As soon as the church began (Acts 2), the constant need for repentance and restoration also began. From the beginning, men have often been distracted by the desire to shape the church in their image (REFORMation Movement). Because of that temptation, the efforts of a RESTORation Movement have been with us from the start.
Religious men know that God deserves obedience, but too often they create their own laws to help God reach His goal. While the desire might be admirable, it does not come without the temptation to employ human wisdom and human authority along the way. In the process, they not only put words in God’s mouth, they also attempt to join Him on His throne of authority. (Example: The Pope)
The false doctrines associated with asceticism serve as a prime example of the foundation for apostasy. From the opening days of the church, extreme conclusions about our flesh/spirit nature have been made and condemned by the Holy Spirit.
Colossians 2:18, 20-23 (ESV) Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism … 20 do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
It was from these extreme views that the first seeds of apostasy was planted – “original sin” (evil babies).
Throughout the course of church history, the perversions of this false doctrine has morphed into gross misrepresentations of passages which are cherry-picked from their context. Catholicism and Calvinism are the chief culprits. They use Adam’s personal failure as a cue to assume that we all must be failures before we even try – evil babies. Their blasphemous conclusions demand that God knits us together as flawed individuals, totally unable to succeed. God forms us with a soul pre-tainted by the original sin of someone else. True personal accountability no longer exists. God becomes the dynamic behind our failure to please Him.
In this study, we will take a deeper look into the passages often abused by Catholicism and Calvinism, as well as seek the harmony of God’s words over the doctrines of men.