Humanism, A Cancer Within The Body of Christ
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, there are many very small words within the English language which carry with them great power. Two such words are the words yes and no. They are rock solid words. There is no variance in them. They are final and definitive.
(Mat 5:37) But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
An even more powerful word and even smaller than yes and no is the word “if”. The word if has the power to change a yes to a no or a no to a yes. Now the words yes and no don’t change in meaning but they can change positionally insomuch as how they apply to a certain situation.
Now the most powerful word in the English language is the smallest of all words. It is more powerful than yes, no and if combined. That is the letter I! How is this relevant to this writing? Allow me to explain.
The word human comes from the Latin Homo sapiens which means “wise man” or “knowing man”.
An ism is a suffix that forms abstract nouns of action, state, condition, doctrine.
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns, attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters.
When God created us He created “man”. When man fell he/she became “human”.
In the first two chapters of Genesis the word I was used 3 times, each of which was God speaking of Himself. In what context did God use the word I?
(Gen 1:29) And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
(Gen 1:30) And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
(Gen 2:18) And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Every time God used the word I, He did so in the act of giving and or of creation. God uses the word I again in chapter 3 verse 2 where He states that He (I) commanded. Which is the act of giving a command and creating a law.
Now let’s see how the word I was first used by “mankind”.
(Gen 3:10) And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
(Gen 3:12) And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
(Gen 3:13) And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
The reason that “man” fell from grace in the garden to begin with was because both Adam and Eve put I before God! They allowed their own understanding and desires to separate them from God.
Adam says; “I did eat” because the “woman” that He had given him gave the fruit to him.
Eve says: “I did eat” because the serpent beguiled her.
When God used the word I it was for the benefit of man. When man used the word I it was self serving. This has not changed to this very day.
When man transgressed in the garden he became “human”
The tree that they ate from was the tree of “knowledge of good and evil”. Before they had partaken of the fruit they did not have this knowledge. Subsequently they became homo sapians (knowing man).
Therefore it is clear to see that Humanism is rooted in the self. This became the human condition. To have all knowledge of the things of the natural realm. To understand and know all as god’s. To be equal to God!
(Gen 11:4) And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
(Gen 11:5) And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
(Gen 11:6) And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
God Himself is saying that nothing which “the children of men” imagined to do could not be accomplished.
What does scripture say about the imagination of man?
(Gen 6:5) And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
(Gen 8:21) And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
(Jer 7:24) But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
(Jer 9:14) But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
(Luk 1:51) He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
Do you see a pattern here? Where does this imagination come from?
Their evil hearts!
What has God put into us as new creations?
(Eze 11:19) And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
(Eze 18:31) Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
(Eze 36:23) And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
(Eze 36:24) For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
(Eze 36:25) Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
(Eze 36:26) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
(Eze 36:27) And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Glory to God!
How is it then that so many believers still talk as the world does, think as the world does and act as the world does?
Humanism!
They, although being saved and cleansed by the sacrifice and blood of The Lamb of God, have not renewed their minds by submitting to the Holy Spirit. God has taken out the stoney heart and gave us a heart of flesh (bâśâr -from it’s freshness) but we are still subject to their own desires.
This flesh being spoken of here is the same flesh of which Adam was originally created. In other words we were given the same heart as mankind had when originally created. We were given a new opportunity to begin again. We have a fresh start. A clean slate. Our new hearts can remain pure or become corrupted once again because we, as did Adam and Eve, have free will or free choice, if you will.
Now many of us make a decision to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. Subsequently we are saved from the penalty of sin. That does not however mean that we have become the new creations that we were intended to be any more than Adam and Eve did. We were “born again”. We were given a second chance. What we do with it is our choice just as it was in the garden.
Adam and Eve’s choice was, follow God or follow the Serpent.
Our choice is follow Jesus or follow Satan.
(Ecc 1:9) The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
What has changed however is that God, in His infinite wisdom, mercy and grace has given us His most Holy Spirit to empower us to remain on the straight and narrow path. IF we submit to the unction of the Spirit.
The problem is that Humanism has crept into the body of Christ.
We are no longer listening to God rather we give credence to people who profess to be teachers or pastors or apostles or prophets of God. Just as the world does, if a person bears a title they are somehow more worthy of our trust than others. Man tends to respect that Dr, PhD or pastor title.
Why?
Do any of those titles glorify God? Or do they glorify self? Do they exhibit a work which God has done or something that man has accomplished?
The truth is that anyone who puts their full human effort into a thing, they can accomplish it, without God.
You don’t agree? Remember this?
(Gen 11:6) And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
How can God be seen in something that any man can accomplish?
Sure we can give the glory to God. But does that mean that God did it? I got a flat tire today and changed the tire in less than 5 minutes all by myself. Glory be to God.
Is this some how miraculous? Am I missing something here?
Gen 11: 6 says that man can accomplish anything that he/she can imagine. Does that mean that God’s hand is in it because it gets done? Of course not!
How then do we know that a thing is of God and not of ourselves?
Because it always glorifies Him!
You see brothers & sisters Humanism as diluted the power of God by tricking us into believing that our part in our transformation into the image of Christ is greater than it is. We are being taught that we have to do things in order to make this transformation happen. We must seek God, we must obey the law, we must renew our minds, we must change our hearts.
The truth, according to the Word of God, is that the only thing that we must do is to submit to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to change us on the inside so it can become manifest on the outside and produce the fruit of the Spirit.
Brothers & Sisters we do not produce the fruit. We didn’t seek God He sought us. We did not seek Jesus, God led us to Him. The first step in our transformation into becoming who we are in heaven and who we are becoming while here on Earth is to first understand who we were.
There are two chapters in scripture which are almost repeated word for word. When we see words repeated in the Word of God we know that it is to be given extra consideration. What then would we say about two whole chapters of God’s word being repeated?
Psalms 14:2 & 53:2
(Psa 14:1) To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
(Psa 14:2) The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
(Psa 14:3) They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
(Psa 14:4) Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
(Psa 14:5) There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
(Psa 14:6) Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.
(Psa 14:7) Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
That brothers and sisters is the condition of EVERY MAN. Nothing has changed in man’s condition according to the Word. If we break the least of the commandments we are guilty of all. Is there anyone reading this that does not sin? Our condition is the same! We are sinners.
What has changed is man’s position. That is to say that only because of the gospel of Christ, His birth, life, spilled blood, death, resurrection and ascension do we stand righteous before the throne of God. We had absolutely nothing to do with it then nor do we now! Are we the Potter or the clay? Is God molding us and shaping us or are we doing it ourselves? God is the Potter! Amen!
To believe and or teach otherwise is pure unadulterated Humanism and a damnable lie brought forth by the enemy straight out of the pits of hell.
It is the self which caused the fall of man and it is the self which is keeping believers from being transformed into the image of Christ.
We as true Christian believers do not rely on man’s wisdom. We do not stand on our own understanding. We depend on divine revelation from the most high God through His Holy Spirit. And if His Word goes against the ways of the world, if it defies logic, if it goes against our own understanding, if it causes every human being to hate us, we stand firmly on the rock. That is the way God intended it to be and said so in His word through The Word.
So brothers and sisters I close with these questions;
What gospel do you preach and teach? Which Jesus do you serve? Which God do you obey? Do you obey the God that Humanism has created or the God of the bible? Do you follow the Jesus who is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, as is written in scripture, or the Jesus that man has created?
(Joh 15:26) But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
(Mat 24:24) For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
(Mat 24:25) Behold, I have told you before.
May Almighty God Bless You and Keep You. Amen
