How Today’s “Christianity” Has Become Apostate
Without Even Knowing It!

 Lorraine Day, M.D

 

In the last portion of the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 7, Jesus said: 

Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction and many there be that go in there. 

Yet narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way, that leads unto life, and few there be that find it,  Matt 7:13,14 

(The word translated here as “destruction” is the word apollumi which means “lostness” - waiting to be “foundness” - the SAME word used for the “lost” sheep and the “lost” coin in Jesus’ parables in Luke 15, both of which were found - NOT destroyed!) 

And later in Matthew 7, Jesus said: 

Not everyone that says unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven. 

Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? and in your name we have cast out demons? and in your name done many wonderful works? 

And then I will profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, you that work iniquity (lawlessness).’ 

Notice here that Jesus is not talking to pagans, to unbelievers, He is talking to Believers - people who have assumed all along that they were “saved.”  

Jesus describes two groups of those who claim to be “believers”: a)  one group, the group that WILL be saved, does “the will of My Father” - NOT their own will, b)  the other group does “works” such as prophesying, casting out demons, or doing other “wonderful works.” 

This latter group, those that are doing wonderful “works” in the name of the Lord claim to “believe.”  But when the Lord comes, He will tell them, “Depart from Me, I never KNEW you.” 

The phrase “to know” in the Bible, means to know another in the most intimate way.  Genesis 4:1 tells us that “Adam KNEW Eve his wife, and she conceived, and bare Cain. . .”

Jesus is telling His followers that the only way we can do the WILL of God (and not our own will) is to know God as intimately in a spiritual way as Adam knew Eve in a physical way.  And the only way to know God in that way, is to spend lots of time with Him in intense Bible study and prayer. 

Unfortunately, most people will not search for God in that way unless they are in serious trouble..  That’s why there must be a terrible “time of trouble” coming - so people will recognize their need for God and realize they are incapable of running their own life. 

The Christian “Church” of today has distorted the Word of God to the same degree as the Pharisees and Sadducees had distorted Christ’s teaching in His time.  They had changed the doctrines so drastically they didn’t even recognize Jesus as their Messiah, even though they had been given more than ample information about His arrival.  The leaders of the Organized Church of that day had made up their own religion by their misinterpretation of the Word, and had abandoned truth so completely that they arranged for the murder of their own Messiah in the most brutal way. 

Jesus came to re-establish Truth and to destroy the purveyors of False Doctrine - the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who were the leaders of the Organized Church.  The Pharisees and the Sadducees had made up their own doctrines, doctrines that were of men and not of God.

“You teach for doctrines the commandments of MEN.”  (Matt 15:9) 

They had also “reconfigured” the God of the Bible into their own image – the image of a Killer God, a God Who would set up the Pharisees as the rulers of the world, a God Who would destroy the enemies of the Pharisees.  When Jesus came to earth claiming to be the Messiah, He did not fit the Pharisees’ imagined description of their Messiah, so they had Jesus killed! 

The Organized “Christian” church of today has done the same thing.  They have made up their own religion, their own doctrines.  And they don’t recognize the character of Christ, A God who loves His enemies and will ultimately change and save them AFTER they have reaped what they have sown.  

Buddhism is a religion; Hinduism is a religion; Catholicism is a religion; and there are many other religions around the world.  However, Christianity is not a religion - it is a relationship - a relationship with Jesus Christ.  To make Christianity into a religion with corporate administrators, building, and a hierarchy is just as nonsensical as making a corporation out of your family in order to prescribe the way you and your brothers and sisters must approach your father to talk with him. 

The “Head” of each Christian should be Christ.  But now that the church has organized and incorporated, it has a different head - Caesar - the Government.  A church or religious organization that becomes a 501 C3 Corporation automatically makes “Caesar” its leader, and Christ is displaced.  A 501 C3 only exists at the behest of the state, and therefore, the state makes all the rules about what the organization (the “church”) can teach, say, and do.  Frequently, there is a conflict between what the “Christian” organization believes and teaches when compared to the policy of the state.  If the “church” or other religious organization wishes to retain their 501 C3 tax exempt status, they must obey the “State.” 

Where Did the Present-Day Church Doctrines Come From? 

The following doctrines are held by virtually ALL Christian churches in existence today, yet none of these doctrines are biblical: 

1.  Hellfire - the word “hell” is never found in the original Greek Scriptures.  It has been written in by the translators.  This is a great “scare” tactic to get people into the Church and keep them there.  After all, they teach it’s difficult, if not impossible, to be saved unless you’re IN the “Church.”  The wildly popular book in Christendom now is “The Purpose Driven Life” which states, “If you are not IN the church, you are under the rebuke of God!” 

2.  Immortality of the soul: The Bible tells us that only God is immortal (1 Tim 6:16)!  This delusion, the idea of a soul being immortal, will lead the “Church” into Spiritualism - where it already is venturing. 

3.  Closing of “probation” before Jesus’ Second Coming:  This is based on the misinterpretation of one text (ref).  It is dangerous to make a doctrine from a single text!  One must read the entire Bible.  But it is a great “scare” tactic to hold over the heads of the members. 

4.  Only a small number of those who have ever lived will be “Saved.”  That’s true, but it only applies to the group that will be saved when Jesus returns.  There will be another group saved later on - after the Judgment when the unsaved, ALL those who have ever lived on the earth, will reap what they have sown.  And through that experience they will understand that there is a better way - God’s way! 

5.  Free Will:  The “Church” has embraced the false doctrine of “Free Will,”
 the Second lie of Satan in the Garden of Eden.  “If you eat of this tree, you will BE AS GOD. . .”  Genesis 3:5.

By embracing the false doctrine of “Free Will” man has made MAN’s will stronger than God’s will.  Thus, God can’t save anyone unless that person allows God to save him.  Therefore, “man” is in charge and God is not!  In this situation, man decides what God can and cannot do!  So man has placed himself above God.  Man, in essence, has become god – his own god!  This is precisely Satan’s second lie in the Garden of Eden:  “If you eat of this tree, you will be as God. . .”  Genesis 3:5 

If MAN has Free Will, then God’s will is secondary and Satan was telling the truth in the Garden of Eden and God was lying. 

This CANNOT be! 

6.  Secret Rapture - the false doctrine that Christians won’t have to go through the time of trouble - the tribulation - makes very weak Christians who will all crumble when confronted with serious persecution. 

7.  “Forever and ever.” eternal, eternity, etc.  All of these words are mistranslations of the word “eon” in the Greek.  “Eon” refers to a specific period of time, NOT “forever.”  This mistranslation has a major impact on the false doctrine of “eternal” hellfire. 

8.  Age of accountability:  Theologians are frequently debating this issue.  Yet, it is a non-issue because God is going to save EVERYONE eventually. 

9.  Sunday Sacredness:  This is clearly a doctrine of MAN and NOT God.  The Catholic church has repeatedly bragged that they are the ones who changed the day of worship from Saturday, the Biblical Sabbath, to Sunday, the First Day of the week, the pagan day of Sun worship. 

10. A punitive judgment, a “judgment” where God will supposedly resurrect the wicked, tell them how bad they were, then kill them permanently.  What a “marvelous” example of a Loving God! 

11.  The false doctrine that no one can be perfect.  The doctrine that we just do our best - - and God makes up the rest.  God promises us that He will make us perfect. (See below for further explanation.) 

12.  The false doctrine that we can embrace John 3:16 by just repeating the message in it, without understanding what it means to “believe” and without our actions corresponding to our “beliefs.”  (See below for further explanation.) 

13.  The false belief of the importance – and even the existence - of the “Organized Church.” 

The very last Showdown on this earth will be a Showdown between Truth vs. Lies!  Yet, the entire Christian Church, ALL denominations, have promoted man-made false doctrines, and have turned the truth of Christ into the lies of man.  

Is it possible to be perfect? 

Most Christians would probably give the following answer:  “No one is perfect.”  

But God tells us we must be perfect. 

“Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt 5:48) KJV 

“You, then, shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Concordant version 

And,

“Be ye holy, as I am holy.”  (1 Peter 1:16) 

There is no doubt what God means here.  We are to be holy as God is holy.  That is a very high standard.  How do we become that holy?  Certainly, we cannot do it on our own.  But God will accomplish it in us by dragging us through trials and tribulations until we learn to trust Him completely. 

Sanctification 

What does the word “Sanctification” mean?  What does it mean for a person to be sanctified? 

The word “sanctification” means “to make holy.”  That’s what God does for us throughout our Christian life.  All we must do is spend time with him daily in earnest Bible study and prayer.  Because it is by “Beholding” that we become changed, a little at a time (“from glory to glory”). 

“Now we all, with uncovered face, mirroring the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into the SAME image, from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the spirit.”  2 Cor 3:18 

But we must “Behold” the correct “God.”  If we “Behold” a god who kills his enemies, a god who is unable to save all he came to save, a god who returns evil for evil, then we are worshiping and “beholding” the WRONG god.  And we will become just like that god, the god that virtually the entire Christian world is “beholding.”  That god is Satan and not Jesus Christ. 

When one “beholds” the WRONG god, and becomes like that wrong god, he is transformed into the SAME image of that wrong god.  He makes an “image” to the Beast (of Rev 13). 

Jesus Christ CANNOT kill.  He never has and He never will.  He loves His enemies and would never harm them (though they often harm themselves by reaping what they have sown).  He also is ABLE to save ALL!  

This is the God we must worship and “behold.”  This is the God who is our pattern, the One who will make us like Him.   When we “Behold” Jesus Christ, we are transformed into HIS image.  This is Sanctification! 

As we “behold” Christ, we become like Him.  And, we learn to trust Him - to “Believe.” 

“The just (righteous) shall live by faith.”  Rom 1:17, in other words: 

“The righteous shall live by Believing.” ( - By believing that God WILL do what He has already promised to do, and that is: Heal ALL our diseases, and Save ALL - Everyone!) 

“Without FAITH (BELIEF) it is impossible to please God.”  Heb 11:6

  

John 3:16 tells us that ALL we must do is “Believe” on the Lord Jesus Christ and we will be saved. 

“For God so loved the WORLD, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVES on Him should NOT perish (be “lost” - apollumi - like the lost sheep and the lost coin.  They were waiting to be found!) but should have everlasting (eonian) life.”(The “life” - the “spirit” - the “character” - of Jesus Christ will be in him.) John 3:16 

Satan has put his character on the face of Christ – and the whole Christian world has believed it!