Another Jesus

  By David J. Stewart

There is Only One True Biblical Jesus, the Rest are Counterfeits

       “Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth ANOTHER JESUS, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive ANOTHER SPIRIT, which ye have not received, or ANOTHER GOSPEL, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him” (2nd Corinthians 11:1-4). 

The Apostle Paul was not the average minister. Paul had a sincere desire to go above and beyond the mere formalities of religion, he truly cared about people and wanted to protect them from false religion and false prophets. Here in 2nd Corinthians 11:1-4, Paul warns us that some people are dangerous and extremely hazardous to our spiritual health. There are many people today, just as then, who preach ANOTHER JESUS—not the Jesus which the Scriptures portray. 

If someone comes along teaching that Jesus never died on the cross, then you know he’s an imposter—a heretic (such as Islamic Muslims). If someone teaches that Jesus’ physical blood has no redeeming power, then you know he’s a false prophet (such as John MacArthur). If someone says that Jesus is not Almighty God or that there is no Godhead (Trinity), then you know that he is a liar (such as Jehovah's Witnesses). If someone teaches that trusting Jesus as Savior is not enough in itself to be saved, then you know that he is of the Devil (such as Seventh-Day Adventists). If anyone says that a priest can forgive your sins or that you should bow down and pray to a statue (Mother Mary), then you know that he is of the Devil (such as Catholics). If someone denies the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ, as Martin Luther King Jr. did in his writings, then you know he is an unsaved man without Christ.

There are thousands of religions in this world. My dear friend, salvation is not found in any of them! You don’t find salvation in a religion, you find it in a person—Jesus Christ!!! There are many concepts of Jesus in the minds of people throughout the world, but the true Jesus is only portrayed in God’s Word. Satan has introduced many false Christ's and false bibles and false religions into the world to deceive mankind. We are warned by the Apostle Paul against accepting ANOTHER JESUS.
 

We Must Test Every Teaching with the Light of God's Word

Paul also warns us of those who bring in ANOTHER GOSPEL or ANOTHER SPIRIT... “For if he that cometh preacheth ANOTHER JESUS, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive ANOTHER SPIRIT, which ye have not received, or ANOTHER GOSPEL, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” The Gospel is the “Good News” of salvation. We are saved by God’s grace through our faith in Christ alone. 

Most ministers today teach some OTHER way of getting to Heaven besides through Jesus Christ. They teach a false plan of salvation. The Bible calls them wolves in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15). They do this to their own destruction! The Bible tells us to TEST the things which people teach... “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but TRY THE SPIRITS whether they are of God: because MANY false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world” (1st John 4:1-3). People are spirits in the flesh. That is what we are! When we try (or test) the spirit of another, we are simply finding out whether or not they have God’s Spirit. We are NOT to judge or condemn anyone, we are simply told to decipher whether or not they are saved. Either they have God’s Spirit or they don’t. We can KNOW if a person is saved or not by the doctrines which they believe concerning salvation and Jesus Christ.

As believers, we are commanded to “try the spirits” (test other people) to see if they are saved or not. If the person is not saved, we are to avoid yoking together with them... “BE YE NOT UNEQUALLY YOKED TOGETHER WITH UNBELIEVERS: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2nd Corinthians 6:14). This means that a Believer is NOT to marry an unbeliever; a Believer is NOT to go into business together with an unbeliever; a believer is NOT to become close friends with an unbeliever, et cetera. This is a command from God. If a believing man marries an unbelieving woman, he will have the Devil for a father-in-law. We are not to entrust a Sunday School class or other position of church leadership to an unsaved person. We must test every doctrinal teaching using the Word of God as our Final Authority. 

Here are two critical tests:

1. Jesus is Almighty God!

Anyone who teaches that Jesus is NOT Almighty God is a liar.  Every Believer has God’s Spirit!  The test is simple!  The Bible tells us what the test is.  If a person fails this test, they are NOT of God and have not His Spirit.  The test is to ask the other person what they think about Jesus!  Specifically, you want to find out if this person believes that Jesus Christ is Almighty God.  “Every spirit that confesseth that JESUS CHRIST IS COME IN THE FLESH is of God.”  What does this mean?  Nearly every false religion believes that Jesus had a fleshly body.  This Scripture must mean something entirely different.  Here’s the real question: Do you believe that Jesus existed before He came to the earth?  Do you believe that the pre-incarnate Christ became flesh?  Do you believe that Jesus is Almighty God?  Do you believe that the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) became flesh? 

The Jehovah witnesses believe that Michael the archangel became Jesus—they have the spirit of ANTICHRIST. Every false religion attacks or diminished the deity of Jesus Christ in one way or another. Many new perversions of the bible diminish Christ’s deity! Modern bibles that change and twist important Scriptures concerning Christ are all of the Devil. Listen to what the King James Bible proclaims concerning Jesus... “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be EQUAL with God” (Philippians 2:6). Pick up a New International Version [NIV] and make sure your sitting down when you read it. The NIV says that Jesus thought “equality with God not a thing to be grasped.” That's the exact opposite of what the King James Bible teaches!

We are surrounded by deceivers... “For many DECEIVERS are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (2nd John 1:7).  Those who deny that Jesus Christ is Almighty God in every way are NOT of God! Jesus is the Creator, He is the Father, He is the Holy Spirit, He is the Son, He is Omnipotent (all powerful), He is Omnipresent (all present), He is Omniscient (all knowing), Jesus is Wonderful!!!

2. Jesus Christ is the ONLY Way to Heaven!

Anyone who teaches that Jesus is NOT the Only Way to Heaven is a liar. We’ve often heard the saying, “all rivers lead to the ocean.” This simply is not so with salvation. It all depends which way you are going. Do all airplanes lead to Chicago? Of course not! There is a great danger in adopting the silly sayings of ignorant people concerning God and salvation. 

Another lie you may have heard is “We are all God’s Children.” That sounds cute but it’s NOT true! We are all God’s creation, but we are NOT all God’s Children. You are only a Child of God if you’ve been born-again into God’s Family. 

I witnessed to a man concerning his faith and He said he believed in reincarnation. This doctrine teaches that when a person dies, they come back again as an animal, or vise-versa). This of course is another lie of the Devil! I asked the man why he believed such a thing and he said his beliefs were based upon the fact that a caterpillar changes into a butterfly. His beliefs concerning God and salvation were based on his own logical human reasoning. This is the foolishness of the human mind! Listen to the warning of Proverb 14:12... “There is a way which SEEMETH RIGHT unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” It is a dangerous and foolish thing to decide for yourself what is right and wrong. God’s Word is pure, decent and upright—there is NO reason for any sensible person to ignore the Bible. There are nuts everywhere in this world who know NOT the Lord and have adopted a crazy insane form of thinking. Even some Believers end up out in left field doctrinally because of a lack of proper Bible knowledge and a close walk with God. There is a fine line between faith and foolishness. We must combine common sense with godly wisdom. 

So anyone who denies that Jesus is God Almighty or that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven is unsaved.
 

The Plan of Salvation is Simple, but the Devil Tries to Corrupt It

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the SIMPLICITY THAT IS IN CHRIST” (2nd Corinthians 11:3). “In whom the god of this world (Satan) hath BLINDED THE MINDS of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2nd Corinthians 4:4). Satan is a master counterfeiter! The Bible is clear that salvation is SIMPLE! Salvation is found in the Person of Jesus Christ, nowhere else. Satan BLINDS the MIND of the unsaved in an attempt to prevent them from accepting the truth. Most people already KNOW the truth, but willfully reject it. 

They have some form of FALSE THINKING that overrides God’s truth. Humanism is an insane form of thinking that invades the human mind convincing it of it’s own superiority over God and His Word. This is the big problem—humanism! Humanism has no church, no organized religion, no building—yet it is the biggest religion in the world. Humanism is the religion of “self” ... “Beware lest any man spoil you through PHILOSOPHY and VAIN DECEIT, after the TRADITION OF MEN, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). Satan uses a counterfeit Jesus, false gospels, corrupt bibles, worldly philosophy and useless teachings and traditions—to blind the minds of billions of people around the world. “And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own TRADITION” (Mark 7:9).  Remember, “...LET GOD BE TRUE, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). 
 

Have You Believed Upon the Biblical Jesus?

Ignorance concerning Christ won’t keep you from being saved, BUT a misconception of Who He is may. If you believe on the True Christ as He is, you WILL be saved. The only way to be saved is to simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ apart from all else. However, if you’ve been taught that Jesus is not God and you refuse to admit that your thinking is corrupt, you are on your way to hellfire! You must believe on the correct Jesus. You must acknowledge Christ as He is. If you only view Christ as a prophet or as a good man, you can trust him all you want but it won’t do you any good because you have found another Jesus. 

Let’s read this powerful passage again... “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth ANOTHER JESUS, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him” (2nd Corinthians 11:3,4). The Apostle Paul warned of false prophets who would bring in damnable heresies, teaching ANOTHER JESUS which is not of the Scriptures. If you say that you are trusting Christ AND keeping the Seven Sacraments to be saved as a devout Catholic, then you have never been saved, because you've never completely trusted Christ. I have witnessed to many folks who tell me that they are trusting Jesus AND something else (e.g., baptism, good works, church membership, confirmation, confession, religion, the Virgin Mary, Saint Anthony, uncle Joe, etc). You must trust Christ alone to save you!  

       Our faith + Jesus and good works = Hell

       Our faith + Jesus = Heaven

It’s as simple as that folks!

       Our faith + the wrong Jesus = Hell

       Our faith + the True Jesus = Heaven

We must make sure we are completely trusting the “Jesus” of the Scriptures and not some mythical or fictitious Jesus. Jesus as taught in the Scriptures died, was buried and rose again bodily 3 days later. Most religions have a misconception of Christ and nearly all false religions diminish Christ’s deity (that He is God). We read in John 6:40... “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which SEETH THE SON, and BELIEVETH ON HIM, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Do you see Jesus? How do you see Him? Have you been viewing a counterfeit Jesus? Hopefully you have found the true Jesus and are trusting Him. 

This chapter, ANOTHER JESUS, has been written to help you recognize the proper Jesus of the Bible. All you need to do is simply believe on Him the best you know how. Call upon His name for salvation to forgive your sins. 
 

Ignorance Verses Misconceptions

Please don’t misunderstand me, when I got saved I was green behind the ears and very ignorant concerning Who Christ was; HOWEVER, I did not have a distorted image of Who Christ was. There’s a big difference! If I had been in a false religion or had been influenced by a corrupted perversion of the Bible, I would have had a more difficult time getting saved. Why? Because I would have had to admit my thinking was wrong in order to grasp the truth. This is very difficult for some people. Salvation is NOT difficult, but we tend to make it difficult. The hardest thing about getting people saved is first getting them lost. Fortunately, when I was saved it was only a matter of accepting and believing the truth. All I knew was that I was a lost sinner and needed Jesus to save me. I only knew that I was a sinner and that Jesus had died on the cross for me. That’s all you need to know to be saved. God only requires a child-like faith to be saved. Salvation is NOT difficult. 

The problem is that many people have been taught misconceptions concerning Christ. As I’ve already mentioned, you’d be surprised how many people will say they’re trusting Jesus AND SOMETHING ELSE. This is NOT acceptable to God. Seventh-Day Adventists claim to have faith in Christ, yet will tell you that their faith in Christ cannot save them by itself. Adventists believe that the bad and good they do in life will have an affect on their salvation. This of course is totally unscriptural. To be saved, these folks would have to admit the errors of their thinking and then turn to Christ ALONE for salvation. No one is worthy to be saved, no one. Salvation is a free GIFT from God, paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. If we believe on the name of Jesus—that ALONE is perfectly sufficient and acceptable to God for salvation. We must always remember that we are saved solely by Christ's righteousness, and not by our own self-righteousness. 
 

Have You Believed a Lie?

I AM simply saying that you CANNOT be saved if you willfully maintain certain distorted views of Who Jesus really is. Certain misconceptions would not matter. For example: some people view God as a big ogre up in heaven with a big stick ready to beat us over the head when we sin. This is FAR from the truth! However, this misconception would NOT keep a person from getting saved. However, If you believe (as Islamic Muslims do) that Jesus never died on the cross—then you simply CANNOT be saved until you repent of your unbelief, you are an unbeliever. Sadly, there are over one billion Muslims in the world who do not believe that Jesus was ever crucified. “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him” (Proverbs 26:12). 

We must NOT create God in our own image. There are over one billion Roman Catholics in the world who believe good works are necessary for salvation and that faith alone in Christ cannot save. The Bible says there is more hope for a complete fool than for someone who is too blinded by pride to admit the errors of their way. It is a foolish thing to create God in one's own image. We must realize that we are created in God’s image and CANNOT redefine God. Good works are NOT a necessary part of salvation and WILL prevent you from being saved if you trust in them for salvation. Mary CANNOT save you and praying to her is idolatry! Oh, how I wish Catholics would stop believing a lie, and forsake their false religion.

So many people today are following the lie that salvation is conditional upon the life we live; but the Bible says we are saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS (Matthew 6:33), i.e., the righteousness of Jesus Christ. No amount of religious devotion, keeping of the Sacraments, reciting the Rosary, or performing good deeds can substitute for the righteousness of God... “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Amen! Salvation is found only in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you THE TRUTH?” (Galatians 4:16). 

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