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Syncretism
Syncretism in its basic meaning is
the reconciliation
or fusion of differing systems of belief, it
reshapes Christian beliefs and
practices, as a result Christianity looses it's unique nature and speaks
with a tone that reflects the world's culture.
In its practice within the church, it is use as a tool of Satan to create
another avenue for 'Doctrines of Demons' to mislead God's people.
There are those who are attempting to combine either the beliefs systems
of Free Masonry, Greek
letter organizations, Yoga, New Age beliefs, etc. with that of
Christianity.
The Biblical
Position on Associations with organizations
that have Unbiblical belief Systems
God
makes
his position clear that
anyone who follows a belief system that usurps him is in
violation of the first of the ten commandments..
Exodus 20:3
“You shall have
no other
gods
before Me.
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"before Me"
may mean “in
opposition to Me” as well as “in My presence”,
either way it strongly implies that God's people are to have "no"
association with any type of foreign god, materialistically,
spiritually or other wise.
Association with other gods and following non
biblical belief systems brings with
it the danger of godless influence from those who don't know the true
and living God. Such was the case of the Jews as mentioned in Isaiah.
Is 2:6
6 For You have abandoned Your
people, the house of
Jacob, Because they
are filled with
influences
from the east ,
And
they are
soothsayers like the
Philistines, And they strike bargains
with the children of
foreigners.
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The Bible exhorts
biblical separation.
2 Cor 6:14-17
14 Do
not be bound together with
unbelievers; for what partnership
have righteousness and
lawlessness, or
what fellowship has
light with
darkness?
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This is not an injunction against all
associations with unbelievers. (1Cor 5:9-11; 10:27) Paul
encouraged the Christian believer who is married to a non
Christian to remain in the marriage as long as possible. (1 Cor 7:12-16)
This is forbidding the forming of
“close” attachment to the unbeliever, thus Paul uses the
Greek word for
bound,
(translated "unequal yoking
in the KJV) .”heterozugeo” which
means to come under an unequal or different yoke; a
mismatched.
It is
often necessary to indicate somewhat more precisely the
manner in which one may be wrongly matched with others.
Accordingly, one can translate 2 Cor 6:14 as ‘do not attempt
to work together with those who are unbelievers’ or ‘do not
become partners with those who do not believe.’
The
figure of speech
of "unequal yoking "(KJV) is based on the command found in
Deuteronomy 22:10. that prohibited the yoking of an ox and
an ass for plowing, and also on Leviticus 19:19 where the
cross breeding of animals of a different species is
forbidden..
To be "unequally yoked" or "bound" with those involved in
idolatry and heathenism would have resulted in
compromise
of beliefs, standards, goals and a "single minded devotion
to God."
Paul
further drives his point home when he says, "...what partnership
have
righteousness and
lawlessness
or what fellowship has
light with
darkness"
The
Greek word for "partnership is
"metoche"
which is
a relationship involving shared
purposes and activity. This partnership is seen
in the relationship context of those who are unequally
yoked, which is described as
"righteousness,
Greek
"dikaiosynē"
(those
who do right according to God's word
and "lawlessness,
Greek "anomia"
(those
who are
against the law; wrong doing, committers of sinful acts)
being bound together. The same unholy union is explicitly
implied in Paul's metaphoric question ,..." what fellowship has
light with
darkness" |
15 Or what harmony has
Christ with Belial, or what has
a believer in
common with an unbeliever?
[1]
16 Or what agreement has
the temple of
God with idols? For we are the temple of
the living God;
just as
God said,
“I
will dwell in
them and
walk among them;
And
I
will be their God,
and they shall be My people.
[1]
Paul
hammers harder, making his point with 4 rhetorical questions
in V15 and 16 each demanding a negative answer. The
questions also serves to
make clear
the incompatibility of Christianity
in contrast to the world's religions and its
philosophical systems with their
practices and doctrine. Also the fact that believers and
non believers have no basis for an intimate relationship nor
common ground in the pursuit of the things of God.
This is
because unbelievers do not govern their life according
to the things of God but according the principles of the
world system. (Eph 2:2)
The other
reason believers are to avoid and not enter such unions is
because they belong exclusively to God and not to the world
system; "“I
will dwell in
them and
walk among them;
And
I
will be their God,
and they shall be My people.
"
This should take us back to Lev 26:11-12, God's promise to
Israel is also a promise to the church with the difference
being he will not only be among us but also "in us".
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17 “Therefore,
come out
from their midst and
be separate,” says the
Lord. “And
do not touch
what is unclean ;
And I will welcome you.
[1]
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The demand for holiness and fellowship with God is
based on our separation from evil even doctrinal evil.
In keeping with his
promise of his presence, God demands separation form evil as
Paul indicates by quoting from Is 52:11. This includes
doctrinal and theological evil. This allows us to
enjoy our fellowship which is referred to by the statement
..."I will welcome you".
In the Greek, the word
"welcome" is the word
eisdechomai
/ice·dekh·om·ahee
to receive kindly, to treat with favor. Those that come out
of the midst of evil and separate themselves will be receive
kindly by God and be in fellowship with him.
To do otherwise is to blatantly disobey God and to expose
ourselves to judgment from God and Satanic deception. |
Jerusalem’s idolatry thru
the
Practice
of Syncretism
and its
punishment
Ezk. 8:3-18
3 He stretched out the form of a hand and caught
me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth
and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the
entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the
idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located.
4
And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the
appearance which I saw in the plain.
5
Then He said to me, “Son of man, raise your eyes now toward the
north.” So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the
north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance.
6 And He said to me, “Son of man, do you
see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of
Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My
sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.”
7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court,
and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.
8
He said to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall.” So I dug
through the wall, and behold, an entrance.
9
And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they
are committing here.”
10 So I entered and looked, and
behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable
things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on
the wall all around.
11 Standing in front of them were
seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of
Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand
and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising.
12
Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the
house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of
his carved images? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD
has forsaken the land.’ ”
13 And He said to me, “Yet
you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.”
14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of
the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were
sitting there weeping for Tammuz.
15 He said to me,
“Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater
abominations than these.”
16 Then He brought me into
the inner court of the LORD’S house. And behold, at the entrance to
the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about
twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their
faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward
toward the sun.
17 He said to me, “Do you see this,
son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit
the abominations which they have committed here, that they have
filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For
behold, they are putting the twig to their nose.
18
“Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity
nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice,
yet I will not listen to them.”
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These passages
reveal the following: 1. In
Ezekiel vision he finds himself transported to the temple in
Jerusalem. There he is shown the dire state of Israelite
religion. The very temple grounds themselves are used for
pagan practices of Egyptian idolatries into which the
covenant-people had relapsed, practicing them in secret
places.
2. There was the practice of the combination
of different systems of philosophical and religious belief
and practice. (OT Judaism and Egyptian Paganism). This is
known as Syncretism. Just like those in Ezekiel day who
intermingle different systems of philosophical and religious
belief and practice, Christians who are involved in Greek
Letters Organizations and Masonry are guilty of the same
idolatry as the Israelites of old through their practice of
syncretism.
3. God considers such practices as
offensive and provocative (Ezk 8:17) and a clear violation
of the first commandment(Ex 20:3)
4. One who
practices such are under the wrath of God (Ezk 8:18) yet
one's compromising is no less abhorrent to God than the
pagan practices here described.
5. These passages
reveal an alignment with the world's system and a hostility
toward God as shown in their rebellion (James 4:4) |
Summary
No one can serve two masters, In Matt 6:24a Christ made
this quite clear. The Greek word that is used for serve
in this verse is
douleuo
which
means to “belong completely and be entirely under command to
someone else; as a
slave would be to a master.
To try and serve two masters and
be entirely under the control of both is an impossibility Matt
6:24b. Therefore one cannot be single minded toward
the teachings of Christianity
while at the same time following the teachings and participate in the
practices of belief systems such as Masonry, Greek Letter
Organization and New Age, etc. These types of belief systems
and practices are of the world and not of the God of the Bible.
The result will be just as the Lord Jesus stated in Matt 6:24; Love
one hate the other.
If you are involved in a false system of
belief that is anti biblical, its imperative that you come out. If you love Jesus you will keep his commandments (John 14:15).
The Bible tells us, that the great and for most commandment
is,
"You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your mind.’
(Matt 22:36-38)
To
remain in them would be to reflect a hatred toward God and a lack of
pure devotion toward him and will leave your salvation in
question. (2 Cor
13:5-6). This will put you under the wrath of God(Rev
18:4-6) just as it did Israel during the time of
EZEKIEL.
For no one can serve two Masters (Matt 6:24). When one
goes down this road the end result is a rejection of Biblical Truth.
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Scripture
taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright ©
1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman
Foundation. Used by permission."
Comment: Last Update
08/18/2011 10:40 PM
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