Is What We Know True

Jesus warned us that in these times there will be many who come in His Name yet speak lies about Him and the Father. There have been many false prophets in the last 2000 years who have made the Jesus we follow today into the person He really isn’t. We have the Joyful Jesus who loves, we have a modern Jesus that is hidden within the New Age where He is known to have lived many lives from Adam to Noah, then with a few intermixed then Jesus. There are people who only worship Jesus and forget God without realizing that Jesus was the personification of God’s Word. Then there is Jesus the prophet who will return to restore God’s Kingdom. There are many others but most of them have a misunderstood view of Christ.

God warned the Hebrews about following a false prophet back in Deuteronomy:
“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. Deuteronomy 13:1-4

Israel Followed Other gods
The people Israel had a problem. While they understood all the things that God required of them they fell victim to their sinful nature and worshiped Molech, Ba’al, Marduk, and other foreign gods. They also did what they thought was right in their own eyes when their hearts turned from God. The traditions and ceremonies with these gods were directly against the Law of God because of the rituals, sacrifices, and immoralities that they did to “appease” them. It took many years for the Israelites to return to God. Now we have the Jewish nation from the tribe of Judah with some Benjamin and Levi mixed in. The good thing is many from the other tribes are returning to Israel and turning to God.

Roman Leadership Changed The Way  
There are many things that the Romans did that changed the way we see Jesus today. Constantine tried to remove the Jewishness of Jesus which was easy for some aspects and difficult for others. When Christianity became the Imperial Religion, pagan rites and celebrations, were incorporated and the date of Jesus’ birth was changed to match the time of the  winter solstice. Somewhere along the line Ishtar became Easter. The Catholics call Peter the first Pope, he never desired to be venerated like that. Then there is the Paul problem. Yes Jesus turned his heart but all too often people trust the word of Paul over the Word of God.
Roman greed and the misinterpretation of tithing changed what is given to the church. In fact, the bishops used the church to collect taxes for the town and the Vatican. They created the heresy called indulgences that were payments for getting relatives out of Purgatory. Remember, common folk did not really read so they were not even allowed to get a Bible. They depended on the reading and interpretation of the local priest.  
Idolatry ran ramped as relics of the faith became means of worship. Everything from supposed pieces of the cross and nails to actual bones, even full corpses are worshiped and seen as providing miracles. God warned us about these things so we must be very deliberate in discernment. Remember, the Adversary and demons know all about God and will find ways to deceive. Jesus and the Apostles also warned us but many believe anyway.
 
Martin Luther Tried to Set Things Straight       
The Ninety-Five Theses were written as a corrective measure of the corruption that was occurring in the church regarding repentance, indulgences and purgatory. Forgiveness is only through the Grace and Mercy of God and mediated only through Jesus. It is the internal desire for repentance and removing of the sin from one’s own life that matters, not going to confession, revealing your sins to a priest and saying so many Hail Mary’s or other repentant phrase. Indulgences were a way for the church to gain money in order to release a soul from Purgatory. This took place of the Jewish tradition of praying for the dead during the period of mourning continuing through the year following the death.
Martin Luther understood that Catholicism was a controlling religion that kept people in the dark and threatened the very livelihood of those who believed. The whole sacrament of Communion is meant for all not just part of it as it was for a long time. Repentance is personal, no man can forgive sins completely in the place of God. These were things that Martin Luther wanted to debate and correct. He never was fully able to get the audience to correct these things. What happened was division and ideologies causing multiple denominations and changes in each area where Christianity was spread.    

From Luther to the Modern Age
Division did not stop with the main denominations but continues even through today with false doctrines developed from misinterpretations and “revelations” that people have had. It has gotten worse in the last 300 years. The divisions caused excommunications of whole people groups that started their own communes and branches. This is very dangerous because it will get to the point where no one can agree what is right, real, or fantasy.
We have one thing that helps and that is the Dead Sea Scrolls. This grouping of parchments and the Nag Hammadi codex’s writings help us understand the difference between what we know and what was known as truth. We must discern truth from fallacy of man, good from evil, moral from immoral, or we will not survive the coming war. Not only must we discern these things but also have true Repentance of the Heart, act upon the Great Commission, and live the best Christ like life we possibly can. It will not be our best life now because we will suffer but we will be more ready than the lukewarm Christians who think they got it.
Trust in the Father to give you guidance through the Holy Spirit of Truth. As Paul had said, “Put on the whole Armor of God daily”. Be watchful and do not stray. Love each other with the love of God not of man. Brothers and Sisters I care for your future in this world and the next. Remain strong in the arms of God.
In Christ,
Rob, Servant of the Father