As is the case with any written message, one of the first things the author needs to do is to identify the subject about whom or what he/she is writing. In His epistles to the churches under his jurisdiction, the Apostle Paul normally does this first thing. In his letter to the churches located in the region known as Galatia he does this. Reading the initial verses we find that, though his words are addressed to everyone in each of the churches, he knows that most of his readers will not agree with his words. Here he is writing a single letter which would be delivered to the pastor of each of the churches who would read it aloud to his respective parishioners. In the third verse of the letter to those churches Paul proclaims “grace and peace from God the Father and OUR LORD, JESUS CHRIST.” In his many letters, Paul uses the word LORD repeatedly; and for good cause. Few, Paul knew, had embraced Jesus as their LORD, meaning MASTER WHO MUST BE OBEYED. This Truth was noted by Jesus Himself in Matthew 7:13,14 when He warned that only a few salvation seekers would enter His spiritual sheepfold through His highly restricted, one-way-only door. Many, He noted, would enter through man’s (Satan’s) wide, have-it-your-way door. It is to the “many” in the Galatian churches that Paul’s letter is intended. These were the original “sinners saved by grace” that fill church pews today. They, like their modern counterparts, accept the “commandments of men” (Mat. 15:9) as God’s Truths. In this series we will be examining a number of those errors which continue to plague and spiritually destroy modern-day churches.

God created and designed this ministry for one purpose–to inform the churches that they are walking in darkness by embracing the errors He led His messengers to write about in both the Old and New Testaments. In this series we will examine a few of them, most of which the vast majority of church people do not recognize as serious errors. The errors are presented in no particular order and, in most cases, will have no direct connection with one another. As is normally the case, I will from time-to-time venture off the subject. In order to announce the transition from one subject to another I will provide a heading for the subject being discussed. I will not go into exhaustive detail relative to these errors in that I have written extensively on them in other series. That said, let us begin.

THE LAW: Probably 99% of those who have read the Book of Ephesians, along with Paul’s other epistles, have assumed that the expression “the law” was referring to the Ten Commandments. For this reason church leaders, having learned from those who had made the same mistake, proclaim that the New Testament Church is not under the law, but under grace. They use the references to the law being “against us” (Col. 2:14) and a “curse” upon those under it (Gal. 3:12) to “prove” that the law does not apply to the church, having been destroyed by Jesus. The Truth of the matter is that in most cases in which “the law” is mentioned, it refers to “the law that was “ADDED (TO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS) BECAUSE OF TRANSGRESSIONS” as we are told in Galatians 3:19. Truth-seeking students of the Holy Scriptures know that “the law” was a curse which God placed upon the Israelite people because they refused to obey His Ten Commandments. This added, blood-soaked, animal-sacrificing, ritualistic law was in fact a punishment for the Israelites that was designed to be their harsh “school master” (3:24,25) until the Lord’s Messiah would come to earth where He would “magnify the (Ten Commandment) Law and make it honorable” (Isa. 42:21). The added law, also known as the “law of Moses” the “book of the law” and the “handwriting of ordinances,” had to be obeyed to the letter in order to be tolerated by God. After the death of Jesus, the added law was no longer in effect, having been “nailed to His cross.” People no longer had to sacrifice animals, travel to Jerusalem once each year to have their sins forgiven, follow a long list of rituals on a daily basis, etc. All that is required to be a child of God today is to obey His Ten Commandments in both letter and spirit. For example, the Law states that we must not commit adultery–the letter of the law. We must also not lust after another person–the spirit of the law.

JEWISH CONVERTS AND CIRCUMCISION: In the New Testament, when the expression “the circumcision” is used in reference to a group of people, those people were Jews, some of whom had professed to believe in Jesus, etc. and were part of the church. Some were sincere. However, others were “false brethren who have entered the church to spy out our freedom” (from the added law). The central issue was JUSTIFICATION–the removal of all PAST sins by God’s grace and man’s faith. This act of grace on God’s part was made possible by the death of Jesus Christ. Read about this merciful act using the key word–Justification. Justification must be accomplished before one can qualify for salvation which will be awarded when Jesus returns to earth to establish the Kingdom of God. Read about that incredible place using the key word–Kingdom.

Some of the Jewish converts were still attached to the added law and believed that in order to be justified one had to be circumcised. Jesus did away with the added law at the Last Supper. Addressing the not-quite-converted Jews and those Gentiles who were following them, Paul said this: “You who are trying to be justified by the (added) law are alienated from Christ and have fallen from grace.” Paul was addressing those in the church who had not been justified. Today the unjustified make up 100% of the members in the Institutional Church. They are living in darkness by being part of that group. They must be truly justified in order to receive the Holy Spirit by which they can overcome Satan’s temptations to sin and thereby receive salvation–IF they retain their justification (righteousness) until the end of their lives (Mat. 10:22).

FALSE GOSPELS: One of the major problems that came to fore early on in the early church, and is today one of the major abominations found in the church–is the existence of various beliefs about what God has written in His Holy Bible. Within the religious body which I call the Catholic/Protestant Religious System there are hundreds of variations of that Holy Tome. In Galatians chapter 1, verses 6 through 9 he expresses amazement that they have so quickly turned away from the God who had called them to Himself. These people had embraced church leaders who were changing the Gospel that Christ had preached and His apostles continued to preach. There were a number of factions in the churches and the congregants were dividing themselves into different groups, each having its own version of the Gospel. If this sounds familiar, it should. Today we call those factions DENOMINATIONS, of which there are hundreds. I met a preacher who claimed that he had identified over 800 different denominations. Each cult has its own creator whose “improvements” of God’s Word comprise that group’s “denominational doctrines.” I recently heard a well-known pastor say that in order to get to heaven, one need to “obey church doctrine.” That church “truth” is embraced throughout professing Christendom today, which reveals how far into apostasy the church has fallen. “Apostasy” is a Greek word meaning to “fall away” from God. Paul warned in Second Thessalonians 2:3 that just before Christ returned the church would enter into a global apostasy. We are now in the midst of it. As I wrote in a series about church apostasy, the movement will result in a global, church-wide civil war that will affect everyone living on planet earth. Read about that soon-coming war using the key word–Civil. L.J.