Sunday, May 5, 2019

Confessing Christ as Completely God and Man

2 John 1:7-11 
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.
9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

What do we confess to identify as believers and followers of Jesus Christ?  Who is He and what has He done?  Sound doctrine says that the only foundation is Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).  Christ is is God and man at the same time, the divine Word humbled Himself to be as us without losing who He always is (John 1:1-14, Romans 14:11, Philippians 2:5-11).  If we deny His divinity or His humanity, we are opposed to Him (1 John 4:2-3).  This is what false teachers, deceivers, do because it is the spirit of antichrist (opposed to Christ).  We who are His are not deceived by the lies that Jesus was just a good man or that He was God but only appeared to be a man.  If He was not a man, He could not suffer in our place and die to redeem us; if He was not God, He would have no power to raise Himself from the grave and resurrect us at the last day.  Therefore, anyone who identifies as Christ’s but does not remain in this key and true doctrine does not have Him.  They are not His.  The ones knowing Him for who He is has the Father in knowing the Son in this manner (John 8:19, 14:7).  When someone comes to teach us otherwise, we are not to welcome them in a false sense of tolerance or correctness, but clearly remain apart to avoid sharing in the evil teaching by identifying with them.  This clearly goes against many who think befriending false teachers or cultists who claim Christ but deny who He is is a good thing, but scripture is given as a warning to us here which we need to consider. 

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