Is Christ a Whoremonger?
The exclusive love of Jesus Christ for His bride, the church, is strangely an affront to many professing Christians.
The biblical image of marriage is a major theme from Genesis to Revelation. In Genesis, we learn that marriage is between one man and one woman. There are proverbs, psalms, love songs, historical accounts, analogies, etc. that all point to the institution ordained by God.
Marriage is Gospel in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her;” Here is the clearest statement in the Bible, which answers the question, “For whom did Christ die?” The answer is obviously the church. Christ’s motive in His sacrificial death was love for the church…not the world.
The church is not everyone. The church is the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), His chosen people from every nation, tribe and tongue (Rev 5:9). This holy nation, royal priesthood, people of God’s own possession is a chosen race (1 Pet 2:9). This collection of called out ones was chosen before the foundation of the world, in love, by God’s sovereign predestination (Eph 1:4,5; Rom 8:29).
The church is distinguished from others because they hear the voice of their Good Shepherd, and they follow Him (Jn 10:3). Jesus said, “I lay down My life for the sheep (Jn 10:11, 15).” Here again is a most explicit statement that answers the question, “For whom did Christ die?”
The Bible reveals God’s assessment of divorce and remarriage, as both being sins against God. These sins, we are told, He hates. The reason is that the breaking of marriage vows misrepresents Christ and His church. Love never fails (1 Cor 13:8), which is why nothing can separate God’s beloved people from Christ (Rom 8:35–39). This is the assurance of salvation. As Solomon wrote, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine (Song 6:3).” Everything else is an unwarranted extension, distortion, and perversion.
For men to preach that God loves everyone (a universal inclusion), despite what the Bible reveals (exclusion), is to misrepresent God. For men to preach that Christ loves everyone and died on the cross for everyone, is to misrepresent Christ. For men to preach that the Holy Spirit opens the heart of everyone to respond (Acts 16:14) to the Gospel, implies that everyone believes, which means everyone was ordained to eternal life (Acts 13:48). This, of course, would repudiate the entire doctrine of hell. This is why none of this is true.
This false representation of Christ, and His one and only bride, is called Arminianism, declared a Christian heresy in A.D. 1619. Still, it is easily the most popular doctrinal position of God’s love, Christ’s death, and the Holy Spirit’s failure (not honestly preached) in America.
Why do all liberal Christians and most evangelical Christians prefer this humanistic, man-centered false gospel over and above the true Gospel of Christ’s exclusive love for His church? The answer is that the devil has blinded the minds of those who do not believe the true Gospel (2 Cor 4:4).
The Gospel of God’s salvation is a unified whole. The Arminian error is to deny, even exclude, the work of the Holy Spirit in the application of salvation to God’s elect people…exclusively.
The Arminian juxtaposes the essential initiation of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. The Arminian preacher puts handcuffs on the Holy Spirit, forcing Him to wait and watch for sinful men to make their sovereign decision to let the Holy Spirit save them. God is in bondage to the will of depraved man. This is a blasphemous misrepresentation of Almighty God, who is all-powerful and all-wise to do whatever He wills for all of His creation.
In conclusion, with no apologies, God has bestowed His love, exclusively, upon His elect people. This is the true identity of the church, not the world. The Bible depicts the false church, who rides the beast (world system), as the whore of Babylon (Rev 18). Christ calls His people to come out of this whorish imposter for one reason: Christ is not a whoremonger.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
August 22, 2021
