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A man preaches the
gospel to some atheists. They listen to him attentively and finally
agree that Jesus is the Messiah. Then he preaches the same gospel to
some Christians. But by the time he finishes, they want to lynch him.
Why would Christians want to kill him when atheists accept him? That is
kingdom dynamics.

Jesus preached to
unbelievers in a Samaritan city and many immediately believed he is the
Messiah (Jn 4:39-42). But when he preached to some Jews who “believed
in him,” they wanted to kill him (Jn 8:31/59). What truth of God might
provoke a more violent reaction from ostensible believers than from
unbelievers?

Adulterous Christians

Let me deal with
one here. Tell some Christians they are not sons of God and you would
get a distinctly un-Christ-like reaction. Tell them they are enemies of
the cross and they might decide to crucify you in retaliation.

When Jesus
encountered this kind of reaction during a discourse with some Jews
“who believed in him,” he said to them: “Why do you not understand my
speech? Because you are not able to listen to my word. You are of your
father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was
a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because
there is no truth in him” (Jn 8:43-44).

Paradoxically, his
opponents confirmed the veracity of this assertion that their father is
the devil by wanting to kill Jesus there and then.

Faith without works

Can a Christian
really be satanic? Yes indeed. Today, we often define a Christian
according to Paul’s standard which says: “If you confess with your
mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him
from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”
(Rm 10:9-10). But what many Christians fail to appreciate is that
Paul’s salvation yardstick is satanic precisely because it is
deceptively based on faith alone.

James is quick to
point out that if faith is the sole yardstick for salvation, then the
devil becomes a “Christian:” “You believe that there is one God. You do
well. Even the demons believe- and tremble! But do you want to know, O
foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” (Jam 2:19-20).

When Jesus asked
his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter declared that Jesus is
“the Christ, the son of the living God” (Mt 16:15-16). Jesus
immediately acknowledged that Peter’s response was inspired. He said to
him: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not
revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 16:17). In
effect, Peter was the first person in the bible to fulfil Paul’s
requirement of making a “confession unto salvation.”

A demonic faith

But a few verses
after Jesus’ acknowledgement of Peter’s inspiration, he tells his
disciples he is going to Jerusalem where he would be killed. When Peter
protests against this divine agenda, Jesus says to him: “Get behind me,
Satan! You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things
of God, but the things of men” (Mt 16:23). This reveals that, in spite
of Peter’s Pauline confession, he remained on the side of Satan and men
and not on the side of Christ and God.

This is the dilemma
of many of us who call ourselves Christians. We think we belong to
Christ because we answered an altar call and confessed Jesus as our
Lord and Saviour. But everything about us shows we are really of the
devil. The life we love is the one the devil gives. Our prayers are all
about getting the bread and fish that evil fathers of this world give.
The churches we attend are those of motivational preachers who provide
us with “five keys” and “seven strategies” for gaining this world.

This makes us mad
and furious at anyone who dares to preach the true gospel to us. We
abuse and persecute anyone who pricks our conscience and calls our
attention to the need to lay down our lives in order to gain the
kingdom of God.

Thus, day-in day
out, we betray Christ with a kiss. We call him our Lord and Saviour,
but our values, aspirations and lifestyles testify against us. They
speak eloquently that we are of the world and not of the kingdom. They
reveal that we are on Satan’s side.

Jesus says:
“Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple”
(Lk 14:33). But many satanic Christians insist Jesus does not really
mean what he says.

articleoffaith@234next.com

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