Satan has used religious man’s laziness, pride and craving for self-governance to deceive him into creating church doctrine–man’s (Satan’s) version of God’s Word, Way and Will. Invariably the “smooth things, lies and deceits” (Isa. 30:10) that comprise much of church doctrine make “the Christian walk” more acceptable, just as those same kinds of words did for Adam and Eve. Because the vast majority of professing Christians choose his more acceptable version of truth, Satan is assured that only a “few” people will go to the trouble of diligently searching until they “find” God’s strait gate and narrow way that lead to eternal life (Mat. 7:13,14). Jesus warns the other 99.9% of professing Christendom in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not every one who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER IN HEAVEN. MANY will say to Me on that (judgment) Day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy (preach) in Your name … and in Your name do many wonderful (religious) works?’ And then I will profess to them, ‘I NEVER KNEW YOU; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity (Lawlessness).'” In Luke 6:46 He asks those same people: “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not what I say?” Note that the people He is addressing all call Him “Lord” (Master/Savior) and do many religious works in His name. On Judgment Day they will gather before Him in joyous expectation of being handed the key to their heavenly mansion. From these same people will come “wailing and gnashing of teeth” when they learn the Truth (Mat. 8:12). In Revelation 3:14-17 He speaks to these uber-religious churchites today through the Apostle John, warning them that they are not what they believe themselves to be. Having walked that path for many years, I know every step of it intimately. In summary, in order to enter the Kingdom of God one must walk in the purity of Jesus Christ, being continuously washed by the water of God’s Word. That Word must be such a constant that it becomes “engrafted”–rooted–within our heart/mind (James 1:21). Having taken root, it then produces “fruits of righteousness” (Phil. 1:1) within the one who has the “mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16/Phil. 2;5). The Babylonian religiosity practiced by the two billion plus parishioners who inhabit the Institutional Church will not qualify them for eternal life. See Hope and Salvation and the Introduction to this website.

The Counterfeit Church–Catholicism/Protestantism–has removed the Biblical God from His dictatorial position as her head. She has replaced Him with “the church,” which has become her version of Israel’s Golden Calf. Following the pattern set by Aaron when he formed the calf and built an alter before it, today’s ministers lead their followers to the alter where they worship their false god and his false messiah. Satan has so deceived professing Christendom (Rev. 12:9) that she does not realize that Catholicism/Protestantism is the “thing” God commands her to “come out” of and to “touch not” (2 Cor. 6:17). True God-seekers are told that, only after having done so, God will be their God and they will be His people.

The reason the billions of professing Christians do not know this is because they have never truly hungered and thirsted for righteousness (Mat. 5:6). Rather, they have hungered and thirsted for salvation. Having embraced Satan’s “smooth words, lies and deceits” coming from his pulpits and Sunday School lecterns, they “know” they are “saved.” They, like their spiritual parents from Eden, believe the Serpent when he whispers: “It’s all good. Come as you are–stay as you are. Sin is inevitable. Form your own religion and attach God’s name to it. Believe what you want; do what you want. And if it is contrary to God’s Word, not to fret–eternal life is guaranteed. I know God told you that to disobey His Word would result in your death. He lied–YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE”  (Gen. 3:1-4).

Because they have never gone past that point in time when they die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24), they are blinded to the Truth of true Christianity. Like Peter before his denial of the Lord and Paul on the road to Damascus, they believe themselves to be “alive” in Christ. But as Jesus told the Church at Laodicea who believed that they were “(spiritually) rich, increased with (spiritual) goods and in need of nothing,” they were in fact lukewarm, wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked” (Rev. 3:14-17). In summary, the masses of Catholicism/Protestantism have never had a spiritual Truth-check. Having been assured from the moment they completed a church-prescribed ritual that they were saved, born again and ready for death or the rapture, they are in reality low-hanging fruit for the Serpent of Eden who rejoices every Sunday morning as he watches them file into his Golden Calf to pay homage to him on his sabbath. To be continued. L.J.