The Great Impostor

This article first appeared in Baptist Press.

He was known as “The Great Impostor” and inspired a 1961 film by the same name.

Ferdinand Waldo Demara impersonated everyone from physicians to monks and thus achieved notoriety. He began his nefarious career during World War II by borrowing his Army buddy’s name, going AWOL and faking his suicide. A string of pseudo careers followed. He was, among other things, a sheriff’s deputy, a doctor of applied psychology, a lawyer and a child-care expert.

He was best known for masquerading as a surgeon aboard a Canadian Navy destroyer during the Korean War, successfully completing a string of operations. His final gig: serving as a Baptist minister.

Demara’s life is a fascinating but sad story of one man’s quest for respectability. His success as an impostor also exposes the soft underbelly of a society whose people are easily duped by one who talks smoothly and claims to serve the greater good.

For Christians, Demara’s story is a warning to be on guard against those who disguise themselves as “servants of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:15). But how can we know a religious impostor when we see one? The apostle Paul gives us three clear markers in 2 Cor. 11:4. False teachers proclaim “another Jesus … a different spirit … a different gospel.”

To illustrate, let’s look briefly at three of the largest and most successful religious systems in the world today: Islam, Mormonism, and the Watchtower (Jehovah’s Witnesses) – all of which are growing worldwide and teach unbiblical doctrines concerning Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the gospel.

Islam

Jesus. Muslims say Jesus was one of God’s greatest prophets but inferior to Muhammad, who brought Allah’s final revelation to man (the Koran). The Koran denies that Jesus is the Son of God, and any Muslim who believes in the deity of Jesus has committed the unpardonable sin called shirk – a sin that will send that person to hell. Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life and is coming back one day – but only to establish Islam throughout the earth. They do not believe He died on the cross but was called to heaven by Allah before His death and was perhaps replaced by Judas Iscariot or someone else who looked like Jesus.

Holy Spirit. Islam denies the deity and personhood of the Holy Spirit, whom the Koran describes as “the angel which brought revelation,” according to Mualana Muhammad Ali in The Holy Koran with English Translation and Commentary. The Koran also calls the Holy Spirit “Gabriel” (2:97) and the “Faithful Spirit” (26:193).

The gospel. Islam teaches that Christ was neither crucified for our sins nor resurrected; therefore salvation cannot possibly be attained through faith in Christ. In fact, sin is not man’s problem. Man is sinful by act only, not by nature. Original sin is viewed as a “lapse” by Adam. People are not really fallen in their nature; they are merely weak and forgetful. Sin is thought of in terms of rejecting right guidance. It can be forgiven through repentance. No atonement is necessary. Salvation in Islam is a combination of works and fate. Muslims pursue the five Pillars of Religion and hope Allah is kindly disposed toward them.

Mormonism

Jesus. Jesus preexisted in heaven as a spirit child of Heavenly Father (Ehohim) and one of his goddess wives (as did Lucifer and all pre-existent human beings). He then took on a human body through sexual relations between Heavenly Father and Mary. Jesus is one of three gods in the Mormon godhead, although Mormonism recognizes the Trinity only as one in “purpose,” arguing instead for a multitude of gods.

Holy Spirit. Mormon.org says the Holy Spirit “witnesses, or testifies of the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and reveals and teaches truth.” Sounds orthodox, but historically Mormon leaders have offered more disturbing views of the Holy Spirit. For example, founder Joseph Smith taught that:

  • The Father, Son and Holy Spirit “constitute three distinct personages and three Gods.”
  • “The Holy Ghost is yet a spiritual body and waiting to take to himself a body as the Saviour did or as the gods before them took bodies.”

The gospel. Jesus’ atonement secured “salvation” (meaning resurrection) for nearly all people, but “men will be punished for their own sins” (Article of Faith #2 by Joseph Smith). People may earn “eternal life” (godhood) by “obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel,” meaning works (Article of Faith #3 by Joseph Smith).

Godhood is the goal of Mormonism. According to fifth LDS President Lorenzo Snow, “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.”

The Watchtower

Jesus. According to Watchtower teachings, Jesus was the first and direct creation of Jehovah God. Jesus then created all “other” things (Col. 1:16 New World Translation). Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the Trinity, speaking of Jesus as “a god” or “mighty god” but not divine. They deny His incarnation, death on the cross (he died on a “torture stake”) and physical resurrection. Jesus returned invisibly in 1914 and is working today to overthrow Satan’s kingdom.

Holy Spirit. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that “holy spirit” (always lower case) is the invisible active force of God that moves His servants to do His will. They deny the personhood and deity of the Holy Spirit, proclaiming such beliefs to be inspired by Satan.

The gospel. Salvation in the Watchtower is a combination of faith and works, but there is no eternal security and virtually no hope of today’s Witnesses ever entering heaven, which is reserved for the 144,000 in the “anointed class.” The “other sheep” may, through faithfulness to Watchtower teachings and hard work, be brought back to life after an indefinite period of soul sleep and populate Paradise Earth. Jesus’ death is seen as a ransom paid to Jehovah that removed the effects of Adam’s sin on his offspring and laid the foundation of the New World of righteousness.

In each of his roles, Ferdinand Waldo Demara, “The Great Impostor,” was confronted with the truth – in some cases by the persons whose identity he had stolen – and exposed as a fraud. For Christians who encounter an array of false teachings today, our best defense is the truth of God’s Word.

The writer of Hebrews put it best: “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints, and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart.  No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him  to whom we must give an account” (4:12-13).

Isaiah 50: A Case against God

Listen: A Case against God (mp3)

Read: A Case against God (pdf)

Prologue

Where we are:

Part 1: Judgment Part 2: Historical Interlude Part 3: Salvation
Chapters 1-35 Chapters 36-39 Chapters 40-66

When this takes place:

Chapter 50 is part of the second major section of Isaiah and deals less with Judah’s immediate plight than with its future deliverance from Babylonian exile and ultimate glory.

Key verse:

Isa. 50:8 – The One who justifies Me is near; who will contend with Me? Let us confront each other. Who has a case against Me? Let him come near Me!

Quick summary:

This chapter is a contrast between two servants: faithless Israel and the faithful Messiah. Israel has failed God, not because He divorced the nation but because, in effect, the nation divorced Him. By contrast, the faithful Servant humbly learns from Yahweh and even endures persecution in carrying out His will. Ultimately, Israel must choose: The people can walk in God’s light or in the light of their own campfires, which already are only temporary comforts.

Take note:

The suffering of the Servant in verse 6 is a stunningly accurate portrait of Jesus’ physical torment at the hands of His Roman executioners. In obedience to the Father and for the sake of lost humanity, Jesus willingly endures flogging, scorn and spitting. Compare the elements of this verse with the New Testament fulfillments:

  • “I gave my back to those who beat Me …” (Matt. 27:26; Luke 22:63; John 19:1)
  • “My cheeks to those who tore out My beard” (while there is no specific reference to this in the Gospels, it is likely the Roman guards carried this out as a way to produce pain and humiliation; to pluck the hair is the highest insult against an Oriental)
  • “I did not hide My face from scorn and spitting” (Matt. 26:67; Mark 14:65, 15:19; John 19:3)
  • Yet the Servant does not strike back, knowing “the Lord God will help Me” (v. 7; see 1 Peter 2:22-23).

The Correction of Israel (Isa. 50:1-3)

Judah’s captivity in Babylon is a direct result of the people’s sins, and the Lord illustrates this truth in two ways. First, He compares the nation to a divorced woman. According to Mosaic Law, the husband could give his wife a divorce certificate detailing her faults and she would have to leave the home (Deut. 24:1). Judah has so transgressed its covenant relationship with Yahweh that He is compelled to send her away. Second, the Lord compares the Jews to children being sold into indentured servitude because of a great debt (see Ex. 21:7; 2 Kings 4:1; Neh. 5:5).

Yet there is another way of looking at these verses. Since Yahweh is posing two questions – “Where is your mother’s divorce certificate?” and “[W]ho were My creditors that I sold you to?” – it’s possible that He is assuring the people that He has not completely written them off or abandoned them because of their sins. In fact, this perspective is more in line with the whole of Isaiah. While the people have indulged in grievous sins and the nation has turned a cold shoulder to Yahweh, the Lord must discipline them as an act of love but will fulfill His promises to them. The Babylonian captivity is but for a time; it will not last forever.

In verse 2, the Lord reminds the people that their rejection of Him is unreasonable. He has sent the prophets and performed miracles among them, yet like an unfaithful wife the nation has preferred idolatry and social injustice. If only the people would call to Him in repentance. “Is My hand too short to redeem?” He asks, using Oriental imagery of weakness. “Or do I have no power to deliver?” Of course He does. He dries up the sea by his rebuke, a reference to His work in the exodus (Ex. 14:21). He turns rivers into wilderness, perhaps an indication of the coming disaster for Israel’s wealthy and powerful enemies. He causes the enemies’ fish to rot, a reminder of His judgment on the Egyptians (Ex. 7:18, 21). And He dresses the heavens in black, another of Yahweh’s judgments on the Egyptians (Ex. 10:21). In short, the people are responsible for their sins and deserve divine discipline, yet their gracious and all-powerful God will remain faithful to His promise never to forsake them.

The Obedient Servant (Isa. 50:4-9)

The Lord teaches the Servant to comfort the weary, and the Servant obediently carries out His will. From a New Testament perspective, we can see that Jesus, the Suffering Servant, comes to do the Father’s will (see, for example, Matt. 26:39, 42) and in His humanity learns obedience (Heb. 5:8). Jesus provides comfort through His teaching, miracles and physical presence among the outcast. He willingly endures hardship, including rejection, false trials, mocking, scourging, slapping and crucifixion. Undeserving of any of this, He walks through His ministry with His face set toward Jerusalem and a destiny with death. Ultimately, He knows He will be vindicated (through His resurrection and exaltation to the Father’s right hand) and sit in judgment over those who have rejected Him.

Four times in this passage the Servant uses the name “Lord God.” Coming from the Hebrew Yahweh Adonai, this name may be translated “Sovereign Lord.” According to Robert B. Girdlestone, the name means that “God is the owner of each member of the human family, and that he consequently claims the unrestricted obedience of all” (Synonyms of the Old Testament, p. 34). So the emphasis in this passage is the Servant’s willing submission to the Lord in every aspect of His life and ministry.

Warren Wiersbe notes that the Servant’s mind and will are yielded to the Lord. His mind is submitted so that He may learn the Word and will of the Father. Everything Jesus says and does is taught to Him by the Father (John 5:19, 30; 6:38; 8:28). He prays to the Father for guidance and meditates on His Word (Mark 1:35; John 11:42). At the same time, His will is submitted so that those who see Him see the Father (John 14:9). The people of Judah in Isaiah’s day are neither willing nor obedient, but the Servant models perfect yieldedness to the Lord God even though His obedience results in severe persecution and even death (Matt. 26:67; 27:26, 30-31).

Finally, it’s vital to remember that the Servant, though divine, operates on faith while ministering on earth. “Keep in mind that when Jesus Christ was ministering here on earth, He had to live by faith even as we must today. He did not use His divine powers selfishly for Himself but trusted God and depended on the power of the Spirit” (Warren Wiersbe, Be Comforted, An Old Testament Study, S. Is 50:4).

The Challenge to Israel (Isa. 50:10-11)

This chapter closes with an exhortation from the Servant to follow His example: “Who among you fears the Lord, listening to the voice of His servant?” Jesus lays down a similar challenge when He says, “Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Me” (John 5:23b; see also Luke 10:16b). The Servant reminds his listeners that even the godly sometimes face dark moments and must trust in the Lord. Consider Jesus who, while bearing our sin debt on the cross, cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me” (Matt. 27:46b). “[T]he servant of God is never wholly without ‘light.’ A godly man’s way may be dark, but his end shall be peace and light. A wicked man’s way may be bright, but his end shall be utter darkness (Ps 112:4; 97:11; 37:24)” (Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, David Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Is 50:10).

In contrast to the godly, the wicked face the darkness, not by trusting in God, but by trusting in themselves. They kindle fires and set ablaze firebrands (pieces of burning wood), walking in their manmade light that all too quickly becomes extinguished. Those who reject God’s light, preferring their own schemes, will “lie down in a place of torment” (v. 11). King Solomon once wrote, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it is the way of death” (Prov. 16:7), and one day Jesus will tell even those who claim the name of Jesus but seek salvation their own way, “I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!” (Matt. 7:23).

The stark yet simple truth is that salvation is found only in the Lord and His Servant. Jesus proclaims, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Peter echoes this truth with these words, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). For those who reject the truth – and the Author of truth – there is a place of everlasting separation from God (Luke 16:23, 28; Rev. 20:13-15; 21:8).

Closing Thought

Matthew Henry comments: “Those that make the world their comfort, and their own righteousness their confidence, will certainly meet with a fatal disappointment, which will be bitterness in the end. A godly man’s way may be melancholy, but his end shall be peace and everlasting light. A wicked man’s way may be pleasant, but his end and endless abode will be utter darkness” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume,  S. Is 50:10).

Copyright 2010 by Rob Phillips

Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

Jeremy Howard

Each spring Christians around the world gather to celebrate Easter, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and His victory over sin and death. The Bible provides convincing evidence of Jesus’ resurrection, yet even Scripture records that some people in Jesus’ day doubted His return from the grave.

Today, skeptics echo these sentiments. Some even provide alternative explanations for Jesus’ 40 days on earth following His crucifixion. So the question remains: Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

Yes, says Jeremy Howard, managing acquisitions editor of Bibles, reference books and commentaries for B&H Publishing Group and author of such books as “The Holman QuickSource Guide to Understanding Jesus.”

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Howard for an “Inside LifeWay” podcast. In the interview, Howard said there are many good reasons to believe that Jesus died, was buried and rose on the third day.

“One thing everyone agrees on is that Jesus’ tomb was empty on the Sunday morning after His crucifixion,” said Howard, arguing that the best explanation is that Jesus in fact rose from the dead. Even though doubters raise alternative theories – someone stole Jesus’ body, for example, or the disciples went to the wrong tomb – Howard said the evidence for Christ’s resurrection is solid.

“The resurrection matters,” said Howard. “If Jesus did not rise from the dead, Christianity is untrue, the Bible bears false witness and humanity is left searching for answers. But since He did rise from the dead, we have a word from God, by faith we have forgiveness from God, and we’re left neither in our skepticism nor our sins.”

Listen to the complete podcast.

What makes a Christian?

Eleventh in a series of short answers to questions about the New Testament.

Consider Matt. 7:21-23: Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but [only] the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’ 

Claiming to be a Christian doesn’t make one so. Doing good deeds – even miraculous deeds – in the name of Jesus does not secure salvation for anyone. Satan is capable of the supernatural, and his followers masquerade as “ministers of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:14-15). More than 2 billion people in the world today call themselves Christians, yet Jesus is clear that many self-professed Christians will stand before Him in judgment one day and be cast from His presence.

So what makes a Christian? Jesus says a Christian is one who does “the will of My Father in heaven.” What is His will? To believe on Jesus and not on human efforts (John 5:24; Rom. 4:4-5; Eph. 2:8-9). Salvation is only by God’s grace through faith in Jesus and His finished work on the cross.

Calling yourself a Christian — even attending church regularly —  does not make you a Christian any more than living in a garage makes you a car.

In Matt. 7:23, is it true that Jesus “never” knew those who called themselves Christians but in fact were not? Of course He is aware of them; as the eternal Son of God, Jesus is all knowing. But the word “knew” in this context refers to a personal relationship.

That is what it means to be a Christian in a nutshell — to have a personal, everlasting, unbreakable relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus did all of the work necessary for sinful people to be restored to a right relationship with Him. To enter that relationship we must entrust our lives — our eternal destiny — to the One who loves us and gave Himself for us.

World Religions & Cults

This week I finished teaching an eight-week study on world religions and cults for employees at LifeWay Christian Resources.  What a great group of men and women with a passion for God and a compassion for the lost. Employees gave up their lunch hours each Wednesday to learn more about Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scientology and other belief systems. We had two common goals: 1) to better understand the beliefs and practices of other faiths, and 2) to learn how to more effectively share our faith with those who don’t share our faith — kindly, respectfully, and truthfully. Many thanks to LifeWay’s leaders for encouraging this type of training. And many thanks to each person in the class who invested in God’s Word and the lost of this world.

I am including a downloadable version of the booklet used in this study. Feel free to print out copies and/or forward electronic versions to anyone who might benefit from this study.

Booklet – World Religions and Cults 2010