I am compelled to talk about Ecumenism prompted by an article I read yesterday. Having been delivered from Catholicism, I run as fast as I can when I hear about such a movement to unite all religions- and by all, it means all the major religions (this would also include the unification of true and false believers) and is a direct contradiction to John 14:6 which states,
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
This verse is definitely one of those “hard to swallow” teachings from the Bible. As a matter of fact, it is the defining and emphatic statement that separates Jesus from every other religious figure. You can certainly respect people coming from different faiths without having to bend your own by being separate and agreeing to disagree, but it is impossible to get along when beliefs contradict each other without compromising.
On WordPress, you have Catholics, Evangelicals, Prosperity gospel people, Pentecostals, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians – clearly a mixture of Christians hailing from different denominations. It is easy to assume people in Christian circles here are all true believers because they talk the talk, quote the same verses, quote quotes from notable pastors, but the moment you get past that and get to know about their core beliefs, you realize they believe something that is completely unscriptural.
Do you have these in your Circle of friends here on WP? Be wary of them. Some are the nicest people, I’m sure, but bad doctrine is bad doctrine in any shape or form.
A) Bible doubters (a.k.a “The bible has errors crowd”) – The person who believes this wholeheartedly is NOT a Christian. Without God’s word, how can you pray and do according to His will if you believe it can’t be trusted? (Matthew 4:4, 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
B) King James Only proponents – For someone to coerce people to read only the KJV mirrors the cult-like behavior of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who read from their New World Translation (in the lens of their Watchtower society commentaries of course) and reject other translations like the KJVists do. These people contradict themselves when they say they can be blessed with insights from people whom they claim to read from translations with “demonic” wording which would mean every bible that is not the KJV. (Acts 2:1-13)
C) Un-Church goers – People who promote that we no longer need to go to a physical congregation because church can be anywhere. Just because the body of believers make the church does not mean going to physical churches is no longer necessary. You would need a gathering place big enough to accommodate everyone, plus, it is prescibed in the Bible. (Hebrews 10:25)
D) Christmas Haters – It has Pagan origins but there is nothing wrong about taking the opportunity to commemorate Jesus on that same season. The world is busy erasing Jesus Christ from the public square. Would you as a Christian, honestly join them in that pursuit? (1 Corinthians 10:31)
E) Preterists – People who believe Jesus’ Second Coming already happened will most likely fall in line to willingly take the Mark of the Beast. If you listen to JD Farag, you are not a Preterist. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3)
F) Liberal Christians – They don’t have anything against a continuous lifestyle contrary to God’s Word and this includes the LGBTQ affirming churches. They love to hang around as long as you don’t talk about the “hard to swallow” verses which are not up to par with their social justice/inclusive agenda. (2 Timothy 3:1-9)
G) Replacement Theology – Those who believe God’s promises to Israel have been transferred to the Gentile Christian Church. If God does not keep His covenant with Israel, the apple of His eye, how much more to you and what makes your salvation secure? God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. If He made a promise to the Jewish people, He will keep it. The Gentile believers do not replace Israel. Read Isaiah 59, Isaiah 60 and Romans 11. Those who adhere to Replacement Theology might fall in line with those who receive the Mark of the Beast.
H) Calvinism – The “intellectual” gospel that implicates God to be the author of sin. In His sovereignty, He preordains everything, even someone thinking of raping someone. This kind of thinking is wrong in every angle. God is in control (sovereign), but people’s decision to sin (like committing what I just mentioned above) does not come from Him (James 1:14-15). In some aspect, Calvinism is a Catholic spin-off. Calvinists cling to TULIP like the Catholics do with their Catechism and both hold to Infant Baptism (An infant being just born, cannot be “Born Again” without being able to volitionally accept Jesus as his/her Savior). (Matthew 10:14, Luke 9:51-56, John 16:2-3)
I) Works-based Salvation / Those who think they can lose their salvation folks – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 – If you truly accepted Jesus as your Savior, believe the promise. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6. You either trust Him or you don’t. There is no middle ground.
Some of the things mentioned above fall into minor differences but some are so serious it could mean the company you keep might not even have the Holy Spirit to hold to such unbiblical views. If you have one or all of the ones mentioned in your circle of friends, you are already participating in Ecumenism without you even knowing it. This “Ecumenism” within the church with apostate churches is inevitable since God allows it to happen until the harvest (Matthew 13:30).
The thing is, doctrine is an inevitable divider (2 Corinthians 6:14). In order to keep the peace with everyone, compromise has to occur. You will have to make a tough decision – God or your friends?
Watch out for the impostors. Do not be deceived.
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.”
Ephesians 4:14
I agree with this. Years ago, when I was ignorant about God’s word and The Word I thought all the many groups and denominations were on the same page and had the same beliefs and worldview. I thought Mormons and JWs and SDAs were Christians. I thought Methodists and Baptists and Presbyterians and Catholics and Calvinists/Reformed and Charismatics and Mormons were all the same. I was so ignorant I thought Mormons were an especially devout group of Christians. Slowly I began to understand that not only are all these so very different and so aren’t even Christians and then I thought all Methodists and all Baptists and all Presbyterians, etc were in agreement but learned that isn’t true. Then I realized that even the people who attend one particular church, of whatever denomination or association, all agree on doctrine. But that is NOT so. It may be so that each person sitting in one particular church building will have a different doctrine than the others sitting in that building. Wow. That is a shocker. Yet, people think they can get everybody together. Buddhists, Hindus, Jews (even Jews don’t agree on Judaism), Charismatics, Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Baptists, Reformed/Presbyterians, AOGs, Wiccans, Lutherans can never walk together. There are schisms all the time even today. The only way is to ignore all the different doctrines and have a social club (which is what many so-called churches really are. Like the Freemasons. But the Bible says there will be a One World Religion at some point and anybody who doesn’t go along with it will suffer the consequences. A One World Government, a One World Monetary System, and a One World Religious System. The Bible Tells Me So. So many will be deceived. So many are deceived. And don’t try to tell them any different. They won’t like you.
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