What Jesus Are You Following?

But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth, Seeing you hate instruction And cast My words behind you? When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have been a partaker with adulterers. You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes. Psalm 50:16-21

Didn’t I just write about Psalm 50 a couple days ago? Yup, but I felt drawn by the Spirit to come back to this particular passage and peel back another layer because of its crucial significance; these are prophetic words of our Lord Jesus and he is addressing a very special group of people. Who are these folks? Those who believe in a different Jesus.

Oh, I’m not talking about Mormons, Muslims, or Jehovah Witnesses, although we could make a case for their inclusion here. No, we’re talking about the guy who may be sitting next to you in church who believes in another Jesus. The Jesus he believes in either winks at sin or says that what he’s doing is no sin at all. Like the Psalmist wrote, ‘they acquiesce with thieves, dabble in adultery, proffer evil, lie, and defame,’ all the while falsely believing Jesus is ok with it all. To that Jesus says, “You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you.”

Does that sound like anybody you know?

More importantly, does it sound like you?

Know that this is not an exhaustive list of offenses. Anyone who claims Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and habitually does things that are contrary to His word and/or contradicts His holy character is not a true believer. They have in fact taken the name of God in vain, just like the promiscuous woman who marries a man, takes his name, vows to be faithful, but then continues in her licentious activities.

Here’s the bottom line — if your Jesus has different attributes than the Jesus of the Bible, then you have made up your own God. You may call your god Jesus, but he bears no semblance to the one true and living God; he is a god of your imagination who ascribes to the lifestyle you desire to live. Look around, the world is full of them. The currant governor of New York [for one example] would fit the bill. He attends a church, regularly takes communion, all the while living with a woman who is not his wife. He has decided all on his own, that his activities are not sinful. The Jesus I follow would never approve, but the Jesus he has created apparently does. Again, Jesus will say…

You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you.

“But who do you say that I am?” Matthew 16:15

That’s the trillion dollar question! Who do you say Jesus is? Does your Jesus line-up with the Father’s Jesus? If not, don’t panic, repent. Change your mind and God will change your heart. On the other hand, if you continue to hold onto your fairytale Jesus, one day you will most certainly hear, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

*These ramblings are typically (but not always) a byproduct inspired by God through my personal Bible study at SearchLight with Pastor Jon Courson and with my pastor at my home church, Calvary Chapel Coastlands

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