One of the most important teachings in the Bible is that of the New Birth, and the New Birth is a SPIRITUAL birth which is an absolute necessity if you want to see Heaven. This one teaching EXPOSES the bogus and counterfeit unity that you see taking place in this modern day. The Roman Catholic church teaches that a person is regenerated and born again when they are baptized as little infants, but nothing could be further from the truth. A little infant baby has absolutely no idea what is going on, when the Roman Catholic priest comes along with his little wand and sprinkles their head with “holy water.” I know because I was one of those little infants who had my head sprinkled by a Roman Catholic priest, BUT I was not TRULY born again until many years later! So what am I saying here? I am saying that there are literally millions of Roman Catholic people who are being taught that they were “born again” when they were baptized as little infants, but they were NEVER truly regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit. They have NEVER even entered into the kingdom of God! I must also say that there are billions of precious souls, from tons of different religions in this world who have NEVER been born again either, BUT they are not teaching a counterfeit new birth as the church of Rome is.
So when you see ministers such as James Robison, Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen, John Arnott and tons of others having their little pow-wows and “unity” meetings with Pope Francis, do not be seduced by it folks, because it is NOT of the Lord Jesus Christ at all. In fact they are FIGHTING against the Lord by their actions! Those “ministers” are joining hands with a system that proclaims a counterfeit gospel if ever there was a false gospel! Rome does not speak according to the word of God, but they preach a perverted and corrupt gospel with truth being mixed with their own man-made traditions!
“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20
This is NOT the unity which Jesus Christ prayed for in the gospel of John in chapter 17 at all as some would like to believe. The Roman Catholic church preaches another Jesus, but it is NOT the Jesus that is found within the scriptures!
“For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” 2 Corinthians 11:4
Beware of people who claim to be Christian “ministers” because counterfeit ministers are a dime a dozen.
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
The Jewish people also need to be “born again” of the Spirit, but they do not believe in Jesus Christ, and they do not accept his words either. The Jewish apostle Paul thought that the Christians of his time were totally whacked out, until the day when Jesus Christ spoke to him from Heaven. (Acts 9:1-24) That Jewish apostle Paul then had his spiritual eyes opened and preached Jesus as the Messiah from that time forward! After the Jewish apostle Paul was converted to Jesus Christ, the unbelieving and unregenerate Jews sought to KILL him! What does that tell you ladies and gentlemen regarding the FALSE and COUNTERFEIT unity you see being preached in the land today? That same Jewish apostle Paul had a SPIRITUAL AWAKENING and he suddenly knew the real difference between the Jew who has been born in the natural (physical birth), and the Jew who has been born of the Spirit (spiritual birth) of the living God. Paul wrote the following words AFTER his conversion to Jesus Christ! Who are the TRUE Jews according to the scriptures?
For he is not a JEW, which is one OUTWARDLY; neither is that circumcision, which is OUTWARD in the flesh: But he is a JEW, which is one INWARDLY; and circumcision is that of the HEART, in the SPIRIT, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of GOD. (Romans 2:28-29)
The apostle Paul, himself a Jew, made it very clear that the physical circumcision of the flesh did NOT make a person a Jew, but it was the SPIRITUAL circumcision of the heart that truly mattered. When the Lord Jesus Christ had a discussion with a Jewish ruler named Nicodemus, He made it clear to him that he needed to be born again in order for him to see the Kingdom of God. The Lord showed that Jewish man Nicodemus, the absolute necessity of being born again of the Spirit of God. The man Nicodemus is to be commended because he was searching for the truth, and he came to Jesus in the dark of night, probably because he was intimidated by his fellow Jews.
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a RULER of the JEWS: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, RABBI, we know that thou art a teacher come from GOD: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be BORN AGAIN, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be BORN AGAIN. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:1-8)
There must be a circumcision of the heart, in the Spirit for a person to understand that Jesus Christ is in fact the Son of God, and the Messiah. The apostle Paul was on the outside looking in until that fateful day when the Lord Jesus Christ confronted him from Heaven above! (Acts 9) After that day, the apostle Paul preached that Jesus was the Christ (Messiah) and his own countrymen wanted to KILL him! (Acts 9:15-23) Why? Simply because Paul (then Saul) had crossed over from the Kingdom of DARKNESS into the Kingdom of God, and LIGHT! The apostle Paul came to the knowledge of truth (1 John 5:20), and he paid a very dear price for it also.
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the CROSS of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in CHRIST JESUS neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a NEW CREATURE . And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the ISRAEL OF GOD. (Galatians 6:14-16)
Paul emphasizes here that the physical circumcision means absolutely NOTHING, and he also states that being uncircumcised is just as worthless in the sight of God. Paul made it clear that the only thing that mattered was being a NEW CREATURE (CREATION) and he was talking about being a NEW CREATION in Jesus Christ. There is no other NEW CREATION that is recognized as being part of the true ISRAEL OF GOD than that NEW CREATION! Paul said he gloried only in the CROSS of his Lord Jesus Christ! Paul declared PEACE to be upon those who WALKED according to that same rule (or way) What rule (way)? Simply believing and following the Lord Jesus Christ, and realizing that it is only the CROSS, where Jesus shed His BLOOD that really matters for sinners.
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: (Romans 9:6)
So a person may be a Jew by nature, but until they become a NEW CREATION in Jesus Christ, they are not a TRUE JEW according to the scriptures, and more specifically according to a Jewish man (Paul) who was converted to Jesus Christ. So the time for the Jewish people to turn to Jesus Christ is not at sometime in the future but it is NOW, and this Gospel call has been going on for many centuries, since the time of Jesus Christ!
Therefore if any man be IN CHRIST, he is a NEW CREATURE (CREATION): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become NEW. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The Jewish apostle Paul was CONVERTED to Jesus Christ, and again he made it clear that the TRUE believers, and the TRUE CIRCUMCISION were those people who worshiped God in the SPIRIT! That group of people included both BELIEVING Jews, and BELIEVING Gentiles.
Beware of DOGS, beware of evil workers, beware of the CONCISION. For WE are the CIRCUMCISION, which worship GOD in the SPIRIT, and rejoice in CHRIST JESUS, and have no confidence in the flesh. (Philippians 3:2-3)
It does not matter whether a person is Jewish or Gentile (in the flesh or natural), the only thing that matters is whether that same person has repented and believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Mark 1:15) If they have put their faith in Jesus Christ, and they have been born again of the Spirit, then they are part of the Kingdom of God, and NEW CREATIONS in Jesus Christ, and they are on their way to Heaven. If that has happened to an individual, then that SAME person can be rightly be called a TRUE JEW in God’s sight. If that has NOT happened to an individual, then that person simply REMAINS IN THEIR SINS, and remain in DARKNESS. Their names have NEVER been WRITTEN in the Book of Life, and they will ultimately be CAST into the Lake of Fire!
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 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 . (Revelation 20:11-15)