SALVATION (BORN AGAIN) IN THIS LIFE: In John 1:1-4,14 we find the premier description of the Old Testament God with Whom certain people, beginning with Adam, dealt with personally and face-to-face (Gen. 3:8). Eve, Cain and Abel also communed with the Old Testament God on a personal level as did such Biblical luminaries as Abraham and Jacob. As “the Word” (Logos–spokesman), He was one-half of the divine Godhead. He, like His divine counterpart (YEHWEH) was totally spirit in bodily composition.

When the Word came to earth as a human being He was born of a woman and was in every way a man exactly like the men among whom He lived. Before coming to earth He underwent “kenosis,” meaning that He spiritually emptied, drained Himself of all of His godly characteristics, powers, etc. (Phil. 2:5-8). Though He was equal with His fellow God, He willingly came to earth as a man do what needed to be done. While on earth Jesus was like any other man. What He was able to do any man can do IF, AND ONLY IF that man will “believe” as He believed (Jn. 14:12), walk as He walked (1 Jn. 2:6) and overcome (Satan’s temptations) as He overcame them (Rev. 3:21). Jesus came as a man in order to prove what human beings can become and do IF THEY FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE. Only those who do so will be taken up during the first resurrection AT WHICH TIME THEY WILL BE BORN AGAIN AND AWARDED ETERNAL LIFE.

The premiere passage defining what it means to be “born again” is found in John 3:1-8. Here we find Jesus telling a Pharisee named Nicodemus that in order to enter God’s heavenly kingdom one had to be BORN AGAIN, for flesh and blood cannot enter the presence of the Ruler of that heavenly kingdom. Nicodemus questions Him about how a grown man can be born again. In verse six Jesus explains that a physical man must become totally spirit as He (Jesus) was prior to coming to earth. Jesus explained that: “He who is born of the flesh IS (ONLY) FLESH, and he who is born of the (Holy) Spirit IS (ONLY) SPIRIT.” FLESH AND SPIRIT DO NOT MIX. Man HAS a spirit–called “the spirit that is in (belongs to) man” (Job 32:8). However, man is totally flesh and in no part spirit. The truly converted saint has received the Holy Spirit–the “power of God.” But man himself is totally flesh.

In verse eight Jesus compares the BORN AGAIN MAN to the wind which, though men can see what the wind does, they cannot see the wind. Recall that Jesus went through walls and appeared to the apostles in the room where they were gathered. They did not see Him come through the walls. They saw Him ONLY WHEN HE WAS READY TO BE SEEN. Such will be the power of those who will be born again upon His return to earth (1 Jn. 2:5) following the Tribulation Period–the final 3 1/2 years of the age. To learn what born again people will look like read Revelation 1:13-15. For more information read the series using Again as the key word.

DENOMINATIONS: Upon their separation from the Catholic Church, those calling themselves “Protestants” (protesters) soon began to separate themselves into various factions, each with its own “truths,” doctrines, precepts, rituals, customs, etc. as Satan attacked “and scattered the sheep” through his corrupt shepherds. At this point I need to correct an age-old fallacy which will help to explain what happened to those spiritual sheep.

What the Protestants were protesting was not the beliefs of the Catholic Church. They were protesting the actions of the church’s corrupt priesthood for doing such things as selling indulgencies, seducing nuns, practicing homosexuality, etc. Nothing has changed within the priesthood as the news media continue to report with regularity. That the Protestants did not reject Catholic theology is proven by the fact that they (the protesters) took most of her beliefs, customs, etc. with them when they left and continue to practice them to this day. The fact that Protestantism is in fact closet Catholicism is the subject of this series.

The majority of beliefs, etc. discussed in this series were borrowed from Babylonian mystery religions. In Revelation 17:5 the Catholic Church is called “Mystery, Babylon” and her Protestant daughters are called “harlots.” Mother and daughters continue to practice “the abominations of the earth” until this day and, according to Jesus, will continue to do so until His return.

Be it known that the church’s division into denominations was NOT one of those abominations. Church division is strictly a Protestant undertaking based on rejection of much of God’s Word, and therefore a rejection of both God and Christ (Lk. 10:16/ Jn. 12:44-50). As a result of professing Christendom’s rebellion against the Word of the Lord there have come on the religious scene hundreds of cults (denominations, faiths, churches, etc.), each with its own god, its own messiah, its own truths and its own plan of salvation. Paul asks, “Is Christ divided?” The church says “yes.” Paul says: “God forbid”–GOD FORBIDS THE DIVISION OF HIS CHURCH. Read 1 Corinthians 1:10-13.

Denominations are the result of hundreds of power-seeking men looking for a following who, in every case, claimed to know “a better way to serve God” than the way God Himself laid out for us in His Holy Scriptures. Having presented their respective improvements, each of the leaders gathered around him those who chose his over God’s. In this way, each became a cult leader. To his followers, he became their de facto (real) god. Today, church people continue to rely upon the opinion of their respective denominational founders and current ministers rather than upon God’s written Word. When shown the difference between the two, they invariably choose to follow their leaders–EVEN AFTER BEING SHOWN GOD’S TRUTH IN THE BOOK THEY CLAIM TO BELIEVE. This reveals the extent of control Satan exercises over “the church.”

In Ephesians 4:4-6 the Apostle Paul reveals God’s attitude toward denominations. Writing under the power of the Holy Spirit, he wrote: “There is ONE BODY, ONE SPIRIT, even as you are called in ONE HOPE of your calling (to salvation). There is ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM, ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL.” That should settle the denominational question once for all. Sadly, each believer is sure that he/she belongs to that ONE BODY. L.J.