We share the Gospel of Christ as sinners, but Jesus embodies Holiness

John 1:19-28

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

• Who are the followers of Christ compared to the churches of today?
• Followers of Christ are not a messiah nor special prophet.
• As Christians, we identify as a voice in the wilderness sharing Jesus Christ.
• We share the Gospel of Christ as sinners, but Jesus is the embodiment of Holiness.

Who are the followers of Christ compared to the churches of today? “Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” John 1:1 The Levites were the ministers of the church (carrying out the law of the book of Leviticus), and the priests were the head ministers of the Levites. They were very concerned about who John was because John was teaching something different than what they were, and John had a lot of followers. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are saying something different from what the ministers of today’s churches are saying, we are talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

While we Christians talk about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the atonement He made for the remission of sin and eternal life, that is not being heard from the churches of today. The churches have become a part of the world by adopting the community-as-family frame of mind, instead of coming apart from the world and adopting a devotion to God through Jesus frame of mind. They serve humanism rooted in the image and mark of the beast. They welcome the thing which forms what they think, feel, and do which enables the image of the beast to live and speak through them. What they are saying and doing conforms them to the standards of the “democratic” society of the beast. They are conformed to their role in society by being synchronized to the mark of the beast.

Followers of Christ are not a messiah nor special prophet. “He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” John 1:20 John plainly said that he is not the Christ. As followers of Jesus, we are sharing His testimony and telling people to prepare for when He comes back, but we are not Him. “And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah? He said, “I am not “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” John 1:21 The ministers questioned whether John was a special prophet, and like John, we also reply that we are not a messiah nor even a special prophet. The message we have to share is from the Holy Bible, a message any person can read for themselves.

As Christians, we identify as a voice in the wilderness sharing Jesus Christ. “Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” John 1:22 We live in a world today which makes it very difficult to identify ourselves as being a follower of Jesus Christ. What do we say about ourselves in a “democratic” community dominated by those who live for the thing which forms what they think, feel, and do? We say what John the Baptist said,

“He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,”’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” John 1:23 John quoted a prophet in describing who he was, and he was just someone out in the wilderness preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ. As followers of Jesus, that is exactly who we are, we are on the outside of a world that doesn’t believe God, they discard the need for Christ, and trample on the Holy Spirit. We are simply a voice in the wilderness quoting what is written in the Bible. The message we share is the need to reconcile to God by the remission of sin through Jesus Christ in preparation for when He comes back.

We share the Gospel of Christ as sinners, but Jesus is the embodiment of Holiness. “Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John 1:24-25 The only people allowed to claim authority relating to the Scriptures were those such as the Pharisees, the ministers of their day. They questioned John’s authority to baptize. Today, the authority of the followers of Christ to bring people to Him has being stripped from society. The Gospel of Christ has been taken out of the churches and the authority of Christ doesn’t exist in government policymaking, nor in the educational system, nor anywhere else in society.

“John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” John 1:26-27 The answers John gave to the church ministers of that day are the same answers we can repeat today. They do not know Jesus Christ, and He is supposed to be central to any preaching, teaching, and spiritual fellowship. Jesus is coming back, and there is not one person who is above the need to prepare for His arrival. Every one of us have fallen short of the Holiness of God but we are justified by His grace through Jesus Christ.

“These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.” John 1:28 These things are happening today!

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1