WND EXCLUSIVE

A RADICALLY NEW WAY OF VIEWING CHRISTIANITY

WND founder Joseph Farah on what the Bible really says about our destiny

WND Founder Joseph Farah is no stranger to controversy. But now he’s presenting the most radical – and important – message of his career.

In his newest book, “The Restitution of All Things,” he offers a radical new way of viewing the Christian faith, one which offers a direct challenge to the lukewarm American “church.”

“One of the most astounding things that we see, particularly in the Christian church in America today, is a cheapening of the gift of salvation that Jesus gave us,” Farah said. “And it comes in many forms, but let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. 

There’s an idea called ‘hyper-grace,’ and it’s sort of an extreme position in some of the church today. And it says: ‘You know what? We live in an age of grace, we’ve been given this great gift from Jesus. 

That means we can’t sin anymore. We’re like, immune from sin and the Law. All of that is for another era. We repent once and somehow this forgives any behavior, no matter how egregious, in the future.'”

This concept, which many believers have observed gaining traction in American Christianity, derives from the idea Jesus Christ somehow lowered the bar to salvation or made it somehow easier to live as a believer. The opposite is true, contends Farah.

“I’m summarizing what I consider to be a very dangerous, heretical view but there are shades of grey on this throughout the church,” Farah said. 

“And to sum up what I see as the state of the American church today is the fact that we kind of believe what Jesus came to do was to lower the standards. God the Father, in the Old Testament, they seem to think, imposed these tough laws that were hard to follow and Jesus came along and made it easier. You know there is nothing about that in the New Testament. In fact, just the opposite I would say.

“Jesus raised the bar! He said for instance: ‘You’ve heard it said don’t commit adultery. What I say is when you look at a woman with lust in your eyes and in your heart, you’ve already committed adultery.’ [Paraphrasing Matthew 5:27-28].

“In other words, He’s raising the bar. It’s not just a physical act anymore. It’s actually something we actually lust for and think about, and that’s unholy. That’s what Jesus was saying. So I think we do a disservice to the sacrifice that Jesus gave us when we take that kind of position.

“So when you read ‘The Restitution of All Things,’ there’s going to be a couple things that come into your mind. One of them is going to be, ‘This contradicts so much of what I’ve heard in the church. You talk about the Law still being in effect!’ Well guess what? Read Jesus’s own words throughout the New Testament, throughout the Gospels. Read what the Apostles say. There is still a Law. And if you think the Ten Commandments don’t affect you, don’t hold you into account, you’re making a very big mistake.”

Rethinking the Christian tradition about the supposed “death” of the Law is one of the most important themes of the “The Restitution of All Things.” Farah issues a direct challenge to Christians to rethink the fundamental premises of their faith and what the Bible actually says Jesus did and did not do.

“A lot of people say: ‘Well, wait a minute. I thought that this wage the age of grace, that the Law was dead!'” Farah exclaimed. “I deal with this in great detail using only Sscriptures from the Old and New Testament. And guess what? There’s no disagreement on this. People will point to a couple of letters by the Apostle Paul as if something dramatic happened. Listen – if what Paul is saying, and I believe every word of what Paul writes in those books, if what he is saying is in contradiction to what God the Father, God the Son, and all the other apostles say, then something’s wrong. And it’s the fact that you’re misinterpreting what Paul is saying because Scripture cannot contradict Scripture.”

It’s the book that gives you tomorrow’s news today! Get your autographed copy of “The Restitution of All Things: Israel, Christians and the End of the Age.”

The veteran newsman, no stranger to analyzing politics and culture, admits his message may be bracing to many Christians. But he argues “The Restitution of All Things” is simply a faithful study of what the Bible actually says, as opposed to what the traditions of men claim it says.

“Yes, I think it’s safe to say that the ‘The Restitution of All Things,’ is a radical view of Christianity if you practice what ‘The Restitution of All Things,’ talks about, which is really what the Bible talks about,” Farah admits. “It’s an empowering thing. It will give new depth to your understanding of Scripture, to what God asks us to do, to what He commands us to do, to how He wants us to live. You know, Jesus didn’t want any mediocre Christians, He didn’t want any lukewarm Christians, he wanted people to follow Him and be on fire for Him. That’s what I’ve been since I embarked on this forty years of prophetic study that led to this book.”

But what led a journalist to write a book which challenges some of the most widely shared assumptions in American Christianity? As Farah put it himself: “‘Well, what do you mean Farah, you’ve been in the news business all that time, I don’t remember you writing any prophecy books before? Where did all this come from?'”

The answer is prophecy, used as a tool of evangelism, was what first led Farah to accept Jesus. And the resulting interest in prophecy and partnership with noted teachers such as Hal Lindsey has stayed with Farah ever since.

“I got to study at his feet for ten years,” Farah said of Lindsey. “That was the beginning of my dive, my deep drive into Bible prophecy. And you know what? The last ten years have been even deeper and more meaningful than the first ten years.”

Ultimately, what Farah wants to impress upon believers is the hopeful, exciting conclusion of God’s plan as laid out in the Bible. Though there have been many books written about prophecy, most focus on the horrible things which will happen to the world. Farah thinks Christians should focus more on the glorious events which come afterward.

“One of the things that amazes me is I’m a big student of prophecy, a fan of all the books that come out about Bible prophecy,” he said. “But one of the things I’ve noticed is that almost all of them dwell on one aspect of prophecy, and that is what comes next. What comes next is all apparently people want to know about. What is the next thing in Bible prophecy that people are going to see unfold? And of course that leads us to the darkest, most violent episode in world history. But it’s very short! It’s very brief. It only lasts seven years according to the Bible…Well, I decided to look beyond that.

“That’s not the seven-year period of Tribulation, that’s the period when Jesus returns to rule and reign over planet Earth. And it’s a fantastic story. There’s so much Bible prophecy – Old Testament, New Testament – about this. It’s what Jesus speaks about. It’s what Jeremiah and Isaiah speak about. And what they’re talking about is a period of 1,000 years of peace, prosperity, justice and so forth. And it’s also a period that believers are going to experience. Not just today’s believers. Not just the believers when Jesus comes back. But all believers from all time.

“You’re going to have King David there living on planet Earth, in a modern planet Earth, with believers from the 21st century. Doesn’t that sound exciting? Don’t you want to know more about that? Well I did. And so I embarked on a Bible study that focused on this period of time and the results are the ‘The Restitution of All Things.'”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2017/01/a-radically-new-way-of-viewing-christianity/#7GYb8icv2XqAeViE.99