But Everybody Else Is Doing It Christmas is a pagan festival. That is absolute fact. If you just scratch the surface of any of the traditions associated with Christmas, you immediately start finding some rather grotesque, decidedly unChristian facts. Some people take offense when they are pointed out, but God commands His faithful Church to proclaim such things (Isaiah 58:1). Yet even many who know these pagan origins are quick to respond: I don’t worship any pagan sun god! I use these traditions to honor the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is Christian if you make it Christian, many argue. Everyone else is doing it anyway, why should we not join in on the merrymaking? How does God answer such reasoning? Aside from the fact that God does not command Christmas, aside from the fact that Christ wasn’t born on December 25 and that its customs are steeped in paganism, does it matter if we keep Christmas for the “right” reasons? Few, it seems, ever stop to consider what God thinks about these humanly devised traditions. Doesn’t God have the right to tell us how and how not He wants to be worshiped? Throughout the Bible, God plainly reveals that He will not accept vain worship, even if it is intended to be in His honor! Can you observe pagan customs to honor Jesus Christ? Here is God’s frank answer: “[T]ake heed that you be not ensnared to follow them [the pagans and their customs], and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do likewise.’ You shall not do so to the LORD your God; for every abominable thing which the LORD hates they have done for their gods …” (Deuteronomy 12:30-31; Revised Standard Version). Notice that God not only commands against serving other gods, but also against attempting to honor the true God by following the same customs of worship as the people in the world. “Howbeit in vain do they worship me,” Jesus said, “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men …” (Mark 7:7-8). God does not want people to make up their own ways to worship Him! Jesus said in John 4:24 that true worshipers of God obey Him in spirit and in truth—which means according to the truth of God’s Word (John 17:17). CHRIST WAS NOT BORN ON, OR ANYWHERE NEAR, DECEMBER 25! The Bible nowhere commands keeping Christ’s birthday. The New Testament Church never kept it. There is no record of Jesus Christ or His apostles cutting down a tree to deck it with ornaments. Christmas is an unbiblical tradition manufactured by human reasoning. It’s rooted in paganism and is expressly forbidden by the commandments of God. Yet still, as Mr. Armstrong explained in The Plain Truth About Christmas, “[M]ost people today take that command of God lightly, or as having no validity whatsoever, and FOLLOW THE TRADITION OF MEN IN OBSERVING CHRISTMAS.” Many know Christmas is pagan but still refuse to give it up. Some will answer that it means so much to the children and that it brings families together. Does it really? Have lies, deceit and paganism ever accomplished such things? Others will say, But I don’t worship the Christmas tree. It is not an idol to me. God never says that idols are only carved images toward which ignorant religious savages pray. “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey …” (Romans 6:16). If you see how God condemns Christmas, yet you continue keeping it, the object of your devotion is Christmas—not God. For many people, Christmas is such an idol. Ask yourself, “What is the source of my religion?” Religion is the obedience, service and adoration rendered to the object of one’s worship—a system of faith and devotion to a superior authority—the profession, practice and observance of whatsoever belief and practice is required by that superior authority. One reason Christmas is so popular today is BECAUSE GOD’S LAW FORBIDS OBSERVING THE CUSTOM—and man’s mind, as it says in Romans 8:7, IS HOSTILE TO GOD’S LAW! As Mr. Armstrong used to say, if God’s law actually commanded us to observe Christmas, A LOT FEWER PEOPLE WOULD DO IT! Another reason for the popularity of Christmas is simply that everyone else seems to be doing it. It’s human nature to follow along with the crowd—to blindly accept popular customs, without ever stopping to question why. Popular opinion should not prevent individuals who know the truth from turning away from a festival season steeped in paganism. Jesus said that, in order to be His disciples, there would be times when we would need to forsake the desires of our family and friends to follow Him (Luke 14:26-27). Another reason for the universal acceptance of this pagan custom in the Western world: Satan has used FALSE MINISTERS and DECEITFUL WORKERS to blind this world to the plain and simple truth of what the Bible actually says (see 2 Corinthians 4:4; 11:13 and Revelation 12:9).
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 04:06:41 +0000
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