WHEN AN APOSTLE IS CONCERNED Perhaps it would be good to briefly consider what the real Jesus really does. Precisely what is said of Him? Then you can judge for yourself whether or not this is the Jesus that is being preached in our time. -- Tomorrow:
"Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." (2 Corinthians 11:1-4)
Devotion 20 of 29
THE JESUS OF SCRIPTURE
1. He is presently sitting on David's throne (Acts 2:30-33).
2. He is giving repentance, as well as the remission of sins (Acts 5:31).
3. Faith comes from Him (Eph 6:23).
4. Men believe through His grace (Acts 15:11).
5. It is by Him that we believe in God (1 Pet 1:21).
6. By Him all that believe are justified from all things (Acts 13:39).
7. His words will never pass away (Matt 24:35).
8. When He comes, He will be ashamed of those who were ashamed of Him in this world (Mk 8:38; Lk 9:26).
9. A person who does not forsake all, take up their cross every day, and follow Him, cannot be His disciple (Lk 9:23; 14:27,33).
10. Whoever does not regard his relatives, family, and own life less than Christ, cannot be His disciple (Matt 10:37).
11. No man can come to the real Christ unless the Father draws him (John 6:44,65).
12. No man knows who the real Jesus is except the Father (Matt 11:27a; Lk 10:22a).
13. No man knows who the Father is except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him (Matt 11:27b; Lk 10:22b).
14. The real Jesus has ended the Law as a means to righteousness (Rom 10:4).
15. The real Jesus has destroyed the devil (Heb 2:14).
16. The person who is believing that the real Jesus is the Son of God overcomes the world (1 John 5:4-5).
17. God the Father puts people into the real Jesus (1 Cor 1:30).
18. God calls us into fellowship with the real Jesus (1 Cor 1:9).
19. By the obedience of the real Jesus, "many were made righteous" (Rom 5:19).
20. The real Jesus has delivered us from "this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father" (Gal 1:4).
21. God made the real Jesus "to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor 5:21).
22. The real Jesus was "made a curse for us . . . that the blessing of Abraham might come on the
Gentiles" through Him (Gal 3:13-14).
23. There is "neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female" in the real Jesus (Gal 3:28).
24. Everything is presently under the feet of the real Jesus, and He is ruling in the interest of His church (Eph 1:22-23).
25. Grace reigns through righteousness to bring eternal life through the real Jesus (Rom 5:21).
26. The fruit of righteousness is produced in believers by the real Jesus (Phil 1:11).
A "Jesus" who does not do these things is "another Jesus," and is not to be confused with the real One. Such a person is nothing more than a "false Christ," and, like all idols, is impotent, not being able to see, hear, or speak. As it is written, "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them" (Psa 115:4-8). While "another Jesus" may not be made of silver or gold, like the idols of old, such has been fashioned after the likeness of sinful man. "Another Jesus" suits the fancies of those who are not living by faith, but is utterly impotent when it comes to empowering one to do the will of God and overcome the world. The reason for so much failure within the professed church may well be traced back to a message that speaks of "another Jesus."
While we dare not embrace mere suppositions here, or be swift to judge the eternal destiny of men – which God has not freed us to do – something ought to be noted here. It is entirely possible that those who insist on remaining religious, yet who do not appear able to walk in a manner that is pleasing to God (1 Thess 4:1), have actually embraced "another Jesus" one that is wholly spurious, and impotent as well.
It is the business of every professing believer to confirm through self-examination whether or not they have embraced the real Jesus. This is the intention behind the solemn exhortation, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" (2 Cor 13:5). This is a sobering, yet essential, work to be done and no one can do it for you.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask for grace to make my calling and election sure.