CHRISTIAN FAITH
It is interesting to compare Judaism with Christianity. Both religions claim some parts (i.e. Old Testament) of the Bible as the basis of their religions. The big exception, of course, are the New Testament and Jesus.

Most Jews do not have much time or regard for Jesus. They might allow that he existed and that he was a Jewish teacher/prophet, but that is about all the credit they will assign to him.

This is a big contrast, of course, with what Christians believe about Jesus. Here are some of those basic beliefs:

      • He was born to a virgin.
      • He is/was fully human and fully God.
      • He was born sinless and did not sin.
      • He was sent by God to save people from sin.
      • He performed many miracles.
      • He was crucified on a cross and buried in a tomb.
      • He rose from the dead.
      • He went to heaven to be with God.
      • He will return to earth at some unknown time.
      • The story of his life and death are contained in the gospel of Jesus.

In addition to these beliefs about Jesus, most Christians believe that the Bible instructs them to do the following:

These practices are firm and unchanging in all Christian communities. Along with the Christian gospel that provides the Biblical justification for these activities, these practices comprise what Christians often refer to as their “faith.” The Christian faith, therefore, is a collection of facts, objects, beliefs, and behaviors.

The Christian faith is very evident in the natural world in buildings, people, politics, traditions, rituals, books, movies, music, television, radio and newspapers. This concept of “faith” seems right and good to Christians because they find justification for these beliefs and practices in the literal bible. Because this concept of faith has been in place for two thousand years, there is an unspoken belief that God endorses and blesses these faith traditions. They do need to know, however, that faith as they understand it does not agree with God’s concept of faith. The fact that religious traditions have prospered does not mean that God approves of them.

The truth is that God hates religion. The  truth is that God considers religion in all its many form to be his enemy. Despite his feelings about religion, God does not interfere with man’s choice to practice religion. We see this principle in the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. God gave them a clear choice: Eat the fruit from the Tree of Life, or eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

STUDY TIP: See this link for understanding of the parable of Adam and Eve in the garden.

Everyone knows that Adam and Eve made the wrong choice. But only New Covenant disciples understand that the serpent represents religious teachers and that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is a symbolic reference to religion. Simply put, the story of Adam and Eve is a parable of religious people choosing to listen to false prophets instead of listening to God’s voice. Or, to put it another way, they chose fake faith learned from religious leaders instead of true faith that can be learned only from God.

This parable explains why religious faith is not the same as  God’s idea of faith. Christian faith is learned from religious leaders who interpret the Bible literally. The Christian faith, therefore, is fake faith. True faith, on the other hand, is learned by listening to God’s spoken voice. God has made this point clear in many ways.

STUDY TIPS: See this link for understanding of how the Bible teaches about listening to the right teachers.

Also see this link about the differences between True Disciples and Fake Disciples.

Also see this link about Pure Religion compared to Defiled religion.

Despite God’s warning about listening to false prophets, many people find religion irresistible. And, after they have practiced religion, they find it impossible to quit.  The creative, clever teaching of false prophets convinces them that the Bible should be interpreted for its literal content. Deceived by that teaching, they  claim to believe and trust the Bible with the false belief that it reliably contains God words. This is a wrong belief. God’s spoken words and the written words of the Bible are not the same.

False prophets also teach Christians to put their trust in the human person Jesus while ignoring his words which are God’s words. This is how they have stumbled over the human Jesus. Here are a few of the ways they stumble:

In summary, Christians trust the man Jesus but not God’s words spoken by the man. The focus of their trust is in the wrong place. They have stumbled over the human Jesus.

STUDY TIP: See JESUS IS A STUMBLING BLOCK/STONE and this link for more about stumbling over Jesus.

As a son of man, Jesus had no human qualities that made him trustworthy. He had no supernatural abilities to heal people or raise them from the dead. The only thing about Jesus that was special and supernatural was the fact that he spoke God’s words. Only God’s words have supernatural power to do miracles — not the human person Jesus.

When God said “do not put your trust in man,” he was talking about all men — including Jesus. When God anointed Jesus to speak for him, he didn’t want people to put their trust in his human messenger. God never gave up on his expectation that people would put their trust in his words. Jesus provided the human voice, but the spiritual power that changed hearts exists in God’s spoken voice.

By stumbling over Jesus, Christians prove themselves hypocrites regarding what they believe.

Understanding of hypocrisy begins with these basic facts:

WHAT GOD SAID TO DO:      WHAT CHRISTIANS DO:
  • Trust the man Jesus for salvation.
  • Trust the man Jesus for salvation.
  • Salvation is a future experience after physical death.
  • Believe that Jesus is God.
  • The Bible reports everything that people need to know about God.
  • If you know the literal words of the Bible, you know God.
  • The literal Bible is the same thing as God’s spoken word.
  • God will do all kinds of physical miracles if people pray in Jesus’ name.
  • Pray in public with natural voices.
  • Jesus is God.
  • Know that he hates religious rituals and traditions.
  • Worship religious leaders.
  • Worship Jesus.
  • Imitate the practices of religious leaders.
  • Understand that the only way you will know God is when he writes his laws on your hearts.
  • Learn to know God by reading the Bible literally.
  • Learn to know God through the teachings of religious leaders.
  • Learn to know God through religious rituals and traditions.
  • Learn to know God through worship in the flesh.
  • Believe that religion and faith are the same thing in God’s eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This list is a small sample of inconsistencies and contradictions between what God has commanded his people to do compared to what religion teaches them to do. The result of these inconsistencies and contradictions is hypocrisy, which means that people are working hard to act like spiritual people, but are actually doing the exact opposite of what God wants them to do. In God’s language, when you don’t obey what God says to do you sin. That awareness makes the inconsistencies and contradictions a much more weighty matter that hypocrisy.

The problem for religious people is that they actually believe that every religious thing they do is commanded by God. They see evidence for the things they do in the Bible, they hear the teachings of religious leaders, and they watch people they otherwise know and trust doing religious things that are not consistent with God’s commands. It all seems so right and seems so satisfying that it is nearly impossible for religious people to accept that the religion they know and love is actually sin in God’s eyes.

So what is a religious person to do? Religion seems right, and it does have its rewards, but when they look at the list of inconsistencies and contradictions in the list above, they are faced with a choice that they could never have imagined they would have to make: Do they keep practicing religion — even in the face of evidence that God considers religion to be his enemy? Or do they take the new information they now have about what God has commanded them to do, stop doing what religious people have told them they should do, and begin experimenting with obedience to what God has commanded them to do? It is not an easy decision to make and it is not a decision that anyone will make quickly or without a lot of soul-searching over issues that they had not ever considered.

The basic question that people must answer for themselves is this:

Do I continue to practice the religion that I have been taught? And, do I continue to trust religious leaders for knowledge of God and his ways?

Or,

Do I quit religion in the hope that God himself will teach me what he wants me to know about him and his ways?

And there is this related question:

Do I give up the religion that my family, my friends and I know and love in exchange for something else that I do not know or understand?

Obviously these are not easy questions to answer. But there are Biblical facts available to help make an informed decision. Here are some links to pages that contain those facts:

And here are other facts about knowing God that must be considered:

From these facts we draw these conclusions:

          • It is impossible to know God if you have not heard his voice.
          • It is impossible to know Jesus if you have not heard God’s words spoken by Jesus in your heart.
          • Knowing Jesus’ literal words as revealed in the bible is not the same as knowing his spiritual words written on your heart.
          • Knowledge of written words results in Old/First Covenant religion. 
          • Knowledge of the bible’s written words results in obedience to religious rules/laws.
          • Knowledge of God’s laws written on the heart yields New Covenant disciples.
          • It is impossible to trust God without trusting God’s words.
          • Evidence of trusting Jesus’ words is God’s spiritual laws written on your heart.
          • Christians do not know or trust God because they do not hear God’s voice.
          • If you don’t hear God’s voice but say you love God, what you love is the idea of God — not God.
          • If you say you love God but do not hear God’s spoken voice, you are actually in love with the idea of God that is based on the literal words of the bible by religion — you are not in love with God.
          • If you say you love Jesus but do not hear God’s spoken voice, and do not have God’s spiritual laws written on your heart, you are actually in love with the idea of Jesus that is based on the literal words of the bible by religion — you are not in love with Jesus.

CHRISTIANS LOVE THE IDEA OF JESUS — NOT HIS WORDS
Christians have faith, but the faith they have is in their religion (e.g. buildings, pastors, rituals, worship, rituals, traditions, etc.) which can be seen and which are constantly changing. This kind of faith is very different from Godly faith (i.e. God’s spoken voice) which can be heard but not seen, and which does not change.

Despite the fact that the Bible clearly says that faith cannot be seen, Christians proudly, but ignorantly, infer that their religion which can be seen represents Biblical faith. This claim is a major disconnect from Biblical truth. It spoils all Christian claims about righteousness and Godliness. Christians do not see the disconnect but God sees it, and so do all New Covenant disciples .

STUDY TIP: See Religion is not Faith and this link for God’s understanding of faith. Also see this link and this link for understanding of why Christians have a hard time seeing the disconnects between their idea of faith and God’s standard.

Another major disconnect in Christianity is found in their faith in Jesus. Christians call themselves Christians because they claim to follow Jesus. This also is a deception. They do not follow Jesus the way God wants/expects people to follow him. Here is a short summary of what it means to follow Jesus:

Christians do not do the things that Jesus did. What Christians do is what their religion tells them to do. It must be said, therefore, that they do not follow Jesus. What they do follow, however, are religious rules created by religious people, taught by religious people, and enforced by religious people.

Because Christians follow religious rules made by religious people, it must be said that Christians in fact follow other religious people (past and present) — not Jesus. Here are some of the reasons it is correct to say that Christians follow other religious people:

All of these activities and practices are the visible, tangible substance of the Christian faith/religion. After he was baptized, Jesus did not do any of these activities himself nor did he teach his followers to do any of these activities. It must be said, therefore, that Christianity is a man-made religion that has no resemblance to the things Jesus said or did. In other words, Christians follow other Christians — not Jesus. In God’s view, Christianity is idolatry because it is based on the teachings and practices of religious people — not on God’s spoken word.

God’s word is a consuming fire and a refining fire. Because Jesus spoke for God, it must be said that Jesus’ words are also a  consuming fire and a refining fire. Here are some things Jesus did that had a consuming/refining effect on people:

When Christians think about what Jesus said and the things he did, they do not typically think about him in these ways. It would never occur to them that they would do these things because they know that if they did these things they would not be welcome in their religious community. Therefore, they do not imagine that these are things that followers of Jesus should do, or would do. So they do not do them. Thus, it must be said that they are not true followers.

Instead of thinking of Jesus as a consuming fire, they think of him as a loving, comforting, gentle, meek, handsome, white man who held children in his lap and healed people of their diseases. They much prefer the image of Jesus as a cuddly baby or a bloody messiah on a cross to the image of a warrior with a sword in his mouth.

Christians have a soft, mushy idea of what it means to follow Jesus. Basically, they think that if they were baptized as a child, or raised in a church, or occasionally pray to him, or have invited him into their heart and, at a minimum, recognize him at Christmas and Easter, they are qualified to call themselves Christian. And they believe that the fact that some people in the Bible were called Christians provides all the legitimacy they need to apply that label to themselves.

Religious labels and religious branding are very important to religious people but they are offensive to God because they grossly misrepresent him. Religious labels, religious behaviors and religious beliefs are exactly what God has in mind in the Third Commandment. 

In addition to labels, all religions do different things to make their religions distinct from other religions. They do these things to brand and market themselves in a world of religions that competes for the hearts, minds and money of followers. Here is a short list of things that religions do to identify themselves:

      • The names (e.g. Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Assembly of God, etc.) they adopt.
      • Their buildings.
      • Their clothing.
      • Their music.
      • Their rituals and traditions.
      • The titles they use to identify their leaders.
      • Their language.

All these physical features, along with doctrinal beliefs, and labels are the substance of the Christian faith. But it is fake faith because it is not at all like true faith. Here are the differences between fake faith and true faith:

TRUE FAITH FAKE FAITH COMMENTARY ON FAKE FAITH
  • Is the substance of things that are seen, acted out, spoken, touched, tasted, heard, codified, managed and repeated according to rules and traditions established by an historical succession of religious leaders.
  • Changes or evolves over time.
  • Is evident in rituals and traditions.
  • Is evident in religious labels.
  • People with fake faith are always part of a religious community that teaches them religious doctrines and how to practice religion. This community typically includes parents and family who practice defiled religion.
  • Is well known because it is always on display in religious activities.
  • Is well known because of books, music and public gatherings.
  • Is well known because it is discussed in the news.
  • Is well known because it is discussed in politics.
  • There is nothing mysterious about religion. Even people who are not religious know some things about Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
  • People with true faith are comfortable being invisible because God is invisible.
  • Religious people insist on making their religion known to others.
  • The condition of the heart controls what people think and do, whether good or evil.
  • All religion is fake faith because all religion can be observed with natural eyes and ears.
 

  • The religious people who are most revered are those who use words to attract nonreligious people to be religious through evangelism.
  • People with fake faith hope for eternal life after physical death.
 

  • People with true faith are only concerned about pleasing God.
  • People with fake faith are only concerned about impressing their coreligionists with their faithfulness to follow religious rules.
  • Fake faith imagines heaven and hell as the  places people go to after they physically die.
  • People with true faith know that heaven and hell are here and now realities.
  • People with true faith know heaven as a here and now reality for themselves.
  • People with true faith know hell is a here and now reality for religious people.
  • Religious people with fake faith do not realize that they are living in hell.
  • Religion would not exist if it was not very visible.
  • Religion depends on visibility and attractive buildings to attract and retain followers.
  • All religious activity provides opportunities for people to boast about their relationship to God
 

  • True faith and religion faith are totally opposite.
  • People with true faith are comfortable being invisible.
  • People who practice fake faith take pride in being observed doing religious things.
  • Religion would not exist if it was not very visible.
  • Religion depends on visibility and attractive buildings to attract and retain followers.
  • People with true faith are satisfied knowing that God knows their hearts.
  • Most people who practice fake faith need recognition and praise for their religious activity.
  • Religion would not exist if it was not very visible.
  • Religion depends on visibility and attractive buildings to attract and retain followers.

The main points found in this table are these:

Fake faith is easy to identify because it always wears a label (e.g. clothing, language, name, activity, etc.) that says “I am a religious person.” God does not use labels to identify his people. Christians and Jews do not understand that God actually hates labels and the religions they represent. God does not look at external labels. He looks at the condition of hearts.

Christians wrongly believe that following Jesus means going to church and observing Christian traditions. They wrongly believe that if they love the physical Jesus and put their faith in him, they will go to heaven after they die. They wrongly believe that if they can evangelize others to believe in Jesus they will save them from going to hell after they die. These are all examples of fake faith because they are learned by listening to religious leaders — not God’s spoken voice.

While Jews and Christians disagree about Jesus, there is still much about Judaism and Christianity that is the same. For example, here is what Christians say about the Bible:

      • It is the inspired word of God.
      • It is trustworthy.

Unfortunately, Christians put their trust in the literal words of the bible — not in God’s spoken words. They do not understand that the literal bible and God’s  spoken words are not the same.

By emphasizing the literal words of the bible, they have all but ignored and rejected God’s spoken words. And, at the same time, they have used the literal words to develop Christian doctrines that equate Jesus with God. Thus, Jesus is a stumbling block to hearing God’s spoken voice.

Even though the Bible says several times that Jesus was a servant, and even though Jesus clearly said that his words were not his own and that he spoke for God, and said that he did not see himself equal to God, Christians insist on making him equal to God. In choosing to put their faith in Jesus whom they can see, they all but ignore God’s voice which can be heard but not seen. Christianity does not practice Godly faith.

Christianity is not a Godly faith because it is impossible to represent God, who is an invisible spirit that does not change, with natural objects. Nor is it possible to represent God by pretending to be like Jesus. Here are a few ways to help people evaluate if they are true followers or Jesus or not:

Only true disciples are true followers of Jesus. People who say they love and follow Jesus are hypocrites who pretend to be like Jesus and pretend to be Godly.

Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. It is impossible to pretend to be spiritual by doing things with your physical body.

Again it must be said that Christianity is not Godly faith because it is impossible to represent an invisible spirit that does not change with religion that is constantly changing.

Christianity is Fake Faith. Christians have stumbled over Jesus by making him equal to God.

Christianity is the largest religion in the world, and Judaism is one of the smallest, and they are both very well known. But the fact remains that they are both still religions — not faith. They are not faith because they can be seen.