“They’re Christians,” “… he, she is a Christian,” “… those are Christian people,” etc. is common verbal fare on the air, in print and in conversation whenever and wherever the subject of religion is being discussed. Christians are reportedly so plentiful that perhaps we should be determining who is not a Christian rather than who is. According to the media and the church, Christians are so thick that the saying: “They are so thick you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting one” applies. The mantra of professing Christendom should be: “Christians here, Christians there, Christians, Christians everywhere.” But is this true? Does anyone who claims Jesus as his/her Savior qualify to wear that label? Church consensus holds that anyone who has ever joined a religions organization, been baptized and taken Jesus as their Savior is a Christian. I was indoctrinated into that religious mind-set at an early age. Being “saved” and “born again” was a matter of mental acceptance and physical action. Upon believing what was preached and completing whatever actions were specified, one was automatically and irreversibly saved and born again. I believed this because my relatives, pastor, friends, etc., having been deceived by the great deceiver, led me to believe that this was God’s truth. Some diligent Bible study revealed the truth. But most professing Christians refuse to take that route. As a result, every generation of God-seekers have been deceived, just as the Lord warns us in His Word (Rev. 12:9). The devil’s most prized deceptees are the members of the Institutional Church–God’s #1 mission field. Satan is not concerned about the unchurched. The focus of his efforts are the churched who have been introduced to the concept of the Godhead, sin and eternity. Having convinced the world’s two billion plus self-proclaimed Christians that they are saved and born again, he works diligently to prevent them from hearing or reading God’s Truth. It was for this reason that he established Catholicism. Some in her midst realized that they were being lied to, prompting them to leave in “protest.” But he was able to bring them back into the fold by having them retain many of their mother’s pagan beliefs and practices. As I revealed in The Ingathering, the Great Whore and her Harlot Daughters are reuniting. The outcome of this reunion will be deadly. Back to the subject at hand: are all those who call themselves “Christians” truly God’s children? God tells us in the most purchased, most owned, least read and least believed Book professing Christendom has ever possessed.

In His Holy Bible God has much to say about true and false Christianity. Through diligent study of the Scriptures, those who “have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16) are able, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to discern which is which. Having been convinced by Satan that they are true Christians, church people fail to diligently study the Bible using the method commanded by the Lord in Isaiah 28:9,10,13. Still spiritually “on the breast” and not knowing that God commands them to graduate to “strong meat” (Heb. 5:11-14), these spiritual babes simply accept what others tell them about God’s Word. A good example of the transition from breast milk to strong meat is found in an episode recorded in Acts 18:24-26. Here we find a fiery young preacher named Apollos who was “mighty in the Scriptures.” A converted couple named Aquila and Priscilla heard him preach and, realizing that he was still “on the breast,” took him aside and taught him “THE (SINGULAR) WAY of the Lord more PERFECTLY”–they introduced him to strong meat. Note that there is only ONE (“the”) Way of God, and that it must be taught and walked PERFECTLY. Apollos was zealous, but zealously wrong, eloquent, but eloquently wrong. He knew enough of the Scriptures to preach good sermons, but not enough to be converted or to lead others to conversion. Like Apollos in his original spiritual state, the church believes that she is ready for eternity. And like him, she is wrong. But unlike him, she refuses to be taught “the way of the Lord more perfectly.” As a result she remains in her unconverted condition, fully convinced by Satan that she, like here ancient counterpart, is “rich … and in need of nothing.” Instead she is, like her ancient counterpart, “lukewarm … wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked” (Rev. 3:14-17).

What is a true Christian? What characteristics does such a person exhibit? Let us begin to answer the question by studying the term itself. The word “Christian” is derived from the word “Christ.” A “Christian” is one who obeys Jesus Christ; one who is like Christ–one who is a “little Christ.” There is only one method for learning the Ways of the Messiah–by studying what He arranged to have written. There is no other way. Jesus summarized the traits of a true Christian in what is called the Sermon on the Mount recorded in chapters 5-7 of Matthew’s gospel. What was intended to be a lesson for His disciples became a full-fledged teaching for the masses when a multitude of people gathered to hear Him. From this teaching we can learn much of what God requires for sainthood. To be continued. L.J.