Watch Out for That Other "Jesus!"
Watch Out for That Other "Jesus!"

Are you aware that there are at least 2 or more Jesus persons involved when you consider that which professes to be "Christian" in terms of faith identity?

The New Testament in the inspired words of Paul clearly warns us to be careful concerning the Jesus we select and in Whose care we entrust the eternal destiny of our souls! Said Paul:

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you may well put up with it.
2 Corinthians 11:3,4 NKJV

This other "Jesus" to whom Paul made reference is gaining recognition throughout the world as we find ourselves in the 3rd decade of the 21st Century. There are those persons who are regarded as prominent and influential theologians, church leaders and pastors who speak of "Jesus" -- a special "breed" that has come under fire within many church denominations because of their denials and/or questions regarding Jesus' virgin birth, His miraculous works while here on earth, His substitutionary atonement for the sins of every member of the human race, His victorious resurrection from the dead 3 days following crucifixion, His ascension into heaven, His place at the right hand of God the Father, His promise to return to earth again as King of kings and Lord of lords, and the ultimate Judge of every human being regarding the final destiny of that person! So in a literal sense, these persons present another "Jesus" other than the One revealed in God's inspired record of truth.

However, while we are plagued with such persons as those just mentioned, the group most responsible for the existence of this other "Jesus" at the present time is best identified as the sodomite/lesbian cartel. These people have a clearly defined agenda which is being militantly pursued. The agenda includes redefining God's ordained institution of marriage and family and God's boundaries of sexual experience and expression. And by means of legislation at state and federal levels this group hopes to achieve protection to a degree that heterosexuals do not have, namely that any act of violence committed against a sodomite or a lesbian will be defined as a "hate crime" with harsher penalties. The ultimate goal, of course, is forced universal acceptance by law of sodomite "marriages" and lesbian "marriages," recognition of the status of "family" with adopted children, and acceptance of these people in all facets of society without even vocal objection because same gender coupling will be regarded to be just as morally acceptable as the union of a male and female in marriage. This also includes serving at all levels within a church structure, including ordained ministry!

A number of members of the sodomite/lesbian cartel identify themselves as "Christian." It is very common to use identifying labels such as "gay Christians" or "lesbian Christians." They are further helped along in their cause by numerous church leaders of different denominations using the same terms as well.

Much rhetoric is employed using Jesus' name, referring to Jesus' love, to the "Holy Spirit," and to the "gospel of Jesus Christ." No doubt about it -- the pressure is really on -- they use "Christian" terminology and frequently refer to "Jesus," so therefore they are just as Christian as anyone else who claims faith in Jesus Christ, are they not? And to question that claim is to be guilty of "judging," is it not?

First, to know the Jesus revealed in Scripture as the living Son of God and Savior from sin is to have gone through an experience of full repentance from all sin -- and to have been born again through the working of the Holy Spirit. Note the transformation of some Corinthian believers who had been involved in sexual immorality, including sodomy, etc:

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NKJV

The sodomite/lesbian group refuses to repent of their same gender sexual coupling and claims that Jesus never once mentioned anything negative about homosexuality. It is true He never explicitly mentioned it, but He certainly covered it along with all other possible sins in His statement about the law, which specifically deals with moral requirements for humans as they relate to one another and to God:

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."
Matthew 5:17,18 NKJV

It can likewise be said that as Jesus never explicitly condemned homosexuality, so He never explicitly gave a positive affirmation of a "union" of "one flesh" between 2 sodomites or between 2 lesbians as He did regarding God's ordained institution of marriage between 1 male and 1 female:

And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."
Matthew 19:4-6 NKJV

In fact as one examines the total record of God's revelation to us through the holy Scriptures from first page in Genesis to the last page in Revelation, one cannot find one statement that presents sodomy or lesbianism in a favorable and desirable light -- and with God saying in so many words, "This is a blessed union!" Every reference is negative and the practice is soundly condemned and regarded to be an abomination in God's sight!

This requires that the s/l cartel scramble desperately to muster a host of "scholars" who reinterpret, redefine, redo, retranslate, and re-imagine historically and culturally in order to produce the desired result. And that final conclusion and result is that we now have a brand new "Jesus" who places his blessing on sodomy and lesbianism, and that the practices of such have really been honorable and morally acceptable down through the millennia of human history!

Just remember -- a "scholar" is really nothing more than a person who has invested a lot of time and effort into collecting a lot of material written over a period of time. This stuff in turn is organized and usually a book is written with the result being that people are quoted who quote other people who also have quoted someone and on it goes -- sort of like a mirror turned at the right angle with its repeated reflections stretching into infinity! Somehow out of all this the individual writing the book (or books) is then labeled a "scholar" and by implication an "authority!"

Be aware that there is a lot of room in this "scholar" business for major errors to occur which are diametrically opposed to God's clear revelation concerning human depravity and its repulsive manifestations in a plethora of variations. Most tragic is the denial of God's clear act of providing the perfect cure for that depravity and it's damnable fruits through the atoning sacrifice of His own Son, Jesus Christ.

The fact remains -- the obedient follower of Jesus Christ is guaranteed insight that is far and away superior to anything produced by human "scholars" -- the Author of the holy Scriptures is the same One Whom Jesus said would guide us into the truth, teach us all things, and show us things to come!

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you……However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."
John 14:26; 16:13 NKJV

And let's not forget the overall benefit of the holy Scriptures for those who know the real Jesus as promised over the centuries and Who eventually made His personal visit to this planet:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work..
2 Timothy 3:16,17 NKJV

Really now -- "scholars" are not as critical to the well being of our faith as some would have you believe -- the unbeatable combination is always this: a hungry heart, an inquiring mind, an open Bible, a generous amount of prayerful time allotted to the searching of the Scriptures, and a resolve to pursue holiness of life as the minimal standard of conduct while walking in obedient fellowship with Jesus Christ!

Just be skeptical when people begin to throw phrases at you such as, "The scholars say thus and so…." They may be right, but then again there is more than an outside possibility that they might be wrong as they refer to another "Jesus!"

The clear dividing line between those who know the real Jesus Who was crucified and raised from the dead and those who are aligned with the other "Jesus" to whom Paul made reference is the reality of the new covenant established by the Son of the living God.

It was promised during the time the Israelite people were under the Mosaic covenant when God said the days would come when He would make a new covenant in which His laws would actually be a part of a believer's very being -- and the fact of this is repeated in the letter to the Hebrews:

"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them," says the LORD. "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days," says the LORD, "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
Jeremiah 31:31-33 NKJV

And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days," says the LORD: "I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."

Hebrews 10:15-17 NKJV

Notice a specific here -- "I will put….I will write…"

Only one conclusion is possible -- if the Jesus of the new covenant has been personally experienced in an act of true repentance from sin and faith is now centered in Him as Savior and Lord, it will be a natural thing to incorporate God's moral law (including His laws pertaining to human sexuality) into one's daily lifestyle!

Granted the s/l cartel tries to muddy the water on this one, especially in making reference to dietary regulations under the Old Testament system and refusing to acknowledge the distinction between the dietary and ceremonial as opposed to the moral code which transcends time and culture!

And certainly there is also great evidence that the s/l cartel is totally on the wrong track because of miracle after miracle being produced in transformed lives of those who formerly were sodomite or lesbian in their lifestyles. A number are now in heterosexual marriages with children which they conceived and are now raising. (Note again the transformation of certain Corinthian believers as noted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 6).

But a concentrated effort is made by the s/l cartel to suppress and deny such witnesses. There is also talk of these being "victims" of Bible oppression and abuse and that programs have been initiated for "recovery" of such victims -- real crazy isn't it, but when your position is threatened by God's eternal truth you have to resort to desperate tactics of any kind in your state of denial! It is simply a reminder that unregenerate people will resort to anything in order to justify their rebellion against God's standard of holiness, and in so doing accurately portray the truth of Isaiah 5:20:

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20 NKJV

Having talked about their "Jesus" -- having entertained another "spirit" -- and having proclaimed another "gospel," this group is a fulfillment of yet another Scripture in addition to the Isaiah passage noted above:

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which those who are untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know these things beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
2 Peter 3:14-18 NKJV

So be very careful -- watch out for that other "Jesus" whom a growing number are choosing to follow. This one is much like the Pied Piper of old and this "Jesus" sanctions any lifestyle you want to live -- forget about any moral standards -- they no longer exist!

Yes, what has just been said will be challenged and the participants in the sodomite/lesbian cartel will brand me as being homophobic, mean-spirited, unchristian along with a host of other unattractive labels, and they will parade their "scholars" in an effort to prove me "wrong." I won't take the time to counter such an effort by parading "scholars" who have written AGAINST sodomy and lesbianism -- my appeal is simply for any person dealing with this issue to take the Scriptures alone with prayerful openess in dependence upon the Holy Spirit according to Jesus' promise -- forget about what any professed "scholar" pro or con has to say for the moment -- just let God speak from His Word, and He will -- and you will know His position on this issue!

But I only have to live with all that for a little while here on earth -- my best Friend will have the final word on the issue, and I can wait until then if they can! In the meantime the call still goes out to all persons to repent of all sin, sexual and otherwise, and accept Jesus Christ (the real Jesus) as Savior and Lord, pursuing holiness of life as the minimum standard of conduct in all activity and relationships.

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11 NKJV

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May 29, 2002
UPDATED > April 15, 2023, July 3, 2023, August 28, 2023
by Clayton D. Harriger
Elder in Full Connection
W. PA Annual Conference
The United Methodist Church
and former pastor of
Gipsy Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) > November 1999 through November 2021.
Gipsy PA

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