Thursday, January 28, 2021

Authority, Biblical Churches, and the Sovereignty of God

Is it not ironic how those Christians who claim that the Bible is their absolute and final authority on all matters pertaining to doctrine, church practice, family life, and personal holiness, are the first ones to run to whatever various early church fathers had to say in order to defend their godless anti-Christ traditions?

Why do you suppose that is?

Simple.

Because the traditions that their denomination holds to and practices cannot be found in, let alone substantiated and defended by, Scripture. Many of their traditions originate from and are rooted in the Roman senate and the pagan religions.

But will that stop these Christians from ignoring the facts, rejecting the Word of God, and refusing to submit themselves and their beliefs to the truth of God's Word and conform accordingly? Not in the least!

These Christians are either (A) ignorant of this information, or (B) willfully deceitful about this information. Anyone who studies church history can see how the early church fathers created the heresy of apostolic succession in order to give themselves the same authority that the apostles had and thereby dictate what direction the church should be going. It was these same fathers who changed the traditions instituted by the apostles.

The Lord's Supper used to be celebrated as a full meal between assembled brethren. The early fathers changed this to the ridiculous practice most denominations hold to today.

Baptism used to take place immediately upon profession, whether that profession was genuine or false. The fathers changed this so that various delays were now included. Infant baptism may or may not have been added.

From here, things only kept taking turns for the worse. When Constantine was Emperor, he introduced many pagan elements into Christianity. He gave Christianity their own temples to worship in; he helped solidify the developing clergy/laity split, paying clergy for their services; he brought pagan idols into the new temples; and he used the names of dead saints for these temples (the same way the pagans used the names of their gods for their temples).

After Constantine, the Catholic church continued on with Constantine's practice of marrying pagan religions and religious practices in with Christianity, and finding defenses for them from any and all fathers, no matter how unorthodox.

The Reformation attempted to correct some of the aberrant theology that was maintained by the Catholics, but they failed to reform the church practices themselves, or even the church liturgy (or worship service). Most of what you see practiced in most denominations today originates from and is rooted in the Roman senate and the pagan religions. If you carefully read the Bible and what the apostles taught when they established congregations in various locations, the traditions they taught were nothing like what you see in most churches today. We have veered drastically off course from what Jesus and His apostles had set in place.

Just as God had a specific manner in which the Jews were required to worship Him in the Old Testament era (He tells you how to worship Himself; you do not get to make it up as you go!), so too does the New Testament present a specific manner with which we are to worship God.

Why does every denomination worship God differently? Because they are not obeying Him and following the prescription He laid out for them in the Bible!

Some denominations will attempt to argue for their traditions based on the Old Testament. "The Jews had a temple, and a priest, and so on and so forth, therefore we pattern the church after that." Uh, sorry, but you are dead in the water if that is your argument. Like a sieve or colander, your argument holds no water. I encourage you to not only read the book of Hebrews, which does away with the Old Testament practices, but that you also read the book of Acts and pay attention to the letters of Paul.

The early Christians did not have temples to worship in because they were not supposed to. Christianity is different from every other religion on the face of the planet! It is freer! They met in houses, had plural male leadership, made decisions that affected the congregation together with the entire body, were all treated as equals without one person leading from the front, etc. What God's Word pictures they were taught by the apostles is vastly different from what we experience today.

Yet, when you point this fact out, those who are afraid of anything new (or in this case, old), run to the teachings of the early church fathers for their defense because they know that they cannot find such a defense from the pages of the Word of God. (Except they twist random, isolated verses ripped out of their immediate context.)

If those inside a religious organization called a "church" are more comfortable remaining there and continuing what they know, then let them be convinced in their own mind and let them do so. Romans 14 must come into play here. Brothers and sisters should not be at each other's throats here. While religious organizations calling themselves "churches" are not biblical churches, and are in every way in violation of the prescription given in the New Testament, nevertheless many of their members are still brothers and sisters in Christ.

Those who are in biblical churches as prescribed by the Word of God—house churches, do not target those already attending a "church" in order to try and convert them into your fold. Obey the great commission and go make disciples. If those you know who belong to such "churches" ask you about where you go and such, then you can share the truth with them. If through studying the Word of God they come to the same realization as you did, then they are free to join your congregation. If your only goal is to disrupt these religious organizational institutions in order to draw people into your fold, then you are going about it all wrong. When God is teaching us something, he always begins with us, and through us a ripple effect can happen. But leave that in God's hands. Do not attempt to manufacture a ripple effect by chasing after everyone else and trying to get them on board with something God still has not fully completed within you!

It does not matter what it is, Christians have a tendency to try and make the results reliant upon themselves and their own efforts. How about you allow God to work on you first, finishing what He started. When someone asks, you can share. But just as with salvation, it is God who must move. You are not responsible for the outcome. That is in God's hands! Stop trying to control what is not in your control to begin with! Let God move His people. You just be obedient to His Word.