Efficacy of False Doctrine - from Thy Strong Word

Chapter Six: The Efficacy Of False Doctrine

Entrance to Hell

The entrance to Hell is not an ugly, frightening edifice of black obsidian, obscured by clouds of sulfurous smoke and guarded by Cerberus, the hideous three-headed dog of legend. Instead, Hell’s gate is a building of great beauty, adorned with the finest marble and inlaid with gold. Choirs sing solemn anthems inside, while banks of candles add warmth and beauty to the incense filled chambers. Its halls are filled with men of great learning and outward virtue. This enchanting entrance is the Church of Rome, standing guard over the gates of Hell, welcoming the multitudes, eagerly training the curious and the confused, sternly warning the erring, confirming her doctrines with deceptive signs and wonders, blinding the world with her works of charity. The pope sits enthroned in the Basilica of St. Peter, infallible in all of his official communications. According to Roman dogma, the Holy Spirit will not let him err in doctrine, making him godlike. His pronouncements all war against the Gospel, as shown below in this chapter, but he claims to be the ultimate judge of the Scriptures. We cannot begin to think about false doctrine unless we first acknowledge that the papacy is the Antichrist prophesied in the Scriptures. In reality, all false doctrine contributes to and leads to the work and ultimate purpose of the Antichrist.

In considering the Church of Rome in the context of all false doctrine, we need to understand that the Scriptures teach us about efficacy in two forms: 1) the pure Word is God’s effective method in saving souls; 2) false doctrine is Satan’s effective method in destroying souls. Many will credit gambling, alcohol, vice, drugs, and other carnal seductions for bringing people down, but nothing is more powerful in damning people than the Word of God twisted for the benefit of Hell. No religious institution has more resources—money, property, traditions, societies, liturgies, prayer books, theological works, graduate schools, priests, brothers, bishops, nuns, theologians—dedicated to this end than the papacy.

The Biblical doctrine of the Antichrist reveals itself more clearly now than ever before. The term Antichrist is explained as “opponent of Christ,” but he is also regarded as the one who stands in the place of Christ, supplanting Him. The papacy continues to be the largest, best organized, and most efficient agency in subverting the Gospel, that is, in using the name of Christ to undermine and destroy the meaning of forgiveness through the cross. The Antichrist must come from within the visible Church and be treated as a God, as taught by the apostle in 2 Thessalonians.[1] Notice that the Greek word group for “being effective” appears in this section no less than three times, in English as “work”, “working”, and “strong” in the KJV.[2]

Man of Sin

KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 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. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.