Famous movie-star, martial arts expert and political columnist, Chuck Norris, recently wrote a column on WND warning readers about the implications of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Copenhagen this coming December. Bottom line? He’s afraid.
I was in a small-group Bible study this past weekend in which a member expressed similar fears that Obama is working towards a “one world government”. I’ve got to admit that the socialist, even communist, ideology that seems to motivate Obama is scary. And yes, democracy, freedom, national sovereignty (for all nations), opportunity for hard work and religious freedoms, all of these are threatened by what seems to be the agenda of the Copenhagen coference and what sure looks like Obama’s agenda. But why do people give voice to this fear under the label, “one world government”?
The reason, I think, is the wide acceptance of the theological views most popularly expressed in the Left Behind series of novels and movies. The actual perspective is known as “Pre-Tribulational Dispensationalism”. This perspective sees the Bible as teaching a series of dispensations under which God arranges His dealings with humanity throughout history. The “Pre-Tribulational” part of the label refers to the belief that the final dispensation is ushered in by the invisible coming of Christ to Earth just before a world-wide “tribulation” (pre-tribulational) breaks out against Christians.
Very common among writers who hold this view is the belief that the mastermind behind this world-wide tribulation will be a global dictator, the “Antichrist”, and leader of a “one-world government”. The thing of it is that no such “one-world government” is described in Bible prophecy anywhere.
For instance, in Daniel 2, the Bible predicts that starting in about the year 600 BC (2600 years ago), the nation of the Jews will be dominated by a succession of Empires: 1. Babylon, 2. Medo-Persia, 3. Greece, and 4. (though not named) Rome. In that prophecy, the Roman Empire is foreseen to break up into a commonwealth of 10 inferior kingdoms. This happened within about a century-and-a-half of the collapse of the Roman Empire in 476 AD. I’ve written in some detail about this already in a previous post. The point is that from the early “Middle Ages” until the present day, that same territory exclusively ruled by the Roman Empire (not the Greek, Medo-Persian, or Babylonian Empires) still included 10 nations.
Daniel 7 adds some detail to this foreview of world history by explaining that a single religious-political ruler will emerge who will have great influence and power over this commonwealth of 10 nations. Revelation 13 also pictures this. We often call this religious-political ruler “the Antichrist”–though he’s not named that in either book of the Bible. But even if we go along with the use of the name, “Antichrist”, we still find no indication whatsoever that he ever is predicted to rule over a “one world government”.
I don’t really care that lots of people believe a “one world government” is coming though they’ve paid very little attention to studying the relevant Bible passages. But I do care that in looking ahead so intently for the emergence of the Boogeyman a great many Christians are blind to the much more serious and close-at-hand threat presented by the real “Antichrist”, the Popes of Rome. It’s not that Christians around the globe are in danger of being persecuted by the Pope. Hardly. It’s that the Gospel message proclaimed by Christians around the globe is constantly attacked by the counterfeit “Christianity” of the Roman Catholic Church, and the self-proclaimed leader of the Christian Faith.
A read through Augustine’s City of God is a more effective vaccine for fuzzy Christian thinking about the distinction between politics and the mission of the Church than Obama’s H1N1 vaccine is for the Swine Flu. Augustine can help Christians to see that our main mission is not to defend religious freedoms and democracy, but to preach the Gospel. We can be good citizens and pray for our political leaders, yes, but when we begin to demonize them we run the risk of being distracted from our mission as the Church of Christ. We can and must pray for and seek the welfare of “The City of Man”, but we are first and foremost citizens of “The City of God.” Therefore, our real enemy is not Obama or the UN or some fictional future leader of a “one world government”. Our real enemy is the enemy of the Gospel. We call him “Satan”, and the counterfeit Christianity we call, “Roman Catholicism” is his pawn (as is every other counterfeit form of Christianity that has spawned from the Roman “church”).
Let’s pray for the success of the Gospel while also doing our part. Let’s also pray for the welfare of the City of Man and the leaders God has set up in it. But let’s not get distracted from our spiritual mission by political science-fiction masquerading as biblical teaching.
By the way, I still love Chuck Norris’ column.
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Do you see a strange parallel between Christian fear-mongering today and pre-Christ Jewish fanatacism? Both groups try to point to God through socio-political factors or events instead of the written word of God. I wonder what is so alluring to us (other than our own deprived nature) that we put stock in sensationalist socio-political events over faith and grounded relationship in God?
Yes, but not only “pre-Christ Jewish fanaticism”, also mid-first century Jewish fanaticism. I think the basic reason for this is what Augustine addressed in The City of God. Jews and Christians have garnered quite a reputation for confusing the true Kingdom of God with kingdoms of men. At various times men from both groups have tried to establish an earthly kingdom in Jerusalem, in Rome, in Constantinople/Byzantium, in Munster, in London, in Washington D.C., in Jonestown, in Waco, etc. It is the most human instinct, though entirely sinful, to walk by sight and not by faith.
but isnt that what most christians do nowadays? walk by sight and not by faith. Let me ask you a question. If God told you to jump off a cliff and he insisted you do, and that you go to hell if you didn’t, would you?
and one more thing, its YOU who calls the Catholic Church counterfeit christianity. Besides, protestants only go by the New Testament, while Catholics go by both the Old AND New Testament.
@Blake
Thanks Blake for your comments. Yes, quite right that most Christians today (and at all times) tend to walk by sight and not by faith. That’s the Christian struggle of having two natures battling (Romans 7). But we are called to live by faith, “the just shall live by faith.” Romans 5:17.
I can see that you’re upset–I mean no offense to Catholics, just praying that many will leave the Roman Catholic Church and embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ as promised throughout the Old Testament and as preached throughout the New Testament.
As Paul says in Romans 4,
And again, showing how righteousness is obtained by a Christian, Paul makes things very clear in the next chapter:
Paul quotes in chapter 4 from Genesis 15:6 where Abraham was counted legally righteous before God not by anything he did in terms of works or anything else, but on the basis of simply believing God would do what He said He would do. David confesses the same kind of faith in Psalm 25:11, “For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.” And Isaiah prophesies the work of God that would one day provide the basis for God to count or reckon righteousness to people who believe: the substituting righteousness and death of Jesus. His death was in the place of our death that we deserved because of sin; His righteousness is credited to us just like how in the Old Testament, a spotless lamb was a pure sacrifice to satisfy God’s requirement for holiness. Jesus’ perfect righteousness is given to believers and His death covers believers’ sin.
And again in Isaiah 53:11, “…by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”
So the Gospel that was rediscovered by the Protestants in the 16th century was no new invention: it was the faith of the earlier fathers and of the apostles and of the prophets. It was the Roman Catholic Church that perverted this Gospel and re-inserted a requirement of good works as the basis by which a person becomes good enough for God.
It is not merely an assertion of mine that the Roman Catholic Church is a false church, the “harlot of Babylon” according to Revelation 17. It is the result of careful study interpretation of Scripture. Daniel 7 predicts 4 great empires on the Earth following Daniel’s prophecy: Babylon, Persian, Greece and Rome. He foresees the Roman empire divide into a commonwealth of 10 kingdoms. From among those ten kindoms, shortly after they come into existence, another different sort of kingdom emerges that wages war against the saints of God and utters blasphemous boasts. In history this is straightforward: the Roman Empire collapsed in 476 AD. By around 600 it had been replaced by a commonwealth of 10 kingdoms in Western Europe. At about that time another kingdom, different from the rest, emerged and gained dominion over the other ten: this was the religious/ecclesial “king” of the city of Rome, the Pope. Revelation 18 pictures this “Antichrist” riding the false-church (i.e., “prostitute” is a false bride, and the New Testament Church is described as a true “bride” in Revelation 21:2, 9, & 22:17), called “Babylon”. This is fulfilled by the Pope “riding” or usurping the place of Christ as the “Head” of the Church.
I'm a practicing Roman Catholic who thinks of Protestantism pretty much the same way you think of my brand of Christianity. I try to be a little less judgemental though, since He asked me not to judge.
Just curious. YOu seem to think “works” are a Catholic thing. I tend to think of them more as a “Jesus” thing. Jesus worked. He performed miracles. He did His Father's will. He served as an example of how I should live my life, not as a celestial “get out of jail free” card.
You can twist yourself into Biblical circles to prove that I am the harlot of Rome. I'm just going to follow my Savior and let the chips fall where they may.
God Bless from a devout Catholic.
Minnesoduh,
Before I respond to a couple of your points let me say this: I do not sit in judgement of you or brand you personally as “the harlot of Rome”. I try and be careful to keep my observations from the Bible directed at the Roman Catholic Church as a whole, not at its individual members. The way, then, that I feel toward you is probably no different than the way many loving and devout Catholics have felt for centuries when sending missionaries to foreign lands where the name of Jesus was not known. There is no judgementalism in that, in spite of what political correctness would have us believe. It is my hope that through the news preached about Christ in the New Testament you might believe it, trust it, and look to Jesus only for your salvation: since He is, as you put it, the only “Savior.”
Having said that, let me try and point out a couple of key errors in what you wrote so that if your ears and mind are open you might possibly be corrected and come to a better knowledge of the Bible.
Your first point was that God “asked [you] not to judge”. But in 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 the Apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Corinth that they were supposed to judge those inside the Church but not those outside the Church: “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. 'Purge the evil person from among you.'” So if you don't want me to judge you then you are admitting you are “outside” the true Church of Christ. Of course, the judgement Paul is talking about is not final condemnation but a careful critique according to Scripture of the morals and beliefs of other Christians.
Your second point was that Jesus Himself did works and left us an example to follow. Quite right. But it is not the doing of works that distinguishes the New Testament Gospel from the Roman Catholic misinterpretation of it, it is the purpose and goal of those works that is the distinguishing mark. Christ Jesus did not work in order to save Himself from the wrath of God. He is God incarnate and needed no salvation. However, you and I and all the rest of humankind are sinners having fallen far short of the glory of God…
(Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”)
…and in desperate need of saving from the wrath of God on account of our sin…
(John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.).
As Jesus teaches in John 3:36, the solution is not works but belief. That is because works cannot save…
(Romans 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.)
…but can only teach us about our sin. The purpose of the Law is to teach us about sin in order to bring us to repentance. If works can save you then you do not need the Savior and then Jesus did not need to be born, and He certainly did not need to die on the cross. But He was born and He did die because you and I do need a Savior for the reason that our works cannot save us. So since it is only Jesus who can save us, and not we ourselves by anything we do, then how do we get saved by Him? In other words, how does His salvation get applied to us?
Again in John 3, Jesus was pretty clear…
(John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.)
God loved, God gave, (Jesus died and was raised) and all we do is “believe in Him” in order to “be saved through Him”.
But in case you still think this is twisting Scripture, Paul is even more clear that God did the work of salvation, in Christ, and we are saved not by working but by believing/trusting in what God has done:
Romans 3:23-25 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.
And again, Paul confirms that we are saved, i.e., “justified” or “counted righteous” (from Greek “dikaiousthai”, “counted righteous”, related to the noun “dikaiosune”, “righteousness”) not by works we do but rather faith in Christ's work:
Romans 3:28 “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
In the very next chapter Paul clarifies that being justified is a gift of God to the one who believes/has faith (from the Greek “pisteuo”, “to trust, believe, have faith”) and that justification is the act of God by which our sins are not counted against us (the result of Jesus' substitute death for us–our sins were counted against Him). I'll finish this point with a longer quote from Paul where he makes it clear that salvation by works was never the purpose of the Law, or God's intention, even in the Old Testament:
Romans 4:1-8 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
So if you want Jesus to be your Savior, as you put it, then you do so not by “following” His example, but by obeying His call to believe:
John 14:1 Believe in God; believe also in me.
John 3:14-15 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
John 5:24 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 5:38-40 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
You originally brought up the question of “works” as a Catholic thing. I said that the difference between Catholicism and biblical Christianity is the goal and purpose of works. I've tried to make it clear that in the Bible works cannot save a person, only faith in Christ can save. However, once such a person is saved by faith in Christ, the Bible is very clear that good works are the evidence and fruit of true salvation. Not the means by which salvation is earned, but the result of salvation that is received. The true Christian does good works, not out of fear or of a determination to atone for sin, but out of gratitude and freedom.
So I encourage you to believe in your Savior and, if you do so, to let the chips fall where God has promised they will fall.
I'm a practicing Roman Catholic who thinks of Protestantism pretty much the same way you think of my brand of Christianity. I try to be a little less judgemental though, since He asked me not to judge.
Just curious. YOu seem to think “works” are a Catholic thing. I tend to think of them more as a “Jesus” thing. Jesus worked. He performed miracles. He did His Father's will. He served as an example of how I should live my life, not as a celestial “get out of jail free” card.
You can twist yourself into Biblical circles to prove that I am the harlot of Rome. I'm just going to follow my Savior and let the chips fall where they may.
God Bless from a devout Catholic.
Minnesoduh,
Before I respond to a couple of your points let me say this: I do not sit in judgement of you or brand you personally as “the harlot of Rome”. I try and be careful to keep my observations from the Bible directed at the Roman Catholic Church as a whole, not at its individual members. The way, then, that I feel toward you is probably no different than the way many loving and devout Catholics have felt for centuries when sending missionaries to foreign lands where the name of Jesus was not known. There is no judgementalism in that, in spite of what political correctness would have us believe. It is my hope that through the news preached about Christ in the New Testament you might believe it, trust it, and look to Jesus only for your salvation: since He is, as you put it, the only “Savior.”
Having said that, let me try and point out a couple of key errors in what you wrote so that if your ears and mind are open you might possibly be corrected and come to a better knowledge of the Bible.
Your first point was that God “asked [you] not to judge”. But in 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 the Apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Corinth that they were supposed to judge those inside the Church but not those outside the Church: “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. 'Purge the evil person from among you.'” So if you don't want me to judge you then you are admitting you are “outside” the true Church of Christ. Of course, the judgement Paul is talking about is not final condemnation but a careful critique according to Scripture of the morals and beliefs of other Christians.
Your second point was that Jesus Himself did works and left us an example to follow. Quite right. But it is not the doing of works that distinguishes the New Testament Gospel from the Roman Catholic misinterpretation of it, it is the purpose and goal of those works that is the distinguishing mark. Christ Jesus did not work in order to save Himself from the wrath of God. He is God incarnate and needed no salvation. However, you and I and all the rest of humankind are sinners having fallen far short of the glory of God…
(Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”)
…and in desperate need of saving from the wrath of God on account of our sin…
(John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.).
As Jesus teaches in John 3:36, the solution is not works but belief. That is because works cannot save…
(Romans 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.)
…but can only teach us about our sin. The purpose of the Law is to teach us about sin in order to bring us to repentance. If works can save you then you do not need the Savior and then Jesus did not need to be born, and He certainly did not need to die on the cross. But He was born and He did die because you and I do need a Savior for the reason that our works cannot save us. So since it is only Jesus who can save us, and not we ourselves by anything we do, then how do we get saved by Him? In other words, how does His salvation get applied to us?
Again in John 3, Jesus was pretty clear…
(John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.)
God loved, God gave, (Jesus died and was raised) and all we do is “believe in Him” in order to “be saved through Him”.
But in case you still think this is twisting Scripture, Paul is even more clear that God did the work of salvation, in Christ, and we are saved not by working but by believing/trusting in what God has done:
Romans 3:23-25 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.
And again, Paul confirms that we are saved, i.e., “justified” or “counted righteous” (from Greek “dikaiousthai”, “counted righteous”, related to the noun “dikaiosune”, “righteousness”) not by works we do but rather faith in Christ's work:
Romans 3:28 “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
In the very next chapter Paul clarifies that being justified is a gift of God to the one who believes/has faith (from the Greek “pisteuo”, “to trust, believe, have faith”) and that justification is the act of God by which our sins are not counted against us (the result of Jesus' substitute death for us–our sins were counted against Him). I'll finish this point with a longer quote from Paul where he makes it clear that salvation by works was never the purpose of the Law, or God's intention, even in the Old Testament:
Romans 4:1-8 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
So if you want Jesus to be your Savior, as you put it, then you do so not by “following” His example, but by obeying His call to believe:
John 14:1 Believe in God; believe also in me.
John 3:14-15 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
John 5:24 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 5:38-40 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
You originally brought up the question of “works” as a Catholic thing. I said that the difference between Catholicism and biblical Christianity is the goal and purpose of works. I've tried to make it clear that in the Bible works cannot save a person, only faith in Christ can save. However, once such a person is saved by faith in Christ, the Bible is very clear that good works are the evidence and fruit of true salvation. Not the means by which salvation is earned, but the result of salvation that is received. The true Christian does good works, not out of fear or of a determination to atone for sin, but out of gratitude and freedom.
So I encourage you to believe in your Savior and, if you do so, to let the chips fall where God has promised they will fall.