EDITORIAL by Pastor Ralph H. Flynn
God Will Judge False Teachers 

A recent letter to the Editor from some clergy in Bellevue, that appeared in The Bellevue Gazette on December 12, 2003,
stated that the mission of Jesus “was to be a corrective reaction to the rule/law mentality of his day.” As Pastor of Faith
Bible Church of Bellevue, I would like to address this false statement publicly, according to the Holy Scriptures. 

What was Christ’s mission? It certainly was not to be “a corrective reaction to the rule/law mentality of his day.” For a
pastor to sign his name to such a statement and to have it printed for all to read is sad indeed. Is this what their people
believe too? In my Bible, Jesus says, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to
destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from
the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). Christ Himself makes it clear in Matthew 18:11 what His mission was:
“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” 

One sins because he is a sinner. Christ loves the sinner, but hates the sin. We too, should love the sinner and hate the sin,
not love the sinner and condone the sin. James says, “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and
receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). Sin is the one thing that
separates us from God. We are all sinners. Here is what Paul writes on the subject of sin:

Romans 3:23-26
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he
might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

Romans 5:12-17
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him
that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much
more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it
was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences
unto justification. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and
of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)”

According to both of these passages, the only answer to sin is Jesus Christ. His mission was to die for our sins. He would
be the Lamb of God; God’s sin sacrifice for us. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 

At Christmas people hurry to the stores to shop. They shop for gifts. They give gifts and receive gifts. Did you know
that it takes two people to make a gift? It takes the giver and the receiver. God is the Giver. In John 3:16 we read, “For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.” In this verse we find that Christ is the Gift. But He can only be the gift to the ones who receive Him. “But
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of (children of) God, even to them that believe on
his name” (John 1:12). John also wrote, "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.             These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life,
and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (I John 5:12-13). 

The Christmas story begins Christ’s mission. What you believe about Christ and His mission determines where you will
spend eternity. The same clergy who promote the false mission for Christ also state, “they serve a God” who will “not”
bring “wrathful judgment.” Yet in Revelation 20:12-15 we read: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God;
and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of
those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it;
and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.   And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Everyone is a whosoever, either the “whosoever” of John 3:16 (by receiving Christ’s mission) or the “whosoever” of
Revelation 20:15 (by rejecting Christ’s mission). The choice is yours. Christ had only one mission and He had you in mind. 

Where does the claim that Christ’s mission “was to be a corrective reaction to the rule/law mentality of his day” fit in?
It doesn’t. Beware of such unbiblical teaching. In His day, Christ took on the false teachers and clergy. They are still
around. Where does the judgment of God fit in? In fits in God’s time table as the Day of Judgment. I always say, “God
created man and man created religion. That’s why there are so many. When we stand before God (and we all will) He
will not judge us according to our religion, but what we believe according to His Word.” God was wise when He had
the Psalmist write, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:8). Who are you trusting
in? What mission are you trusting in? What does your pastor teach? Is he biblical? I would hope so; for some are not.

Ralph H. Flynn, Pastor
Faith Bible Church of Bellevue

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