There are reported to be more than 45,000 Christian denominations world wide. These all have various titles, with ideas and beliefs that often clash. Some are similar and share common ground but many differ massively where biblical doctrine is concerned. It is the differences of opinion regarding certain doctrines that has caused so much division; from a book that is supposed to unite people: 1 Corinthians 1:10 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, to end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose.
But why is there so much division and conflict between Christians? There is a perfect explanation, the Devil wants to stir up as much trouble as possible. Satan is described as the god of this system: 2nd Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. He is the one who wants all the glory and worship that should be given to God. Satan is our enemy, and he wants all humans dead, he is not on side with anyone. But he especially wants to destroy those who flee from him and worship the true God.
Satan has many cunning ideas and designs that keep people away from worshiping the true and only God. Evolution is something he has used to promote the idea that we are all here by pure chance, through a series of random events that took over billions of years to arrive at our present time, where we are supposedly evolved from a primordeal soup; basic life forms back then forming by accident, and now believed to have transitioned into more complex life, including humans. This idea is insane when you consider every building we see has an architect, and builders. How anyone can see far more complex living things with obvious intelligent design, and doubt they were created is surely incomprehensible where logic is concerned. To see life and the universe, and not believe it was designed and created is foolish: Psalms 14:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” Nobody wants to be called a fool and yet the Bible lists several scriptures about those not reasoning with the logic behind creation as foolish: Romans 1:20-21 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse: 21 because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. Evolution is taught as unquestionable fact, billions now follow this indoctrination process that has become a replacement for Bible scriptures in modern secular education and teaching.
As if the idea of evolution wasn’t cunning enough, Satan had a plan to confuse even those who believe in his enemy, God. He started working on this centuries before he came up with the crazy idea of evolution. In doing this, Satan would not only keep those who believe there is no God out of the way, but manage to cause sects and division among followers of true Christianity. The Holy Scriptures (not the footnotes) were inspired of God: 2nd Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. When the words of all 66 Bible books were inspired by God, written by humans, and translated into various languages, there were bound to be some slight variations in words over the centuries. The principles in scripture remain the same no matter which ‘version’ of the Bible you read and it’s argued that there is no exact or best Bible translation. Depending on which translation you read, the words can vary slightly, but the word of God does not change, the principle is always the same. Some of the best Bible scholars agree to this notion. But where Satan is different in this regard, is in his ability to create divisions and hostilities between those who believe the same scriptures in principle, but somehow have completely conflicting ideas on the meaning of them. This is not stemming from minor issues regarding the translation of languages and words, but Satanic views that influence and twist scriptures to confuse and generate opposition between Christian believers, and yet: 1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.
Take for example Northern Ireland, the days when they experienced a time period that became known as ‘The Troubles’. This came about due to political and religious differences, both ‘sides’ were Christian. The hostility and hatred that stemmed from the differences they had, created a division that often pushed hatred to spill over into confrontation and murder. The belief system between Catholic and Protestant was a major issue, but politically the Catholics (the majority of them) identified as Irish, whereas Protestants (again in the majority), identified as British. Anyone who knows about The Troubles, will understand this created one of the most difficult times for those caught up in the mess, even now there are many who still hold bitter resentment and anger relating to the past problems.
Northern Ireland had its serious problems through religion and politics, but compared to many of the wars where Christians fought against other Christians, they seem almost mild in comparison. When wars are studied, it’s very easy to learn that on all sides (where Christians are involved in fights against one another) there was some form of religious representative who’d bless his side and would pray to God for those going into battle to be protected by Him, and be victorious against the enemy. On the other side there was the exact sentiment. So who’s side is God going to choose in such circumstances? Neither side! In the end both sides are fighting for corrupt bankers and politicians, orchestrated by Satan, who cold not care less about any of the soldiers, yet these are Christians killing each other due to, on top of political reasons, religious differences. They read the same scriptures, and worship the same God, and yet they kill each other. Satan has certainly managed to do well where pushing fellow believers against each other is concerned.
What about Christians today, those who believe in one doctrine versus those who believe in another? Surely anyone who reads the Bible can all remain united as Christians and not argue or fight. Unfortunately this is not the case. As a mild example of this, my wife and I regularly go out to hand flyers to strangers in towns and cities. Our biblical views are neutral, we don’t promote man-made doctrines that many denominations do, but we instead simply ask people to read the Bible and pray to God through Jesus Christ. We try our best to explain that repenting of sin will help them draw close to God: James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. We cover many topics in our discussions to interested ones, from creation, the end of this world, the kingdom of God, and many other uplifting Bible scriptures. Often we find that people seem lost, not knowing what to do with current world issues and the problems we all face. Scriptures can often reassure them that God will make everything good again. We both enjoy giving our spare time to meet people and discuss all things Bible related. It’s also a commandment in the Bible: Mark 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
What we never do is interfere with other groups of Christians who are out preaching and who may have their own doctrines that they wish to promote. We respect their views regarding scripture and in return we ask for the same. Preaching is not a competition to see who can convert the most people or gain the most followers. For us, it’s about reaching out and passing on the message from Jesus and God, telling people that very soon Satan will be removed from power, and the Bible promises a future without the problems and anxieties we see and experience today.
It’s a shame that not all Christians share our neutral views. On the rare occasion we encounter a Christian who feels it right to take it on themselves to approach us and bulldoze their way in during conversation with others. An example of this recently took place when we were speaking to someone on the street. A woman from another city was visiting the area and liked one of our Bible tracts. I handed it to her when she passed by, she returned a few minutes later and began to chat about the flyer and wanted to know more about truthministry.co.uk. She said she was looking for a church to visit, so I pointed her to one I know. There were some preachers from the church on that day, just across from where we stood. We don’t live in the city where this took place, hence why we directed her to a local group. As I was explaining to her about the church, one of its members came along and rudely interrupted the conversation by raising his voice, and telling the woman that my wife and I are heretics and should not be trusted, he explained that she should not listen to anything my wife and I had to say.
I spoke calmly to the man but he wanted to continue ranting about how wrong I am, my wife too, about our beliefs, and how we’ll burn in hell. He calls himself a Christian and yet his behavior was nothing like Christ during the exchange of words. The bad part for him is that we had, seconds before he approached us, been telling the woman to go and talk to his group and ask about their church services. After the encounter with the man ranting, she said no way would she want to go to his church. His actions and attitude put her off completely, and likely she’ll never have anything to do with them in the future. His actions made her state that she’d rather study with us, so his attempt to undermine my preaching backfired.
Such a poor witness from a Christian demonstrates that Satan is always ready to jump in and divide believers, even when they are on the streets trying to pass on the message from God. I expect opposition from non-believers, but to have a Christian behave in such a rude and uncontrolled manner was a shock. I have always been nothing but friendly and polite towards him when seen before this incident. I told him at that moment the spirit of Satan was there, stirring up trouble. I reached out to shake his hand, but he refused to take mine, instead he continued his rant. I remained calm but was disappointed that no matter how hard I tried to talk to him, calmly, he just would not listen to anything I had to say. As far as he was concerned, my wife and I were wrong, even though he didn’t want to hear our views.
His attitude simply demonstrates that when so many different ideas are taken from scripture, and Satan twists them, indoctrinated ones feel only their belief system is correct; when in reality if all Christians read the Bible and followed scripture without adding man-made ideas, it would work in harmony. When Satan is involved he turns his warped ideas into firm beliefs, even when there is no hard evidence to support certain doctrines. This is how he takes the Bible to confuse and divide. I would never behave the way the Christian acted in this situation, it was a poor way to handle the private discussion between myself, my wife, and the woman. Had he politely asked to join in, I would have been okay, if the woman was fine with that too. He should have waited for us to finish speaking to the woman and then spoken. Jesus would not have come along and barged rudely into the conversation (of which this person had no idea of what we were discussing). The woman could have been a personal friend, a family member, or asking for directions; anything. To assume something before knowing what is actually going on is foolishness. Proverbs 18:13 He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him.
No matter who you speak to regarding their belief system or religion, most will state only they are right and have the truth, and exclusivity for salvation is through their organisation and belongs to them alone. If your ideas about scripture differ they will write you off. If you speak to most Christians from various denominations, they will say only they are right, Islam is the same; as are all religions. Satan has created so many false religions, when you speak to most about the subject they will often say that it has caused so much trouble in the world, and they would be right to say this. I agree that religion is toxic, and has been the reason so many have died, and will continue to do so until God brings his Kingdom. Satan is the creator of religion, but God and Jesus are the ones who deliver truth, through their words in the Bible. This is why I promote the Bible alone, and don’t enforce ideas, doctrines, and unwarranted opinions onto anyone.
I don’t profess to be expert in scripture, even with 30 plus years of study and research under my belt; but neither do many Bible scholars, many of whom spend their entire lives researching scripture. There are many ideas from man, assumptions from where the Bible is silent. The best way to deal with not knowing everything about scripture is to preach what we do understand, and that way we avoid Satan promoting his lies. I write articles for those who want to read scripture with an open mind, study the word of God and make their own choice about going, or not, to a church, or joining a congregation of fellow believers. My wife and I plant seeds and hope God will help them grow. It’s Him who will judge us in the end, not a human being. It’s also God who says we obey Him: Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
I pray for the brother who was rude and wrong to behave the way he did in front of my wife and the woman we spoke to. If I see him again I hope he, by then, has realised his errors, maybe he’ll be humble enough to apologise. I did my best to bite my tongue during his ranting, and applied scripture found here: Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer makes anger disappear, but a rough answer makes it grow. That’s how I dealt with the situation, he did walk way after some time and I later said goodbye as my wife and I walked past him. None of us are perfect, and we often make mistakes, but a Christian should know better than to fly off the handle when unsure of what’s being spoken. The Bible is always right about how to deal with anything Satan throws at us, God is never wrong. We are close to the end of human rulership, Satan knows his time is short, and he’s putting all his efforts into taking people out of faith in God, even if that means using Christians to argue with other Christians, when instead they could use valuable time to preach the word of God. The Bible does promise a time when there will be no more divisions, and Satan will not be able to influence his power, let’s hope it is soon.
If you’d like to know more, or would enjoy a free Bible study, feel welcome to contact me.
mark@truthministry.co.uk