For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. (2 Corinthians 11:4, NASB)

But Which Jesus Is It Whom You Claim To Love?

There is certainly no shortage of people claiming to “love Jesus” today; and, there’s also a veritable cornucopia of ideas about who this Person Jesus is as well. As most of you know, there are many different “Jesuses” running around all over the countryside these days. As we show you in Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up the major views about Him that you are most likely to run into are quite varied–and surprising–to be sure.

The Jesus which is probably the most widely known in this pagan “postmodern” culture is the so-called “historical Jesus”. Let me be perfectly clear, this Jesus is just as much a myth as any of the “gods” of Greek mythology. And notice from our text above God warns us that there really is such a thing as another Jesus. Here I must also point out to you a vitally important point the Bible—the Word of our Creator—makes regarding the only way in which a sinner is saved from his sins.

Perhaps you’ve heard Acts 4:12 before — Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Do you see: No other Name; we must be saved. Indeed, very narrow, and completely exclusive and definitive claims. The wise person is going to ask the key questi0n here: Because I must be saved, what Name are we talking about here? That answer is found two verses prior in Acts 4. We are clearly told that the “Name” being discussed concerning our salvation is: Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

And that’s why you so often will see me say Jesus of Nazareth when I mention our Lord and Savior. This is done purposely in order to distinguish the actual Jesus of history from all these other mythical impostors. When you add the “of Nazareth” you are letting people know that you are talking about a real Person, Who lived in real time and space and history, upon this planet. Yes, it actually has now become this ridiculous that we almost have to use double-talk to make a point about our Lord.

But that’s how inside-out and upside-down Satan and his malevolent minions have turned this world. It’s not enough to simply say you love “Jesus.” You see, we are not saved by faith, but by the Person Who is the object of our faith—in this critical case—Jesus the Christ of Nazareth of Biblical revelation. That’s why I see grave danger when Tony Jones, a supposed “leader in the emergent church movement and a renowned expert on postmodern theology and the American church landscape,” told me the following as we were speaking on the phone:

“we [Emergent Village] haven’t yet found that there’s anything that justifies us breaking fellowship with somebody else who loves and is trying to follow Jesus.”

Follow which Jesus? And critical distinctives are being erased as you’ll see in If You Truly Love “Jesus” There Are No Boundaries For The “Christ-Followers”. From nearly 22 years of personally studying Comparative Religion I can tell you that in  just 3+ years of public ministry Jesus made such an impact on people’s lives that virtually every religion has had to reserve a place for Jesus on their roster of spiritual “superstars.” And here many thought that Muhammad Ali was “the greatest.” Well, he truly has nothing on Jesus of Nazareth—Who is thought of in a lot of different ways.

Space allows but one example; He’s thought to be the fictional Jesus of heretical Living Spiritual Teacher and “Progessive Christian” scholar Marcus Borg, who wishes Christ was merely a very good and moral man about whom the Church built a mythology around in an attempt to make him into God. This Jesus is essentially a social reformer, and as a matter of fact, is quite close to the way Jesus is viewed in the spiritually bankrupt Emergence Christianity of Rob Bell and his friend Emerging Church shooting star Peter Rollins.

Our Job As Ambassadors For The Real Jesus Christ Is To Remove The Confusion

Now we need to be very careful to make sure that we don’t confuse the issues, which is exactly what Satan loves to do. And right now he has so many people so confused that they finally just stop trying to fight this hellacious haze of deceptions. First of all, no one is saying that these scholars/teachers and their followers haven’t the right to their opinions. Of course they are free to believe whatever they want to believe. And as was pointed out elsewhere by an intuitive husband: I’ve even been wrong on a couple of occasions. And oddly enough, my wife was there each time.

However in all seriousness, if these scholars and organizations have the right to voice their views, then we Christians also have the right to respond with our own opinions. Do you see how that works? So the Christian is to share the message of the actual Jesus Christ, and we are to defend His Gospel. It’s those in this insidious ecumenical seeker sensitive movement—be it the Purpose Driven pragmatism of Rick Warren or the empty Emergent quasi-universalism of Jones’ pastor Doug Pagitt—who would have us compromise our beliefs for the supposed sake of “love.”

Well I hold that if someone is sitting next to me in a church thinking that they are saved, but who have never committed their lives to the Jesus of Biblical revelation, the most loving thing I can possibly do for them is to tell them the Truth! Certainly we do so as gently, compassionately, and patiently as we can, but we must tell it to them. Sure people will get angry at you sometimes—but then again my brothers and sisters in Christ—they got so angry at Jesus of Nazareth that they nailed Him to a tree and then left Him to die!

Sadly, blind guides like Peter Rollins are busy confusing you with their lies twisted inside of pious-sounding questions like this:

The idea can be expressed in many ways, here I will pose it in terms of a question, “what if God is not to be found directly in our beliefs and practices but rather indirectly as the name we give to the source that generates our desire to form beliefs and practices”. (Online source)

As Apprising Ministries previously pointed out in Peter Rollins Darling Of Emergence Christianity, God is known only through the historic Person of Jesus Christ; Who gave His life for every sinner who will believe on Him, was then raised Bodily from the dead, and now lives forever as our justification. Men and women, we have got to be willing—in this tepid generation of compromise—to pay the price to take up the Bible and to bring the genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ out into the world — to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in [to the Kingdom of God] (Luke 14:23).

Finally, when you get the chance read Revelation 2:4-5; you should realize that so many churches today have also lost their first love—Christ Jesus of Nazareth. And because of this, they’ve become so boring that most people won’t even come into them! This is the dead orthodoxy which came emerging and that an Ecumenical Church of Deceit has now come slithering into with an attempt to fill this vacuum with their corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism, ala Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster, masquerading as Spiritual Formation.

But the time has now arrived to do what the 1st century church did; take the Gospel out to the people and then leave it to the Lord “add” them to His Church. We are to faithfully deliver the message, but we are not required to try and “help” God through alterations that we in our fallen state think will make it more attractive. No; tell the whole Truth, and God will empower it. And you’d be surprised what a few new converts to the real Jesus Christ—fresh from their filling of the Holy Spirit—can do to light a fire under slumbering Christians.

The important thing is…that you go; now, before it’s too late…

See also:

EVANGELICALISM REJECTING SOLA SCRIPUTRA IN LUST FOR NEO-GNOSTIC EXPERIENCE

MOVE OVER PASTORS FOR SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS/GURUS

APPRISING MINISTRIES WITH A PEEK AT THE COMING SOTERIOLOGY OF EMERGENCE CHRISTIANITY

CHRISTIANITY 21: EMERGING VOICES OF A PSEUDO-CHRISTIAN FAITH

THE NEW CHRISTIANS WITH CHRISTIANITY WORTH BELIEVING—NO SOLA SCRIPTURA: YES, WOMEN PASTORS AND QUEER CHRISTIANS

ROB BELL, PETER ROLLINS AND PHYLLIS TICKLE TOGETHER ADVANCING EMERGENCE CHRISTIANITY

NADIA BOLZ-WEBER: SERMON ON JUDAS AND GRACE GONE WILD