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From the book: The Challenge of the Christian Theology and more...
of Ewald Frank |
Believe
as the Scripture says
Many think they believe the Scripture, but in reality they
don’t. To believe the Scripture means to respect every Word
of God and act accordingly. The phrase is used, ”No other
Gospel.” but in reality they have a totally different
gospel, not the original of Jesus Christ and the apostles.
Every Christian church claims to be biblical, but more or
less have deviated from the Bible. It is necessary to search
the Holy Scripture honestly to verify that the teachings and
practice truly do agree with the Word of God.
Those who believe the Scriptures will defend what is written
on its pages. They do not interpret anything into it to
later read out of it. To them the words of our Lord apply, »He
that believeth on me as the scripture hath said, out of his
heart shall flow rivers of living water.« (Jn. 7: 38). They
are not even interested in what church celebrities have left
behind, who were contradicting, blaming, slandering and
cursing one another. Those who truly stand with the Bible do
not even care about what they said. Much of what they have
written is pure nonsense, fantasy and tradition.
The esteemed church fathers didn’t stand on Biblical ground
in the Council of Nicea (325) and afterwards they did not
step on scriptural soil. They believed and taught whatever
they wanted. Its not recorded that any of these men had a
personal relationship with Christ, a true conversion or a
call to the ministry from the Lord. They looked upon
Christendom as a mere religion and brought heathenism into
Christianity. In their writings they were still using Bible
terms, but have given them totally different meaning and
designation, which are still in practise today in these
formal churches. It is sad, as people remain with the theme
but are not in the original Truth.
They apparently did not know the Old Testament or the plan
of salvation, wherein Christ was appointed to suffer and
die. They didn’t understand the Apostle Paul’s emphasis , »
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures …«
(1 Cor. 15: 3). They did not comprehend the weight of
Peter’s writings, »… Who his own self bore our sins in his
own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should
live unto righteousness …« (1 Pt. 2: 24). They are
responsible for losing true doctrine, namely that the
Redeemer had to take upon Himself our sin, guilt and even
the curse that had come upon humanity which needed to be
redeemed (Rom. 4: 25; Gal. 3: 13). Reconciliation and
forgiveness through the atoning death of Christ, is the only
way to eternal life. They didn’t even seem to take notice of
this fact.
The »Shmah Israel« = »Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is
one Lord!« (Dt. 6: 4) is an imperative, a command, but was
not even considered by the church fathers. They spoke and
thought with no regard to God or truth, this shows they had
no personal relationship with God. Only through a true
experience with Him do we receive this connection and have
direct access to His Word.
Whether it is Tertullian, Clemens, Hippolyt, Julian, Origen,
Marceon, Montanius, Sabellius, Athanasius, Arius, Hieronymus,
Chrysostomos, Augustine and the rest of them: what they
taught is not for Bible believing Christians. These men have
left us a spiritual tohuwabohu, (a total mess). They didn’t
know the only true God, the God of Israel, having no
revelation of the salvation plan and no understanding of the
self-manifestation of God in Christ. The foundation and
everything else they laid in formal Christianity was wrong.
The command for us now is: Get back to the original Word of
God — to the true foundation of the apostles, prophets, and
to their practice. So the way of God again can be taught
truthfully and be prepared for us to walk on it (Lk. 20: 21;
Acts 18: 24-26).
An unbelievable tragedy
An unbelievable tragedy has occurred within established
Christianity. In theological seminaries they don’t teach
from the original Word, but teach from books compiled by
mere churchmen. They speak mainly about the »innertrinitarian
relation« which in reality does not even exist. It is a
speculation, which came up in the 4th century whereupon they
base their theology. This is not valid before God. What
counts is what He said and what His servants left behind in
the Old and New Testament. Whatever is not written in the
Scriptures does not have a divine origin. The Old and the
New Testament are complete testimonies of God, and no one
should dare to add anything to it, as is also true with a
natural testament — the last will, after it becomes valid
nothing can be changed or added. In the last chapter of the
New Testament we have the warning that those who would add
to or take away from the words of prophecy of the divine
book, their part would be taken from the tree of life and
they would have to suffer the apocalyptic plagues. So
serious is the whole matter that even names which are
written in the book of life can be removed, if someone
becomes guilty by adding or taking away from the Scriptures.
Even before the end of the first century Paul with much pain
states, that another Jesus was being preached, another
Gospel proclaimed and another spirit was at work (2 Cor. 11:
4). In the same chapter the Apostle refers to those men, who
deviated from the original teachings, »as the truth of
Christ is in me … such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no
marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also
were transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose
end shall be according to their works.« (Vv. 10-15). John
admonishes us to prove the spirits, because many false
prophets have already entered the world. Only those who
confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh as the
Messiah are of God . »… And every spirit that confesseth not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God; and
this is that spirit of antichrist« (1 Jn. 4: 1-3). This Word
must be applied to all denominations that do not confess
Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures, but instead are
teaching that an eternal Son preexisted. They speak about »Jesus«
as the »Son« but in a different way. They do not remain with
the testimony of Scripture in accordance with the Spirit and
Word of prophecy (Rev. 19: 10b). Now the pure doctrine and
the plain Truth are placed again upon the candlestick, and
everyone is able to test for himself what kind of spirit is
leading.
In his message to the church of Ephesus John records the
words of the Lord, »I know thy works, and thy labour, and
thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them who are evil;
and thou hast tried them who say they are apostles, and are
not, and hast found them liars« (Rev. 2: 2).
In Gal.1 Paul emphasises that all who preach another Jesus,
another Gospel are under a curse. Another Gospel is that
which is different to the original Gospel of Jesus Christ
and the apostles and does not coincide with their teachings
and practice. Bearing great responsibility, Paul being
directly commissioned, the Apostle was worried that Satan
would beguile the church as he did Eve (2 Cor. 11: 2-3).
God’s enemy has not only thrown humanity from the beginning
of the creation into death, he has done so spiritually after
our redemption was accomplished with those who did not take
God’s Word seriously. Both live on: the sin through
disobedience and the true church through obedience by faith
. The enemy always tries using the same method. He questions
the Word of God. »Should God have said …« »Surely, you will
not die!« Satan is the big liar and the most religious
perverter, the destroyer of the Word of God from the
beginning. Using the religions of the world he has been very
successful. He is the prince of the air and the god of this
world and acts under a religious cloak, always interpreting
Scripture his own way. In this respect he is the father of
all lies and the first theologian. |
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