False Doctrine

False doctrine is not based on the sound doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul said that sound doctrine is in accordance with the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God, Jesus Christ:

...... and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted (1 Timothy 1:10-11 ESV).

Paul explained clearly what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is in the following passage:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Therefore, if we follow a doctrine that does not include these three elements, the death, the burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is false doctrine.

Do we need to obey the Gospel?

Of course we do if we want to get to heaven! This is what happens when we don't obey the Gospel:

And to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).

How do we obey the Gospel?

Then, to obey the gospel we must:

  • Die
  • Be buried
  • Be raised up

Jesus did all of this physically, we only have to do this symbolically. Jesus' church was established on the Day of Pentecost, about ten days after He ascended to heaven. The day is clearly described in the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 2 (Acts 2:1-47). On this day the Apostle Peter preached the first sermon of the Church dispensation including the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. When he finished preaching this sermon, the crowd asked:

Men and brethren, what shall we do (Acts 2:37)?

Peter responded:

Repent, be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38).

Then it follows for those that have ears who want to hear (Matthew 11:15):

  • Repentance is symbolic death.
  • Baptism is symbolic burial.
  • Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is symbolic resurrection.

So what are false doctrines that keep people from heaven?

It is obvious then that false doctrine will include at least one of these fatal errors:

  1. No death i.e. no repentance, i.e. no turning fully to God with Godly sorrow
  2. No burial i.e. no baptism (by immersion) in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and
  3. No infilling of the Holy Ghost.

Let's look at how false doctrine manifests itself in today's religious world.

Those who do not repent!

Repentance has not occurred in any denomination that or where:

  1. Infants are baptized (infants can't speak let alone repent).
  2. The lost soul says a "sinner's prayer" from a more or less rote dialogue, without Godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10) and without fully believing that they will turn away from darkness to light, from the power of satan unto God (Acts 26:18)
  3. The lost soul does not repent at all, totally disregarding Christ's instruction (Mark 1:15) as part of salvation.
  4. Takes the scripture "by grace you are saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8) out of context, with anything and everything else being works of some kind.
  5. After the lost soul has repented, they believe they are filled with the Holy Ghost without speaking in tongues (Acts 2:4, Mark 16:17).

Some denominations that include at least one of these false doctrines are Catholicism, Orthodoxism, Protestantism, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses and Latter Day Saints.

Those that are not baptized in any manner!

How can anybody believe for one moment that you don't need to be baptized to be saved? Jesus made that perfectly clear (Mark 16:16, John 3:5) and throughout the Acts of the Apostles, lost souls were baptized (Acts 2:41, 8:12, 38-39, 9:18, 10:47-48, 16:15, 33, 18:8, 19:5). If you are reading this and have not been baptized, some religious leader has led you astray. Don't be lost, get baptized! But you must be baptized by immersion, in the name of Jesus Christ and you must be old enough to repent before you are baptized.

Those that are not baptized by immersion!

Baptism to salvation can only occur through the immersion or submersion of a person in water. The root of the word for baptize in the Greek is "baptizo", which means to "dip repeatedly, to immerge, submerge, or to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water". This meaning does not allow for water to be sprinkled on (aspersion), or poured on (affusion) a person, or to be partially immersed when baptized.

The false doctrine of baptism by these and any other methods where the lost soul is not fully immersed is perpetrated in Catholicism, Orthodoxism and most of Protestantism.

Those who are not baptized in the name of Jesus Christ!

For sins to be remitted (forgiven), the believer must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38, 4:12, 8:12, 10:47-48, 19:5). Some of the denominations that do not baptize in the name of Jesus Christ include Catholicism, Orthodoxism, Protestantism, Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah Witnesses. People attending these churches are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. They do this because they do not have the revelation of Jesus Christ. They are taught the false doctrine that Jesus is the second person in a trinity of persons, instead of the truth, that Jesus is,

God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world and, received up into glory (1 Timothy 3:16).


Those who are not filled with the Holy Ghost!

Before Jesus ascended to heaven He said to His followers:

And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence (Acts 1:4-5).

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

So about one hundred and twenty of His followers, including His disciples and Mary, His mother and His brethren, gathered in the Upper Room in Jerusalem (Acts 1:13,14,15) and they were filled with the Holy Ghost:

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4).

When the crowd heard the noise from the Upper Room (Acts 2:6-12), i.e. the one hundred and twenty speaking in tongues, the crowd accused them of being drunk on new wine. The Apostle Peter explained that that those speaking in tongues were not drunk as they had supposed (go here for lesson on the real New Wine) but in fact is "this is that" (Acts 2:16) spoken by the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-29)":

But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy (Acts 2:16-18).

Clearly all of Jesus' disciples, His mother Mary and the remainder of the one hundred and twenty followers spoke in tongues when they were filled with the Holy Ghost. This continued throughout the Book of Acts (go to the Narrow Gate to see this truth). It is no different today! When God fills anyone with the Holy Ghost, they speak in tongues. If someone preaching false doctrine has convinced you that speaking in tongues has ceased, go here to see why this kind of preaching is false and will keep you out of heaven.

Some of the denominations that do not preach this truth are Catholicism, Orthodoxism, Protestantism, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses and Latter Day Saints. They teach and preach various false doctrine about how the lost are automatically filled with the Holy Ghost when they conform to the rest of the false doctrine that is preached. This consequently leaves about two billion people without the power of the Holy Ghost, without having obeyed the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Men and Brethren, What Shall We Do?

If you have read this page and can clearly identify that you and your loved ones have,

  1. Not truly repented with godly sorrow, turning fully to Jesus Christ
  2. Been baptized as an infant
  3. Not been baptized by immersion
  4. Not been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins
  5. Not been filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues,

the remedy is simple, the same as it was for me at fifty-three years of age:

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Over the years, I have seen hundreds of lost souls from every different walk of life, religion, culture and ethnicity be saved by submitting to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't let your religiosity or pride keep you from spending eternity with Jesus Christ. Go right now to the "Church Directory" and find a church near you that preaches and teaches Bible truth, and obey the gospel, in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.


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