• “the gospel” 95,300,000 results
• “the gospel message” 6,550,000 results
• “the gospel of Jesus Christ” 46,300,000 results
• “the gospel of the kingdom of God” 1,320,000 results
• “the true gospel” 1,490,000 results

How many different “gospels” do you suppose are represented there? I can tell you one thing for sure: I’ve scoured the internet looking for the gospel as I see it and have yet to find it. And if one is willing to play games with the truth and can believe that close is good enough, then find a gospel that includes the words “God”, “Jesus Christ”, “sin”, “salvation”, “love”, “forgiveness”, and “eternal life” and your search is over. But you might as well make up your own gospel, because unless you get it straight from God himself, that’s what you’re doing anyway.

By the way, what brought you here? A search for the truth? Curiosity? Looking for trouble?

If you’re looking for a fight, you should know that your ancestors attempted to change our Lord’s mind and failed, so they attempted to kill him and failed at that too. As we are witnesses, he is alive and saying the same things he has always said. So I’m not saying we won’t fight with you; we might have no alternative. What I am saying is that you would be wise to know who you are picking a fight with. Our Lord is lord of your lord, so we can not lose a fight with you. Besides that, our message is one of peace and good will. We mean no one any harm.

You’re not the first to ask questions, so I’ll ask them for you:

Question: So why do you think that the gospel you believe is the only true gospel?

Answer: Because I believe it.

Question: Why should I believe what you believe?

Answer: Only you can answer that question.

Question: Am I wrong if I do not agree with you?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So everyone who disagrees with you is wrong?

Answer: So you’re point is that I’m wrong unless I agree that someone else is right? Would I be right if I agreed with you? If I agree with you could I then say that I am right and those who disagree with me are wrong?

If you were sure of what you believe you probably would not be here, or you probably would not have wasted the time to read this far. So let me ask you some more questions:

1. Do you know why you believe anything?
2. Are you your own creator? (Because either you are your own creator or you have always believed someone else. You don’t know anything but what you are told.)
3. Do you know who taught you what you now believe?
4. Are you looking to be right, or are you looking to be sure?

You’re the judge. You live or die by the judgments you make. So you tell me: am I right, or am I wrong? Are you sure?

Have you ever been sure you were right and then become just as sure that you were wrong about what you were sure was right? It’s one thing to be sure and another to be right. What one needs is to be sure that one is right.

What I believe and present as the true gospel is not just some “sound bite” of what Jesus teaches, or a “get out of hell free” pass. It’s the only Way to be sure of the only Truth, which to know is Life.

You don’t need to make an accurate judgment of me, you need to make an accurate judgment of yourself. You live or die on account of what you believe, not what someone else believes. You’re the one who needs to be right.

The gospel I’ve been and am being taught – what I believe and am telling you is nothing more or less than God’s unconditional promise to make you as right as he is. The God who made you in the first place, the God who gives you a life that you must live right or wrong can make you right. If you don’t trip over that idea, then you should read on or contact me.

Surely you agree that believing is not optional, that believing truth or lies is not optional, that being right or wrong is not optional, that you can’t believe anything other than what you believe (i.e., can not believe and not believe the same thing at the same time), and that you have always believed someone else.

Understand what I am saying: if you believe that you decide what you believe, that you decide what is true and what is false, then you believe that you are your own creator. You worship and serve yourself rather than your creator. You don’t have any alternative but to trust yourself. And regardless of what you say about salvation being by God’s grace alone (if you believe what most folks we encounter believe), you also believe that you make yourself his child.

God can not tolerate rivals. You know you did not create yourself; you did not make you a believer of anything. You believe what you are taught. You have been believing someone else from the beginning. Who have you been believing? It isn’t God you’ve been believing or we would not be having this conversation. If you knew him you would know me; you would get what I’m saying.

If you do not agree with what I have said thus far there are two other things of which I am sure regardless of what anyone else thinks, including the God in whom I believe: I am, and I am not my own creator.

On these two points the God of the Bible, the God and father of the Lord Jesus Christ and I agree. Furthermore, the God of the Bible claims to be the creator of all that exists, including me. He is and is the creator of all that I can know anything about. He is the creator of those who know anything about him and what he has created, including themselves.

The Bible adequately addresses and explains the things of which I am most certain. Furthermore, the good news (gospel) is that if I agree with him about his son, Jesus Christ, God has made me a believer; he has given me the right to become his child, a child exactly like Jesus Christ, who is exactly like his Father. The gospel is the good news of my salvation from believing the lies that offended, angered and alienated me from my Creator.

The message from God which I have been told is that because of God’s anger I should be dead, but I’m not. I am not dead and this world full of evil people like I was is not destroyed yet because God is merciful and kind and wants me to live; he is still creating and raising children. God could have left me in the dark about himself and me. But he sent Jesus Christ, made sure that I heard about him, and through him not only expresses his forgiveness and love, but is revealing the truth about himself, about me, and his purpose in creating me (which so far as I know at this point is that he wants companions – friends who share the pleasure of being who he is).

Not only this, but Jesus Christ, who has always been my Lord though I did not know it, and who is the Lord of all that exists, is in charge of instructing, correcting, rebuking and encouraging me so that I grow up into what God created me to be. If God is for me, who can be against me?

What have I said? I’ve said that I believe what I do because my Creator has made and is making a believer of me. I worship him, not me. I trust him, not me.

Do I need the agreement of others to know that I am right? No, I do not.

So why am I telling others what I believe? Well, for one thing it’s hard to keep a friendship secret, and impossible when the friend is the most influential being there is. For another thing, my family is looking for it’s lost members.

I’ve explained why I believe what I do. I rest my case with God. If you disagree, can you give me a better answer than I’ve given you as to why I should not believe what I do? (That’s a rhetorical question. No such answer exists. All you can do is tell me what about man or history or something makes it impossible for God to do what he said he is going to do and is doing. But if it would make you feel better to get it out, then contact me.)

If you see your spirit in me – if you agree with what you read on this site you might be a child of my Father, your Creator. Let’s get together and see if we can get along with one another. If we can, we’ll be friends forever.

For further reading:

• Just Another "True Gospel"?
• The True Gospel
• The Gospel of God’s Love
• What God Wants

The gospel of Christianity is a message created and believed by the worshipers of man. To ensure successful deception it is a lie compiled using the words of Scripture, and endorsed by a great number of charismatic messengers who masquerade as ministers of Christ while unwittingly serving Satan.

This man-made gospel of Christianity correctly asserts that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, that the wages of sin is death, that Christ died for sinners, and that all who believe in and confess faith in Jesus Christ will be saved. It also correctly asserts that salvation is by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

However, for all of it’s correctness it portrays a false concept of God’s purpose and work in saving the objects of his mercy. That the gospel of Christianity is not the good news from God is plainly demonstrated in that the salvation it proclaims is not the work of God which accomplishes his purpose. Those who believe the gospel of Christianity insist that due to the weakness of man they must fall short of God’s glory for as long as they dwell on earth.

The true gospel, or good news proclaimed by God through the Lord, Jesus Christ is the announcement of the arrival of the time set by God to fulfill the new promise he made to the descendants of Abraham, his chosen people. Through his prophets God refers to the time issued in by Jesus Christ as “the year of the Lord’s favor”.

During the time beginning with the coming to earth of his first born son, Jesus Christ, and through his virgin birth, sinless life, unjust death, burial, resurrection and crowning as the Lord of all, God fulfills the promise he made through the prophets of making new creatures like Jesus Christ of those who believe in and receive him. In fulfilling this unconditional promise God creates a family of righteous and holy persons like himself with whom he can and will enjoy fellowship forever, beginning while they are in the body on the earth.

Though the scriptures used in the gospel of Christianity are true and an essential part of the full message of the true gospel, the message of Christianity does not begin to comprehend the gospel of the kingdom of God fulfilled in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who believe it do not know God whom to know is eternal life. They are not saved.

By contrast, those who hear and believe the good news that the time of the Lord’s favor and the fulfillment of his promise has come realize the purpose of their Creator in creating them, which is eternal fellowship with him as those whom he has made like him. They are those who as The Apostle Peter instructed, “Continue to pay attention [to the words of the prophets] as you would to a light that shines in a dark place as you wait for day to come and the morning star to rise in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1.19, GWT)

(1) “American” is the name of one of the world’s philosophies, all of which are the expression of man’s worship of himself rather than his Creator.
(2) “Christianity” is a term coined by unbelievers which is neither found in the Scriptures nor accurately used when speaking of Christ’s teachings. The very term misrepresents and distorts the person and work of the Lord, Jesus Christ, who is The Truth. None who know the Lord Jesus Christ speak of him in terms which diminish him to mere ideas which can then be debated and manipulated by men as if he were one of the world’s many hollow and deceptive philosophies.

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live for a long time in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20.12, GWT)

Who in America, if not the world, is not familiar with this command? It is repeated in Deuteronomy 5.16, and referred to by Jesus Christ as recorded in Matthew 15.4, 19.19, Mark 7.10, 10.19 and Luke 18.20. And it is repeated by The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6.2.

It goes without saying that all persons, including Adam and Eve, are the children of parents. So this command is for everyone.

It also goes without saying that the God who gives the command is the judge of those who obey or disobey his command. The command given by God is improperly used when used by disobedient parents in an effort to coerce obedience from their disobedient children with the threat of God’s punishment.

Children who honor God are an honor to their parents regardless of whether or not their parents honor God.

Every person who fears God and wants to please him wants to understand and obey God’s command to honor one’s parents. Those like us who have had to disagree with their parents and their upbringing in order to honor God and have his approval can be especially devastated by the charge that they are disobeying God’s command in the guise of seeking his approval. If not correctly understood this issue of honoring one’s parents can be an obstacle to obeying him.

Honor Hon”or, v. t. 1. To regard or treat with honor, esteem, or respect; to revere; to treat with deference and submission; when used of the Supreme Being, to reverence; to adore; to worship. 2. To dignify; to raise to distinction or notice; to bestow honor upon; to elevate in rank or station; to ennoble; to exalt; to glorify; hence, to do something to honor; to treat in a complimentary manner or with civility. [1913 Webster] – From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

From birth we were indoctrinated in the evangelical protestant sub-culture of American doctrines and traditions. Among other things we believed that we were Christians by virtue of our confession of faith in Jesus Christ. We believed that we had God’s approval (the forgiveness of our sins) and the promise of eternal life. Some twenty years ago, as adults with children of our own, we found it necessary to examine ourselves to determine if we actually had God’s approval; to determine if we really were God’s children; to make our calling and election sure. We ultimately concluded that we were believing lies. We confessed and repented of our sins. This did not and has not pleased our parents.

From the decision to examine ourselves to the present we have been under seemingly incessant attack from within and from without. Among the accusations against us is that in our attempt to honor God we were disobeying God’s command to honor our parents. The following is a brief look at the teachings through which God has delivered us from our accusers and given us comfort.

1. The fact is that we had honored our parents by believing what they taught us. We want our parent’s approval. It was not until we challenged and abandoned their faith that the charge of dishonoring our parents was made.
2. The fact is that we love our parents and want no less for them than we want for ourselves.
3. The fact is that wanting to assure ourselves that we were honoring God should have pleased our parents and brought them honor.
4. The fact is that we take our parent’s convictions more seriously than they do.
5. We have honored and still honor our parents because by their words and actions they taught us that it is acceptable to disagree with them, because among other things:
   • no one on earth can accurately judge another or know God’s will for another;
   • the individual’s relationship to God is a private matter;
   • one should always do what one thinks is right in God’s sight regardless of the opinions of others;
   • one should trust and follow God alone and no one on earth;
   • no one on earth has the only accurate interpretation of the scriptures;
   • no one on earth is perfect;
   • that as Americans we have the God-given right not to worship him or to worship him as we choose;
   • that they wanted us to grow up to “think for ourselves” and “be independent”;
   • (It chaps me that American parents teach their children these things and then fault them for believing and doing what they teach.)
6. The example of Jesus Christ: he came as the savior of all mankind, including his parents and forefathers, none of whom were worthy of his honor but all of whom owe him honor. If he dishonored his parents by disagreeing with them in order to save them, then he is disqualified on account of his sin against God to be the savior of his sinful parents.
7. The teaching of Jesus Christ:
   • “Don’t think that I came to bring peace to earth. I didn’t come to bring peace but conflict. I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A person’s enemies will be the members of his own family. The person who loves his father or mother more than me does not deserve to be my disciple. The person who loves a son or daughter more than me does not deserve to be my disciple.” (Matthew 10.34-37, GWT)
   • “[Jesus] told another man, “Follow me!” But the man said, “Sir, first let me go to bury my father. But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You must go everywhere and tell about the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9.59-60, GWT)
   • “By his cross my relationship to the world and its relationship to me have been crucified.” (The Apostle Paul, Galatians 6.14, GWT)
8. We are spirits and children of God. God is our father. Those to whom God gives his spirit, the same spirit he has given us, are our family.

Are we saying that we have always shown our parents the respect they deserve? Of course not. We have been wrong for the manner in which we have conducted ourselves on several occasions. For this we have asked God’s and our parent’s forgiveness.

The fact is that we are alienated from our parents (and all others who disagree with us) by their beliefs, not ours. As followers of the Prince of Peace our beliefs are the only beliefs that will make peace among those who exist in God’s image.

Though we have been through hell on account of our parents and others we forgive as we have been forgiven and stand ready for reconciliation with any and all who are willing to confess and repent of their sins against our Lord and the children he loves.

What I’ve found is that I’ll have most all of the support and encouragement I need to share the American dream, which is the dream of a better life through material prosperity. You’ll be fine if what you want to be when you grow up is an American who shares the American dream. But you’ll catch hell in this land of alleged tolerance and religious freedom if you aspire to be a genuine child and friend of the most influential being in existence. No, I’m not being physically persecuted. But persecution is a spiritual experience, not a matter of physical abuse.

So from my point of view, something’s wrong here. And what’s wrong is not a mere matter of my imagination, or a problem I caused. All I’ve done is pursue a dream which is not the American dream, and which I thought I had the right to pursue with the encouragement and support of my neighbors. But the truth is, I live among hypocrites. I was indoctrinated in hypocrisy. I learned to be a hypocrite. And I learned it well.

The earth is the dwelling place of hypocrites. We exist in the image of the immortal God and live like mortal humans. America is no exception. This is true because the majority of Americans believe in the God of the Bible who claims to be our Creator, and who claims to have created us in his image. Not only that, but many claim to be Christians, which by any definition are those who believe in Jesus Christ. Remember him? He’s the one who according to the Bible claimed to be God while in a human body. America has what some call a Judeo-Christian heritage. Yet those who do nothing more than aspire to imitate him, let alone be genuine children of God, are on the outside looking in. Again, you’ll have no problem in America so long as your dream of being like Christ and being friends with God doesn’t interfere with the American dream – with human affairs.

So like all of humanity, and with enough light to see what we’re doing, the majority of Americans claim to be immortal spirits like their Father and Savior while thinking and acting like mortal humans. Those who exist in the image of God and live like humans are actors. That’s the definition of hypocrisy.

But my culture is not the only obstacle I face in pursuing my dream. All was well with the idea of being friends with God, of aspiring to actually know him, until I realized that in order to be friends and enjoy all of the benefits of a friendship with the most influential being in existence one must be like him. (Friendship with objects, or non-humans, is not satisfying, even if it is possible. God is certainly neither object nor animal, and neither am I. He is spirit and I am spirit. He knows and believes; I know and believe.)

No problem, the gospel has plenty to say about God creating us in his image, and about him changing – transforming us from the hypocrites we are into the spirits he created us to be; about him giving us the right to be his children. The Bible speaks of this as salvation. And it’s a transformation – a change that God himself makes, and that he makes for no good reason other than that he wants to. He’s kind! Besides that, he wants the friendship. As a matter of fact, he has such a passion for our friendship that he died to forgive us for offending him, giving us good standing with him, so that having been reconciled we can grow up and be friends.

One huge problem: humanity. Humanity, my own more than that of others, gets in the way of being like God and of experiencing his friendship. It’s a fine idea, and one which the scriptures, sound logic, and human experience endorse and encourage. But if the culture in which I live doesn’t get in the way of the dream, my own humanity does. Every time I turn around, I find that on account of the comfort of being human it’s too hard to be a spiritual being. I am often tempted and encouraged by everyone to abandon my dream on the grounds that the realization of it in this life is at best unreasonable, and at worst impossible.

I’ve attempted on many, many occasions to abandon the dream and return to what I’m most familiar with – to what comes naturally; to settle for being human. I’ve even pleaded with God to leave me alone. But the dream just won’t die! It’s like the dream owns me, I do not own it.

Is being human an obstacle which God can not overcome? No. Because as I have already said, God creates god. He creates God because he wants the friendship, because he is kind, and because he is the most powerful being there is. God’s passion for our friendship is greater than my love of being human, and greater than the love of others who want me to be the humans they think they are.

So, here I am, stuck with this dream, pressing on toward becoming like God and having his friendship. What can I say? I simply like the idea of being God, and of living in friendship with him forever. And besides, I grow weary of hating the dream that rules me. It’s not like there’s a future in being human! It’s a nothing to lose and everything to gain situation. It makes no sense to let go of what you know you can’t lose so that you can hold on to what you know you can’t keep.

I’m sure that one day I’ll realize my dream. I just don’t know when. “How long, Lord? How long? In the meantime, since this dream is apparently your gift, don’t allow me to be tempted. Instead, rescue me from the evil one who prevents me from realizing the genuine Christ-likeness and the friendship we both want by constantly throwing humanity in front of me. I ask this for all of those who dare by your kindness and power to share your dream for us. Thanks.”

Love must give. Love must give to others who can receive and give love. So Love created us in his image, put us in bodies on the earth, and gave an unloving spirit power over us. The unloving spirit is a liar. Using the environment in which we live, the unloving spirit who rules our spirits has convinced us that we are mortal spirits, that we are unlike our Creator in whose image we exist, and that life is something it is not. He has hidden the truth from us and we do not know where we came from, who we are, what we are doing here or where we are going. By the will of our Creator the lying spirit who rules us has made us hostile to Love and his purpose, and hostile to ourselves and those like us.

But in his time and because he loves us, Love sent the truth to the unlovable, unloving spirits on earth to save them from the lies of the unloving spirit whom they unwittingly believe. In order to show us the truth about ourselves and our Creator Love came to earth in a body like ours. The name of the firstborn son of Love is Jesus Christ. He came to his own and his own did not know or receive him.

Jesus Christ, the son of Love came to the place we inhabit in a body like ours; the habitat of the unloved, the unlovable and the unloving. He came to us and claimed to have been sent by Love, claimed to be Love, and claimed to have been sent to rescue us from the power of our unloving ruler. Jesus Christ claimed that he is the Way, The Truth and The Life. The Son of Love came to show those he loves The Way to Life by teaching us The Truth.

Every unloving spirit in a body on earth who receives and believes the Son of Love is given the right to become a son of Love just like Jesus Christ. Love rescues us from the power of the lying spirit whose lies we believe, Love forgives us for being unlovable and unloving, Love saves us from eternal separation from Love (which is death), and Love promises us his eternal Life. By his love and by believing the Son of Love instead of the lying spirit whom no one has ever seen, Love makes the those whom he created in his own image the children of Love.

All who receive and believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who has come in the flesh are god in the flesh exactly like him!

Love is building his Kingdom of Love; a kingdom in which all of the children have One Love. As children of love we are able to keep the command to love the Lord our God with all that He has given us, and our neighbors as ourselves. Those who obey this command to Love obey the entire law of Love, because Love did not make laws for himself but for the unloving spirits on earth. By simply believing Love by whom we are made the children of Love we are freed from the law and completely fulfill its requirements. As children of Love we love ourselves as God loves himself, love God, and love one another. To love one is to love all.

You have no doubt heard it said that we are stuck with our family but we pick our friends. The Kingdom of God is the best of both concepts. It is a group of friends with which we are stuck like a family. It is The Family of Friends.

Praise God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and all the children of Love who have loved us, made us to be Love and are conforming us to Love so that we have a permanent place in this eternal Family of Friends!

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13, NETfree)

If this is the first time you have heard this gospel and want to know more about us, contact us. If you agree with it, welcome to The Family of Friends! We’d like to know you.

Please see:

• Just Another "True Gospel"?
• The True Gospel
• The Gospel of God’s Love
• What God Wants

Yes, we have a “holier than thou” attitude. But the truth is we are no different than anyone else. The world has a “holier than thou” attitude and doesn’t know it. We simply see and admit to knowing the truth. Our accusers think one thing and say another; they do what we do and deny that they are doing it. They live in the dark because their thoughts are evil and despise us for bringing them out into the light.

We separate ourselves because God has separated us. So there is a sense in which our agreement with God separates us from those who do not know him and that our separation is, therefore, on “religious” grounds (though we hate “religion” and do not see ourselves as “religious” by the common definition or use of the terms). However, there are many examples of people separating from those with whom they disagree, like churches on every corner, prisons, divorce, private houses, personal property, etc.

Possibly the greatest example of a parting of the ways is The United States of America. This country was founded by those who parted ways. They embraced the lie that people could live together in tolerance of one another though they could not do it themselves or they would have remained where they were. Ever heard the expression “America: love it or leave it”? Either I’m crazy or that’s an “invitation” to part ways.

No one thinks anything of separation or parting ways until it comes to us, then all hell breaks loose! Why are others justified and even praised for parting ways while we are criticized and condemned for doing the same? Why do we have a “holier than thou” attitude for parting ways while others do not? Why are we frequently criticized for separating from or parting ways with those with whom we disagree?

Our simple, honest answer – the obvious truth: people part ways with one another when what they believe is more important to them than what those with whom they disagree believe. We are no different than anyone else. It’s the beliefs over which we part ways that makes us different from and offensive to those with whom we part ways.

We part ways with those who don’t know what we know; who don’t see what we see; who don’t believe what we believe. We part ways with those who have a different lord than we have. We part ways with those who agree with Satan and not God; with those who believe lies and not the truth; with those who love lies and not the truth. If they loved the truth they would love us and we would never have to part ways (which is what we would prefer).

Trouble is, the world doesn’t know that they are spirits agreeing with spirits whom they don’t see. If the world could see the spirits with whom they are agreeing and disagreeing they would part ways with Satan and agree with God like we do.

We part ways with those who are not relatives of God because we are relatives of God. We can not be relatives of both truth and lies, light and dark, life and death, right and wrong, good and evil – God and Satan. God has made us his relatives, and our relationship with him and his relatives is more important to us than our relationship to the relatives of Satan.

We part ways with those who disagree with us because we are spirits who take what we believe seriously. We are children of The Truth and do not like lies. We part ways with those who want to be what we once were and no longer want to be.

We part ways with those who love the lies we once believed because if we don’t stand our ground the one’s with whom we are parting might never find their way.

We part ways with those who disagree with us because if we don’t agree now we will most certainly part ways one day forever.

We part ways because we love peace and don’t want to live with people who bring conflict into our own minds. We are also peacemakers and make peace by parting ways so that we don’t create conflict with those who don’t want to agree with us.

Do you think we are wrong? Are you sure? If so, then the truth as you know it is that we are wrong. Do you want to be friends with liars; with those who will not agree with the truth you know? Come on! Show your love and agree with us! We’re not parting ways with you, you are parting ways with us. Can’t we be friends? Too bad if you want our friendship, because we don’t want to be friends with those who have your “holier than thou” attitude; with those who think they are better than us. (I’ve engaged in a bit of foolishness to make my point. Did I succeed?)

We part ways with those who disagree with us because the truth is that everybody parts ways with those with whom they disagree. At some point everyone comes to an issue in which they can not agree with even their closest friend or relative. Those who can’t work out their differences part ways. Parting ways began with God and Adam/Eve, and it’s been the story of mankind ever since.

Those who think that they can and who attempt to live with those with whom they disagree will find out one day that they will spend eternity in conflict with one another; that they will live forever with Satan. Not a pretty picture!

Be sure that we are not right about this! The truth is precise and unyielding. You don’t want to make a mistake on this one!

Finally, it takes two parties to part ways. We don’t part ways with anyone who doesn’t part ways with us; who doesn’t love what they believe more than they love what we believe. Anyone who doesn’t want to part ways with us can change their way of thinking and agree with us and we will never part ways – ever!

In order to free us from this present evil world, Christ took the punishment for our sins, because that was what our God and Father wanted. (Galatians 1.4, God’s Word)

There was a time when I believed a gospel (the “roman road” gospel of the evangelical protestants) that promised freedom (salvation) from punishment but not freedom from evil. In all my years of devotion and service to that gospel (of which I was an ordained minister) I never saw the truth. I was more evil than most because I was a minister of Satan masquerading as a minister of Christ. I was evil and deserved to be punished because though God created me to think and act like him, I thought and acted like a mortal.  I believed I was a mortal because I was under the control of Satan who lied to me and made me think that because I am in a body on the earth I am mortal. Though I was devoted I was misguided and disobeyed God because I did not think like him.

But in his kindness and at the proper time God taught me the truth that Jesus Christ not only died to take the punishment I deserve for believing Satan’s lies, but took my punishment in order to save me from thinking like a mortal and free me to think like him – exactly like Jesus Christ did while on the earth in a body like mine.

Those who accept Christ as the one who takes the punishment they deserve acknowledge that they are evil. Those who believe that Christ died in their place but who do not believe that Christ died for them to free them from evil are evil and deserve the punishment they will get.

God wants us to know and believe the truth like him. He has demonstrated his kindness and good will toward mankind by giving his Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to his firstborn Son, Jesus Christ, and sending him to earth in a body like ours. He did this to reveal the truth that we are spirits like him; that we are those who can and will know and believe the truth instead of lies. ”So Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you live by what I say, you are truly my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8.31-32, God’s Word)

Those who believe God are his relatives, having the same spirit and same relation to their Father that the Lord, Jesus Christ has. News doesn’t get any better than that!

Contrary to what most people believe (and what I once believed), faith is the evidence of God’s approval and not the means to it. We don’t get saved by God from God for doing or believing anything. We believe in Jesus because we have been saved from God by God. His anger at mankind is tempered by his love for his children.

Furthermore, contrary to what most people who call themselves Christians believe, Jesus Christ did not die for our sins against God so that those who believe in him could “go to heaven” after living on earth any way they choose. Jesus Christ, in willing obedience to his Father and for the joy God set before him, came to earth in a human body, lived and died in a human body, was buried and brought his human body back to life to demonstrate the power of thinking like and obeying God while in these bodies. Those who believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins but not for the power to obey God like Jesus believe in Jesus in vain.

So am I perfect? Don’t be silly. Of course not. God’s belief that I am his child is perfect, but I’ve got to be trained to think like him. I’m still learning what is true of my Father, my Lord, and my family. But on account of being in this body and thinking like a mere mortal for so long, I sometimes lose sight of the truth of who I am and give in to the temptation to think like I once did. But it doesn’t last long because I get disciplined for it. One of the greatest assurances that I am God’s child is that I get disciplined for thinking like a mere mortal. I’m even right for agreeing with God when I’m wrong! God will not tolerate his children’s disagreement with and disobedience to him. He wants children like himself, and that’s what he’ll have. Thank God!

My older brother, the Apostle Paul put the matter of his own perfection like this: “It’s not that I’ve already reached the goal or have already completed the course. But I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me. Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus. Whoever has a mature faith should think this way. And if you think differently, God will show you how to think. However, we should be guided by what we have learned so far.”  (The Apostle Paul, Philippians Chapter 3.12-16, God’ s Word)

Who I think I am is the most important thing in my life. It dictates everything else that I think. (And who I think I am is apparently pretty important to others since most do not like what I think of myself, and do not take kindly to me disagreeing with who they think they are!)

No one is a Christian because they are devoted to some concept of God or some concept of Jesus Christ. One is a Christian if they are devoted by God to his precise concept of himself and his children. God, my Creator, has made his precise concept of himself and of his children abundantly clear in Jesus Christ.

I am who God thinks I am. He thinks I am his child because in his kindness he has given me the knowledge and the love of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is everything to me. Jesus is who I want to be; Jesus is who I am. This is the truth that has set and is setting me free to be what God has created me to be. Because it is not who I think I am but who God thinks I am that is important. I agree with him about my older brother and Lord, Jesus Christ, and I agree with him about me. That’s why he sent Jesus Christ to earth as a human, and that’s why Jesus Christ agreed to come to earth as a human: to inform and convince God’s children to agree with him about themselves. Any wonder he calls it “good news”?

You anger God and me if you make his desire for me out to be evil. If you make me out to be evil because I share my Father’s desire to be like him as he has revealed himself in my Lord, Jesus Christ, you are in big trouble with my Father! Thinking that way will get you killed (not the body you live in but the spirit that is the real you). Believing the lie that it is wrong for us, those created in God’s image, to be like him is killing and will result in the total destruction of the human race. God, our Creator and my father, will take the life he has given those who offend and anger him by not agreeing with him.

If you want to disagree with God and make him angry and lose your life to the beloved lie that you are a mere mortal, you can do so with no objection or opposition from me. It’s your life. The lie you believe can not hurt me because I’m not believing it. I have no fear of my Father’s anger because he has saved me from this lie and set me free to know and believe every word that he communicates to me.

God loves me and I love him. Nothing has the power to destroy our love for one another.

Who am I? Thanks to God I am the son of God and servant of my Lord, Jesus Christ! If you know God you know me. If you don’t know me you don’t know God.