It is written, Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Matthew 28:18: [ESV]
It is written, "And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all." Ephesians 1:19-23; [ESV]
I don't believe there can be any doubt about the authority of Christ. He has all authority in heaven and earth. He has been elevated above all rule, authority, power and dominion. He is head over all things to the church. And every Christian is under his authority.
I'd like to consider the ramifications of these statements. There is no one that has more authority than Christ. So, why in "Christianity" today are so many things done that are outside of the authority of Christ. Obviously that points to the fact that man has free will. It is man who established denominations, outside of the authority of Christ. Man has established a holiday called "Christmas" mixing the birth of Christ with pagan practices, outside of the authority of Christ. Man did the same thing with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, by mixing these events with pagan practices established Good Friday and Easter, outside of the authority of Christ. If we cared about all the authority given to Christ, should we not ask, by whose authority are we doing these things? By whose authority have we mixed the birth of Christ with pagan practices? By whose authority have we mixed the death, burial and resurrection of Christ with pagan practices? You'll not find any authority from Christ for these things.
My final question - does any one care? Do you care that much of what Christianity does today has no authority from Christ to do? Denominations, Christmas, Easter, neither have been authorized by Christ, yet many who call themslves "Christian" defend these actions of man that have not been authorized by Christ.
If you can find any authority of Christ that these things should be done, please share it with me.
Why are you defending a day that has been established by combining the birth of Christ with pagan rituals. "What agreement has the temple of God with idols?" (see II Corinthians 6:16)
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." (Colossians 2:8/NKJV)
You apparently elevate the traditions of men above the traditions of God.
What does my birthday have to do with anything? I am not Jesus. No one has combined my birthay with paganism, as you do when you celebrate Christmas.
Not if you use the Julian calendar over the Gregorian one.
As the Georgian calendar used by the Catholics and the Protestant West, to assimilate the pagans into the church. The Julian calendar of the East sets the date of Christmas and Pascha (Easter) upon different dates as it is partial based on the Jewish Calandar, as it does use the cycles of the moon; Which makes Christmas the 7th of January, and Pascha a week after passover, and during the cycle of the new moon, making it shift every year; this year being April 19, next year it shall be April 4, the same day as western Easter.
And while tradition of man is bad, and often corrupting, as shown with Urban II, Luther, Calvin, and the Tudors, Holy Tradition, tradition that is passed down from the Apostles, is good, such as the Trinity, the natures of Christ, Theotokos, and Icons.
If we tried to escape everything rooted in paganism, we would have to disconnect ourselves completely from society.
The names of the months and the planets are named after pagan gods. So are many of the days of the week. Thursday was the god of sky and thunder. Tuesday was for Tiw, the god of war. Wednesday is from Woden, a god from Germanic mythology. Sunday and Monday were related to the worship of the sun and the moon. Friday comes from Fria, the goddess of love. Even the idea from our government came from Rome, which was a pagan culture. Just because something was rooted in paganism doesn't mean it's still evil today.
We need to use our common sense here. When we celebrate Christmas and Easter, are we deep in our hearts secretly celebrating the Roman Feast of the unconquered sun (December 25th)? Of course not!! We are celebrating a day that our Savior came into the world to die for our sins so we could be with Him for eternity. The pagan aspect was divorced from the Christian aspect thousands of years ago and no longer holds any weight in the "reason behind the season." Same goes for Easter.
Now before I hear "the Bible doesn't command us to celebrate Christ's birth or His day of resurrection," let me ask this: Where in the Bible does it mention church choirs, Sunday school, prayer alters, pews, or water skiing for that matter? Does that make these things also bad? No.
Paul said it best in Romans 14: (Especially 14:6 with this matter)
14:1 Accept Christians who are weak in faith, and don't argue with them about what they think is right or wrong.
14:2 For instance, one person believes it is all right to eat anything. But another believer who has a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables.
14:3 Those who think it is all right to eat anything must not look down on those who won't. And those who won't eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.
14:4 Who are you to condemn God's servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him tell them whether they are right or wrong. The Lord's power will help them do as they should.
14:5 In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. Each person should have a personal conviction about this matter.
14:6 Those who have a special day for worshiping the Lord are trying to honor him. Those who eat all kinds of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who won't eat everything also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God.
14:7 For we are not our own masters when we live or when we die.
14:8 While we live, we live to please the Lord. And when we die, we go to be with the Lord. So in life and in death, we belong to the Lord.
14:9 Christ died and rose again for this very purpose, so that he might be Lord of those who are alive and of those who have died.
14:10 Why do you look down on another Christian? Remember, each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat of God.
You apparently elevate the traditions of men above the traditions of God.
What does my birthday have to do with anything?
mine here
you celebrate your birthday do you not? who gave you the authority to do that? hehe you will celebrate your own birthday and family and friends birthdays but yet you wont celebrate CHRISTS? do you see summin wrong with that picture? by doin so arent you puttin others before CHRIST cause HE dont even rate one day out the year for HIS birth to be celebrated by you...
then we have easter where you say its wrong to celebrate CHRIST ressurection....
i wanna say it is my belief that you should never have to ask anyones permission to celebrate JESUS s birth ,death ressurection, and acention. because without all that.. us sinners would never have been saved .. we should celebrate that every single day in my book.. thats what we do each sunday in church.. look folks its whats in your hearts that GOD looks at.. when you are celebrating CHRIST , whether it be HIS birth , HIIS RESSURECTION , HIS LIFE whatever as long as youre showing love for CHRIST and love for your fellow man, family, brethren ,neighbors etc... its not only permissible but yet we are commanded to do so. the 2 greatest commandments are as JESUS said.
matthew 22:37-40 37 Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
so it therefore is not evil unless you are doin so with a wrong heart and no love.
This thread is about the authority of Christ. Where do you have authority from Christ to even celebrate the birth of Christ, let alone the combining aof the birth of Christ with idolatry. Didn't God say to have no other gods before Him? With this is mind, is it proper to mix the birth, death, burial and resurrection of Christ with pagan practices? Are you saying that the temple of God does have agreement with idols?
And, Linnie, Jesus lived while Israel was under the Roman authority. The Roman calendar was used then, and Jesus, nor the apostles said one word about that. But, they said plenty about idolatry. What did say they say about idolatry? Did they ever say that it was okay to combine the birth of Christ with idols?
What about eating meat that was sacrificed to idols? Do you think that was okay? Wasn't that actually worshiping the idol itself by eating the meat? If your answer is yes, you've just condemned the apostle Paul to idolatry. He said that eating meat offered to idols did NOT condemn us to God, nor did not eating the meat make us better in God's sight. What it all boils down to, is it's a matter of where the person's heart is in doing what they do. The question that Paul was addressing was whether a Christian could eat meat sacrificed to idols without the sin of showing reverence to an idol (just as you're asking whether a Christian can celebrate Christ on a day with pagan origins without the sin of showing reverence to an idol). Again, his answer was YES. 1Corinthians 8:8 "But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.�
Just as the fact that a pagan worshiping an idol and sacrificing an ox to the idol meant NOTHING when the apostle ate the meat from that ox, and the fact that thousands of years ago happened to be worshiping false gods on the same day that we now celebrate Christ's birth is irrelevant to Christians.
Do you really think that satan loves the yearly reminder of the beginning of his defeat?
dear samson, i still say we have permission to celebrate JESUS with love and worship HIM any time.. ... but since you are hooked on authority.. here it is..
romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
since the governing authorities who have authority from GOD made it a holiday for us to celebrate..
now us as christians arent thinkin bout a pagan or anyone else cept the baby JESUS when we celebrate christmas or easter.. were not worshippin anyone else cept CHRIST them days... therefore no idols only CHRIST. the governtment who has authority gave the people a holiday to celebrate as they see fit. so if christians are only worshippin CHRIST them days ,how do you figure theyre worshippin a false gods? or idols? i mean since CHRIST is clearly not a false GOD. HE is our LORD and SAVIOR.
Then don't hide the eggs! I don't. Don't have a tree! I don't.
Did Christ save anyone while He was alive? The answer is NO He did not. Through His obediance to the manger and the cross I have access to salvation. I can come boldly before the throne of God! Praise the Lord!!!!!!!
I owe Him my life and I WANT to acknowlege His birth and His ressurection.
Glory and Honor and Praise be to the God of Heaven and to His Son Jesus!!!!
I am not talking about the acknowledgement of the birth and resurrection. I am talking about so called Christians who defend the pagan practices in the quise of celebrating the birth and resurrection of Christ.
Historically, the birth of Christ did not happen on December 25th. And there is no historical record of the church celebrating the birth for at least 200 years after the fact. Why? Did the apostles miss something? Didn't the Holy Spirit guide them into all truth? Yet no mention of the celebration of the birth of Christ. Obviously the Holy Spirit did not lead them into that truth. If it is truth.
The first generation Christians commemorated the death and resurrection of Christ every first day of the week. So, why is there needed a special first day of the week when it's already being done every week.
Does Scripture mean anything to you people? You have absolutely NO authority from Scripture to celebrate the birth of Christ. You have yet to show that authority, beyond some twisting of of some scriptures. Nowhere in the entire Bible is is said, "And when you celebate the birth of Christ, you should do so in this manner." It's not there.
All you people care about is defending your man-made traditions. But, you will be judged, not on the basis of man-made traditions, but you will be judged bsed on the Word of God.
