Eschatology
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Dominion theology |
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Two
movements within the American Christian Church affirm that Christians should
take dominion in the world before Christ returns. These movements fall under
the classification of ‘dominion theology,’ which affirm
that Christians have a biblical mandate to occupy or control all secular
institutions until Christ returns. |
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Christian
Reconstructionism |
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Christian
Reconstructionism is a movement which has its roots in postmillennialism. The
father of this movement is Rousas John Rushdoony. The following authors are
Reconstructionists: Greg L. Bahnsen, Gary North, David Chilton, Gary DeMar,
and Kenneth L. Gentry. Christian Reconstructionism arose out of conservative
Presbyterianism in the early 1970's. |
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According
to Reconstrutionism Christians must establish a theocratic kingdom in their
own countries based on the judicial laws of Moses. Rushdoony has stated: ‘As
the new chosen people of God, the Christians are commanded to do what Adam in
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As
I said before, according to Reconstructionism, Christians ought to transform
the present society or take dominion over the earth. How? Through prayer and
evangelism, and through the political process and social reformation as well.
This means that Christians must become political and social activists. They
must change the laws of the land where they live, gear up to elect Christians
to office (for the Kingdom of God must be ruled only by professing Christians
who uphold the moral laws), and seek to take dominion over the world and
bring it under the law of Moses. After the Church has taken control of this
society, the Lord Jesus Christ will return to earth. |
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Kingdom
now |
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The
Kingdom Now movement, unlike the Christian Reconstruction movement, is
composed of Pentecostals/Charismatics. Earl Paulk and Thomas Reid are among
the Kingdom Now teachers. |
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Here
is what Kingdom Now adherents affirm. Man lost dominion over the earth when
Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. God ‘lost control’ of the earth to
Satan at that time, and has since then been looking for a ‘covenant people’
who will take dominion back from Satan. This is to be accomplished through
the Church which, under the direction of God’s apostles and prophets for the
Kingdom Age, will take control of the kingdoms of this world, that is, all
social institutions (educational institutions, scientifical institutions,
political institutions etc.). The Church (some believe only a small group
within the Church, called ‘overcomers’), under the direction of the latter
day apostles and prophets, has the responsibility to put down all rebellion
and establish righteousness on the earth. In other words it must subdue the
earth, for God commanded man to subdue the earth (cf. Genesis |
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To
accomplish the task of taking dominion over a rebellious world, the Church
must have supernatural help not only from God, but from angels and from the
‘great cloud of witnesses’ (the dead in Christ) who have preceded us. A unity
between their spirits and our spirits will create a communications link by
which revelations will be conveyed that will guide the Church in its mission.
The apostles and prophets especially will have contact into the spirit realm
through appearances of Jesus, angels, and departed saints. These apostles and
prophets will receive ‘new revelations’ from God, and will give them to the
Church through the evangelists, pastors, and teachers who accept the
authority of God’s apostles and prophets. These ‘new revelations’ will be
authenticated through demonstrations of power in the working of miracles,
signs and wonders. So the Church will rise up as the spiritual army of God
and, through the process of spiritual warfare, will defeat all the forces of
darkness, bringing the entire world under the dominion of God and His kingdom. |
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During
the Kingdom Age (that is, after the Kingdom has been established by the
Church under the direction of the apostles and prophets) Satan and all
enemies of God will be put under the feet of the Church, and this will be the
fulfilment of 1 Corinthians 15:25-26: “For he must reign, till he hath put
all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
Why under the feet of the Church? Because the Church is the body of Christ,
and the feet are in the body and not outside the body. Many Kingdom Theology
adherents affirm that this passage of the Scripture which refers to Christ is
really referring to the Church who is the body of Christ,
therefore all Christians need to know and realize that they are Christ.
During the Kingdom Age those who refuse to submit to God’s apostles and
prophets will be punished and destroyed from off the face of the earth. As
for the way the dissenters will be destroyed, some kingdom theology adherents
say that the Church will, out of necessity, use physical force by which it
will judge, sentence, and execute penalties (including death) upon the
opposers. Instead, those who submit themselves to the authority of these
apostles and prophets will be sealed with the ‘mark of God’ in their
forehead, and will escape the coming judgement. |
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After
the earth has been purged of evil, the earth will be ready to be turned over
to Jesus when He returns. In the light of this teaching, therefore, the
Church has failed. The reason why the Church has failed is that it has not
understood what Jesus meant when He told His disciples that they would be
witnesses of him throughout the earth. To be a witness means to demonstrate
the Kingdom on earth, to take dominion, bringing all things into obedience to
Christ. In order to demonstrate the Kingdom, the Church must be prosperous. |
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Confutation |
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Now
I am going to refute the main doctrines of these two movements, which, as you
have seen, have some doctrines in common. |
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The
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The
Church of the Living God is not commanded to take control of the kingdoms of
this world. In other words, the Church is not called to establish the |
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At
this point, however, to avoid any misunderstanding, I need to say that while
on the one hand the |
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The
Church is called to evangelize the world and to suffer persecution for Jesus’
sake |
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Before
Jesus was taken up into heaven, He commanded His disciples to preach the
Gospel to every creature, as it is written: “And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20), and: “And he said unto
them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark |
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His
disciples obeyed Him, for it is written that “they went out and preached
everywhere” (Mark |
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The
other disciples of the Lord, too, evangelized the world, for it is written:
“Those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4 –
NKJV) and: “Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose
over Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching
the word to no one but the Jews only” (Acts 11:19 – NKJV). This shows that
not only those who have received a ministry from the Lord, but also those who
have not received a ministry gift, are called to evangelize the people of
this world. |
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When
the Gospel of the kingdom has been preached in all the
world as a witness to all the nations, then the end will come (cf. Matthew
24:14). |
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How
many people will be saved and brought into the Kingdom through the witness of
the Church? Just a little number of people. For the Scripture says that “many
are called, but few chosen” (Matthew |
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Christians
are called to live a holy and godly life so that the name of the Lord might
be glorified in them |
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According
to the Scripture, all the followers of Jesus Christ are called to live in a
manner worthy of the Gospel in the midst of this present evil age. This means
that Christians must be humble, meek, good, lovers of God, temperate,
upright, and patient, ready to help those who are in need and to do all kinds
of good works; and thus at the same time they must abstain from every form of
evil. Paul wrote to Titus: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has
appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (Titus
2:11-12 – NKJV). What will happen if we live in a manner worthy of the
Gospel? It will happen that the name of our God will be glorified, for Jesus said
to His disciples: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 – NKJV), and: “By
this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit ….” (John 15:8 – NKJV).
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However,
it will happen also another thing: we will suffer persecution at the hands of
the people of this world. Here is what Paul wrote to Timothy: “All who desire
to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy |
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Sometimes
Christians are persecuted also by the governing authorities. Consider what
happens in some Muslim countries where if a Muslim turns to Christ is accused
of apostasy and he deserves according to the law of those countries to be put
to death. Consider also what happened to many Christians several centuries
ago here in |
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God
has not said that we will conquer the world, nor that we will take control of
the kingdoms of this world during the present age, but He has said that we
will be persecuted by this world. We will certainly appear to be losers from
an earthly standpoint, for we will not be considered successful men. However,
according to the Holy Scripture, in all the persecutions we suffer for Jesus’
sake “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans |
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The
losers are all those who don’t belong to Christ, for when they die they will
go to hell, that is, they will lose their soul. They are on the losing side
for they are slaves of sin, they are children of the
devil, who has been defeated by Christ. No matter if they are successful from
a earthly point of view; they are losers in the
sight of God. They have no hope, they are without God and Christ in this world,
they do not know where they are going, their minds have been blinded by the
devil, how can they be considered winners? |
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What
the history of the Church teaches us |
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The
history of the Church teaches us an important lesson which is this: every
time the Church has attempted to establish an earthbound manifestation of the
Kingdom of God – or has attempted to take dominion of political or state
functions - it has trampled the Word of Christ for it has persecuted and
suppressed those who were considered heretics (sometimes the so called
heretics were not heretics at all) or those who had given themselves over to
idolatry or sorcery and other serious sins. This because it has adopted an
Old Covenant approach to church discipline, sanctification, and the unbelieving
people. |
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Papacy
is an eloquent example, for the popes persecuted to the death for a long time
those who left the Roman Catholic Church and in certain countries even those
who did not want to join it. At the time of the Reformation, for instance,
many people were put to death by the popes (very often through the secular
arm) because they left the Catholic Church and become Protestants, and thus –
according to the catholic doctrine - they were worthy to be wiped away from
the face of the earth. Unfortunately the Reformers also suppressed their
enemies. ‘Calvin’s |
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We
as Christians are called to oppose the heretics (those who forsake the sound
doctrine and give heed to damnable heresies) and all those Christians who
give themselves over to idolatry or fornication or sodomy or sorcery, but we
must oppose them not with carnal weapons but with the weapons of God, which
are spiritual. We must rebuke them, we must refute them, we must expel them
from among us, we must warn Christians of them, but we must never persecute
these people nor beat them nor kill them, for this is contrary to the Gospel
of the Kingdom. The same thing must be said about the unbelieving people who
refuse to repent and believe in the Gospel we proclaim to them: we are not
allowed to persecute them nor to beat them nor to put them to death, for the
Lord has commanded us to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate
us. You may say to me now, ‘I agree with you on this. However we can appoint
Christian governing authorities in our nation who have authority to suppress
all those who stray from the faith or refuse to believe in the Gospel!’ I say
to you that the function of the governing authorities does not include the
enforcement of the faith in Christ on society, or the supervision of
discipline within the Church itself. For the Word of God teaches that there
is a fundamental separation between the Church and the State; the Church must
never interfere in the matters concerning the rule of a nation, so the Church
is not allowed to appoint some of its members to rule the nation. The members
of the |
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To
sum up, if the Church took control of a nation and established a theocracy
based on the law of Moses, it would conduct just as the Papacy conducted
itself in the past centuries, that is, it would persecute all its enemies and
would put to death millions of people, there is no doubt about it. Therefore
the Church would despise and trample the law of Christ. That’s why I reject
Reconstructionism and I urge you to reject it; because if it is put into
practice, it has harmful effects on the Church of the Living God. In other
words, it leads believers to become merciless, whereas Christ has commanded
us to be merciful just as our heavenly Father also is merciful (cf. Luke |
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We
are under the law of Christ and not under the law of Moses |
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The
Scripture says that “cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which
are written in the book of the law, to do them” (Galatians |
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This
does not mean, however, that we are without law toward God, for we are under
the law of Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians |
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The
reason why there has been a change of the law is this: “When there is a
change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law” (Hebrews |
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That
we are under another law, namely the law of Christ, is evident also from the
sermon on the mountain; for during that sermon Jesus said six times: “But I
say to you” (Matthew |
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On
the other hand, Christ came into the world to dedicate – through His atoning
death - a New Covenant, which is the Covenant that God had promised to make with
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah (cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34;
Hebrews 8:8-12). Therefore it was necessary for God to give a new law. For
the Old Covenant was based on the law of Moses, while the New Covenant had to
be based on a new law. And this new law is the law of Christ, which is better
than the law of Moses, just as the New Covenant is better than the Old
Covenant (Hebrews 8:6). |
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Therefore
our rule of life is the law of Christ and not the law of Moses. We must walk
in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter (cf. Romans
7:6). |
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Is
then the law of Moses sin? Certainly not! For the Scripture says that the law
is good if one uses it lawfully (cf. 1 Timothy 1:8). What does it mean to use
the law lawfully? It means to use it to show that certain behaviours and
practices are an abomination in the sight of God. For the law is not made for
a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly
and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and
murderers of mothers, for man-slayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for
kidnappers, for liars, for perjures, and for any other thing which is
contrary to sound doctrine (cf. 1 Timothy 1:9-10). |
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Cursed
is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book
of the law, to do them |
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Reconstructionists
are greatly mistaken when they say that a Christian is obligated to keep only
a part of the law of Moses, for according to the Scripture, “cursed is
everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of
the law, to do them” (Galatians 3:10 – NKJV). This means that if you don’t
keep the whole law of Moses you are under the curse of the law. In other
words, if you want to keep only a part of the law of Moses you are still
under the curse of the law for according to the law itself you must observe
all the precepts of the law. Did not Paul admonish those believers who were
tempted to become circumcised (and circumcision, according to
recostructionists, is one of the precepts which are no longer binding),
saying: “I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a
debtor to keep the whole law” (Galatians 5:3 – NKJV)? As you can see, if we
think that the law is our rule of life and we observe one precept of the law
we are bound to observe all the law So if you don’t blaspheme the name of
God, you don’t murder, you don’t commit adultery, etc., but at the same time
you don’t keep the sacrificial system, you don’t keep sabbath-day, you don’t
keep all the dietary laws and all the other laws (which according to the
Reconstructionists have been fulfilled through the death of Christ), you are
under the curse of the law for you do not do all the things commanded by the law. Did not James say: “For
whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty
of all” (James |
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The
‘covenantal shift’ is an invention |
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As
we saw before, according to the major Reconstructionist thinkers, there has
been a ‘covenantal shift’ in regard to sanctions dispensed by the church and
sanctions dispensed by the state. Only the state may execute criminals under
the New Covenant. For crimes that come under the jurisdiction of
ecclesiastical government, the church may excommunicate its members and
pronounce imprecations (curses) on sinners. But the church may never execute
its members. Here, the way the law is enforced has changed. |
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This
means that not even Reconstrutionists want to keep the law, or rather the judicial
laws, for the law says that the apostate must be put to death by the children
of Israel, as it is written: “If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy
son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as
thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods,
which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the
people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from
the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; Thou shalt not
consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him,
neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt
surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and
afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones,
that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy
God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
And all |
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Brothers,
beware of the Reconstructionists, for they want you to be entangled again
with a joke of bondage. Keep the law of Christ so that you may keep yourself
free. |
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Christians
are not called to become political and social activists |
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Christians
are people who live in this world but do not belong to this world, that’s
what the Scripture teaches. They are pilgrims and strangers on this earth,
for they are on their way to an heavenly country,
which is far better than the country where they live. They know that their
Saviour and Lord said that His kingdom is not of this world (cf. John |
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Listen,
brothers, Jesus did not seek to transform the Jewish society in His days, nor
did He try to change the laws of the |
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Read
carefully the book of the Acts of the apostles and all the epistles, and you
will find out that neither the apostles nor the other Christians who lived at
that time did attempt to change the society through social reformation or
political activism. Do you know why? Because they knew that Christ did not
call them to do such a thing. They did not entangle themselves with political
and social activism, that they might please the Lord. Let us imitate them.
Let us live soberly, righteously and godly in the present age, like the early
disciples, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great
God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. |
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Our
attitude toward the governing authorities |
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You
may ask now, ‘Since we are not called to become political activists nor to change
our society by changing the laws of our nations or the people who are ruling
our nation, what kind of attitude should Christians have toward the governing
authorities which rule their own nation, since we know that many moral laws are
contrary to the Biblical morality? For instance, there are laws which allow
people to worship idols, to prostitute themselves, to divorce and remarry, to
have an abortion, to marry people of the same sex (homosexual ‘marriages’),
to teach evolution in school, to publish immoral magazines, and there are
even laws that punish those who preach the Gospel and those who turn to the
Lord Jesus Christ, etc. |
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Well,
their attitude should be a submissive and respectful attitude, for the
apostle Paul says: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.
For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are
appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the
ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgement on themselves.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to
evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you
will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But
if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is
God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for
conscience’ sake” (Romans 13:1-5 - NKJV), and Peter says: “Submit yourselves
to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as
supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment
of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good” (1 Peter 2:13-14 –
NKJV). Of course, this does not mean that they must obey even the laws which
oppose the Gospel and the sound doctrine, for when the governing authorities
command them to do something which goes against the Word of God they must
disobey them. When the Jewish council said to the apostles ‘Did we not
strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled |
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Last
but not least, Christians are called to pray for the governing authorities,
that God might save them, give them wisdom to rule, protect them and bless
them, so that Christians might lead a quiet and peaceable life in all
godliness and reverence (cf. 1 Timothy 2:1-2). |
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The
law was given that sin might abound |
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Reconstructionists
teach that the moral law of God, when codified as a basis for civil law,
restrains the passion of the sinner (capital punishment is a deterrent to
violent crime), and the knowledge of the moral law brings individuals
knowledge of sin. Therefore more people may be converted through faith in
Christ. |
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Now
it is true that through the law people know what sin is, however it is not
true that it restrains the passion of the sinner, for Paul says that “the law
was added so that the trespass might increase” (Romans 5:20 - NIV). This means
that when the law was given to |
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Let
me tell you now a few words about conversions. Even if the law of Moses were
codified as a basis for civil law most people would refuse to repent of their
sins and believe in the Jesus Christ, for according to the words of Jesus
wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there
are many who go in by it, and strait is the gate and narrow is the way which
leads to life, and there are few who find it (cf. Matthew 7:13-14), and many
are called but few are chosen (cf. Matthew 22:14). The Church on earth will
always be a little flock in comparison to the number of people who live on
earth. |
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Therefore
the belief that if the law of God were codified as a basis for civil law the
majority of society would be saved (or would at least outwardly conform to
God’s law) is wrong. For the Scripture cannot be broken. |
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Beware
of the leaven of the Kingdom now teachers |
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Kingdom
now theology is a false teaching that must be rejected without hesitation for
the following reasons. |
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1.
As I said before, nowhere in the Scripture we are told that we must take
control of the kingdoms of this world. When God commanded the first male and
female to subdue the earth, He did not mean at all that man had to take
dominion over all the kingdoms of the world or that the law of God had to
rule all aspects of society, for the kingdoms of the world did not exist at
that time and the law had not yet been given to man, but He meant that man
had to work the land so that it might bear useful herbs, to cut the trees
when they were a hindrance to him or when he needed the woods to build a
house or a ship etc., to burn thorns and briers, to dig a well to draw water
from it, and to do many other useful things. Man had to subdue also the fish
of the sea, the birds of the air, and every other living creature that moved
on the earth. This is what man did and he is still doing all over the world. |
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Jesus
commanded His disciples to go into all the world and
preach the Gospel to every creature (cf. Mark |
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2.
Christian can’t take dominion over this rebellious world, for this world lies
under the sway of the wicked one (cf. 1 John |
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In
the light of the above mentioned reasons, the ‘new revelations’ given to the
Church by the so called latter day apostles and prophets are nothing but
lies. And inasmuch as these ‘revelations’ are lies,
they must be refuted privately and publicly. Even if these so called new
revelations are confirmed by signs and wonders done in the name of Jesus
Christ, they must be rejected and refuted for they contradict the truth which
is in Christ Jesus. The purpose of these ‘new revelations’ is to make
Christians become carnally minded and we know that those who become carnally
minded become enemies of God, as it is written that “the carnal mind is
enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can
be” (Romans 8:7 - NKJV). Thus their purpose is an evil purpose. Let us take
for instance the ‘new revelation’ according to which Christians are gods or
little gods who can speak into existence what they desire by claiming their
‘divine right’; is it not a revelation whose purpose is to make Christians
become enemies of God, since those who accept it become haughty and they
think that God is ‘compelled’ to fulfil all their desires? Of course it is.
Let us now take for instance the new revelation called ‘prosperity
message’ according to which Christians must be prosperous,
that is, materially rich, on the earth, for the riches which are on the earth
belong to them and thus they must take control of them by faith; is it not a
revelation whose purpose is to cause Christians to stray from the faith, for
those who accept it think that they must be rich in order to demonstrate the
Kingdom of God on the earth and make all efforts to become rich, and thus
they stray from the faith for Paul says that “those who desire to be rich
fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts
which drown men in destruction and perdition” (1 Timothy 6:9 – NKJV)? Of
course it is. Let us now take for example the revelation according to which a
Christian can’t be sick for sickness is never the will of God for any
Christian; is it not a revelation whose purpose is to make Christians believe
that God can’t strike a Christians with sickness and leave him sick till his
death or that a Christian can’t die of sickness, while the Scripture teaches
that sometimes God causes His children to die of sickness even though they
believe that God can heal them (the Scripture says that the prophet Elisha –
who was a man of God full of faith – became “sick with the illness of which
he would die” 2 Kings 13:14 – NKJV)? Of course, it is. Let us take now for
instance another well known ‘new revelation,’ which says that you can receive
from God whatever you want, just name it and claim it in faith and you will
surely get it; is it not a revelation whose purpose is to make Christians
believe that God has not a will of His own, or rather that whatever we desire
is according to His will, so He will surely give us anything we ask, while
the Scripture teaches us that God hears us if what we ask of Him is according
to His will (cf. 1 John 5:14)? Therefore I urge you, brethren, to reject these
‘new revelations’ taught by these well known ‘apostles’ and ‘prophets’, who
are enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ; whose end is destruction, whose god
is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame – who set their mind on
earthly things. |