The True Church

The True Church

Revelation 1 depicts the seven churches of Asia as golden candlesticks and calls them the churches of Christ. Candlesticks are used to give light to the world. Jesus said to His church, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden” (Mt 5:14). The seven churches of Asia were visible to the world. They were shining lights that could not be hidden. But even though they were depicted as pure as gold, Jesus pointed out their faults. So it is with the visible church. The church in Corinth is called the church of God (1 Cor 1:1) even though it had many faults and sins. God called the church in the wilderness His son, His firstborn (Exodus 4:22), but with most of them God was not well pleased (1 Cor 10:5).

This seems like a contradiction, but it is a paradox that some cannot discern. Their logic says, “If a church tolerates false doctrine, it is not God’s church. It is a false church.” But is that the logic of Scripture?

Can God’s church have false doctrines and moral corruption and still be God’s church? Can a dead church be the true church? Was the church in Sardis God’s church? Jesus said to it, “you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Rev 3:1). The church in Ephesus lost its first love. Was it still God’s church? Is a church that allows the doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans still God’s church? That’s what the church of Pergamum allowed (Rev 2:14-15). How about a church like the one in Thyatira that tolerated that woman Jezebel, who called herself a prophetess and was teaching and seducing God’s servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols (Revelation 2:20-21)? How about a lukewarm church on the verge of being vomited out? Are they still golden candlesticks? Was it still God’s Church? And who knows if it is vomited out already or its candlestick removed? Can a church still have a name that it lives and be dead? Who decides that? God alone can make that judgment.

Evidently they were still God’s churches because in each church there were still a few names who had not soiled their garments (Rev 3:4). So we learn from the Scriptural examples that God names His church after the remnant within the church that are conquerors and not after those within it that tolerate false doctrine and corruption.

We have those who say, “The true church is our church.” Or, “The Catholic Church is the false church.” But are there no conquerors in the Catholic Church? What defines a true church? Jesus told us in Mathew 18:18. He said to the church, “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you [plural] bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

When Arius challenged the true faith of the church, the entire church got together in Nicaea in 325 AD and bound on earth and in heaven the essential definition of what the true church. It is called the Nicene Creed. In essentials there must be unity; in non-essentials there must be liberty; liberty to disagree without excommunication. Who gets to decide what the essentials are? Jesus told us in Mat. 18:18.

Therefore, anyone who says he is a Christian, but denies that Jesus is God, cannot say he is a Christian. Who says so? Jesus said the church says so. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim 3:15). The Bible is the word of the church. The Nicene Creed is pure Bible doctrine. The agreement of the one and only church made it binding on earth and in heaven. Jesus said so.

So the question is this: Is the Catholic Church God’s church? Well, according to the logic of Scripture on the visible church, I am forced to admit it is God’s church in spite of false doctrines and corruption because it confesses the essentials of the faith and has true conquerors as a remnant within just as the churches in Asia did.

Is there such a thing as a Christian that has not one ounce of wrong doctrine or corruption? “Reformed and always reforming.”

The same is true of the Baptist churches, the Coptic Church, the Reformed churches, etc. “Reformed and always reforming.”

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. 

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, 
the only Son of God, 
eternally begotten of the Father, 
God from God, light from light, 
true God from true God, 
begotten, not made, 
of one Being with the Father; 
through him all things were made. 
For us and for our salvation 
he came down from heaven, 
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary 
and became truly human. 


For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; 
he suffered death and was buried. 


On the third day he rose again 
in accordance with the Scriptures; 
he ascended into heaven 
and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 


He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, 
and his kingdom will have no end. 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, 
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], 
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, 
who has spoken through the prophets. 


We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. 
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. 


We look for the resurrection of the dead, 
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Whore Of Babylon And the Beast

The Judgment Of The Great Prostitute

Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute… (Revelation 17:1)

What Is Her Identifying Mark?

And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. (Revelation 17:6 ESV)

And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.” (Revelation 18:24 ESV)

Jerusalem, in New Testament times, was the only city in the world that had killed God’s prophets. Babylon, Nineveh, and Egypt never had done that.

… it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets … (Luke 13:33-34 ESV)

        

Her Destiny

For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.” (Revelation 18:8)

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Mark 13:2)

This took place in that generation just like Jesus foretold in Mat. 24:34. The Roman army (the abomination of desolation) surrounded Jerusalem  and made it so desolate that Josephus said you could not even tell a city had been there if the Romans had not left a tower still standing. What did the multitude in heaven think about this?

They Rejoiced

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, [2] for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

Will the Temple Ever Be Rebuilt?

 Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” (Revelation 19:1-3 ESV)

And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. (Matthew 21:19 ESV)

And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9 ESV)

Jesus’ ministry was three years. The tree was not immediately cut down after His three-year ministry. It was cut down after He dug around it for forty years, and finally cut down in AD 70.

The Beast

In Revelation 17 the Great Prostitute is depicted as mounted on the Beast. The Beast is identified as the city of seven hills. We all know the city of seven hills is Rome. The Beast is described as also having seven heads and ten horns. The ten horns were the ten kings over the ten provinces of Rome. The seven heads represent seven kings. Five had fallen and the angel says, “One is.” The five that had fallen were Julius Caesar, Agustus Caesar, Tiberius Caesar, Caligula Caesar, and Claudius Caesar. The one still living was Nero. Galba came after that, but lasted less than six months. Nero was the Beast incarnate. The Beast was Rome.

The Great Prostitute riding on the Beast signifies that Rome was the support and vehicle of Jerusalem. The chief priests of Jerusalem, who looked like lambs spoke like a dragon when they cried, “We have no king but Caesar.”

Because each Hebrew letter is also a numeral, the letters that spell “Neron Caesar” total 666. The Great Prostitute is also called the beast that looks like a lamb and speaks like a dragon. She is also called the False Prophet.

The Modern Application

This fulfilled pattern repeats itself in history time and again because the nature of man and the nature of the beast never change. Statism is a beast. The function of the False Prophet was to get the whole world to worship its image. Obama also has “priests” (men of the cloth) like Jeremiah Wright and several others who support his statism.

Statism is the enemy of the City of God throughout Scripture. We see it with the Tower of Babel, we see it in Abraham’s home town, Ur of the Chaldees. We see it with Egypt enslaving Israel. We see it with the King of Babylon forcing everyone to bow to his image of the state. And we see it with Rome.

It can be called the divine right of kings and it can be called Marxism. A rose by any other name is still a rose.

Ron Smith

Churchofthekingmcallen.org

A man called me shouting and cussing me out

A man called me shouting and cussing me out for my one minute radio spot that said, “Our Calvinist Puritan forefathers came to this land seeking freedom of religion. They established a government based on a covenant with God called the Mayflower Compact. In the Old country they had paid with their blood to be free from tyrants. Puritan pastor Thomas Hooker wrote the first constitution in the history of mankind for Connecticut in 1639. Thomas Jefferson did not invent the ideas in the Declaration of Independence. They were copied from the Calvinists. The Calvinist Puritans sought to establish a city on a hill based on the Bible. This, and this alone is what made America great. But now we are engaged in a spiritual civil war waged by the powers of darkness that hate biblical values. To vote for Obama is to hate God and the America of the founding fathers.”

The man was really mad. He shouted, “You have no right to say those things on the radio. It’s against the law. I’m gonna report you to the radio station.” I said, “That’s okay. The First Amendment and The Alliance Defense Fund will take care of that.”

He said, “I have a PHD from the University of Tennesee, KNOXVILLE.”  I said, “I do have a doctorate in biblical studies.” He said, “From where? The University of Basket Weaving? Is it accredited?”

He said,  “You’re just an ignorant fundamentalist that interprets the Bible literally. I don’t believe in the virgin birth. I’m a liberal. My father was a Methodist pastor.” I said, “I’m under the authority of a cloud of witnesses… the tried and true ones that brought liberty to the modern world.”

He said, “The Puritans and Reformers were not as smart as we are. They didn’t have cars.” Well, we wouldn’t have cars, either if they had not brought us liberty. It’s for freedom that Christ made us free.

He said, “John Locke and the humanists brought liberty to the modern world, not fundamentalists.” I said, “Do you know when the first constitution in the history of mankind was written? Puritan preacher Thomas Hooker wrote it for the state of Connecticut in 1639. Do you know how old John Locke was then?  Eight years old.”

I asked, “Have you ever heard of presuppositionalist reasoning? If I presuppose something is true, even if it’s not, all my logic will be based on that basis. It does not mean my logic is bad (i.e. that I’m stupid). It means I put my faith in the wrong presupposition. If you presuppose something different, it does not mean your logic is bad or that you’re dumb. It just means you presupposed something different. I presuppose that the Bible is factual and you presuppose it’s not. Does that make me stupid?”

“Before you jump to the conclusion of calling someone stupid because they don’t see it your way, stop to consider that. And before you make a judgment on who you think I am (a literalist), listen to the sermon I preached just last Sunday on that very subject. Just like every day speech, we mix both literal speech with figurative speech all the time.  So does the Bible.”

I said, “You said you’re a liberal. I always thought “liberal” meant “tolerant.” He said, “Yes. We’re tolerant.” I said, “You don’t seem to be tolerating me.” He had no answer.

     By the time the call ended he was calm and wished me a good day. His mouth was shut.

 
"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" ( 1Pet 3:15).

You Are Gods

John Calvin says the use of “gods” for rulers and those in authority is a synecdoche. Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special, as in ten sail  for ten ships  or a Rockefeller  for a rich man.  

Psalm 82:1 God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods. 2 How long will you judge unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked? Selah 3 Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. 4 Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked. 5 They do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable.   6 I said, “You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High. 7 But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes.” 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.

Calvin notes that the following passages “in the Fifth Commandment are comprised by synecdoche all superiors, in authority.”

Lev 19:32 You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God [gods]: I am the LORD.

Deut 16:18 You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment.  [Republican government]

Deut 20:9 And so it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.

John 10:34-36 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?”

Exodus 22:28 “You shall not revile God [Hebrew: the gods], nor curse a ruler of your people.”

 Ge 6:2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

Gen 6:4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.

The Host of Heaven

1Ki 22:19 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.

Eph 3:10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,

Eph 6:12 NKJV For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:12 ESV For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Dan 10:20-21 Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince.”

Terms Used For “gods” In Scripture

the congregation of the mighty

gods

children of the Most High.

Sons of God

the gray headed

judges and officers

captains

rulers

the host of heaven

principalities and powers

spiritual forces of evil

prince of Persia

prince of Greece

Michael, your prince

Where Was God During The Colorado Massacre?

Where Was God

The skeptic says, “If God is in control of all things, He’s not doing a very good job. Look at the mess the world is in.” That statement seems to imply that they want a tyrant as god, and people should be robots “controlled” by him. That’s why unbelievers choose statism and make laws to control everyone! They think God is doing a terrible job so let the state take over. But God’s law is the law we need.

The world is a mess precisely because God permits freedom. God is faithful to keep the promise of His covenant to unleash His wrath on covenant breakers. The “mess” of the world is proof that the Bible is true and that God is in control. To break the covenant by sitting in judgment on God simply brings unleashes evil consequences. To bow before Him brings blessing. We reap only what we sow.

Because of all the evil in the world, some people think Satan must be the ruler. He is called the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4), the god of “worldings” (earth dwellers). For them, he is their ruler. But they seem to think Satan can do whatever he pleases. How do we square this with all the Scriptures that say Christ is the ruler? Please examine the following Scriptures to see if these things are so. Let’s be like the Bereans who “were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). Scripture interprets Scripture by means of cross-references.

The Bible teaches Satan can do nothing unless the Lord lets him. The buck stops with God Almighty. Satan had to get permission to torment Job. He had to get permission to sift Peter. God uses Satan as His tool of wrath just as He used Assyria to punish covenant-breaking Israel. “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation” (Isaiah 10:5). For believers God’s rod is redemptive, but for unbelievers His wrath is destructive. It depends where your heart dwells… in heavenly places or on earth.

Just before Jesus went to the cross He said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31). “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). Satan then came with his rulers and arrested Jesus. But the plan backfired. He arose from the dead and while the disciples “watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9).

Daniel foresaw this ascension of Christ when the heavenly court was set and the Ancient of Days was seated and “behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of Man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13-14 ESV). And “a judgment was given for the saints” when, as the Greater Solomon, He sat down at the right hand of the Father “on the throne of the LORD as king in place of David his father” (1 Chronicles 29:23).

Daniel said, “As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came [to the court], and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom” (Daniel 7:21-22 ESV). That time came when Christ ascended to the Father. “And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” (Rev 11:15)

Through the sacrifice of Christ Satan was cast out of his place of rule in heaven and came down to arrest Jesus.  This is also the pattern of history. “For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time” (Rev 12:12).

“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time” (Rev 12:9-12).

Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords (including over Satan). But as long as God’s people do what Israel did, Satan will be unleashed by God on “earth dwellers” (See Rev 12:12). The wrath of God is looming over America right now because America has been becoming more and more carnal “earth dwellers” instead of being seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6). But… “If My people…” (2 Chron 7:14).

God says to those who love Him (His elect), “Nothing can happen to you unless I allow it. And if I do, it is for your good… even unto death”  (See Romans 8:28). “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 ESV).

Where was God during the theater slaughter in Aurora, Colorado? “If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there” (Psalm 139:8). God gave Satan permission. Why??? God has his reasons. Instead of questioning God we need to question ourselves. We might not know the specific reasons, but Scripture clearly reveals that if we break God’s covenant He swears to unleash His wrath. It’s time to “Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD” (Joel 1:14). That is the answer to, “Why?”

Even though the Lord is already King over all the earth, there is another sense in which He is not. The prophet Zechariah said some 500 years before Christ came, “the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be—‘The LORD is one,’ And His name one” (Zechariah 14:9). In one sense this prophecy was fulfilled when Christ ascended to the Father and sat on the throne of the Lord in the place of David His Father. But in another sense the whole earth will acknowledge Christ as the ruler of nations. “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations” (Psalm 22:27-28 ESV).

It’s reported that Tocqueville said, “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers - and it was not there . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce - and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution - and it vas not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

Churchofthekingmcallen.com

We Are Justified By Works (James 2:24)?

Does James Contradict Paul?

The quotes from James and Paul will seem to some to be an argument, but it is not. Both sides of the coin of truth are true. Antinomians need James and those going about to establish their own righteousness need Paul. To take only one and not the other is dualism.

James:… faith apart from works is useless (James 2:20)

Paul: God imputes righteousness apart from works (Rom 4:6)

James: Was not Abraham our father justified by works? (James 2:21)

Paul: For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about (Rom 4:2)

James:  a person is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:24)

Paul: a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. (Rom 3:28)

And the dead were judged according to their works (Rev 20:12) [Not according to their faith. We are saved by faith but faith is not alone. The proof of faith on judgment day is works.]

Disobedience Equals Unbelief

And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Heb 3:18)

[We are slaves to what we believe in the heart.]

  Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

(Luke 6:46 ESV)

 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Mt 7:23)

One can obey “outwardly” without faith, but cannot obey inwardly. “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” (1 John 3:6 ESV).

Whatever You Bind

Whatever You Bind

Matthew 18:17-20

 [17] If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. [18] Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. [19] Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. [20] For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Church Discipline

This passage has to do with church discipline. Jesus says, if a brother refuses to listen to the church he is to be rejected as a Gentile and a tax collector. Gentiles and tax collectors usually belonged to Satan. Paul delivered two men “to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme” (1 Tim 1:20). He also commanded the Corinthian church to “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1Cor 5:5) because he was sleeping with his father’s wife. Paul said, “I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person” (1 Cor 5:11).

Binding And Loosing

Jesus tells the church, “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” The word “you” is plural in the Greek. It means “you the church.” To bind means to not permit and to loose means to permit. To bind a person or thing means to not permit it. Or to make something binding means to make it a law. A binding agreement is a contract or a covenant. Breaking a binding agreement is breaking a covenant. To break a covenant brings negative sanctions, and to keep it brings blessing.

If Any Two Agree

Jesus says, “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. [20] For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” In other words, the agreement of the church is binding both on earth and in heaven. God delegates to His church the authority to bind and to loose. More than 2 or 3 agreed together at the Counsel of Nicaea in 325 A.D. to turn such a one over to Satan that he might learn not to blaspheme.

The Arian Controversy

It started this way. In 311 A.D. man named Peter was the overseer of the church in Alexandria, Egypt. He was in prison for preaching the Gospel and had a vision of Jesus with his robe torn down the middle. Jesus told him that just like the robe he was wearing was split a priest named Arius was to be turned over to Satan because he was about to split the church the same way. The next day Peter’s friends brought Arius to him asking to restore him to the church in spite of his former rebellion. Bishop Peter refused and was also executed for his faith the next day.

This prophecy was fulfilled when Arius started teaching that there was a time when Christ was not. He denied that Christ is God and gained such a large following that it threatened the peace of the Empire. The rulers of the empire sided with Arius and persecution followed.

The Council Of Nicaea 325 A.D.

To bring peace to the empire, the Emperor Constantine called for all the church overseers of the world to gather at Nicaea to come to an agreement on the issue. 318 bishops from all over the world gathered at the Counsel of Nicaea in 325 A.D.

The result was that all but 3 signed the agreement that the Scripture teaches that Jesus is God. The Nicene Creed includes everything the Apostles’ Creed says but adds that Jesus is very God of very God and very man of very man, that God is three persons in one essence… not three manifestations.

The fact that the universal church agreed made the Nicene Creed binding in heaven and on earth.

Who Decides What True Christians Believe?

The church does because Jesus said, “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Those who reject the Nicene Creed are not Christians because the universal church said so. Those who reject the deity of Christ are not Christians even though they might say they are. The Nicene Creed contains the essential doctrines of the Christian faith.

The Essentials

In essentials – unity. In non-essentials – liberty. In all things – charity. We cannot be in unity with those who do not believe the essentials. Jesus said He came to divide believers from nonbelievers. But we are forbidden to divide if we agree on the essentials. And, to divide over non-essentials can be sinful. By “divide” I mean to pronounce a believer in the essentials as not Christians. Jesus prayed, “that they may become perfectly one” (John 17:23). “There is one body and one Spirit… one hope… one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph 4:4-5). The Nicene Creed says, “I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.” To deny that is to deny what Jesus said. “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.”

The Division

Until 450 A.D. all the churches were in agreement. They divided at that time over the two natures of Christ. The Church of Armenia, the Coptic Church of Egypt, and the Syriac Churches disagreed with the Eastern and Western churches. Then 500 later the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Churches divided in 1054 A.D. Then another 500 years later the Reformers tried to reform the corruptions of the Romish church after 1517 and were cast out or killed. Now here is the question:

What is a Christian?

Here is the argument of the Church of Armenia. Those who believe in the Nicene Creed can call themselves Christians. All the other doctrines, though they may be true and important, are not binding as essentials for salvation because to be binding takes the universal church. When Jesus said whatever you bind, He was speaking to the whole church, not just one segment of it.

Non-Essentials

There are many important and true doctrines on which the universal church has never agreed and therefore are not binding as essential for salvation. On these there must be liberty to disagree and to debate without dividing. Again, by dividing I mean declaring others as unbelievers. They can still call themselves Christians if they believe in the essentials found in the Nicene Creed. That, however, does not mean they are saved.

Two Kinds Of Christians

(Saved and Unsaved)

Many Christians only believe with the head and not with the heart. There are two kinds of Christians: head faith Christians and born again Christians. Just like there were Israelites circumcised in the flesh but not in the heart, so there are Christians baptized in water but not in the Spirit. Only God knows who is saved and not saved. But we can be assured that “that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? [The Bible says,] Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9-10).

If a man is baptized and says he believes and is not living in scandalous sins like those just mentioned we take his word for it and welcome him to the Lord’s Table. Only God knows the heart and God will judge those witch hunters who think they can read the heart.

Are Roman Catholics Christians?

So, do we say that the Roman Catholics and other denominations that believe in the Nicene Creed are outward Christians? Yes. But only God knows who is an inward Christian. Can an outward Christian believe false doctrines? Well, do you know of anyone that is perfect in all his ideas and doctrines? Don’t get me wrong. There is no excuse and there must be liberty to debate the issues. But we must include all as outward Christians who believe in the essentials of the faith. In essentials God commands unity.

But that does not mean we all have to belong to the same denomination. There must be liberty in the nonessentials and the unity must be in the Spirit and not just in the flesh.

This teaching is important because God hates the divisive spirit. There is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph 4:5).

•               Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity! 



•               Ephesians 4:3 
eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:13 
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ


The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.