day no. 16,178: all Christs are not created equal

2 Corinthians 11:3-4

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 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.

All Christs are not created equal; in fact, one wasn’t. The created ones are, granted, all equally unequal to the title. Only inferior christs can be created, for the superior One is the one that wasn't. The actual Christ is begotten, not made. 

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,

the only-begotten Son of God,

begotten of the Father before all worlds,

God of God,

Light of Light,

very God of very God,

begotten, not made,

being of one substance with the Father;

by whom all things were made.

- Nicene Creed, 325 AD

The one, true Christ is the Creator of every other thing, even of those who go and create counterfeit christs. These created "christs," however, cannot hold a candle to the One who created their creators.

John 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Jesus made men in the image of God and they, in turn, made images of their imaginations. Sometimes they even named these images "Christ," in similar fashion as to when Aaron called the golden calf  he created,"Yahweh." The issue is not calling on the name of Christ per se, but on what you call "Christ." You cannot sanctify rebellion by calling it "righteousness." You cannot eat the poison and have health too. In short, you cannot split the difference by calling evil "good," darkness "light," or your idols "Christ." I mean, you can do that, and some in Corinth clearly had, but it doesn't fly. God is not obligated to receive whatever you call, "Christ."

Isaiah 5:20-21

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

All this to say, be careful about what is presented to you as "Christ." Consider the claims. Some use this name as a way of baptizing their own fancies. But there is one way to the Father and it isn't an incantation, it is a Person. There is one truth and it isn't simply a monosyllable, but a Savior. There is one life and it isn't in knowing the right words to say, but in knowing the Father through the Son.

John 14:6, 17:3

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me... And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

day no. 14,941: ChristiANDity

Many evangelicals today practice ChristiANDity. They know enough to know that they need Christ, but they also believe He is insufficient or inadequate to address certain issues, thoughts, practices, etc...

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Either Scripture is sufficient or it isn't. At some point, we have to decide. If it is, then we need to think more Biblically, be more acquainted with the content and context of the Bible and more interactive with the principles it provides and applying them to our practices and predicaments in everyday life.

To say that Scripture is sufficient is not to say that you cannot consult or consider any other source of information, but rather it informs which filters which. With what authority does the buck stop? Which worldview will prevail? The one the Bible provides or one of its competitors. 

"The Bible is thought of as authoritative on everything of which it speaks. Moreover, it speaks of everything. We do not mean that it speaks of football games, of atoms, etc., directly, but we do mean that it speaks of everything either directly or by implication." – Cornelius Van Til, Christian Apologetics

The Bible, in principle, speaks to everything. The more Biblically you begin to think -- that is to say, the more your thinking and assessment of situations is guided by underlying principles proclaimed and applied in the Scriptures -- the more you have a handle on life, breath and everything else that happens here on a Tuesday afternoon.

"In the Bible, we have a perfect library." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students: To Workers with Slender Apparatus

Hebrews 5:14
Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

It will not be easy, but it is possible. It will require constant practice. No let up, not give up. But if you keep up with it, you will find your powers of discernment growing like muscles that have been worked over. They will be stronger and able to lift today what they could not yesterday. They will be able to cut through crap they could not yesterday. They will be trained, sharpened, heightened... and they will be able to distinguish between good and evil. The clouded mind cannot tell the difference between bad and worse. The mind trained Biblically can distinguish good from evil and better from best.