Why Are Christians In So Much Defeat?

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. --Romans 7:24, 25

Why are Christians in so much defeat?Do not think I am a heretic; just let me say this thought through to the end. Christianity as a religion has failed. Christianity as a moral system has failed. The Bible as a source of power has failed. Truth is not only preached but also demonstrated.Christian seminaries have failed and could be sued for false advertising; they have not created leaders or spiritual men. Christianity as a teaching is the best option; it has a better book and higher standards. But what does that lead to? Visit churches at the level at which I see them and you will find that covert, self-righteous deeds of the flesh and covert, unrighteous deeds of the flesh abound. Very little can be found of loving an enemy, allowing another to wound, or blessing those that curse. Some of the rudest people I have met are Bible professors who know so very much. We must admit Christianity has failed. We have the same rate of divorce as the unbelieving world. Why? Because Christianity has schools but is not a school, it has a book but is not a book, it has a philosophy of living but is not a philosophy, and it has doctrines but is not a doctrine. Christianity is Christ, period; it was never meant to be another religion but was always about a relationship with the living Christ. The legalists--those who have attained their own form of righteousness--would like to rip two passages from the Bible: “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is these that bear witness of Me” (John 5:39), and “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). Man is created to be connected to the Vine, Jesus, not to imitate Him, but to participate in His life. I am not a heretic, but I cannot believe how much trouble I get into by saying that Jesus is all we need.

- Mike Wells