The Modern Church Has Become the Devil's Workshop.

A challenge was made to me recently on a social media site to defend my doctrinal position; for I had seriously questioned their doctrine on a truly modern controversial issue. My response is as follows:

“After taking time parsing your post, something became very apparent: either you sincerely believe what you have just written, or you are engaging in doublespeak. or as Webster defines it: "language used to deceive usually through concealment or misrepresentation of truth; also: gobbledygook." What is truly amazing, prior to looking up Webster's definition, the word gobbledygook popped into my mind. You have said a great deal without saying anything of substance.”

I did respond to his challenge by simply exegeting one verse: John 1:13: "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Which - Gr. hos³⁷³⁹ - who, which - the antecedent being "children of God" John 1:12 (the Gr. teknon⁵⁰⁴³ - denotes a physical or spiritual birth, whereas Jesus was never referred to as "teknon" but "huios" - the relationship not of birth. When a person is physically born, do they accept their ability to see or do they receive their sight? Not one human on the face of the earth chose to be born; likewise, not one person on the face of the earth has ever chosen to be born again. When the Holy Spirit convicts one of their sin and their need of a Savior, the Holy Spirit imparts a gift: FAITH. The heart of stone is replaced with a heart of flesh, the Word miraculously becomes alive and they then and only then acknowledge Christ as Lord.

born - Gr. gennao ¹⁰⁸⁰ - to beget in the passive voice - the one being born has no say in the birth but the receiver of the action - when a woman goes into labor, the baby is coming whether they like it or not; by the way, there is a lot of proof that babies object greatly to being born. Spiritually we are no different, we would never come to God (Romans 3:11), if He did not drag us into the Light; our flesh is a stubborn lot.

not of: Gr. oude³⁷⁶¹ - neither, nor, not even - self-exploratory.

blood - Gr. haima¹²⁹ - blood of a human or animal body. No human's blood, your own, your parents, nor the sacrifice of a lamb, goat, oxen, or first born will suffice. You cannot count on coming from a godly bloodline. Within this world's blood runs that which is anathema to God. There has only been One whose blood was perfectly pure, and He was not born of a man but by God alone.

the will - Gr. thelema²³⁰⁷ - indicates the result of the will as an expression of inclination of pleasure towards that which is liked and causes joy: now in regard to the flesh and man's will.

flesh - Gr. sarx⁴⁵⁶¹ - the flesh of man and beasts. When we were born, we inherited our parents’ fleshly traits, including the sin nature. We were born dead to things spiritual. Whereas when Christ was born, He was perfectly spiritual and the only thing He inherited was the mortal body from Mary. As Philippians states, He chose to become one of us physically, but had zero sinful inclinations for as God in human form the plan of salvation was manifest. Jesus, for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despised the shame and is now the justifier of the unjustifiable. No man has ever found joy in coming to the cross, unless the Father has drawn him and the Holy Spirit has convicted him of sin with a dose of heavenly Faith.

man - Gr. aner⁴³⁵ - male, as opposed to generic humanity, often translated husband when in the presence of Gr. gune' - woman, translated as wife when in the presence of aner. No man, preacher, teacher nor you can will anyone into the Kingdom. It is the Word alone that saves through one who faithfully testifies to their new life in Christ.

BUT OF GOD – Gr. theos²³¹⁶ - the name of the True God. It is the work of God from the beginning of creation.

You may ask, what is the common thread? Their life hangs on a few pet doctrines which consume their belief system along with those selectively chosen verses to support said beliefs. They lack depth and the willingness to seek the Truth. I am not speaking of a babe in Christ whose beliefs are in the developmental process of sanctification but of those who espouse dangerous doctrines that give false hope to the lost. As Jesus stated: “Not everyone that saith Lord, Lord to Me, shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven…” Matthew 7:21

It started in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-6) when Satan asked Eve (when she was alone), a very simple and straight forward question. We must understand, he has been listening to their every conversation, looking for an “in”, a way to upset the apple cart. “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” No lie so far though he could have been more specific, but he was waiting for words out her mouth to use against her and eventually Adam. Eve began innocently enough but that dreaded adding to the words of God (Revelation 22:18) now came in to play as she replied; “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Touching was not in God’s command in Genesis 2:17; eating yes, touching no. A half-truth was introduced into mankind’s world and as Alfred Tennison wrote: “A half-truth is the blackest of all lies.” Now that the hook had been set, it was now the time to out right lie.

The Devil knew exactly what to say to Eve: “Ye surely shall not die…” insinuating that God had lied. Her eyes were opened to the beauty of the fruit, she touched the fruit and ate it; voila, she did not appear to die. Off to Adam she flew with her newfound discovery and with her feminine wiles coaxed Adam into dining along with her. It was then, both eyes were opened, and they died spiritually in an instant. Sin’s curse had entered God’s perfect world and they were banished from God’s presence; each bearing a curse that is with all mankind to this very day.

Eve unwittingly was the Devil’s pawn: it worked in the beginning and it is working overtime in today’s modern churches all across the globe. Unregenerate men and women, graduating from esteemed institutions of higher Christian learning; educated by the previous generations’ unregenerate. Denominational creeds now superseding doctrinal purity, the promise of wealth, power and stature encouraging many to pursue an outwardly respectful career in the clergy and multitudes of religionists seeking others to confirm their belief system.

For the sake of the Gospel (a lie of one who is a pawn themselves), let us invite the world to come into our assemblies, making sure they are comfortable and will desire to come often. The Truth being said, if one preaches and teaches the biblical Gospel, one of two things will happen. To the lost, those not being drawn by the Father will flee and those being drawn will be convicted unto righteousness. Believers on the other hand, will be drawn closer to the Savior and a life that is pleasing to Him. This will naturally limit the number of those who would continue to attend. Sadly, that is not good for business; a large crowd screams success in the eyes of the deceived.

Today’s churches are being very proficient at producing clones: followers that parrot the leadership’s favorite doctrines, whether biblical or not. Think on the positive side: it will maintain the salaries and benefits of the professionals, keep the building(s) looking inviting to the passerby, create an air of a happy comradery, provide a variety of programs for children, youth and adults and maintain an outreach ministry in the community to prove they are one big happy family: the list goes on. Membership is encouraged with classes to facilitate their meeting the minimum requirements; usually consisting of a religiosity of being nice and trustworthy. In reality, it is a well planned out advertising campaign to keep the church in good standing within the community and a continuous draw to an ever-changing workforce. People do come and go; may the coming outweigh the going.

Caveat:

If you believe that God is absolutely sovereign as I do, then these workshops, both large and small, are God's plan for those who have ears but cannot hear the Word and eyes that cannot see the spiritual. Let the buyer beware: it is few who engage the social media to spread their beliefs that are lovers of the Truth. Most have no love of the Truth but seek those who will agree with their dogma for encouragement and to proselytize the unwary religionists; again, all according to the will of God. Does this mean that they are without Hope? The Word tells us that hope is joined to the living and the Bible makes it clear that the converts resulting from the witness of the 144,000 of Revelation chapter 7, will be an uncountable number; though martyrs all.

Love and faithfully extol the Truth: give God the glory for all the souls' names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Not one shall be missing, no not one.