The Buffet of Christianity | Ep. 174

Ever feel like modern Christianity is a buffet—plenty of options, little clarity on what truly matters? We step back from the noise and follow a trail the apostles left in plain sight, moving from belief to obedience with the Book of Acts as our map. Instead of debating labels and church traditions, we ask what Peter and Paul actually expected when they warned about not obeying the gospel, and we test our assumptions against the first-century church.

We begin with a clear definition of the gospel and a harder question: what does obeying that gospel look like? From Jerusalem to Samaria to the uttermost parts of the world, four scenes show a single, consistent response: repentance, water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, and receiving the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2, Peter’s answer to “What shall we do?” is direct and practical. In Acts 8, Samaritans believe, are baptized, and receive the Spirit through the apostles’ hands. In Acts 10, the Spirit falls on Cornelius’ household before baptism, proving God welcomes the Gentiles—and Peter immediately commands water baptism. In Acts 19, Paul meets sincere "apparent" disciples, re-baptizes them in Jesus’ name, and lays his hands on them to receive the Spirit. Different places, cultures, and sequences—but one common obedience to the gospel of the kingdom.

Along the way, we confront how well-meant advice and inherited customs can drift from Scripture. We offer simple questions that cut through confusion: Did you receive the Holy Spirit? Into what were you baptized? The goal is not to win an argument; it is to recover unity around the doctrine of the apostles and invite honest, Scripture-first obedience. 

If you’ve questioned why there are over 45,000 denominations, hopefully this podcast will simplify why it is so and why it was not meant to be.

Chapters

• 0:00 Vision Of Blood And The Body
• 0:26 Introducing The Buffet Of Christianity
• 2:29 One Gospel In Scripture
• 4:20 Judgment And Obeying The Gospel
• 6:01 Defining The Gospel Clearly
• 8:10 Seek Truth Beyond Tradition
• 9:41 Acts As The Missing Key
• 10:36 Witness One: Acts 2 Pattern
• 14:10 Witness Two: Samaria Receives
• 16:17 Witness Three: Cornelius And Gentiles
• 18:18 Witness Four: Re-Baptized At Ephesus
• 21:10 One Response For All Peoples
• 23:16 Personal Call To Obedience
• 26:26 Closing Blessing And Support

Transcript

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 0:03

The vision received was that of blood cells traveling throughout the body, supplying the much-needed oxygen and other nutrients to the differing members of the body to fulfill their purpose. Once the blood cells are spent, they must return back to the heart to be refilled before being sent out again and fulfill their purpose. Hello everyone. I wanted to take a moment to share some thoughts that have been developing in my mind since probably the year 2010. And over time I've kind of updated the thoughts of as things have changed, but I just felt like I wanted to put this in this platform and send it out and see what the Lord would do with it. So it's concerning what I've termed the buffet of Christianity. When I look upon the religious world of Christianity today, I can't help but be reminded of a buffet. If you've ever eaten in a buffet, there's a smorgasborg of choices for your meal. In Christianity today, there are your Methodists and your Lutherans and your Baptist and your Seven-day Adventists and your Presbyterians. And then over there you have your Catholics and your Anglicans and your Orthodox, and on the other side over there, you have your charismatics and your Pentecostals, and over yonder you have your Mormons and your Jehovah's Witness. And there's so many choices. And actually, and as I said, as it developed over time, um, according to research, in about 2010, in the in the mid-2000s, there was, according to research, 35,000 different Christian denominations. Today, according to research, there are 45,000 different Christian denominations in the world today. And I sit back, as I did back then, and I still do it now, and I think, how did it come to this? I mean, I know the answer. I I asked it many years ago, and I started understanding it over, I'd say, the last 15 years. You know, but it it's it came, the answer came as I study the word. I looked into the history of civilizations, and it's it's become quite apparent to me that in the beginning it was not so. In the beginning there was only one faith, one baptism, one spirit, one Lord, one God, and Father of all creation. That's straight from Ephesians chapter 4, verses 4 through 6. There's also only one gospel. In the beginning, there was only one gospel of the kingdom. We can read that in Matthew chapter 4, 23, chapter 9, 35, 24, 14. You can go into another gospel of Mark, see that in chapter 1, verses 14 and 15. That gospel was first preached by a Jewish man named John the Baptist, as he prepared the way for the Lord. When he was put into prison, the man Jesus Christ, his cousin, continued to preach the gospel of the kingdom and fulfill it. Is that Paul and Peter, in separate letters, spoke of this gospel of the kingdom, and they described it as having some severe consequences or ramifications. So let me share with you what Peter said. He said in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 17, for the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God. And if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? Peter said that judgment will begin in the house of God. And if God will be that severe with his own people, what will the end be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now I'm going to go over to Paul's account, and you can see it's the same principle, it's the same sentiments, and he writes to the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 8, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The messages of both apostles are virtually the same. They both agree that there are very dire ramifications awaiting those who do not obey the gospel of God. Now, virtually, most all of Christianity believes the gospel. But we need to define the gospel. And Paul states what the gospel is simply in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 3 and 4. He says, 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. Well, if virtually all Christianity believes that gospel, then what's the problem? Some of you might ask. Well, think of the question: how does this explain all of the various sects and denominations that make up Christianity today? If all the all of Christianity believes that gospel, the problem and the root of all of this division is the differences in how one obeys the gospel. Some obey the gospel according to their own individual beliefs and opinions. Some obey according to their denominational affiliations. But there are very few that obey and believe on him as the scripture has said. And that's quoted from John chapter 7, verse 38. Now, for me, after reading what Peter and Paul wrote in the scriptures about not obeying the gospel, I came to realize two things. Or I came to be confronted or challenged with two things. Number one, I need to know what that gospel is. And number two, I need to figure out how to obey it. Finding out the gospel was the easy part. But because of 2,000 years of heretical teachings and the development of different popular denominations, finding out how to obey was much more difficult. And when I think about it, if I would have just kept my nose in the word, I would have found the answer much more quickly. So let's consider Matthew chapter 7, verses 7 through 8. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Sometimes the problem for us is that it's easier to listen to well-meaning and well-intentioned individuals, rather than study for oneself to find out the truth. The problem is well-meaning and well-intentioned individuals, though extremely sincere in their message, can be sincerely wrong. And listening to sincerely wrong individuals is not going to be an excuse on the day of judgment for not obeying the gospel. Now, over the last decade or more, I figured if I'm willing to spend all these years of education in grade school, high school, college, and postgraduate school to earn my diplomas, I really have no excuse why I can't search for the truth myself in the scriptures. Looking outside the truth for the truth is inexcusable. Now, having shared all this, I've come to realize that the most neglected book in the Bible, at least as far as my experience is concerned, actually had the answer of how does one obey the gospel? That book is the book of Acts. In Acts, there are explicit and unambiguous examples of how the first century church, the early church, obeyed the gospel. And now, after all of these years and having searched thoroughly, I've come to find out that the book of Acts is the only book in the Bible that has the examples of the obedience needed toward the gospel for salvation. I could share a lot through Acts. I've taught on a walkthrough Acts before, but this is an abbreviated version. So I'm only going to share four examples. I call them witnesses. In the book of Acts, showing how the early church, disciples, Christians, believers in the first century, how they obeyed the gospel of the kingdom. Starting in Acts chapter 2, the 120 had received the promise of the Father, the blessing of Abraham, the gift of God, the Holy Ghost. They began to speak in tongues as the Holy Ghost gave utterance. And many of the traveling Jews coming from abroad who lived in other areas and regions surrounding Israel. They didn't live in Israel, they lived in, you know, in Ephesus and Corinth and all of these other places around the known world at the time. They came to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. And they were astonished because they heard them speak in their own language from where they came from abroad. And that that that totally bewildered them. They were befuddled. They just said, like, how is that happening? Who were these? They didn't understand how local Jews in Jerusalem knew their own language. And then at some point, they've been, they, they, they were even accused of being drunk. And this is when Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, spoke up and he declared the gospel of the kingdom under the banner of the new covenant. And in a nutshell, you can read this all in Acts chapter 2. He preached that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, he was the Christ, he was crucified for their sins, and yet he rose again on the third day. And he has been made both Lord and Christ. And if you look at all the things that Peter said, it's it's virtually a little bit more elaborate record of what Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4, which was very tight, concise, in a nutshell. The gospel that Jesus Christ died for your sins and he was buried and he rose again on the third day. So when the listeners that heard Peter's words heard what he said, knowing that these are the same Jews that came to celebrate the feast, and these were the same Jews that 50 days earlier came for the feast of Passover and unleavened bread, where when Jesus was uh crucified, and they were more than likely the same people that were that were crying out to him, crucify him as the Pharisees were egging them on. When they heard Peter's words, they were convicted and they were pierced in their heart because they realized that they themselves crucified the Lord of glory. This is the person that they were expecting, they were waiting for him. And this was the gospel of the kingdom to the Jews. So there's probably not a more important question in all of the Bible than when the Jews asked Peter and the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? This was what they responded to Peter with. Men and brethren, fellow Jews speaking to Peter and the rest of the apostles and the rest of the disciples that were there, what do we do? So 2,000 years ago, this is what Peter answered. He answered this question, he was very unambiguous, he just simply plainly declared to them that they needed to respond to this gospel, this message that they just heard, by repenting, being baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. That's Acts chapter 2: 38. It's very simple, it's a very clear commandment that was given. Why can we not make that same statement to others today? Why don't we hear all of these differing denominations and organizations simply repeat what Peter said? Why is there so much division in Christianity? Because they all tell their listeners, their congregants, to obey the gospel differently from one another. More importantly, differently from what the apostles of Jesus Christ commanded and expected in the first century. The next witness I want to bring before you can be found in Acts chapter 8. If you remember, Philip the Evangelist went to minister the gospel of the kingdom to the half Jews, the Samaritans, and then the Samaritans believed the gospel that he preached to them. The same gospel Peter declared on the day of Pentecost, and they repented, and they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And when the apostles in Jerusalem heard what was transpiring in Samaria, they sent Peter and John because they had yet to receive the Holy Ghost. That's specifically what is recorded as the reason why they went to the Samaritans. And when they arrived there, they prayed, they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost, just as 3,000, about 3,000 others did on the day of Pentecost. The same gospel of the kingdom resulted in the same response of obedience to the gospel. My third witness is from Acts chapter 10. Peter is sent to the house of a Gentile, a Roman centurion named Cornelius, and Peter begins to declare the gospel of the kingdom to his house. And before Peter can even finish just talking about Jesus, Jesus displays his stamp of approval on Cornelius and his household, the Gentile household, by baptizing them in the Holy Ghost while Peter's speaking. And there were some Jews that traveled with Peter to Cornelius' house, and they were taken aback by this. They were befuddled at this. They were astounded because they realized that these quote unclean, quote, Gentiles had been granted repentance unto life. How did they know this? Because they witnessed the Gentiles, the unclean, received the gift of the Holy Spirit. How did they know this? Because it says the Gentiles spoke in tongues, just as the apostles, just as the Jews did on the day of Pentecost, approximately 10 years earlier. I'm paraphrasing. You could read this yourself in Acts chapter 10. It ends right around the verses of 40, something, something in the 40 range, and that's what you see. How did they know that they received the gift of the Holy Spirit? Because they spoke in tongues just as well as we did. I mean, Peter was even surprised at this whole turn of events. And he he doesn't dare to quibble with the Lord Jesus over what he so adamantly expressed by baptizing them in the Holy Spirit while Peter was speaking. He just interrupted Peter and said, Okay, I'm gonna, I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna make sure that there's no question that I have officially accepted the Gentiles into this covenant that I establish with your fathers. So Peter, understanding all this in the moment, says, Well, who are we? That we should forbid them to be baptized in water. And straightway, immediately, he baptized Cornelius and his household in the name of the Lord Jesus. The same gospel of the kingdom results in the same response of obedience to the gospel. The last witness I want to share with you was from Acts chapter 19. And there are many people that are in quote-unquote Christianity today that believe that since their parents or their grandparents or their close family relatives or Christians, they just kind of get this false sense of security that they're surrounded by so many Christians, and they try to walk, you know, whatever it is that they're talking and walking, and they themselves must be all right too. And they lay their foundation on and they put their trust on things that are outside the word. Yet for those who believe that there is no need to ever be re-baptized, you know, if they were baptized previously as an infant, or maybe they were sprinkled upon, or maybe they were baptized in another name other than the name of Jesus, which is only the only way the disciples, the apostles of the first century ever baptized or were baptized into, it was always in the name of Jesus. You may want to consider this particular account in Acts chapter 19. So Paul is walking around the countryside and he meets some what I what I term some apparent disciples. And Paul's treatment of these apparent disciples may shed some light on their present state and situation and maybe your present state and situation. So he's talking with them for a little bit. It doesn't, you know, give you a blow-by-bow uh conversation uh of what took place, but somehow, all of a sudden, Paul just stops and says, Wait, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? That was his question to them. This is in the first, I'd say, four to six verses of Acts chapter 19. And and the apparent disciples responded, they didn't know what he was talking about. Hmm. So Paul then says, Well, okay, he he asked them another question. And these two questions are so critical, so important for you to note, because if we all revere Paul the Apostle, having written two-thirds of the New Testament, and we esteem him so highly as a faithful uh minister of the Lord Jesus, bondservant of the Lord, apostle to the Gentiles, we should take note of these two questions. He first asked, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? They didn't have any idea what he was talking about. And so he responds and he he follows up with this question. He says, Well, wait a second. Well, what were you baptized into? Because for Paul and Paul's mind, and if you're disciples of Jesus Christ, you know these things, you know the answers to these questions. So it befuddled them that they didn't know and understand what the Holy Spirit was. So then he asked them something even more basic. So then what were you baptized into? And they said, they responded, Well, we're baptized into John's baptism. And right there, Paul, in his mind, it clicked. Uh, he realizes these were converts of John the Baptist. John the Baptist had his own followers, and they followed him, and they may have missed his important message about he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes and I am not worthy to loose and tie. He's gonna baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire. But these disciples must have missed that because they didn't understand anything about the Holy Spirit, and they definitely weren't disciples of Jesus Christ. So for Paul, we see it was not only important, but it was also very necessary to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and to be baptized in the water in the name of Jesus Christ. So Paul then declares to them that indeed John the Baptist did have a baptism of repentance. He didn't correct it, he didn't, you know, say that there was something wrong with that, he just continued that because we know that Jesus continued the ministry of John the Baptist. But he says, Paul says, even he spoke of one that would come after him, that they should believe on Christ Jesus. So Paul then takes them into the water, he baptizes them in the name of the Lord Jesus, he lays his hands on them, and they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. How, how, how did they know? Oh, it was evidenced by them speaking in tongues. Once again, the same gospel of the kingdom is given to all, regardless of culture, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of color, the same response of obedience was necessary from all people in the known world at that time. And for in in their uh in their day, it was Jews, it was the half Jews, and then everyone else. And that word was Gentiles. But it also applied, if you think about it, to these apparent disciples, and these apparent disciples represent those walking in the ignorance of their own beliefs. And some of us fall into that category. We're walking in the ignorance of our own beliefs, even though we believe I'm already in, I'm already okay. But it wasn't for these apparent disciples, and something needed to be done, and Paul did it. Somewhere we all fall into these categories. We're a Jew, half Jew, full-on Gentile, or any one of these three, and still walking in the ignorance of our own beliefs. This one gospel of the kingdom has opened up the doors of heaven to all people who will believe on him as the scriptures says. Again, John 7 38. He who believes on me as the scriptures have said to those who obey the gospel. So the question now is have you obeyed the gospel as the scriptures have said? Don't let another moment go by without addressing this. Because today is the day of salvation. 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