As a teacher, my number one passion is to help people understand the truth revealed in the Holy Spirit-inspired Scriptures. Tragically, if people do not understand how to interpret the Scriptures, they will slip into error as they make the Bible proclaim whatever they want it to. Leading people to freedom also requires the courageous step of pointing out the errors that people believe. This may not allow such a one to be popular but being popular was never the agenda of a new covenant teacher. This has been the heart of my ministry, and I believe it is the heart of Dr. Phinney. It was easy to partner with IOM America because they share the same heart of proclaiming the truth and exposing the lies that the enemy hurls at the church to keep the church from fully experiencing the freedom that is their birthright in Christ. -Frank Friedmann
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“For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Jude 1:4)
Grace is a part of the character of God, and it is the personhood of Jesus Christ. Grace is the most frequently spoken word in the modern-day church and is the most abused. Fake grace produces fake love, which fuels the betrayal of family, friendships, and co-workers in Christ. Furthermore, fake love is the cornerstone of the structure of fake Christianity.
Most believers encounter the grievous experience of betrayal, classically from those who tempt us to question our view of love. Yes, some of these individuals are even committed to a type of friendship – until death do us part. You know the type – sharing the joys and pains of your walk in Christ yet using those intimate expressions against you. However, whatever their style of betrayal, you quickly realize it was fake love. How do you know this? In their betrayal, they probably used your confessions to destroy you while packing their punch with lies, lies that were supplanted by others who betray as a default. Some may even claim to be Christians, but their madness method matches the description that Jesus gives of His enemy – an accuser of the brethren.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. (Rev 12:10)
Betrayers function as liars and don’t even know it – minimally, they don’t admit it. The expression of such hate could devastate us OR cause us to reexamine authentic grace versus those who turn the grace of God into a license to destroy.
Authentic Love never uses the knowledge of sin to destroy.
“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
When a supposed Christian is impatient, jealous, arrogant, resentful, seeking self-justification, or rejoices in a brother’s sin while avoiding Truth, they confess a kind of love that is not only fake but demonic. Satan’s worldly love method grants people the erroneous right to rub loved ones’ faces in their wrongs. This is not the kind of Love that comes from God. It is earthly, natural, and demonic (James 3:15).
Why do Christians backstab those they say they love?
The quick answer is they’re in pain. The more acute answer is a bit more vexing. They’re victims of betrayal; thus, they betray. The Bible is filled with stories of betrayal, so much so that Jesus Himself was flanked with betrayal on every side – by his stepbrothers, Judas, Peter, and even His remaining disciples outside of the beloved John. Jesus’s grace response was, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
Betrayal is a payback response for perceived harm done to oneself. It’s vindictive and displays the grievous act of cowardice. It sets up the one being betrayed as the sin-eater for the wrongs of the betrayer. Betrayal is a flesh response attempting to rob the safety and security of the one betrayed by breaking trust while punishing them through silence. Most authentic Christians overcome the heartache it causes by returning the favor of silence. However, soon the indwelling Life prompts the betrayed one to hand over such suffering to Christ, allowing Him to fight the battle. While most betrayers stand firm in their personal boundaries, this is only a defense pattern to block confrontations of their unconfessed hatred. Ironically, the real hatred is in their misfortune. The result? They remain in their bitterness, hatred, and queen-bee control until death parts them. Experienced betrayers rarely can be fronted, nor do they change in the long run. They hid behind the Christianized lie of being more righteous than the one they betrayed. It all concludes with the betrayer playing God with the lives of those they betray, which is an erroneous lie.
What is the betrayed to do?
While it is easier said than done, each needs to show the real deal of Love only found in the indwelling Life of Christ. Sadly, you are on your own if you’re not authentically saved. If you indeed house the Holy Spirit from within, release Christ to do the loving through you.
“Let all that you do be done in Love.” (1 Cor. 16:14)
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, Love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom 13:10). Your actions in Christ for loving those who persecute you release you from the law forced upon you by the betrayer. You become the one who will live in freedom.
Recently, I was rejected and abandoned by someone very close to me, someone I trusted closely with confessions, struggles, and victories in life. The pain of the betrayal was intense, and I longed to be understood by family and others close to me. Since empathy can only come via Jesus Christ, the expectation altogether made the betrayal even more unbearable. As expected, I was forced into the corner of my flesh, which drove me inward to the comfort of the Holy Spirit. After the Spirit delivered comfort and guidance, I was able to join the fellowship of His sufferings. In this place, I remembered what Jesus had to go through.
In agony far beyond my suffering, Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders. The mental anguish caused by the betrayal of Judas, one of Jesus’ disciples and many other close friends, is often minimalized. He had invested in each one of their lives, and he loved them with the passion of His Father. He cared intensely for all. He was discouraged. He hurt. He embraced and felt the pain that came with betrayal. He wept.
If you have been betrayed, take heart, you are in good company. If you function as a betrayer, repent and fix what you broke. Go to those you are punishing through your silence. Reconcile with them. If they need time, wait. And finally, remember this mandate:
“For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power. What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?” (1 Cor. 4:20-21)
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