The Confusing Battle Between
Real Christianity And
Its Counterfeit
Rock of Offence Special Commentary
We currently live in perilous times. America (and the rest of the world) is removing the God of the Bible from every aspect of life. Generally speaking, religion is a "system of faith" that demands a righteousness acquired by self effort (also known as self-righteousness) or some type of "earned worthiness". Personal salvation (as defined by religion) is achieved through good behavior, church affiliation and some regiment of spiritual service and works. Some of these character attributes are good and acceptable for many reasons. Yet, radical changes took place in the spiritual world after Christ's crucifixion. The sacrifice of Christ began what the Bible calls "a new and living way" (Hebrews 10:19-23). When a "NEW WAY" starts, it's immediately understood that the "old way" is no longer valid. Under the previous Old Testament religious system (Judaism), God required a certain level of spiritual performance and obedience to laws in order to obtain salvation (eternal life). However, under the "new and living way" THAT BEGAN AFTER THE CROSS, God forbids these attributes to be used as a way to "earn or achieve" salvation (Galatians 1:6-8, Galatians 3:10-12, Galatians 5:4, Galatians 2:19-21, Romans 4:4-8). He forbids their use because His Son fully satisfied the performance and righteous requirements FOR US AS OUR SUBSTITUTE AND SIN-BEARER. According to Galatians 2:19-21….if we attempt to "earn or achieve" salvation through obeying law, religious performance and good behavior, IT CANCELS (VOIDS) WHAT JESUS PROVIDED AS OUR SUBSTITUTE. Yet, as previously stated, good works, good behavior and certain character attributes should be practiced by all Christian believers for other reasons. Salvation (or eternal life) takes on the new role as God's gift AFTER THE CROSS. It is received only through faith in the finished work of Christ. Romans 10:8-13 tells us how this valuable Divine gift is received.
The salvation that Christ now provides through His "new and living way" is extraordinary news. The Bible calls it "a great salvation". Yet, it doesn’t make everyone happy. Some religious leaders were upset because they used the requirements of the "old way" to exercise authority over their followers. To combat this loss, they attempt to reinsert tenants of the previous system into their gospel message (Saint Paul condemned the practice because it "perverts the gospel"). By allowing eternal life to take on its new role as God's unmerited gift, Jesus effectively destroyed a powerful "authoritarian tool" of religion -- and it angered many leaders who didn't want to lose this dominating power. The battle between the new way of Christ and the previous way of Old Testament Judaism still rages in the world-wide Christian Church today.
Jesus Christ did not come to establish another world religion. TRUE NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION BECAUSE IT’S ESTABLISHED ON GOD'S UNMERITED AND UNDESERVED GIFT OF SALVATION (ETERNAL LIFE), WHICH IS ENTIRELY BOUGHT AND PAID FOR BY CHRIST. CONTRARY TO SOME POPULAR TEACHING, IT IS NOT BASED ON A "RELIGIOUS" TYPE OF SALVATION -- EARNED BY BEHAVIOR, SPIRITUAL SERVICE OR GOOD WORKS (Carefully read Titus 3:4-7, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:4-9, Romans 4:4-8, Romans 5:17-19 and Romans 3:24-26). Jesus condemned a similar type of corrupt theology when He said :
"...this people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING FOR DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN." (Mark 7:6-7)
The Old Testament Book of Proverbs warns of the eternal consequences of being fooled by good-looking counterfeit religion :
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 14:12 KJV)
These Scriptures illustrate why Saint Paul commanded all believers to "examine and test themselves" to make sure they possessed authentic faith in Christ (Read 2 Corinthians 13:5). Similar to the deceptive nature of counterfeit money, counterfeit religious faith is a constant unrealized danger specifically designed to fool even the most educated Bible believer AND THEIR SEMINARY-TRAINED LEADERS.
Since the birth of the Church in the first century, many influential and popular spiritual leaders and their devoted followers have successfully redefined the redemtive program of Christ (eternal life) into a misleading religious system of faith, skillfully established on deceptive out-of-context Scripture. THE NEW TESTAMENT WARNS THAT GOD DOES NOT HONOR OR RESPECT THIS SYSTEM (Galatians 1:6-8, Galatians 3:1-3, 2 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Corinthians 11:12-15 and Proverbs 14:12). Protestants and Catholics are two major groups (approximately 70-80% of the world-wide Christian Church) that have fought over their interpretation of Scripture and the true nature of salvation for more than 500 years. Yet, both these groups (and the countless sub-groups and various para-church movements related to them) are strongly influenced by the same misleading theological tenants of religion that continue to go unnoticed by the average church member. (Note: This is true for most of these groups, but thankfully not all.)
To a certain extent, authentic salvation (or eternal life) has little to do with the denominational label we choose to wear. The New Testament Scriptures (specifically the Epistles of Saint Paul) warn us that real salvation depends on whether you’ve placed your faith and trust “in the correct Jesus”. It has nothing to do with attending a particular earthly institutional church, especially the ones that claim to be "God's true church". The world is not necessarily rejecting the authentic Jesus of the Bible. The world is rejecting the counterfeit Jesus of "Christian religion". This involves one of the most horrific warnings given in the New Testament. We repeat the same warning in our commentaries to the point of sounding excessively redundant. Why do we take this risk? A vast majority of professing Christians are programmed to ignore the serious eternal consequences. They are wrongly taught that these different beliefs about the gospel are only personal opinions, which should be ignored and set aside to avoid controversy and division. Yet, the apostles of the early church believed that sounding a warning about the "counterfeit christ" (Paul calls him "another Jesus and his different gospel” in Galatians 1:6-8 and 2 Corinthians 11:3-4) was a necessary part of preaching authentic New Testament salvation.
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