4 Common Myths In The Christian Faith

Who is a Christian?

A Christian is someone who has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour and exhibits this acceptance by virtue of behaving like Christ in all things.

Who is not a Christian?

The following do not qualify a person as a Christian unless such a person has been personally convicted of his faith and confessed Christ as his Lord.

• One who was born in a "Christian" home but has no relationship with Christ.

• One who believes Jesus is just a prophet and not the son of God.

• One who doesn't believe in the salvation of souls.

• One who does not believe in the existence of God or the Trinity.

• One who has not confessed Christ as Lord no matter how "good" by human standards his behaviour may be.

In the Christian fold and generally, in the church of God, there have been certain myths that have surrounded us as we grew up, as we entered society and have, in a way, wormed their way into the church. However, reading and studying the Bible has come to nullify these statements even though some of them sound "spiritual" or have even been said by our Bible study teachers, popular gospel artists or men of God. However, the believer should note that the mistake on the parts of these teachers of faith and men of God do not make them any less anointed and so, you must not doubt them only that just like the church in Berea who, although were taught by Pail and Silas still searched the scriptures to see if they were being taught right. (Acts 17:11).

What are these myths that must be expelled from the church?

1. Jesus Christ is one of the prophets, not the son of God.

In a bid to keep "societal balance", many believers have switched to the extremes of declaring the fact that Jesus Christ was just like one of the prophets. However, Jesus Christ is not a prophet, he was sent by God to bear the sins of the world. He is the son of God.

Romans 1:3-4 says, "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." This is showcasing the fact that Jesus Christ is the one true son of God and our faith will be in vain if he were to be just a prophet as some claimed him to be.

Therefore, in a bid to follow peace with all men, as a believer, do not compromise your standing and belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God as He is the Lord of all.

2. Heaven helps those who help themselves

While we might have grown to hear this statement over and over again, it is with great joy that I tell you that this sentence exists nowhere in the Bible which makes it null and void. This is where the believer must have the discretion to filter out unbiblical adages and proverbs from their dictions.

Although this sentence has always been said in order not to facilitate laziness, it is important to note that as a child of God, even in times when we are at fault, God's mercy can bring help to us ASAP. Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." This scripture shows us a dimension of God to help us in times when it seems like we aren't working for it or helping ourselves per se. This is where mercy triumphs over judgement.

Other scriptures like Psalms 18:35-36, Psalms 18:6, Isaiah 41:10 and John 14:16 shows us that God is ever-present to help us out of every sticky situation and in fact, does not need us to do anything except to call upon Him.

3. If you don't pray, Satan will make a mess of you.

This is another statement that has played a lot on the lips of believers but, in actuality, this has no basis in the word of God.

First of all, what is prayer?

Prayer is a medium of communication between the Christian and God. That is, it is the channel through which you, as a Christian make your request known to your father. Therefore, in a way, your prayer time is a "family time" between you and God. 

Satan does not belong to the family of God so, he has no right to partake in your family time or be the reason you create a communication timetable with your father. Remember that when Christ was raised from the dead, he made an open show of the devil! Satan was stripped butt naked before you and me so he has no dignity whatsoever before you and I. Jesus Christ did not just stop there, Ephesians 1:22 says, "And hath put all things under his (Christ) feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church.", then Ephesians 2:6 says, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

This means that we have been placed above Satan and all of his types of machinery in Christ. 

However, the Bible further says that we must watch out for our adversary, the devil who goes about like a roaring lion(1 Peter 5:8-9). First, Satan is not the lion, we are! The believer is the true descendant of the tribe of Judah. Peradventure, the devil tries to rear his ugly head in our life's situation, we don't pray because we don't want him to mess us up, he has no legal or vital right to do that. Instead, our first line of defence is our knowledge of our salvation and the power it holds and we pray to put the devil back to his proper place and cut his fangs. We pray not because of our fear of the devil but to put a tone of finality to our situation and arrange the cosmos to respond to us.

In summary, we pray to God but we make declarations against Satan!

4. God is angry at you.

This is another statement of condemnation that has most probably accompanied us in our Christian faith. Some of us probably grew up hearing the fact that our righteousness is like tattered clothes before God. However, probably, this is true for the unsaved and old testament believer. But, for the new testament believer (that is, everyone who was born after Christ's death, burial and resurrection), our righteousness is of God.

Do you know what that means?

It means that you and I carry God's righteousness so when God looks at us, He doesn't see you and me, instead, He sees Himself. If He sees Himself in us, then, it automatically means that He cannot be angry at you and me!

Note my use of words, He cannot, not He will not. The moment we confessed the sovereignty of Jesus Christ, God lost the ability to be angry at us and all He can do with us is shower us with His love overwhelmingly and abundantly. God does not endorse your mistakes because He endorses you so, regardless of how you feel at any moment, know that God is partial to you and He loves you so much - more than you could ever claim to love Him. The knowledge of this love of God is the reason you as a believer will rise to take opportunities, do well in school, get married well, and buy cars and jets because you know that God favours you regardless of competition and all of this is more than enough in Christ. Our knowledge of the fact that God is not angry at us makes us know and live in the reality that nothing is too good for us.

Dearest Christian brethren, standing on the foundation of these words, it is necessary for us to try every word with the word of God before we adopt it as a kingdom principle because it might only make secular sense but lack the complete essence of the gospel and power of God.

Shalom!