You may hear something like this: “You people are stupid and intolerant! What makes you think that only your view of Jesus is accurate?”

Answer:

This is actually an excellent question. We know Christ Himself, not a theology or theory about Him. He is a person Whom we know personally. The reason that followers of Christ can know for certain that their view of Jesus is accurate is because of revelation, yet we know that our view is incomplete and that the Holy Spirit will need to continue to correct us as He brings us into maturity. However, there is more to this story.  Don’t let Satan turn the discussion into a contest.  Contests have winners and losers and no one likes to be a loser.  Discuss without turning the other person into a loser or turning yourself into the winner.

It should be noted that, for every thought, we could ask ourselves, “Why do I believe that?” We would answer that question with a statement, another truth claim. Let’s say that a Hindu makes a truth claim that says “Hinduism is a religion that believes in peace.” Let’s call that truth claim A. Why is truth claim A thought to be true? The Hindu would then say, “Because…” some truth claim, truth claim B. Why, then, is truth claim B true? Because of truth claim C. And why is truth claim C true? Eventually, one of the following things will happen.  

• The argument will go circular where truth claim G is true because of truth claim A. This is the most common way that people, including those follower of Christs who do not really have a relationship with Jesus, deal with this situation.
• The whole thought structure will be based on a miraculous revelation. Miraculous revelation can come from three sources.
  • The Human Mind. This is the false religion of Rationalism.
  • Demons
  • God. There really is only one true God. He is triune, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is counterfeited by the human mind and by demons.

The reality is that even those people who follows Jesus have clouded and inaccurate views of Christ. To walk in the Spirit is to walk in a way that leads the follower of Christ to come closer to Christ and to have a vision that is more clear.

Every person is created with a spirit, as mind, and a body. The three are joined in a way that we really only partially understand. Before we knew Christ, we were dead. Death is a separation. We were separated from God because of sin. God could not come near to us because of our sin, and we were in such rebellion against God that we would not come near to God. Jesus died for our sins and paid the price required to redeem us back to God. That means that, by believing God, we are changed in a moment. The change takes place in the human spirit. The human spirit is joined to the Holy Spirit of God and largely set free from Satan’s slavery.

That is when the war begins. The natural mind of man is amazingly evil and crafty. It hates God is a slave of Satan. The follower of Christ now has a spirit joined the Holy Spirit and a mind that is being changed, that is, renewed. The word, repent, actually means have a new mind.  So the mind is clouded, but God is beginning to reveal Himself to the follower of Christ.  As the follower of Christ believes God, instead of being conformed to the spirits of the present age, the follower of Christ’s mind is actually transformed by the Holy Spirit. That means that our knowledge and revelation is incomplete and that we must be ready to allow Christ to redirect us.  We know Jesus, though, and we trust that He is able to lead us.  We know that if we seek Him faithfully with all our hearts, souls, and minds, that we will find Him.  We also know that God has placed, in the Church, those gifts, ministries, and offices that are for the purpose of receiving this revelation in safety.  There is no safety in the creative little methods developed by those who call themselves “Christian.”  God is restoring His order and pattern for the Church in the remnant who are willing to receive it.

So the answer is not as straight-forward as one would think. The revelation that any follower of Christ has is known to be accurate because it is revelation and not based on the seeing of the eye or the process of the mind. On the other hand, the follower of Christ is aware that his or her own mind is the enemy of God and needs to be made new by the progressive righteousness of the Holy Spirit and the progressive removal of the veil. All of this prepared the follower of Christ to fit into his or her place of service in the Body of Christ.

Raw human reasoning (the reasoning of the human mind without the Intelligence of the Creator flowing through the human mind) is flawed and the human mind is deceitful and desperately wicked. In fact, without Christ, the whole human being is a slave of Satan: spirit, mind, and body. However, whoever comes to Jesus will find Him. Then, the process of being set free is set in motion. Jesus will reveal Himself to you just as He has to everyone who has ever continually and sincerely searched for Him. The Holy Spirit is now calling to you and telling you that there is something more for you in Christ, something that you have never experienced before.

The church has become anything but the Body of Christ, having much sin and many divisions. However, God is working with a remnant and restoring the Scriptural order of the Kingdom of God. The true Body of Christ is the method by which the followers of Christ will be brought into the completeness, that is, fullness. When the Body of Christ comes into its fullness, it will be the Kingdom of God.