Whom Do We Listen To? Some Observatoins, Part 2

Whom Do We Listen To? Some Observatoins, Part 2
Friday, June 5, 2026 by Dr. James W. Walraven

Categories: Apologetics / Apostasy / Contemporary issues / Scripture discussion / Spiritual deception / Spiritual warfare / The church / Thought for Today / Truth telling

Jesus. How do the NAR and the inclusivists/progressives view Jesus? Do they magnify and exalt Jesus, or do they diminish Him?

Both the NAR and the inclusivists diminish Jesus. With the NAR, the church largely replaces Jesus. The church brings about Jesus’s return. At His return, the church does the key actions, not Jesus. They justify their view by saying that since the church is Christ’s body, Christ is still glorified. But, instead of a capital “J” Jesus and a small “c” church, one ends up with a capital “C” Church and a small “j” jesus.

Think also of the role of signs and wonders within the NAR. If one isn’t constantly performing them, one isn’t a true Christian, one isn’t walking in the fulness of one’s “anointing.” Those who aren’t healed, those not performing miracles, are second class Christians. How exhausting it all becomes to have to live up to those expectations, of having to live in constant spiritual “highs.” No one talks about the spiritual “crashes” that follow. As we saw, leaders of the NAR spend much time recounting all the prophecies they’ve given or received, all the signs and wonders performed, all the things they’ve accomplished. Who can live up to that? Once again, it is all about them, not Jesus.

Even personally, with my legal blindness, sadly, I’ve run into trouble with some charismatics because my eyes were not healed. To them, my faith must therefore be lacking. Beyond that, any Christian who doesn’t speak in a heavenly tongue is also a second-class Christian. For a few, if one doesn’t speak in tongues, one isn’t even saved. While supposedly salvation is through faith—for some, not all—certain works end up becoming almost essential. A “gospel” that ends up being performance driven is no gospel at all (yes, as Ephesians 2:10 indicates, works do follow, a result of faith).

The inclusivist side is the direct opposite of the NAR. Works do not need to follow salvation as there is no “salvation” in the classic biblical sense. Since in essence God is in everyone and everything, all are included. What we do or have done doesn’t ultimately matter. The issue isn’t sin, but a wrong focus in terms of our identity: taking our identity from fallen Adam rather than recognizing we are already in the finished work of Christ.

Jesus’s death on the cross for our sins doesn’t much matter, His incarnation is everything. God became man, so man can become God, as Athanasius of Alexandria put it so long ago. As with the NAR, the inclusivists diminish the biblical Jesus. Is there any greater way to diminish Jesus than to deny the centrality of His death and resurrection for our salvation? No.

In essence the inclusivists turn Jesus into a liar. Consider John 10:14–17 (NAU): “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.”

We see Jesus stating that His death is the key. Indeed, Jesus even states that the Father loves him because of his willingness to die. The passage also tells us that Jesus also has the authority to take up his life again. His resurrection is just as important. As 1 Corinthians 15 states, if Christ was not raised, we are still lost, dead in our sins.

Better to stay with what Scripture states: Christ died on the cross for our sins; salvation through faith in Christ is essential, the only way to avoid eternal separation from God, that universal automatic salvation does not exist. Better to magnify Christ and what He has done than to be prideful in one’s own works. Better to stay within Scripture as opposed to following the siren songs of either the NAR or the inclusivists.

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