Being A Christian Absolutely Is Enough!

I appreciate the Brothers in Christ and want to reason together. The more conferences that I attend the more I learn how little that I really know. This was the sum of what I learned in Decatur, Illinois. The ease, knowledge, and ability of other speakers to relate unto us through the Holy Ghost should humble every man in some manner. The work of the Kingdom of God is not about you or I but it is about Christ Jesus. With this thought in mind and in all humbleness of spirit I want to express a view unto the brethren.

I wonder why men are searching so hard for ways to identify themselves in Christ Jesus to others? Today we have so many names and denominations in what is supposed to be the Christian faith that it has become impossible to keep up with the definitions.

In the system of Christendom we have a never-ending quest to find a term that defines the exact faith of Christ that we believe in. In true Christianity the term Christ the anointed or the Messiah from God truly defines it all.

Example:

We have in the Baptist denominations the Southern Baptist, Freewill Baptist, Hard-shell Baptist, and etc. This pattern is set forth in all of the denominations including the Oneness. Of coarse none of these denominations existed in the beginning after Pentecost. There was no need to be known by the term Apostolic because the Trinity in the Christian faith did not exist. There is much more involved in the Apostles Doctrine than the revelation of the Oneness of God and to me this revelation is just the beginning.

The Apostolic Churches of today contain Pre-Tribulation believers, Mid-Tribulation believers, Post-Tribulation believers, and believers in the rapture, ones that do not believe in the rapture, future Millennium Reign believers and ones that do not believe in the Millennium Reign, Partial Preterist, and Full Preterist. The truth is that every Trinitarian doctrine outside of the Oneness of God is taught in most Apostolic churches. All of the above terms used in this paragraph are names and labels that the Trinitarians use.

Apostolic Word Ministries is a group of so-called Oneness believers for the rights of Homosexuals. These people have, as a whole, the same statement of faith as do all Apostolic. The so-called apostolic faith of the denominations and of men has evolved far away from the true teachings of the Apostles in our time. I never dreamed that I would ever hear of these Apostasies in my lifetime. I just want to be Christ-like!

The Roman Catholic Church believes and claims to be the Apostolic Church. It is stated in the Catholic Dictionary:

Apostolic Succession

Apostolicity as a note of the true Church being dealt with elsewhere, the object of the present article is to show:

·        That Apostolic succession is found in the Catholic Church.

·        That none of the separate Churches have any valid claim to it.

·        That the Anglican Church, in particular, has broken away from apostolic unity.

I believe when men try to identify who they are in Christ that a lot of times they lose their identity in Christ Jesus. We should be secure in our relationship with Christ Jesus and allow him to be identified through us. What name can I call myself that would express the pure love of God that I am to have, or the wisdom of God? What word can actually be more descriptive as to what I truly am in Christ Jesus than the word Christian?

In the spiritual sense I am Baptist, Church of God, Church of Christ, and everything that expresses the fullness of God, simple stated a Christian. I am a Christian or follower of Christ that walks according to the Apostles doctrine only according to the revelation that God has given me concerning the Apostles doctrine.

It is more than being Oneness, Apostolic, Partial Preterist, Full Preterist, Pre-Tribulation, or Post Tribulation. Labels identify divisions of faith! Who is truly in the Kingdom of God and who is not? How many of the ones that are in the immense number of Apostolic Denominations or different theologies know the true doctrine of the Apostles? It grieves me as to how much non-apostolic or true Christian doctrine is being taught by the ones that claim to be Apostolic. Calling ourselves Apostolic or by any other name does not identify us with Christ because our true identity is shown by becoming like Christ Jesus.

If Jesus were walking the earth today, which he is through us, he would take on no name of any. Jesus showed that he was Messiah or Christ through the power of the spirit. Jesus' followers did the same thing by having the same signs that followed Jesus follow them. They were the followers of the Messiah or the anointed one. It was the anointing of the Holy Ghost that identified them as Messiahians or Christians. It was not any word or label of man that proved anything.

Jesus' followers were called Christians at Antioch because of what was seen in them and this name alone identified them as followers of Jesus Christ. Today when most state that they are a Christian it is due to the ignorance of man, lack of power in Christ, and the true meaning of it sufficiency that it is not understood, and accepted for what Christian truly means. 

(Acts 11:26 KJV) And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

The Apostles taught Christ Jesus through the power of Christ and were known through the power of the Holy Ghost. Today, as a whole, the ones that claim to be apostolic are as divided, proud, overbearing, without power in God, and as confused as any other group. I make this statement with love and sadness.

Christians  - 5546. Christianos, khris-tee-an-os'; from G5547; a Christian, i.e. follower of Christ:--Christian. 5547. Christos, khris-tos'; from G5548; anointed, i.e. the Messiah, an epithet of Jesus:--Christ. 

Trinity is not in the word of God but neither did the Apostles call themselves by many different names for the purpose of identity. It was the signs and the wonders and Christ Jesus working through them that identified them. There will never be any enticing words of men's wisdom that will ever be able to identify what a man is that is secure in Christ Jesus. I make this statement through the pure love of Christ Jesus toward all men.

Paul left behind the prestige of being called a Pharisee and took on the identity of Jesus Christ through the power and demonstration of Jesus Christ working through him. I pray with all of my heart that you and I will excel far above the terms and definitions of men and be identified by the anointing of Messiah or Christ Jesus working in our lives.

I am not ashamed to be called Baptist, Apostolic, Church Of God, or Pentecostal; we are all of these things and more. Any truth that identifies me as a follower of Christ is welcome to me. To be labeled by the definitions of men means to be limited to much less than what we should be in Christ Jesus. 

(1 Cor 2:4 KJV) And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

When it is required for me to take a dictionary and look up what I am being called I do not want that label. Men still fence themselves in by limiting the fullness of what God's word or gospel is. Men are leaning to their own understanding. They want to be revealed unto others by terms defined by men that lose so much meaning of what it truly means to be a Christian or follower of Christ.

I am humbled and astounded at my ignorance when exposed to the true pattern of God and his ways. I am easily humbled when listening to fluent speakers and minds that seem to state things from memory so effortlessly. I realize that head knowledge is very impressive but heart knowledge is so necessary with the Lord Jesus Christ.

My desire is to love God more than any man ever has and that God will bless every man of God with more souls than I. It is not about you or I but it is about Jesus Christ and him alone. May the Lord Jesus Christ be lifted up and exalted above everything in our lives.

It is Jesus only that deserves to be glorified in all that we do. To be called a Christian and a true follower of Christ or the Messiah is enough for me. It truly is Christ Jesus that I want seen in my life and not me.

I humbly ask and desire your prayers toward my ignorance in the ways of the complete doctrine of Christ or the Apostles, which can only be received through God's word and demonstrated through the power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

God's ways are his ways and they are his ways alone in all of his wisdom. May the power of the Lord Jesus Christ be seen through us as flaming fires?

daniel