“But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
— 1 Corinthians 1:30 (AMP)

When Christ is Replaced with ‘Christian Things’ #

In today’s Christian world, a quiet tragedy unfolds week after week. The Church has unknowingly replaced the Person of Christ with the things of Christ. We have taken Epistles, doctrines, themes, and even divine truths and made them into systems—systems that, while based on Scripture, can exist entirely without the presence of Christ Himself.

Churches build structures of teaching. Movements form around sanctification, prophecy, kingdom living, and spiritual warfare. Books and conferences multiply. But amidst all the noise, one question remains:

Where is the Person of the Lord Jesus in all this?

This is not a small oversight—it is the source of all weakness, division, dryness, and deception in the Body of Christ.

Epistles as Manuals: The Error of Systematising the Spirit #

We often treat the Epistles as if they were a Christian manual. A handbook. A blueprint of the New Testament order. Many have built denominations on Acts and the letters, complete with elders, deacons, gifts, disciplines, and patterns.

But here is the danger: When Christ is not central, the Epistles become a thing. We extract principles without the Person. We form doctrine without life. We institutionalise heavenly truth and make it earthly in expression.

The result? One Epistle supports dozens of conflicting systems. Each claims biblical order. Each insists on apostolic roots. Yet division multiplies.

Why? Because the Church forgot that Christ Himself is the only divine order.

The Holy Spirit Does Not Teach Doctrines—He Reveals a Person #

“He will glorify Me, for He will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you.”
— John 16:14 (NASB)

The Greek verb here for “disclose” is ἀναγγέλλω (anangellō), meaning to report, to announce, to make known. The Holy Spirit’s mission is not to teach us “things,” but to make Christ known to us.

This is the School of Christ—not a curriculum, but a communion. The Spirit reveals Christ in our inward man. He does not give us separate teachings on sanctification, on the kingdom, or on prophecy. Rather, He reveals Christ as sanctification, Christ as the kingdom, Christ as the coming One.

When Doctrines Become Core #

The Church has splintered into many groups, each centred around one biblical theme:

Each of these began with a real truth. But each became a thing. Detached from the Person, even truth turns into bondage.

The Hebrew word for truth is אֱמֶת (emet), which carries the sense of firmness, faithfulness, and reliability. Truth is not an idea; it is a life. And Christ alone is that Life.

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life…”
— John 14:6

Christ Is the Meaning of All Spiritual Things #

Let’s revisit familiar themes and return them to Christ:

“Christ is all, and in all.”
— Colossians 3:11

The Holy Spirit leads us not into doctrines but into Christ. Any spiritual theme detached from the Person of Christ becomes earthly and divisive.

Christ as Every Spiritual Reality #

Let’s look deeper at a few key terms:

• Sanctification – Greek: ἁγιασμός (hagiasmos), meaning to be set apart in union with God. It is used in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 and 1 Corinthians 1:30.
   But the term is not a process — it’s a Person. “Christ… is made unto us sanctification” (1 Corinthians 1:30).
• Kingdom – Greek: βασιλεία (basileia), meaning reign or authority.
   But the kingdom is not external. Jesus said:
   > “The kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)
    The kingdom is Christ reigning in the heart.
• Coming (Parousia) – Greek: παρουσία (parousia), meaning presence, arrival.
   2 Thessalonians 1:10 – “He comes to be glorified in His saints.”
   His coming is not only future—it is now, inwardly revealed and finally outwardly manifested.

The Time I Followed a Prophecy Teacher #

I once visited a church in Goa to begin a week of ministry. A prophecy teacher had just finished his week of sessions. Charts covered the walls. Roman Empire. Russia. Israel. Everyone had notebooks out, brimming with notes.

When I rose to speak, I read:

“No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him,”
— 1 John 3:6 

The room grew quiet. Notebooks shut. Disinterest crept in. They had come for information, not inward transformation. But that’s the crisis of our generation: We want facts about the future, not fellowship with Christ. We want prophecy as a thing, but not purity as a Person.

The sign of His coming is not found in geopolitics, but in inner purification.

The True Sign of the Lord’s Coming #

“He shall come to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at in all those who have believed.”
— 2 Thessalonians 1:10

The best way to discern the times is not by watching the news, but by watching what the Spirit is doing in the Church. Is there a stirring? Is there a cry for holiness? A longing for Christ? That is the sign.

Returning to the Person of the Lord #

The Holy Spirit is calling us back—not to “elementary things,” but to the only thing: Christ. This is not spiritual minimalism. This is the highest ground. The Person of Christ is the sum of all truth, the goal of all doctrine, and the substance of all prophecy.

“That I may know Him…”
— Philippians 3:10

To know Christ is to know sanctification. To know Christ is to know the kingdom. To know Christ is to be prepared for His coming.

The School of Christ, Not the Seminar of Doctrines #

Let us return to the School of Christ, where the Spirit teaches by inward dealings, not outlines.

“Prophecy without purity hardens the heart. Doctrine without the Person divides the Church. But Christ in you—that is the hope of glory.”

In Christ,
Shaliach.