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The “man of God” Syndrome September 30, 2010

Posted by Henry in Matters of the Faith.
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One of the fallacies perpetrated by the modern church is what I refer to as the “man of God” syndrome. This syndrome has infected a considerable number of churches particularly of the Charismatic/Pentecostal persuasion. This syndrome suggests that there is a single individual [the pastor] in the church who is regarded as being “under the anointing” and as such is seen as the “man of God”. This scenario of course is a throw back to the Old Testament days where the priests and prophets were regarded as the men of God of those times. They were regarded as such because only they had access and could communicate directly to God. Are we to believe however that today only the pastors have access to communicate to God?

 In the Old Testament times the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies before the Shekinah glory of God, which descended upon the Ark of the Covenant. It was these priests who were able to make propitiation for the sins of the people by offering up their sacrifices on the altar. Likewise the prophets where the ones who heard from God and who fed back what they had heard to the people concerned. Today however, we have pastors who assume the position that the altar in their church provides gateway between God and man and they themselves are the gate-keepers. These pastors assume the role of prophet and claim to have a “word from God” and also assume the role of teachers and healers. Within such a construct therefore these pastors are held up as having the “anointing” and are considered by their followers/flock as great men and women of God. The consensus general among such followers therefore is that if you want to receive a “touch” or to “experience the anointing” you need to come to these churches – after all these are the only places where you can gain “access”. Aside from the fact that this position is false, this shows the backward state of the church today in respect of assuming an Old Testament outlook.

The “man of God syndrome” has been imported from the Old Testament perspective but this is an affront to the Gospel of Christ. In Christ ALL are anointed and ALL are men and women of God – not just the pastor or the prophet, not especially those who beacon for you to come their sermons and conferences to listen to them. One pertinent verse which demonstrates that believers are under an anointing of the Holy Spirit is 1 John 2:27:

  27But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

This particular verse of scripture is most interesting in that not only does it establish the fact that believers are anointed but also because believers are anointed they do not need anyone (who claims to have a word from the Lord) to teach them anything because the same anointing will teach them all things. Why then are so many people being misguided into thinking that the anointing is something “out there” and that is “controlled” and “discharged” by a privileged few individuals? Jesus came to die on the cross in order to give everyone full and free access to the anointing (of/by the Holy Spirit). Jesus came to die so that each and everyone can approach the throne of God in order to obtain mercy. There is therefore no more need to approach an altar to lay your sacrifices neither do you need to approach an anointed priest to make atonement for your sins. In Christ we are ALL priests. Not just any ordinary priest but a royal priest (1 Peter 2:9). The pastor is not the only man of God but each and everyone who believes in Christ are called to be men and women of God (2 Tim 3:15-17).

Christianity: A Personality Cult? April 11, 2010

Posted by Henry in Denominations.
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In Christendom today it seems as though many people have somewhat “outgrown” the local church and instead flock to churches and leaders whose messages they think they identify with more. It would seem that the message in the local church is no longer “adequate” to meet the needs of these congregants hence they seek leaders whose messages would appear to be more relevant to where they are currently at and points to where they want to be – moving to the “next level” and all that jazz. Preaching “Christ crucified” has become a bore so they want a more vibrant and exciting message that speaks to their personal situation and circumstances. In this age it is all about which minister do you follow and whose teaching do you “apply” to your life and circumstances. Christ seemingly has left center stage, or rather pushed aside and it is the minister that is now hogging the limelight. It is the minister who is now saying, “I am the anointed one.” Interestingly enough though, this is nothing new to the church as Paul had to deal with similar issues in his day and we see this in 1 Cor 3:3-7:

 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

 We see in this portion of scripture that church people were divided amongst themselves saying I am a follower of Paul, and others say they were followers of Apollos yet Paul’s response was that neither he nor Apollos were anything. In so doing Paul decreased himself so that Jesus might increase. What a wonderful testimony of a true follower of Christ? We could also learn a lot from John the Baptist’s attitude also as in a similar vein to Paul. He testified of Jesus in John 1 saying: 27 “He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose” What a blessing it is to have such humility? When the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus replied (Matt 18:3-4), “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” In stark contrast to what Jesus has said here though the greatest in the kingdom are perceived to be the “movers and shakers” in Christendom today. It is these men and women who are regarded as “great men and women of God” and they are elevated to godlike status. In this regard the celebrity obsessed culture in our world today is no different from that displayed in “churchianity”.

 Most Christian conferences today, like the IGOC (International Gathering of Champions), for example, is little more than an ostentatious display of pomp and circumstance and instead of the people coming to “meet with Christ” they come to see these would be gladiators of Christendom. The net effect of this is that a Christ-centered Gospel has thus become replaced by idolatry. Indeed one proof of this is that it has become popular for church ministries to be named after the pastor who is the president or CEO. But imagine Paul in his day setting himself up as Chief Apostle over Apostle Paul’s Ministries Inc.? From a personal point of view I do not want to be a member of any man’s ministry but rather a member of the First Church of Jesus Christ.

 In the words of John:

 He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)

 May we extricate ourselves from this personality cult that seeks to replace true Christianity and return to the truth of God’s word.

Are Denominations Important? January 14, 2010

Posted by Henry in Denominations.
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There are many different Christian denominations across the globe today, be it Baptist, Methodist, Apostolic or Oneness Pentecostals, Reformed, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventist, just to name a few. The interesting thing to note however is that none of these names existed during the early birthing and consequent growth of the Church. So why then do we have so many different denominations today and are denominations important?

Certainly for some people denominations are important to them because they feel that theirs is the “true church”. In my own experiences when having discussions with members of denominations such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventist and Oneness Pentecostals, they all are of the view that their own denomination is the true church and consequently everyone else is on the wrong path. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have made claims suggesting that they are the Elect and the 144,000 who will be saved. A closer look at scripture will show however that in actual fact the 144,000 mentioned in the Bible constitutes 12,000 men of each of the 12 tribes of Israel who did not “defile themselves with women” (Rev 7: 4 – 8, 14:1 – 4). It is clear to see then that these 144,000 are not Jehovah’s Witnesses.

In contrast the Seventh Day Adventist say they are the true church because they have kept the Biblical Sabbath which they claim is Saturday (the seventh day) and that those who attend Sunday church do so in direct opposition and disobedience to God. They ignore the fact that the calendar we now use was instituted by Pope Gregory the Great, hence the Gregorian calendar. As such it would be very difficult to ascertain whether the seventh day as we know it today coincides with the seventh day God instituted as the Sabbath from the time of creation. The key point that the Seventh Day Adventists seems to have missed however is that God set aside the 7th day as a day of REST, what ever that day is or was. God did not say that we should attend church services on the Sabbath but to REST and do no work in it. The other point to note though is whether New Testament Christians are obliged to observe the Sabbath since Jesus fulfilled the Law thereby abolishing it, which also included the Sabbath. In any event Romans 14:5-9 has this to say:

One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it.

The Oneness Pentecostals on the other hand believe that one should be baptised in Jesus name only, as opposed to Jesus’ instruction in Matt 28:19-20 where he told the disciples to go out and teach all nations baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Oneness Pentecostals however uses Acts 2:38 as one of the central pillars of their faith. This is what they use to support their claim that one should be baptised in Jesus name only because Peter said so. But who is Peter? Do we obey Peter or do we obey Christ? Notwithstanding, it is doubtless whether what Peter said was meant to be a baptismal formula since Jesus already gave us the baptismal formula that we should use. Peter was more concerned with telling the Jews of their need to be baptised in the name of the very Man whom they had crucified. After all scripture tells us there is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved except Jesus.

The points highlighted above, although not exhaustive, do demonstrate some of the ways in which denominations do differ on points of doctrine. It may be argued that some of these points are not “foundational” to the gospel but the question should be asked, why do denominations differ on points of doctrine and beliefs? I believe the answer to this question lies in the fact that Bible tells us that heresies will creep into the church over time. This can be the only explanation for why there are so many different denominations, each with their own “brand” of Christianity, which differ in some way from another. It is interesting to note however that even from the early days, the Church was being divided up into denominations and Paul had to deal with this very issue in the Corinthian church (1 Cor 1:10-13):

10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

Instead of being haughty and puffed up about this denomination or that, we need to heed the words of Paul here and get back to the “basics” of Scripture. As Paul makes it clear, Christ is not divided, therefore no divisions should be found amongst us and we all should be speaking the same thing and be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement. It is my prayer that we who call ourselves the true church should heed Paul’s admonition.

What does it mean to be a Christian? January 12, 2010

Posted by Henry in Matters of the Faith.
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A common definition of a Christian is: a follower of Christ. But is that all there is to it? In looking at this definition one could argue that Christ was simply a philosopher who existed over 2000 years ago and that His followers are simply adherents to His teachings thus ranking Christianity as just one amongst many religions from which anyone can choose. Indeed some see Christianity as little more than a “moral code” expressed in allegory, denying the existence of God and His Son Jesus Christ. It is easy to see how such a distorted view might come about if one does not know exactly what Christianity is all about and especially given that some religious figures have claimed over the years that “all paths” lead to God. But do they really?

Scripture (the Bible) tells us that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, came into the world as the Messiah, first to the Jew and then to the Gentiles (Rom 1:16). Jesus came to deliver the “Good News” which is the Gospel unto salvation. Jesus said He came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). But salvation from what some might ask? To answer this question we need to go back to the beginning.

In the beginning (see the Genesis account) God created the world and everything in it and He made man (Adam and Eve) and gave him dominion over everything on the earth. God set Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and everything God created was good. But sin entered the world as a result of Adam’s disobedience in eating the fruit of the tree that was forbidden to him to eat of.  God warned Adam that the day he ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree he would surely die (Gen 3:3), and since that time man has been at enmity with God because of sin. Man no longer had the communion with God he enjoyed in the Garden and he was now separated and condemned to eternal death because of his sin. Adam did not die physically as it were, but he died spiritually. But the “story” did not end there because God purposed even before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8, 1 Pet 1:18-20) to save mankind from his sins so that man can inherit eternal Life.

Scripture tells us that we are all sinners who have come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). Scripture also tells us that “it is appointed unto man once to die but after that comes the judgement (Heb 9:27).” It is for this reason that we need to be saved. To be saved means to be restored to a state where we can again have full fellowship and communion with God like Adam and Eve did before the fall, and indeed to be saved from eternal damnation. Salvation can be found in no other than Jesus Christ however. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6).” Jesus is the Lamb of God who was made a living sacrifice to take upon Himself the sins of the world. Heb 9:28 says, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” This was the plan God had put in place to redeem mankind from their sins and to reconcile mankind to Himself. Jesus was prophesied of by the Prophets of old, was born of the virgin Mary by immaculate conception, He was crucified at Calvary and on the third day he rose and he later returned to sit on the right hand of the Father. This really is the Gospel, the Good News of salvation, the reason for every Christian to rejoice as he awaits the blessed hope of Jesus Chrst returning to claim the saints (the Church) to Himself!!

For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosover believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting Life (John 3:16)

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8)

We had become as disobedient children, full of sin and all deceivableness, but in spite of this God loved us so much that He made a way for us to be saved, otherwise we would have been dead in our sins. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live (John 11:25).” Jesus came in order to establish the Kingdom of God on earth and all that we need to do to inherit this Kingdom is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ’s Kingdom we surrender our lives to Him as His subjects, submitting to His governance, will and purpose as outlined in His Word and through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit of God that enables us to believe in Christ Jesus and to repent of our sins and seek salvation in Him. When we come to faith in Christ therefore, we must be born again, born of water and of the Spirit (John 3:5). This is the “secret” to becoming a Christian.

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. (Isa 55:1-3)

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isa 55:6-7)

In spite of the provisions that God has made, freely given to us all without money and without price, however, there are those who still believe that God doesn’t really exist. But the scriptures say, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” The Bible is not simply a story, a moral tale based in allegory. God truly does exist and His Word given to us in the form of the Bible is where we will learn of Him and find Life (John 5:39)! Moreover Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63).” These very words are what is written in the Bible and handed down to us today. Christianity is therefore unlike any other religion. It is not a path among many to God but the ONLY path. In this respect God is not an idea created to establish social or moral norms, neither is God simply a “gnosis”. But God, the creator of Heaven and Earth is real, and He lives. Jesus came into the world to testify of Him and to become a Christian is to believe and have faith in Jesus Christ even without having seen.

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. (John 20:29)

Do you dare to believe in the Lord Jesus in order to receive salvation? For this is the way of the Christian

False Prophet Simon and the Church Today November 26, 2009

Posted by Henry in False Doctrines.
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There are many false prophets parading in the church today professing to be God’s mouth-pieces. Seemingly they have caused the church (at least those they oversee) to become mesmerized to the extent that the people are unable to discern Biblical truth from the false doctrines they promote.  This scenario however is not new to the church as this very same thing was occurring during the early days of the church. Acts chapter 8 records that there was just such a “prophet” by the name Simon who had put the people of Samaria under a spell and convinced them that he was the true prophet of God.

Acts 8

9

 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:

10

 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

11

 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

What we see here in this passage is no different to what is currently happening in Christendom today. Jesus warned us that many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many. The problem with “churchianity” however is that they do not exercise discernment nor do they believe that discernment should be applied in church. In fact one of the tricks used by these false prophets is to discourage the church from questioning anything they say as this is seen as attacking the “Lords anointed” and therefore challenging their “authority”. To support this position they misuse scriptures such as Psalm 105:15, which says, “Touch not the Lords anointed and do my prophets no harm.” Many people however fail to see the context in which this scripture was delivered and that it in no way related to exercising Biblical discernment. Scripture admonishes us on the contrary to, “Mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Rom 16:17). In churchianity today however we have a situation where all churches and all doctrines are accepted as being relevant even where there is a blatant contradiction of scriptures. To many, our differences shouldn’t separate us but rather what we have in common should bind us. This is of course a departure away from scriptures and is termed ecumenism.

In churchianity today there are people who claim to be Christians but who also claim to equally belong to other religions at the same time. An example of this was seen in a news article about an Episcopalian female priest who claimed to be both Christian and Muslim at the same time. How can these things be one might ask. Scripture however warns us in 1 Tim 4 about this departure from the faith.

1 Tim 4

1

 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

2

 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

One of the endemic problems in churchianty today, however is that people have become convinced that such departure away from Biblical orthodoxy is actually a “new move of God” or an “end-time revival”. The “Florida Outpouring” springs to mind here as a classic example. The situation is so bad that it is as if people have literally taken leave of their senses. They have allowed themselves to become so wrapt up in deception to the extent they are not able to discern between truth and falsehood. What is certain though is that the false spirit of Simon is rife in the church today and this type of spirit is bewitching the people and blinding their eyes to the truth.

May the Lord have mercy upon us that our eyes may be opened to the truth of His word and that we will be able to exercise discernment and do not so easily become so deceived by false spirits.

Deceitful Use of Scriptures October 8, 2009

Posted by Henry in Teaching Things They Ought Not.
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One of the things I find amazing in church circles today is how easily church folk can be fooled by this minister or that who can seemingly make scriptures appear to say something it actually doesn’t. For example, leading up to this year’s International Gathering of Champions (IGOC) conference, which was held back in August 2009, I received a flyer through the post informing about this conference. The title of the flyer was “Step Up” with a partial quote from Revelations 4:1, “come up here” which appeared to underpin the overall heading. For the main theme which was also imposed on the front of the flyer were the words, “Step Up out of…. Poverty, Obscurity, Bondage; Step Up and FULFIL YOUR DESTINY.” Needless to say I of course did not attend but on reading this at first glance and without prior knowledge of this scripture many might readily assume that what is being spouted here is Biblically based in scripture, that being, based on Revelations 4:1. I am also confident that thousands rushed out to this said conference without checking the scripture, as the Bereans (Acts 17:11) would have done, to see if what is being claimed here has scriptural merit.

Scripture admonishes us not to be carried away with every wind of doctrine but these warnings however seems to go unheeded by the church. The pertinent scripture here is as follows:

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; (Eph 4:14)

It would be to our profit however to obey the cautions of scripture which would save us much trouble in the end. Going back to Rev 4:1 however, does it actually say or support any of the things being claimed on the IGOC flyer? Lets look at what it actually says:

1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. (Rev 4:1)

Anyone who has read Revelations would clearly appreciate that this scripture is part and parcel of a much larger revelation which the Apostle John had received. In fact if we read the verses following on we soon see that John was having a vision of heavenly places and truly spiritual things which the angel took him up to see:

2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. (Rev 4:2-3)

Now how do these scriptures relate to what is being claimed on the flyer as aforementioned? The truth of the matter however is that John was being taken up to see God being worshipped and glorified. In contrast, the claims on the flyer of stepping up out of poverty and out of obscurity, seeks to achieve one goal and that is for man’s self-glorification – to put man in the limelight of self-illumination. To use scripture to make it appear to support this position therefore is quite deceitful to say the least. These conferences in any event are just more opportunities by which the organisers prey on the greedy and also the vulnerability of those who are desperate and in dire need, in order to fleece them.

The State of the Church Today October 6, 2009

Posted by Henry in Matters of the Faith.
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The church today, or at least I should say the visible church, seems to be characterised by false doctrines, which promotes the pursuit of wealth and prosperity over salvation by faith through the Gospel of Christ. These days people seem to be falling all over themselves in their pursuit of breakthroughs. They seem to follow every mega church conferences, conventions, miracle concerts etc in their pursuit of a “word from God” and even opportunities to sow their “seeds” in desperate hope of “receiving” blessings from God. They have ignored the teaching of Christ who said, “….but seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt 6:33). They ignore Christ’s teachings and instead heap unto themselves teachers, having itching ears, without the ability to discern truths from falsehood. They seek to apply this incantation or that and apply seven point plans or formulae to “wrest” blessings out of God’s hands without discerning God’s sovereignty in giving His blessings to whomever He chooses to bless. In fact some even teach that we can demand blessings of God after sowing seeds or even to command angels to bring us wealth.

These false teachers have enabled the church to develop an infatuation with the world and the things of the world, teaching that God would have us be rich in direct contradiction to Christ’s teachings. Today we see career pastors, some who “divine” for money (Mic 3:11) and “sell indulgences” for profit.  In fact many of these pastors today have become like greedy dogs who can never have enough and who look to their own way for their own gain (Isa 56:11). They have infiltrated the church with many false doctrines and heresies which have caused much problems in and to the faith. Because of them many have turned away from Christianity in the mistaken belief that this is how Christians behave. Today these pastors parade on TV in front of mega audiences and are not ashamed to flaunt their thousand dollar suits, Golf Stream Jets, Rolex watches and Roll Royce cars and their congregations don’t think there is anything wrong with it. Perhaps they don’t see a problem with this because they themselves desire to one day possess these things themselves? They become so misguided into thinking that these men earned their money because they sowed and reaped or worked hard but fail to realise or accept that these men got rich off their tithes and offerings.

The church has become so brainwashed into thinking that their pastors infallible and can do no wrong or say anything wrong. As a result the church has developed a culture of being too all-inclusive and accepting of any and everyone who stands on their pulpits and declare themselves to be anointed. The church is discouraged from applying any form of discernment in light of scripture as this is seen as “judging” and so is completely forbidden. As a result anyone can declare any old hash from the pulpit and this goes unchallenged in light of scripture. Wonders never cease as to the garbage that is spewed out from the pulpits these days and the church in the main seems to be spiritually dead to it. Today there is much talk of revival but in actual fact what is observed is a growth in false doctrines, which is gaining growing followership. The church today seems to be performing a charade which purports to be revival but nothing more than religious apostasy and a falling away of the church.

In spite of all these ills however we rest in the hope that God will shine His light on those who are willing to open their eyes to the truth and come out of the growing deception. We thank God for His mercy and praise Him for His continued saving Grace that is able to keep the true church steadfast and to save those who would be saved.

No "Should" in Tithing September 18, 2009

Posted by Henry in Tithing.
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In a discussion about tithing a young woman once said to me that I “should” pay my tithes. That basically was her final word on the matter. But is the tithe something that I or the church should observe? It is interesting however to see how close-minded some church people can be on the subject of tithing. They refuse to apply any rational thought to proper application of scripture but instead take it as a given that if one is a Christian and a churchgoer one should pay their tithes. For them the question doesn’t even merit discussion as the attitude generally is “this is what we believe in and this is what we do at our church”.

If however, we say that someone “should” pay their tithes then effectively what we are saying is that we are obliged by some law to pay a tithe. From a Biblical point of view however are we under a legal or other obligation to tithe? We should remember of course that we are no longer under the Law but under Grace because Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the Law. This is not to say however that since we are under Grace we can do what we like. Of course not! But does scripture support the view that the New Testament church should pay a tithe and are obligated to do so. Under the Old Testament which we sometimes refer to as the Law Israel was obligated under the Law to pay tithes but surely this Law does not apply to us today, or does it or perhaps you don’t really know? The Law that governed the tithe was part and parcel of the very same Law that Jesus has redeemed us from. But you ask, “What about Malachi 3:9-11?”

Many a minister has wrongly used this passage to convict their members to pay the tithe, suggesting that they are “robbing God” if they don’t and that they are cursed as a result. But clearly a close look at the passage will tell us who this passage was speaking to and it was not the New Testament Christians but the nation of Israel. Only the Levite priests of the nation of Israel had a commandment to take a tithe of their brethren (see Heb 7:5). The curse mentioned in Malachi 3 referred to the curse of the Law and not specifically to the issue of not paying the tithe. Some will argue however that the tithe was before the Law since Abraham tithe to Melchisedec in Gen 14. But on close examination of what occurred we can clearly see that this is no basis for establishing a tithe teaching in the church. What then is the motivation of pastors and church leaders to demand a tithe? Again others will ask if we shouldn’t tithe then what should we do? We should bear in mind that tithing is not supported anywhere in the New Testament. Paul’s instructions on giving to the work of the ministry were thus:

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Cor 9:7

Clearly we all have freedom in Christ to give according to how we feel led. Do you therefore still think that you are obligated to tithe, and on what Biblical basis do you make such a conclusion?

Revival or Religious Apostasy? September 18, 2009

Posted by Henry in False Doctrines.
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We live in an age where churches are growing up rapidly on literally every street corner and talk of revival echo from Christian TV channels across the globe but are we really seeing a revival? Is there a scriptural basis to support such an idea? Many of course would argue that we live in the “last days” but if this is so does scripture support a latter day revival?

It is important that we heed the warning of scriptures and not be swayed by every wind of doctrine (Eph 4:14) but we have a responsibility to test every spirit to see if they are of God or not (1 John 4:1). In the name of “dwelling in love” and not seeking to judge however, many have become complacent and compromising with regards to these warnings. As a result of this many false prophets have entered into the church claiming to “hear from God” on matters such as revival and many accept them in with open arms. If we look at the case of Paul in Berea (Acts 17:11) however, we see that although he was a genuine minister from God the Jews did not readily accept his words on his say so but “searched the scriptures daily to see if those things were so”.

Many Christians have forgotten that one of the “gifts” of the Holy Spirit is discernment (see 1 Cor 12:10), yet many would say we should not judge or call a minister into question but to leave it to the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth and impose any sanctions on the individual’s ministry. This position is taken supposedly so as not to “cause division among the brethren”. If this is indeed the correct posture to hold why then was the gift of discernment given? Evidently the gift of discernment was given with the intent that it should be exercised by the Church along with all other gifts for the edification of the whole church. In Paul’s encounter with the Bereans, for example, he counted them as being “more noble” than they of Thessalonica because they exercised discernment by comparing his message to scriptures. How much more should we as Christians exercise discernment?

Many “new age prophets” and “anointed men of God” have been declaring a “new outpouring” which they claim is the “new move” of God but on close examination of their doctrine we can see that they are not in line with scriptures. On hearing these things, a question that one should ask oneself therefore is whether the Holy Spirit could declare things that are not in accordance (and even contradicts) the written Word! The interesting thing about it though is that these “new age prophets” are the ones that are amassing huge gatherings culminating into mega-churches. On the face of it this might seem like revival to the undiscerning. After all, church growth and revival amounts to the same thing doesn’t it? But if the message of Christ isn’t being preached in these places and souls aren’t being saved then we have a serious problem. Scripture has warned us many times that in the last days many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive MANY (Matt 24:11,24)! Are we therefore mistaking a growing deception of religious apostasy for revival?