4 Minute Devotions: Jesus Never Existed

People believe many things about Jesus that are just not true. The Christ of their deluded minds never existed.

Podcast version here

John 2:25 He did not need man's testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.

Jesus did not exist.

Let me qualify that statement: the huggy-touchy, airy-fairy, freely feely, open-minded, peace happy hippy Jesus never existed. I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve come across Christians in the world and on the internet who believe that Christ was a totally tolerant freedom worshipper Who completely accepted everyone’s ideas about God and inclusively embraced their individual opinions. They obviously have only scanned the Gospels and have never truly read, believed, or accepted what Jesus actually thought, said, and did.

I feel sorry for those who shape Christ into their own kind of savior and make Him into a happy collage of their own misunderstanding. Instead of being challenged and changed by Jesus, they toy with and turn Him into a tolerable figment of their own imagination. They want Jesus to be always joyful and never judgmental. They want Christ to be carefree and never constrictive. They want Him to be the Prince of peace and harmony, but never the Absolute Monarch of heaven and earth. They want fiction, not facts. They want grandiose tales and not the Gospel truth.

It’s time to stand up to them because they’re leading the church astray and heading down a path that leads to death. Jesus does not need their untrue testimony because He knows what is in man: arrogance and self-deception, delusion and narcissism, pride and hedonism.

As I wrote before, this modern-conceptualized Jesus did not exist. It’s time to step back from the abyss of heresy, hearsay, and unbelief. It’s time to truly read the Gospels and let God reveal to the Church His Holy Son once again.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, sadly there are many people who think they are Christians because they worship a Christ of their own making. They are deluded and dangerous; heretical and harmful; rebellious and wrong. Keep us true to Your ways and words. Protect us from their misguidance and malevolence. In Your Holy Name, we faithfully pray. Amen.

Tertullian Revisited: Chapter 8 - We are Faith Finders, not Spiritual Seekers

Some people believe that the purpose of life is to seek the truth. Christians and heretics abide by this concept, but differ in regard to the outcome. True believers find the truth and stick with it. Heretics find the journey more appealing and continue the process of seeking. Instead of affirming the faith, they seek to confirm their own love of the journey by continually seeking new questions, ideas, and opinions that lead them down a narcissistic blind alley.

Christ invites us from the scriptures to both seek and find. Christians and heretics alike begin their journey here.

Jesus asked this of His disciples and contemporaries, who were searching for the Messiah. He was pointing them to Himself, to show them that the centuries old search for the Anointed One was complete.

Some did not know that the Messiah was amongst them; therefore Jesus was asking them to make their search during His lifetime. He was showing them that the journey would lead to Him alone.

God revealed His presence to the Jews over several centuries. In Christ, God gave the last revelation that personal faith journeys would require. The Jewish search for the Messiah was over. The plan of salvation was made complete in Christ.

Christ referred His people to the Holy Scriptures. The sacred clues were there, in both the law and the prophets. Moses and Elijah testified to Christ’s coming into the world. Thus, when Christ asks His people to ‘seek and find” He is telling them to study the scriptures, read God’s word, and figure out that Jesus is the Anointed One.

For those to whom this was not clear, Christ asked them to knock on the door of faith and understanding, which would be opened to them. For those who were unclear about Christ’s divinity, He was again pointing them in His direction.

The Jewish people experienced a sacred privilege – that of being chosen as the Covenanted People of God – but when they rejected Christ as their Messiah, they were no longer blessed as the Only Chosen Ones.

God then extended His grace to those who lay outside of His Holy Covenant. He permitted the Gentile nations to receive the good news of Christ and be part of the Gospel promises that Jesus obtained through His sacrificial death on the Cross.

The Gentile nations knew nothing of Christ until Jewish disciples walked beyond their borders to broadcast the Gospel throughout the earth. Just as the Jews themselves had been scattered across the Mediterranean, so was the New Testament of God carried, expressed, and shared to the Diaspora.

To those who sought to find the truth and know Him better, Christ invited them to ask of Him. Since the truth was to be found in Him, He would personally answer their questions. For true believers this is acceptable; but for heretics, this is too simple.

Christ spoke first of all to Israel. He was called to be Messiah of His people, and then Savior of the world. He was sent to bring back those who had fallen away from God and return them to the faithful flock.

So, this invitation to “seek and find” is initially to be understood as a call to the Jews to look no further than Jesus to find the Christ. His ministry was to reach out to His own Chosen people; it was only later that the bread from the Master’s table would be fed to the Gentiles.

Only at the last, before His Ascension, did Christ tell His disciples to go out into the world, to teach and baptize people of other nations. And with the presence of the Holy Spirit, they were to engage in evangelism for the same purpose as His Ministry to the Jews: to enable those who were seeking the truth to find it in Christ Jesus.

The apostles were ordained by God, sent out by Christ, and anointed with the Holy Spirit to tell the world that they had found the Truth. True believers joyously welcome this and accept that the message of the apostles is one that we should readily accept. Heretics, however, do not accept this Christ given authority and question the reliability of the apostles. In effect, heretics question the work of the Holy Spirit, which is an unpardonable sin.

The Lord has not left us to work out our own salvation. His words are meant to bring us to Him. Originally, they were addressed to His own people, but throughout the centuries and across the nations, His words of invitation are meant to bring closure to our spiritual seeking and make us finders of the One, True and Everlasting faith – that Jesus Christ is the Anointed Lord of the Universe, and He is the Only Savior of humankind.

Tertullian Revisited: Chapter 6: Heresy is sinfully chosen over the will of Christ.

To reject a heretic is to disarm him of any credibility. The task of the Church is not only to neutralize the ideas and opinions of heretics, but also to enhance and edify orthodox beliefs. The unity of the Church across the centuries depends upon its ability to confront heresy and maintain the authority of Christ’s message at the same time. Too harsh a condemnation will result in people rooting for the underdog and taking up with heresy. Too much indifference and heresy will grow like a theological tumor on the body of Christ.

A person chooses to be heretical and accepts false teachings because of the power, esteem and assurance it gives him. The teachings of Christ are diminished and His sovereignty is questioned. A typical heretic will not be able to give Christ the proper respect and authority that He has. Christ’s sovereignty is denigrated by the heretic through not being able to express Christ’s absolute power of salvation. The heretic chooses to not believe that Christ is the Only Savior of the world, despite what the Bible reveals to us. Rather than accept the traditions of scripture and the historical authority of the Church, the heretic chooses to accept the false utterances of his teachers, or his own voice.

Heretics are therefore self-condemned because they individually choose to defy God’s Word and accept their own understanding. They allow the secular culture to mold their views and will not accept the unchangeable truths of the Gospel values. Heretics contend with the church and advocate on behalf of the world. They have forgotten once again that the Church is not empowered by their wishes, beliefs or ideas. The Church is established and rooted in the total word of God.

Our example comes from the words of the first disciples and apostles of the Church. They chose to simply accept Christ’s words and ways. Their devotion to Him after the resurrection was absolute. Their words are witnesses to who Christ was and what He still is today. Heretics put themselves above the witness of the disciples. They believe that their own life experiences are more relevant to their beliefs today. They refuse to accept the simple truth – that the first apostles expressed an absolute confidence in the message of the Gospel and pledged their total allegiance to Jesus Christ.

Any gospel which is contrary to the true Gospel is heresy. Religious Universalism, prosperity gospel, divine entitlement and pluralistic salvation are common heresies in the Church today. And remember, heresy exists in the Church, not outside of it!

The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to reveal to us the truth of Christ’s Gospel. When we spurn the Living Words of Christ and denigrate His sovereignty, we oppose the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus heresy is a direct confrontation with God. The Bride of Christ needs to appear before Christ as worthy and unblemished. The rooting out of heresy has to come from within the Church.

Tertullian Revisited: Chapter 5 - Every Generation in the Church needs to be aware of Heresy

Chapter 5 - Every Generation in the Church needs to be aware of Heresy.

Apart from confronting heresy, the Church also needs to use it as a means of fortifying the faith. The Gospel message has to be purely preached in every generation, otherwise the values of the past, which belong to Christ, will degenerate and faith will diminish. Popular slogans such as “getting back to the basics” or “what would Jesus do?” have lost their appeal because they have been used too often and treated glibly by Christians. What the Church requires is a long term plan for each generation to be nurtured and grown in the faith from birth to death. Biblical ignorance feeds heresy; Christian education destroys it.

Heresy seeks out the young and the lost. It looks for immaturity of faith and disappointment in the Church. It preys upon dissension and division, uncertainty and unholiness. It is cultic and tantalizing, hypnotic and intriguing. Souls are lost to heresy in people that seek flattery, importance and esteem, instead of humility, service, and devotion to God.

The degrees of heresy manifest themselves in arrogance, petulance, belligerence, and indifference. Instead of supporting the life, work, and mission of the Church, heretics have their own agenda to which all else must submit. They thrive on the silent and impassive nature of the sheepish majority. Where churches seek to keep the peace amongst the faithful, heresies abound because courtesy builds a hedge around confrontation. Where churches seek to make peace with God, heresy is confronted and exposed.

The real damage that heresies make in the Church is the amount of divisions that can occur in any one group. Fragmentation of the faithful community and severing traditional ways are given a high priority by heretics. They don’t want to be chained to the past, because this would make them mere servants of God. They want to emerge as a dominant force amongst the faithful, instead of merging with past generations. In short, they seek to glorify themselves and be exalted above all past generations. They see their movement as essential to the Church of tomorrow, forgetting that Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Past leaders of the Christ’s Church have tackled heresy by pointing out its failures to submit to the will of God and be subservient to Jesus. The tragedy of today’s Church is that it wants to be all inclusive at the expense of being faithful to God’s Kingdom. The Gospel values of the past are jettisoned, whilst the ever-present culture is engaged. Instead of being wed to Christ, the Church wants to be wooed by the world. Heresy, therefore, is a departure from all that has been revered in the past. It seeks to be falsely revered for its own sake, instead of being willing to be scorned for Christ’s sake.

Tertullian Revisited: Chapter 4: Tolerating Heretics destroys the Church

Some people find it difficult to call others in their midst, “heretics.” We live in a culture where tolerance is the panacea to all our troubles, and intolerance is anathema to peace and unity. But it was Jesus Himself who pointed out that heretics would be in our midst. We delude ourselves if we believe that He is totally tolerant of those who would twist His words and bend the truth of the Gospel. Heresy happens because we are phobic about being called “intolerant.” We have believed the world’s propaganda that we are narrow-minded, conservative reactionaries instead of faithful servants of Christ. We are not Torquemada and the Inquisition; we are followers of Christ and of His Kingdom. The world crucified Christ – are we so deluded that we think it will deal with us without hostility?

Those who are heretics often present themselves in the noblest of terms. They are seeking to be inclusive and non-judgmental. They want peace in the world and equality for everyone. They preach a message of tolerance, yet beneath their words there is a deep intolerance of those who keep to the old ways, the lasting virtues, and Gospel values. They want to devour the Church and make it bend to their universalistic will. They forget that the Church is Christ’s Bride – it submits to no will but His own.

It is both sad and shocking to realize that most heretics come from the ranks of the clergy. They have their own personal agenda to make the Church what they want it to be. They lead with deceit and seek to make more followers of themselves. They preach their own gospel and set aside Christ’s words, work, and ways. They look for weak-minded people and lovers of selves, hoping to bring them into their pack by disguising it as a flock. On the outside, their congregations look like a church, but on the inside false teaching, narcissistic nurturing, and worldly views are treated and presented as being Christian.

The heretics proclaim a rosier future where all people can live in peace throughout the world – a utopian place where all thoughts are acceptable, all notions are tolerated, and all religions are the same. They seek a perfect world, but not the perfect kingdom; they want a united world, but not a united faith; they seek the glory of God for themselves and look to plunder the Church. Heretics are dangerous teachers – they contaminate souls and dismember the body of Christ.

The object of heresy is to make as many disciples as possible to strengthen their ideas and to bolster their opinions. They denounce their opponents as uncaring, unloving, and unchristian people. They seek to divide and conquer. They gloat when some sheep leave the fold. They glory in apostasy and revel in the moral ambivalence of the people. Heretics abound where Biblical ignorance exists. They confound the faithful by willfully misinterpreting the scriptures and questioning Biblical authority. They are more interested in the present times than the past. They are more concerned with things happening now, than those which are still to come. They judge people today, forgetting about the judgment that awaits all of us tomorrow.

The ability of heresy to camouflage itself in the life of the Church is what makes it so dangerous, and needs to be exposed. The choosing of Church leaders needs to be carefully scrutinized; the positioning of teachers in our seminaries needs to be fully recovered by the Church; and the publishing of heretical works under the guise of being academic needs to be halted. Gospel values are undermined when the Church neglects to uphold traditional beliefs and to promote the Gospel. If the Church has become a channel for promulgating Christless studies and false teachings by our preachers, doctors, and professors, then we have become apostate in nature and need to repent. And remember, heretics do not see the need for repentance, nor do they wish to humble themselves before God.

Just because a heretic can present his or her false teachings in a sound and studious manner, does not mean that their heresy is any less. The arch advocate for apostasy eloquently argued with Christ in the wilderness, using scripture and doctrine, flattery and logic to present his case. Christ, however badly He was tempted, did not succumb to the heretic from hell’s words. Christ resolutely remained loyal to God and stuck to the Truth. He did not compromise His beliefs; He did not yield to false arguments in order to be accommodate His opponent, nor did Christ respect the devil’s research and knowledge. In order to remain faithful to Christ, we must be ready to do the same.

Tertullian Revisted: Chapter 2: Heresy is a Virus that Attacks the Church in Every Generation

Chapter 2: Heresy is a Virus that Attacks the Church from Within.

Heresy’s existence in the church is not a cause for alarm, but of pity. Just like a computer virus, the heretic has been contaminated with bad theology and wayward faith. He or she has supplanted humility with pride, faith with arrogance, and belief with obstinacy. The heretic believes that he or she is expressing their freedom and free will. The trouble is this: they become ensnared by their own folly; they become captive to their own confused hearts.

Heresy’s power lies in its ability to intrigue the dilapidated soul into thinking it has discovered a mysterious secret. It entwines the spirit by seducing thought, suppressing doubt, and casting God aside. All answers to life’s mysteries are found from within and each time a spiritual solution is uncovered, Christ is diminished whilst the heretic is glorified. It is a pleasant process of self-idolization and personal enlightenment. The soul is hypnotized by the merest flicker of light from within. The utter grandeur of God is forgotten and the obsession to fuel the heretical spirit with spiritual self-devotion is no longer a temptation. The heretic, therefore, cannibalizes his or her own spirit, not realizing that he or she is emptying their precious soul.

Christian heresy, if there is such a thing, is not to be admired nor accepted. Its power to deceive is subtle and over the years a gradual loss of traditional Gospel values gives way to a flood of inconsistent standards and self-deceptive doctrine. To guard against it, the Christian believer needs to daily bathe his or her spirit in prayer, meditation, thanksgiving, and supplication. Surrendering to God’s authority and reminding oneself of being a creature, guards against a multitude of heresies and protects the believer from wandering off the true path.

Curiosity and a morbid fascination with heresy, disrespect for boundaries and an over indulgent self can lead one down the path to heresy. What begins as an intriguing journey ends up in an entangled wilderness of abandoned faith and lost hope. The heretic deludes her or himself that everyone else is wrong and that they are ultimately right, forgetting that the Only One who is completely right is God.

To counter heresy, the believer has to avoid its charms. All heresies begin with a kernel of truth that becomes warped and worms its way into the heart and soul of a spiritually shallow person. Most heretics are unaware that they are toying with heresy or that their spirits are endangered. They spurn all help to set them on the right path and end up down a blind alley. What begins as a journey to discover the secret of truth and light becomes a pathway to self-delusion and an inward darkness of the soul.

Heresies have no power of their own. Like the demons of the past, they are only empowered by what credence or acceptance we give to them. Superficiality, superstition, and slothfulness are key ingredients in perpetuating heretical myths, theories, and doctrine. Short cut theology and cultic behavior attract infantile spirits and shallow souls.

Heresies abound where dogmatic confrontation is avoided. Heresies slowly smother traditional values by displacing long held components of the Gospels and Christian beliefs. Heretics bully people into adopting their ways and attack the Church in order to create disorder. A Church divided is easily invaded. A Church that is weary is easily won over.

Heresy worms its way into the Church through the weakest walls and over broken boundaries. The Church must ever be vigilant in every generation, for without having sentinels, the sacred will be usurped, faith will be depleted, and the people will be dispersed.

Tertullian Revisited: Chapter 1 - Heresy in the Church

Tertullian Revisited

Chapter 1: Heresies Exist

The character of the beginning of the 21st century is such that people everywhere declare their own truths to be self-evident in their own lives. Institutional truth is rejected, but individual truth is revered. Traditional values are mocked, whilst brazen boldness is idolized. In his search for ultimate pleasure and unrestricted delight, 21st century man leaves himself wide open to fascist extremes and oppressive regimes. Unless the Church is willing to confront and check this sordid tide of unfettered secularism, humankind is doomed to enter into another Dark Age.

Heresy in the Church manifests in an uber-utopian view that all religions are the same. Inter-faith dialogue becomes a vehicle of un-vetted tolerance and acceptance which leads to a diminishing of Gospel values. The relentless pursuit of inter-faith narcissism causes many to syncretise their beliefs into a melted mush of manufactured meanderings, where the Christian beliefs of the pilgrim are set aside in order to welcome a New Age of Christless cooperation and godless junk.

The existence of heresy in the 21st century Church has occurred because of the blurring of boundaries and the slothful surrendering of sacred values by its leaders. Instead of being gatekeepers and shepherds, they have become innkeepers and goatherds. Their lack of faithful parameters has permitted a wide diverse community to penetrate the Church and destroy it from within. The old ways have folded and the new ways have been anointed. Everlasting Titles of Father, Savior and Lord are being hedonistically set aside because they reduce humankind to helpless, servile children. God no longer has the monopoly over omnipotence and omniscience – 21st century man seeks to steal both those apples and claim them for his own.