The Gospel Truth

THE

GOSPEL

TRUTH

CLINTON BEZAN

Copyright © 2023 Clinton Bezan.

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ISBN: 978-1-4897-4599-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4598-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4600-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023900107

LifeRich Publishing rev. date:  12/30/2022

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank the Lord my God for the gift of writing these words and for his eternal gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. All glory belongs to him!

I would also like to thank Mark Miller for graciously offering to edit the manuscript. He has blessed me immensely with his expertise and ultimately blessed you with an error free (or very close) narrative for your appraisal.

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

1)     Religious Radicalism

2)     Sanctioning Sin

3)     The Osas Dilemma

4)     Health, Wealth And Greed

5)     Sabbath Cynicism

6)     Jesus The Lesser

7)     Brazenly Bizarre

8)     Fallacious Faith

9)     A River Without Water

10)   A Call To Action

11)   100 Pianos

12)   Getting The Gospel Right

13)   Incomprehensible Yet Comprehensible

PREFACE

The Bible is the word of God. It is the most authenticated ancient document in the history of civilization with more accurate manuscripts than any other ancient writing. For example, Plato’s known work consists of 210 manuscripts with the earliest written 1200 years after the events. Aristotle’s works are validated by 1000 manuscripts dated 1200 years afterward. Homer’s Iliad boasts 1757 manuscripts dated 400 years after. Even more recent writings such as The Travels of Marco Polo between AD 1298 -1299, with only 150 copies in existence, are considered to be authentic. The New Testament alone has over 25,000 known manuscripts, dated as early as twenty-five years after Jesus’ crucifixion. If the Bible is held to the same standards as other ancient documents, its authenticity is without question.

Furthermore, the historicity of Jesus is accepted by most modern scholars based on the extra-biblical references to him by Roman and Jewish historians in the first two centuries after his crucifixion. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (AD 37 – 101) wrote in his twenty volume book Antiquities of the Jews, in book eighteen chapter three, Now about this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, for he was a teacher of people who gladly accepted the truth. He won over many, both Jews and Greeks. Pilate, when he heard of Him accused by the leading men among us, condemned Him to the cross [but] those who had first loved Him did not cease [doing so]. To this day the tribe of Christians named after Him has not disappeared.

Josephus also recorded the meeting of Alexander the Great and the high priest Jaddua in 332 BC. After defeating the coastal cities of Tyre and Gaza, Alexander arrived at Jerusalem and was met outside the city. When the high priest showed him the book of Daniel and the prophecy that a Greek would conquer Persia, Alexander surmised himself as the Greek, spared Jerusalem and went on to defeat Darius and the Persian empire. The book of Daniel was written several centuries before Alexander’s campaign.

Phlegon of Tralles was a Greek writer from the second century. His work is quoted by Origen of Alexandria, considered one of the most influential early Christian theologians. He wrote, Now Phlegon, in the 13th or 14th book, I think, of his chronicles, not only ascribed to Jesus a knowledge of future events … but also testified that the result corresponded with his predictions. He quoted as well, Jesus, while alive, was of no assistance to himself, but that he rose after death, and exhibited the marks of his punishment, and showed his hands and feet had been pierced by nails.

Thallus, an early Greek historian, most of whose work has been lost, has been quoted by Sextus Julius Africanus in his History of the World. Around AD 52, he wrote about the earthquake and darkness that occurred when Christ was crucified. On the whole world there pressed the most fearful darkness, and the rocks were torn by an earthquake and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness, Thallus, in the third book of his history, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun.

Jesus was crucified at Passover. His last supper was the feast of the Passover. In Matthew 26:18, Jesus sends Peter and John ahead to get the Passover meal ready, Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘the teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ The Jewish month always began with a new moon feast and the Passover was held on the 14th day of the first month (Leviticus 23:5). That would mean the Passover took place near or on a full moon, based on the 29.5 day moon cycle. A full moon is never visible during the afternoon, therefore the darkness could not have been caused by an eclipse of the sun. Africanus was correct in his logic that this was something more. It was a supernatural darkness, initiated by God himself.

Roman historian and senator, Publius Cornelius Tacitus, referred to Jesus in book fifteen chapter forty-four of Annals which he wrote in AD 116. In reference to the fire of Rome he wrote, Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful find their center and become popular.

Justin Martyr, in his first apology written around AD 150, defended Christians against wrongful persecution and punishment by the Roman Empire. Since the monotheistic views of Christians (and Jews as well) contradicted the Roman belief of many gods, they were considered atheists by the state and convicted of failing to worship the Roman gods. What makes Justin Martyr’s writing significant is the fact that he references the ‘New Testament,’ proving its existence as a Christian document only 120 years after Christ. In chapter XV, What Christ Himself Taught, he cites the Sermon on the Mount with several quotes of Jesus. He then goes on to reference Jesus through the next four chapters, quoting him on subjects including patience and obedience.

Pliny the Younger was a Roman Governor who, in letters to Emperor Trajan, describes his frustration with Christians while sentencing them to punishment including execution. In one letter he writes, I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed. The horrific treatment of Christians by the Roman Empire was atrocious, as the Romans inflicted cruelty in ways our imaginations cannot fathom.

A letter to the church at Corinth from Clement of Rome, dated AD 95, quotes from ten of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament and a letter to the church at Philippi from Polycarp in AD 120, from sixteen New Testament books signifying that they were in circulation during the first century and disproving later authorship. Ignatius of Antioch (AD 25 – 107), was a student of the apostle John and he wrote seven letters prior to his execution in the arena in Rome that quote from several New Testament books as well.

Around AD 70, a Syrian philosopher named Mara Bar-Serapion wrote to his son and compared the life and persecution of Jesus to other philosophers who were persecuted for their ideas. The fact that Jesus was known to be a real person with this kind of reputation lends credibility to the gospels. Mara Bar-Serapion referred to Jesus as the Wise King.

Skeptics often raise the issue that there were several gospels and that not all were canonized, therefore the New Testament gospels are lacking truth, and that the gospels were anonymous and cannot be considered reliable. One must consider the reason why some gospels were not considered for the canon of scripture before condemning the four gospels of the Bible.

The earliest known attempt to create a canon in the same respect as the New Testament was in 2nd century Rome by Marcion, a Turkish businessman and church leader. Marcion’s work focused on the Gospel of Luke and the letters of Paul. The Roman church disapproved of the effort and expelled Marcion.

The second century Syrian writer, Tatian, attempted to create a canon by compiling the four gospels together as the Diatessaron. The Muratorian Canon, which is believed to date to AD 200, is recognized as the earliest collection of canonical texts resembling the New Testament. It was not until the 5th century that all the different Christian churches came to a basic agreement on the Biblical canon.

The apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatian church gives evidence that there were false gospels in existence within a couple of decades of the crucifixion. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. Galatians 1:6-7. Therefore, it is no surprise that not all gospels were chosen to be canonized.

The following quotes attest to the authorship of the gospels: Tertullian of Carthage (AD 160-225), I lay it down to begin with that the documents of the gospel have the apostles for their authors, and that this task of promulgating the gospel was imposed on them by the Lord Himself … In short, from among the apostles, John and Matthew implant in us the faith, while from among the apostolic men Luke and Mark reaffirm it. Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-215), Mark, the follower of Peter, while Peter was publicly preaching the gospel at Rome in the presence of some of Caesar’s knights and uttering many testimonies about Christ, on their asking him to let them have a record of the things that had been said, wrote the Gospel of Mark from the things said by Peter, just as Luke is recognized as the pen that wrote the Acts of the Apostles and as the translator of the letter of Paul to the Hebrews. Irenaeus of Lyons (AD 130-200), Matthew also issued a written gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the gospel preached by him. Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast did himself publish a gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.

Papias of Hierapolis (AD 125, recorded in Eusebius 3:39), So then, Matthew wrote the oracles in the Hebrew language, and everyone interpreted them as he was able. Mark, having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately, though not in order, whatsoever he remembered of the things said and done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed Him, but afterward, as I said, he followed Peter, who adapted his teaching to the needs of his hearers, but with no intention of giving a connected account of the Lord’s discourses, so that Mark committed no error while he thus wrote some things as he remembered them. For he was careful of one thing, not to omit any of the things which he had heard, and not to state any of them falsely.

Muratorian fragment (AD 175), The third book of the gospel is that according to Luke. Luke, the well known physician, after the ascension of Christ, when Paul had taken with him as one zealous for the law, composed it in his own name, according to the general belief. Yet he himself had not seen the Lord in the flesh; and therefore, as he was able to ascertain events, so indeed he begins to tell the story from the birth of John, one of the disciples.

If skeptics applied the same standards to the Bible as other ancient documents, the Bible stands up to scrutiny as good or better than any other ancient writing. The double standard of looking for perfection in biblical texts while accepting errors in other ancient writing is pure hypocrisy. For example, there are plenty of accusations that the Bible is filled with errors. However, when you examine the texts, these errors consist of differences in spelling, word order or the relationship between nouns and definite articles. These are slight variations that are easily recognized. After factoring out these minor differences, there is a 95% agreement between all known manuscripts of the Bible. Of the remaining variants, none affects any crucial element or teaching of the Christian faith. I would submit that it is of much greater importance to have texts that differ slightly in wording but maintain a consistent context and message than to have identical texts that have lost the original intent.

Many would like to see some sort of object that has Jesus’ image or His name written on it, yet the abundance of archeological evidence supporting the Bible as historical is dismissed. This hypocritical reasoning presumptuously pronounces a guilty verdict for Jesus’ historicity, while assuming innocence until proven guilty for other ancient persons. In 2004, while doing repairs to a sewage pipe in Jerusalem, ancient steps were discovered. Coins found on them dated to the time of Christ, and further excavation revealed a trapezoid shaped reservoir connected by Hezekiah’s tunnel to the Gihon Spring (2 Chronicles 32:30). This discovery proved to be the Pool of Siloam. In John 9, Jesus heals a blind man and instructs him to wash in the Pool of Siloam (John 9:7). The Pool of Siloam is also mentioned in Nehemiah 3:15 when Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. Also discovered was an inscription in the stone marking the completion of Hezekiah’s tunnel. The rock containing the inscription was removed during the Ottoman Empire and is now in the Istanbul Archeological Museum.

The Pilate stone was discovered in Caesarea Maritima in 1961, and contains an inscription mentioning Pontius Pilate, prefect of the Roman province of Judea. It is recognized as the earliest surviving reference to Pilate and is dated AD 26 - 36. Caesarea Maritima was the administrative and military headquarters of the province, beginning in AD 6. It is significant because it confirms the historicity of Pontius Pilate as governor at the time of Christ’s crucifixion, which supports the biblical account. The Pilate stone is currently on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

In 1979, two silver scrolls containing parts of the Priestly Blessings from the book of Numbers were found in a cave southwest of the Old City of Jerusalem at the Ketef Hinnom archeological site. They constitute what may be the oldest surviving texts of the Hebrew Bible and date 650 - 587 BC. The well known benediction translated from Hebrew to English is: May Yahweh bless you and keep you; May Yahweh cause his face to shine upon you and grant you peace.

If the Bible was held to the same standards as other ancient documents, it is clearly the most authenticated ancient document in the history of civilization. Jesus’ historicity is equally authentic, and is proven by what is written about Him, considering the reliability of the writers, the timeliness of their writing and the abundance of it. No other person in human history is more authenticated than Christ.

It is against this backdrop of authenticity that the Christian religion grew exponentially, despite persecution and the obstacles presented by the lack of transportation and technology that we take for granted today. Christianity has always been based upon the witness of truth supported by the miracles of Christ, the reality of his resurrection, and the testimony of the disciples who willingly risked their own lives to preach the good news. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:16-18, We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain.

The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost and empowered the disciples, who not only preached the gospel in many languages so that everyone could hear them in their own tongue, but they also healed the sick and were reminded of everything Jesus had taught them, which empowered them to write the New Testament (Acts 2, Acts 4:33, Acts 5, Acts 6:8, Acts 14, John 14:26). These very same apostles were willing to die for their witness. Christianity was evident to the early Christians because the apostles connected the Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah to their fulfillment in Jesus and the firsthand accounts of those who saw the risen Christ. The epistles and the gospels were meticulously copied and circulated among the early Church within a couple of decades of the crucifixion. Propagating the message of grace was a slow and tedious process until the invention of the printing press in 1450.

The illiteracy of believers and the absence of scripture translated into local languages became points of contention the religious leaders of the Christian movement exploited for centuries in their pursuit of power, influence and wealth in what became a corrupt game of souls until Martin Luther called out the perpetrators in 1517 when he posted his 95 theses that sparked the reformation.

The apostasy continues today, as more and more protestant denominations have joined with Catholicism in rewriting the gospel to suit their own desires. False gospels are plentiful in a deluded society that is offended by those who preach a gospel of repentance, which they find distasteful in their all-inclusive, non-confrontational, politically correct, safe space.

The tragedy of how the institution of the Christian church morphed into an entity of power and abuse hangs over the heads of Christians today as we struggle to make sense of a multitude of denominations and messages, and of what we must do to merit God’s favor. Religion has become a confusing and soupy mess of contradicting philosophies, traditional rituals, ceremonies and unbiblical practices that have little to do with the New Covenant which we have through Jesus. Many Pastors, Ministers and Priests don’t know scripture, or don’t believe parts of the Bible. The resulting apostasy has led to bewildered splinter groups that misinterpret good deeds, compassion for each other or observing aspects of God’s law as ways to portray themselves as justified before God. Millions of people are at the risk of losing their very souls to the lie that has deceived so many in the last 2000 years.

The Bible prophecies that in the last days there will be a great falling away from the faith, and that false teachers and false prophets will try to deceive believers. In 1 Timothy 4:1, Paul writes, The Holy Spirit tells us in plain words that in the last days some people will turn away from the faith. They will listen to what is said about spirits and follow the teaching about demons. Those who teach this say it is true when they know it is a lie. They do it so much that their own hearts no longer say it is wrong. Paul later states, For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Timothy 4:3.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:10-17, By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved, though as one escaping through the flames.

Today we are inundated with counterfeit gospels and pastors with their prosperity gospel, grace theology, progressive Christianity, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses and more who twist scripture to change the gospel of Christ, only to win false converts whose faith is shallow and weak. What Catholicism began, Protestantism further corrupts in the name of religion. We are left with a faith based upon feelings rather than truth. Preachers proclaim a warm and fuzzy message of love and acceptance. However, truth is not founded in feelings. The truth of Christ is based on the evidence of his life, death and resurrection. The truth of Christ is indifferent to our feelings and beliefs and reflects reality, not abstract emotions.

Christianity is a fellowship of faith, but it is much more than blind faith. When religious enterprise takes advantage of the faith of its followers through coercion and manipulation in a power play for wealth and influence, that religion contravenes the very nature of God and the attributes of Jesus who said, The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:11-12.

This current generation is experiencing a great theological tragedy that is sweeping over Christianity, preaching a gospel designed to fill seats, grow congregations and appeal to an ever-changing and fluid society, and in its effort to win an audience, it is losing souls to the very hell it refuses to acknowledge. By avoiding the difficult conversations and sugar-coating the gospel, those who preach only love and acceptance while ignoring the uncomfortable passages of scripture have compromised the word and integrity of God. In doing so, they do a huge disservice to their listeners by preaching a gospel that doesn’t have the power to save souls.

This should surprise no one, as it was foretold two thousand years ago and recorded in 2 Timothy 4:3, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2, Matthew 7:15 and Matthew 24:24. The Bible warns there will be a great apostasy, or abandonment of the truth in the last days. We are seeing it happen before our very eyes in the dogma many Christian churches are propagating that is contrary to Biblical truth. When pastors become millionaires and churches are operated as businesses with congregations that number in the tens of thousands, beware of the wolves in sheep’s clothing that appear to shepherd the flock; it is equivalent to the fox guarding the hen house.

Jesus is coming soon. The enemy has infiltrated the body of Christ and the virus is slowly attacking the weakest parts of that body. We are surrounded by signs that we are indeed living in the last days and the Great Tribulation spoken of by Jesus (Matthew 24:21-22), Daniel (Daniel 12:1) and John (Revelation 8), is about to commence. From outside it appears that the Church is in turmoil; an outdated and irrelevant icon from days gone by. For those with the situational awareness to appreciate the signs that indicate the hour is very late, it is the affirmation that everything foretold in biblical prophecy is about to be fulfilled. We are about to enter an hour of testing.

Jesus said, When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Luke 21:28.

INTRODUCTION

The Christian religion has become confusing and unnecessarily complicated for new believers, often impeding their response to the invitation of Christ into a child-like faith that is the basis for an intimate relationship with him. Much like the Pharisees and teachers of the law in Christ’s time, today’s counterfeit Christian leaders shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces and do not enter it themselves, while not allowing those to enter who are trying to (Matthew 23:13-14).

It is crucial to avoid conflating Christian religion and Christian faith. As early as a couple of centuries after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the church fell victim to the whims of men who weaponized the emerging religion to gain power and wealth initiating the divergence of faith and theology. The resulting chasm still exists today and has driven many people away from Christ as religion flexes its self appointed muscle in a pharisaical abuse of authority.

Where does a new believer turn to find truth? How does one gain the discernment to differentiate between the thousands of religious variations that live under the umbrella of Christianity? In an age of misinformation and skepticism, the distortion of the gospel and the disparity in Christian doctrine between authentic Christian establishments and pseudo Christian organizations threatens the credibility of the faith through the pernicious erosion of the truth. For the undiscerning observer, the Christian message that is proclaimed from many pulpits today possesses an exorbitant risk of misdirection by those who would profit from their gullibility.

Christianity has developed into a religious monster, and to a large extent it has lost credibility in the eyes of other religions such as Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, while the obtuse reactions of the ever-growing atheistic population directly mock the faith. Over the last two centuries there have been many upstarts of new Christian denominations by alleged prophets and leaders who claim some new revelation from God. Yet the Holy Spirit continues to win the hearts of people throughout the world, and Christianity continues to grow despite man’s attempts to manipulate the gospel to say something it truly doesn’t.

Today’s Christian narrative has morphed into a fluid and philosophical commentary centered around social injustices and motivational messages that rarely align with the gospel that Jesus preached. The incongruity between Christian denominations evident today detracts from the unity of the church and can be characterized as decapitating the body of Christ. If Christians don’t have the same mindset as Christ, they are not truly Christian. True believers must fully subscribe to the precepts of the faith they profess, otherwise their profession of faith is feigned.

I am not alone in my assessment of the religious establishment. Many learned students of Christianity concur that religion is a human construct that is at odds with much of scripture. For example, biblical scholar Dr. Michael Heiser, uses the terms agenda-driven and historically conditioned to describe traditional Christian church denominations and suggests they are more dedicated to preserving their unique subcultures than providing biblically accurate doctrine.

Many churches today prioritize entertainment value over biblical exegetical clarity and portray Jesus as some cosmic life-coach. Christ Himself took issue with the religious leaders of His day and admonished them for their hypocrisy (Matthew 23) which failed to draw people closer to God (Matthew 15:8-9). Similarly, the disparity between Christian denominations today can be characterized as decapitating the body of Christ. In his first epistle to Timothy, the apostle Paul wrote, Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work – which is by faith. (1 Timothy 1:4).

In this, my fourth book, I have endeavored to dissect some prominent Christian religious denominations (some of which hover around the periphery of the Christian faith) in order to expose their internal theologies and scrutinize the details of their doctrine under the litmus test of scripture. I will offer a legitimate assessment of how these extra-biblical conceptualizations stack up against the template of the New Testament and identify areas where the truth is exchanged for half truths and outright deception. Sadly, there is a great multitude of people who identify as Christian, but simply are fooling themselves because they lack the faith to repent, are not born again and don’t have a deep commitment to Christ.

It is incumbent upon true believers to ensure that the risk of deception be mitigated through the sanctity of scripture, and that the truth of the gospel is proclaimed loudly and clearly to those seeking God. Christians must not fall prey to the sugar-coated sermons of carnal-minded preachers that only scratch the surface of who God is; they concentrate on trivial pursuits that avoid sin, and overemphasize grace and love at the expense of repentance. Similarly, Christians ought to be wary of the pharisaical attitudes of doctrine advocating strict observance of religious laws and ceremony without regard to a spiritual relationship with Jesus. We must fully appreciate and have complete reverence for the Almighty, and equip ourselves with the full counsel of his Word so that we can stand strong, deeply rooted against the winds of the worldly who follow the broad road, and are destined for the wide gate. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 warns us, For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

The Bible is the absolute truth and the only true moral standard. Apart from God’s truth, there is no truth. Apart from God’s morality,