True and false church
Jesus Christ says:
"This people come near to Me with their mouths, and give honour to
Me with their lips, but their heart
is far from me."
(The Bible: Isaiah chap. 29, verse 13)
Most people associate the terms “God” or “Jesus” with various traditional churches and prayer houses. Many people associate “faith” with religion or attending a so-called “church service.” Some people, when asked about God, first think of the painful events of past times that are related to the inglo-rious history of the church. However, very few people are aware that there are sometimes significant differences between the Bible, the Word of God, and the teachings and tradi-tions of many churches. In addition, the in-stitution of “church” as most people know it did not exist in the early days of Christianity.
History of the church
Jesus Christ says:
"For where two or three gather
in my name, there am I with them."
(The Bible: Matthew chapter 18, verse 20)
In Church in the original understanding is neither a special holy place nor a building with a cross on the tower. The term “church” describes the community of people who be-lieve in Jesus Christ. The Acts of the Apostles in the Bible tells us impressively about the life of the first Christians. Day after day the belie-vers served each other as well as the poor and sick among the people through all kinds of good deeds. It was primarily Christians who founded hospitals as well as women's and orphanages to take care of people in need. All medical sanitation and emergency services that save numerous lives every day also have a Christian origin, as do most of the aid organizations that are active world-wide to help people in need (see: Christian community).
Their love and loyalty to God, service to people and the proclamation of the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ were the most important pillars of Christianity from the beginning. It was only in the fourth century AD that the Christian faith was declared the state religion in a political act - after initial-ly many years of bloody persecution. As a re-sult, the teachings of the Holy Scriptures became mixed with various pagan traditions and worldviews and were increasingly dis-torted by church dogmas.
Simple gatherings were replaced by ritualized ceremonies, magnificent church buildings and secular hierarchies. In this way the church became the institution that is wide-spread in most countries of the world today, and saving faith became more and more a dead religion. The Roman Emperor Constan-tine the Great, who was also Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, had a significant influence on this development, although he remained a pagan idol worshiper until the end of his life....
The apostasy of the church
Jesus Christ says:
"Be on the watch for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are cruel wolves. By their fruits
you will get knowledge of them."
(The Bible: Matthew chap. 7, verses 15-16)
From the very beginning, Jesus and his apos-tles warned people about seducers who would misuse the name of God and the gospel's message of salvation for their selfish interests. The Catholic Church in particular represents a variety of teachings and tradi-tions that do not agree with the Bible. These include, among others:
Catholic Church as the highest
spiritual authority
Worship of angels
worship of dead saints, especially Mary (mother of Jesus)
Ascension of Mary
Celibacy (prohibition of marriage
for bishops and monks)
Adoration of the Host
the priestly service for persons
ordained by the Church
Doctrine of the Seven Sacraments
canonization of dead people
Worship of images and relics
"holy water"
Pope as God's representative on earth
infallibility of the pope
Doctrine of Purgatory
Ecumenical movement e.g.
In addition, the Pope places his authority above God and his word, and thus - instead of Jesus - declares the Catholic Church to be the only and true path to salvation. While Jesus calls all people to love their neighbors and even their enemies, the Roman Catholic Church - similar to Islam - has committed wars and crimes "in the name of God" on behalf of the popes, thus bringing God and the Christian faith into disrepute. The aim be-hind it was solely to consolidate the rule of the papacy, to which thousands of people fell victim throughout history (see crusades, indul-gence sales, inquisition, burning of witches, etc.). The papacy did not shy away from murder or torture to enforce its unchristian inten-tions and to combat its self-proclaimed ene-mies, which included anyone who dared to oppose the Church's demands. The victims of the papacy also included many pious Chris-tians who remained faithful to God's Word and firmly rejected the unbiblical teachings and traditions of Catholicism. In addition to the Catholic Church, various well-known re-formers such as Martin Luther, Ullrich Zwingli and Johannes Calvin were also guilty of persecuting and murdering both believers and non-believers....
While Jesus exemplified an attitude of humili-ty, goodness and frugality to people, the ac-tions of the papacy demonstrate an unbrid-led greed for wealth and power. Added to this are the terrible abuse scandals within the Vatican, which are reported every now and then on radio and television. The horri-fic atrocities committed by the Catholic Church and other spiritual figures under the guise of faith have contributed significantly to the fact that many people today have a completely wrong image of God and a wrong understanding of faith....
Calling all Christians
God, the Lord says:
"Come out of her, my people (...)."
(The Bible: revelation chap. 18, verse 4)
The reigning pope and leader of the Catho-lic Church, Francis, says he strives for the unity of all world religions. In this context, Francis claims that all people are “children of God,” regardless of what religion they belong to. However, the Bible explicitly tea-ches that a person only becomes a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ and that only Jesus can give eternal life and protect us from eternal damnation (see: God and Religions). Furthermore, the Pope also wants to unite all churches under themselves as the head within the framework of a so-called “ecume-nism”. This plan is gaining increasing support in church circles worldwide. The strongest supporters include the Evangelical Luthe-ran Church and many charismatic and Pen-tecostal churches.
While the Pope's plans are seen by some as an important step on the path to church unity, the ecumenism sought in reality represents a serious step backwards, as it destroys the achievements of the Reformation of Luther and others. Furthermore, in this way you em-power the Pope and at the same time show that you accept the unbiblical practices and dogmas of Catholicism. Instead of see-king union with the Catholic Church, Holy Scripture expressly calls on every believer to distance themselves from this clearly anti-Christian system and to base their faith sole-ly on Jesus and the Bible.
True and false Christians
Jesus Christ says:
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord', shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will
of My Father in heaven."
(The Bible: Matthew chap. 7, verse 21
There are many people who justify their Chris-tianity with their profession of faith, their church membership or with the fact that they have been baptized and confirmed. The New Testament defines how one recognizes a true Christian: It is not just the confession of Jesus that is crucial. It also doesn't matter whether you belong to a specific religious community. Baptism is also not relevant in this context. Rather, he is a true Christian who shows it through his actions in accordance with God's commandments and in a pure and selfless spi-rit. However, a faith that ignores God's com-mandments and cannot demonstrate good works remains dead and therefore useless. Such a belief cannot save anyone (see: Life in freedom and peace).
Unlike humans, God cannot be deceived. Be-cause God knows the heart and true motives of every person and He knows exactly who loves Him sincerely and who only serves Him for appearances. The countless crimes commit-ted by the Catholic Church under the rule of the papacy until the late Middle Ages highlight this fundamental difference particularly clearly. The Bible reminds us that God will reward each person according to their deeds. This means that all those who claim to be Christians while willfully ignoring God's com-mandments and shamelessly using God's name for their own purposes will ultimately be con-demned for their actions and end up in eter-nal damnation.
The pinnacle of apostasy
"For the time will come when they will not take the true teaching; but, moved by their desires, they will get for themselves a great number of teachers for the pleasure of hearing them (…)."
(The Bible: 2nd Timothy chap. 4, verse 3)
The Holy Scripture predicts that in the last days of this age - before Jesus returns to judge humanity - more and more churches will turn away from the Word of God and thus from the truth. Instead of calling people - as is their mission - to repent of their sins and live a godly life, many churches will adapt to the godless spirit of the times and thus lose their role model function. As a result, they will only preach what people want to hear or what corresponds to the social norm. In this way many will eventually fall and miss the goal of faith. In the end, there will be only a few who hold on to the unadulterated mes-sage of the gospel and proclaim it to people - despite increasing tribulation and persecu-tion - so that everyone who hears and ac-cepts it will be saved.
Back to the truth
Jesus Christ says:
“You are the light of the world (...).
Let your light shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your Father in heaven.”
(The Bible: Matthew chap. 5, verses 14-16)
Jesus taught his followers to show people the way to God through truth and love. Every person can use the Bible to find out what the will of God is. The teachings and command-ments of Jesus, which have been handed down to us in the New Testament, serve as a decisive guide for our lives. At the same time, God's Word helps us to distinguish whether a per-son or a church actually acts in the spirit of God or not. So instead of judging God based on the works and teachings of a church, the works and teachings of the church must be judged based on the Bible. For much of what is proclaimed and practiced in many church houses, both then and now, neither comes from the Word of God nor does it have God's approval, although to some it appears to be the case.
Although the papacy, through violence and oppression, has managed to withhold the pure and wholesome truth of the Bible from people for a long time, thanks to God's grace and many courageous Christians, it has been preserved to this day and can be found by anyone who seeks for it with a sincere heart. The various reformatory movements since 1517 have uncovered many false teachings and customs of Catholicism, to which the Catho-lic Church continues to adhere to today. At the same time, the Bible was increasingly placed at the center of faith and proclama-tion.
Every person is personally called to examine their life in the light of Holy Scripture. This is the only way to ensure that we stay on the right path and attain the goal of the promise - eternal life.
Jesus Christ says:
“Sacrify them in the truth.
Your word is truth.”
(The Bible: John chap. 17, verse 17)