Seven things many Christians get wrong

Ø 1. Believing in an “immortal soul”

Not Biblical.  The phrase never appears in any translations.  Paul’s letter to Timothy contains the emphatic statement that only God is immortal.

¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.  1 Timothy 6:13–16 (NIV84)

Ø 2. Defining sin

Most Christians cannot truly define “sin”.  If asked some will say it means to “fall short”, or some other vague indication of not following God’s ways (which is true but not a definition).  In fact, the definition of sin is simple and easy to understand:

⁴ Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3:4 (KJV 1900)

Sin is breaking God’s law.  The most concise statement of God’s law is, “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.”

The next most concise with certain specifics are the Ten Commandments — the first four define our relationship to God and the last six define our relationship with our fellow man.

³ “You shall have no other gods before Me. (1)

⁴ “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; ⁵ you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶ but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (2)

⁷ “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. (3)

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. (4)

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. (5)

¹³ “You shall not murder. (6)

¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery. (7)

¹⁵ “You shall not steal. (8)

¹⁶ “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (9)

¹⁷ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” (10) Exodus 20:3–17 (NKJV)

Jesus showed how these seemingly simple commandments should be expanded to cover almost any situation:

¹⁵ If ye love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15 (KJV 1900)

Some examples of Jesus’ teaching us how to “expand” the application of the commandments are listed below with the applicable Commandment indicated (X).

(3)

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:33–37 (NIV84)

(4)

⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” ⁹ Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰ and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ¹¹ He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹²How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Matthew 12:8–12 (NIV84)

(6)

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.Matthew 5:21–22 (NIV84)

(7)

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27–28 (NIV84)

Ø 3. Misunderstanding the 4th Commandment – the Sabbath

The major problem with some Christians and the Ten Commandments is this 4^th Commandment – the Sabbath commandment.  They wish to hold on the tradition of worship services on Sunday.

Some even teach that the Ten Commandments are “done away with” or have no authority over Christians or that they are part of the “law of Moses”. All of this mistaken teaching is to avoid keeping the 4th Commandment — they have no problem with the other 9 Commandments.

While the Commandments are eternal and immutable, have always applied to God’s people from the beginning, they apply to us today and they certainly applied to the Israelites under the “law of Moses”, God did not give the 10 Commandments through Moses but spoke them in His own voice to all those assembled at Mount Sinai.

He wrote the Commandments in stone and had them placed inside the Ark of the Covenant [Exodus 40:20; Hebrews 9:1] . The “law of Moses” was written on scrolls and placed in a “pouch” attached to the Ark [Deuteronomy 31:24–26].

Yet, there is no mention of a “sacred assembly” on the Sabbath in the 4th Commandment.

It teaches that one should set aside the seventh day each week, refrain from doing anything related to the way one earns his living and not require anyone over which one has control to work on that day.  It is an individual mandate.

God does not want “ritual” [Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13; 12:7] but a personal, individual relationship with God.

There is no Biblically mandated “day of worship” for God’s people. Leaders of a congregation are free to call a “sacred assembly” as they see fit.  However, there is no Biblical support for Sunday being the Christian Sabbath.

The tradition of Sunday worship rather than the tradition of the Israelites meeting on the Sabbath was made by the Catholic Church to separate Christians from the Jews – it is historically documented and openly admitted by the Catholic Church. Their church “fathers” established that practice and they state clearly that it is not in any sense Biblical.

They openly state that there is no Biblical reference to Sunday as a day of worship. In their literature, you’ll find numerous references to their changing the day. They use that as a sign that they are the true church of God because the Protestants and most Christian human religious organizations still follow their lead in this matter. 

With the Sabbath commandment, God gave mankind the great blessing of “weekends”.  As Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.”  He also gave us the broad mandate that “It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Ø 4. Believing the oldest lie.

⁴ “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. Genesis 3:4 (NIV84)

I’ve explained this concept in another post but I’ll summarize here.

Many believe that they do not truly die – their bodies die, of course, but they believe their “soul” or “spirit” (they often don’t understand the difference in those two concepts) either goes to heaven or hell containing their consciousness and self-awareness and thus they don’t truly die.

This concept of everlasting torment in fire and brimstone was developed by the church after the hierarchy formed – late first century or early second century – and is useful only to control and/or scare people.  This only produces Christians who are from the seed that falls on “rocky places” [Matthew 13:5–6].  This is why some come in who seem fervent, but they fall away soon.

There is no reference in the Bible – not even an inference – that God has ever “tortured” any human being or even any other life form.  Yet many believe that some people are going to spend eternity being tortured and that God approves.

In fact, a just God will eternally punish those who reject Him.  The punishment is much worse that remaining alive even if being tortured in hell.  The punishment is a once and for all time destruction from which there is no possibility of life – this is the “second death” [Revelation 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8].

Ø 5. Believing in “going to heaven”

There is no promise – not even any inference – in the Bible that any human (or their “soul”) will “go to heaven” when Heaven is defined as the abode of God, the Father and the present domicile of the Son of God, Jesus.

There is the promise of being with the Lord forever:

¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:17–18 (NIV)

At the moment described by Paul, Jesus is on His way down to the earth to establish His Kingdom – not ascending to heaven from where He just came.

Ø 6. Defining and explaining salvation and “being saved”

During our time on this earth before Jesus returns, salvation is a “process”.  Believing in Jesus, and obeying His Commandments puts us “on the road to salvation”.  We can still be lost as is graphically illustrated in Hebrews 6:4–8 and Hebrews 10:26–31, but if we remain on the road, we have the promise of salvation.

So, when are we actually “saved”?

Some will be saved at the time of Jesus’ return – at the time of the first resurrection.

¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 (NIV)

⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:51–55 (NIV)

⁴ I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵ (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. Revelation 20:4–6 (NIV)

For the rest, “salvation” will be after the final judgment – after the second resurrection — if at that time your name is “written in the book of life”:

⁵ (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) Revelation 20:5 (NIV)

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11–15 (NIV)

It is as proclaimed in verse 15 above that for a person whose name is not found in the book of life and who experiences the “second death”, salvation is truly “lost” forever!

I urge you to grow/learn/believe and get on the right track — NOW!!!  

Ø 7. Believing that the human religious organization with which you affiliate is the only place where God’s people reside and that those whose beliefs differ slightly from yours will be “lost”.

I explain my beliefs, my understanding of God’s word on this subject at some length in another post.

I have no formal affiliation with any human religious group. I have visited Bible classes and religious services with many organizations over the years and have friends and acquaintances in the Catholic church, dozens of various denominations and independent churches.

I trust that God has accepted me as a member of the church that Jesus founded and that is the only one that I defend and promote.

My belief is that the person who is a member of God’s church is one who believes that Jesus was the Christ, the son of God, born of a virgin, that He lived a life without sin, that He died on the stake for all of our sins, that He established a New Covenant that encompasses every human being, that He spent three days and three nights in the tomb and was resurrected to immortal life and returned to the abode of God the Father where He sits at the Father’s right hand today.

I consider any person who shares that belief a brother or sister in Christ. Every person is at a different stage of understanding, but each is a unique individual and valuable in God’s eyes and should be treated with respect and Christian love. True religion is a personal thing between an individual and God.

It is my hope and my prayer that sometime before too long, Christians – whatever organization with which they choose to assemble – will compartmentalize the relatively minor differences and begin to work together as God would have us do. This could be the beginning of a new spiritual awakening in America and Western Civilization and would make the world a better place in which to live for us and for our children and grandchildren.