Foreword

MANY TIMES I HAVE READ OR HEARD so-called “spiritual” teachers saying, “Christianity is a religion made up by those who came after Christ. If you read Jesus’ actual words he never said anything about hell; never said anything about Divine election; never said anything about dying for the forgiveness of people’s sins; never said anything about ‘once saved always saved’; never said anything about the day of judgement; never said that teachers in other religions and their religions themselves are wrong; never said that people are essentially evil; never said that he is God; never confirmed the existence of Satan; never said that this world is full of evil and must be destroyed to make way for another one; never said that we need to create churches; never said that women must not be in authority; never said that human empowerment is wrong; never said anything about the need for intercessory prayer; never said that God is to be worshipped; and never said that we need forgiveness of sins”.

Yes, I know. You don’t normally see so many outright lies in one block like that! These people say that Jesus was a nice bloke who only came to give us an example of sacrifice for others and to unite the world in love. They make out as if Jesus was just a kind of hippie or guru-type who showed us that love and peace is where it’s at, and that “if we all followed his example this world would be changed into a wonderful utopia”. I call these people “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short”. They have been very influential in leading gullible young professing Christians away from the path of truth. Strangely (or maybe not so strange!), a number of these deceivers are former pastors who have turned their backs on the Bible, the church, and the whole schtick of “Christianity”. They now speak about “the legend of Jesus” and the toxic nature of all church life. What they do is provide a featherbed for falling (pseudo-)Christians (I say “pseudo because genuine disciples of Christ can never fall). However, they can also deceive (for a time) genuine but vulnerable disciples of Christ who have hit a hard place — such as being abused in a church, having received a lot of bad stuff at the hands of professing “Christians”, or are going through a period of doubt and temptation. Such people are very vulnerable to the siren words of these “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short”. I say “deliberately” because they have known all about who Jesus really is, yet they have deliberately set themselves up against it. I wonder if they wanted to achieve notoriety and become big shots but they never had any success at that when they were pastors. It is always much easier to build a big following if one preaches falsehood rather than truth.

I have vainly watched while a number who said that they had come to Christ then became influenced by these “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short”. Especially among those “many” have been those who said they had been into the New Age before they allegedly came to Christ. They find the rigours of true discipleship to Christ too demanding and baulk at the idea of “hell” and much prefer the “Love ’n Peace, Man” version, which means they can do what they want while maintaining an outward appearance of spiritual credibility.

Are the claims of these deceivers true, such as I outlined in the opening paragraph above? Did Jesus really say nothing about all those things? Well, I am now going to show you that it is all a complete tissue of lies. Jesus most certainly did address all those issues that these deceivers say He did not. So let’s crack this wide open…

A problem is that so many want to believe that Jesus just came to tell us, “Blessed be the peacemakers…”, or “Love one another”, or “Do not judge”, period, while (it is claimed) His followers later tacked on a whole religious system in the Epistles and through the institutionalised church which has nothing to do with Him and His true teachings. This is where those “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short” fall flat on their faces. They disingenuously try to pit Jesus against His Apostles by making out as if what they taught was not at all what Jesus intended. For example, those teachers will say that Jesus never came to start a religion (which is true) and they then go on to say that Jesus said nothing about starting churches (which is also true, up to a point, as I will show below). But that is not the whole story.

They try to make out as if Jesus preached love and peace while those who came after Him set up a whole “toxic religious enterprise” which has nothing whatsoever to His teachings. While it is true that later developments in the institutionalised church of Rome and the suchlike took things into many false teachings and structures, the early church founded by the Apostles and the letters they wrote to local branches of it were entirely in line with Jesus teaching and intentions. However, what those “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short” fail to reveal (and what they also deliberately conceal) is that there were many things which Jesus specifically left His apostles to develop after Him, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and to which He specifically referred. For example, He said to His Apostles: “The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26). And again, He said to those first Apostles, “However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). This was the power behind the Apostles and which had His blessing.

Therefore, not everything the Apostles needed to know had been imparted to them directly by Jesus. They were on a learning curve and were only at the beginning of it. They still had much more to learn in terms of developing the corpus of Christian knowledge. Furthermore, they still had much to learn about Jesus Himself as the Christ, which would include the atonement, and much more besides. As Jesus said to His disciples, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me” (John 15:26-27). Jesus’s words in the Gospels do not cover all there is to know about what it means to be a disciple of Christ and how we are to understand who He is. That was left to the Apostles to develop afterwards, under the power of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus specifically stated. Furthermore, Jesus gave teaching to His inner circle, the contents of which have not been revealed to us in the Gospels (e.g., Matthew 13:11; Mark 4:34; Acts 1:3). Therefore, to take Jesus revealed words in the Gospels as representing the totality of His teachings — and Christian teachings in general — would be very foolish indeed. In fact Jesus accounted the work and words of His Apostles as being of such importance that He said to them,

“If anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town” (Matthew 10:14-15).

The teachings of the Apostles, therefore, were considered to be of such great importance by Jesus that to reject their teachings would lead to terrible Divine judgement. He also knew very well that a New Testament would be written, forming the fullness of the Bible, and that it would contain the vital teachings of His Apostles additionally to what would be revealed of His teachings in the written Gospels. Even the Apostles themselves were aware that they were writing and creating “Scripture” (2 Peter 3:15-16; cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:13). When people say, “We should only treat the written teachings of Jesus in the Gospels as being relevant to our lives”, they are selling Jesus short and truncating the fullness of faith because they have an ulterior motive of the diminution of truth and the bolstering of their own ministries of falsehood.

So let’s see what Jesus really said about all those sixteen elements in the first paragraph of this paper…

1) Did Jesus really say nothing about Hell?

This idea that Jesus didn’t say anything about “hell” and that it was just invented as a method of control by later authoritarians in the church is such a load of twaddle that I hardly know where to begin! He said more about “hell” than anyone else in the Bible! Of course, they try and dodge the issue by saying that He never used the actual word “hell”. That is true, but He still used a word which symbolised it. For example, He said, “Anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of Gehenna” (Matthew 5:22). The deceivers say that word only refers to a rubbish dump and not to hell. But even Google’s AI assistant knows better than these deceivers, as it says:

“Gehenna refers to punishment or hell, originating from the “Valley of Hinnom” (Gehinnom) south of Jerusalem. Historically, it was a site of child sacrifice, later cursed and used as a burning refuse dump. In the New Testament, it symbolizes a place of fire and, consequently, severe torment or judgment”.

Jesus told a parable about the sheep and the goats which culminated by saying that the goats “will go away into eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46). This is plainly referring to what we call “hell”. Jesus also said:

“My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear the One who, after you have been killed, has authority to throw you into Gehenna” (Luke 12:4-5).

To amplify even further what Jesus was meaning by using the term “Gehenna”, He also says: “It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into Gehenna, ‘where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched’” (Mark 9:47-48). I mean what does that evoke in your mind? I take no pleasure in saying this, but it is some kind of neverending desolation or distress because of separation from God. Other parallel images are used to describe the post-death state of those who have refused to submit to God and the authority of Christ and become His disciple. One notable image is when the Christ says that those who are not His true disciples will be “thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12). The implication is surely that of being eternally lost in “outer darkness”, the equivalent of “destruction” and desolation, where there is a consciousness of that alienation which causes “wailing and gnashing of teeth”. This “gnashing of teeth” carries an image of extreme defiance and rage — an expression of contempt for the Divine, the same contempt which has been bubbling beneath the surface throughout the lives of those who utterly despise the idea of a higher being to whom they are answerable for everything. Elsewhere, He says:

“As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness. And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:40-42; 13:49-50).

That is conscious torment and Jesus said it. So many want to water down everything connected with the afterlife in order to make it palatable to the masses and to themselves; but there is nothing palatable about this subject, and in fact there is not supposed to be. In regard to the outer darkness which seems to confuse so many, we read in context a parable about a wedding party ‘gate-crasher’, which finishes like this:

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless. Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’. For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:11-14).

Now, this is a parable in which the wedding feast refers symbolically to the return of Christ for His people. In another parable plainly designed to picture His return to judge the world, Christ said that the master of the evil servant:

“will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:50-51).

This is the same weeping and grinding of teeth which Christ mentioned in relation to the “outer darkness”. That “outer darkness” (to which Jesus referred three times in Matthew’s Gospel) is another parallel idiom for what we popularly call “hell”, along with eternal fire, the lake of fire, eternal destruction, the “fiery furnace” and so on. Anyone who denies this is either living in cloud-cuckoo land or is a serial denier of biblical truth.

Here are some words of Jesus which put all this in context: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). The experience of hell is simply the outcome of that wrath of God. The text here says that if one rejects Christ and all His claims, then the wrath of God “remains on him”. It was always there; it’s just that after death it manifests in its final horrific manner. When one truly comes to Christ that “wrath” is no longer on one as one has been forgiven and brought into the company of God. But if one resists God’s entreaties and remains a narcissist under the power of Satan, then the wrath simply remains on him or her: It continues to be a fixture in one’s life. [I wrote a full article about this subject of hell, from all the Scriptures, which you can find here: https://diakrisis-project.com/2025/10/09/is-hell-for-real-the-identity-of-the-lake-of-fire-and-sulphur-and-the-meaning-of-being-tormented-day-and-night-forever-and-ever/ ].

As you can see, Jesus had rather a lot to say about hell! The extraordinary thing is that if one confronts all these deceivers with these Scriptures they say, “Those words must have been added afterwards. Jesus wouldn’t have said that”. Talk about having a brass neck!

2) Did Jesus really say nothing about Divine election?

No, He did not say nothing! In fact, Jesus made much reference to Divine election, much of it by clear inference. For example, He referred to “the elect ones”. Here is a couple of sample Scriptures: “If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short” (Matthew 24:22). “Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night?” (Luke 18:7).

Election is certainly inferred when Jesus speaks of how “the Son gives life to whom He wishes” (John 5:21). Similarly so, when He says that “Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me” (John 6:37), and “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44). Again, “Jesus said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him’” (John 6:65). Jesus also speaks of Himself as being the “good shepherd” who knows His sheep and that He lays down His life for those sheep (John 10:14-16; cf. John 10:11). That is Divine election right there. Jesus gave His life for those who He calls “His friends”, those who do what He commands them (John 15:13-14). The elect. He specifically says to His disciples: “I have chosen you out of the world” (John 15:19). That is Divine election, in Jesus own words. [I have written a whole article about this across the Scriptures. If you are interested, you will find it here: https://diakrisis-project.com/2024/10/06/known-by-god-the-importance-of-divine-election-the-astounding-transcendence-of-god/ ].

Finally, Jesus said that the Father had “granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him” (John 17:1-2). That is Divine election. To say that Jesus never mentioned it is a lie of astonishing proportions as election is part of the weave of His sayings. “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). You may not like it, but you cannot say that it is not true.

3) Did Jesus really say nothing about dying for the forgiveness of people’s sins?

He said enough to show that He did die for that cause, though He left it to the Apostles to enlarge on that in their writings. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). In what way did that laying down of His life for His sheep impact their sins. Well, as Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

What kind of ransom was that? Well, He tells us: “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). There it is specifically stated; but the “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short” claim that He said nothing on the matter.

4) Did Jesus really say nothing about ‘once saved always saved’?

This phrase “One saved, always saved” refers to what is commonly known as “eternal security” or “the perseverance of the saints” — the fact that if a person is genuinely saved, then he or she cannot lose their salvation. The false argument which is usually pitted against this truth is that if a person knows that they will be saved, come what may, then they could just sin like crazy because they have that assurance of salvation regardless. But that argument could only be pitted by people who haven’t got the faintest clue what it means to be saved. For when you KNOW that you have been saved — I mean REALLY know — you cannot tolerate the idea of being unclean in any way. It actually repulses you. You just know and feel throughout your entire being that any uncleanness is a betrayal of God and what He has done for you. I am so fed up of seeing these false arguments on social media. I have even seen people putting a vomiting emoji next to the words “Once saved, always saved”. Would that be a blasphemy?

A couple of years ago, I wrote a whole article proving eternal security to be true, which you can find here: https://diakrisis-project.com/2024/04/30/blessed-assurance-salvation-a-gift-for-eternity-proven/ . But here in this piece I am just pointing out the words of Jesus which refer to this. According to the “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short”, Jesus never mentioned anything to do with it. But He clearly said:

“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).

If that is not a definitive statement proving eternal security, then I don’t know what is. Therefore, to say that one can lose one’s salvation is to call Jesus a liar. Jesus further said:

“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:39-40).

To me, that is point proven. Who can resist His will? Therefore to claim that Jesus said nothing about this subject is a lie on the part of all the “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short”.

5) Did Jesus really say nothing about Divine judgement and the day of judgement?

No. That’s another lie from the “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short”. In fact, Jesus made many references to this. Jesus referred to His own coming back to earth as the precursor to this Divine judgement: “Just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27). He also said “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:36-37). He also spoke directly about the time of judgement and the conditions which will rage on the earth. Here are some examples:

“Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29).

“But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’ At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And He will send out the angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven” (Mark 13:24-27; cf. Matthew 24:29).

“There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves. Men will faint from fear and anxiety over what is coming upon the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:25-27).

In the Parable of the Ten Minas, Jesus said:

“‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more; but the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me’” (Luke 19:26-27).

That is a terrible portent of what will happen at the Last Day. Jesus’ own chilling words. In another clear reference to the day of judgement, Jesus said:

“But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth. So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:34-36).

In the parable of the tares or Zizania, Jesus said what will happen “at the end of the age” upon His return:

“As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness. And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:40-42; cf. 13:49-50).

In the Parable of the Wedding Feast (which is symbolic of His return for His people at the end of the age), it is written:

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless. Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:11-14).

So, to say that Jesus said nothing about Divine judgement and the day of judgement is yet another lie from the “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short”. As I’ve said before, if you show them these texts, they say that they must have been added afterwards as Jesus would not say anything like that! There is no limit to the misplaced creativity of those who want to wriggle out of truth’s steely hold.

6) Did Jesus really say nothing about teachers in other religions and their religions themselves being wrong?

Well, He did not say a huge amount but He said enough to condemn them. For example,

“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber… All who came before Me were thieves and robbers” (John 10:1,8).

Many (even including many Bible teachers and academics) wish to limit that “thieves and robbers” expression of Jesus as if it merely referred to the Pharisees. But, as the late George Beasley-Murray — former Principal of Spurgeon’s College, London, and later Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary — rightly puts it:

“The saying is directed against those who claim to be mediators of salvation. As such it would embrace false messiahs within Judaism and redeemer gods of the pagan world, and in the present context, perhaps even more obviously, Pharisees who claimed to hold the keys of the kingdom”. (emphasis added). [G.R. Beasley-Murray, Word Bible Commentary, Vol.36, John, Thomas Nelson, 1999, p.170].

So those “thieves and robbers” to which the Lord Jesus Christ refers include not only the Pharisees but also all the teachers who offer a pretended ‘enlightenment’, or salvation or, worse still, the dreadful illusory possibility of achieving ‘personal divinity’. False mediators between God and Man, all of them.

So, yes, Jesus did say that teachers in other religions and their religions themselves are wrong. “Thieves and robbers” He called them. And indeed they are, just like the “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short”, stealing people’s potential salvation from them with their smooth-talking lies and spiritual pretensions. However, that is not all that Jesus said on the matter. For He stated quite plainly: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). How much more explicit could He be?

Finally, in a distinctly anti-interfaith statement, Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that her fellow-Samaritans worshipped what they did not know and stated that salvation is of the Jews, which is who Jesus was (John 4:22). [The Samaritans were a syncretic people who had been formed out of the residue of Israelites left in the land after the Assyrian invasion in 721 BC]. All of this is why the Apostle Peter was moved to declare that apart from the Lord Jesus Christ “there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

7) Did Jesus really say nothing about people being essentially evil?

No, He did not say nothing about this. He made a number of oblique and specific references to it. He said to the “crowds” which came to listen to His teachings: “If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11). Not exactly a crowd-pleaser! But it had to be said. He clearly stated that evil comes from within a person:

“From within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. All these evils come from within, and these are what defile a man” (Mark 7:21-23).

After He had performed a miracle and loads of people were convinced, John explicitly states:

“Many people saw the signs He was doing and believed in His name. But Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them, because of His knowing all men. He did not need any testimony about human nature, for He knew what was in people” (John 2:23-25).

Quite right too. People, unless genuinely and lastingly spiritually transformed by the Lord, are not to be trusted at all. “And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). As He said to His disciples: “The world…hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil” (John 7:7). And so they are. For “there is only One who is good” (Matthew 19:17) and we all know who that is! [For a full rendition of the Bible’s teaching about human depravity, please see my free eBook on the subject here: https://diakrisis-project.com/2023/10/03/you-were-once-darkness-the-true-nature-of-the-human-condition-without-christ-new-ebook-for-free-download/ ].

8) Did Jesus really say nothing about Him being God?

No, Jesus had much to say which both implied and revealed that He is God. First off, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). That is God the Father. Yet again, Christ is ascribing Divinity to Himself as He prophesies bringing the day of judgement to pass. The same Divinity can be said of those places where He refers to Himself as “the Son of God”. For example, praying to the Father, Christ said: “When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You. For You granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him” (John 17:1-2). After His resurrection, He could comfort His disciples with the assurance that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Matthew 28:18). How much authority in heaven and on earth would indicate Divinity? There cannot be anything more than “all” authority! If you need any more convincing, He then stated to the Father in his renowned prayer: “I have glorified You on earth by accomplishing the work You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed” (John 17:4-5). The glory that He had with the Father before the creation of the world! Surely that is Divinity. And if you still need any further convincing, He continued saying to the Father: “All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine” (John 17:10). That is Divinity. He was and is God. The Jews knew that this is what He was claiming and it scared the pants off them. He asserted it Himself. We can read it and we should wholly believe it.

Jesus, as God, forgives sins: “When Jesus saw their faith, He said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven’. But the scribes and Pharisees began thinking to themselves, ‘Who is this man who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’” (Luke 5:20-21). Precisely.

On another occasion, Jesus used a Divine phrase to refer to Himself: “‘Truly, truly, I tell you,’ Jesus declared, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’ At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him” (John 8:58-59). “I am” is Old Testament Bible code for divinity. In the Garden of Gethsemane, “When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground” (John 18:6). That is divinity in action! When the formerly blind man realised who Jesus really was, “Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus” (John 9:38). Only God elicits worship from Christ’s followers. Similarly, “Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:27-28).

Oh yes, there is much in the Gospels about Jesus being Divine, including His own self-identification.

9) Did Jesus never make reference to the existence of Satan?

He most certainly did, on numerous occasions. When Satan tempted Him in the wilderness, He told him to buzz off: “Away from Me, Satan!” (Matthew 4:10). When the Pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out demons through the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, Jesus said “If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out?” That was a specific reference to Satan. In the Parable of the sower, Jesus referred to those who, “As soon as they hear [the word], Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them” (Mark 4:15), another clear reference to Satan.

Concerning a crippled woman, Jesus described her as one “whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years” (Luke 13:16). After a successful mission of the seventy-two in which even the demons submitted, Jesus declared, “I saw Satan fall like lightning” (Luke 10:18). On another occasion, Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail” (Luke 22:31-32).

As His crucifixion loomed, Jesus referred to Satan as “the ruler of this world”, as he was then. Jesus said, “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31), and again, “I will not speak with you much longer, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has no claim on Me” (John 14:30).

So Jesus certainly made reference to the existence and work of Satan as the adversary who He vanquished.

10) Did Jesus say nothing about the world being full of evil and that it must be destroyed to make way for another one?

Jesus certainly spoke about heaven and earth passing away (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31). He predicted the complete destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, where “not one stone will be left upon another” (Matthew 24:2), which happened in AD 70 and that served as a precursor to the final destruction of the world. That whole episode in Matthew 24 is framing the destruction of the temple and the destruction of the world around the passing of this present evil age. Jesus compared the terrible days of Noah, which were brought to an end with a destructive flood, and also the time of Lot in the debauched Sodom and Gomorrah, with the time of the end of this age — both the previous periods and the future period being times when the earth was and will be filled with evil and judged with destruction (Matthew 24:36-39).

A number of the texts in section 5 above also quote Jesus’ words referring to the destruction of the known universe at the end of this age. Jesus also warned about a time of “great tribulation” towards the end of this age (which Paul describes as “evil”, Galatians 1:4) and of global upheavals, including wars, famines, earthquakes, and pandemics which he called the “beginning of birth pains” — presumably referring to the birthing of “the age to come”, which Jesus specifically mentioned on a number of occasions and also connected with resurrection life (Matthew 12:32; Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30; Luke 20:35).

11) Did Jesus say nothing about the need to create churches?

He didn’t have to at that stage. For the development of local church congregations would come after His ascension. But He knew that it was good to be part of a congregation and recognised how that would work:

“If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the congregation (Greek: ekklesia). And if he refuses to listen even to the ekklesia, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15-17).

He left it for His apostles to develop when they began to proclaim the Gospel. This was meeting in people’s homes initially, then some kind of human structure was commended, involving pastors, teachers, elders and deacons (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9; 1 Timothy 3:8-13)—who serve, equip the body, and ensure orderly worship (1 Corinthians 14:40, 1 Peter 5:1-4). .

The chief reason why the “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short” like to say that Jesus did not teach about the need to create churches is because they despise authority (except their own!). They do not recognise that God-given authority is very different to human authority which always becomes overbearing and wielded by those who are the least mature and suited for it.

Church structure should ideally involve mature and wise people. When it does not, the structure crumbles and becomes a parody.

12) Did Jesus say nothing about women not being in authority?

He did not say anything specific about this because he was not at that stage invested in the setting up of structured local churches. That is another thing that He left in the hands of the Apostles to develop, under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, as shown near the beginning of this piece. Those inspired Apostles do show that women are not to be in authority in the churches. Bear in mind that Jesus notably chose twelve men for His inner circle of Apostles, though women were very actively supportive in His circle and, in fact bankrolled Jesus’ and the Apostles’ ministry (Luke 8:1-3). Without those women of note, the ministry would have been considerably impeded.

13) Did Jesus say nothing about human empowerment being wrong?

Jesus’ references in this regard concern the way that His disciples are not to be autonomous, self-reliant beings, puffed-up and full of self-esteem. A primary text, in this respect, would be this:

“If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24; cf. Matthew 10:39; Mark 8:35).

Mark adds a little element to that: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:35). A disciple of Christ is not only living the life which Christ requires of him but is also a living representation of His Gospel. This is the only kind of life in which a disciple in interested. All the madness, evil, and baloney of this world — this “present evil age”, as Paul calls it (Galatians 1:4) — is just a bore and a hindrance and something of a tragedy. The disciple of Christ lives primarily for what he or she can contribute towards the kingdom of God. This does not mean that they have no interests or hobbies. There are many wholesome things in which one can be involved without being an addict or worldling. Discipleship to Christ is not a cult. But they are aware that everything must be done for the glory of God and for the furtherance of truth.

The meaning of Jesus’ words is clear. If a person has his or her feet comfortably under the table of this world, imagining that what can be seen on this earth is all that there is, and one’s fleshly experience is the be-all and end-all of life, then that will come to an end and prove to be vain and temporary. Such a life will be lost. Whereas if one cultivates the spiritual life in Christ, in His kingdom, sees one’s earthly life and this present world for what it really is — a fallen pastiche of snares and illusions — then one will continue with the spiritual life in the world to come. One’s life will be saved.

Being a disciple of Christ is as far removed as possible from the “self-realized”, ‘theraped’, phonily “enlightened” character of today who presents himself or herself as a paragon of virtue, whether atheist or pseudo-spiritual, and only wants to live here on this earth forever, if that was possible. These denial-of-oneself texts are a call to put what is best for our souls and what is most helpful to the kingdom before pursuing what we imagine to be best for our selves. They are a call to humility and the cultivation of a self-effacing outlook and the ability to ‘hang loose’ to the baubles of Babylon and the trinkets of terrestrial triviality.

So Jesus said: “Any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33). Wow! That seems like a tall order until you actually live it. Then it becomes a joy. Here it is then: “Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25).💥Boom! It’s a straight choice. 1) Love your fleshly life in this world to bits so that it becomes your be-all and end-all and raison d’être or 2) Have nothing of yourself invested in this temporary life in a temporary world (other than what you need to survive and to fulfil your proper responsibilities) and prepare yourself for the life to come in every way possible. That will not mean living like a cloistered monk or nun (or how could you be tested!). It will not mean having no pleasures whatsoever (provided they are wholesome). It simply means hanging loose to the world so as to preserve independence from it. As Paul puts it :

“What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing; and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:29-31).

All of the above can be summed up in the glorious realisation of Christ’s words: “Without Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

14) Did Jesus never say anything about the need for intercessory prayer?

Jesus both practiced and taught intercessory prayer. He prayed for his disciples and for future believers (John 17). He even asked for forgiveness for those who killed Him (Luke 23:34). He urged people to “pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). He was a model of prayer:

“But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:6-8).

15) Did Jesus say nothing about God being worshipped?

No, He did not say ‘nothing’! In fact, Jesus said much of significance about worshiping God. He taught that worship should be directed solely toward God, stating, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only” (Matthew 4:10, Luke 4:8). He emphasised that it must be done “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). In fact, God is actively looking for true worshippers to worship Him:

“For a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him” (John 4:23).

So for the “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short” to say that Jesus said nothing about worship is not only a lie but shows that these people have never read their Bibles.

16) Did Jesus say nothing about the need for forgiveness of sins

He did not say nothing but something:

“This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things (Luke 24:46-48).

Jesus plainly stated that if you forgive others, your heavenly Father will forgive you, but if you do not, you will not be forgiven (Matthew 6:14-15). The parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35) teaches that God will forgive a person who genuinely repents, but he or she should also be prepared to forgive others. Jesus’ whole message was about the need for forgiveness and the need to forgive generously. He even showed that He, as God, had the power to forgive sins and He exercised it (Mark 2:5; Luke 7:48).

Afterword

The “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short” have made claims about what Jesus said without having any knowledge about it. All those claims are false, as I have shown above. That they are leading so many astray is a cause to me of great pain — especially when I see people that I have tried to mentor disappearing into that quagmire. These falsely-led ones were like little children who had not the maturity to resist (and I hope that their sojourn in that deceptive world is only temporary, as a means by which they will be strengthened. So to all the “Deceivers who Deliberately Sell Jesus Short” I pose this word from the Lord Jesus:

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).

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© Copyright, Alan Morrison, 2026
[The copyright on my works is merely to protect them from any wanton plagiarism which could result in undesirable changes (as has actually happened!). Readers are free to reproduce my work, so long as it is in the same format and with the exact same content and its origin is acknowledged]

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