Guest article by Pastor John Moses.
The world as we know it is becoming more secularized by the day, with the philosophy of humanism and its god – man – replacing the “true and the living God” of the Bible, who revealed himself to mankind through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The sadder truth is that the church of Jesus Christ has allowed itself to become influenced by the world and has largely deviated from the standard of the Bible, God’s revealed truth to us. The reason for this confused and compromised state is to avoid persecution and become all-embracing and inclusive. This is rather convenient. If anyone knows a little about church history, they will concede that the true church of Christ has always, up to this present day, experienced persecution for its proclamation of the truth of the gospel “that was once delivered to the saints.”
I believe the one area, inter alia, the church experiences grave persecution is the issue of the LGBTQ+ agenda. Christianity accepts all human beings into its fold based on the gospel of Jesus Christ - true faith, repentance, baptism and receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 38). There is simply no forgiveness without repentance. John the Baptist, Jesus and the apostles came preaching “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is near…” That was the buzzword of early Christianity and it should be so today as well. The true gospel has not changed despite man’s attempts to twist the message of the Bible, misinterpret and downright ignore it. True Christian faith accepts the entirety of God’s word and does not omit parts that make one feel uncomfortable or alter it in any way. There is a warning against this in scripture – Rev.22: 18 (by application).
Our sexuality has been given to us by God. Our gender identity and expression of it have also been clearly defined by God. God clearly defined the family – father, mother, and children. He created “male and female” for the primary purpose of procreation. He said, “Replenish the earth, subdue it, have dominion over it…” Gen.1: 28. We don’t have the authority to redefine the family or its configuration. God has already done that for us. He created us and defined His purpose for us. Family is the first institution God created. It is tantamount to being the first church in Eden. It is through family that God intended for Eden to be replicated throughout the earth. However, Satan hindered the plan of God by enticing the first couple to sin, and the rest is biblical history. The most maligned book in the Bible is Genesis because it is a book of beginnings – God, heaven, hell, the creation of man, the origin of the world and the universe, sin, etc.
The New World Order (NWO) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) have been devising schemes to alter the divine trajectory of mankind. The recent pandemic is one example. Certain groups of people have been delineated as undesirable – the poor, the aged and the incapacitated, for example. Thank God the Africans have awoken, discerned their schemes and have blatantly refused them. Sadly, a large part of the “church” has been influenced by the philosophies of these magnates. God help the church to repent and return.
The fact that people may be inclined towards a particular sexual orientation does not mean they should practise what God calls “sin.” I know the world hates this word but God highly regards the consequences of sin. This is the reason Christ came into the world – 1 Tim.1: 15. I know of people who have chosen to serve God and expend their talents and energies towards more lofty and up-building ideals rather than engage in what the Bible describes as a “sinful lifestyle.” I know of a man who fathered children and later divorced his wife and went to live with another man. I know of a woman who was jilted by her boyfriend of many years. She was so devastated by his betrayal that she closed herself to any serious relationship with the opposite sex. She could only trust another woman. Sadly, these people did not trust God for inner healing and sadly went down the pathway of sin.
The church in question claims to be led by the Spirit. The irony is that the same Holy Spirit who is allegedly leading them inspired the Apostle Paul to denounce the same-sex lifestyle. I must hasten to say that in many countries those who choose the same-sex lifestyle are not breaking the law. In many counties, including mine, same-sex marriage has been legalized. Therefore, folk who engage in this lifestyle are not breaking the law of the land. But there is a difference between legality and morality/spirituality. This is where the debate lies. Read Romans 1: 18-32, and other related passages on this topic. The pressure on this group to please the god of humanism – man – must be great. I doubt it is the true and living God that is being worshipped. Our worship must be by His Word – the sharp, two-edged sword that divides asunder (convicts by pricking the conscience) – Heb.4: 12. Jesus told the woman at Jacob’s well that God must be worshipped in “spirit and in truth.” How does one worship God in truth when His truth is denied or ignored?
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God – Rom.3: 23. That’s a description of the human condition. All are sinners but for the grace of God given in Christ’s death for us on the cross. “Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission from sin” – Heb.9: 22b. Because Christ died for us - Rom.5:8 – we can come boldly to the throne of God to obtain mercy in time of need – Heb.4: 16. But we cannot engage in the perpetual practise of a lifestyle of sin and continue in God. This is tantamount to flaunting the grace of God. “What, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Rom 6: 1-2. Paul continues in his letter to the Corinthiains - 1Cor. 6:9-10: "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. Can we deny these are Spirit-inspired scriptures? “All scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for correction, reproof, for instruction in righteousness…” 2 Tim.3: 16.
Although every one of us sins, however, we should not perpetuate a lifestyle of sin. The habitual nature of sin in us has been broken by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we continue in a habitual lifestyle of sin, we have never received the gospel because it is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Hear that? The Gospel is the dunamis (power of God in us). When God comes into us, His power transforms us for the good. There is a change, a transformation. In Pauline parlance “… reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord… do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts… and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments as righteousness to God.” Rom.6: 11-13.
The term “human family” is a generic description of mankind by humanists. On one level, God is the Father of all mankind in that He created them. In Christ, however, God has intended for all mankind to find true identity as sons of God, citizens of His Kingdom – John 14: 6. “Sons of God” is terminology specifically used to separate mankind from those who have come to God through Christ, and have become sons – John 1: 12. So Christ is the dividing line. He died for the sins of mankind so that “whoever believes in him will not perish and have everlasting life. “ Christ’s death was substitutionary – he died for us, in our place. The doctrine of salvation is unique to Christ and the Christian faith. I concur that the Christian faith is narrow, but so is the nature of truth. Jesus pointed to himself as “the way, the truth and the life.” As sin separates us from God, only Christ reconciles us to God through his death. Thus Christ is the hermeneutic filter through which we interpret scripture and experience God.
In this neoteric age of discovery and inventions, mankind seems to be on a perpetual quest to find and know more. But there are no new ways of “expressing love, peace, justice, and compassion.” There is no need for discovery or invention as far as our relationship with God is concerned. God has revealed it all to us in His Word – the Bible. The problem is that modern man will not accept God’s terms. They seem to be onerous for him. But God will not change his terms and conditions of “love, peace, justice and compassion.” They are all expressed in Christ. The alleged “consequence” of negating God’s way to the above is His judgement already alluded to vicariously in 1 Cor.6: 9-10.
“Church” is specialized terminology used in scripture for the Bride of Christ. The Hebrew word “qahal” refers to a called-out assembly of people. Its equivalent counterpart in Greek is “ekklesia.” Moses had his “qahal” in the OT and so did Jesus his "ekklesia" in the NT. In Matthew 16: 18, he said, “I will build MY CHURCH!” Jesus is building his “ekklesia,” his “called out ones.” Called out from where? The world is under the sway of the devil, the god of this world system of things. The devil is not the god of my world or the world of those called out by Christ. Jesus Christ is the God of our world. We are his new creation – 2 Cor.5: 17; Gal.6: 15. We are a new species of being populating the earth and displaying Christ’s newness in us. The old has gone and the new has come. Is there anything new in your life to prove Christ’s presence in you? Has the old truly gone? Are you the “righteousness of God in Christ”? 2 Cor.5: 21.
There is no new church or "first church" of any sort. The church has been in existence since the days of Christ. When people open a church in a town, you would hear the familiar, “we are opening a new church.” This is a misnomer. There is no such thing as a “new church.” What is happening is that a branch or an assembly is being opened in a town where the church is already in existence. When the term "new church" is used, it is used at the exclusion of all other existing churches. This is absurd. There may be a new church of man, according to man’s philosophies, but there is no "new church" of Christ constituted of born-again, spirit-filled, blood-washed Christians who seek to honour Him by the revelation of Himself in and through His Word.
I urge you to seek God in all truth and sincerity and not to pander to the philosophies of this world or what is becoming the popular trend in the world. Seek the “true and the living God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.”
My purpose in writing this brief article is not to malign or condemn anyone but to point to the truth of God’s Word and recall the church of Jesus Christ to its biblical foundations. Our challenge is to “contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints" - Jude 1:3.