Expert: Mr. McClellan - 10/11/2008

Question
Thank you for your past answers.  I am studying them in depth with my husband in search of truth.  I have a few more questions please answer what you can, I appreciate that you are busy in China.

1)Any comments you have on the Ecumenical Councils of the Church would be appreciated.   It was through these councils that Christian doctines were clarified and also the books of the Bible were finalized.  Did God inspire the outcomes of these councils?

2)  Orthodox Religion belief and practice is a mixture of biblical beliefs and holy traditions.  They give themselves the authority to use traditions by II Thess. 2:15.  Their traditions include scripture, dogma from Ecumenical Councils, Holy Canons, Creeds, Hagiography (lives of Saints) and everythings confirmed by antiquity (practiced by Holy Fathers from earliest times), universality  (practiced everywhere) and consensus (1Cor.11:2,34/11 Thess. 3:6,II John 1:12, ).  Are they not going beyond what is required in the Bible.

3)According the the Orthodox Church the entire saving work of the Lord is not recorded in the NT alone (John 21:25 II John 12, III John 13). Do we need to go beyond the Bible for answers?


4)According to the Orthodox Church Holy Tradition gave us Holy Scripture and Holy Scripture affirms the validity of Holy Tradition.  Is this not circular reasoning?

5) The Orthodox Church prays with all saints (including the dead ones in heaven).  They ask for their intercessions because they are closer to God.  Does the Bible say that Jesus is our only intercessor?

6) The Orthodox Church has a Monastic Tradition which they justify with the following scriptures. Mark 10:29-30, Mark 10:12-25, Matthew 19:10-12.  Are they misinterpreting the scriptures?  Many of the monastics deprive themselves of worldly things (self denial)? Did God not give us his creation to enjoy and be thankful for?  They claim that the first Christians lived as Monastics do today - cleansing of the heart, illumination of the soul, ceaseless prayer (1 Corr.7:25-38)

7)The Orthodox Church has special consideration for the Virgin Mary.  They believe she never married and had further children (Jesus was her only child) and she was a perpetual virgin.  She is honored as the Mother of God. My understanding is that she married Joseph and had other children. Is she due any special status from the perspective of the Bible?

8)The Orthodox Church believes that God's grace works mystically for our salvation throught their sacraments. Baptism, Crismation, Holy Eucharist and Confession are required. They say that in confession Christ grants through the priest, the forgiveness of the sins that we commit after Baptism when we truly repent.  How does this coincide with the requirements of the Bible to repent and be baptized?

I appreciate that you are busy.  Any answers you provide would be appreciated.

Carol


Answer
Hi Carol,
May I try to explain something that could make things a lot easier for you? I hope so, because I'm going to go ahead and assume that it is.
Questions: What does a person HAVE TO KNOW AND DO in order to get into the kingdom of heaven [be saved, be added to the church, obtain forgiveness, etc., all of which are just different ways of saying the same thing]? Do they HAVE TO KNOW AND DO EVERYTHING that God has said? Or, is there a "key" to getting in, and then from the point of entry, you should sincerely try to learn everything else that God wants you to know and do, and that as long as your are really and earnestly trying to know and comply with the will of God you would go to heaven if you died before you discovered ALL OF THE TRUTH?
What do you think? How would a truly just God handle this?
Remember the place where a man asked Jesus what he had to do in order to get into the kingdom of heaven? Jesus told him that what HAD TO HAPPEN was a person had to love God (we could say "the truth") more than anything and (DO THE FOLLOWING) treat others the way you'd want them to treat you if you were in their place. Of course, you can't say that you love God if you are not willing to do what he says, and you have to know what he says, not just happen to make the right guess, in order to know that you are obeying him. Right? Right.
I mean, what if you really wanted to know what God requires, but there was no way to actually know, and you made the wrong guess? Could you say that God was being just if he punished you when it was really his fault that you could not know? What is the obvious answer to this question?
Now, we'll assume that we've already established the fact of the Biblical God's existence and that Jesus has earned the right to set the conditions on how to have eternal life. Now, we want to know how to get into his kingdom, that is, we want to KNOW WHAT WE MUST DO TO BE SAVED, or how to get in the door. The answer to this is found in Acts 2. Peter preached the gospel to them, that is, he told them that Jesus had purchased our bad debts held by God and the Jesus had prepared a new contract for people to agree to where he would forgive their debt on certain conditions. That those people who believed what Peter said were not saved at the moment that they believed is clear because they then asked, "WHAT MUST WE DO." Peter plainly told them that in addition to just believing, they HAD to REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED in order to get the gift of forgiveness. The word AND means that both things were eaually required, so they could not get the gift without DOING BOTH things. This means that the people who claim that you don't have to be baptized to be saved are preaching a different way of salvation than the one Jesus requires. This means that they must be following a different Christ than the one described in the New Testament. That Chirst cannot save anyone.
The same is true with regard to people who think that having a few drops of water sprinkled on them or a cup of water poured over their heads is being baptized. They're trying to use different keys than the ones Christ gave Peter and told him to use to let peple in to the kingdom. The idea that all you have to do is "believe" to be saved comes from a seriously mistaken idea about what "faith" really is and what it is to be based on. The idea that sprinkling or pouring water over someone and calling it baptism comes from a very wrong and legalistic idea of the way of salvation. That change came about at one of those councils you mentioned. In order to make a change in what Peter said, they had to assume that there was someone on earth that could take the place of God and make such changes. They assumed wrongly about that and a lot of other things too.
So, lets say that you've complied with what Peter said and now you're in the door, you're in God's kingdom where you're allowing him to have the say about your life, you've been made a saint, and you've been added to the church (All of this takes place the instant your sins are forgiven.). What next? If you were to die at that moment, would you go to heaven? I mean, you haven't learned that you no longer have to tithe, or that men don't have to be circumcised, or that you don't have to sacrifice all kinds of plants and animals and have some priest make the offerings for you, or that don't have to stay home on the Sabbath, and so on and so forth. All you know at this point is that you want Jesus to be your lord and master help you learn about everything you need to know in order to continue to grow in you understanding of how a Chirstian should think and behave. In other words, you really want to know how to be like Jesus.
Well, as long as you maintain that spirit and seriously apply your efforts in that direction, you've got it made. When you discover that you're not doing the right things, or realize that you've hurt someone, or contributed to their wrong ideas, and etc., repent and Jesus will continue to forgive you. As long as you continue in "the way," you'll have it made. When you die, you'll be among those that will be resurrected to eternal life. Be faithfull unto death, and you'll receive the crown of life. That's what the writers of the Bible said.
Now, if there was some truth that you did not discover before you died, it would be the same as if it was not possible to know the truth. God does not hold you accountable for things that you cannot know, or that you did not have time to discover and that you could not have known. You can know what he has revealed though.
So, here we have it. Use the keys Jesus gave to Peter and the other apostles to let people into the kingdom of heaven. Don't try to use a different set of keys because they will not work. Once you're in, continue to grow in the knowledge of God's grace as long as you are blessed with time to do so.
Is it important to not follow a lot of false teachings and false teachers? Absolutely! But, even if a teacher uses the right keys to let you into the kingdom, it does not mean that he will guide you into all the rest of the truth. You are accountable for finding out the truth for yourself. Too many people think that they can just not read the Bible but maybe a little, or even none, and let someone else figure it out and then tell them what to do. You can't cheat on this. You have to do your own homework and not just copy from someone else you think is likely to have gotten all the answers. You won't be allowed to put the blame on someone else on the day of judgement.
Lastly, what good would it do if I just told you all of the correct answers to all of the questions that you and so many other people have about specific doctrines? We'd likely just get bogged down in arguments about which manuscripts were really true to the original things written by the apostles and so on. "Yes, it does say this," and "No, it doesn't say that," is not how to know the truth. That kind of thing has been frustrating people since forever. There is another way, and it is the only legitimate way and everyone can do it. But, that is for my book. Until then, if you can't know something, and you know that you can't know it, don't worry. A just God cannot condemn you concerning it. However, you have to sincerely keep on trying to discover more and more of the truth as long as you live, or until you know it all. Remember, God is judging your heart and not just looking at your actions. He knows the reasons you do what you do, and it's your reasons for doing what you do that determine if they are right or wrong. Don't forget though, that all of the various versions of the Bible agree on the keys for getting in and they are very easy to use.
I'm sorry for being a bit terse in my last letter. Even Jesus and his apostles, whom we are allowed, and even encouraged, to immitate, sometimes got a little peeved at people not seeming to be able to understand some of the most simple things. Sorry.

Now, the contract, or covenant, that God had with the Jews, called the Law of Moses, was completed when Jesus was resurrected. No one has to abide by it anymore. It was only for the Jews who were the physical descendants of Abraham in the first place. A gentile could join in and make himself subject to the terms of the contract if he wanted, but it was not required. When Jesus paid the penalty of death that God requires for sin (think Adam and Eve), it was the result of a plan that had been made before the world was even created. God created Adam and Eve and gave them immortality and they could keep it on the condition that they stayed faithful to the terms of the contract he made with them. They broke the contract and immortality was taken from them. A similar thing happens today when you fail to make the payments on your house according to the contract you've made with the bank. The bank takes it back. However, God did not give the gift of immortality to anyone after Adam and Eve. So, everyone since has died. The result is the same as if everyone had sinned. That's what Paul was trying to say when said tht "all died because all sinned." it's a figure of speech. He was not saying that babies die because they are born sinners. Sin is not like a drug that is injected into you so that it is part of your body that you can't avoid having or reacting to. Sin is a knowing or careless choice you make to ignore God. So, the very nature of what sin is was misunderstood by some of those early church "fathers" and they created an unjust tyrant to take the place of the God actually described in the Bible. The false teaching are almost without number and it would take many think books to deal with all of them. And, even then people would be raising all kinds of arguments objecting to something that they did not understand about something said.
So, while there is an answer to it all that I am going to "reveal" in my, hopefully, forth coming book, you'll do just great if you have and maintain a serious truth seeking spirit and use the right keys to get in the door of the kingdom. There are no other keys, there are no other paths to God, no other ways to heaven. There is only one legitimate set of keys, only one true gospel, only one faith, only one true lord, only one church, and there is only one baptism according to all that we can possibly know at this time about what the Bible says. If that is not true and if you can't know what the real truth is, then a just God cannot condemn you for not obeying it.
OK. I think I've said about everything I can think of at the moment to make it clear, and I know that I've repeated myself a lot in the process. But.......... I've tried.


Hi Carol,
WOW, you're really trying to get to the bottom of things, aren't you? That's great! I still remember the very day many years ago that I made up my mind to figure out where everyone was going wrong about whether or not God exists. Some "great" minds said you could know, but when I carefully examined their proofs I found them mostly to be nothing more than subjective opinions. Some "great" minds said that there is no God, but they had no proof what so ever to back up their claims. And, some "great" minds said that the truth can't be known about anything, much less the existence of God. To them I asked, "Are you sure?" "How can you know that the truth can't be known about anything, much less about the existence of God, unless you know the truth? Duhhhhh! I was only thirteen years old then and even I could see through that absurdity. I realized even at that tender age that if we can't know whether or not God exists, then we can't be sure if he even has any requirements for us or what they might be, and he sure can't be a just God if he punishes us for what we can't know and just have to guess at, hoping that by some miracle to get it right. But if I, for example, happen to guess the right answers and other people disagree with me, then they are wrong and are definitely not obeying God no matter how sincere they may be about what they believe! We have to be able to know what the truth is because, according to what Jesus supposedly said, you have to know the truth in order to be free from the penalty of sin, and knowing is not the same as guessing and accidentally getting the right answer. Real faith, is not a guess. It's based on knowing something. The more you know about something or someone, the more and stronger faith you can have in them or it. The better the proof you have, the greater your trust can be. This modern definition of faith everyone is using today is exactly the definition used by every believer in false gods. It's just a prejudice they've developed out of credulity. All of the believers in false gods you can read about in the Bible had no proof for the existence of their gods, but that didn't stop them from sacrificing their babies to them and comitting all kinds of other gross acts in service to them.
People by the multi-millions are doing no less today. Just think, for example, at how the wanton murder of millions of little innocent babies is justified under the euphemism "abortion." Yes, there are good reasons to have to kill people sometimes, but this is nothing but the legal wholesale murder of people by mothers, doctors, and fathers, with no conscience. And, actually, the real reason for it being so strongly promoted is to save the earth from being overrun by humans in order to save what remains of the earth's natural resources for the ultra wealthy and their slaves who will get the crumbs off the table if they're lucky. Well, to get to your questions.
1. No. There were no miracles done to confirm the decisions of any such councils. They are nothing more than the doctrines of men and have no more authority than that. Now, that wasn't hard, was it?
2. Orthodox religion isn't orthodox except, in this case, in the minds of those who make those claims. Their orthodoxy is composed of a lot of man made teachings mixed with a little truth to make it seem legitimate and authoritative. It isn't. They twist the scriptures to support their preconceived ideas and not one of them has been confirmed to be true by means of any kind of legitimate miracle. So, you don't have to believe them. We've got God's permission to ignore them. See Deut 18, Jn 3:1-3, Heb 11, and other passages that clearly tell us that the only way God can justly hold us accountable is for him to give us proof of what the truth is.
3. The so called "Orthodox Church" has no legitimate basis for saying such a thing. Let them prove it with miracles if they can. They can't, and they know it. But they hope that you will just be gullible enough to believe it without any proof other than their twisted way of interpreting the Bible that they might try to prove true with a fake miracle. There's lots of that going on everywhere.
4. The only traditions that we are accountable for are those that were established by miracles and none of them were just to be done for the simple sake of having something religious looking to do.
5. Every person who obtains forgiveness of their sins is a saint. It's a form of the words "sanctify," and "sanctified." God makes you a saint at the moment he forgives your sins. That is, he sets you apart from the world for a special purpose. The various Catholic denominations have completely corrupted the this and have totally ignored the meaning of it, not having a clue to the Biblical doctrine on salvation and terms related to it.
6. Just some more twisting of the scripturs to fit their preconceived ideas, none of which they can prove true and easily shown to be false, though I'm not going to take time with it today.
7. Absolutely no legitimate basis for that at all. None what so ever.
8. There's no mystery about God's grace, not the Biblical God's grace anyway. At least not for anyone who understands that God does not owe it to anyone to forgive their sins because people don't have to sin to begin with. All that junk about not being able to obey God and being born sinners is just that, junk. That is, unless justice and injustice mean the same thing and God created a bunch of sinner who could not help being sinners just so he could get some glory for forgiving them of sins that they could't have avoided anyway. Good grief! Now that really would be a mystery! No wonder they say it can't be understood. Who can understand such rediculousness?

Well, I hope that my short answers are helping some. A church leader once told me that he would never have thought to think about some of the things that I think about. I, on the other hand, find it difficult to understand how people can not think about them. They are so incredibly obvious.

I hope you have a truly wonderful day.
Sincerely,
Mr. McClellan
7.