When Paul said his final farewell to the Ephesian elders, he warned them that heretics would come to draw away the disciples after them.
Acts 20: 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. [what does this say about once saved, always saved?]
Later in a letter to the church at Thessalonica, he stated that Christ would not return until a falling away came first.
2 Thessalonians 2: 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
If one studies the history of the Christian church, they will find that very quickly after the last apostles had died, heresies began to take hold in the church. The apostolic fathers and apologists attempted unsuccessfully to stem the tide, and some, such as Irenaeus proposed changes to church government, for the sake of unity. This led to permanent elder chairmanship positions that ultimately became known as bishops, who had dominion over the plurality of elders. This began to centralize power and result in more apostacy.
Once Constantine adopted Christianity, he and other secular leaders began to call ecumenical councils to deal with differences of doctrine. These accomplished nothing. For example, the council of Nicaea in 325 supposedly dealt with the problem of Arianism, or the belief that Christ was not divine. Despite an almost unanimous decision, (only two bishops sided with Arius), many of the bishops signed the agreement, even though they disagreed. They began to work on Constantine, with the result that he, nearing death, was baptized and received communion from an Arian priest. This continued to be a problem for many years, and some contend it can still be seen today in Unitarianism. In addition, this council decreed that Easter was to be observed on sunday, and set up the office of Metropolitan, or Patriarch, by exalting the bishops of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch. This was the beginning of the later Catholic organization with a pope at the head of the church, supposedly making decisions that were more authoritative than scriptures. None of the ecumenical councils accomplished their purposes of stamping out heresies. You cannot legislate a belief system.
So why did God allow this to happen to His church? And more importantly, how can we know the truth?
In order to know the truth, we must study and know the word of God, contained in the scriptures. If anyone espouse beliefs that are contrary to the Holy Scriptures, whether a teacher, a pope, or somone claiming prophetic gifts, his views must be rejected!
Matthew 4: 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' "
We have a duty to become biblically literate, and to study the bible properly. This means by proper living, prayer, teachable open mindedness, using correct hermeneutical and exegetical reasoning.
Luke 11: 28 He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
Acts 13: 46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
Acts 20: 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. [what does this say about once saved, always saved?]
Later in a letter to the church at Thessalonica, he stated that Christ would not return until a falling away came first.
2 Thessalonians 2: 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
If one studies the history of the Christian church, they will find that very quickly after the last apostles had died, heresies began to take hold in the church. The apostolic fathers and apologists attempted unsuccessfully to stem the tide, and some, such as Irenaeus proposed changes to church government, for the sake of unity. This led to permanent elder chairmanship positions that ultimately became known as bishops, who had dominion over the plurality of elders. This began to centralize power and result in more apostacy.
Once Constantine adopted Christianity, he and other secular leaders began to call ecumenical councils to deal with differences of doctrine. These accomplished nothing. For example, the council of Nicaea in 325 supposedly dealt with the problem of Arianism, or the belief that Christ was not divine. Despite an almost unanimous decision, (only two bishops sided with Arius), many of the bishops signed the agreement, even though they disagreed. They began to work on Constantine, with the result that he, nearing death, was baptized and received communion from an Arian priest. This continued to be a problem for many years, and some contend it can still be seen today in Unitarianism. In addition, this council decreed that Easter was to be observed on sunday, and set up the office of Metropolitan, or Patriarch, by exalting the bishops of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch. This was the beginning of the later Catholic organization with a pope at the head of the church, supposedly making decisions that were more authoritative than scriptures. None of the ecumenical councils accomplished their purposes of stamping out heresies. You cannot legislate a belief system.
So why did God allow this to happen to His church? And more importantly, how can we know the truth?
In order to know the truth, we must study and know the word of God, contained in the scriptures. If anyone espouse beliefs that are contrary to the Holy Scriptures, whether a teacher, a pope, or somone claiming prophetic gifts, his views must be rejected!
Matthew 4: 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' "
We have a duty to become biblically literate, and to study the bible properly. This means by proper living, prayer, teachable open mindedness, using correct hermeneutical and exegetical reasoning.
Luke 11: 28 He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
Acts 13: 46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.