How to Identify God's People

How can you recognize the True Church of God (in a sea of confusion)?

There are 1.x billion people on the planet who call themselves Christians or followers of Christ. All read the same bible as you and me… Yet this tiny little group we call the church of God reads that same bible and has a very different set of teachings and beliefs. How could over a billion people with priests, ministers, universities, and mountains of biblical knowledge be wrong… while we are right? Wouldn’t the sheer weight of numbers be enough to convince you that you are the one who has it wrong… and they are the ones who have it right?

Matt 7:21-23 Jesus clearly taught that there would be MANY people who would acknowledge His supremacy but not have a place in the kingdom. They would preach in His name and even perform miracles but He would reject them. Why are they rejected? They are rejected because they do not do the Father’s will and they disobey His law… (anomia = no-law, lawlessness).

It is possible to be very religious in a big way but still miss out because you don’t have the full package.

Paul for example had always been very religious… very earnest in regard to what he knew of the truth… and very sincere in his desire to serve God… but he was also DEAD WRONG. Paul was so wrong in fact that he was hunting down members of the body of Christ and having them executed… Jesus Christ had to strike him down on the road… blind him… and say “Paul, why are you persecuting me?”

Phil 3:4-6 – Paul clearly had part of the truth but not the full package -  I Tim 1:12-13

Rom 10:1-3—Reason for the spiritual blindness of the zealous Jews

Zeal Without Knowledge

Our world is full of people who are sincere and zealous for God… but have been tricked into teachings and beliefs that mix the truth of God together with gross error… convinced they are right and sincerely believing they are serving Jesus Christ… but lacking understanding of the righteousness of God… and establishing their own definition of righteousness in its place.

False churches come in several different flavors all of which in one manner or another teach and persuade followers to dismiss or disobey God’s law as defined in scripture. They change or alter God’s commands as they see fit, leave out what they don’t like or don’t agree with, add elements that are nowhere found in scripture… and so forth.

Matt 15:9 – Leaders who believe and teach others to believe such things elevate themselves to a role only God can fill. When faced with the varying opinions of fallible men where do we turn? The only trustworthy word or revelation we have from God is the bible. That is how we know what God has to say about worship and obedience.

Deceived people can be earnest, sincere and religious

Most churches have strayed from the truth of God’s word and from His commandments… But they do indeed read their bibles and have learned enough about the purpose of Christ’s life, death and resurrection to understand some of God’s plan to save humanity. They seek to please God… but according to the traditions of men… rather than the pure word of the very God they seek to please.

Thoughts on how people are deceived regarding scripture

People assume that the themes in the Bible are easy to understand, that anyone can readily comprehend biblical truths.

Some are easily understood. But many scriptural themes and principles are also easy to misunderstand. This leads to a fundamental problem… because a person tends to see what he wants to see.

The Bible is written in a way that makes it ever so easy for anyone to close his eyes to what he prefers not to see and to shut his ears to what he would rather not hear. As a result, he can easily develop a distorted view of what the Bible really says and means.

Paul’s letters in the New Testament provide us with an excellent example of this. Speaking of Paul’s writings, Peter said they “contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16, NIV).

Is all their effort in vain?

No. When God pours out his spirit on all people… when all who have ever lived are made alive at the second resurrection… when understanding of the truth is made available without deception or distortion… they will have a head start… knowing the scriptures.

For example: at Pentecost 31 A.D. 3,000 people were added in a day… these people could be reached quickly because they were already grounded in the scriptures (also proselytes).

Even a partial knowledge of the truth brings people advantages and even blessings. We see this at work in our country… people (and in times past, the whole nation) are blessed for following what portions of the truth they perceive and practice. This too adds confusion to our world… even among members of the true church of God.

If they are so wrong doctrinally why would God bless them?

Rom 3:1-2 Jews held many inaccurate beliefs (like people so today) but the basic truths they were able to recognize and apply were a tremendous blessing to them and gave them a great advantage. Rom 11:23-24

But Without the Full Package, You Don’t Get the Full Benefit

Bible knowledge is almost always an advantage and a blessing. But to fully lay hold of God’s amazing promises you must learn and understand the bible correctly AND you must let scripture be your ultimate guide in belief and practice.

To make this important LEAP you need access to the Holy Spirit. To get that access you need the church of God. It is through baptism and the laying on of hands that you receive the Holy Spirit. Nor can you go off and do your own thing once you have received the H.S. You must continue to be taught the meaning of the scriptures from the church… adding to what you know… growing in grace and knowledge

That’s why it is important to find and stick with the true church of God

Acts 2:38 repent and be baptized… to get started you have to know what to repent of… sin. Which means you have to have (and believe) a working definition of sin… SIN = LAWLESSNESS.

If a mind has not been opened to understand scripture… for example, believing and teaching others that God’s law is null and void (contradicting Jesus own teaching)… that mind does not have a firm grasp on what sin is. If asked to define sin a member of the Church of God would simply quote scripture “sin is lawlessness” I John 3:4 but what verse can a person who teaches the law is null and void turn to?

How can they baptize for the remission of sins and lay hands upon them to receive the Holy Spirit? How then can they teach others about the ongoing need for repentance, conversion and putting on the mind of God?

Acts 19:1-8 – these people had been baptized, presumably they were earnest, sincere and trying to please God. But Paul figured that they needed to be baptized all over again. They had part of the truth… they had a baptism of repentance… meaning a commitment to living a biblically ethical life but they lacked knowledge… I would dare to call it fundamental doctrinal knowledge… regarding the work of Christ unto salvation.  

You need the whole package! You get the full package from the church of God.

The religious landscape is dominated by large and successful churches that claim to be followers of Christ… who are like those who cry out Lord! Lord! Jesus told us it would happen but it still creates confusion in our world and has misled many…. Even leading some of us right out of the true faith and the church of God.

You need to know… and know that you know how to identify God’s People

You know them by what they do as we read in Matt 7:20… not lawlessness but lawfulness. Meaning to obey God and teach others to do likewise.

• John 13:5 love is the sign of God’s people
• I John 5:3 How does God’s word define love
• Rom 13:10 Paul says the same thing

Love and doing go together Deut 10:12-19

Specific Beliefs Practices That Identify the Church of God

Here are some specific things you find the church of God doing in the record of scripture. The true church of God will be doing these things unto the very end.

• Observe God’s Sabbath’s including His 7 annual Sabbaths
• Preach and teach obedience to God’s commandments and law
• Rejects the incorporation of pagan religious practices into the worship of God (Ishtar etc)
• Proclaim the coming Kingdom of God
• True teaching about the resurrections (as opposed to immortality of the soul, heaven, hell)
• Biblically based teaching about who and what God is (Family vs. Trinity)

Rev 22:14 the church of God remains obedient to the end

I John 2:3-5 People can cry out Lord! Lord! And say they know God… but what does God say on the matter?