The Divisions of Denominationalism:

Satan's Lie

by Petros Presbeftes

Denominationalism is all around us. We have the Roman Catholic Church, the

Pentecostal Church, the Calvinists, the Lutheran Church, the Baptist

Church, the Charismatic Movement, the Mormon Church, ad infinitum. Each

and every one of these separate denominations has a set of dogmas that they

follow in their worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. Each claim that they in

turn hold the absolute truth about being in communion with our Lord; yet

they are becoming more tolerant about how they relate to other

denominations.

Some denominations are even saying that we are all together in the Body of

Christ, because we all believe in Jesus, and we all consider Jesus Christ

to be 'Lord' of our lives, and consider ourselves 'Born Again'. The

Charismatics of each denomination go further by saying that the ultimate

experience is to have 'the Baptism in the Holy Ghost' with the evidence of

speaking in tongues, even as the 'Spirit' gives the utterance.

But truly there is a problem: NONE of the denominations agree with other

peer denominations, and indeed it seems that it is anything but a

brotherhood of love in Christ Jesus. What causes all this turmoil, and

division, and discord. Satan, the Devil is the root cause of this

division, and it interferes with our worship of Christ in our daily walk

and it can prove to be the thing which causes loss of Grace with God.

It is loss of Grace with God that Satan is after, for this means in other

words: loss of our salvation. Salvation is a free gift from God. But, if

we do not accept this gift daily by thanks, and prayer, and worship, and

following after the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ, then we lose our

free gift of Grace, and become separated from God. Of course, if we

repent, we gain back the free gift of Grace, but our hearts have to throw

away the hypocrisy of saying Amen while we mean the opposite. Until our

hearts throw out the nature which is deceitful; in favor of the nature

which is full of TRUTH, and PEACE, and REPENTANCE, there can be no

salvation for us to be kept. In other words, we can accept the free gift

all day long, but if the conditions are not right in us, the free gift will

be thrown away by us each time it is offered.

Let us come back to one important point: Denominations are an effect of

division, and turmoil, and discord. Can the Church of Jesus Christ really

be party to this situation? The answer is a resounding NO!!! Jesus Christ

himself assured the Apostle Peter that the Church would never suffer Evil,

or Division, or Discord. The Gates of Hell will NOT prevail against the

Church. So, already it seems that we can say that all denominations are

not part of the Body of Christ, right? Wrong!!! Although, the Body of

Christ is one, and will always be one, and has always been one, we cannot

say that our brethren are outside of the Body of Christ in a blanket

fashion. Well, we say: How do we determine who is and who is not a member

of the Body of Christ? 'Charlie over there, he is definitely an outsider!'

And how do come to that conclusion? 'Well, he doesn't do this or that!'

Thou hypocrite, if you see a mote in your brothers eye, first cast out the

beam which is in your OWN eye, and then take care of your brother. In

other words, because we are imperfect before God, we cannot judge our

Brother. Then how can we judge Charlie? Anything we can say of Charlie,

can be said about us if we think about it!! Let us bring forth unity and

resolve to be part of the Body of Christ in FACT and put away our DISCORD,

DIVISION, and EVIL in favor of TRUTH, GRACE, and PEACE.

What am I saying here? Well, I'm saying that anyone who truly seeks after

the Lord Jesus Christ will find him, and will go through personal

transfiguration and a personal pentecost in their souls. But this person

needs communion with the rest of the Body in order to grow spiritually.

How can a Body hear without ears? How can a Body see without eyes? Can a

person smell using an ear? Or see using the mouth? No: Eyes are for

seeing, Ears for hearing, and Mouths for speaking. So, therefore, the

Church is the Body of Christ here on Earth, and there is ONLY ONE CHURCH.

NOT MANY, BUT ONE CHURCH!!!

The different denominational groups are not in themselves a Church. This

is because all the various denominations are products of men; not God. The

Church of Christ, on the other hand, is Divinely Created by God for

mankind's salvation. Now, we ask, how can we find the Church? How is it

possible to identify it? Those who ask these questions miss the important

part of the message of this paper. The Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and

Apostolic, and headed by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This title cannot

be claimed by any group that is an outgrowth of Discord, Division, and

Evil. The title cannot be claimed by any group tracing its history back to

a mortal human being. The title can only be claimed in a visible fashion

by the successors to the Apostles who were in turn given power by God,

through the Son, and the Holy Ghost, under the Love of the Father. In

other words it is a complete harmonious move of all three persons of Holy

God; the Trinity. As long as the Apostles defended the Faith, the Church

lived on, and lives on this day and ever more to the coming of our Lord.

But there is an invisible aspect to the Church as well, for we are not able

to be judge of our fellow brothers. There are those who have been a part

of the Body of Christ in isolation, or in ways mysterious to us in the

visible Church. For us to deny that this can be so, is to deny the power

and glory of God. God's will does not wait on us, or depend on our action

to commence. Therefore, the Apostleship of God can be an invisible as well

as visible ministry of the Body of Christ. But let us not sit back and say

to ourselves that: "Since I am not a visible member, I am yet a member

anyway because of my 'relationship' with 'God'." We should always be weary

of complacency. It is a fact that we are often misled into: 'feeling good

is a requisite to salvation'! Satan is master at making us 'feel good'!

Beware, we are skating on thin ice if we are not TRUE in our HEARTS with

GOD. One day, if we do not change from corrupted hearts, we will fall

through the ICE and drown in the spirit, and burn in hell fire! Let us all

repent!

But, I'm a good Christian. I'm right with God. I do everything I can for

God. I'm a good person. I perform miracles in Jesus' Name. I prophesy in

Jesus' Name. I've made it!! I'm saved, and my place is made for me

already in heaven. My reservation is in. (800) 325-3535. Sorry, I just

couldn't resist!! We are the opposite of humble if we claim 'once saved,

always saved.' If we say, 'I am born again. I've made it.', we delude

ourselves and lie to our Lord. The reason for this is that our soul is

saved when we accept the Lord as our personal saviour, and further we put

our actions where our mouth is. Jesus wants to see that we carry out our

commitments to Him. If we say, Lord! Lord! but we really don't mean it,

Jesus will say, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who perform

iniquities.' So, therefore, we need to be careful about the content of our

heart.

Jesus commanded each of us to be Baptized, and after this He commanded that

we should receive the Holy Ghost. These two events in our lives are very

important to our spiritual life, and our salvation, because it is part of

the armour and amunition that God provides us to be ready for battle with

Satan, the Devil. Through these actions, God sends down upon us His Cloak

of Grace to protect us from evil. The Holy Ghost lives in us from the time

we receive Him and inspires us to do God's will, provides the LAMP of God

within us, and is our teacher. Jesus further commanded that we should on a

regular basis participate in the Divine Supper of our Lord, saying, 'Do

this in remembrance of me.' Jesus took the Bread and broke it and said,

'This is my Body.' Then Jesus took wine and said, 'This is my Blood of the

New Testament.' 'Take Eat'. 'Drink'. The 12 Apostles received Divine

Grace from God the Son during this Divine Supper, which represented the

eating and drinking of the Divine Substance of God, so that God would

become part of us more and more each day. Jesus showed his Disciples the

Gift of Healing and commanded that the Apostles carry on this ministry.

So, when we are sick and lame, we go to be healed by the Apostle of God.

Jesus then showed us to empty out the evils of our heart, and replace this

turmoil with peace that passes understanding. We do this by confessing our

sins, and transgressions, so as to be cleansed of the excess baggage of

guilt and torment and unrest. Confession makes it possible for peace to

return to our hearts, through repentance. If God calls us, then we answer

the call to become His Apostolic Servant, and carry on the special

responsibilities of this Office. Through marriage, we grow in learning

about the mystery of 'diversity in unity, and unity in diversity'. All

these and other actions confer upon us Grace from God above, who feeds us

good spiritual food for our souls to grow by. This Grace from above is

called by theologians, a Sacrament. In the Church of Jesus Christ, there

are an infinite number of Sacraments, and there are seven Major Sacraments:

Baptism, Holy Chrism (Receiving the Holy Ghost), Holy Eucharist (the Divine

Supper of our Lord), Holy Ordination, Holy Unction (Healing), Holy

Confession, and Holy Marriage.

The Sacraments help us to grow spiritually into likeness of God. We are

told that we already were made in the image and likeness of God, but when

Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they lost their likeness of God

and became dead spiritually. When we become Baptized and Receive the Holy

Ghost, we start taking the medicine of God that restores our likeness to

God. But if we during our spiritual walk make a decision to love the

things of the world more than our God, or if we make the decision to push

out of our heart the Holy Ghost, we will lose the gift that God provided us

with. Every day, we need to renew our commitment to God, and our Love of

God. This way, we can say: I was saved, I am saved, and I will be saved.

Consider this seriously.

The Holy Orthodox Church is today one of the members of the corporate Body

of Christ in its visible form. Learning more about the Orthodox Church is

a most valuable query for us to make, because this Church can trace its

history all the way back to Jesus Christ, has Jesus Christ as its head, and

is consequently a member of God's Divine Institution here on Earth.

Through an insightful inquiry, we can learn about the breathtaking history

of the Church, and be inspired by those servants of God who living in the

past became shining examples for us to follow in our journey upon the

Ladder of Spiritual Growth in Christ Jesus. Let us all remember that God's

most shining example for us to follow is Jesus Christ, Himself. Amen.

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God the Father, and the

communion of the Holy Spirit be with you, now and for ever, and from all

Ages to all Ages. Amen.