~ Getting Free From All The 'ism's & 'ologies'... ~

Getting Free From All The 'Ism's & 'Ologies'...

Our world is full of religions, philosophies, theologies, doctrines and teachings of all kinds. Christianity has glaring divisions within itself, with all of its various denominational camps, all claiming to be the one with the truth. The average believer is faced with an onslaught of conflicting teachings and beliefs, which only serve to breed confusion and contention rather than bring unity. We all know first-hand the conflicts that exist within the multitude of denominations in existence today, so we should be able to at least admit how we 'appear' to those of other faiths and beliefs.

It is not a pretty picture... and small wonder that a vast majority of the world despises and rejects our overtures to convert them to our way of believing. This will no doubt offend many of you, but follow along if you will, to the conclusion of the matter. We can sit entrenched in our chosen ideologies, wasting our time and energy fighting amongst ourselves, or we can leave it all behind, and actually 'follow Christ,' as He commanded us to. Here is a sampling of what Jesus said:

"Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me" Mark 10:21.

"And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light" Luke 16:8.

"No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" Luke 16:13.

"And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" Luke 16:15.

Despite mans best efforts, we are incapable of keeping even the least of Christ's commandments in our own strength. We are unable to comprehend the full meaning of His words with our intellect. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" 1 Corinthians 2:14.

We love the things of this world. We seek after the acceptance and approval of others. We cling to our traditions and beliefs. It is very difficult for us to comprehend that our best and brightest, that which we value and prize the most, is an abomination in the sight of God!

So as we feel our way through the mine-fields of Christian doctrines, it is nearly impossible to remain steadfastly true to the Lord. The lure of the many 'ism's and 'ologies' are very, very attractive to our natural understanding, backed up by centuries of fine tuning by some of the greatest men in history. We might justly ask, 'who are we to dispute their opinions?'

Our problem is compounded by the fact that they all have some solid truths. There would be no lure to leave off following Christ if they were nothing but blatant lies. From the very beginning in the Garden the enemy did not speak outright lies, no... he just took 'God's truth' and put a little extra spin on it. Implying a meaning that was contrary to God's intent... and he has been successfully doing the same thing with every generation of man ever since.

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" John 10:10.

We can become bogged down in the quagmire that is religion, or we can 'diligently seek' to 'work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.' We can follow whomever we 'choose' to follow. We can bear the 'heavy yokes' of men, supporting them and their agenda's... or we can 'choose to respond' to God's invitation and become the 'servants of Christ.' But know this; we will all reap what we sow. We will be held accountable for what we do with what we have been given... be it little or much.

We need to be cognizant of the fact: that all of our religious trappings are but a hollow representation of man's ideologies. Not one of them can impart any LIFE, let alone ABUNDANT LIFE. Jesus addressed the religious leaders of His day thus:

"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life" John 5:39-40.

This is the state of our religious efforts, ideals, programs, agenda's, outreaches, conferences, seminaries, you name it... they are the best that 'we' can come up with in this world. We talk about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We can spend a lifetime studying and accumulating knowledge of spiritual matters, and still fall utterly short of the mark, never really accomplishing anything of eternal value. How so? Because we fail to come to HIM. The sad truth of the matter is that all of our 'ism's and ologies' fail to impart the 'new life in Christ Jesus' that we are called to walk in.

"Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" 2 Corinthians 3:6. We should note that there is an enormous difference between being an able minister of the 'letter'... and being an able minister of the 'spirit.' Repeating Jesus' words... "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

In today's world there is no shortage of those who would set themselves up as 'ministers of the gospel'... promoting their own interpretations and agenda's accordingly. This can be a very successful venture, as there is also no shortage of hungry, searching souls who will gravitate to this or that teacher, looking for answers to life's questions. From the beginning, this has been the case. There are leaders and there are followers. The more charismatic the leader, the larger his following will be. The problem with this is... what are the people really receiving from these 'ministers?' Life... or simply feeling good about themselves?

It is a sad commentary on the church today, when the people will exalt and lift up fallen men, while rejecting the only ONE that is able to give them new life, yet we see it happening all around us, not only in the secular world but this practice is just as prevalent within the church itself. "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" Romans 6:4.

Few today have any real concept of what this "newness of life" is. How many today are crying out to God? How many are hungering and thirsting after righteousness? "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" Matthew 5:6. Is it any wonder then that we hold far more resemblance to a 'valley of dry bones'... parched under the sun, than we do to the 'heirs of salvation' we are called to be?

Below is an excerpt taken from;

'The Vision and The Appointment' by George Warnock

[Quote] "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous" Romans 5:19.

Calvary was in no sense a tragedy -- something that could have been avoided if, if, if -- All these Ifs must be shut out of our minds, when we realize that our Lord Jesus came as a Lamb, ordained of God to be slain for our redemption. In the outworking of God's sovereign purposes, this Lamb knew He was ordained to die for His people, but "for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb 12:2). The Captain of our salvation must be made "perfect through sufferings" (Heb 2:10). This sacrificial Lamb anticipated the Day when a glorious Church would come forth, He being the Head: "a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing" (Eph 5:27). He anticipated the day when this holy Bride would be revealed, and one of the holy angels was excited when he saw her, and said to John: "Come hither, I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's wife" (Rev 21:9).

We must emphasize the perfections of this Holy Bride, these overcoming Sons, this Holy Nation, this Royal Priesthood, for they are called by many names. We must be convinced that God's plan for us is to become Holiness to the Lord, "A crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God" Isaiah 62:3. And many people draw back, thinking they are too unworthy, too human, too carnal, to ever come to such a state, until they get to Heaven. Do these people really believe that it would be easier for God to take them to Heaven, than to work in their lives the perfections of Christ while they walk here in the earth? God designed that the great redemptive work by which we come forth in God's own image and likeness, would take place right here in the earth; and the Lord from Heaven came to earth, to become the Last Adam, our sin-bearer. And now by His mediatorial ministry in the heavens, He will continue to faithfully minister all those virtues and qualities that are in Him, through His Holy Spirit, to His chosen ones in the earth.

His mandate is secure. Jesus knows what it is all about. He is the "Mediator of a New Covenant" which is not like the old one, "written and engraven in stones." But a New Covenant where He writes His righteousness, His mercy, His grace, His beauty, His faithfulness, His own nature and character on our hearts, by the Holy Spirit. And He will continue to do so until God has procured for His Son a Holy Bride, made ready by precious blood sprinkled on the heart, and by the renewing grace of His Holy Spirit within us.

From: A New Man - A New Creation, Chapter 3 - George Warnock [End Quote]

We must be willing, if we would be changed. The whole world recognizes that we are in the last days... yet there is no worldwide repentance before God. We make movies and write books about Armageddon, but do we really believe any of it? "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" Romans 4:3. Who are we believing these days?

"Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" John 14:17.

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come" John 16:13.

We don't have years left to prepare anymore people!

Our 'head knowledge' is totally worthless and can in no way keep us from, and even more to the point - through, the coming persecution. "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" John 6:63. Whose words do you think we should be paying strict attention to?

We don't have time to cling to our traditions, and still prepare our hearts to receive Him when He comes. We don't have time to bicker about translations, men's interpretations of the scriptures, and all the little things that divide and separate us from one another. He is coming back, to receive those who are ready unto Himself. That being ready part puts the responsibility of preparing squarely on us individually. "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" Matthew 16:24.

We need to choose this day 'WHO' we are going to follow.

"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" 1 Peter 4:17.

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready" Revelation 19:7.

Ultimately, this is what is coming... first the judgment of the Church, then the marriage of the Lamb, and in that order.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments" John 14:15. This is a commandment; it is not now, nor has it ever been, optional. We can no longer afford to allow ourselves to be distracted by the many alluring deceptions that are vying for our attention. "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" Hebrews 11:6. Our faith is a requirement; our diligence is a requirement. Our obedience is a requirement. "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death" Philippians 3:10. Yes, even our death is a requirement.

It is not which 'ism' or which 'ology' we have joined ourselves to and embraced that will be the deciding factor in whether or not we enter into the 'marriage supper of the Lamb.' It is whether or not we are in possession of the 'new life found only in Christ Jesus!' "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" John 17:3.

Amen & Amen
Cathy Morris

11/13/2008

To get a clearer understanding of what all of our 'ism's' and 'ologies' amount to, read...

Coming Up From The Religious Wilderness - Cheryl McGrath