Anathema

We’re at war. Well, I guess not technically, since Congress has not yet said that we are, and they are the only ones with the power to say so.

On February 28, US forces, alongside of Israel, began bombing Iran. They say there was an imminent threat, although there has been no proof thereof. I know you watch the news, so you know all of this.

There have since been over 200 verified reports that military leadership has said that President Trump is, “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,”

I actually do have a number of friends and relatives that believe that Trump is God’s anointed choice for these times. One person asked me if I was challenging their faith when I first began posting about the things that were going on in the country right now. As if faith in God equated to faith in Trump!

And, this is an issue. The Trump administration ‘preaches’ a gospel. The gospel of Christian Nationalism.

The gospel of Christian Nationalism is that the right people, armed with the right politics, led by a divinely anointed strong man, can seize the institutions of cultural and governmental power, expel or subdue the wrong people, reverse the nation’s moral decline, and establish God’s kingdom on earth through dominion. Salvation in this gospel is not received by faith — it is achieved by victory. It is not offered to all — it is reserved for those who belong.

Galatians 1:8-9 “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed [anathema] As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed [anathema].”

Anathema is the Greek word used for accursed here. The Strong’s and Thayers Greek Lexicon translate this word as meaning: a curse, a man accursed, devoted to the direst woes.

So, what was the Gospel that Paul preached? In a previous post I talked about the Romans Road. A very simple map about what the Bible says it means to be a Christian. This road map is also a description of the Gospel that Paul preached.

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, he sums it up this way, “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures…”

The Gospel of Paul preaches that all have sinned and owe the wages of sin which is death. We are all condemned. No matter our ethnicity, or where we live, but all. That Jesus, born of a virgin, a Jewish man and a refugee, came to die (a death that was carried about by the government) and rose again to purchase our salvation and freedom from sin. And that salvation is a gift from God through faith.

I think that as Christians it is important that we recognize the distinction. The Scripture tells us to be careful that we are not deceived. “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” 2 Corinthians 11;3-4

Ask yourself, through careful study and prayer, ‘What is this Gospel and that our administration is ‘preaching’? Who is this Jesus that they tell us they are following? ‘ Is it the gospel that Paul preached? Is it the Jesus that Paul preached? Or is it Anathema?

You have to decide.