THE APOSTASY (RCC AND ISLAM)
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 (NKJV)
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,
2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first(apostasia = impure doctrine, the RCC and Islam) and the man(the human antichrist) of sin, the son of perdition, is revealed,
The Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul, says in verse 3 that FIRST the “falling away” must come. “Falling away” stands for: “departing from the faith”. It also stands for: “people no longer following the correct doctrine (the Gospel)”.
Falling away from the faith is expressed by:
- accepting another religion; or
- accepting another doctrine that deviates from the original true teaching (for example the doctrine of the trinity which, according to this interpretation, was devised by the RCC and not by Yeshua Himself).
In other words: a conscious and willing rejection of the Gospel and the following of another doctrine. In the time of Paul, the “falling away” had already begun; even then there were many movements misleading people. They preached other gospels.
1 John 2:22 (NKJV)
22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
1 John 4:2-3 (NKJV)
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
2 John 1:7 (NKJV)
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
Two thousand years after the proclamation of the Gospel, one can, looking back upon the previous centuries, conclude which evangelical denominations are apostate and which are not. “A tree is known by its fruit” (Matt. 12:33). A doctrine (= tree) that bears no fruit is false and weak. Fruit here translates into: proclaiming and spreading the Gospel and the increase of born-again disciples.
Until the 8th century, the Gospel spread rapidly eastward under the leadership of the “Assyrian Church of the East,” better known as the “Eastern Church” or “Nestorian Christians.” In the 8th century and later, these “Nestorian Christians” continued further into Central Asia, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Malaysia, Sumatra, Japan, and Java.
Their Gospel differed worldwide in christology (= defining the human/divine nature of Yeshua) from that of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). For the Eastern/Nestorian Church, Mary was only the mother of the “human” Yeshua (Christotokos) and NOT of the “divine” Yeshua. For the Catholic Church, however, Mary was the mother of both the human and the divine Yeshua (Theotokos).
Mary automatically became the “mother of God” because the Son was equated with God the Father. According to this interpretation, the RCC never completely abandoned its pagan origins, in which goddesses played an important role. Through Mary, a female figure of veneration would once again have been introduced into the church.
When Emperor Theodosius declared the trinitarian Christianity of the RCC to be the state religion in 380, former pagan priests became Christians. Not out of conviction, but out of fear of losing status, power, and possessions. Their temples became churches and pagan rituals received a Christian appearance.
The doctrine of the Nestorians is closer to the truth. According to the Eastern/Nestorian Church, Mary is the mother of the “human” Yeshua and not of the “divine” Yeshua.
God the Father performs His work through and by the Son. On earth this work began when Yeshua was baptized (the Holy Spirit came as a dove upon Him, Matt. 3:16) and ended when He as a man gave His life on the cross (“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me”, Matt. 27:46 and “It is finished”, John 19:30).
The Holy Spirit is currently within believers “on loan” (2 Cor. 1:22) until He is called back before the great tribulation.
Yeshua is with the Father as a man: of flesh and blood, eating and drinking and still bearing the scars of the cross (Luke 24:36-49). STUDY THIS!
There was also an essential disagreement concerning the nature of the Trinity, especially regarding the origin and operation of the Holy Spirit.
According to the Roman Catholic Church, the Holy Spirit proceeded from God the Father and from the Son. The eastern churches, however, believed that the Holy Spirit proceeded only from God the Father, through (=via) the Son.
Mary is the mother of the human side of Yeshua and not of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit later came, at the baptism by John the Baptist, “UPON” Lord Yeshua. Because the Holy Spirit was in Lord Yeshua in fullness (Col. 2:9), He automatically became the VISIBLE manifestation of the Invisible Father God.
THE FATHER HIMSELF WAS IN HIS FULLNESS IN HIM (Col. 2:9). “HE WHO HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER.” IT WAS NEVER SAID THAT YESHUA IS GOD THE FATHER HIMSELF.
This caused a schism in Christianity and therefore in the Gospel. The Eastern churches/“Nestorian Church” were highly successful and succeeded in making millions of people disciples, through preaching. As a result, these Eastern churches were for a time, until the 14th century, larger than the RCC.
During his journeys of discovery in Asia, Marco Polo frequently encountered “Nestorian communities.”
Why did the Eastern Church grow so enormously while the Roman Catholic Church did not? History shows that the “fruit” of the Nestorian Churches resulted in enormous numbers of disciples and converts based on preaching. Their spread of the Gospel was accompanied by missionary zeal, simplicity, teaching, translation of Scripture, and reaching peoples deep into Asia. While they often grew through conviction and teaching, Rome increasingly gained power through political alliances, state influence, and church hierarchy.
The Eastern churches sent missionaries to Persia, India, China, and Central Asia, often without armies or state power. They traveled along trade routes, learned local languages, and established communities among many peoples. Their emphasis strongly focused on discipleship, teaching, and spreading the message. The Roman Catholic Church, on the other hand, later grew mainly in influence within the Roman Empire and Europe through cooperation with kings, emperors, and state structures. This resulted in much institutional power, but also coercion, political struggle, and persecution of dissenters.
This does not mean that everything within the Eastern churches was pure or that Rome had no sincere believers. Both traditions had periods of faithfulness and error. But historically it is clearly visible that the early explosive growth of the Gospel toward the east mainly resulted from missionary work, personal conviction, and voluntary conversion, while the west became increasingly connected with religious power and political control. Spiritually, this means that their doctrine, that the Holy Spirit proceeded only from God the Father, through (=via) the Son, is the true doctrine. After all, a tree is known by its fruit.
Matthew 7:20-23 (NKJV)
20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’