Heresies About Christ Vs. Biblical Truth

2. Jesus Did Not Die for Sins

Some believe that Jesus Christ lived on this Earth and died. They even have different names for Him in their various religious books and records. But they never agree that He died for sins, or for their sins. For such people, the solution to getting to God is by being and doing the best you can. Hopefully your good deeds outweigh your bad and you will be accepted by God. This could not be farther from the truth.

The Bible is very specific about why Jesus died, it was “for our sins”.

Romans 5:6-8 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures

The reason it is crucial for you to believe this is that failure to do so will result in condemnation. Without believing that Christ died for your sins and rose again, you cannot be saved. For more on this, please see: Who is Jesus Christ to You?

3. Jesus Resurrected Spiritually, Not Bodily

Religious groups like the Jehovah Witnesses do not believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead bodily. They believe that He somehow came back from the dead, but only spiritually. This is heretic because it clearly contradicts the Scriptures. Again, you have to first take the Bible as the Word of God in order to believe anything it says, otherwise you will end up explaining everything away with your finite human mind.

The Bible records that Jesus predicted His death and resurrection multiple times (See for example: Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:17-19; etc.) Well, just like He had said, He was taken, tormented, crucified and killed. He was buried and on the third day, some of His disciples, the Marys, went to the sepulchre (the tomb) and noticed that the tomb was open and the body of Jesus was no where to be found. But they saw an angel, here is what the angel said to them:

Matthew 28:5-7 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

The angel says that Jesus is on His way to Galilee, and the disciples will “see” Him there. This is not a spirit, because spirits cannot be seen. Later, Jesus Himself began to appear to His disciples. Carefully read the text below and notice the first encounter of some of the disciples with Jesus Christ:

Luke 24:36-43 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. 40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 43 And he took it, and did eat before them.

At first they were afraid because they thought that they had seen a ghost. And Jesus specifically address the thought by saying: Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. (Luke 24:39). With this, you wouldn’t have expected anyone to claim that Jesus Christ only resurrected spiritually, but they still did. It’s ridiculous!

As you can see, it wasn’t His ghost. They saw and touched Him. He even ate with them. Apostle Paul gave a more detailed encounter with the resurrected Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15:1-23, listen to part of it:

1 Corinthians 15:5-8 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

So, among other individual encounters, over 500 people saw the resurrected Jesus at the same time. He truly resurrected, and not just spiritually but bodily, in Person!

4. He’s Not the Only One Who Suffered

It is true that many people have lived, suffered and died. You might even be able to point to a person or people who went through tougher torment than that of Christ (will be hard to do though), but no one else suffered and died for the same purpose for which Christ suffered and died. The purpose is what makes the difference, which is why you need to listen to Jesus Christ.

Jesus lived, suffered, and died for the sins of the world. He did it for your sins, and mine. Centuries prior to the coming of Jesus, His sufferings and the purpose of the suffering were prophesied. Here is one instance of the prophecies:

Isaiah 53:3-12 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 …and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Please read the entire Chapter (Isaiah 53) and see if you can show me or tell me of someone else who suffered and died for this same purpose.

…no one else suffered and died for the same purpose for which Christ suffered and died

5. He is Not the Only way to God

Be good. Be kind. Be tolerant. Love your neighbors as yourself. Help the poor and the needy. Welcome and help strangers. And so on and so forth. These are some of the alternate routes through which some are trying to get to God. Unfortunately, without Christ these are simply the broad way to hell. Doing good, or being good is a good thing. But none of these can justify a person before God.

There are many today who believe that all religions are serving the same God, and that they only practice their religions differently. You have to be naive and biblically unlearned to believe this devil’s lie. Jesus is very specific about the fact that He is the only way to God. The Bible also says that “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). Listen to Jesus Himself:

John 14:1-6 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

It is dead wrong to say that there are many ways to God! There is only one way, and that is Jesus Christ. – John 14:6-7; 1 Ti 2:5-6.

Doing good, or being good is a good thing. But none of these can justify a person before God.

Let’s briefly go over why we all need to find our way back to God in the first place: God created man in God’s own image for the purpose of worshiping Him. But man decided to sin and disobey God. Some have yet to admit that they are sinners, which is why they don’t see their need for Jesus. But that is totally wrong. The story of sin is a story that began with Adam, but the Bible says that the results of Adam’s disobedience affect all human race (Romans 5:12), not to talk of individual’s sins.

As a result of our sins and disobedience, we became separated from God.

Isaiah 59:1-3 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

Think about when two people have misunderstanding; fellowship is broken and reconciliation becomes necessary. But in the case of God and man, reconciliation can only happen through Jesus Christ. This is because God requires blood sacrifice for sins. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and that without the shedding of blood, there cannot be remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22). This is why Jesus Christ had to die on the cross. He was our sacrifice and no other!

The blood of Jesus Christ was shed on the cross as an atonement (payment) for our sins (Romans 3:23-30). Today, God will not accept any other sacrifice for sin than that of Jesus Christ. Not even the best deed that anyone can do! Through Christ’s atoning works, the whole world can now be reconciled to God. There are no other alternatives by which this reconciliation can take place. This is why Jesus Christ is the only way to God. Any other way apart from Christ will lead you to hell! (John 3:18, 36).

6. He Does Not Want Me to Suffer

There is a popular belief among the so-called Christians today that Jesus does not want them to suffer or go through any hard times. They claim that Jesus suffered so that they don’t have to suffer or endure any difficult situation. To them, Christianity is all about blessings, breakthroughs, miracles, financial and material possessions, convenient life, and all the other things that the flesh so much craves. Show me a verse in the Bible that supports this, there is none, excepted for the twisted ones.

It is not surprising that many will believe and teach this heresy. This is because the foundation of their so-called faith was built upon the sinking sand. Many churches invite people with worldly strategies and empty promises of blessings.

“Come to Jesus”, they say, “and receive your miracles. Receives your healing. Receive your blessings, breakthroughs, promotions, victory over your enemies, etc.”  This is simply their gospel. If you couple this with the human greed and the passion to fulfil the desires of the flesh, this message becomes pretty attractive! But after the people are in, the sermons become about how the people can give to get God’s blessings.

The main goal of these churches is to fill their pews. They do not care about the souls of the people, but about their monetary contributions. It is possible for the believers to have some of these blessings, but this is not why Jesus Christ died.

Sadly, the people who responded to this false gospel now want nothing but what they were promised – miracles, healing, breakthroughs, promotions, victory, etc. No wonder they think Jesus does not want them to suffer.

But the truth we find in the Bible is that the world and the things that are in the world are contrary to Jesus Christ (1 John 2:15-17). We are clearly told that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

If you don’t believe the above, listen to Jesus Himself:

John 15:19-21 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

Nowhere in the Bible are the Christians promised easy life on Earth! Paul write in one of his Epistles to the Churches:

Philippians 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.

We as people don’t do well with suffering. We will do all that we can to get out of any inconvenient situation. But suffering is part of being a Christian. They only way a true Christian can avoid persecution in this world is to align his life with the world. But the moment you decide to stand up for Jesus Christ, you expect serious push back from the god of this world. Christian living cannot be easy and convenient in this world for those who live, or want to live Godly.

But the good thing about being a Christian, which is also the reason why many Christians don’t mind being inconvenient in this life, is that the end is victory for us. Currently if feels like it will never end, but soon, we will forget all the suffering and persecutions when we get into our final rest and glory in Christ! If you’re a true Christian, encourage yourself with the Word of God and don’t let the flesh push you into seeking easy and convenient life here on Earth. We aren’t promised that!

7. Meaning and Purpose of Praying in His Name

What does it mean to pray in Jesus name? And what is the purpose of it?

To a lot of people, praying in Jesus name means to simply use the phrase “in Jesus name” in prayers – whether at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the prayers. (Note that there is nothing wrong with using this phrase in prayers. This point is about its purpose).

There are people who will even use the phrase repeatedly before they finish praying. This is obviously not what it means to pray in Jesus name. There is also the expectation that because you used the phrase in your prayers, you will get whatever you ask for. This is also untrue!

Praying in Jesus name means that you’re praying in the authority of Jesus, which in turn means that you are praying in accordance with the purpose of Christ. You’re after the things that Christ would pursue. You’re asking for things that Christ would endorse. Your prayers are driven by your desire to please Him. That is what it means to prayer in Jesus name. Think of it as if you’re asking someone for something on behalf of another person.

Christ Himself speaks with regards to this:

John 14:12-13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you’re answering the call of Christ, and your prayers are driven by your desire to fulfill that call, you’re guaranteed answers to your prayers. This is what the Apostle John means when he writes about asking “according to His will”:

1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Once again, if your desires are to fulfill God’s purpose, your requests will be granted. But this does not means that you will get all that you ask for simply because you use the phrase “in Jesus name” in prayers. It just means that God will grant you any request that will help you do His will here on Earth. Are your prayers in accordance with God’s purpose, or are they driven by the desires and lusts of the flesh?

There are many more heresies popular today among both the believers and the unbelievers. The best thing for the Christians is to practise biblical discernment. Let the Spirit of God through the Word of God guide your thoughts and desires.

Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

If there are popular heresies that you would like people to know about, please add them in the comment section, or through the Contact page. Thank you for reading!