God's Work with Planet Earth

Or we could ask why there are so many Christian church denominations, if there’s only one God and one set of scriptures?

This can be a major stumbling block for those considering the Christian faith, but there are real reasons for there being many Christian denominations in the world today.

As we saw in the last post, a big change came when Christianity was legalized and no longer persecuted by the pagan Roman empire. (for three centuries it was persecuted because Christians would not engage in pagan practices or worship the emperors because the scriptures instructed them not to). But when the government made Christianity legal, things began to change. In less than 100 years, the Christian church began to adopt pagan ideas from the government which legitimized it. Like what?

The Day of Worship

First, the Roman Emperor Constantine made a decree:

“On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed.” Roman Emperor Constantine, 321 AD

Now this is a secular authority (not the church) commanding citizens of a pagan empire to honor the sun god on the pagan day for sun worship. There’s nothing Christian about this at all.

But in 325, just 4 years later, Pope Sylvester declared Sunday to be “the Lord’s Day”, following the example of the Emperor (possibly hoping to avoid future persecution?) And in 338 AD, Pope Eusebius declared,

“All things whatsoever that it was the duty to do on the Sabbath (seventh day) we have transferred to the Lord’s Day (first day) as more appropriately belonging to it.” Pope Eusebius, 338 AD

Now we see the first time (in historical, written documents) where the church begins to attempt a transfer of sacredness from the seventh day, which Jesus, the Apostles, and Christians worshiped on, to a different day. But in that statement it is made clear who did the transferring. It was not God, but church leaders. And then in 364 AD, came a full-blown attack on the 4th of the Ten Commandments.

“Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.” Canon 29, Council of Laodicea, 364 AD

The anti-semitism here might be understandable, if we remember that the the earliest persecution of Christians came from Jews, and Jews were turning Christians in to the Roman authorities for not worshipping Roman gods, (which the Jews wouldn’t do themselves).

But that’s a side note, because this church law firmly set the Church of Rome in opposition to God’s 4th commandment, which clearly specified the 7th day multiple times.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-10

This is the only commandment (law) with a time mentioned. But this was prophesied and should not have come as a surprise.

“He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” Daniel 7:25

Does being excommunicated and condemned sound like persecution? Maybe not as bad as being burned alive at the stake, but that came later. This shows us how false doctrines crept into the Church over decades and centuries, not all at once. What other errors were adopted?

In ancient time a “time” meant a year, “times” (plural) meant two years, and “half a time” would be half a year. All of this adds to 1,260 days of prophetic time, and from Ezekiel 4:6 and Numbers 14:34 we learn that each day represents one earth year in prophetic time.

So as Daniel’s vision of “the Ancient of Days” prophesied, this horn (power) would persecute the saints (those following God’s Word) for 1,260 years, from 538 AD when the Roman Church filled the power vacuum left by the fall of the Roman Empire, until 1798 when the Napoleon’s General Bertheir captured the pope and “led him into captivity” (Revelation 13:10) where he died. This was a “deadly wound”, but the Roman Church has been “healing” (recovering) (Revelation 13:3) for over 200 years now.

Other false teachings

Confession of sins to priests (men)

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

In the Bible, confession is simply admitting what you did wrong, but repentance is a change in the life, because we avoid sin from then on. But who is being confessed to? Jesus, God, not men.

Calling priests, bishops, cardinals “father”

“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.” Matthew 23:9

According to Jesus, no human on earth can act as a substitute for God. This is referring to spiritual ties, not family ties.

Celibacy for priests

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” 1 Timothy 4:1-3

I’ve had Catholics call me a liar, saying priests can marry, but here are the dates for priestly celibacy: 1079 AD – present. So it was never abolished, but the Catholic Church said in 2019 that it wasn’t always enforced. So it’s been in practice for nearly 1000 years. I’m just amazed the Holy Spirit foretold to the Apostle Paul that this would happen 1000 years before it became official in the Church!

“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,…” 1 Timothy 3:2

Repetitious, memorized prayers

“And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Matthew 6:7

Church Authority to issue new rules and override old ones

After all, didn’t the Apostles write the entire New Testament after they already had the Old Testament? So couldn’t church leaders write new guidelines? Yes, but the important key here is this:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” 2 Timothy 3:16

“knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Peter 1:21

So God inspired men to write the scriptures (the Bible) through the Holy Spirit. And God never changes (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8, James 1:17). So if you have human leaders coming and making laws that contradict scripture, they must be inspired by a different spirit, not God’s Spirit.

No man has the authority to override God’s previously given instructions. The one who thinks he does, matches this description:

“who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” 2 Thessalonians 2:4

Immortality of the soul

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7, KJV

This is how one becomes a living soul – God’s life plus dust (molecules).

For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 9:5-7

Both the prophet Daniel and Jesus prophesied of two future resurrections and taught that until those resurrections, people “sleep in the dust of the earth”. (Daniel 12:2, John 5:28-29, John 11:11-14, 24)

“The soul who sins shall die.” Ezekiel 18:20

“…fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28

The “saints” being prayed to are asleep in their graves. They can’t hear any prayers.

which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.” 1 Timothy 6:15-16

Only God has immortality – faithful humans will be given eternal life by God, but they don’t have it inherently.

Eternal torment and burning in hell for the wicked

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the LORD of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch.” Malachi 4:1

“For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more.”
“But the wicked shall perish; And the enemies of the LORD, Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.” Psalms 37:10, 20

Hebrew “abad” (perish) means to wander away or lose oneself, but the word was used to indicate being destroyed or dying. English “perish” means “to suffer death, typically in a violent, sudden, or untimely way” – Yes, untimely because God intended all humans should have eternal life, unless they make the choice to reject it. (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

“Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame;” Isaiah 47:14

“…And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.” Revelation 20:9

According to the Bible, hell is a future EVENT, not an everlasting location. The pagan belief in the underworld was adapted into the belief in Eternal Hell by the Roman Catholic Church, and many so-called Protestants still believe this satanic lie to this day.

It is a satanic lie because it attacks God’s very character. Will a merciful God torture a sinner forever for only 80 years of misbehavior? Is that fair or just? The Bible does not teach that He will.

The other problem with this lie, is it opens the door for spiritual deception. IF your dead relative shows up and starts giving you information and instructions, if you believe the soul floats around after death, you might believe it’s really them, instead of a demon portraying a dead loved one. Would you be more incline to act on their instructions?

The Eucharist

It’s probably worth mentioning that Jesus never gave instructions to celebrate His birth (Christmas) or His resurrection (Sunday worship, Easter), but He did give this instruction:

“And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” Luke 22:19-20

And also:

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” John 13:14-15

So Jesus gave clear instructions that His disciples should do these two “rituals”, but He did not ask for many of the traditions the Church came up with and put into practice.

During the Eucharist, when the priest blesses the bread and wine, the belief is that they become the actual body and blood of Christ. Satan would like nothing more than to crucify Christ over and over.

“For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” Romans 6:10

“so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.” Hebrews 9:28

“For Christ also suffered once for sins…” 1 Peter 3:18

“By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Hebrews 10:10

So when we celebrate Communion as Christ instructed, it really is just a symbol of Jesus’ body and blood, and our acceptance of Him. There are many examples in the Gospels where the disciples took what Jesus said literally and He corrected them, that He was speaking of spiritual things. Matthew 16:5-12 and John 6:43-59 are good examples.

Image Worship

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image–any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,” Exodus 20:4,5

Catholics will say “We’re not actually worshipping the image”, but they did “make” it in the first place and they are “bowing” to it. So they have to remove this commandment, and you’ll see the Catholic version of the Ten Commandments removes #2 (quoted above) and splits the 10th into two, so they still have ten.

Also notice that God excluded Himself here (“any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above…”). We’re not even supposed to make something representing Him (like a crucifix) and bow to it.

The Warnings came true

I could go on, but these few examples should make the point that errors crept into the church exactly as the Apostles warned about:

“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Acts 20:32

“With tears”!!! Did Paul know what was going to happen? Yes he did. But those he warned passed away also and new generations grew up into the Church who did not remember.

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.” 2 Peter 2:1-3

“Denying the Lord Who bought them”… Teaching that a person’s penance (like self-flagellation) or money (indulgences) must pay for sin, when Jesus already paid with His own blood. Was the “way of truth” “blasphemed”? Oh yes it was, and it is to this day.

The Protestant Reformation

When people like Jan Hus and John Wycliffe realized that the church was teaching things that contradicted scripture, a reformation started that spanned from the 1300’s to the 1600’s, Martin Luther and John Calvin coming along during the 1500’s.

Why so Many Churches?

The answer is that the Reformers only discovered some of the lies and errors, and when each one discovered different lies, their churches developed differing beliefs. So there are many denominations today. None of this would have happened if the original Christian Church had not become corrupted.

The Devil is working very hard to keep Christians confused about the truth. The only way to keep from being deceived is this:

“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

“Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” John 17:17

God’s Word is the Truth and the protection against deception. So we must study it and know what it says.