Unfortunately, thousands of very different salvations, christs and gods are proclaimed by most of the so-called “Christian” churches today. In fact, each individual creates his or her own god and religion. And most of the true elect accept these deceptions. For most elect are not accustomed to allowing their spirits to listen for the real Jesus and lack enough knowledge to be able to discern between truth and lies. So most will embrace almost any kind of false Jesus and false gospel, even a demonic spirit posing as Jesus. Paul would tell them: “For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough” (II Cor. 11:4, ESV).
Consequently, seeing all these gullible people, each preacher now strives to sell a certain brand of “Christianity” for his own profit and pleasure, either an old or a new brand name of “Christianity,” where each brand has its own unique “christ” and its own unique god, invented by the makers of the brand. And each brand strives for the most public appeal, to sell its brand of “Christianity” more than the other brands. Each portrays their own man-invented christ and god as a better kind of product or merchandise than the christs and gods being sold by the other churches. For each preacher wants to draw the biggest crowd possible, so he will have greater sales, and also gain status and influence as the salesman of the month, which means he will get paid a higher wage than all the other preachers.
Clearly these “churches” have strayed very far from Christ and His original teachings, through all their ambitious striving. So I feel obligated to warn you about them. Our only real hope is to seek and follow Jesus alone, not men. Yes, we gather together as a family, as brothers and sisters. But we only accept and acknowledge whatever words and deeds truly come from Jesus, not words any from men. All men, including myself, are inept, weak, lacking love, foolish, sinful, full of errors and sins. So we simply ensure that no one but the real Jesus is our only ultimate Teacher of our spirits, the only Head allowed to have final decision-making authority in our lives. We must not be led astray by men, no matter how nice they might seem to be. We can only have one ultimate Lord, Jesus, if we want His truly effective work of His salvation in our lives. God allows some men to exert authority over some aspects of our lives, but only under the final decision-making authority of our God, Jesus.
A true local church is a local branch of the real priesthood of Christ. But such a church has seldom gathered together in a way that could be seen by men as a “visible” church, not since the end of the first century. However, one does not need to be a member of any “visible” church on earth—and function as an active priest of God, consciously doing Christ's real works in this world—to be saved. For we are not saved by works, such as by serving in a “visible” church, and can only function as true priests when we are made ready to do so, by Jesus. For we are saved by Jesus, by His choice and by His will. And becoming a member of the priesthood of the New Covenant church, so we might do His good works in greater abundance, is an optional work of Jesus. Making us into priests on earth is not required for our salvation. His New Covenant salvation never promised to make all of His elect people into members of a “visible” church on earth, just members of His eternal church in heaven, which He certainly will do after the judgement day. Therefore, in spite of man's unfaithfulness, Jesus has been faithfully saving His elect children from the beginning of time, just as He always will save His elect to the end of time, even without making most into members of the earth's “visible” church.
Just because Jesus, since the first century, has not allowed many to serve Him in His true and “visible” church on earth, as His “visible” priesthood, it does not mean He has stopped saving His elect—through His forgiveness and the training of their spirits, causing them to love in a just, pure, God-like way. And Jesus can be the Teacher and Head of elect human spirits without them even consciously knowing it. The minds of their spirits can be continuously learning God's ways from Jesus without their minds of flesh realizing it. Without hearing a single word from the Bible, about God's ways or Jesus, God's ways can be “written on their hearts, while their [inner] conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them” (ESV, see Rom. 2:12-16). Paul, through Jesus' authoritative Holy Spirit, wrote these words about the Gentiles in lands where the law of God, and the Gospel of Jesus, had never been heard, read or made known in any way. Yet his very words, “the work of the law is written on their hearts,” reveals that they were being saved.
Having the “work” or actual application of God's law “written on their hearts” is the principal promise of God's New Covenant salvation. For God’s fulfilled law is all about loving God and loving His creation in pure, just relationships. Nowhere in God's New Covenant promise of salvation does it say He must make us His visible priests to save us. Thus, it is absolutely certain that all the elect Gentiles who have never heard or read the Bible, who have never seen the inside of any church building, who have never heard the word “Jesus,” are being saved without knowing it. Consequently, we must conclude that the mind of the spirit, in one of God's chosen or elect children, can learn directly and personally from the Spirit of Jesus, our God, even without the mind of flesh knowing it.
Yes, all who believe God's Word believe that Jesus can save one without one knowing it. The spirits in the hearts of these Gentiles, who are not taught any biblical truths by men, can indeed trust the words of Jesus' Holy Spirit, without knowing those words come from Jesus. And, if they trust Jesus' words, then they are placing faith in Jesus Himself, though they have never heard the name of Jesus with ears of flesh. So the faith of their spirits is not conscious, not known in the minds of their flesh. Yet that faith of their spirits is a very real saving faith, as Paul clearly declares. For the label that we give a person and call his “name” is not as important as the attributes and character represented by his real “name.” We are saved by the authority, power, love and other attributes of Jesus. All of these do the works of Jesus. The English word “Jesus” is a label used to point to Him, and can do no good works. Now, if a Stranger saves someone, what does it matter if that Stranger does not reveal the word used as a label for others to call upon Him? With or without knowing His name, He can do His works for those He loves. So many churches place faith in a man-invented god and man-invented “Jesus,” an artificial “christ” who cannot save them. And their “churchy” faith is actually a trust in man and in false idols created by men, including an idol they call “Jesus.” So all they have is a label or word, the name “Jesus.” But they have neither the real Jesus nor His works in their hearts. At the same time, many who are outside the church and without the word “Jesus” in their vocabulary, are truly being saved through real faith in the real Jesus. Without knowing the name “Jesus,” without hearing the words of the Bible, without men preaching and without attending church, they are saved.
Jesus always has been faithful and has always been saving God's elect children, teaching them how to love rightly, whether or not they consciously realize it is Him. All the elect, even as little children, hear Jesus’ voice in their hearts, although often without consciously knowing it is His Spirit speaking to their spirits. For salvation is not something that depends on any man. It solely depends upon our God, Jesus. Yes, a true priesthood, a real church, can always greatly enhance the lives of God's elect and even the whole nation in which this priesthood might live. If the elect faithfully serve Jesus and do not worship man, Jesus will make them His priests and work through them. And a real, faithful church turns every elect soul towards Jesus, to esteem and serve Him through real truth, so there can be true inner growth and real loving fellowship with the genuine communion of all elect spirits. But, for salvation itself, such a priesthood is not essential. Salvation builds God’s priesthood. It is not the other way around. It is backwards and blasphemous to say a human priesthood causes our salvation.
Unfortunately, almost none of the churches in history have ever served Jesus as a faithful priesthood, or served the world as His light, acknowledging Jesus as their only Lord and Head. Every true church, like the one established through the apostles, was usurped by a false church operating entirely through minds and bodies of flesh, by false churches that have done almost nothing but hamper Jesus' work of salvation, by turning the faith of God's people towards men and the flesh, by turning spirits away from God's Spirit, away from the real Jesus. Of course, some churches read God's Word to the people. But then they nullify those very words with the words of men. So, to fully grow spiritually, through the real salvation from the real Jesus, our spirits must once more go directly to Jesus in real prayer and in real truth, to serve Him as our only Lord and only God. Jesus must now become our only Head Teacher, granted the final word in all matters of life and faith for all people.
We are not put here on earth to build up worldly kingdoms for human men, institutions of men called churches, whose main purpose is to stroke the egos of men. True elect want to build up the kingdom of God. If we want to serve as priests of our God, we must no longer serve men, esteeming them and advancing their teachings, as though they were gods. We worship only God. Thus, we esteem only our Lord Jesus and advance His truth alone. None of God's true children were called to ensure that the wills of men might be done on earth. But all the elect are called to know the will of our God, to do it on earth even as it is done in heaven, to make parts of this earth into heaven. Let the kingdoms of men—with all their denominations, mega-churches and television ministries, with all their proud hierarchies of men and multimillion-dollar business ventures—fall by the way. We don't need them.
One thing is needful for all those with elect spirits born from God our Father, for all whose hearts inherently long to know His real truth. And that one needful thing is to sit at the feet of Jesus as His disciples, to learn directly from Him, acknowledging Him as our only Teacher and Head. Therefore:
“Watch out that no one is leading you people away (as captured slaves) through philosophy which is empty delusion, according to the precepts of human beings, according to the orderly principles handed down from the world order, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8, ALT).37
Paul, an apostle (“one sent out by the Lord Jesus on a mission”), was writing this letter to Gentile converts in the Roman Empire, where various sects of middle Platonism were immensely popular. And very few of these Gentile converts had any background of solid and true biblical teachings. But all heard the precepts of Platonism bantered about every day, all day, everywhere they went. So we can easily guess what kind of philosophy Paul was warning them about. He was telling them to keep away from the humanistic philosophies of the Roman Empire, namely the sects of middle Platonism.
The most popular pagan philosopher of that time, and all time, was Plato. And, like almost all the Greek and Roman philosophers, Plato was a syncretist. That is, Plato created his philosophies by combining teachings from various other philosophers and religious teachers. Then the so-called “church fathers” did this as well. They invented a new “Christianity” by syncretizing the teachings of middle Platonism (which included Platonic, Stoic and Aristotelian philosophies) with the words of the Bible. They pretended the Bible was a form of Platonism, made it artificially support their new sect of Platonism. But make no mistake, Platonism was the one and only foundation upon which that new church was built. The Bible was made to conform to Platonism, not the other way around. And even if it were the other way around, their religion would still be false, for it would be a corrupted and false version of Christianity, totally unacceptable to Jesus, our God. So the early church became a sect of Platonism, not a merely a heretical sect of Christianity. They strove to invent a new religion that would be friendly to pagan Rome and at complete enmity with God Himself, a religion that appealed to Satan's world order, hoping that people would esteem them and pay them to teach it.
Frequently, like many other Platonists, the “church fathers” and medieval religious leaders denied the needs of their flesh, fasting and even punishing their bodies. This made the people sympathize with them. The fasting sometimes induced visions too, in their depraved minds of flesh, which also impressed the people and built up esteem for these men in the eyes of the people. However, the only real purpose for all this self-denial or asceticism was to make them outwardly appear to be religious.
Of course, such fleshy actions can never actually bring anyone's spirit closer to God, or God closer to them. Still, by doing such things, it made the people think these men were closer to God and God was closer to these men. Then these men also esteemed certain ones among them in the hierarchies they developed to rule their false churches, even while their inwardly arrogant leaders, who thought they could manipulate God through rituals and prayers, practised a false humility through belying words and “lowly” deeds of the flesh, like washing the feet of others. So the highest ranking men in these hierarchies were the most politically astute manipulators of all. Then they invented elaborate, pagan-like rituals of the flesh, to make the people think they were gaining the privilege of partaking in deep and powerfully spiritual things. Of course, it was all fake and meaningless. Thus, Paul said:
“Let no one defraud you, wilfully insisting on asceticism and the practice of cultic devotion by those delivering messages, delving into what is experienced and remembered, [each] puffed up without cause through his mind of flesh and not laying hold of the Head, out of whom all the body, through the joints and ligaments, is being fully supplied and driven together, growing the growth of God” (Col. 2:18-19, ALT).
Paul warned God's people against doing exactly what these “church fathers” and medieval religious leaders did after the apostles had died. Yet most of what churches did and still do was based on these very same practices, now modified to accommodate current trends. After the apostles died, no one remained to keep “the Head” as their only Head. No church took Christ as their only Head Teacher. The true church had become very weak through its humanistic reliance on men, and unable to stop the Platonic syncretists from sabotaging the church. So leaders of the false Platonic sect bullied their way into the church and completely took over the church, hopelessly corrupting it to the point where it became nothing but just another pagan Platonic sect using Christianized terms. These Platonic theistic humanists ruled as the heads of the churches without opposition, establishing their religious kingdoms for themselves. They took power over the people and over the salvation of the people, usurping Christ's rule. Then, to maintain power over the people, they rewarded their most faithful disciples with positions of power and esteem too. So steep hierarchical structures were built up.
Since the people at the bottom of the hierarchy thought they depended on those “superior” men to save them, and passively sat by to hear lectures uttered to them, as inferior servants of their “lords,” they no longer actively worshipped by serving Christ as their only Saviour and Lord. They could not serve as priests in any real capacity, calling Jesus Himself to give each one a calling. Although they dutifully professed Jesus to be their Saviour and Lord, they actually trusted only in men to save them and to rule their hearts, not Jesus. They placed their faith entirely in man as the rulers of their own destinies. A complex hierarchy of men were their saviours and lords. And this remains the state of the church today. Just as Israel, in times before the Messiah, remained totally unfaithful throughout most of its history, so too has the New Covenant church remained tragically unfaithful to this day.
In light of what has been happening throughout history, I cannot emphasize enough the need for God's children to go directly to Jesus, instead of to men. Only our living and resurrected Jesus can make us into His disciples and into His true priesthood. All the very spirits of the elect must go to His Spirit. And their minds of flesh must not go to men to find either salvation or a calling into the priesthood that our Lord calls His church. Only Jesus can give our spirits any ability to rule our irrational and dishonest minds of flesh, in a way that builds God's kingdom on earth. And, by itself, the foolish and inept intellect of the brain of flesh cannot possibly comprehend the truths of God, nor honestly interpret and apply these truths to earthly matters. So the very spirits of the children of God must approach the Spirit of Jesus for all this. They must learn directly from Jesus with their far more rational and intelligent minds of their spirits. There can be no intermediary between a child of God and Jesus. We cannot pray to any human “saint,” nor any other entity. We must go straight to Jesus.
Since a man can never, ever adequately take charge of anyone's salvation, a man cannot take any disciples for himself, nor take credit for anyone's salvation. Rather than make disciples for himself, every true preacher must turn all people to Jesus, to have Jesus become their foremost Teacher, their only Head, the only Lord with authority to make all final decisions in all matters of life and faith:
“But you are not to be called rabbi [here Jesus forbids any mature male disciple (elder/pastor) in His church to allow the people to call him by any title of esteem such as ‘Rabbi John,’ and ‘rabbi’ is equivalent to titles like ‘pastor,’ ‘reverend,’ ‘elder’ and so on], for you have one Teacher [This refers to a διδάσκαλος, a teacher of doctrine, one who proclaims truth, explains its full meaning and trains disciples to practice wise principles pertaining to a good life and true faith. Jesus is the only διδάσκαλος in the whole church, the only Teacher with final decision-making authority in all matters of life and faith. Also, this term is equivalent to the title ‘doctor,’ which means ‘teacher’ in Latin.], and you are all brothers. [‘Brother’ is used in this context as a technical term referring to fellow disciples of the one and only Teacher.] And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ. [Here the term translated as ‘instructor’ is καθηγητής, referring to anyone who leads, guides or makes judgements for others, literally any kind of teacher, judge, ruler, guide or leader of any kind. In other words, Jesus is here forbidding any kind of title of esteem that sets anyone apart from the others. Jesus commands us to call each other by our names, just as people called the apostles by their names (Peter, Paul, John, James and so on). The people even called Jesus by His name alone, and seldom called Him ‘Rabbi,’ ‘Pastor’ or ‘Doctor Jesus.’] The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mat. 23:8-12, ESV).
“Now I want you to understand that the Messiah [Jesus] is the Head [the only Teacher and Lord with authority to make all final decisions] for every mature man, yet the mature man is a head [bearing the quality of headship] for a mature woman, while God is Head [bearing the quality of headship] for the Messiah” (I Cor. 11:3, ALT).
I repeat, God's Word tells us to “watch out that not anyone is leading you ... according to the precepts of human beings” and “not according to Christ.” For we should be “laying hold of the Head, out of whom all the body ... is being fully supplied and driven together, growing the growth of God.” The reason for this is that “Christ is the Head for every mature man.” This confirms that the teaching and command of Jesus in Matthew 23:8-12 was still practised by the apostles long after the death and resurrection of Jesus. For the Head of all the brothers, all the male disciples, is the Teacher. So we still live by that teaching: “You have one Teacher, and you are all brothers,” and “you have one Instructor, the Christ.” And we can call none of our own teachers by titles like ‘rabbi,’ ‘pastor,’ ‘father,’ ‘doctor’ or anything else that sets them apart from our other brothers. Of course, almost all churches like to invent nonsense to try to nullify these direct commands and teachings of Jesus. But, clearly, these words all apply to the true church forever, and can never be honestly dismissed as irrelevant to the modern church. For these teachings are essential for our salvation. There can be no salvation unless we make Jesus our only Teacher. For, if Christ is not the only Teacher and Lord of each individual in the church, then the principal salvation promise of the New Covenant in Christ Jesus cannot be fulfilled. Our salvation is by God fulfilling His promise that He Himself will write His laws, precepts and teachings upon our hearts. The only way we can be saved is if God Himself personally teaches His ways to our spirits in our hearts. Therefore, since Jesus is God, this teaching must be done by Him and by Him alone. Any interference by any man or woman will only hinder or outright stop the process of salvation. So, if any church calls a teaching elderly man by a title of esteem, such as “Pastor Jim,” it is not a real church at all, and that church is actually striving to hamper or stop God's own real works for our salvation. Of course, on the judgement day, Jesus will indeed save all of the true elect trapped by that deceiving church. However, He will need to save those deceived and deluded ones through the painful “fire” of His rebuke. So avoid such churches!
Those men who make themselves into “pastors,” “fathers” and spiritual guides waste the time and lives of the elect, making their lives count for nothing, by causing them to follow men instead of Jesus. All true preachers do just what the apostles did, call all the elect to become Jesus' disciples.
While Jesus walked in a body of human flesh on earth, the main focus of His ministry was to make and teach “disciples.” He came as a Teacher and Rabbi, as the Head of many disciples, who were His body of people, the true church. Jesus alone was the true Head of that body of people, while He lived in a limiting body of flesh. And now that Jesus rose from the dead and lives, He still serves as their one and only Head Teacher. But now Jesus can fulfil the promise of the New Covenant salvation in a far more powerful way, by speaking directly to the spirits of all His disciples individually and personally. He no longer speaks in a way that is filtered through their dull ears and rebellious minds of flesh. Now Jesus can personally and directly teach each and every individual disciple, all day and every day. Now we can truly learn to be His functional and effective body on earth, serving as His own mouth that speaks to the people, and as His own hands that help the people with their spiritual, emotional and physical needs, as we do all in love and in His name alone. Now Jesus can even grant spiritual gifts to many bodies in His body of His church, to His royal priesthood. He can now let His most trusting disciples prophesy His words and vicariously perform His supernatural works of love, many compassionate miracles. Before Jesus ascended, He could only let the Jewish prophets and a few disciples act in His name (in His authority and power) on rare occasions. But now He is able to permanently use all His disciples for His works, by His personal training of individual, faithful souls.
So, now that Jesus rose from the dead into heaven, He still lives to be our Teacher and Head, even in a far more personal and effective way than He did while He walked in a body of flesh on earth. But, if men usurp His role, and make themselves into the heads of churches, Jesus must abandon those churches. For those churches cannot be allowed to be Christ's body, since the real works of God can never be done through the authority and power of any man's name, or through the name of a human institution headed by men. To attempt to do works of God by the power, will and authority of one’s own name, or any human name, is to practise theistic humanism, not Christianity. True Christians do God’s works in Jesus’ name alone, according to His commands, power, authority, will and teachings.
Even the so-called “spiritually gifted” churches—with charismatic leaders who teach people to pray from their minds of flesh, then falsely “prophesy” according to their own imaginations, and may even sometimes work miracles through the power of deluding demons who take souls captive to endless cycles of meaningless emotional “washings” of the mind of the flesh—are actually theistic humanists. For all that is done in their churches is done through the flesh of human beings, and all their lords and heads are human beings. God has no say there. Only if a church truly follows Christ as their only Lord and only Head, and does all things (whether common or miraculous) according to His will, for the teaching and training of their spirits, can a church function as the hands and mouth of Jesus on earth. Only if Jesus does His works, according to His will, through His people, can those people perform the very same works He did on earth when He walked in a body of flesh among us.
If some might manage to work “miracles” according to the wills of their own fleshy minds, those works will be either fake or else demonic, and those workers will not truly belong to the real Jesus. They are not real Christians, not real disciples of Jesus, for they do not do