Christianity without Christ

Christianity without Christ: William Booth was undoubtedly a prophet. The happenings in the church right now validate his prophesy and point to the fulfilment of other prophecies in the Holy Bible, especially Mathew 24:24; 2 Timothy 4:3-4 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3.

We are indeed in the end hours as people are increasingly embracing strange doctrines that contradict the word of God. The Lord said in 12:48, “The one rejecting Me and not receiving My words has one judging him: The word which I spoke, that will judge him in the last day.”

Even in the secular world, no one can be tried for a crime that is not covered by a country’s constitution or legal statute. In the same way, God will not go outside His written word in the Holy Bible to pass judgment on an unbelieving world. This brings us to the question, “Why are humans, including so-called Christians showing so much disdain for God’s word?”

It is a perplexing phenomenon, given the fact that most of these people readily embrace ideas, opinions and philosophies of men with tenacity. We should ask ourselves, why is it easy for many people to be led astray, even when the ideas they have accepted are weird and contradict the word/character of God?

The answers to these questions lie in the nature of the Gospel these deluded souls were exposed to. There is no place in the Bible where God commanded us to make “converts” of men. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is the head of the church said in Mathew 28:20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”

Both key words, converts and disciples do not have the same meaning or application. A convert is someone that has accepted a new idea or philosophy, while a disciple is the one who chooses to follow the footsteps of the originator of the idea. In today’s church, many Christian leaders are satisfied with winning converts from other religions to Christianity but are less concerned with discipleship.

 Why is this important? Right from the beginning of time, God desired to have intimate relationship with humans. Thus, Adam, the first human was a recipient of God’s friendship.

In Genesis 3:8, we are told that the Father came for a visit in the cool of the day. The fact that Adam sinned and lost that relationship did not stop God from taking steps to restore it.

That is the whole purpose of His incarnation in the person of Jesus Christ. As someone aptly put it, the death and resurrection of Christ were intended to restore that broken relationship; and give us the privilege to be sons and daughters of the most High God.

The fact that God desired sons in which He can relate with intimately is expressed succinctly in Hebrews 2:10, “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.”

 Unfortunately, the Gospel coming from many pulpits globally focuses on human material, emotional, physical and financial needs. When an angel appeared to Joseph to give him guidance on his relationship with Mary, his fiancée who was found to be with child, he was told that the child that would be born by Mary would save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

Zacharias, who was visited by angel Gabriel to announce the birth of his son, John said in Luke 1:76-77, “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways: To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins.” No Scripture validates the Gospel that promises people wealth, successful career paths, marital bliss and other false promises propagated by so-called men of God.

Currently, the situation has deteriorated to the level where some Christians do not even accept the basic tenets of the faith, including the virgin birth; the resurrection of Christ and His claims that He is the only way to the Father (John 14:6). The last point explains why some institutions like the Roman Catholic Church do not encourage members to evangelise adherents of other faiths.

The incumbent Pope in particular, reportedly said that evangelism was acceptable during the Crusades, and that all religions lead to God. Really? So, who should have the last say in the church? The Pope or Christ who gave us the “Great Commission” (Mathew 28:19)?

The refusal of some Christian ministers to preach Christ and His resurrection, has led to many errors in the church. It is now common to see weird stories in the social media about Christians doing stuff that are not only laughable, but portrays Christianity in bad light. For instance, in Kenya, a pastor convinced more than 300 members to fast to death, ostensibly to hasten their entry into heaven.

In Nigeria, another ‘man of God’ collected N310,000 ($221) from each member to facilitate their rapture to heaven; in America, a pastor of a very large congregation told them that God does not expect them to be sinless (holy); but to sin less. Of course, none his members had the guts to tell him that God Himself charges His people to be holy (Leviticus 19-20; 1 Peter 1:15)!

           The ‘Christless’ Christianity is now the rave of the Western world and other nations feeding from the same polluted well. The thrust of their message is that one can be a Christian and not be under any obligation to obey God’s word. Jesus said in John 14:21 “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”

If you have received grace to read this article to this point, I want you to take a good look at yourself. Is Jesus Christ truly your Lord and Saviour? If He is, why are you using your Pastor, Pope or General Overseer’s opinions and ideas to filter God’s word? Have these people established their own heaven where they will sit in judgment and give you a pass into their kingdom?

Are you willing to spend eternity in the lake of fire with satan and your false prophet or pastor whom you idolise as your god? I cannot tell you what to do because God created you with a free will. I however, pray that God would deliver you from the influence of these demonic or misguided people, and grant you the grace to make His word your safety net.

I conclude this piece with a quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, martyred for Christ by the Nazis on April 9, 1945:

“Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”