So far, we’ve discussed the four new things involved in Jesus’ parables of the “new cloth” for the “new garment” and the “new wineskin” for the “new wine.”

“No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent (torn), and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.” (Luke 5:36)

“Neither do men put new wine into old bottles (wineskins): else the bottles (wineskins) break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles (wineskins) perish: but they put new wine into new bottles (new wineskins), and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:16-18)

Now we will consider how these four items fit the theology of the various Christian denominations of the church-at-large today; comparing them with the significance of the “New Garment” and the “New Wineskin.”

I will note four versions of the Church at large today. My wife, Linda, and I have been a part of all four versions at one time or another, so I can speak from our personal experience.

In this first of the four we will look at fallen away Apostate Christianity as the worst version of Christianity. It, sadly, has been so thoroughly corrupted and apostatized that it really is not representative of the Christian faith at all. (I will not address the cults of Jehovah’s Witness, Mormonism, etc.)

1. “The Modernist / Liberal Protestant Churches”

Though these denominations once stood for Bible truth, the majority of today’s liberal Episcopal, liberal Presbyterian Church (PCA), the liberal Methodist, the liberal American Baptist Church, the liberal United Church of Christ (Congregational), etc., are now mainly Apostate, Modernist, Liberal/humanistic/ denominations. By the word ‘Apostate’ I mean fallen away defectors from “the word of truth” for today’s Gentile age of the Paul’s “gospel of the grace of God” by which men are saved from their sins and from the judgement that was due them.

Even the generally conservative Roman Catholic church, for all its other failings, now has fallen further to also have a majority liberal, humanistic modernist wing among its Priests, Nuns who now are mere social justice workers, quite apart from the true “the gospel of Christ.” We also note the Apostasy of Pope Francis.

All these ‘religious’ organizations preach what Paul referred to as “another Jesus” by “another gospel” of a cross-less Jesus of Nazareth in accord with “Another Spirit” – Satan’s Sin spirit.

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto Another Gospel: ⁷ Which is Not another (gospel); but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed (Gk. anathema, banned). (Galatians 1:6-8)

“if he that cometh preacheth Another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive Another spirit (Satanic), which ye have not received, or Another Gospel, which ye have not accepted” (2Cor. 11:4)

“the time will come when they (the people) will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts (desires) shall they heap (gather) to themselves teachers, having itching ears; ⁴ And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (myths). (2Tim. 4:3-4)

The many manmade religious fables and traditions of Religion are mythical Satanic ideas and they are the Christian age equivalent of Apostate Israel’s traditions that existed in Jesus’ day. Recall how Jesus said; “by your tradition you make the word of God of no effect.” (Mark 7:13). Israel’s religious leaders did not recognize their Messiah when He came even though He fulfilled more than 100 fulfilled Bible prophecies concerning His coming, including the city in which He would be born.

Of the lies that the Apostate modernist liberal denominations promote is this. The Modernist liberal denominations today promote the idea of imitating Jesus of Nazareth’s love and kindness, while totally ignoring the 46 times Jesus spoke concerning judgment, hell and destruction. The Apostate modernist liberal denominations today see and preach mainly Jesus of Nazareth’s human life & virtue, ignoring His rebuke of manmade religious tradition.

“… ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.” (Matthew 15:6)

These Apostate modernist liberal denominations are devoid of Paul’s grace gospel of work of Jesus by His “death, burial and resurrection” (1Cor 15:3-4). They did at one time, generations ago, proclaimed the Christ-Centered gospel of Christ and His cross.

Now, as they’ve abandoned Paul’s “gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24), they’ve dwindled in membership. and largely become ‘People-Centered, liberal, social, humanistic, organizations,’ having little resemblance to the Pauline grace-based gospel that is Bible-centered on “the Truth” of Christ as ALL (cf. Eph. 4:6).

You might be amazed as to what the so-called ministers of these churches do not believe. If you dare to ask a so-called minister of one of these liberal Apostate modernist ‘church’ organization what they believe about; the Bible as the inerrant word of God, the divinity of Jesus, or His immaculate conception by the Holy Spirit, death and hell, etc., they likely will squirm to avoid answering you honestly concerning what they actually believe. I’ve asked some and seen this firsthand.

Now, in the light of our earlier study of the “new garment,” these Apostate / Modernist / Humanist Liberals accept only Jesus of Nazareth as the “new (raw) cloth,” that is the ‘cloth unprocessed’ through the cross unto resurrection. They see only the goodness of Uncrucified ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ – not seeing and preaching the crucified and resurrected Christ as our “New Garment” of Righteousness. Rather, they point to Jesus’ humanity, noting that Jesus was filled with love, virtue and self-sacrifice, so they promote ‘good works,’ done by self-effort as imitating Jesus. They ignore His speaking of Himself, as God, as the Serpent on the cross, or of hell, and the real meaning His Cross as the only hope of salvation for fallen mankind. They ignore His words concerning sin, hell, and man’s need of Him as Savior and His claims to actually be God come in the flesh (cf. John 14:9).

These Modernist / Humanist Liberals do not clearly preach the need for lost individuals to personally receive Christ’s redemptive work of the cross for right standing with God. Yet, it’s only Christ redemptive work of the cross makes Jesus our “new garment,” to clothe us in His righteousness.

These Apostate / Modernist / Humanist / Liberal organizations have mainly become warehouses for unbelievers, while there are some among them who do hold Christ in the hearts as genuine Christians. Most of these are aged believers who remain among the deceived non-believing pastors and other attendees, staying mainly for the social interaction. These dead churches are void of the “new wine” of Christ’s indwelling “life” and the “new wineskin” of Christ as the Head and governor of “His body” members. Thus, the riches of the cross are missing under the feel-good doctrine of the Modernist Liberals.

By example, this past year I attended a funeral at a local Pilgrim Church, a “United Church of Christ,” in Port Charlotte, FL where 2-300 of my neighbors attended; perhaps most of these are unsaved souls. Yet, the ‘minister’ failed to preach a word of the true gospel at this opportune time! We did not hear a word of Sin’s penalty or Christ’s shed blood for forgiveness of sins, nor the reconciliation, justification, and redemption to be found only in His Cross for the expectation of heaven. Instead, we only heard platitudes and niceties.

Sadly, this is the new age approach to ‘doing church.’ It’s called being what they call ‘Seeker Sensitive,’ with a ‘man-centered’ message (not Christ-centered). This is now also being adopted by many neo-evangelical churches today.

Today many Protestant pastors rely on pop-psychology and a Madison Avenue consumer business models to try to grow and sustain their church businesses. They say this new template for ‘doing church’ was to fit the younger people’s hunger for authenticity, but it has caused an ideological collision. The seeker-sensitive services were originally promised to woo the young post-moderns into their fold. So, out went genuine truth telling hymns, along with the 45-minute Bible based exegetical sermon; all replaced by a singing jingles and shorter story-based talk to address the ‘felt needs’ of the congregants. Thus, they reinforce the false idea that following Jesus of Nazareth’s example of niceness would dramatically improve their quality of life.

These Apostate / Modernist / Humanist / Liberals are representative of those who see only the man Jesus of Nazareth, not the crucified Christ. Having thus rendered Him powerless. They promote ‘imitating Jesus’ goodness’ in order to be clothed in their own unwhitened self-righteous garment as seen by their call to activist social works to ‘fix the world.’

They don’t recognize the reason God sent His Son into the world... was to die for us, deal with Sin, saving sinful men from Sin’s ravages. They don’t trust in “the truth” of the Bible. Not yet humbled, they don’t see need for Christ’s blood and “imputed righteousness” that is freely accounted only to humbled, believing, lost ‘sinners.’

Most of them, as all humanist, don’t believe man is basically a sinner. So, they count worthy their own pathetic self-effort and self-righteousness to be seen by their ‘good works.’ They don’t see that they can never please or satisfy God’s righteous demand by their self-effort.  Paul says we are “saved by grace through faith” in Christ (His cross) alone… “not of works.”

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;” (Titus 3:5)

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹  Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Eph. 2:8-9) “And if (salvation is) by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” (Rom. 11:6)

They ignorantly reduce their faith to… “We should be like Jesus, imitating His human goodness.” They say God’s goal for the church is to fix or influence the world, to make it better. They do not realize that their religion, government, and every aspect of “the world” is hopelessly lost and under Satan’s influence as “the god of this world” (2Cor 4:4). By contrast, Paul wrote this of his work, the world and the cross.

“God forbid that I should glory, save (except) in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” (Gal. 6:14)

These liberal/Apostate/humanist are totally unaware of and outside of God’s eternal plan for the “new heaven” and the “new earth” through the work of Christ’s Cross... wherein all things will be made right. They have no interest in learning of the Lord’s ultimate work for a recovered Israel to co-reign with Christ on the earth (cf. Rev. 5:10, 20:6) and “the church, which is the body of Christ” to co-reign with Christ “eternal in heaven” (2 Cor. 5:1, 2Tim. 2:12). As fools, their goal is to make the world a good and better place rather than preaching “Christ and Him crucified.” (1Cor. 2:2).