Thoughts on Being Unequally Yoked

For those who have visited before, this continues to be updated to cover new questions and belief systems.  I do hope the clarifications help, but readers do continue to ask questions as you need and I will keep addressing them.  
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2 Corinthians 6:14, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?"

Most everyone knows this verse is a stern warning for a Christian not to marry a non-Christian. However, lately I have been asked many many questions about beliefs and why one should stand firm doctrinally, and feel some explanations need to be made.  This post is made to help explain why a Bible believer may have issues with other faiths.  I shall give some ideas below, but they will not encompass all the issues, just enough hopefully to give an idea why your beliefs matter. 

Catholicism (Romanists) - Romanists have removed one of the ten commandments and replaced it by splitting another one.  They removed the one about not bowing down to idols.  One can clearly see here that a faith who would change the Bible to fit the church belief is different than one that just believes the Bible as it is written (yes, I am aware Romanists believe the Bible comes from them and theirs is the most accurate).  One other issue is their belief on forgiveness.  They use crosses with Christ still on them.  This is due to the fact they believe their priests can forgive sin. Christ is still on their cross for they believe his sacrifice wasn't complete, and God requires the Romanist church to give the forgiveness. 

Hebrews 9:28, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."  Christ was offered once.  There is no need for anyone to further bear sins for his offering was a one-time event, full in its completion, never requiring further action from priests. 

Based on these observations, one can see why a Bible believer would struggle in a relationship with a Catholic.   In the end, the Romanist believes what the church teaches, not what the Bible teaches, making them one of the oldest cults.  Errors involve Mary worship, prayer to saints and Mary, believing Communion is the actual body and blood of Jesus, Justification, etc.  

Protestants - This is a wide band and encompasses all Protestant groups.  One thing most do not ponder is that they all were in the Romanist church and came out, hence the protest part of their name.  As their core doctrine was Romanist, each pulled away in different areas of doctrine, with some barely leaving and others pulling farther way.  At their heart, however, one can still find some of the errors of Romanism.  

It is important for people to understand that anyone raised in one of the Protestant denominations and knows their belief system would struggle with any other Protestant denomination over little or big issues.  Many are very close to the Bible, but stray in one area or another.  Here again is why someone who fully believes the Bible might have an issue with any one of the Protestant denominations.  A Lutheran and a Methodist have significant differences of belief on Communion, for example.  How one baptizes is also a subject of difference.  As such, one should be very careful when crossing these lines, and be careful about the yoke for it may be hard to bear later, especially when raising kids and worrying about how they should be trained.  Many do not know this, but Baptists are not Protestants, hence the strong Biblical doctrinal differences.  

Pentecostals - For the most part the historic Pentecostal faith, which isn't that old, stays true to the Bible for salvation.  Where the biggest difference exists is how they treat the Holy Spirit. To most, the Holy Spirit's role is to glorify Christ, convict of sin, and comfort believers.  They, however, teach He is here to glorify man.  This may seem a harsh summary, but rolling all their healing and tongues practices together, one can clearly see nothing like that ever happened in the Bible.  Peter's shadow could heal a man, but they require far more of an exotic experience for that, and those healings are not as dramatic or real as Peter's.  Sadly they have also given up on the old hell-fire and brimstone preaching concentrating on salvation first, and have abandoned many solid Bible doctrines for emotionalism.  The contortions done when "in the Spirit" are often taken as evidence of demonic influence, for example.  

So, for anyone growing up in a traditional church, the exotic nature and type of worship a Pentecostal teach and practice would be fully shocking and not something easily accepted.  While one could come to believe what they do, it would require reinterpretation of many verses to do so.  As a result, any couple should be very very careful.  

American, and possibly British Church of Christ - The belief started by Campbell and Stoner is one that was labeled a cult known as Campbellites.  Today they try to distance themselves from their founders, but at their core they fight over true grace.  They do not fully accept the Bible version of salvation.  Their core belief is that one can go down the aisle to accept Christ in church Sunday morning, die in a car accident Sunday afternoon, and go to hell because they were not baptized.  While some say they now accept the Bible model, like Max Lucado, he has never left the cult.  The Duck Dynasty folks made this cult popular, and have confused people about how "Christian" they are.  Baptism is not their only doctrinal error, and many are major.  One, like Catholics, is they believe they are the only true church and the only ones going to heaven.  

Since then I have learned about the Church of God, a Church of Christ spinoff.  Apparently they are the same cult as the Campbellites, but differ in only that they accept instruments for church music, whereas Church of Christ does not.  Church of God can also mean Armstrongites, so it gets a bit confusing.  

In the Philippines, there is another cult started by one man, now called Iglesia de Cristo.  While I have not dived deeply in their beliefs, they appear to be farther away from the Bible than the Campbellites in America.  For example, they do not believe Jesus is God (like Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons).

These are two I know, but there may be many other differences of belief in groups called Church of Christ globally.  As such, I don't wish to say they are all cults, but want to point out these two in particular.  Again, anyone believing the Bible would have issues trying to step into a relationship with either of these two non-Biblical groups.  

Mormons - I am forced to add this group as they are masquerading as Christians, and sadly they do not even understand the difference.  Like all cults, they follow their founder's teaching (Joseph Smith) in his additions to the Bible over the Bible.  They believe Jesus is Satan's brother, they believe Jesus had to work his way to being God, as do they.  In their belief system, they follow this credo, "As God is, man will be.  As man is, God once was."  They do not believe Jesus is God, just a god.  Strong caution here if you are involved with them.  

Baptists - Baptists are not Protestants.  This confuses many.  They were killed, hated and despised by Romanists and Protestants alike.  Their name is one of derision given them by Romanists.  A Romanist who came to know Christ and left the church was re-baptized, for then they understood what it really meant (symbolic versus Romanist teaching of actual original sin removal).  As it meant the Romanist baptism did not count, this offended them greatly.  While there are many kinds of Baptists in America, such as Northern, Southern, American, General and Independents, they do not all believe the same things.  The Southern and Independents are the most conservative and hold to Biblical doctrine the most, but even Southern Baptists have issues and do not all march together.  Again the caution to find out what your loved one/potential loved one believes so you can prevent issues.  

For those who have not read the Trail of Blood, it is an interesting history of the Baptists.  

Fundamentalists - Here is a core set of Fundamental doctrines, based upon clear Biblical doctrine:

The inspiration of the Bible (both the Old and the New Testaments)
The creation of man by the direct act of God
The incarnation and virgin birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ
His identification as the Son of God
His vicarious atonement for the sins of mankind by the shedding of His blood on the cross
The resurrection of His body from the tomb
His power to save men from sin 
The new birth through the regeneration by the Holy Spirit
The gift of eternal life by the grace of God.

Oddly enough, popular author/pastor Rick Warren has said anyone holding to the "Fundamentals" is a terrorist.  Fundamentalists are solid Bible believers from all faiths.  In the past these included Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Nazarenes, plus others.  Today Baptists and Presbyterians are those few mostly left holding to Bible-based theology.  Fundamentalists are also known as dispensationalists.  This means, in summary, they believe what the Bible says and do not seek to change meanings of words or verses to justify beliefs.  

My Last Comparison Point is Discernment - Hebrews 5:12-14, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

When it comes to issues like how close to the world a believer steps, this is where discernment comes in.  Many many churches have folded to allow the world into the church through music, style of dress, muted Bible versions, weak sermons without mention of sin, salvation or repentance, and others. Mature Christians tend to avoid worshipping in these churches as they know with discernment the pastor has compromised or lacks the understanding to lead and teach the meat of the word.  Milk is something that mature Christians have grown past, and they see the meat.  

For a mature Christian to try to have a relationship with a weak Christian (meat and milk comparison), there will be challenges.  While one may have many years of Christian learning ahead of another, the one who is weaker will always be doing one of two things.  The difficult thing will be fighting them on a belief.  The easy thing will be asking "why", and trying to catch up and learn.  If the former, this relationship will not work.  If the latter, this should be an awesome time for both as they continue to learn together.  Anyone asked to teach another must know more about the subject than they think, meaning even a mature Christian will be blessed in relearning things.

My hope is this may help anyone starting a relationship or thinking about what may be wrong in theirs. I am sure there are many other groups to differentiate between, but this covers most of them.  For those on dating sites, this little primer may help you understand why asking what someone believes is a good idea.  A little prevention up front will prevent issues down the road, and a possible relationship threat.  From experience, I cannot stress enough how important knowing these things are, and how ugly a split is as a result.  

For anyone searching for their future spouse, please remember to pray and turn the search over to God!

Coexist?

Increasingly I am seeing this Coexist graphic applied across the Internet as man's hope for the future.

I know those who seem to use it blindly think it is a good idea, but I also think many weak Christians see it and think it is wise.  As a result, I thought I would put together some reasons why it should not be used.  Here is what it really means:

C - this is representative of the moon god, often known as Diana or Baal.  This symbol is representative of Islam, or what they now call the moon god, Allah.  Remember their constant yell of "Allah akbar!"?  It means, "god is greatest".  They say this because their ancestors worshiped a pantheon of gods.  Muhammad chose the moon god as the one they would worship over the rest, which is why they have to constantly remind themselves and Allah who is best.  Based on their faith, they can never have peace.  There is no such thing as a peaceful Muslim, unless they have abandoned the teachings of the Qur'an, meaning they are no longer Muslim.

O - This is thought to mean peace and often attributed to Gerald Holtom as he used it for promoting nuclear disarmament.  In the early 40's it was used by Hitler as a symbol for his Panzer divisions.  However, this goes back much farther than the British signs Gerald built and Hitler's use  It is known as the witches foot as has been used over the centuries as a symbol of the weakness of the cross.  In the occult, you invert the cross to show its weakness, and break the arms to show its failure.  So, an upside down cross with broken arms to show Christ's inability to save becomes a peace symbol.  How many Christians proudly display a symbol Satan built to make fun of their very belief?  There is no peace without Christ, so the symbol is invalid.

E - Male and female, Mars and Venus.  The God of War and the Goddess of Love.  Venus is taken from Astarte, or Ishtar.  This is the goddess of what we call Easter, and is the source of the rabbits and eggs. There is speculation this could be tied all the way back to Nimrod and Babylon, but there are no hard facts.  Mars is the war god, tied to Nergal, the god of Cuth in the Bible.  Worshippers of him were clearly not afraid of God, for they abandoned their worship of the true God to run after gods from the countries they had captured.  This never ended well for them, and equating man and woman as Mars and Venus will not end well for anyone today, either.

X - The Star of David, the symbol of the Jews.  This group is targeted by the C group with extreme hatred and the C group is ordered to subjugate them or kill them.  As such, the Jews have been hunted through every time in history as Satan has tried to wipe out God's people.  They will never have peace until their Savior returns.

I - The letter I has a Pentagram with a circle around it, the symbol of Wicca. They call it a pentacle, and it symbolizes the five points in their practice - earth, air, fire, water, and spirit.  The pentagram also represents satanism, so this one letter covers both.  Interestingly wicca says they do not worship satan, but satanists laugh at that as they do know the truth, they both serve the same master.  Equating Satan with peace is far from truth, and cannot ever be hoped for.

S is the Taoist Yin/Yang symbols that have become so popular.  The overall Taoist belief is that there are two forces at play in the universe that must be balanced, the yin and the yang, in all things. This belief washed down through many Asian beliefs, including Buddhism. Interestingly, this is also the belief of many native American Indian tribes, that a war between a good and bad wolf exists within everyone.  The winner of this fight determines good or evil in their lives.  We know that sin rules all men, and the fight is for the soul.  All men are sinful, with the law of God placed in their hearts.  Man must answer the law or fight it, that is the true war.  There is no peace until this war is won by God.

T - The T is represented by the Christian cross.  Interestingly this is not the Catholic cross, for their cross still has Christ on it as they believe his sacrifice continues.  Christians believe the Bible in that Christ laid down his life once for sin, and has no need to do it over and over again each mass.  The founding fathers used Christian principle to build in American freedom.  These principles are slowly being removed, which removed freedom.  Only under these models can freedom coexist, but if any of the above groups tries to force their model, such as Islam is doing with Sharia, there is no peace or coexistence.

While this isn't as scholarly as it could have been (I didn't put quotes on much of this, but it is still researched), you should get the point that this symbol should never be used by Bible believers.  I hope those who have maybe innocently used the witches foot (peace symbol) would also use discrimination going forward and not offend the God they serve any longer.

Thoughts On Speaking In Tongues

Thoughts On Speaking In Tongues

(Greatly expanded on 3/10/19)

A subject that has come up a lot lately has been the Holy Spirit in relation to how Assembly of God, Pentecostal and Charismatic believers take him.  While varied, their beliefs, all tend toward focusing on pushing grace to the side and accentuating the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

Cessation

This is not a discussion on cessation.  For those who do not know what cessation is, there is much confusion regarding what it means.  It is tied to I Corinthian 13:8-10, “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.”

In its purest sense, those who believe in modern spiritual gifts are not cessationists.  Cessationists believe the apostolic gifts have ceased:  tongues, interpretation of tongues, healing, and prophecy tied to knowing the future.  What is left are the gifts of grace, teaching/preaching, and exhortation. 

Acts
In college I had a wonderful Bible teacher, Dr. Mark Minnick, who managed to open God's word in a way I had never seen, and still today does that as a pastor at Mt. Calvary Baptist in Greenville, SC. To help others understand the Biblical take on Acts, I shall attempt to write out my class notes in a manageable way that conveys the logic of the findings.  Yes, after all these years I do wish I had done a better job of taking notes.  Age brings wisdom with it.

Acts 2 brings us Pentecost, an event looked at differently by many.  Here is an outline of the Pentecost experience:

1.     Of the 120

a.     Sound of a great wind

b.     Fire

c.     Tongues

                                               i.     Verse 4 - Greek glossais, or English glossolalia, tongue speaking

                                             ii.     Verse 6 - language = dialecto or dialect

                                            iii.     Verses 9-10 - lists 15 distinct regions or countries these people came from.  These dialects were at least 11 different languages.

                                            iv.     Verse 11 - tongues = glossais

                                             v.     Glossais used in verses 4 & 11

                                            vi.     Dialecto used in verses 6 & 8

                                          vii.     Tongues were known foreign languages

2.     Of the 3,000

a.     No wind, fire or tongues

Throughout Acts one finds many commonalities.  Dr. Minnick calls these a Fourfold Pattern:

1.     There were Jews present

2.     There were apostles present

3.     Tongues were a foreign language

4.     There were people saved

In every case of tongues or any spiritual gift in Acts, these four principles hold.  Now, we know God weaves truth and patterns throughout the Bible.  By showing us consistently that this fourfold pattern exists and is always accurate through Acts, we see something that should work for us today.  

We can look at the Bible and easily see why tongues have ceased, but if we stretch it to assume they may not have, their use should conform to the rules above.  Nothing in the Bible contradicts them, and with a little digging you will see that no tongues usage today has anything to do with the Bible model.  

There is a practice called The Law of First Mention in hermeneutics. This really just means it is the law of the first use. The law was built to fulfill Timothy's command to rightly divide the word of truth, and not allow people to twist scripture. I bring this up as the Fourfold Pattern above does indeed come from this practice. All of Acts follows this pattern, so to take subsequent tongues mentioned later in the Bible and try to make it fit outside of its original meaning is just twisting scripture.

One of the key arguments thrown up is based on the practice of the tongues being a ministry gift, which is what they claim Acts was, or a mark of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul tell us, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." You can comb your Bible carefully and you will find we are told to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but never baptized.

These verses prove that a believer has the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38-39, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."

It says everyone will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost at salvation, which is what Christ promised us. The word ‘baptize’, however, is the Greek word baptizo, and is referring to the immersion kind in water, not in the spirit. To claim otherwise is to twist scripture.  Anyone who has dealt with sprinkling should know this word and its meaning well.  As a side thought, notice who's name you are to be baptized in.  Have you ever heard a pastor do that?  Just curious...

Acts 2:4 is also often twisted, "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."  As stated above these are known languages and follow the Fourfold Pattern. To claim believers today should achieve the same thing upon salvation is to take what happened at Pentecost out of context for a spurious belief. 

The Church in Corinth

Ponder this – tongues are not unique to Christianity. The fact pagans can speak in tongues and do it just as convincingly as any professing Charismatic Christian is proof that someone speaking in tongues does not necessarily mean they are getting that ability from God. Pagans do it too. It simply cannot be an indication of God’s hand on that person.

Tongues can be practiced in an ignorant, ungodly way. This is what was going on in the church in Corinth. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess through rampant abuse of the spiritual gifts. They were abusing the gifts in every imaginable way and combined with an unimaginable morality going on in that church. 

Paul was writing to correct this. Tongues can be practiced in an ungodly way.  It can be done in such a way that it brings attention to the person speaking in tongues, rather than glorifying Christ and edifying the church. That is what was going on in the church at Corinth.

I Corinthians 14:27,28, “If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.

But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.”

Paul made it clear that if speaking in tongues is done in public in corporate worship, an interpreter must always be present and he must always interpret. So if you are in a church and there is a group of people speaking in tongues all at once with no one interpreting, that is well outside of biblical parameters. That is not of God. Paul clearly states it must be done by two or at the most three, each in turn and one must always interpret. And if that is not what’s going on, then that is outside of biblical parameters, it is not of God.

As a Christian we believe the Bible.  We cannot simply erase what Paul wrote.  You may be starting to see why there is an issue with the use of tongues in churches today, not just at Corinth.  You also can see why we believe the gift has ceased anyway and is no longer in operation.

As pointed out on the note on Acts 2:4 above, it is false that all believers should or must speak in tongues. Some churches teach that if you are saved, your salvation will be evidenced by you speaking in tongues. And if you do not speak in tongues then are not saved. This belief is patently unbiblical.

I Corinthian 12:29, “Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?”

Here the Apostle Paul asks a series of rhetorical questions. He says, “All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not teach, do they? All do not speak in tongues, do they? And clearly the implied answer to these rhetorical questions is no…no they do not.

We can no more say that every Christian should speak in tongues than we could say that every Christian should have the gift of teaching, or every Christian should have the gift of mercy, or every Christian should have the gift of preaching (prophecy). Every Christian does not have every spiritual gift. The Holy Spirit distributes the gifts among the body as He wills to do so (I Corinthians, pretty much the whole Chapter 12). So this is patently unbiblical.

Isaiah 28:11, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.”  This verse is typical of many OT prophecies.  It has an immediate meaning carrying judgment to those not following God, but it also has a future look of judgment.  While some may say it does not speak of tongues, Paul would disagree as he quotes from it.

I Corinthians 14:21-22, “In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.

Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.”

Remember our Fourfold Pattern from Acts?  Someone was always saved when tongues were spoken.  Preaching that brings souls to Christ does so through conviction of sin, usually helping the sinner see their soul in the light of eternal judgment for their sins.  So, tongues were a sign of judgment.  The Jews had hard hearts, and just words would not work.  They were a sign, not to those who believed, but those who did not.

Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” 

It is interesting to me that the Great Commission was command, with split fulfillment.  We all know how the apostles and disciples, and even modern missionaries travel the world to reach the lost for Christ.  However, consider the day of Pentecost.  When the apostles stood up to preach they spoke every man in the language of those present.  This was the world’s crossroad, with people from every known language regularly trading and traveling.  That day, they each hear the gospel in their own language.  Isaiah 28:11 was fulfilled, and Acts 1:8 was also. 

That day these hardened Jews heard Isaiah 28:11 fulfilled, and knew this as a sign of prophetic judgment.  They knew Isaiah and they believed it and had learned of its historical accuracy.  There was no doubt in their minds what was happening, but this preaching tied together the fact they had rejected their Messiah and crucified him.  And they knew he rose from the dead.  Over 500 accurate witnesses.  No doubt.  Now judgment.  

Many came to know Christ that day.  We cannot know what all went through their hearts as they accepted Christ, but can only glory in their decision.  They were, however, judged.  That day God’s focus of salvation shifted from the Jews to the Gentiles.  You see this throughout Acts, and how God even had to help Peter as he was quite racist or purist.  He did not want to preach to the Gentiles.  As the focus shifted to the Gentiles, you do not see tongues used.  This was a sign to the Jews, knowing it tied to prophecy and OT scripture for them. 

Today the Jews are still under judgment.  They are waiting upon God to shift his focus back to them.  Consider the gospel spread out from Jerusalem.  It left the Jews as it spread to the Gentiles.  For 2,000 years it has been circling the globe, but if you are a map watcher it is moving back to the middle east.  Where are the biggest revivals happening right now?  Not in Great Britain like they used to.  Not in America like they used to.  No, they are happening in Islamic countries.  Whole towns are leaving Allah for our saviour.  The Holy Spirit is alive and well and still reaching the lost.  No tongues, just the gospel.  I believe that as the Holy Spirit works back to Jerusalem, it is another indication the Rapture is soon.  Definitely listening for that trumpet!!!

Closing

I would challenge Christians to go back to the Bible.  We are never told "feelings" get us to heaven, but faith.  We have no evidence from the Bible that "spirit filled" services are Biblical or of God.  If you look into it hard enough, Satan has been doing what modern churches do for ages, but this has nothing to do with God.  Please examine your beliefs in the light of scripture, and let go of the feelings.  Get back to holiness and Godliness.  Remember what the source of wisdom is - the fear of the Lord.  Fear, or full respect for his holiness and our sinful position, does not make one jump up and down, but rather fall on their face repenting of their sins.  

This is not a deep dive into the subject, but I do hope it will help anyone seeking truth.  For someone wanting to dig, I would recommend “The Corinthian Catastrophe” by George E. Gardiner.  It is a small book, but powerful and very well researched and written.