How possible can it be to check the authenticity of the Christian faith, to avoid deception? This is in line with the exhortation given by Jesus to His disciples, but also applicable to everyone in need of truth:
“Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:4-5 NIV).
There are seven reasons traditional Christianity does not holistically represent Christ’s followers. They could be more, but when addressing these seven, one could be freed from the rest.
The first area of avoiding deception is separating the spirit from the flesh.
Jesus’ racial background was Jewish but spiritually represented the entire humanity. He was constantly in conflict with the Jews, who were unaware of the racial identity being inapplicable to spiritual identity. The Jewish traditional worship cannot be applicable to Christianity.
The dos and don’ts of the Law, while strictly applicable to physical flesh, are not applicable to God’s children. The Israelites contended with the physical application of the Law, which is spiritual. The two structures are not related and are in conflict with each other.
The two can now relate, due to Jesus’ death on the cross. God said to Moses: “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Exodus 33:20 NIV). God’s Spirit requires physical death, to function without friction. The body is overwhelmed by physical appetites, the principal of which is sex.
In his Gospel Book, John confirmed this reality. “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18 NIV). Jesus became the only human being who had ever seen God.
For the purpose of our salvation, Jesus died, so that, at last, humanity could then, see God and live. The Israelites, from Moses’ time, were not consistent with Law-keeping. They were advised of the importance of abiding by God’s Laws, summarized in the Ten Commandments. The purpose of Law-keeping was to maintain a good relationship with God. Although living in flesh, the Israelites were exposed to Godly standards.
On one occasion an expert in the Law stood up to test Jesus “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He replied, “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered: “’Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, Love your neighbour as yourself” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live” (Luke 10:25-28 NIV).
The Law expert, who desired to trap Jesus, came up with a clever rejoinder: “And who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:29). Rather than give him a direct answer, Jesus used the Parable of the Good Samaritan, to illustrate the significance of a neighbour (Luke 10:30-36). The Parable is unambiguous.
The Good Samaritan put himself in the shoes of the injured person. He did exactly what he would have wanted others to do to him, had he been the one injured. The most important aspect of the parable is casting the significance of Law-keeping.
In giving the Law to the Israelites, God intended to reveal the principle of loving the neighbour. Jesus illustrated this by first projecting the recognized religious authorities in Jerusalem: the Priest and the Levi. These were strict Law-keepers. But they were spiritually not related to God.
The Good Samaritan projected God’s mind. The Good Samaritan went out of his way, to help a stranger. His conduct was outside common human behaviour. He practised unconditional love, which identifies with Godly character.
The Good Samaritan exercised compassion, not enforced by anyone. He took the responsibility to pay for the accumulative medical expenses, rather than look for the relatives of the injured person.
Whether married or not, the man must have had other responsibilities. But nothing could override addressing the condition of the injured person. His pleasure was in serving human life, more than anything else. That mind is Godly. Ordinary humans may do so, but include advertising such kindly acts.
After the parable, Jesus posed a question of who displayed neighbourliness. This was not a difficult question. The neighbourliness was displayed by the Good Samaritan. Then Jesus declared: “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37 NIV).
This dispels the idea of religion when applying God’s love. The Godly culture projects one different from the rest, to be God’s child. “God is spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24 NIV).
The second area of discarding falsehood is discovering being God’s child.
A person who would have discovered being God’s child takes instructions directly from God. Like Jesus, one does not take instructions from anyone else. This is very uncommon, among ordinary humans and those desiring to control others.
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:8-12 NIV).
This is a hard Scripture to sell to those fulfilling Jesus’ prophesy: (Matthew 24:5). “For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” Authority is reserved for Christ only. One can be assigned to teach others. But the converted listeners would evaluate everything according to Jesus’ word.
God’s children cannot be mistaken as to put other humans in place of Christ. It is possible for the adored personalities to assume Christ’s role. However, when leading those focused on Jesus, one gets easily corrected.
God’s children are each other’s keepers. That is why they carry different gifts, shown in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12. They cannot claim to be better than others, as Christ takes all the glory. See [Pastor—the centre of confusion].
The third area of discarding falsehood is in willingness to be criticized.
God’s children feel comfortable when criticized. They use criticism as an opportunity for growth. The only sign of checking whether on track is being falsely accused. Truthful people will never feel uncomfortable when criticized. They actually celebrate new discoveries. If not criticized falsely, one is not God’s child.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for, in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12 NIV).
Ordinary people rejoice only when praised by fellow humans. However, God’s children rejoice only when falsely accused. As long as rejoicing when praised by others, that would be a gauge for not being God’s child.
Although not making it obvious, God’s children celebrate when falsely accused of wrong-doing, in God’s work. This cannot be difficult when aware of no longer sharing glory in this world. The mind of God’s child is not different from Christ’s mind.
The fourth area of discarding falsehood is rejecting group mentality.
Those of this world feel secure and comfortable when belonging to their respective groupings, based on doctrinal positions, rather than God’s word. When deriving security from denominational groupings, one would not be God’s child.
This is not suggesting being a recluse, but demanding responsibility, when belonging to a group. One cannot relax, allowing one’s group to move away from God’s teachings. This requires strength and character to confront group tendencies to move away from God’s word.
Jesus belonged to a Jewish group that hated Him, but Jesus avoided separating Himself from them. He attended their religious festivals, but maintained God’s standards, correcting them, and using the Scriptures. One can be assertive when using Scriptures, but without being pompous.
The group mentality says the group is forever right and individuals are always wrong. This is how Zimbabwe lost it. When the army staged a coup, the entire nation celebrated. However, there were few individuals who saw wrongness in violating the constitution.
Those few individuals could not be listened to, assuming the majority could not be wrong. The current chaos testifies how wrong that idea was. The stupidity of a group mentality also manifested in approving a flawed constitution in 2013.
The 96% majority hailed the constitution as the best. However, when analyzing the viewpoint of the four per cent who voted against, one perceives the stupidity of the group mentality. This agrees with the Israelites’ failure to enter Canaan.
The majority adopted what appeared wise, but as stupid as rejecting God who miraculously freed them from Egypt. God caused them to perish in the desert, rather than reach the Promised Land, in their stupid condition.
The fifth area of discarding falsehood is appreciating that God cannot be likened to anything.
God cannot be likened to individual personalities in this world. He is not identified by gender, just as Christ is not identified by gender (Exodus 20:4-6 NIV). Keeping God’s Commandments is facilitated by the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Becoming God’s child helps one to discard falsehood about God’s identity. If created in God’s image, why would one look elsewhere, concerning God’s identity? One’s own spiritual identity describes God.
Of course, one does not think in terms of physical structure, to then assume being the representation of God’s image. The spiritual identity is what refers to God’s identity. The majority of people are other people’s identities, and not themselves. This is how far deception has gone, in this world.
The sixth area of discarding falsehood is avoiding idolization of humanity.
This includes Jesus in His human form. Jesus is our Lord just as in this world we honour people who give us valuable information. Although we worship God through Jesus, God remains as one needing human worshipping.
Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:16-17 KJV).
Jesus used this to stress the importance of keeping God’s Commandments. That is what true worship implies. The rest is either to impress God or impress other humans. Jesus never instructed His disciples to address their prayers to Him, but to their Father in Heaven.
However, God’s children are in every nature Gods. The translators of Jesus’ statement attempted to relegate this point by using the lower case on “Gods.” This was due to their unbelief and failure to understand Jesus who the Jews sought to stone, for uttering what they viewed as blasphemy.
The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a Man, make Yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand” (John 10:33-39 NIV).
This misunderstanding has caused Scholars to suggest that Jesus is a member of the Trinity. However, they relegate the same God, they claim to adore, by invalidating God’s children. If God dwells in His children, according to Jesus (John 14:15-18), how are they different from God?
The seventh area of discarding falsehood is appreciating Jesus’ authority.
Jesus’ words need to be taken religiously, as Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). Jesus is our bread of life, deserving not to be mixed with other ideas. This is regardless of how authoritative others may be recognized, in this world.
He was dehumanized by the same humanity, appearing as now idolizing Him, as a member of the Trinity. This subterfuge is observable to those predisposed to the truth. Otherwise, the rest continue to be confused, until Jesus comes. They misunderstood Him, even when he was here, physically.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing relief to those having witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social decay. Most Zimbabweans should find the book as a long-awaited providential oasis of hope, in a simple conversational tone.
The Print copy is now available at Amazon.com for $13.99
Also available as an e-copy at Lulu.com for $6.99
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