Can You See Two Forms Of Christianity Being Practised Today? (2)

By James Quansah, Pastor

WE BEGAN Part One with a message I received from the Holy Spirit in my heart after hours of prayers months ago. The message is: “Many people are deceived to practise Christianity which is ACQUIRED on earth instead of the one REVEALED from heaven”.

From the message one can see two forms of Christianity which are actually being practised on earth today. The first form of Christianity is the one revealed straight from heaven and the second is the one which is acquired on earth.

The first form of Christianity is the one found in the Bible. It is the one which the early believers practised for many years by following the teachings of Christ Jesus and the foundational ministers of the gospel by the leading of the Holy Spirit alone. We discussed this in Part One.

In this article, I want to discuss the second form of Christianity which is acquired on earth. This is the form of Christianity which is being practised extensively on the earth today. Though it shares some similarities with the Christianity which the Early Church practised, it is quite different in many respects. The acquired Christianity undoubtedly emerged from Europe particularly Rome and spread around the world. It is from this form of Christianity that different Christian denominations have emerged.

In the acquired Christianity, the teachings of Christ and that of the foundational ministers which are found in Scripture are mixed with various established traditions of men introduced in Europe between 13th Century and 18th Century and beyond.

Thus, in this form of Christianity which may be described as adulterated or polluted Christianity, festivals like Christmas, Easter are celebrated. Also, honourific titles such as Pope, Cardinal, Vicar, Reverend, Archbishop which have no biblical basis are used by ordained ministers. Most pastors in this form of Christianity also wear priestly garments/ vestments, clerical collars with chains & rings which ministers of the Early Church rarely used.

It is clear that no minister in the Early Church ever used honourific titles attached to their names. Thus, Alexander Strauch points out that “ The modern array of titles attached to the names of most Christian leaders—- reverend, archbishop, cardinal, pope, primate, metropolitan, vicar…are completely missing from the New Testament and would have appalled the apostles and early believers.”

Now, it is important to stress that it is these traditions that have helped the evil of clericalism to gain deeper roots in the modern church. Clericalism is a form of elitism in the church in which ordained ministers see themselves as special or superior to other Christian believers. This is something that never took place in the Early Church.

Moreover, in most denominations under the acquired Christianity only Reverend ordained ministers are permitted to administer the Eucharist, baptize believers, officiate marriage ceremonies, administer marital vows, conduct funeral/burial services among others. However, in the Early Church, disciples of Christ Jesus had the right to baptise believers John 4:2).

Most modern-day ministers aggressively defend these things and practices and call them church traditions. Of course, they are church traditions but is it the Church of God built on Christ Jesus or church of man built on man? It is not surprising that such things had no place or were never practised in the Early Church. Consequently, these things have no basis in Scripture.

Now, should true church traditions be established based on the commandments of God which are found in Scripture or teachings of men without scriptural authority? Sadly, most of these traditions are forced on ministers as Christianity spreads. They are also copied blindly from the teachings and appearances of some denominational leaders often through television, books, films and Internet today.

Truth is: church traditions which have no basis in Scripture were introduced by the activity of the devil to adulterate and usurp the authority of the gospel of Christ, make it appear the gospel of Christ originated from Europe instead of Israel and its King and Saviour, Christ the Lord.

Most of these traditions were designed to make ministers chase after greedy ambitions, superior titles of honour; make them appear self-distinguished and self-important than the rest of baptized believers in order to lord over them against the Word of God. (1 Peter 5: 3, 2 Corinthians 1:24, 2 Corinthians 4:5, Matthew 23:8).

Now, either the teachings of Christ and the first apostles are wrong or the established church traditions from Europe are wrong. There is no doubt that amalgamating the two types of Christianity to serve the purpose of God in humility is impossible.

It is for this reason, many Christians today are divided through denominationalism instead of united through Christ the Lord as Christ prayed in (John 17:21, Acts 4:32).

While there are denominations or churches that uphold only the teachings of Christ and the foundational apostles thereby patterning themselves after the Bible, others mix the teachings of the Bible and traditions of men which came from Europe.

Today, a good number of Christian ministers including those who are highly educated continue to be influenced by the terror and deception of Europe to accept, follow and practise European denominational traditions instead of following Christ Jesus and the Bible. It is like they are in slavery. The sad reality is: many do not even realise this situation.

It is, therefore, important for us to plead with all Bible believing disciples of Christ to intercede for the End-time body of Christ to realise where they have fallen, be freed and redirected to follow the Bible alone and reject all unbiblical, unscriptural and strange European traditions introduced into the church. We should understand that men are men, and God is God. Men make mistakes, but God never makes mistakes.

Let’s remember the warning of Paul, the apostle, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8). Today’s Christians must go back to the Bible to learn from Jesus Christ and the foundational apostles so as to be in the perfect will of God.

James Quansah is the Executive Director of Christ-Conscious Leadership Centre (CLC) and lead Pastor of End-Time Christ’s Commissioners (ECC), Kumasi, Ghana. James is also a journalist by profession. He is married with four children.