Why are there so Many Different Understandings when Scripture tells us we must be of ONE SPIRIT to be of Christ”
Why are there so Many Different “Understandings” of Scripture when Scripture tells us we must be of ONE SPIRIT to be “of Christ”?
There are Many Reasons
Among which are the desire of so many to hire someone to do their research for them. For whatever reason, misunderstanding, lack of real love of Christ for what He has done, laziness, unwillingness to search out the truths of scripture, the belief that you must go to “church” to hear from God, belief that one cannot understand scripture with out a man to teach them and more.
They may believe that bibles are Scripture
Most people believe and most “pastors” and others teach that bibles are scripture (the Word of God), which they are not. Every bible I have looked at has in it's introduction a statement that it is a TRANSLATION of scripture. These translations made by man ALL include the beliefs of the translators that they want to pass on to you. This has been the primary means of promoting false doctrines in what professes to be Christianity. Some are so blatantly wrong that I cannot understand how anyone can believe them.
It seem a great many people professing Christianity do not understand that subheadings and chapter and verse numbers are not part of scripture. Also that subheading are used by translators to lead you in what they want you to believe. My favorite example of this is one that contradicts itself in the next verse yet so many believe that false subheading and bibles are full of them.. It is found here in a copy from my nkjv bible
Do Not Judge
(Luke 6:37-42) "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.
Note the subheading says “do not judge” but the verse following it says if you judge be prepared for the same judgment to be used on you. Totally different than what scripture says. The following verse and a great many more confirm this. You can read my article “your Bible” for more details.
John 7:24 24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
They may not understand the age in which we live or Jesus' true role
The following fact is seldom taught, explained or correctly understood but is so important.
We live in the new testament age and in this age, the final age of man, which ends at the judgment, Jesus has ALL the AUTHORITY of God on heaven and earth. God has delegated His authority to Jesus for this age and God can only be approached through Jesus. God has made Jesus the gatekeeper to eternity in other words. God has made salvation (the ability to become a son of God and enter eternity) only available through Jesus His Son, who earned this position by dying as blood payment for our sins, fulfilling the law of the old testament and was resurrected from the dead by His father, God, thereby fulfilling scripture and ending the old testament age and beginning the new testament age. Jesus is not God, He is the Son of God, but for this age only He is acting for God. The end of this age Jesus will return all authority to God and sit down at the right hand of God forever (for eternity, time without end). The old testament law is not for those who are followers of Christ, it ended at His resurrection. All the requirements of being a disciple of Christ are found in the new testament.
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." Amen.
1 Cor 15:20-28 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. 24 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.
They may believe that you must go to “church” to meet with God
Today all “churches” say you must go to “church” to meet and learn about God and His Son Jesus. But the scriptures do not say that, they tell a very different story. This is one of the main reasons for people believing false doctrines of men instead of the doctrine of Christ. The original disciples of Christ never talked about or attended a “church”, they knew they WERE the church. They taught wherever they were led by the Spirit of God wherever He led them. They did go into the jewish “churches” (temple) to teach about Jesus as did Jesus.. Here is what scripture says about this subject.
Matt 27:50-51 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom;
In the old testament age God lived in the tabernacle in a little room called the most Holy place or Holy of Holies. When Jesus died on the cross in the process of fulfilling scripture, the Veil to the most Holy place was supernaturally torn, opening the presence of God for all to see, actually you could say God let Himself out of the box. When Jesus was resurrected the new testament age began. When the Holy Spirit was given in Acts 2 the new age was fully operational and will continue until the end of the age at the great white throne judgment.
During the old testament age only the jews and a few others had access to God and only through men, they could not stand in the presence of God.. In that age the authority of God was given to men, the Tribe of Levi acted in God's stead because Israel had rejected God as their God and King so He gave them a natural (man) king and churchmen (priests) to lead them as they demanded. But when finally the laws of that age were fulfilled by Jesus, making them no longer valid, it was time for whosoever will to be allowed in the presence of God again (as in the garden). Time for the promise God made to Abraham to become activated. God moved out of the building made with hands into the buildings not made with hands, His people. His presence was now available for anyone willing to pay the price that Jesus requires, to be filled with the Spirit of God, making them each of one Spirit with God, His Son Jesus and all others that would become sons of God. Those that are born again and baptized with water and the Holy Spirit, follow Jesus and endure to the end. The people that have come to a saving relationship with God through Jesus and now have become the possessors of eternity.
1 Cor 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
2 Cor 6:16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people."
1 Cor 6:18-20 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
There now is no need to go anywhere to meet with the Lord as He is always present within those that belong to Him. We are now the house of God, individually and collectively. We are the true church of Jesus Christ, no building, no particular place to meet, no clergy, but whenever and wherever 2 or more that are “in Christ” are gathered in His name, there He is with them. Because those who are truly “in Christ” have been filled with the Holy Spirit and are one with God, His son Jesus and all other sons of God. There are no schisms, divisions (denominations and other false doctrines), ALL are of one Spirit which is a requirement to be “of Christ”. We have no need for a man to teach us because the Holy Spirit, who lives in us is the only only one who possesses ALL TRUTH. It is the responsibility of each and every one to spread the Gospel of Christ. In this age we see in the book of Ephesians that it is the responsibility of all saints to do the work of ministry.
1 Cor 12:13-14 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
Eph 2:18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
Phil 1:27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,
There is no such thing as clergy in this age. ALL that belong to Jesus are kings and priests unto the Lord. All that do not possess the Spirit of God within them ARE NOT of Christ, no matter what anyone tells you, scripture is clear all who will gain access to the Kingdom of God must be of one Spirit.
They may not really understand this scripture
Matt 7:14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Today it is unusual to hear this scripture correctly addressed. There are so many that profess to be followers of Christ that do not believe that all the requirements of scripture are really necessary to be a follower of Christ. Many teach that all you have to do is “believe in Jesus”. Some teach you do not need water baptism, others that you do not need to be Baptized in the Holy Spirit, others that when you are “saved” you get the Holy Spirit. The truth is none of these are true. Scripture says that no one is “saved” unless they endure to the end, you must be baptized with the Holy Spirit and water and oh so many scriptures make it clear we must follow ALL of the scripture requirements to become “of Christ”.
Look at this scripture, it is clear, no matter what man may say, NARROW is the gate and DIFFICULT is the path that leads to LIFE (eternal life) and there are FEW WHO FIND IT. This is not what the “seeker friendly churches” say. And what about these verses?
Matt 10:22 And you will be hated by all for My name's sake
Mark 13:13 And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
John 15:18-19 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Then of course there are these;
Matt 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
Matt 7:21- "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Could it be any more clear? It is not a simple easy one time “yes I believe in Jesus”, it is a life work, it will be difficult to find and follow the narrow gate and walk the narrow way, few will find and walk it but we must walk it out day by day following all of the requirement until the end if we wish to obtain entry into eternity (salvation, life eternal)..
They may believe some of the doctrines of men that are commonly taught
Such as the devil was a fallen angel. Of course if they believe this it is easy to see that it would be difficult to trust in this all powerful all seeing God when one of His own creations outsmarted Him. It is absurd to teach such a foolish doctrine in opposition to scripture and profess to be anointed by God and hearing from His Holy Spirit. Let the blind lead the blind but do not follow them , they will fall in a ditch and so will all that follow them. The scripture they use is found here;
Isa 14:12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
OT:1966 heylel (hay-lale'); from OT:1984 (in the sense of brightness); the morning-star:
KJV - lucifer (the king of Babylon).
Note the Greek word mistranslated in most bibles in spite of the kjv correctly identifying lucifer as the king of Babylon. (see Isiaah 14:4) The king of Babylon, if you will go read this whole chapter and context is correct, BUT the king of Babylon at this time was Nebudchednezzar who in a sense acting as like satan. He was not satan but surely was evil like him.
And there are these verses which also show it be be a false doctrine of men and not of God. This is the God I serve, no silly angel can outsmart Him.
2 Peter 2:4-5 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah,
Jude 6-7 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
Then there is the rapture that most “clergy” teach. Remember there is NO clergy in the new testament age as we have shown above. The teaching that God will take His people off from the earth before they have to go through the terrible times at the end of this age is totally contrary to what God says and does. God has never and will never take His people out of difficult times, He ALWAYS delivers them IN these situations. Remember the word says difficult is the way to life, and the easy way leads to destruction. Scripture is clear it says the end “will be as it was in the time of Noah”. We must look at the time of Noah to see what it will be like at the end of this age. Noah, by the way, was used of God to perpetuate mankind at the end of the age he lived in. Of course the end of this age is also the end of mankind because those that belong to Christ will go on to become a Spirit people in the new heaven and earth and all others will be destroyed in the lake of fire.
Luke 17:25-30 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Matt 24:36-42 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
Now read and understand these verses, they mean exactly what they say. Go to scripture and read surrounding context and you will see that scripture says exactly the opposite of what the false rapture story says. Read Exodus and see what God did there in Goshen. Who was destroyed? It is clear the unrighteous, those not belonging to God were destroyed. Who was kept alive? Those who belonged to God were saved alive, protected and unharmed IN the terrible time, floating above the earth in the safety of the ark which God designed for their protection and had Noah build.
Who went through the terrible time protected by God? Only those belonging to God.
Who was removed from the earth? Those not belonging to God, the unrighteous.
In each instance above and to come, there are some other scriptures that are fulfilled that are not often talked about or not correctly taught as well.
Ps 25:12-14 Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. 13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth. 14 The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.
Ps 37:9-10 For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, They shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
Ps 37:22 For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.
The righteous, those belonging to God shall inherit the earth. This is the word of God, it is true and it will happen. It has already happened before Noah the only living man in the age he lived in that God said was perfect, he was saved and inherited the earth. Yes his family also but only because they belonged to Him and were covered by his righteousness. At the end of this age once again and for the final time, the righteous will inherit the earth. The unrighteous will be destroyed. Then there will be a new heaven and earth and those belonging to Him will inherit the earth as scripture says, for eternity-time without end, forever. If we can learn to correctly understand scripture there will be no confusion but we must understand there is ONLY ONE way to understand scripture correctly, we must be of one Spirit with God and His Son Jesus allow this Spirit of God to teach us. We must ask Him to assure us what is of God and what is not AND we must follow what is and Reject what is not, no exceptions allowed.
They may not understand the book of Revelation is about Jesus.
Most people believe that the Book of Revelation is about the end of the world but that IS NOT what it is about, it is THE REVELATION OF WHO JESUS IS. Yes it includes the end time but it states in the first verse that it is the revelation of Jesus Christ and must be seen in that context, it is not what all these end time preachers claim it is, it is for us to understand the fullness of Christ, that He is the Son of God, that He IS not GOD, He is the Son of God, who has been appointed by God to be the Lord of this age and at the end of this age He will turn all authority back to God. Then the judgment commences and those belonging to Him are allowed entry into eternity and all others are destroyed in the lake of fire.
What are the roots of all this?
There are of course many more reasons that I have not included here.
You must understand that the roots of all the reasons whatever they may be are found in one or more of the following, fear ( of believing differently than your friends or any man) ,lack of faith in God, desire of self promotion, laziness, believing bibles are scripture, gullibility (trusting in man instead of the Holy Spirit for truth), demonic possession (following a spirit that is not God) and other forms of deception.
This salvation thing is not a joke or a game, it is most eternally important thing in this world, it is what this final age of man is all about, it is the only chance you will ever have to enter eternity with the saints of God. If you miss this chance by believing things that are not of God you will be destroyed in the lake of fire, no second chances are available after the end of this age. Choose wisely what and who you follow, it is your choice. Believe scripture that the gate is narrow and the way is difficult and few will find it, proceed carefully because the wide gate and the easy way lead to destruction according to God.
I pray and choose to meet you as we stumble along the difficult way, doing our best and accepting His forgiveness when we repent and continue on, enduring to the end.
Charles LaFoe
Copyright 7/2017.
