When Christianity Becomes Anti-Jesus - Part 2

When Christianity Becomes Anti-Jesus - Part 1

[Gary Petty] Last time, we looked at the differences between secular humanism and biblical Christianity and how they determine good and bad—moral and immoral.

Let's review a social media video that explains these differences.

[TikTok video] Within a sin worldview, something is wrong if it goes against God's rules. And it places God as the ultimate victim. Not of actual harm, of course, but because you didn't obey Him. And I reject the idea that obedience is a moral good. See, my morality isn't about obedience. It's about harm done to other people around me. We'd probably both agree that killing is wrong. But see, I think it's wrong because it harms someone else—another human being—on this horizontal scale. But you think it's wrong because God told us not to do it. And that's why I say I'm not a sinner. Because though I have done harm before, the victims were other humans. And my responsibility lay with making things right with them. God has never been a victim.

[Gary Petty] The traditional Christian explanation of goodness, charted as vertical morality, is defined by the goodness, wisdom, and authority of God. It is then God who defines the morality of human relationships. The secular, humanist explanation of goodness is charted as horizontal morality. And it's defined by human-ordained standards. These standards promote the acceptance of all religious beliefs, doing no harm, not judging, and sexual freedom.

The problem is that this humanist concept is being accepted by more and more Christians. They conclude that since God loves all people, all definitions of right and wrong are horizontal. And they come to the conclusion that most religions lead to the same God.

Well, we're going to look at what Jesus taught about two things. One, how many paths lead to God? And two, what is the definition of sin, which was mentioned in the video we watched?

Remember, what we're doing today is we're going to be looking at what Jesus and His disciples taught.

So how many paths are there to God?

This one, you don't have to go very far into Jesus' teachings to see what He said. Here's what He says in John 14:6. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

No one can come to God except through Jesus. It's what He said. The issue of whether all religions lead to the same God is absolutely denied by Jesus. We're at another one of those great crossroads of truth. I mean, Jesus makes numerous statements like this throughout His ministry. And either He is the only way, and it's true, or He's mentally ill, and His teachings are really meaningless. Remember, the secular humanist's view promoted in the video that we watched.

She said that she rejected the idea of sin as something against God's rules. Now we're going to talk about sin. For those who merge the secular humanist's view into a belief in Jesus, what did Jesus teach about sin? He actually said a lot to say about sin. Let's go to a well-known story in John 8. A group of religious leaders drag before Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery. Now this is a moral behavior forbidden by the biblical God. The religious leaders wanted to stone her to death for her sin.

Jesus squats down and writes something in the dirt. And the story leaves us with several questions. Where was the man who was with the woman committing adultery? Where is her husband? And what exactly did Jesus write in the dirt? What we do know is that He then said, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first" (John 8:7).

One by one, the man who had brought her to him, to Jesus, walked away. When Jesus stood up, the only person still present was the woman who had committed adultery. And He says to her, "Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more" (John 8:10-11).

Now this has been used to teach that Jesus doesn't condemn sin. But what is the point of this incident? Because that's not the point He's making. So let's analyze this story. Jesus' first action is to convict the religious leaders of their hypocrisy. John wrote that they were trying to trick Jesus. Instead, He convinced them that they too were sinners. He then gave the woman mercy. By the way, mercy is an important teaching in vertical morality that comes from God. He didn't give her license, though, to reject vertical morality against adultery. Instead, He commanded her to go and sin no more.

This story isn't just about Jesus discounting God's authority to determine right from wrong. It's about Him showing mercy and then giving a command to obey God. The great danger of world Christianity is that Jesus is no longer accepted as the divine Son of God who brings a clear message of truth. He's just an historical figure, a good teacher, a man of His times who isn't as enlightened as postmodern humanism. In the end, the humanist morality is based on these values. Accept all religious and moral beliefs as equal, do no harm, and deny that sin is defined in vertical morality. Of course, if there is no sin, there's no need for God's forgiveness.

And though before Jesus was seized by soldiers, tortured, spat upon, publicly humiliated, and crucified, one of the most horrendous ways to die, He sat with His closest followers and instituted a simple ceremony. He gave them a piece of bread and said that it represented His body (Matthew 2:26). He gave them a little wine and said it represented, quote, His blood, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28).

We're back to one of these crossroads. Once again, either Jesus was sent by God to be a substitute sacrifice for the penalty of human sin. He's quite insane.

I want to make this clear, by the way. Christians should do good works, serve the poor, the sick, the brokenhearted. Love and compassion are at the core of God's nature. And loving your neighbor is the second great commandment that Jesus gave.

But Christianity isn't just about temporarily alleviating physical squalor or pain or disease and injustice. It's about saving you from sin and helping you realize the need for forgiveness from God. It is what the Bible calls salvation.

So how can we better understand what Jesus taught about salvation? Well, we're going to look at one of the most quoted passages in the entire Bible. But first, let me tell you about how you can delve deeper into the connection between vertical morality and salvation. To help you in your search to understand what vertical morality really means, go to ucg.org/bt511, where you can download a free study aid about vertical morality called The Ten Commandments. You can also watch a series of videos to help you better understand the wisdom and love of God.

So now we're going to look at a passage from the Gospel of John. Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Jesus said that He was sent from God to bring eternal life, not temporary life, but eternal life, to all those who follow Him.

So here's what He says next. "For God did not send His Son, He claimed to be the Son of God, God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17)

Now I want you to think about this for a minute. Jesus came as the Son of God, not to condemn, but to save. Now saving someone means that they're in peril. It means that they're in danger. He has come to save people in danger. He says then, "He who believes in Him, in He is the Christ, as the Son of God, is not condemned, but He who does not believe is condemned already because He has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 2:18)

Jesus condemns? The word translated condemn means to make a judgment. Jesus Christ, as the sacrificial substitute for your sins and my sins, and also teaches us all about vertical morality, saves you from divine condemnation. To reject Jesus as the Christ means that you are condemned because Jesus came to save you from condemnation.

He continues, "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil (John 3:19)." Jesus came to shine light on the darkness of human evil. He came to show us that no matter how good we are, there is a great darkness in the human heart. Darkness that is the cause of injustice and violence and despair and hatred in meaningless lives and all the things we try to do to fix that will fail because we need salvation from God. To deny vertical morality, is to search for meaning in just doing some good deeds, which can be some good deeds, but salvation means understanding the darkness that is within and seeking God's forgiveness and a relationship with your Creator. Jesus continues, "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed" (John 3:20).

You know, all societies and religions believe that there are some wrong behaviors, right? I mean, Adolf Hitler is socially condemned. We all agree that sexual assault and bigotry are wrong. But what about the belief that any and all sexual relationships between consenting adults is morally okay? Is it? Stealing. Well, it's only okay as long as you're stealing from the rich, so you're really not harming anyone. You see, horizontal morality leads to moral ambiguity.

Let's go back now to what Jesus was saying. He said, "But he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been done in God" (John 3:20).

He who does the truth will do good deeds, but these deeds, including love and sacrifice for other people, will be what? Jesus said they're done in God. It's vertical. For disciples of Jesus Christ, the vertical obedience to God's authority is based in our love for Him. Christ-centered concepts of morality flow from a personal relationship with God.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus told people to repent, but the Kingdom of God is at hand. The Greek word translated repent means to change your mind. This is an important concept because it means more than just feeling sorry, it involves a change of heart and mind. The concept of repentance is to accept the ugly reality of our sins and seek God's forgiveness, returning vertically towards Him.

You see, true repentance involves more than just being feeling bad because you did something wrong. It is a realization that your attitude, your thoughts, your emotions are not aligned with your Creator. You see, Jesus Christ's message is that every person needs to be saved, wherein peril, from the consequences of sin, and then be transformed by His light and receive eternal life beyond this temporary existence. And this is why He taught us to live vertically.

To help you in your search to understand what vertical morality means, go to ucg.org/bt511, where you can download a study aid about vertical morality. It's called The Ten Commandments. You can also watch a series of videos to help you better understand the wisdom and love of God and that He's waiting for you to seek Him. ucg.org/bt511.