Expert: Richard Aberdeen - 3/25/2011

Question
QUESTION: You mention a difference between Christianity, and Christ! What would be your definition of Christianity?

thanks

Bar

ANSWER: It is easy to determine there is an immense difference between Christianity in all of it's insidious incarnations and, what Jesus and the authors of the Bible actually say.  All one has to do is to compare what Jesus said to what Christianity promotes.

For example, the message of Jesus and the Bible, according to Jesus himself, centers on how human beings should treat each other, which is fairly classified human rights, morality, ethics and human behaviorial theory and advice, rather than a religion.  According to Jesus, his followrs are his "church", not a religious organization or building.  

According to Acts in the New Testament, the lifestyle that God prefers is that we share all wealth in common and give our excess to the poor.  One doesn't have to do anything other than compare the absurdity of Pat Robertson, the so-called "prosperity gospel", the various tax exempt stain glass cathedrals and the wealth of both the protestant and catholic churches to see that there is nothing remotely in common between Christianity and the Bible.  

It is perhaps quite deliberate that Paul in Acts does not affirm directly that he is a Christian when asked by a Roman ruler and, that he never once referred to himself as a Christian but rather, several times refers to himself as a follower of the way.  Perhaps even in his time, Paul saw what was called "the way", a completely new lifestyle and way of looking at life, was being turned into a twisted form of religion, which Paul obviously strongly opposed, insisting several times that "we are not under the law, but under grace" and rebuking the early followers of Jesus for practicing holy days, religious holidays and abstaining from certain foods, as Christianity does today.  

Consider for example, how utterly abhorrent the pagan practice of Christmas is, as well as Easter and other religious holidays, which represent crass commercialism and multi-billions of dollars going into corporate coffers, in the name of some twisted notion of religious piety, which Paul repeatedly roundly and soundly condemns in the New Testament.  Consider that Paul and the early followers of Jesus and Jesus himself were extremely poor, often homeless and destitute and yet, Paul worked his own way so he wasn't a financial burdern to others.  Compare that to the utter absurdity of wealth represented by tv evangelists and protestant and catholic churches today.


I've written much more about such immense differences extensively in my free online books found at www.RichardAberdeen.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have to agree, that much of what is called Christian, even from the middle ages, isn't!
I see Paul in his letters to the believers in Christ correcting, and admonishing his gentile converts from the false instructions they were getting from those who had many words, but no power!

To work with these believers, and see that Christ be fully formed in them, in nature, word, and deed, was His biggest work!

Since Eph 4 was the goal of the five fold offices to the believers, which was the transformation into the image and likeness  and full stature of Christ, it isn't hard to compare to how unlike Christ, too many who proclaim the name are..  Especially since Jesus said, a tree is known by its fruit. And one can read John 15, and see that receivers of Christ, called branches, that have been grafted into the Vine, have some branches bearing the fruit of likeness of the Vine, and others aren't, although they are grafted into the Vine...

The problem isn't the Vine, or the graft, but the branch itself, not receiving the Life that is of the Vine into itself...!

What I have found, is that too much of what is called Christian is missing the ingredient that would cause the transformation, conformation, molding and shaping into the image of Christlike behaviour, is the Holy Spirit..!

Peter writes that those that have been born of God, have become partakers of the DIVINE NATURE! But this nature is in *seed* form, and must be *watered* with the *Living water* that Jesus spoke of to the Samaitan women at the well. And must also receive the *light*, that is the Word, quickened by the Spirit. Not the letter, but the Spirit of the letter.

His word, is Spirit, and Life, but only when it is made alive by the very Spirit that caused it to be written...!

I see one of the gifts of the Spirit, is *discerning of Spirits*. Too many *christians* do not have the Spirit, and even many who do, don't Know the Voice of the Spirit, and are deceived into a religious life, rather than a spirit led life..!

Aristotle at his trial of heresy by accusers, gave a defense I have used many times. He said, "gentlemen, what you were taught when you were young, and have held as truth unto this day, had noone there at that time to challenge or refute what you were being taught.........UNTIL NOW!

Seems Jesus had the same problem, with those of Moses.

Sincerely In Him
Bar.

ANSWER: You might find this of interest.  

Christians are big on going around telling everyone we are supposed to believe in Jesus.  What Christians never teach in their churches and you never hear them even address, is how does one believe in Jesus.  For example, trying asking a Christian "how does one go about believing in Jesus, that is, what am I required or supposed to do?" and, see what kind of strange looks and answers you get.  A simple question that one would assume any child would want to know.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: September 26th, 1982, after a few certain events leading to this date, while sitting in my kitchen after listening to a mans testimony of how he met Jesus on tape, at around 11pm, the Lord spoke this to my spirit. " My son, you have believed in Me, ever since you were a little boy, but you have never invited Me into your life to become Lord, and I need to be Lord!" I answered ..., " I never knew you needed to be invited into ones life?" He answered, "Son, it is the only way I come? Would you invite Me to come into your life, that I may become Lord?" I knew what I needed to do, and as I slid to my knees, I invited the One in whom I had believed all those years, in an historical understanding, to come into my life, and become my Lord..... He was already saviour since I was a little boy, but I was still lord of my life....! The next day came the realization that He really had come into my life, and the process began.

When I was a little boy, I heard the stories about Jesus in sunday school, and as a child I beleived them, and that Jesus was whom the scriptures depicted! Romans 10.

I believed the word of God about Jesus, even though I didn't understand! Since He called me *son*, I only came to understand, that when I believed and confessed that I did believe, I was *born again*! A conception took place within me, that I didn't understand, or even knew, because I was yet a child!

But in the last near 30 years, I find that as Mary heard the words of the Lord, delivered by the angel, and although she didn't understand, yet believed and accepted them, {be it done unto me, as the word says } a conception took place in her as well.

John 1 says......
KJV: John Chapter 1: [12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
 [13] Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

But as one can see, it says He gave them power TO BECOME the sons of God. Which I came to see, that once one is born of Him, there is a growing process in becoming true/mature sons of God. Just as John 3.. born of water, and the Spirit. Water, not being H2O, but the water of His word, which is enlivened by His Spirit.

And I see that 1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his *seed* remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God

Where the word *seed* means...Grk.4690 sperma sper'-mah from 4687; something sown, i.e. seed (including the male "sperm"); by implication, offspring; specially, a remnant (figuratively, as if kept over for planting):--issue, seed.

The Word of God, enlivened by the Spirit of God, is as *sperm*, causing a conception in the spirit of the believer! And any *seed* that contains the life of the parent, will only become the manifested destiny of the parent, IF IT GETS water and light and nourishment, and is kept from dis-ease, and its enemy pests.

One is born again, by the Holy Spirit, but one has to receive the Spirit, and work with the leading of the Spirit to fulfill the destiny of becoming like the parent, in character, word, deed, emotion, wisdom, love, etc...!

As you have noticed, too many believers, have never received the Spirit, and remain religious and yet never growing in the likeness of Christ.

I ask many Christians what is the mandate of God for them, through salvation? And making heaven is the ususal response! But pointing to the fact of being conformed into the image and likeness of Christ, is foreign to them, and impossible to them, because they look at their inability to be so, instead of seeing HIS ABILITY to make it so.

They don't love, the way He is Love, because they, in themselves don't see they have the ability. They don't see, that if He is growing in them, they don't just love as an act, they are becoming LOVE...! They aren't supposed to just do a righteous act, they are to become RIGHTEOUSNESS. They practise forgiveness, but aren't becoming FORGIVENESS!

I think you can well see, WHY believers haven't gotten out of the carnal stages of yet babes, in Christ.

Preachers, and teachers of Gods word, can't give what they don't possess themselves. Therefore, the pupils become as their teachers... !

Sincerely In Him
Bar.

Answer
This is what you said:  One is born again, by the Holy Spirit, but one has to receive the Spirit, and work with the leading of the Spirit to fulfill the destiny of becoming like the parent, in character, word, deed, emotion, wisdom, love, etc...!

I don't agree with that, because that places the burden on us to be saved, which is what I consistently hear in sermons by Christian ministers, as they teach that we have to clean up our act before God will fill us with his Spirit.

Yet, the New Testament has this to say about how faith works.

1) God is love and faith works by love, thus God must act and only then can we believe.

2) Faith involves action (Hebrews and James, among others), thus to believe in Jesus does not mean to just mentally believe.

3) For by grace we are saved and that not of ourselves, it is a free gift, not of works lest anyone should boast; thus again, God must forgive us and only then can we believe.

Christians invariably have this backwards, teaching that we must first believe in order to be saved and must first clean up our act and believe before God will fill us with his Spirit, when in fact the Bible teaches that beyond calling on the name of Jesus, God must act before we can believe (i.e., faith works by love) and even if we do call on the name of Jesus, it is because God first acted, because no one can come to God unless God's Spirit draws them.  

Thus, our faith grows the more that we experience the grace, mercy, love and peace of God in our lives, "for by grace we are saved".  And as John taught, we can know we belong to God because of his Spirit working in us; we must be aware of God's love before we can believe.  We cannot save ourselves by our own ability to believe or to mold ourselves into God's image, "for by grace we are saved" and as Paul said, I can will do to good but find in my flesh no ability to do good.  

I have several ideas of how to answer that simple question and they are all very simple answers that anybody can relate to, but I'm not going to give them because I'm still trying to understand which one of the several are correct or most accurate.

I believe otherwise, that the answer is lost to human history, as I have never met anyone who can satisfactorily answer the most basic of questions, which is "how do I believe in Jesus?".  If an answer doesn't work in the real world of human interaction, then it is not correct, of that I am most certain.