I think the church is sitting on a time bomb going by the statement of Jesus that not all who call Him LORD will go to heaven but unfortunately many of us are not taking Him serious. It is high time we removed the veil and reveal the secret plot of the devil to take Christians from church to hell and see some of the reasons this can be possible. From church to hell is not the will of the Father for you
Excerpt
With the absence of denominational names from the Bible, one wonders how the church suddenly became divided along the line of denomination. Our collective identity as a body suddenly gave way to a divisive spirit in the form of denomination.
Looking at the factors that led to the emergence of denominational barriers, one cannot but see both genuine and ulterior motives at play. Heresy is one genuine reason.
From church history, the church had no denominational mentality until the church in Rome became the Church of Rome between late second century and early third century thus, the emergence of the Roman Catholic Church.
The bishop of Rome and the political leaders of the Roman Empire hijacked the church and made her represent their interests deeply rooted in tradition. The bishop of Rome who was not better than other bishops gradually began to arrogate to himself authority over other bishops and subsequently claimed supremacy over them as at the time Rome ruled the world and finally led the church astray.
Just as Rome was ruling the world, the bishop of Rome likewise desired to rule the Christian world, thus the choice of the name; Catholic which means, worldwide.
The bishop of Rome waxed great until he became very great. He grew from the bishop of Rome to become the bishop of bishops. Those who could not accommodate the error the church had fallen into and protested against it were labeled Protestants by Rome.
However, the Protestant reformation championed by Martin Luther in 1517 officially signaled the beginning of denominationalism. Perhaps, Luther would not have challenged Rome if she had not gone into error thus he arose in defense of truth.
The church would still be divided along the line of mode of baptism, manifestation of the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit, accepted day of worship, mode of worship, doctrines, leadership tussle, use of instrument in worship, personality cult, politics, in fact the list is endless from serious to trivial issues.
Unlike many of our so called ministers of God today, Luther was not self seeking, he was not hungry for General Overseer position neither was he competing to be the pastor with the largest denomination. His action was not motivated by gold and silver, but genuine interest to see truth exalted and heresy exposed.
It is unfortunate that down the centuries, men who had no fear of God capitalized on the action of Luther to further lead the church astray when they used the people of God to build their own kingdom and religious empire.
The error against which Luther fought is still very much around with us simply because the devil found gullible men and women who could sell their soul for thirty pieces of silver.
Since the death of Martin Luther, church history has never been the same because denominations kept springing up and since the Reformation we have had denominations like Lutheran (1530), Presbyterian (1536), Congregation (1608), United Brethren (1609), Episcopal (1609), Baptist (1611) and Methodist (1739) and the list is increasing by the day.
Denominationalism has gradually grown so big into a monster in Christendom to the extent that people now relate with one another not because they believe in the same LORD but simply because they are members of the same denomination.
I am not suggesting we take every professing Christian to be a true Christian, but in as much as the truth is still present in different denominations, then one denomination cannot claim supremacy over another.
In our quest for unity, we need to exercise caution because we have so many wolves in sheep clothing. Some of the men of God we respect and hold in high esteem hold views contrary to the Scripture. Imagine a popular, world renowned bishop believing Oneness and denying the Trinity?
Today, it is unfortunate that Christians now boast of the church they attend and the popularity of their pastor rather than boast of the Lord Jesus. I have seen Christians so confident of their denominations as if salvation is now in a church. Some even act as if they maintain a file of their denomination in heaven.
They speak so confidently of their pastors as if he or she is the Messiah. Many church goers will be surprised to see their G.O. in hell because such were not called by God in the first place but by gold and silver.
A very ugly emerging trend in Christendom today is personality cult; a situation where church members sees their general overseer as superior to another man of God. What an absurdity. The spirit that enthroned the bishop of Rome as the bishop of bishops is on active duty in the church again. These men and women are desperately enlarging the coast of their denominational influence and appointing their own bishops over whom they will become bishop of bishops. Their paramount goal is to have branch of their denomination represented in every nations of the earth, a desire not borne out of a genuine interest of the kingdom, but to have more money deposited into the church account by foreign missions. Of what benefit will it be if a denomination that boast of a large membership cannot produce decent Christians to shine in the midst of darkness?
No denomination can take you to heaven if you are not saved and washed by His blood. I am not saying you should not belong to a local church, no, but do not build your confidence of making heaven on the popularity or greatness of your denomination as all that ends here on earth but rather on the atoning work of Christ Jesus on the cross at Calvary. It does not matter if the name of your denomination was given to your founder by God in a revelation, the fact still remains that no denomination can take you to heaven.
Your church membership card lacks relevance at the gate of heaven, so don’t be deceived. Repent genuinely today and accept Christ Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.
Understanding the Spirituality in Science from the Primitive Days of the Bible and the Religions of the Time will free anyone from the Shackles of Religion.
Finally! Understand and learn from the New Testament Book of Luke.
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