GOD’S PLAN IN DETAIL – THE STUDY GUIDE

The Early Christian Church

Historical Background

The Christian church was founded during a tumultuous period in one of the political hot-spots of the time. Rome ruled most of the world, including Judea. The Jewish people were allowed limited self-rule, but this could be over-ruled at any time with the full brutal force of the occupying Roman army. King Herod was able to send in his troops to murder thousands of baby boys on the basis of a rumour. Matthew 2:16-18 NIVWhen Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.". Crucifixion was a common punishment for serious offences.

The Jewish state, while subservient to Rome, had its own laws based on the Old Covenant laws given through Moses. The Sanhedrin was the governing religious body responsible for teaching and enforcing those laws, which they did zealously but without any understanding of the real intent, or spirit, of those laws.

Surrounding Palestine were many Gentile nations and there were many Jewish communities scattered throughout the entire area.

On the first Feast of Pentecost after Yeshua was crucified, the apostles and other followers of Yeshua were all assembled together when they miraculously received the Holy Spirit. The change that resulted was immediate and dramatic. Men, who were too afraid to admit their allegiance to Yeshua after he was executed, were suddenly able to speak up powerfully to everyone in Jerusalem. They spoke with such conviction, accompanied by amazing miracles, that many thousands of new disciples were added. Their numbers grew rapidly. Acts 2:40-47 NLTThen Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, 'Save yourselves from this crooked generation!'

Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that dayabout 3,000 in all.

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper, and to prayer.

A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity - all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved., Acts 4:4 NLTBut many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children., Acts 8:1-4 NLTSaul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.

A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.

But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.


, Acts 9:31 NLTThe church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it grew in strength and numbers. The believers were walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit..

For the Jewish Sanhedrin, this was like their worst nightmare. They actively persecuted the new church, but were unable to stop it. In fact, many persecuted members fled to other parts of the Roman empire where they began spreading the Good News even more widely. This was greatly accelerated when Saul of Tarsus was also converted. As the apostle Paul he was commissioned to preach to the Gentile peoples, which he did powerfully and to great effect for the rest of his life.

To be a Christian during that time required more than just a nominal commitment. Steven was stoned to death. Acts 6-7. James was executed by Herod. Acts 12:1-3 NIVIt was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also.... Both the leaders and church members were subject to persecution and imprisonment. Most of the church leaders were eventually executed.

In 64 AD the Roman emperor, Nero, blamed the Christians living in Rome for lighting the fires that destroyed much of the city of Rome. This began a period of persecution that was so ferocious that it is hard for us to even imagine. In 68 AD the apostle Paul was beheaded in Rome.

In 70 AD, after the Jews rebelled against Rome, Jerusalem was sacked by the Roman army. The temple was destroyed and the Jewish people were scattered. More than a million Jews were slaughtered during this time.

In spite of all these problems, the Christian church survived. The gospels and letters written by the first leaders of the church were preserved as was the Hebrew record of the Old Testament. We still have accurate copies of them to this day.

False Prophets in the early Church

The Good News message recorded in the New Testament is really clear and easy to understand, and yet today there are many hundreds of Christian churches, each teaching their own version of Christianity. It is clear, from the letters written to the various churches by Paul and the other apostles that this problem of false teachers corrupting the true gospel message existed from the very beginning.

In the parable of the field planted with good seed that soon became overgrown with weeds, Yeshua described how the members of his true church would have to live in an environment of many false churches. Matthew 13:24-30 NIVJesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'

'An enemy did this,' he replied.

The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'

'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' .

The original Greek indicates that the weeds were very similar in appearance to the good wheat. Also, weeds are typically more vigorous and prolific. The weeds would be so closely intermingled with the good seed that they couldn’t be rooted out without damaging the good seed.

Yeshua elaborated on this in Matthew 24:3-14 CEVLater, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him in private and asked, "When will this happen? What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?"

Jesus answered: Don't let anyone fool you. Many will come and claim to be me. They will say that they are the Messiah, and they will fool many people.

You will soon hear about wars and threats of wars, but don't be afraid. These things will have to happen first, but that isn't the end. Nations and kingdoms will go to war against each other. People will starve to death, and in some places there will be earthquakes. But this is just the beginning of troubles.

You will be arrested, punished, and even killed. Because of me, you will be hated by people of all nations. Many will give up and will betray and hate each other. Many false prophets will come and fool a lot of people. Evil will spread and cause many people to stop loving others. But if you keep on being faithful right to the end, you will be saved.

When the good news about the kingdom has been preached all over the world and told to all nations, the end will come. where he described these false churches as being so similar in appearance to the true church that many would be deceived, including members of the true church.

This was a terrible problem for the early Christian church. Battling with false prophets and refuting false doctrines were taken very seriously, whether it was from Jewish Christians insisting that Gentile Christians be circumcised, from Gentile Christians tolerating sexual immorality or other pagan customs, or from false leaders trying to draw away church members for their own profit.

Yeshua prophesied that this would continue to get worse until it reaches its peak during the end time just before he returns. Matthew 24:3-14 CEVLater, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him in private and asked, "When will this happen? What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?"

Jesus answered: Don't let anyone fool you. Many will come and claim to be me. They will say that they are the Messiah, and they will fool many people.

You will soon hear about wars and threats of wars, but don't be afraid. These things will have to happen first, but that isn't the end. Nations and kingdoms will go to war against each other. People will starve to death, and in some places there will be earthquakes. But this is just the beginning of troubles.

You will be arrested, punished, and even killed. Because of me, you will be hated by people of all nations. Many will give up and will betray and hate each other. Many false prophets will come and fool a lot of people. Evil will spread and cause many people to stop loving others. But if you keep on being faithful right to the end, you will be saved.

When the good news about the kingdom has been preached all over the world and told to all nations, the end will come., 2 Peter 2:1-3 NLTBut there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them.

Theirs will be a swift and terrible end. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered.

In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way.
. And this is exactly what we find today. False prophets and teachers will also exist within God's true church and many church members will be deceived.

Peter, John and Jude all wrote letters warning the church about the dangers of following false teachers. 2 Peter 2:12-22 NLTThese false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, who are born to be caught and killed. They laugh at the terrifying powers they know so little about, and they will be destroyed along with them. Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done

They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They revel in deceitfulness while they feast with you. They commit adultery with their eyes, and their lust is never satisfied. They make a game of luring unstable people into sin. They train themselves to be greedy; they are doomed and cursed.

They have wandered off the right road and followed the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong. But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.

These people are as useless as dried-up springs of water or as clouds blown away by the wind - promising much and delivering nothing. They are doomed to blackest darkness.

They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With lustful desire as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living. They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves to sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.

And when people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up with sin and become its slave again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the right way to live than to know it and then reject the holy commandments that were given to them.

They make these proverbs come true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and "A washed pig returns to the mud.", 1 John 2:18-19 NLTDear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the end of the world has come.

These people left our churches because they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left us, it proved that they do not belong with us., Jude 1:3-4 NLTDearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News.

God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people.

I say this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you, saying that God's forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate of such people was determined long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ., Jude 1:17-19 NLTBut you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you, that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable.

Now they are here, and they are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They live by natural instinct because they do not have God's Spirit living in them.
, 2 John 1:7-11 NLTMany deceivers have gone out into the world. They do not believe that Jesus Christ came to earth in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist.

Watch out, so that you do not lose the prize for which we have been working so hard. Be diligent so that you will receive your full reward.

For if you wander beyond the teaching of Christ, you will not have fellowship with God. But if you continue in the teaching of Christ, you will have fellowship with both the Father and the Son.

If someone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don't invite him into your house or encourage him in any way. Anyone who encourages him becomes a partner in his evil work., 3 John 1:9-10 NLTI sent a brief letter to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, does not acknowledge our authority.

When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the wicked things he is saying about us. He not only refuses to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church..

Paul was so upset at the effect that these teachers were having that he cursed anyone who would teach a different message. Galatians 1:6-9 NLTI am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who in his love and mercy called you to share the eternal life he gives through Christ. You are already following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ.

Let God's curse fall on anyone, including myself, who preaches any other message than the one we told you about. Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message, let him be forever cursed.

I will say it again: If anyone preaches any other gospel than the one you welcomed, let God's curse fall upon that person.. He was incensed that anyone would teach about a different Yeshua, or a different spirit, or a different gospel. 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 12-15 NLTBut I fear that somehow you will be led away from your pure and simple devotion to Christ, just as Eve was deceived by the serpent. You seem to believe whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach about a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed...

But I will continue doing this to cut the ground out from under the feet of those who boast that their work is just like ours. These people are false apostles. They have fooled you by disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

But I am not surprised! Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder his servants can also do it by pretending to be godly ministers. In the end they will get every bit of punishment their wicked deeds deserve.. There is only one true gospel message – the Good News about God’s Kingdom. Everything else is a corruption of that message based on Satan inspired human imagination.

The apostles were so concerned because it was literally a life or death choice for Christians who allowed themselves to be deceived. 2 John 1:7-11 NLTMany deceivers have gone out into the world. They do not believe that Jesus Christ came to earth in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist.

Watch out, so that you do not lose the prize for which we have been working so hard. Be diligent so that you will receive your full reward.

For if you wander beyond the teaching of Christ, you will not have fellowship with God. But if you continue in the teaching of Christ, you will have fellowship with both the Father and the Son.

If someone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don't invite him into your house or encourage him in any way. Anyone who encourages him becomes a partner in his evil work.. Their promise of salvation was on the line.  The modern doctrine of 'once saved always saved' is a seductive, Satan inspired lie.

Read the messages that Yeshua gave to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3. There was praise, but there were also warnings – and these warnings were not idle threats! They apply just as much to us today.

Corrupting the Gospel

The false teachers causing such a problem within the early church may have been converted Christians who drifted away from the true Messiah and began following their own ideas, or they may have been outsiders masquerading as true Christians for their own gain.  Regardless of who they were, or their motivation, Yeshua made it clear that the real work was being done by Satan. Matthew 24:3-14 CEVLater, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him in private and asked, "When will this happen? What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?"

Jesus answered: Don't let anyone fool you. Many will come and claim to be me. They will say that they are the Messiah, and they will fool many people.

You will soon hear about wars and threats of wars, but don't be afraid. These things will have to happen first, but that isn't the end. Nations and kingdoms will go to war against each other. People will starve to death, and in some places there will be earthquakes. But this is just the beginning of troubles.

You will be arrested, punished, and even killed. Because of me, you will be hated by people of all nations. Many will give up and will betray and hate each other. Many false prophets will come and fool a lot of people. Evil will spread and cause many people to stop loving others. But if you keep on being faithful right to the end, you will be saved.

When the good news about the kingdom has been preached all over the world and told to all nations, the end will come.

Satan began by undermining the new way that Yeshua taught us to worship God as our loving Father - using the power of the Holy Spirit to follow and obey him. 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 NLTWe are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success come from God. He is the one who has enabled us to represent his new covenant.

This is a covenant, not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old way ends in death; in the new way, the Holy Spirit gives life.. The rules and rituals of the Old Covenant were gone, Hebrews 8:7-13 NIVFor if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said:

"The time is coming, declares the Lord,when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.

I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear., and we cannot be saved by following them. Galatians 2:15-16 NLTYou and I are Jews by birth, not sinners like the Gentiles. And yet we Jewish Christians know that we become right with God, not by doing what the law commands, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be accepted by God because of our faith in Christ - and not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be saved by obeying the law..

Yeshua did command that we follow some new practises, including water baptism as a symbol of our death to the old covenant laws and our resurrection into the new covenant way of following the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:18-20 NLTJesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.", Romans 6:3-5 CEVDon't you know that all who share in Christ Jesus by being baptized also share in his death? When we were baptized, we died and were buried with Christ. We were baptized, so that we would live a new life, as Christ was raised to life by the glory of God the Father.

If we shared in Jesus' death by being baptized, we will be raised to life with him.. Just before he died Yeshua commanded that we should be willing to wash each other’s feet – a truly humbling experience that demonstrates what loving and serving our brothers is really all about. John 13:1-17 NLTBefore the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He now showed the disciples the full extent of his love. It was time for supper, and the Devil had already enticed Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to carry out his plan to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel he had around him.

When he came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, "Lord, why are you going to wash my feet?"

Jesus replied, "You don't understand now why I am doing it; someday you will."

"No," Peter protested, "you will never wash my feet!"

Jesus replied, "But if I don't wash you, you won't belong to me."

Simon Peter exclaimed, "Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!"

Jesus replied, "A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you are clean, but that isn't true of everyone here." For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, "Not all of you are clean."

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, "Do you understand what I was doing? You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and you are right, because it is true. And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. How true it is that a servant is not greater than the master. Nor are messengers more important than the one who sends them. You know these things - now do them! That is the path of blessing.. He also commanded that we meet together to eat some bread and drink some wine as a way of remembering that he gave both his body and blood to buy our salvation. Matthew 26:26-29 NLTAs they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God's blessing on it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "Take it and eat it, for this is my body."

And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, "Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which seals the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out to forgive the sins of many.

Mark my words - I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom.". Yeshua didn’t say when or how often we should do these things, but only that we should do them.

Satan is an expert in creating confusion and division as a means of achieving his goals. He began in the early church by stirring up controversies about minor issues. Christians began to argue about whether gentile Christians should follow the Jewish laws, and whether Christians should celebrate Yeshua’s death and resurrection on a fixed day of the week or according to the Jewish Passover, which was based on the Hebrew lunar calendar and not celebrated on a fixed weekday.

These were not important issues by themselves – the Jewish Christians were required by the law of the land to keep the Old Covenant laws. We know from one of Polycarp’s letters that the apostle John observed the Passover each year as a memorial to Yeshua’s death. However, no instructions were given in the New Testament requiring Christians to keep either form of this memorial. And yet, less than a century after Yeshua died, this controversy was dividing the Christian church.

By 150 AD, the Roman church was observing the ‘Day of the Sun’, as the ‘Lord’s Day’ and had fixed the memorial of Yeshua’ death to being on a Friday with a Sunday morning resurrection. By the end of the century, it was excommunicating anyone who refused to follow these new doctrines. This became known as the Quartodeciman controversy. www.newadvent.org/cathen/05228a.htm. In the centuries that followed pagan customs and fertility symbols, like Easter eggs and rabbits were absorbed into the celebration. Even the name, Easter is derived from Eostre, a pagan fertility goddess.

There is no foundation for any of this in the New Testament. Paul taught that keeping special days is not important. Colossians 2:16 CEVDon't let anyone tell you what you must eat or drink. Don't let them say that you must celebrate the New Moon festival, the Sabbath, or any other festival.. The Old Testament prophets made it very clear that God hates mixing his truth with pagan practises. Read again the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 1-3 to see what Yeshua has to say.

The worship of the virgin Mary also began during this time. In spite of the New Testament references to the brothers and sisters of Yeshua, the Roman church began teaching that Mary remained a virgin for all of her life. Mark 6:2-3 NLTThe next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles? Then they scoffed, Hes just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us. They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.. The apostles taught that everyone except Yeshua has sinned (Hebrews 4:15 CEVJesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! and 1 John 1:8 NLTIf we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.), and yet Mary was proclaimed to be free of all sin. Later it was claimed that she was ‘assumed’ directly into heaven where she now acts as an intercessory between man and God and must be worshiped as the ‘Queen of Heaven’.

Yeshua is the only true mediator between man and God. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 NIVFor there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men - the testimony given in its proper time..  And there will be no male or female in God's Kingdom. Matthew 22:29-30 NIVJesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.".

The Catholic church freely admits that their only evidence is in their church tradition. www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm. There is certainly none in scripture. The true origins for a ‘Queen of Heaven’ are deeply rooted in paganism.

This church also began teaching Satan’s original lie, that we have immortal souls and that we cannot really die (Genesis 3:1-4 NIVNow the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.) - a conclusion drawn from human philosophy and not from Scripture. www.newadvent.org/cathen/07687a.htm.

Paintings of a long-haired Yeshua began to appear, in spite of what Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 11:14-15 NIVDoes not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering.. Yeshua looked like any other Jewish male of his day and had spent at least ten years working as a builder.  He was young, vigorous and muscular. He had a commanding presence and taught with authority. But now he was being portrayed in a way that was seen as shameful for a man at that time.

Celebrating Christmas began soon after. By 200 AD, the Egyptian church was celebrating Yeshua’s birthday on 20th May. Other dates considered were the 19th or 20th of April. By the late 300s AD the Roman church finally settled on December 25th as a way of converting the pagan followers of the Roman Saturnalia festival, and has promoted its celebration ever since. Christmas trees, Santa Claus, and the giving of gifts came much later. www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm.

The end result of these abominations was to replace the spirit led Christian life taught by the apostles with one of blindly following religious customs and ritual. Prayers were repeated mindlessly. Doing penance for church legislated sins replaced repentance and using the power of God’s Holy Spirit to change our lives.

By the time Constantine adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century AD, the Christian church had morphed into yet another means of indoctrinating whole populations for the purpose of maintaining order and power. In our consumer-driven society today ‘Christian’ festivals have become just another way of promoting business.

Following rituals and such outward forms of religion have nothing to do with true Christianity. Following rituals cannot save us. We cannot please God by doing these things. We can only please God by believing his Son and using the power of his Holy Spirit to obey him. This is the only way.

Yeshua commanded: “Come out of her my people so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues!” Revelation 18:4 NIVThen I heard another voice from heaven say: "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;. 

When were the Crucifixion and Resurrection?

The Good Friday – Easter Sunday tradition is considered to be at the very heart of modern Christianity. It celebrates the death and resurrection of Yeshua as the supreme sacrifice that makes it possible for our sins to be forgiven and for us to be reunited with God. This is taught by nearly all ‘Christian’ churches today.

And yet this very important festival was completely ignored in the New Testament. It was so completely ignored that we cannot now be sure which year Yeshua died, which day of the week he died, or which day of the week he rose again from the dead. Strong arguments can be presented for a Wednesday afternoon crucifixion followed by a Saturday afternoon resurrection. Strong counter arguments can be made for a Friday afternoon crucifixion followed by a Sunday morning resurrection. Some argue for other days.

Compared with the Old Covenant laws that specified in great detail both when and how each weekly and annual festival should be observed, the New Testament writers are deafening in their silence. They were silent because God did not intend for Christians to celebrate such festivals.

By enticing Christians to focus on observing such ritual celebrations, Satan set the scene for transforming the true doctrine taught by Yeshua and the apostles into a collection of fables, pagan festivals and practices. This began in the time of the apostles and was consolidated and added to throughout the following centuries.