In the first church age message in Rev 2:2, the Lord praised His Church: “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars …”

In many of his letters, and especially in the admonitions addressed to the Thessalonians and to Timothy, Paul expressed concern that there would be apostasy from the true faith. The apostle had to reprimand the church of Corinth: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” (2 Cor 11:3-4).

In Gal 1:6-8, the apostle proclaimed a curse over all those who preach another gospel: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” This is a very, very serious matter.

Just as the serpent at the beginning of the natural creation in the Garden of Eden sowed the seeds of doubt in regard to the Word that the Lord God had spoken to Adam with the argument, “Did God actually say ...?”, thus giving rise to unbelief and, in fact, leading to the seduction of Eve, it likewise happened at the end of the apostolic era and thereafter, even until today: doubts concerning the Word, unbelief, disobedience, the falling away of the Church: apostasy from the Word.

The Word of God was called into question; personal interpretations and teachings were introduced. Wherever that happened, any worship was in vain, as the Lord had to tell the Jews back then: “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Mk 7:6-7). And also what Jesus said to the scribes who had their own teachings still applies today: “… because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. ... He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” (Jn 8:45+47). There are still two different spiritual seeds in existence: “He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one …” (Mt 13:37-38).

True worship of God can only come from a renewed, pure heart. Our Lord said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (Jn 4:23-24). Whoever does not worship as guided by the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God is praying past God, not to Him.

In 2 Ths 2, Paul already predicted the final apostasy and the man of sin who represents it: “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God (v. 4). ... And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie …” (vv. 10‑11). Those who do not respect and believe the Word of God as the only valid truth for themselves and for the Church are doomed to believe religious lies.

It is incomprehensible, what happened in the post-apostolic era: Men who are now revered as church fathers presented their paganism-infused doctrines and found followers. The so-called church fathers were Christian personalities, but not apostles of Jesus Christ. None of them had a true divine calling. The best known are Athanasius, Augustine, and Hieronymus. They were men who came from Hellenistic paganism and often had not even experienced a true conversion to Christ; they were still bound by superstition and introduced their own ideas into Christianity.

Since the year ad 313, when Emperor Constantine officially declared the now secularized Christianity to be the state religion, a tragic development took place. From May 20 to July 25, 325, he invited the bishops of various faiths to the Council in Nicaea. At that time, there were already 127 Christian movements in the countries that belonged to the Roman Empire. After fierce disputes and discussions, an entirely unbiblical Trinitarian creed was formulated under the chairmanship of Athanasius, although not all of them agreed to it. In reference to the Son of God, it states therein: “… in one Lord, Jesus Christ,  the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.” (Väter der Christenheit [Fathers of Christianity], p. 40).

To date, God never has begotten, let alone born, an eternal son. There never was an eternal son. In the four thousand years of the Old Testament, no prophet spoke of a Father in heaven, let alone a Son, but the Lord God – Yahweh-Elohim – is mentioned over four thousand times. In the Epistles, beginning with Rom 1:7, we repeatedly find the salutation: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” But not a single time does it say: “... from God the Son” or “... from God the Holy Spirit.” As certain as the eternal God Elohim revealed Himself as Lord/Yahweh and walked in visible form in the Garden of Eden and created Adam in His image, the same God certainly revealed Himself as Father in heaven in His only begotten Son on earth. Therefore, the Lord Jesus could say, “… he that hath seen me hath seen the Father …” (Jn 14:9). In order to redeem us, God revealed Himself in the flesh (1 Tim 3:16).

The promise of the birth of the Son as the Redeemer is found in many passages of the Old Testament. Some of them are:

“I will be his father, and he shall be my son.” (2 Sam 7:14).

“I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” (Ps 2:7).

“I was cast upon thee from the womb …” (Ps 22:10-11).

“He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.” (Ps 89:26-27).

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isa 7:14).

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isa 9:6) – but never: “The everlasting Son”!

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little …, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel …” (Micah 5:2).

When the time was fulfilled, it happened. Thus, Matthew wrote right in the first chapter: “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying (Isa 7:14), Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” (Mt 1:22-23).

In Luke 1 and 2, everything related to the birth of the Son of God is described to us in detail: “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS (Hebrew: Yahshua). … The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. ... And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” (Lk 1:30-31, 35, 38).

A voice is calling out loudly: “Hear, O people, every one of you!” This is the moment of truth! Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit saith unto the Church: Only that which is written in the Bible is biblical, and only what was taught and practiced by the apostles is apostolic.

The construction of the Trinitarian Creed, which is wrongly referred to as the Apostles’ Creed and was established at the Council of Nicaea in ad 325 and at the Council of Constantinople in ad 381, has nothing in common with the biblical, truly apostolic profession of faith of the Early Church. At the Council of Nicaea, the Son was declared to be the second person of the deity, and at the Council of Constantinople, the Holy Spirit was announced as the third person. Shortly thereafter, in the year 385, Hieronymus included a corresponding addition to the 7^th verse of 1 Jn 5 in his Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible, namely: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” Three hundred years after the apostles, there was not much left of the teaching of the apostles.

In the Hebrew and Greek originals, in 1 Jn 5, verse 7, it only states: “And there are three that bear witness:” Then follows: “the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.” (vv. 8+9; Mt 3:17; Mt 17:5). The Apostle Peter could testify: “And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.” (2 Pt 1:18).

Martin Luther rejected the Vulgate translation. John Wycliffe, on the other hand, translated from the Vulgate into the English language, and therefore the added text is still found in the King James Bible today. Although it is recorded in a footnote that this text about the three in heaven is not in the original, the addition can still be read in all of the translations that stem from the Vulgate. In the German editions, whether it is the Zurich Bible of 1535, for instance, or the Luther Bible of 1543 or their current version, we find the correct reproduction of the original text, for which we thank God.

The Bible consists of two testaments, the Old and the New Testament. Nothing may be added to a last will and testament; nothing in it may be changed. The Apostle Paul wrote: “Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.” (Gal 3:15).

At the end of the New Testament in Rev 22:18-19, there is a twofold warning: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Since the establishment of the Christian churches in the fourth century, every biblical doctrine has been annulled, and Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, has been made irrelevant. Not one of the Council decrees or the dogmas proclaimed during the course of church history is biblical. Furthermore, the Bible never mentions a representative of Christ or successor of Peter. The Catholic Church misinterpreted the words of Jesus in Mt 16:18 and wrongly applied them to the papacy. But there the Lord Jesus did not say to Peter, “I will build My Church upon you,” but instead “upon this rock I will build my church” – and the rock is Jesus Christ.

A voice is calling out loudly: Hearken, O people, every one of you: No state church or denomination is the Church built by Christ, the Redeemer, neither the Catholic nor the Orthodox, neither the Coptic nor the Chaldean, neither the Syrian nor the Egyptian. These are all Christian churches, but not the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ consists only of people who believe according to the Holy Scripture. The tragic part is that every church, including the Anglican and Lutheran one, gives its members the impression that their salvation is guaranteed. To this day, however, no church has saved anyone. But all of the people in all of the churches and religions can be saved by faith in Jesus Christ through a personal experience of salvation and conversion (Acts 3:19).

Emperors, kings, and rulers determined the religion of their country. And so the world was divided into religions: here Buddhism, there Hinduism, Shintoism; here Sunnis, there Shiites, there Alevis and Alawites; here Catholics, there Protestants. In Asia and Africa, tribal leaders established the religion. But God is not in any religion; God has revealed Himself only in Jesus Christ, and only in the Redeemer can we meet God (2 Cor 5:19).

In the Christian churches, sacraments have replaced the saving faith in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, although the Bible clearly testifies of a personal faith: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mk 16:16). According to church doctrine, the sprinkling or pouring of water on the forehead of babies or adults is supposed to be the rebirth of water and Spirit (Jn 3:5), but in reality that is not the case. The sprinkling goes back to Constantine, who was lying on his deathbed in July 337 when he was sprinkled three times on his forehead by Bishop Eusebius, the first one to use the Trinitarian formula “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” That is how Constantine is said to have become a Christian, but he called upon the sun god Sol until his very end.

The Lord’s Supper has also been completely misinterpreted, even though it is clearly described in 1 Cor 10:14-22: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”

There is absolutely nothing written in the Word of God about a transformation of the bread or wafer into the body of Christ or about the wine being transformed into the blood of Christ. On the contrary, our Lord said, “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Mt 26:29). 1 Cor 11: 23-34 also states: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”The Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation in the missal sacrifice and clearly represented the biblical standpoint: “... the Mass is basically nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ and a condemnable idolatry.” (Heidelberg Catechism, Question 80).

After all, Christ does not have to be sacrificed anew each day by the priest, but has sacrificed Himself once and for all and accomplished the everlasting redemption. That is how it is written in the Word of God: “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” (Heb 9:12). Amen.

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb 9:14).

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Heb 10:10). Amen.

The Bible also knows no beatification or canonization of the dead. In the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5), the Lord Jesus gave nine beatitudes to the living believers; one of them is: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God!”, etc. Until today, this still applies to His true followers: “But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” (Mt 13:16).

“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21).

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Rev 20:6).

Thus, the virgin Mary, who had found favor with God, was blessed because of her faith: “And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.” (Lk 1:45). Although chosen to be the mother of the Redeemer, she also had to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. She is mentioned for the last time in Acts 1:14, along with the 120 that were gathered for prayer in the upper room: “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.” The term “Mother of God” does not exist in the Bible. Elizabeth said, “And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43).

No teaching, no practice, nothing in the imperial church is still in agreement with God and God’s Word. Every doctrine has been modified and merely decorated with biblical quotations. Any attempt at an explanation or rationalization is futile, such as: “Only those who have the church as their mother can have God as their father.” The Bible neither knows anything of a bodily ascension of Mary, nor of Marian apparitions; on the contrary, it testifies: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” (Jn 3:13). The Bible also never mentions anything about Mary being a mediator. Therein it states: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus …” (1 Tim 2:5). Likewise, there is no mention of Mary being an advocate, but instead: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 Jn 2:1-2). Amen.

The tragic development has taken its course since the recognition of Christianity as a state church. With the introduction of the doctrine of the Trinity, the words of the Great Commission in Mt 28:19 were turned into a formula, namely, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” which is entirely foreign to the Bible. In fact, that Scripture is about the New Testament covenant name in which God revealed Himself as our Father in the Son and through the Holy Spirit and into which one was to be baptized. For the Church of Jesus Christ, the following remains valid until today: “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” (Col 3:17).

Then it was made a requirement for the Jews to also recognize the “Trinity.” However, they could not possibly accept a God made up of three persons because the very first commandment from the mouth of God was: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing …” (Ex 20:2-4). “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.” (Deut 4:39).

The introduction of the Trinitarian confession then also led to the persecution of the Jews. They were cursed and branded as murderers of Christ and of God. “Atone the death of the Crucified One on them!” was loudly proclaimed. In the year 321, they were forbidden to keep the Sabbath, and they were required to observe Sunday instead; synagogues were converted into cattle stables.

The stark difference between the Church of Jesus Christ and the established imperial church is also demonstrated by the following explanation as recorded in church history: “Pope and emperor as bearers of a Christian world order” (Große illustrierte Kirchengeschichte [Great Illustrated History of the Church], p. 74). “In its (the pope’s) power are two swords, namely, the spiritual and the secular – as the Gospel teaches (Lk 22:38). Thus both swords belong to the authority of the church, the spiritual and the secular. However, the former is to be wielded by the church and the latter to be directed by the church: the former in the hands of the priest, the latter by the hands of kings and soldiers, but at the mandate and sufferance of the priest.” (Große illustrierte Kirchengeschichte, p. 94).

Just imagine the utter delusion: The two swords that a man carried with him (Lk 22:36-38), mentioned in connection with the suffering of Christ, were misappropriated as a justification for the exercise of power. How was it possible that it was therefore concluded that the church had been given two swords, namely the spiritual and the earthly? After all, in that context the Savior Himself made the statement that He would be executed as an outlaw: “For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.” (v. 37).

The Church of Jesus Christ has been given only “the sword of the Spirit,” as a symbol of the Word of God: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God …” (Eph 6:17), but never the earthly sword! Never did the Church of Jesus Christ persecute others, but instead was persecuted herself; history proves this.

To the apostles, the Lord said, “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep your’s also.” (Jn 15:20). Our Savior added one more commandment to the Ten Commandments: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (Jn 13:34).

The church’s doctrine of the “two swords” overruled the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” and made killing a commandment. The popes used the secular sword, and those who did not submit were put to death. Whoever wants to get an impression of it need only read the speech that Pope Urban II gave in Clermont on November 27, 1095, in which he called on the crusaders to kill all enemies. The crusaders were guaranteed the forgiveness of their sins and absolved of any punishment for their actions. When their legions captured Jerusalem in 1099, tens of thousands of Jews and Muslims and others were murdered. In the seven crusades between 1095 and 1272, millions of people were slaughtered. Involuntary Christianization, Inquisition, persecution of people of different faith, burning of witches, even the assassination of thousands of Huguenots in France in a single night, namely on August 23/24, 1572, everything happened “for the honor of the holy Trinity,” “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

A voice is calling out loudly: At all times, there were also spiritual revivals. The ones who truly believe according to the Holy Scripture have always been in danger of persecution by the church and often enough were surrendered unto death, whether it was the Albisrieder church, the Waldenses movement, the Cathars, the Bohemian brothers, and others. Thus, Jan Hus, to whom the Word of God had become very precious, was burned at the stake in the city of Constance on July 6, 1415, amid the laughter of the Council Fathers. The soil was soaked with the blood of the martyrs. The magnitude of the guilt that the Roman popes have brought upon themselves is unparalleled on earth. “And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” (Rev 18:24). At the Last Judgment, they shall be sentenced in front of those whom they have murdered in great numbers.

In the first church age message in Rev 2:2, the Lord praised His Church: “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars …”

In many of his letters, and especially in the admonitions addressed to the Thessalonians and to Timothy, Paul expressed concern that there would be apostasy from the true faith. The apostle had to reprimand the church of Corinth: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” (2 Cor 11:3-4).

In Gal 1:6-8, the apostle proclaimed a curse over all those who preach another gospel: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” This is a very, very serious matter.

Just as the serpent at the beginning of the natural creation in the Garden of Eden sowed the seeds of doubt in regard to the Word that the Lord God had spoken to Adam with the argument, “Did God actually say ...?*”*, thus giving rise to unbelief and, in fact, leading to the seduction of Eve, it likewise happened at the end of the apostolic era and thereafter, even until today: doubts concerning the Word, unbelief, disobedience, the falling away of the Church: apostasy from the Word.

The Word of God was called into question; personal interpretations and teachings were introduced. Wherever that happened, any worship was in vain, as the Lord had to tell the Jews back then: “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Mk 7:6-7). And also what Jesus said to the scribes who had their own teachings still applies today: “… because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. ... He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” (Jn 8:45+47). There are still two different spiritual seeds in existence: “He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one …” (Mt 13:37-38).

True worship of God can only come from a renewed, pure heart. Our Lord said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (Jn 4:23-24). Whoever does not worship as guided by the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God is praying past God, not to Him.

In 2 Ths 2, Paul already predicted the final apostasy and the man of sin who represents it: “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God (v. 4). ... And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie …” (vv. 10‑11). Those who do not respect and believe the Word of God as the only valid truth for themselves and for the Church are doomed to believe religious lies.

It is incomprehensible, what happened in the post-apostolic era: Men who are now revered as church fathers presented their paganism-infused doctrines and found followers. The so-called church fathers were Christian personalities, but not apostles of Jesus Christ. None of them had a true divine calling. The best known are Athanasius, Augustine, and Hieronymus. They were men who came from Hellenistic paganism and often had not even experienced a true conversion to Christ; they were still bound by superstition and introduced their own ideas into Christianity.

Since the year ad 313, when Emperor Constantine officially declared the now secularized Christianity to be the state religion, a tragic development took place. From May 20 to July 25, 325, he invited the bishops of various faiths to the Council in Nicaea. At that time, there were already 127 Christian movements in the countries that belonged to the Roman Empire. After fierce disputes and discussions, an entirely unbiblical Trinitarian creed was formulated under the chairmanship of Athanasius, although not all of them agreed to it. In reference to the Son of God, it states therein: “… in one Lord, Jesus Christ,  the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.” (Väter der Christenheit [Fathers of Christianity], p. 40).

To date, God never has begotten, let alone born, an eternal son. There never was an eternal son. In the four thousand years of the Old Testament, no prophet spoke of a Father in heaven, let alone a Son, but the Lord God – Yahweh-Elohim – is mentioned over four thousand times. In the Epistles, beginning with Rom 1:7, we repeatedly find the salutation: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” But not a single time does it say: “... from God the Son” or “... from God the Holy Spirit.” As certain as the eternal God Elohim revealed Himself as Lord/Yahweh and walked in visible form in the Garden of Eden and created Adam in His image, the same God certainly revealed Himself as Father in heaven in His only begotten Son on earth. Therefore, the Lord Jesus could say, “… he that hath seen me hath seen the Father …” (Jn 14:9). In order to redeem us, God revealed Himself in the flesh (1 Tim 3:16).

The promise of the birth of the Son as the Redeemer is found in many passages of the Old Testament. Some of them are:

“I will be his father, and he shall be my son.” (2 Sam 7:14).

“I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” (Ps 2:7).

“I was cast upon thee from the womb …” (Ps 22:10-11).

“He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.” (Ps 89:26-27).

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isa 7:14).

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isa 9:6) – but never: “The everlasting Son”!

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little …, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel …” (Micah 5:2).

When the time was fulfilled, it happened. Thus, Matthew wrote right in the first chapter: “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying (Isa 7:14), Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” (Mt 1:22-23).

In Luke 1 and 2, everything related to the birth of the Son of God is described to us in detail: “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS (Hebrew: Yahshua). … *The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest* shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. ... And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” (Lk 1:30-31, 35, 38).

A voice is calling out loudly: “Hear, O people, every one of you!” This is the moment of truth! Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit saith unto the Church: Only that which is written in the Bible is biblical, and only what was taught and practiced by the apostles is apostolic.

The construction of the Trinitarian Creed, which is wrongly referred to as the Apostles’ Creed and was established at the Council of Nicaea in ad 325 and at the Council of Constantinople in ad 381, has nothing in common with the biblical, truly apostolic profession of faith of the Early Church. At the Council of Nicaea, the Son was declared to be the second person of the deity, and at the Council of Constantinople, the Holy Spirit was announced as the third person. Shortly thereafter, in the year 385, Hieronymus included a corresponding addition to the 7th verse of 1 Jn 5 in his Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible, namely: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” Three hundred years after the apostles, there was not much left of the teaching of the apostles.

In the Hebrew and Greek originals, in 1 Jn 5, verse 7, it only states: “And there are three that bear witness:” Then follows: “the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.” (vv. 8+9; Mt 3:17; Mt 17:5). The Apostle Peter could testify: “And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.” (2 Pt 1:18).

Martin Luther rejected the Vulgate translation. John Wycliffe, on the other hand, translated from the Vulgate into the English language, and therefore the added text is still found in the King James Bible today. Although it is recorded in a footnote that this text about the three in heaven is not in the original, the addition can still be read in all of the translations that stem from the Vulgate. In the German editions, whether it is the Zurich Bible of 1535, for instance, or the Luther Bible of 1543 or their current version, we find the correct reproduction of the original text, for which we thank God.

The Bible consists of two testaments, the Old and the New Testament. Nothing may be added to a last will and testament; nothing in it may be changed. The Apostle Paul wrote: “Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.” (Gal 3:15).

At the end of the New Testament in Rev 22:18-19, there is a twofold warning: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Since the establishment of the Christian churches in the fourth century, every biblical doctrine has been annulled, and Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, has been made irrelevant. Not one of the Council decrees or the dogmas proclaimed during the course of church history is biblical. Furthermore, the Bible never mentions a representative of Christ or successor of Peter. The Catholic Church misinterpreted the words of Jesus in Mt 16:18 and wrongly applied them to the papacy. But there the Lord Jesus did not say to Peter, “I will build My Church upon you,” but instead “upon this rock I will build my church” – and the rock is Jesus Christ.

A voice is calling out loudly: Hearken, O people, every one of you: No state church or denomination is the Church built by Christ, the Redeemer, neither the Catholic nor the Orthodox, neither the Coptic nor the Chaldean, neither the Syrian nor the Egyptian. These are all Christian churches, but not the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ consists only of people who believe according to the Holy Scripture. The tragic part is that every church, including the Anglican and Lutheran one, gives its members the impression that their salvation is guaranteed. To this day, however, no church has saved anyone. But all of the people in all of the churches and religions can be saved by faith in Jesus Christ through a personal experience of salvation and conversion (Acts 3:19).

Emperors, kings, and rulers determined the religion of their country. And so the world was divided into religions: here Buddhism, there Hinduism, Shintoism; here Sunnis, there Shiites, there Alevis and Alawites; here Catholics, there Protestants. In Asia and Africa, tribal leaders established the religion. But God is not in any religion; God has revealed Himself only in Jesus Christ, and only in the Redeemer can we meet God (2 Cor 5:19).

In the Christian churches, sacraments have replaced the saving faith in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, although the Bible clearly testifies of a personal faith: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mk 16:16). According to church doctrine, the sprinkling or pouring of water on the forehead of babies or adults is supposed to be the rebirth of water and Spirit (Jn 3:5), but in reality that is not the case. The sprinkling goes back to Constantine, who was lying on his deathbed in July 337 when he was sprinkled three times on his forehead by Bishop Eusebius, the first one to use the Trinitarian formula “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” That is how Constantine is said to have become a Christian, but he called upon the sun god Sol until his very end.

The Lord’s Supper has also been completely misinterpreted, even though it is clearly described in 1 Cor 10:14-22: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”

There is absolutely nothing written in the Word of God about a transformation of the bread or wafer into the body of Christ or about the wine being transformed into the blood of Christ. On the contrary, our Lord said, “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Mt 26:29). 1 Cor 11: 23-34 also states: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”  The Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation in the missal sacrifice and clearly represented the biblical standpoint: “... the Mass is basically nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ and a condemnable idolatry.” (Heidelberg Catechism, Question 80).

After all, Christ does not have to be sacrificed anew each day by the priest, but has sacrificed Himself once and for all and accomplished the everlasting redemption. That is how it is written in the Word of God: “Neither by the blood of goats and calves,but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” (Heb 9:12). Amen.

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb 9:14).

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Heb 10:10). Amen.

The Bible also knows no beatification or canonization of the dead. In the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5), the Lord Jesus gave nine beatitudes to the living believers; one of them is: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God!”, etc. Until today, this still applies to His true followers: “But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” (Mt 13:16).

“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21).

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Rev 20:6).

Thus, the virgin Mary, who had found favor with God, was blessed because of her faith: “And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.” (Lk 1:45). Although chosen to be the mother of the Redeemer, she also had to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. She is mentioned for the last time in Acts 1:14, along with the 120 that were gathered for prayer in the upper room: “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.” The term “Mother of God” does not exist in the Bible. Elizabeth said, “And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43).

No teaching, no practice, nothing in the imperial church is still in agreement with God and God’s Word. Every doctrine has been modified and merely decorated with biblical quotations. Any attempt at an explanation or rationalization is futile, such as: “Only those who have the church as their mother can have God as their father.” The Bible neither knows anything of a bodily ascension of Mary, nor of Marian apparitions; on the contrary, it testifies: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” (Jn 3:13). The Bible also never mentions anything about Mary being a mediator. Therein it states: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus …” (1 Tim 2:5). Likewise, there is no mention of Mary being an advocate, but instead: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 Jn 2:1-2). Amen.

The tragic development has taken its course since the recognition of Christianity as a state church. With the introduction of the doctrine of the Trinity, the words of the Great Commission in Mt 28:19 were turned into a formula, namely, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” which is entirely foreign to the Bible. In fact, that Scripture is about the New Testament covenant name in which God revealed Himself as our Father in the Son and through the Holy Spirit and into which one was to be baptized. For the Church of Jesus Christ, the following remains valid until today: “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” (Col 3:17). 

Then it was made a requirement for the Jews to also recognize the “Trinity.” However, they could not possibly accept a God made up of three persons because the very first commandment from the mouth of God was: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing …” (Ex 20:2-4). “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.” (Deut 4:39).

The introduction of the Trinitarian confession then also led to the persecution of the Jews. They were cursed and branded as murderers of Christ and of God. “Atone the death of the Crucified One on them!” was loudly proclaimed. In the year 321, they were forbidden to keep the Sabbath, and they were required to observe Sunday instead; synagogues were converted into cattle stables.

The stark difference between the Church of Jesus Christ and the established imperial church is also demonstrated by the following explanation as recorded in church history: “Pope and emperor as bearers of a Christian world order” (Große illustrierte Kirchengeschichte [Great Illustrated History of the Church], p. 74). “In its (the pope’s) power are two swords, namely, the spiritual and the secular – as the Gospel teaches (Lk 22:38). Thus both swords belong to the authority of the church, the spiritual and the secular. However, the former is to be wielded by the church and the latter to be directed by the church: the former in the hands of the priest, the latter by the hands of kings and soldiers, but at the mandate and sufferance of the priest.” (Große illustrierte Kirchengeschichte, p. 94).

Just imagine the utter delusion: The two swords that a man carried with him (Lk 22:36-38), mentioned in connection with the suffering of Christ, were misappropriated as a justification for the exercise of power. How was it possible that it was therefore concluded that the church had been given two swords, namely the spiritual and the earthly? After all, in that context the Savior Himself made the statement that He would be executed as an outlaw: “For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.” (v. 37).

The Church of Jesus Christ has been given only “the sword of the Spirit,” as a symbol of the Word of God: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God …” (Eph 6:17), but never the earthly sword! Never did the Church of Jesus Christ persecute others, but instead was persecuted herself; history proves this.

To the apostles, the Lord said, “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep your’s also.” (Jn 15:20). Our Savior added one more commandment to the Ten Commandments: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (Jn 13:34).

The church’s doctrine of the “two swords” overruled the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” and made killing a commandment. The popes used the secular sword, and those who did not submit were put to death. Whoever wants to get an impression of it need only read the speech that Pope Urban II gave in Clermont on November 27, 1095, in which he called on the crusaders to kill all enemies. The crusaders were guaranteed the forgiveness of their sins and absolved of any punishment for their actions. When their legions captured Jerusalem in 1099, tens of thousands of Jews and Muslims and others were murdered. In the seven crusades between 1095 and 1272, millions of people were slaughtered. Involuntary Christianization, Inquisition, persecution of people of different faith, burning of witches, even the assassination of thousands of Huguenots in France in a single night, namely on August 23/24, 1572, everything happened “for the honor of the holy Trinity,” “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

A voice is calling out loudly: At all times, there were also spiritual revivals. The ones who truly believe according to the Holy Scripture have always been in danger of persecution by the church and often enough were surrendered unto death, whether it was the Albisrieder church, the Waldenses movement, the Cathars, the Bohemian brothers, and others. Thus, Jan Hus, to whom the Word of God had become very precious, was burned at the stake in the city of Constance on July 6, 1415, amid the laughter of the Council Fathers. The soil was soaked with the blood of the martyrs. The magnitude of the guilt that the Roman popes have brought upon themselves is unparalleled on earth. “And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” (Rev 18:24). At the Last Judgment, they shall be sentenced in front of those whom they have murdered in great numbers.