The Scriptural Reason--Why There is So Much Confusion About Christianity

THE Scriptural Answer—Why There is So Much Confusion About Christianity

What is generally referred to today as Christianity is broken, shattered, splintered and confused.

Must Read: As I tell you in everything I write-- do not believe what any man (including me) tells you until and unless it is confirmed as truth by scripture and the Holy Spirit of God. This is more important here than in anything else presented by man.

As I was praying last night 4/18/2017, asking The Lord why so many people cannot understand the true simplicity of Christianity (being a disciple of Jesus Christ and entering the Kingdom of God) and asking Him how to explain it so EVERYONE can understand, He said THERE IS ONE REASON and ONLY ONE REASON (which has many roots)for the confusion, which I will explain to you in the following article. If you are interested in Scripture TRUTH, AT ANY COST and not the ideas and plans of man, ( you will have to be willing to give up any sacred cows, beliefs that are of men, and replace them with real scriptural truth) then this article is for you. REMEMBER when I refer to man I do not differentiate man/woman because He created man, male and female.

All denominations, and whatever schisms and divisions that exist do so for ONE and ONLY ONE REASON,

Rev 2:11 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death."'

Scripture is clear THERE ARE TO BE NO DIVISIONS, SCHISMS AND OTHER things that divide and separate those of the True Church of Jesus Christ. (The Ekklesia).

Rom 16:17-19 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.

1 Cor 1:10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

The reason these things exist is IMMATURITY . The ROOT of this immaturity is that THE CARNAL NATURE (spirit) OF MAN is allowed to flourish instead of being replaced with the Holy Spirit of God as required by scripture. This is part of the reason but is not the reason for the problem.

1 Cor 3:1-4 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal?

Jude 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

Please stop here and study ALL OF JUDE.

THE ONE REASON THAT ALL THE CONFUSION AND PROBLEMS EXIST IS CONTAINED IN THE ABOVE verse 4 of JUDE. “not having the Spirit”

As the scriptures contain all we need to understand in the new testament, the final age of man and preparation for eternity, we must understand what scripture tells us about the relationship between man and God that we must have to enter the ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD.. We must ALSO understand when we are to ENTER the Kingdom of God. If we do not correctly understand these two things we WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO ENTER the Kingdom of God.

Now comes the difficult part.

In order to do this YOU MUST be willing to lay down all you have been taught by men and look with open (teachable) eyes at what scripture says and it true meaning. Fist you must understand that bibles are not scripture, they contain scripture but also the beliefs of the men that have translated them. That is why there are so many different bibles. Because of the different beliefs of the translators. Also you must understand the chapters, verses and sub-headings in bibles are not scripture and are added by man. The sub headings are not usable if you desire scripture truth because ALL of them are simply the opinions of the translators trying to lead you in their beliefs. For example there is one in the nkjv that says “DO NOT JUDGE” but what the scripture actually says is “do not judge unless you are willing to be judged by the measure that you use”. Matt 7:1- 7 "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

Since most people do not speak or understand the original languages we must find a word for word translation without the added words or biases of men. There is such available and it is available for free on the internet. It is called the INTERLINEAR BIBLE. There are also a couple of places offering a similar translation, that is corrupted with added words and bias, DO NOT USE IT.

I also caution you to use only the Greek translation of the meaning of words in the Strongs..

DO NOT USE the kjv description.

EXAMPLE:

Use this

NT:2936 GREEK ktizo (ktid'-zo); probably akin to NT:2932 (through the idea of proprietor-ship of the manufacturer); to fabricate, i.e. found (form originally):

DO NOT USE THIS

KJV - create, Creator, make.

NOW YOU ARE ALMOST READY TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW TO YOU.

There is one thing missing though and it is most important. Stop, and pray, asking the Holy Spirit to teach you ALL TRUTH as you study, also ask Him to not let any preconceived understanding hinder you and also ask Him to be sure you only accept truth as you study. NOW YOU ARE READY TO PROCEED. Without this final step you are unable to be sure of receiving only scriptural truth.

Now, I will assume you already understand the following;

NO scripture contradicts another scripture, no scripture stands alone, most scriptures complement other scriptures, bibles are not scripture but translations and are not fully trustworthy. If you have been infilled with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to teach you all truth, He will not allow you to misunderstand no matter what bible you use.

There are also a few other facts we must establish before we go any further.

1. All the authority of God on heaven and earth has been given to Jesus Christ His Son for this the final age of man. This age ends at the great white throne judgement. At that time Jesus returns ALL AUTHORITY to His Father, God, and sits down on His place on the right of God in subjection to Him with all else that will enter the Kingdom of God for eternity.

Matt 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to

Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing

them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to

observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end

of the age."

1 Cor 15:24-28 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27 For "He has put all things under His feet." But when He says "all things are put under Him," it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. 28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

1. The final age of man ends at the judgment seat when all are judged and either allowed entry to the Kingdom of God for ETERNITY or sent into the lake of fire for destruction along with satan and his demons.

   Rev 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

NOW WE MUST LOOK AT SALVATION.

There is so much more to salvation than “believe” as most that profess Christianity preach. The actual word that is translated as “believe” from the Greek is quite complex, unlike the English word believe and we MUST USE the Greek meaning to correctly understand what is meant by it's use in scripture. We must also understand the context in which we find a scripture as it determines the useage/meaning.

John 3:16-20 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

NT:4100 <GREEK> pisteuo (pist-yoo'-o); from NT:4102; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. credit; by implication, to entrust (especially one's spiritual well-being to Christ):

Do you see the difference? “to entrust your Spiritual well being (eternal life) to Christ. So much more complex than “I believe He is the Son of God. Scripture shows satan “believes” Jesus is the Son of God but he does not believe IN Him or trust in him.

Because of several things the John 3:16 scriptures CANNOT BE USED ALONE, nor can any scripture be used alone describing the aspects of salvation. Here are the three most important.

1. Because of the depth of the Greek word that is translated as “believe” and misunderstood if you

   use the English meaning of the word.

2. Because No scripture can contradict another, but can compliment others.

3. We must also understand the CONTEXT in which we find the scripture.

Next we need to understand that part of the salvation instruction is WE MUST be FILLED with the Holy Spirit. Many people teach that it is done at water baptism (It does happen that way on occasion) but not very often, that is why the apostle Paul asked “did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?Acts 19:2). Many others say it is not necessary. SCRIPTURE SAYS ALL OF THESE beliefs of men ARE WRONG. Scriptures tell us that WE MUST BE baptized (FILLED WITH) THE HOLY SPIRIT or we CANNOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (GOD. Do you believe Jesus or men that speak without correct understanding?

Mark 16:15-18 and He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Mark 1:7-11 And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." 9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Luke 1:15 He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb

Luke 4:1-2 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

John 3:5-7 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

The reason that the infilling of the Holy Spirit does not always happen with water baptism is found in

Acts 2:1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Do you see it? They were all of one accord and desiring this Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised, so God made them ALL OF ONE SPIRIT by filling them with His Spirit as required by scripture for entry into His Kingdom. Some men teach their false understanding that you must have a man lay hands on you to receive the Holy Spirit but this scripture SHOWS THAT THE TRUTH is you must ONLY BE OF ONE ACCORD WITH JESUS AND GOD while seeking His infilling. In this new testament age you do not need any man, you need the infilling of the Holy Spirit of God and that is only available to those that are of one accord with God.

The membership certificate to the Kingdom of God is not a piece of paper as many men claim, IT IS THE INFILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT that makes you of one Spirit with Jesus and with God the Father of all.

There is another Thing of Great Importance that too often is Neglected

There is so little importance placed on this VERY IMPORTANT WARNING.

So many people teach and try to simplify Salvation to fit the carnal desires of man to make it easy for people to enter the Kingdom of heaven yet that is contrary to scripture AND WILL NOT WORK..

Scriptures tell us that wide are the gate and the way (there is plenty of room for all to enter the wide gate and wide way, the more attractive, more comfortable and heavily traveled path) to DESTRUCTION. So easy to see,enter and walk it, but IT IS THE WRONG ONE.

But the gate to the Kingdom of God is small and the road is narrow and only a few find it. Because the majority of teachers./preachers say “follow me” as they take the wide, easy to find, heavily traveled and comfortable road to destruction. (Saying “certainly a loving God would not make that gate and road that narrow and uncomfortable for THIS GREAT THRONG TO WALK, we must take the road more traveled.”)

But those that follow Christ and are filled with His Spirit, which is the Spirit of God, are able to see the narrow road and narrow gate and that it is not heavily traveled as the popular road is and understand which one leads to ETERNAL LIFE.. They are not looking for the easy path, they are LOOKING FOR THE CORRECT PATH. They can not follow the false prophets that try to lead them on heavily traveled wide road because they listen only to the voice of the Holy Spirit because they know only He will lead them in the TRUE WAY.

13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

Luke 13:23-27 He said to them, 24 "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'

"But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' 26 "Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' 27 "But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'

Phil 2:12-13 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Now we need to get to the Meat, to enter the Kingdom of God you cannot be a Milk Drinker,You Must be Able to Digest The Meat of The Word to Enter His Kingdom.

Scripture has made it clear that the goal for us in this last age is to be transformed from earthly, carnal people into Spiritual, other worldly (citizens of the Kingdom of God) beings. Otherwise no matter what you believe you CANNOT enter ETERNITY but will instead end up in the Lake of Fire for destruction. The reason for the necessity of the saints knowing all TRUTH of scripture that only the Spirit can teach us is to equip us for the next (the new heaven and earth prepared for His people) world to come.

Eph 4:12-16 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ —

Heb 5:13-14 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Heb 6:1-3 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits.

So as you can see it is time to GROW UP AND START EATING MEAT, in other words it is time to start understanding Spiritual things and stop acting as mere men but as the Spiritual people that we must become to enter eternity. Otherwise you are on the path to destruction and WILL NOT SEE ETERNITY.

This IS NOT A GAME of gathering people to a building or a denomination or any other kingdom or anything else AS it seems to be to some people.

This is a DEADLY SERIOUS SITUATION, IT WILL DETERMINE YOUR ETERNAL DESTINATION and there is NO SECOND CHANCE. IT is about joining the people on the narrow path through the narrow gate AND INTO THE KINDOM OF HEAVEN THE PLACE OF ETERNAL JOY.

SO NOW YOU ARE PREPARED TO LEARN THE ONLY REASON FOR ALL THE CONFUSION.

By now if you have followed the path laid out in scripture you should be seeing that this Entity, the Holy Spirit, is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO our ability to receive and understand the things of God.

If you are born again, you should also understand that this Holy Spirit is THE SPIRIT OF GOD and is the KEY to the narrow gate and path that ARE THE ONLY ENTRANCE TO ETERNITY. You should also realize that He is a Spirit, not of the realm of THE FLESH OF mankind, but of the Spirit of ETERNAL GOD.

You have seen that the infilling of the Holy Spirit is required if you desire to enter the Kingdom of God for eternity. So you MUST UNDERSTAND this Holy Spirit and His importance. Jesus tells us that He and His Father are of ONE SPIRIT. THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT ENTITIES, GOD IS The Father of all, Jesus is His Son, but only one Holy Spirit that infills them both.

The root of the problem is actually very simple. It is difficult, almost impossible, in fact, It IS Impossible without the aid of the Holy Spirit, for the human mind to understand SPIRITUAL THINGS, that is why the scriptures tell us, the carnal (natural, unredeemed) man, cannot understand scripture.

Rom 8:4-8 who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

In order to correctly understand what the infilling (receiving, baptism in) the Holy Spirit is you must correctly understand scripture. There is much teaching about the power of the Holy Spirit, most of it wrong, but little on WHO HE IS and what his function in the lives of the saints is.

Jesus made it clear (if you can see with Spiritual eyes, not carnal ones), that He and His Father are of one and the same (one)Spirit. That means that Jesus has within His Spirit all things that ever happened with God-from the beginning. Not that He is God even though He is standing in God's stead during this final age. Nor does it mean that He was present there in body, So He had His natural human spirit (from His Mother) and the Holy Spirit (from His Father), two entirely different ones as do all humans when filled with the Holy Spirit. He chose to listen to only the one that would please God as we all must do if we follow Him, in other words, He has allowed the Spirit of His Father to override and replace his natural human spirit which we must also do to follow Him because the essence (The only part that can enter eternity) is in the Spirit, We must die that He may live in us. He now knows everything that ever happened and can say as He does, If you have seen me you have seen the Father, which NO MAN HAS SEEN. He IS THE HUMAN IMAGE OF GOD as we who were created in the image of God are also supposed to be. But in order to be this WE MUST have the HOLY SPIRIT of GOD RESIDING IN US. VERY FEW PEOPLE understand this and are willing to give up their person in exchange for His. Those that belong to Him have crucified their flesh (spirit). But the scriptures even tell us that the indwelling Holy Spirit not only will teach us all things but He will also bring to our remembrance what Jesus said. Because if His Spirit has become your Spirit as it must to make you one Spirit with God, then within your Spirit is all knowledge. As a Greek student explained to me , the Greek word translated Baptize is the same word that is used in making pickles, when the cucumbers are baptized in the brine they become a new creation, they are no longer cucumbers, they become pickles, being baptized in the Holy Spirit changes us likewise from a carnal minded to a Spirit minded person, we look the same but we are not, we are a new creation.

This is why Jesus declares we must be all of one and the same Spirit, THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD. THERE IS no other way TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD and ONLY the Spirit of God in you can lead you there.. Men will lead you to their kingdoms but only the Spirit of God IN YOU can lead you into the Kingdom of God. Please do not try to find it with any other spirit. YOU WILL NOT FIND OR ENTER IT. GOD DESIRES ALL MEN TO COME TO HIM BUT YOU MUST ENTER THROUGH THE NARROW BRIDGE AND WALK DOWN THE NARROW PATH WITH THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN SHOW YOU THE WAY, THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.

John 14:26-27 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

THAT IS THE REASON FOR ALL CONFUSION IN WHAT PROFESSES TO BE OF GOD BUT IS ACTUALLY OF THE FLESH OF MAN BEING EXPLOITED BY SATAN.

The amazing thing to me is that many that have trouble believing in and understanding the infilling of the Holy Spirit have no trouble accepting demonic possession, which is actually the same process

as allowing the Holy Spirit to fill (possess)a person. Of course they are opposites but we know from scripture that satan copies and corrupts the things of God for his purposes. God uses His Holy Spirit to save you, satan uses his demonic spirit to destroy you.

This Jesus is the FIRSTBORN OF MANY . THIS DOES NOT MEAN HE WAS FROM THE BEGINNING, IT MEANS HE IS THE firstborn OF THE SPIRITUAL CHILDREN OF GOD

(being changed from a human form to a Spiritual form by God by virtue of Him being of ONE SPIRIT with God after setting the example for us to follow) for whom He died to redeem unto God (effectively undoing the curse of the fall of Adam and returning man to the position he had in the Garden, if He accepts the infilling of the Holy Spirit) thereby allowing him to receive eternal life. That, which we call Salvation, is the actual conversion from a human form to an Eternal Spiritual being (which the human mind cannot conceive) and takes place instantly at a point after the judgment when the old heaven and earth are instantly replaced with a NEW heaven and earth. This man Jesus, according to scripture, was filled with the Holy Spirit even in His mother's womb. Luke 1:15 He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

God confirmed His possession of the Holy Spirit as a sign for those who saw and hear tell of the dove (symbolic) of the Holy Spirit alighting on Him. Luke 3:22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

Since He was infilled with the Holy Spirit, fulfilled all scriptural prophesies of Him and endured to the end of His natural life He was saved at His death and could not be kept in the grave but came alive out of the grave ON TIME according to His words. Words given to Him to speak by the Holy Spirit within Him. You must understand He had to come into the world filled with the Holy Spirit of God to be of one Spirit with God as proof He is the Son of God. So He entered into the world with a human spirit (from His mother) and the Holy Spirit of His Father. He had to decide himself as do we which spirit to follow, further proving He was human and fulfilling scripture.

These things were given to man as signs that God will do What He promises IF we do what He requires of us, AS JESUS DID according to the new testament, the guide book for entry into the Kingdom of God.

By the same Holy Spirit that spoke through Him telling of His death and resurrection and transfiguration we are promised the same at the end of this age if we walk across the narrow narrow bridge and stay on that narrow road only, until the end. The end being either our natural death or the judgment which ever comes first. There is no redemption available beyond the grave or the great white throne of judgment, when you arrive there you eternal destination is already set.

This is the truth from scripture of the path to salvation, it is not complicated but it is not possible to find and walk along the narrow path and across the narrow bridge in the flesh of a carnal man. It has to be done by, for and with THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD ONLY, NO OTHER spirit can find or enter through the narrow gate or walk the narrow way.

I pray you HAVE A SUCCESSFUL JOURNEY INTO ETERNITY WITH OUR GOD AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST, LED BY THE ONLY SPIRIT THAT MATTERS, THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.

Charles LaFoe Copyright 4/23/2017 may be freely used without changes and without charge.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

DO YOU understand that Jesus is not God, but He is the Son of God and that for this final age, since all the power and authority of God has been given to Him for THIS AGE, He is acting for/as God? In God's stead. That does not make Him God, it is a temporary assignment, only til the end of this age, and then He is returns to being in submission to God as the only Firstborn of MANY SONS for eternity