to what Saul of Tarsus felt on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:1-9. He was breathing threatenings and murder against the believers, and was knocked off of his high horse in a blinding light. Have you ever wondered how doomed he felt when the voice said he was “Jesus whom you are persecuting”? He went from self righteous anger to “getting up trembling and astonished.”

This is what it means to be poor in Spirit. Before we can come to Christ we must come to the realization that we are hopelessly lost and condemned before God and fully deserving of His wrath. As long as we think we can do anything to rescue ourselves, we are not ready to be saved. Only when we come to that place in our hearts can we truly throw ourselves on His mercy and accept the forgiveness that is being offered, just like they did in Acts 2:38. Peter didn’t leave them hanging there. He told them what they must do in order to accept the free gift of the Grace of God.

There is no hint in apostolic preaching of “try this because Jesus will make your life better” or of “just be a good person.” The method of conviction of the sin of rejecting the Messiah must come first because that is part of the mission of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 16:8-9,

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; (John 16:8, 9 NKJV)

Salvation that begins at the place of utter inability to save ourselves will also result in disciples who are walking with God for the long haul. They are not coming to Jesus because He is really cool and makes them feel good. They are there because only Jesus can rescue them from the judgment to come. Don’t be afraid to talk about how our sins were part of what sent Jesus to the cross with a lost one. We must not neglect the preaching of judgment in our messages, lest we fail to show sinners the reality of their predicament and they someday find themselves standing before the Messiah they have rejected and are eternally lost.

(God Has A Plan For Israel part 3)
The way Jesus answered questions that were asked of him was very revealing. At times, questions were used by those who opposed him to try and trap Jesus into saying something that they could use against him. When that happened, Jesus would give the answer they deserved but would still teach something in the process.

What I am looking at right now, though, is a sincere question that was put forth that Jesus obviously answered as best he could in Acts 1:6-7.

Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:6-8 NKJV)

There are some things which jump out at me from this encounter. The first of which is that the disciples had earlier had their minds opened to understand the Scriptures and what had been written about him in the Law and Prophets at the end of Luke’s prior account.

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, (Luke 24:44, 45 KJV)

Having received this supernaturally accelerated education, the question gets asked about a physical restoration of the Kingdom to Israel. This was not, as some commentators would have us believe, the last vestiges of a misunderstanding about the true nature of the Kingdom. If that had been the case, then Jesus would have answered something like “that will not happen” or “the Kingdom will only be in your hearts” instead of telling them that only the Father knew the timing of the events. His answer implies that the events will actually occur. If the Kingdom were ONLY spiritual, then his answer is misleading, and we know that cannot be the case. It would also mean that they had not really had their minds enlightened to understand the Scriptures after all. This was not asked by just one person, either. The verse says “they” asked.

What Jesus said was that the Kingdom would be spiritual before it would be physical. In short, Jesus got them to focus on the part of the plan that was up to them. They would receive power from on high and go into all the known world and preach the Gospel. Don’t worry about the part of the plan that will come later. They needed to get inboard with the part they were to play and leave the other part to God.

This also means that the endless debates about whether or not we are in the Kingdom now as opposed to later are pointless. The answer is that yes, we are the Kingdom of God now in a spiritual sense, but at a future time the Kingdom will also manifest literally in a physical sense. The two views are not contradictory, but are consecutive. We have been debating as if the two manifestations of the Kingdom are mutually exclusive when they are not.

As I said before, Acts 1:6-7 would have been the perfect time to set the record straight by telling the disciples an answer like “He is not, it will only be I your hearts” but Jesus did not do that. Rather than deny the future restoration of the Kingdom to Israel, he simply told them they would know the time or season it would happen.

There are some, possibly many, who will still say that there is no future restoration of the Kingdom to Israel, and that the Kingdom is strictly spiritual. But they will need to answer the question of verse 6-7 for themselves. And please do not post comments that are cut and paste from commentaries. Think for yourselves and wrestle with this as I have. Ask how it is that if the “only spiritual I our hearts” doctrine is correct, then how do we explain the Kingdom destroying all earthly empires in the vision of Daniel 2? How is it that in Isaiah 9 God said, “Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:7 NKJV)
Or how will Jesus Christ rule the nations with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15)?

No, only the “first the spiritual, then the physical” interpretation works for the passages about the Kingdom and reconciles them in a way that keeps us from having to consign whole passages to being taken as allegory when they are in fact all describing actual events. In future posts I will attempt to expound upon the “first, then” pattern in the Bible, but space demands that it be separate. As I said, feel free to comment, but please first consider the plausibility of what I have written instead of jumping to proof texting. May our discussions be fruitful!

Would anyone knowingly follow an Antichrist? Would you? Of course not, but many are unknowingly follow the spirit of Antichrist and believe they are quite right and tolerant to do so. If that is the case, and I believe it is, then we need to know what that spirit is so we can avoid it at all costs!

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour… Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. (1 John 2:18, 22 NASB)

The Apostle John introduces the first mark of this antichrist spirit (or philosophy) by its first identifying characteristic. It denies that Jesus is the Messiah (or Christ). Notice that he doesn’t use the phrase “a Christ” but rather “the Christ”. While there are certainly many who deny that Jesus was who He claimed to be, there is also the dangerous teaching that Jesus was “a” Christ, just one among many. Jesus is portrayed as a way to God, but not as the only way. That is one reason the teaching is anti-Christ, or anti-Messiah. It denies His unique role in salvation. Jesus, however, said otherwise.
Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6 NASB)

John reiterates this point when he mentions the spirit of Antichrist again in chapter 4 of 1 John.

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. (1 John 4:2, 3 NASB)

What does he mean by denying that Jesus came in the flesh? Well I think the key is in the word “came”, because they will acknowledge that Jesus was an actual person, but not that he came from God as the Word made flesh (John 1:14). This is the philosophy that says Jesus was just a good man or a great teacher that was later deified by his followers. It is supremely strange to think that all of those who were Jesus’ disciples died for what they had just made up! It also makes Jesus out to be either a liar or a lunatic (see C.S. Lewis “Mere Christianity”). The world has no problem with liking Jesus, but worshipping Him as God and only Savior is considered intolerant.

We must be careful not to succumb to this politically correct philosophy. It is the path of least resistance, but it is the road to destruction and will cost us dearly if we choose to follow it. John also addressed the problem in 2 John verse 7.

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. (2 John 1:7, 8 NASB)

John goes on to give this dire warning:

Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 1:9 NASB)

We must resist this spirit/philosophy of Antichrist with all we have within us. We must teach our children and new Christians not to fall for the trap of the devil that would entice them to please men rather than God. John tells us what the truth is that we must embrace about Christ at the beginning of his gospel and does so better than I ever could.

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 was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5, 14 ESV)

Amen.

Whenever there is film of a marathon race, they like to show the participants as they get near to the end of the race. I have yet to see anyone stopping to do some shopping, or to play a quick game of basketball during the race. That doesnt happen because the runners are fully focused and what they need to do. I think that maintaining our focus is one of the reasons for our communion at the Lord’s Table every week as well. Hebrews 12 talks about things we can do when we take the bread and the fruit of the vine that will help of run with endurance.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. (Hebrews 12:1-3 NKJV)

First, we take encouragement from those who have run the race before us. We also build one another up as we partake of the emblems each week together. This is not something we do alone. It is, as Paul described it in 1 Corinthians 10, a communion in the body and blood of Christ.

Second, we should reflect on our lives and determine that because of our love for Christ and our gratitude for the price he paid, we will lay aside every sin that so easily ensnares us. As we remember the brutality of the suffering that He endured, we are reminded of the awfulness of our sin and resolve to turn from it, lest we be ensnared in it again.

Third, we must focus on Jesus, who is our supreme example of endurance. Think about what He went through. Think about his focus stayed on the joy at the end, when he would be able to redeem his bride and spend eternity with us in heaven. And as we consider the hostility He endured for us, it will help us to endure the trials we go through and not become discouraged and weary. He died for me; I will live for him.

Take time today to focus on Jesus and what he has done and resolve anew to never quit, but rather to run with endurance and finish well.