Only one name

Beware of false names

Have you ever been approached by people from a religious group to try their spiritual wares only to find that they preach serious error?

There are even groups who purport to represent Jesus, yet preach a different gospel (Gal 1:6). Discerning who has the right gospel could be confusing to the unsaved.

When my family first received Jesus as Lord and Saviour we had been approached in the immediate previous weeks by two other religious groups both of which claimed Jesus as their Lord. We were almost sucked into one group which turned out to be a cult. The other we managed to resist, even though they sounded good to our untrained ears.

The folks from our local Anglican and Methodist church groups, who preached the real Jesus, were wonderful with us and very patient, praying for us and encouraging us as we studied for a few months with the cult, until the people teaching the false gospel put a demand on us to be part of their ‘kingdom’ group.

Wanting to know the real from the false, my wife and I asked God the Holy Spirit to lead us into the truth. We had, thankfully, received Jesus through an Anglican minister’s evangelism, and now a time of decision had arrived; should we join this group, or continue with the Anglicans or Methodists?

In a questioning session, the cult leaders, whom we really liked as people, asked several questions based on their teaching. They wanted the session to lead to ‘Jehovah’ as the answer, but all I could see in answer to each question was the name of Jesus.

He saved, He healed, He gave His life for us at Calvary, He is the deliverer. He was and is the answer to everything. The Holy Spirit was leading us.

In their cult Jesus is given a subordinate position as ‘a’ god, not the God, yet the Word told us He was and is and will be God from the beginning.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:1-2

We decided to take a break from the cult’s studies. They were disappointed of course, but we suddenly sensed the liberty that came from being released from their dogma. We never went back.

There was a subtle but crucial difference between the Jesus they preached and the true Jesus of Nazareth. The Jesus we follow is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). He is the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14). He is the Yes and Amen to all of God’s promises (2 Cor 1:20).

Finding the real Jesus

Paul gives clear instruction regarding being involved with correct teaching.

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:6-10

Paul is referring to the Judaisers who wanted to take New Testament believers back to Old Testament practices, which had been superseded by faith. Most cults have tendencies towards legalism and control. Christianity is about the liberty that comes through the Spirit of God.

Another group had knocked on our door but didn’t last as long as the other cult. They had ‘another testament’ which didn’t ring true with us. There’s the Old Testament, and the New, which cover everything we need to know about Jesus and the life of faith we need to follow.

We were babes in Christ and needed teaching and to be well grounded in a sound local church where the Bible is taught on face value. Thankfully we were led by the Spirit to the right path. We found the real Jesus.

The question here is, do you know the one true Jesus Christ? There is only one name by which we can be saved. It is the name of Jesus, but we have to be sure that the Jesus to whom we are being introduced is the same Jesus who gave His life for us on the cross at Calvary.

No other name

See what happened after Peter prayed for a lame man and he was healed in Jesus’ name, but challenged by sectarian religious leaders who had rejected Jesus.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:8-12

‘No other name.’ The name of Jesus is the only name by which we can be saved, and this Jesus is the Jesus of the Bible. He is the Jesus of the New Testament, who was prophesied in the Old.

He is the Word of God made flesh. He is the Jesus who died, was buried and was raised from the dead to give us new life in Him, when we call upon that name.

This had been a time of testing for us right from the beginning of our walk with Jesus. Thankfully, we had come through. Many, sadly, don’t, and are led into cults. I believe it was in part thanks to the prayer and patient faith of the believers who allowed us to be led by the Spirit to the right place in Christ.

May you find the peace of God and know the one and only Jesus Christ who gave His life to save the world.