In Defense of the Cross of Christ: For Many Walk, of Whom I Often Told You, and Now Tell You Even Weeping, That They Are Enemies of the Cross of Christ

By Steven Holley

Who are enemies of the cross, and who are defenders of the faith?

In Defense of the Cross of Christ is a wake-up call to sleeping Christians who keep hitting the conviction snooze button of Gods command for obedience and holiness through His grace that compels us and equips us to personify Jesus in selfless love.

In Defense of the Cross of Christ is an uncompromising warning to church leaders who have invaded the church with humanistic thinking and become stumbling blocks for babes in Christ while deceiving others to follow their pernicious ways of iniquity and to rejoice in it.

Over a decade in preparation, In Defense of the Cross of Christ is now ready for you. The question is, are you ready for it?

I know of no other current author who addresses the issue of iniquity among the body of Christ as clearly and concisely as it is dealt with in this work. Just as importantly, I testify that the words written have the testimony of the Spirit by the demonstration of a life lived by the principles here taught.

Corey Dawes, Fathers Honor Ministry

With passion and conviction, Steven has presented an excellent defense of the cross. Through Scripture and his insight, the reader is drawn to move away from elementary teachings of Scripture and toward deeper water by allowing the love of Christ to guide every decision of their lives. In Defense of the Cross of Christ is intended for slow digestion so the reader may obtain the full nutrients it contains.

Kevin Clouse, pastor and writer, First Church of God

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781490815657

Steven Holley

Steven Holley has written seminar and Bible study materials as well as journal articles, college curricula, and patents. His latest study guide is titled Spiritual Life: How Do Spiritual Decisions Bring a Satisfying, Stable, and Sustainable Relationship with God? His educational writing won the Paul T. Hiser Exemplary Publication Award. Steven’s roles have included pastor, missionary, and educator.

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 Law over Love?

Chapter 2 Mercy without Judgment?

Chapter 3 America: Oh Say, Can You See?

Chapter 4 How Should We Then Live in Judgment?

Chapter 5 What Is Love?

Author Bio and Website

dedicationphoto.jpg

This book is dedicated to Hector Gido (left in photo), my Russian interpreter and good friend.

I was the first Bible preacher ever allowed to speak in the assembly of the Moscow Teacher’s College. Together, Hector and I spoke convincingly by the Spirit about God’s enabling power to forgive and to love even our enemies.

After we spoke, the college president disclosed that a student had been murdered the previous week. He then announced, to the amazement of this historically Communist assembly, that they all needed to practice forgiveness, starting with himself.

Just a few weeks after this message, Hector also was murdered in front of his Moscow apartment.

FOREWORD

We now live in the days when the church, as we call it, especially in America, much more closely resembles the world religions than the nature of the Spirit-filled bride of Christ. Our many church organizations and the leaders of such assemblies commonly use courts of law to defend their perceived rights and even, at times, to defend themselves from the consequences of sin. Unfortunately, a large part of our collective population that observes our worldly views and practices holds the Christian faith in contempt.

We are experiencing days within the church much like the days of the apostles as they dealt with the Jews who had rejected their Messiah: You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’ as it is written (Romans 2:21–24).

Can it not today be applied as, You, who make your boast in salvation by grace through faith, is it not evident that you do not walk by faith and are not empowered by God’s grace? For the name of God is blasphemed among those in this fallen world because of you?

I was blessed with a meeting a number of years ago that makes this very clear. I had the privilege of witnessing to a quite serious fellow who was of the Islamic religion. We had talked about some of the basics of the character and nature of Jesus as the Messiah, the Creator of all things, the Redeemer of mankind, and the coming judge of all the living and dead. He then stated that he had sufficient proof that Islam was the true faith and Christianity was not. His testimony was this: When my family and I moved here from Saudi, my wife and I converted to the Christian faith, and for two years, we went to a Christian church. My friend, in Islam we have our hypocrites, but nothing like you guys!

I fully realize that it is very likely that this man had never truly repented and given his heart and control of his life to the Lord. I also realize that he saw nothing in the so-called Christians he encountered that compelled him to repent. But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you (1 Corinthians 14:24–25).

It is appropriate timing that my brother in Christ, Steven Holley, by the grace of God, has been able to see this book come to be published. I know of no other current author who addresses the issue of iniquity among the body of Christ as clearly and concisely as it is dealt with in this work. Just as important, I testify that the words written have the testimony of the Spirit by the demonstration of a life lived by the principles here taught. The world has no lack of knowledgeable teachers, but we are in grave need not of persuasive words of human wisdom but of the teaching that will turn the heart and resonate with the Spirit of the redeemed and done in demonstration of the Spirit and power. This can only be accomplished in as much as the Spirit of God works through the man for God’s own glory, and the Spirit’s presence will be demonstrated in the life of the one whom He uses.

I am blessed to know Steven Holley, to have him as a friend and Christian brother. I have watched his life demonstrate the hard choice to follow not the ways of the world but to humble himself under the mighty hand of God. I have learned many valuable lessons from the Lord as Mr. Holley has been used of Him, and this work has been very valuable to me in my own Christian walk. I pray that the Lord will use this offering to touch your consciences and to turn you wholeheartedly to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and turn you away from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers (1 Peter 1:18).

May the grace of our Lord rest fully upon you as you obey Him.

Corey Dawes

Father’s Honor Ministry

For many walk,

of whom I have told you often,

and now tell you even weeping,

that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.

—Philippians 3:18

PREFACE

Have you ever pondered why people give computers human attributes? At the touch of a few keys, my computer will obediently search its memory, diligently process large volumes of amazing facts, thoroughly organize meaningful reports, and then faithfully display them for me to read. If I were to list the human attributes of my computer, the list would require a computer to manage it. In fact, the performance specifications of my computer are more impressive than the academic goals of any university postgraduate program. Despite the tremendous value of my computer, it falls short of one essential attribute: incarnation. Obviously, my computer cannot become the message that it displays. Unfortunately, most Christians identify more with computers than they do with Christ, because they too cannot become the message that they display. While they give computers human attributes, they give God inanimate attributes.

They cannot personify Jesus or identify with the cross of Christ because they do not know the incarnating grace of Christ. By grace are we saved and called to personify Jesus by grace, for grace, by increasing grace, by more of the grace of Christ. The ultimate grace of Christ provides the desire, the motivation, and the strength to embrace the cross of Christ. Jesus would not have said, Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me, without providing the grace of Christ to do it.

For Christians to receive the grace of Christ continuously, they must follow the humility of Jesus, yield their rights, and maintain, Not my will but thine be done. I marvel that so many Christians are so soon removed from receiving the grace of Christ to personify Jesus. They say Jesus Christ is their Lord, yet they turn to different gospels that pervert the gospel of Christ. Therefore, they have become the enemies of the cross of Christ.

Time and time again, when I have challenged Christians to personify the character of Christ, who gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world, I have listened to them moan, I just cannot do that. Of course, it is true—they cannot and I cannot, apart from the grace of Christ. Therefore, it is not me but Christ in me. I can do all things in Christ, who strengthens me. But what happens when I refuse the free gift of grace, desert the call of Jesus, and do not demonstrate agape love, even to love my enemies?

Christians who were called by grace but now refuse to go on by grace will slide back into self-righteous works and turn the grace of our Lord into insolence and shame. Christians who deny the grace of Christ are evident—they are angry Christians, aggressive Christians, demanding Christians, impatient Christians, and offended Christians. When Christians are angry, aggressive, demanding, impatient, and offended, they look for ways to get control, to get revenge, and to work out their own righteousness. Man’s righteousness determines what is right and what is wrong by humanistic thinking, not by the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ comes only with the grace of Christ.

In 1995 I attended a seminar for pastors and ministers. I was overcome with spiritual grieving because certain presented information contradicted the love of the truth. For several years I had been personally struggling with the challenges of personifying Jesus. Because of my growing convictions and the Spirit that gives discernment, I suddenly understood why angry, aggressive, demanding, impatient, and offended Christians turned to legal organizations to bring the force of law against their enemies.

The seminar leader affirmed the self-righteous methods of organizations for law and justice that use the legal system to achieve specific religious rights for Christians by the force of law. That growing method of good works has continued to raise serious caution in my spirit because of two contradictions.

The first contradiction concerns the false testimony that offended Christians send when they exalt law over love to achieve God’s peace. It is a deceitful contradiction to the true testimony expressed by the psalmist (119:165): Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

The second contradiction concerns the false grace that impatient Christians embrace when they expect mercy without judgment to achieve God’s blessings. It is a shameful contradiction to the true grace foreseen by Isaiah (30:18): the Lord … may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him. God marvelously blessed this seminar leader and his ministry—they have become a strong influence to many people worldwide. I have also been blessed by this ministry, and I use many of their materials in my library. Nevertheless, it is the spirit in a man—the breath of the Almighty—that makes him understand. And one thing that I clearly understand is why the greatest threat to any ministry is its own success. Therefore, I took the initiative to write to this ministry leader, expressing my convictions and warning of spiritual danger. Initially, the letter became a personal introspection. As the Spirit of the Lord brought to my mind issues to address, I had to resolve those issues in my heart and life first. The letter grew and took a year to complete, eventually becoming this book. Of course that represented a lot of introspection.

In Defense of the Cross of Christ is a wake-up call to sleeping Christians who have turned away from God’s holiness, which compels us by grace to personify Jesus Christ. Offended Christians who have refused grace and have perverted the gospel of Jesus Christ in defense of their rights should ask themselves which Jesus they are following—Jesus Christ of the cross or Jesus Barabbas of the insurrection.

Because humanistic thinking has invaded the church and has deceived many Christians into believing that this world is evolving from less order to more order, from conflict to peace, and from confusion to faith, greater consideration should be given to how Jesus perceives the end: And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:7–8). Why is sincere faith slowly diminishing? Why will Christ not find faith on the earth?

And many false prophets shall rise. and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound. the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:11–14)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am especially grateful to Gary and Joanne Hill. Joanne provided professional editing and godly critiquing. She was always a fresh spring of motivation. Gary is a special friend, whom the Lord used many years ago to awaken my sleepy spirit. I deeply appreciate Gary’s scriptural insights, his extensive knowledge of biblical history, and his contributions that made this book complete.

I appreciate how God provided my wife with understanding and insights and inspiration in ways that only a wife could.

Another source of godly inspiration was a book written by L. E. Maxwell, Born Crucified. Mr. Maxwell wrote this book in 1945, and fifty years later I found it in an antique flea market. I had an immediate witness of the spirit with this author through his writing. Mr. Maxwell’s grieving of waning Christian faith, plus acute gospel abuse, were no less foreboding more than sixty-five years ago than mine are today. However, it is clear from the contrast in a half century of Christianity that spiritual darkness has only become greater darkness.

Most Scripture references in this book are from the King James Version, because the KJV conveys precepts in powerful prose. However, other Bible translations are also used when reading is more meaningful to the reader due to word etymology.

My utmost acknowledgment is to Holy Spirit. Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will direct your paths. Looking back on the experience of writing this book, I could not and would not have chronicled such a poignant exposé on the spiritually anemic and abusive state of the church without the compelling of Holy Spirit through five thousand hours of Bible study and revelation.

Points to Ponder

"Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). You are encouraged to chronicle in these spaces throughout the book your points of inspiration as the Spirit gives light to ponder in your heart, adding your own experiences, even as they relate to mine.

Many have found this book helpful in small group studies for discipleship and maturing Christian faith, including pastors who have been wounded or merchandised by counterfeit church leaders who are enemies of the cross of Christ.

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You are invited to share your Points to Ponder at my website: www.InDefenseOfTheCrossOfChrist.com.

INTRODUCTION

I wrote In Defense of the Cross of Christ with much intensity and passion to warn Christian brothers and sisters in Christ that there are enemies in Christ’s church today. From the beginning, they are self-righteous (evil) men and impostors, who unchallenged, will grow worse, leading babes in Christ and the unsaved astray as they wander themselves further into darkness. For such are false apostles and deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And this is no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

There actually are three audiences that this work should challenge:

The first audience is sincere, maturing Christians, whose spirit grieves them about impure and disingenuous behavior in the church. They know within that something is wrong but cannot explain it, as leaders, by their good words and fair speeches, deceive the hearts of the simple. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh and through much wantonness.

They are spots and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deception while they feast with you. I, too, was in that same place of discovery at one time. If this is you, then I urge you, by the grace and mercy of God, to take every teaching of man to God’s Word and let Holy Spirit ratify or modify and then sanctify the pure unblemished understanding of Scripture and its application in your life. And this, God will do if you humble yourself under His mighty hand of authorities in your life. Parents are your first authority; Holy Scripture is your highest authority. Holy Spirit is your guiding authority and in the multitude of authorities, every word and purpose is established.

The second audience is leadership. Simply put, if you do not understand the Old Testament and New Testament concept of your own iniquity (not at all equal to sin), then you are deceived by it and are deceiving others. If you name Christ, then your absolute and imperative mandate from Scripture is to depart from iniquity before even considering the qualifications of leadership, based on 1 Timothy 3. If you remain ignorant to iniquity, then you shall receive the rewards of unrighteousness and the judgment that accompanies leaders whose iniquity causes the love of many to grow cold.

The third audience is the church skeptics. You are a skeptic of the church and Christianity for good reason. You have been burned or bewildered by the second audience named above. This book should explain why imposters of Christianity do not in any way represent true Christianity—they are devoid of the power of God’s love. If someone burned or bewildered you with counterfeit money because the bank rejected it, would you then be skeptical of real money? I think not. I suggest that the bank in the case of the counterfeit church is your conscience rejecting the authenticity of their moral authority. However, just as real money is beneficial to your temporal economy, so is real Christianity and sincere love crucial to your spiritual economy. Keep in mind that only things of great value are counterfeited and therefore, it should be no surprise that Christianity has been the target of more counterfeiting than anything in history.

QUERY 1

Law over Love?

1.1 Which Way Does Righteousness Come?

Legal reform, by its nature, makes only temporal changes, but love, by its nature, makes eternal changes. Are the organizations for law and justice (especially those lawyers initiating law suites for offended Christians) trying to achieve, through the force of law, what God has always intended to be transformed by compelling love? Did not Jesus have a legal right to occupy the seat of government? Legal power over the kingdoms of this world became the unrighteous expectations of His disciples and also the tool that Satan used to tempt Jesus.

Did Jesus encourage attempts to form a legal coalition, or did He rebuke them? When the multitude of followers finally realized that their kingdom was not going to