The Right Responses to Give to Those Who Try to Justify Celebrating X-Mas A. Quench Not the Holy Spirit (1 Thes 5:19-22) -- Test all things against the Scripture and line-up beliefs and actions with what is true (i.e., do not treat withcontempt the Word of God). If one is convinced that to celebrate Christmas is sin, then he and his family must not compromise with the world or the church by participating in any Christmas celebrations (Rom. 14:23). B. Avoid Traps of the Devil: 1. Lack of Zeal -- One who never considers why he does certain things, but he just does them because he always has or because his parents always have; one who acts on emotions rather than on facts. 2. Lack of Truth -- One who does things for good reasons and right motives (i.e., plenty of zeal), but not in truth. C. Realize that Christians Celebrating Christmas as the Day of Christs Birth Makes No More Sense than Adding Any of the Following Days as Special Days of Christian Celebration: (Remember, the Bibles focus on the birth of Christ is for the sole purpose of documenting his virgin birth, his incarnation, and the fulfillment of His prophetic Messiahship. Like the tongue-in-cheek suggestions below, one must also remember that there is no Biblical warrant, precedent, nor precept for the remembrance of the day of Christs birth as a day of special religious celebration.) 1. Baptism Celebration -- Why not have three days of swimming parties in the summer in order to celebrate/symbolize Christs three days in the grave? We could even pick a time based upon our speculation of when John the Baptist baptized Jesus! 2. Ascension Celebration -- Why not have one day set aside every year for hotair balloon rides in order to celebrate Christs ascension to heaven? 3. Miracle Celebration -- There is considerable Biblical focus on Jesus miracles (even more than on his birth), so why not have one day set aside every year to celebrate the first of Christs miracles? And since that was the turning of water into wine (John 2), why not have Christian wine-tasting parties? D. Avoid the Rationalizations that: 1. Christmas Provides a Festive Time to Share the Gospel -- One cannot take something condemned in Gods Word and use it to spread the Gospel; neither will God bless it to spread His Word. Unacceptable worship and the mixing-in of unholy/pagan forms is surely not the normal means through which God blesses the faithful. Satan works to blend together his system with Gods system, because when unacceptable worship (paganism) is blended with true worship (Gods truth), true worship is destroyed. In fact, any time one mixes pagan ideas and practices with the pure religion of Christ, it is condemned in Scripture as the heinous sin of idolatry! God has always detested taking those things dedicated to idols and using them to worship Him. As a matter of fact, this special time of the year is probably more a hindrance to the receptiveness of the gospel message than a help. Much of the celebration observed by our contemporary society deludes people into assuming that God is pleased, when in reality, He is offended by false religion, pseudo-worship, and alien philosophies. The ecumenical spirit and a counterfeit love under the guise of peace and goodwill among men, more than likely dulls ones sensitivity to his desperate need to repent of sin and be reconciled to a holy God. 2. Christmas is Merely the Honoring of Christs Birth -- Someone says, I know Christmas is of pagan origin, but I still think its not wrong for a church to have a special time for honoring Christs birth. But since when did Protestants believe that Christians have the right to add to the Bible? Is the church a legislative body? Are we to follow the Bible in our faith and practice, or the thinking of fallible men? If we have the right to add a special holy day to the Christian economy, then we can add 10,000 other things. Then we will be no better than the false cults and the Roman Catholics who follow heathen traditions! [Besides, celebrating Christs birth is a form of worship. But since Christmas is a lie, those who celebrate it are not worshiping in spirit and truth (John 4:24).] 3. All Im Doing is Putting Christ Back into Christmas -- The modern conservative cry to put Christ back into Christmas is absurd. As detailed earlier in this report, Jesus Christ was never in Christmas. Its a lie to say He was. He has no part in a lie. When anyone takes the truth and mixes it with a lie, they no longer have the truth. They have changed the truth into a lie. Neither is it possible to take a lie and mix it with enough truth to change the lie into the truth. You still come out with a lie. One may say, Well, I know its not the truth, but Ill put Christ back in Christmas and glorify God in it then. No, you wont. Christ never was in Christmas. You cannot change a lie into the truth. It should in reality be called Baal-mass, Nimrod-mass, Tammuz-mass, Mithras-mass, or Mary-mass. Christmass is a lie. Why use a lie as a good time for a fundamental truth (the incarnation) of the Christian faith? 4. Im Using Christmas to Witness for Christ, Just Like the Apostle Paul Did -- Some say that all they are doing is taking the truth from Christmas (i.e., the incarnation of Christ) and cultivating it as the Apostle Paul did (Acts 17/Mars Hill), taking the opportunity of the season to witness to a lost world. This would be fine if these Christians were actually doing only as Paul did. Paul, in addressing the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill, proclaimed to them that their unknown god to whom they had erected an altar, was none other than the God who made the world and all the things therein. Paul was not intimidated by the pagan surroundings and symbolisms, nor did he berate the Greeks for their error, but merely showed them the truth of the gospel of Christ. But do Christians really use the opportunity presented by the season in the same way as Paul used the opportunity of the pagan altar? Do Christians personally stand in front of their hometown public displays of Xmas (Nativity scenes, etc.) and preach the gospel? To paraphrase Paul, do they say: Men of Indianapolis, I see that in every way you are very religious; what you worship as something unknown, I am going to proclaim to you? Do they come out of the public schools, where they have just attended their childrens Xmas programs, and preach to the attendees about the true God who has been grossly misrepresented in the program they have just witnessed? Hardly. Even to most of those who understand the true origin of Xmas, this unique time of year means inviting unbelievers into their homes to gather around the Xmas tree, to enjoy the beauty of the wreaths, absorb the heat from the Yule log, etc., reasoning that they are only using the pagan forms and the pagan festival season as an opportunity to witness. If Paul meant this in Acts 17, he would have met the people in the Athenian temple or in his or their homes, gathering around their idols that he had Christianized and was now using as a part of his worship. Most of the people who decorate their homes and churches with Xmas trees, holly wreaths, Nativity scenes, etc., all supposedly to be used as opportunities via Xmas coffees, neighborhood grab bag gift exchanges, Xmas concerts, etc., are thoroughly convinced that theyre doing God a service. And since they are not involved in the crass secular commercialization that theworld revels in, but have instead put Christ back in Xmas (so to speak), they reason that all is Biblical and pleasing to God. 5. It Doesnt Mean Anything to Me -- Many Christians who routinely make a habit of picking-and-choosing which Biblical commands they will or will not obey, have likewise carried this practice over into a justification for celebrating Christmas. They claim, but the Christmas tree, mistletoe, Santa Claus, etc., dont mean anything pagan to me, so Ill exercise my Christian liberty and partake in all of it. Obviously, if one were to take such a cavalier approach to the physical world (i.e., I can drink rat poison because I choose not to regard it as poison), it would likely lead to a quick physical death. Why, then, do Christians think they can avoid spiritual harm by ignoring Gods spiritual warnings? 6. The Connection Has Been Broken -- There are those who clearly recognize the pagan nature of the various Christmas worship forms and practices. Nevertheless, many of these Christians claim that because of the long passage of time from their pagan inception to the present (6,000 years?), the connection to paganism has been sufficiently diminished to allow the adoption of these forms and practices into our Christian worship and celebration. While it may be true that most symbols have lost their original demonic meaning and significance in a modern society, it is strangely bizarre and ironic that Christendom seeks to commemorate Christs birth with the faded symbols of Satan. And even though some of Gods people may be naive and ignorant about the source of these things, surely God is not. Can such things please Him? And think about this -- if it were possible to disconnect current practices from their pagan/occultic roots, why does Scripture not provide us any guidelines as to: (a) how much time is necessary for the neutralization/disassociation process to occur; and (b) which of the hundreds of ancient pagan rites would then be acceptable for adaptation into Christian worship (since some are obviously much more pagan/occultic than others)? 7. There Are Hundreds of Other Items of Daily Life that Have a Pagan Origin -- It is said, Such things as the wedding ring, certain clothing customs, the modern division of time into hours and minutes, the names of the days of the week, etc., all have pagan connections in their origins, so isnt it a contradiction on your part to say that their meanings have sufficiently changed while Christmass meanings have not? But we are not saying that their meanings have changed. The question is one of using things of pagan origin in our worship of Christ. So we would ask the question back, Which of these pagan items do we focus on to celebrate the birth of Christ? Or which of these is Christianized and brought into our weekly worship of, or our daily devotion to Christ, as you do with the pagan forms and traditions of Xmas? The origin and meaning of a custom, tradition, or form does not take on significance unless it is somehow specifically incorporated into, or lined up with, our worship. As we have already detailed in the section on Christian liberty (Section IV.B.), these rings, clothing customs, etc. would be merely the byproducts of paganism, not paganism itself, and they have developed no religious connotations or associations of their own, as have the Xmas customs and traditions. 8. Baptism (and Circumcision) Have Pagan Origins and God Still Gave Their Use in Scripture, So Whats Wrong With Using the Pagan Forms of Christmas? - - This argument is frequently made by pastors who say that to be consistent, those who would have us forbid the forms, symbols, and traditions of Christmas should also be calling for us to abandon believers baptism; i.e., shouldnt the would-be banners of Christmas be saying, Since the ancient mystery religions practiced forms of baptism, therefore baptism is a pagan custom and should be outlawed for the believer in Christ? This is a strange argument for anyone to make, particularly a theologian (and, in our opinion, reveals a low view of Scriptural admonitions). If baptism were absent from the Bible, as using pagan forms and traditions to celebrate or commemorate the birth of Christ are totally absent, there would then be no Biblical justification for baptism. But God has not commanded us to celebrate or commemorate Christs birth in any way. He has commanded us to baptize (Matt. 28:19). E. Abstain From the Observance of Christmas -- What, then, ought to be the Christians response to this and other pagan and Roman inventions? It cannot be denied that they are pagan, pure and simple, from beginning to end. God gives us specific instructions in His Holy Word: Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen . (Jer. 10:2). These words are perfectly clear. What rational options do we have as Bible believing Christians? Conclusion The very popularity of Christmas should cause the Christian to question it. Anyone and everyone can celebrate Christmas without question -- outright pagans, nominal Christians, and even Buddhists and Hindus. If, in reality, December 25th were a date set by God to remember the birth of Jesus, there is no doubt that the world would have nothing to do with it. After all, God has commanded one day in seven -- the Lords Day -- to worship Him. Does the world observe it? Of course not. As expected, the world loves Christmas, but hates the Lord Jesus Christ (John 15:18, 23-25). It shuns anything pertaining to true religion. Shouldnt the Christian be just a little suspicious of a celebration in which the whole sinful world can join without qualms? One way to test the Scripturalness of our practices is to reflect on what we would expect missionaries to teach new converts in a foreign culture. We assume that they would use the Bible as their guidebook. If they could start new local churches without importing American culture encumbered with Roman Catholicism, liberal Protestantism, and crass commercialism, wouldnt it be wonderful? Missionaries who have urged new converts to forsake all pagan superstitious relics have later been questioned about the apparent inconsistency of their own American Christmas customs. Nationals perceived them a idolatrous even though the missionaries were oblivious to that possibility! When Christmas is exposed for what it really is, this angers people. It angers Evangelical Protestant people! And there is reason why it does so. When the pagan celebration of Christmas is rooted up, and rejected, then what has become a Protestant tradition is, in effect, being rejected! And that is why people become angry. It began as a Roman Catholic holy day, and then it became a Protestant holy day. And if anyone dares show it up for what it really is, they face the wrath of the Protestant religious machine. And these days, that can be very ugly. Christmas is a thoroughly pagan holiday -- in its origin, in its trappings, and in all its traditions. Perhaps we should contemplate the words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, delivered in a Lords Day sermon on December 24, 1871: We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Saviour; and consequently, its observance is a superstition, because [its] not of divine authority. Superstition has fixed most positively the day of our Saviours birth, although there is no possibility of discovering when it occurred. ... It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the church celebrated the nativity of our Lord; and it was not till very long after the Western church had set the example, that the Eastern adopted it. Because the day is not known, therefore superstition has fixed it; ... Where is the method in the madness of the superstitious? Probably the fact is that the holy days were arranged to fit in with the heathen festivals. ... We venture to assert that if there be any day in the year of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which the Saviour was born, it is the twenty-fifth of December. ... regarding not the day, let us, nevertheless, give God thanks for the gift of His dear Son. And from Dr. H.A. Ironsides Lectures on the Book of Revelation (1920: p. 301): It is a lamentable fact that Babylons principles and practices are rapidly but surely pervading the churches that escaped from Rome at the time of the Reformation. We may see evidences of it in the wide use of high-sounding ecclesiastical titles, once unknown in the reformed churches, in the revival of holy days and church feasts such as Lent, Good Friday, Easter, and Christs Mass, or, as it is generally written, Christmas. ... some of these festivals ... when they are turned into church festivals, they certainly come under the condemnation of Galatians 4:9-11, where the Holy Spirit warns against the observance of days and months and times and seasons. All of them, and many more that might be added, are Babylonish in heir origin, and were at one time linked with the Ashtoreth and Tammuz mystery-worship. It is through Rome that they have come down to us; and we do well to remember that Babylon is a mother, with daughters who are likely to partake of their mothers characteristics ... And, finally, from Alexander Hislops 1916 classic, The Two Babylons: Or the Papal Worship: Upright men strove to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostasy went on, till the Church, with the exception of a small remnant, was submerged under Pagan superstition. That Christmas is a Pagan festival is beyond all doubt. The time of the year and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin. We can summarize by saying that nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to commemorate the birth of our Lord, and God the Father evidently deemed it unwise to make the date known. Hence, it will always remain unknown and is not to be ceremoniously remembered and celebrated. (In fact, as pointed out in the Ironside quote above, God has warned us about getting entangled with any special days [Gal. 4:10]). Notice though, that we are commanded to remember Him in His death (but no special day was specified for this either): Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; this DO in remembrance of Me (Luke 22:18,19; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). To commemorate His death is Scriptural. Any day of the year will do. To commemorate His birth is non-Scriptural, even extra-Scriptural (Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:19), whether one chooses December 25th or any other day. If God had desired us to remember the day of Christs birth, He could have left us the precise date. But if He had, He would have vindicated every astrologer in the past 2,000 years. In occult circles, the anniversary of a persons birth is the most important metaphysical day of the year. The Bible recognizes no such significance. It is intriguing that there are only two birthday celebrations recorded in the entire Bible and they were both those of ungodly kings -- and both resulted in an execution (Gen. 40:16-22 and Matt. 14:6-10/Mark 6:21-27)! The Apostle Paul says: But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross [not the manger] of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Gal. 6:14). By itself, we find no salvation in the birth of the Lord Jesus, for salvation was only made possible through His death (i.e., His shed blood) and resurrection. Our focus should be on the cross and our ascended Savior, not in a cradle. Those who love Jesus should certainly rejoice that He was born and lived amongst us as a man. But if we truly want to glorify Him and bear testimony of who He is, we must stop marrying that blessed gift with the debauchery of paganism. If we want to honor His birth, let it be done as He would have done it: year-round unselfishly serving our fellow man as an unending act of love for our God. Let us put away all of the mixture of pagan customs and take up His mantle and His pure worship, and show the confused world that there is a difference.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 03:56:53 +0000
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