4. The Church, which sets up the cross, is heretical.

Today, most churches have a cross on their building. They insist that the cross is a symbol of the church. Is the cross really a symbol of the church, or an idol? The Bible testifies that the cross is an idol. Let's see the second commandment of the Ten Commandments.

Ex20:4-5 " You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them."

 What does God teach us about idolatry?

Is it okay to make an idol as long as we do not worship it?

 God commanded us not to make an idol in the form of anything.

So, we must not make an idol in the form of anything and worship it.

Can the cross be an exception from the words," in the form of anything"?

No, the cross cannot be an exception.

Making a cross is to disobey God's commandment.

Lev26:1 " Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the LORD your God."

Here, an image, a sacred stone and a carved stone are all idols.

When a man worships an image made of wood or stone, it is idolatry. Then what about a cross made of wood or metal?

The cross is also man-made idol. The cross has no power to save us.

Jer10:2-5 This is what theLORD says: " Do not learn the ways of nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, through the nations are terrified by them. For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do harm nor can they do any good."

Worshiping s man- made image is idolatry. Idols cannot harm us or do any good. What about the Christians these days? Many christians wear a cross or carry it in their cars. However, the crosses can never give them salvation.

Then why do may churches erect cross?

It is because they regard it as sacred, and they believe that the cross has power to save them. However, the cross is nothing but an idol. What will happen to those who erect the cross?

Dt27:15 "Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol- a thing detestable to the LORD, the work of the craftsman's hands? And sets it up in secret."...

What will happen to those who set up an idol in secret? ( They will be cursed)

If they are cursed by God, can they be saved?

Te Bible testifies that the cross is an idol.

Whoever erects the cross cannot be saved.

What happened to those who worshiped idols in the Old Testament times?

Jer2:27 They said to wood,'You are my father.' And to stone,' You gave me birth.' They have turned their backs to me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say,'Come and save us!'

In the time of Jeremiah, people worshiped idols made of wood or stone.

What happened to them?

They were cursed and destroyed.

Today, many churches worship the cross, an idol.

What will happen to them?

They, too, will be cursed and not be saved.

What was the cross used for in the time of Jesus?

At that time,the cross was an execution tool.

That's why Jesus and many saints were sacrificed on the cross.

For this,let's refer to a theological dictionary.

The public use of the cross was adopted by the Christians as a symbol at the time of Constantine.For the early Christians, surrounded by crucifixion as a grim fact of common experience, there was no danger or beautifying the cross by sentiment.

- Baker's Dictionary of Theology, p.152-

At that time, the cross was a horrible execution tool. The cross had not been used in the church for centuries after Jesus' ascension.

Then how did the cross find its way the church?

Constantine, the Roman emperor, authorized Christianity(313A.D.)

As time passes by, the church became secularized. And the execution by crucifixion was abolished(315A.D.)

After that, in 431A.D., the cross started to be used in the church and church offices. Around 586A.D. It was erected on church steeples.

This means that cross-reverence started as it became secularized.

However, today's churches keep worshiping the cross until now. 

Please distinguish the true church, which follows the teachings of the Bible,from the false churches. 

We have to remember Jesus's sacrifice by keeping the New Covenant which Jesus established even before his death, not by worshiping the cross itself. The New Covenant was the will of God which he left for us and present for his children. World Mission Society Church of God celebrates the New Covenant.

Do you want to know about WMSCOG?

1.The Church that keeps the Sunday service, a man-made doctrine, is heretical.

 Worship day is really important, because on that day we meet Our God and He grants us blessing from heaven. If  there was no certain day to keep, there would be no matter. However, God appointed a worship day for the people who believe in Him.
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." Ex20:8
 People of God should keep the Sabbath day which God appointed as a service day.
 God created the heavens and the earth for six days and rested on the seventh-day Sabbath.(Ge2:3)
 The Sabbath day, the memorial of the creative power of God, is the seventh day.

Then, what day of the week is the seventh day?
Sunday: the first day of the week.
Saturday: the seventh day of the week.
 Dictionaries record the seventh day is Saturday.
 When we see a calendar, the seventh-day Sabbath is Saturday.
 The Bible says Jesus resurrected on the first day of the week.(Mk16:9)
 The first day of the week(NIV Version)= Sunday( TEV Version)

Then, what day of the week is the Sabbath? The Sabbath is Saturday.

Catholic books also testify that the Sabbath day is Saturday.
"The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify."
(James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of our Fathers)

"The word Sabbath means rest, and is Saturday, the seventh day of week."
(Rev. John A O' Brien, Te Faith of Millions)

Jesus,too, worshiped on the Sabbath(Saturday).
"Jesus...on the Sabbath day(Saturday) he went into the synagogue, as his custom." Lk4:16

After Jesus ascended, Apostle Paul also worshiped on the Sabbath day (Saturday).
" As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures..."Ac 17:2

So far, we have seen God's worship day the Sabbath which is Saturday. Then why almost every church keeps Sunday service?
 "He who belongs to God hears what God says" Jn 8:47
 "The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." Jn 8:47

Just as Jesus and His disciples kept the Sabbath day ( Saturday), God's people should keep the Sabbath day(Saturday) which God appointed.

What about the churches that keep Sunday service? Can we name them as God's people? So, the churches that keep Sunday service, which is not found in the Bible, is heretical.

Come to World Mission Society Church of God which keeps the Sabbath on Saturday.

Do you want to know the exact meaning of Heresy?-1

Then what is the "absolute heresy" that the Bible defines?

 Absolute Heresy: " Heresies don't teach the word of God, but made-up stories (doctrines), and they will be finally destroyed<2Peter2:1>
 We can discern absolute heresies that the Bible defines, by checking if they are of the new covenant established by Jesus, or if they are of man-made doctrines.

We can distinguish the absolute heresy through the Bible only. We can never know it with popular opinions or something else. Then let's look into it one by one through the Bible. Among many, we will see some important teachings of God.

1. The Church that keeps Sunday service, a man-made doctrine, is heretical.

2. The Church, which does not keep the Passover, is heretical.

3. The Church,which celebrates Jesus's birth on Dec.25 that is not found in the Bible, is heretical.

4. The Church, which sets up the cross, is heretical.

We will see why those teachings such as the Sunday service, Christmas, cross are wrong and not biblical.

Do you want to know? http://wmscog.org/

We are following as the Second Coming Jesus let us know.

Do you want to know the exact meaning of Heresy?

 What do you think of "Heresy"? The word doesn't sound good, right? Some people think it is the heresy that a new denomination is made except the existing denominations. Other people think the denominations which don't believe in Jesus or heaven and hell are kinds of heresy. We have to know the meaning clearly. The wrong definition can make victims of witch hunts or stir up the popular passion.

There are "Relative Heresy" and "Absolute Heresy". Let's distinguish them well.

Relative Heresy: A heresy judged by the dogma of a denomination. Sometimes, the True Church is branded as heretical by the relative standards of men, not by the absolute standard of the Bible.
 The representative example is the belief of the Early Church, which was branded as heresy.

" We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world, He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect." (Acts 24:5)

 Judaists didn't believe in Christ who came in the flesh, and stuck to the old covenant.
 Moreover, they denounced the belief of the Early Church that kept the new covenant, as heresy.
 However, the Early Church absolutely believed the promise that God would come in the flesh (Isaiah 9:6) and establish the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31).
 The Early Church absolutely believed that Jesus is God in the flesh, and spread the new covenant that Jesus established.
 The Early Church looked heretical in the eyes of the Jewish leaders, but was the True church in God's point of view.

The history of the Bible teaches us how dangerous it is to accuse a church as heretical on the basis of one's own doctrines.