The Progression of Ecumenicism, and True Faith in Christ
According to 'TheFreeDictionary.com' website, Ecumenicism, by definition, can mean one of two things;
- A movement promoting unity among Christian churches or denominations.
-or- - A movement promoting worldwide unity among religions through greater cooperation and improved understanding.
3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
and also Ephesians 4:3-5;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Let's not also forget the encouragement found in one of the Psalms of David, Psalm 133:1;
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
So, from the very beginning of the Church age, it was never the intention of the Spirit, as seen by the instructions given us in the Bible, that there should be any divisions whatsoever amongst the brethren. The only thing that should divide one group of believers from another would be purely physical constraints geographical location, or population (amount of believers in a given area).
Though the Bible does instruct us in the value of unity amongst the brethren, it is not simply the prerequisite to have just unity, but, to have unity in the 'Faith'.
After the early Church age, and before what is known as 'The Protestant Reformation', there was a push by the "church" for complete unity. This would be the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church as "the one true church" and the forced compliance of the believer in such a "unity" of faith. Since there remained devout believers, who took their instructions from the original Apostle, and early Church Father teachings, the true believer then had the pleasure of having the Inquisition brought upon them, the slaughter of millions of innocent believers, who's only crime was to have the written Word of God in their possession, or not pledge "unity" with the Pope, and the false teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
From this established group of "separated brethren" came all the Christian religions and denominations that we know today. Orthodoxy, known as the division of the East from the West, all Protestant denominations, based on Martin Luther's 95 Theses (but hardly a complete separation from all the false teachings of Rome), and even the arrival of the Latter Day Saints, Jehovah Witness' and other more modern cults.
The only group of believers, present today, that did not come from, or extend from, the Roman Catholic Church are the 'born again' believers. Though a large part in this group may well have been raised in the Roman faith (such as myself), or any of the other denominations, or cults, that came from it, they are separated from all of them by this; their acceptance of the whole truth of the written Word of God, and none other. If you call yourself a "born again believer" and you understand what Jesus commanded in John 3:3, then you are part of the original Church of the Apostles, you have faith that will give the Holy Spirit charge over your life, and there will be no need for you to join in any 'ecumenical movement' of faith because you are already there.
Which brings me to today. Though, as previously mentioned, the ecumenical movement amongst the Churches had its origin among the Protestant denominations, back then, that never included Rome. Neither side had any interest in the other. It wasn't until the presiding of Pope John Paul II, as the leader of the Roman Catholic faith, that we saw the start of the modern day 'ecumenical movement' that more closely aligned with the definition #2 given above. However, he was more focused on the Christian denominations, what they referred to as "the lost brethren". (notice, there was always the emphasis that the Protestant faiths were the 'lost' ones, never the other way around, thus proving my point above about who came from who). As a matter of fact, the leaders, and teachers, of the Roman faith considered it heresy to even call yourself a Christian, and never used that word to describe themselves, the 'faithful' were to be known as 'Roman Catholic' or simply 'Catholic'. Likewise, no Protestant faith ever referred to a Catholic as a "brother in Christ", but John Paul II changed all that.
Now, the present presiding Pope Francis, has moved the bar even further ahead, and is welcoming in ALL the world religions, and inviting them to this new 'unity' of faith among mankind. Now, Christ doesn't even have to be the center, or head of your faith, any God, any faith will do, as long as you have good intentions, and are genuine. (?)
Not to just pick on the Roman Catholic faith, but the same holds true for the Mormon, or Latter Day Saint religion. They considered it lowly to be referred to as 'Christian" and distanced themselves from any reference to such as they consider themselves to be more 'enlightened', or of a higher standing. Sound familiar? However, today, if one comes to your door, that will be the first thing they claim to be, Christian. But, make no mistake, they are not. I will cover this topic in a future article.
So, we see the workings of ecumenicism all throughout the established religions in existence today. We even see some non-denominational, supposedly 'born again' groups of believers, also joining whole hearted in this movement. Why? Well, it's simple, to prepare mankind for the coming deception as detailed in Revelations chapter 13. I strongly suggest reading this chapter, and praying the Holy Spirit opens your eyes to this truth, if you are not yet sure how dangerous this movement is, and will be.
To conclude, because I couldn't say it better, I will leave you with the introduction to an article by Lamb & Lion Ministries titles "The One World Religion" with link to article below;
The most popular apostasy in Christendom today is the teaching that God has revealed Himself in many different ways to different cultures and that, therefore, all religions worship the same god, but just use different names. From this viewpoint, the Allah of Islam is the same as the Yahweh of Judaism and both are the same as the Krishna of Hinduism. The natural conclusion that is drawn from this apostate idea is that there are many different paths to God, Jesus being only one of them. This has led liberal leaders of groups like The National Council of Churches in the United States and the World Council to condemn missionary activity as “arrogant” and “anti-cultural.”1
The Bible teaches that these apostate Christian leaders are eventually going to succeed, at least temporarily. Their triumph will occur when the Antichrist forms his one world religion (Revelation 13:12).
http://christinprophecy.org/articles/the-one-world-religion/In Bonds with Christ,
Mark
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