All the teachings of Scripture can largely be divided into two categories: the words that command us to keep, do, and practice what God says, and the words that warn us not to do certain things. Therefore, if one’s faith does not follow the love of the cross, then every word of Scripture becomes meaningless and without value. Today, there are far more believers who know God’s commands yet do not keep them, than those who fail simply because they do not understand. The reason so many people put their religion and their church above the Word is that they are trying to justify a life that does not keep or practice the teachings of God. This has turned their faith into a form that trusts—not in Christ and the love of the cross—but in religion, in their church, and in the altar they serve. For this reason, the greatest heresy is not some “cult” far away, but rather the misguided faith of those who rely on religion, the church, and the altar under the guise of God’s name. Human beings are never saved by religion, by the church, or by the preaching of the altar. Salvation comes only through the love of Christ that follows the love of the cross. Yet there are almost no believers who truly understand this. In reality, they do not believe in the words of Scripture nor follow their content. They only believe in the appearance of religion—the surface-level value of the church and the altar. In other words, using the Bible merely as a pretext, religion and the church have become idols. If Christianity, the church, and the altar could truly lead a person to salvation, then none of the countless teachings of Scripture that command practice and obedience would be necessary, nor would the sacrifices of God’s apostles, of Christ Himself, or of all His disciples.
Although modern Christianity and Catholicism claim to teach a God-centered or Word-centered faith, in reality, they use God and Scripture merely as tools to make people trust in their religion, their church, and their altar. They place worship—an abominable tradition, custom, ceremony, and ritual created and shaped to justify the stealing of tithes and offerings—at the very front of their faith. People depend on their own desires, expectations, self-chosen standards, personal pride, convictions, and emotional assurance—all created by their own cravings for satisfaction, desire, and happiness—and they take these things as though they were the faith of a true Christian. But there are almost no believers who truly follow the Word as it is written. This is why countless doctrines and teachings continue to be created in many voices and forms, and why one heresy gives birth to another. Modern Christianity and Catholicism have become enemies of God, opposed to the love of the cross, and contrary to the Word, because they will not abandon their worldly lifestyle and fleshly values—a life that only accumulates more sin and increases their desires.
A true Christian life, true Christian values, and true Christian fruit can be obtained only by abandoning every worldly desire, every fleshly value, and every selfish ambition. But because today’s religious people live in a way completely opposite to this, the fruit and evidence written in Scripture cannot appear. Thus they end up serving their religion and their altar, believing and following their own doctrines and theories rather than the Word of God. They take this as the basis and justification for their faith, presenting religion as their foundation, exalting and deifying the church and the altar, and teaching as though this were God’s will and true faith.
Furthermore, the religions, churches, and shepherds who teach such things do so as a means to satisfy their own selfish desires and never-ending cravings. This is why they urge people to serve the religion and the altar. In doing so, they continuously create excuses to avoid practicing the love of the cross—the love that God sent for us to embody by caring for, providing for, and tending to one another through charity and service. Thus, sermons filled with words and theories, exaggerated interpretations, forced explanations, and false justifications continue to be produced. These are ideas and doctrines made to avoid living out the love of the cross.
The central message of Scripture is this: to follow the love of the cross—the very source of all love—and thereby to form within ourselves the divine nature that resembles God, so that we may become His true and mature children. For this reason, Scripture continually commands us to keep, do, and practice what God has spoken. In other words, just as the highest law or the greatest command, if you follow, for the sake of your brothers, the sacrificial love, suffering, and self-denial of Christ, then you will reach salvation. This is the core and standard of all Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. The love of the cross is the divine nature itself—the nature of God who is the source of all love. Therefore, the Lord said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” What further ideology is needed beyond the love of the cross, which alone is worthy of salvation? What other reasons or theories do we require? Is it because we do not know that we do not act? Or is it that we know yet refuse to act? Our conscience already knows the answer.
For this reason the Lord said, “All the Law and the prophets were until John,” because when the perfect and complete love of the cross came into this world, the Lord declared that the Law was no longer necessary. Then what are the Trinity and the Apostles’ Creed? Are they found in Scripture? Are they God’s words? Or are they commandments made by men? Now is the time to discern this clearly. Only those who follow the sacrificial love and suffering of the cross—just as Christ demonstrated with His own life—can enter salvation. This is the teaching and testimony of the cross of Christ. In other words, anyone who does not take up their own cross and follow the sacrificial love and suffering of the cross can never reach salvation.
Although this is recorded plainly in Scripture, most believers lightly regard, ignore, or dismiss these teachings of practice. Instead, they claim that the simple moral, ethical, and humanistic acts of kindness, goodness, charity, and service—which even worldly people commonly do—are somehow following and resembling the sacrificial love of the cross, where Christ gave His very life. But this distorted interpretation has only turned Christian charity, service, and “love” into something the unbelieving world mocks. Having abandoned the deeds and example of following the sacrificial love of the cross to the point of giving even one’s life, they seek instead a faith that allows them to live comfortably, to eat well, live well, and then still obtain salvation at the end. Thus, with worldly desires mixed together with material interests, they interpret Scripture to suit their own preferences. They use their personal convictions, decisions, enthusiasm, and pride—shaped by worldly values—as though these were the faith of a true Christian.
Their charitable works and acts of service—used merely as a means to boast about and advertise their religion and their church—are nothing more than hypocrisy and self-display performed at the same social, moral, and ethical level that even worldly people commonly practice. These things, done only to satisfy their own selfish ambitions and insatiable desires, do not testify to the love of the cross before the world or before false religions; rather, they cause the love of the cross to be dishonored. Because they attempt to serve God while clinging to the world and material things, their sermons—built on words alone—have become increasingly corrupted, distorted, and polluted. As a result of these teachings, the sacrificial blood and suffering of Christ—given even to the point of His life—is now mocked by unbelievers because of those who claim to believe.
The fundamental reason they cannot teach believers to treat every word of Scripture with weight, caution, and earnest listening is that they do not examine or center themselves within the Word. They have not abandoned the world, but instead try to serve God while holding tightly to worldly desires. Thus, they interpret Scripture by force, twist it falsely, and take these distortions as their faith. This is why most sermons today import worldly principles of success and happiness—teachings that have nothing to do with salvation and instead inflame sin and desire. Thus, modern preaching and Christian books are often filled with worldly inspiration, emotional motivation, and ideas shaped by secular theories. Because most shepherds and believers serve God while clinging to material desires, their faith—meant to pursue their personal ambitions, satisfaction, and cravings—has been justified as a “calling” or a “talent from God.”Instead of measuring all of Scripture evenly, their faith is narrowed to certain verses or selective teachings. Thus, their faith has become imbalanced and distorted. For this reason, churches, shepherds, believers, and their faith all lack the actual deeds and practice of the love of the cross. Instead, they rely on theories, interpretations, and arguments crafted to justify their preferences—treating these as though they were God, as though they were Christ, as though they were faith itself, as though they were a calling or a spiritual talent. Among the countless teachings of Scripture, they cling only to a few dozen verses—an empty shell with no substance—and their forced interpretations become their faith. Driven only by words and theories, their religiosity is nothing more than a convenient excuse for their church and altar, while their worldly self-confidence, enthusiasm, and pride—formed by a life dominated by materialism—become the true substance of their faith.
The shepherds who lead believers to serve the church and the altar instead of the Word are themselves evidence that they are trying to serve God while holding onto the world. Likewise, the believers who serve the church and the altar rather than the Word reveal that their faith is empty—a worldly life driven by desire that can only continue accumulating sin. Instead of fostering within believers the love of the cross—the love that leads them to care for, serve, and cherish one another through charity and service—they steal tithes and offerings and justify this theft with doctrines, traditions, commandments, and teachings made only of words and theories. Thus religion, tradition, ritual, and worship—born of these distortions—have multiplied corruption upon corruption, lie upon lie, and decay upon decay. To justify their worship—worship that has become theft and stands opposed to the Word—they have created their own traditions, rituals, and ideologies, absolutizing them, deifying them, and teaching them with pride and self-assurance.
They have a form of justification but no fruit, holy words on their lips but no obedience in their lives. This is why their acts of charity and service—the same basic kindness and goodness that even worldly people practice—have brought dishonor to the sacrificial love of Christ, who gave His very life upon the cross. Their service and charity have become a cause for the world’s mockery. Their desire to achieve worldly success, ambitions, and satisfaction—a desire rooted in the world and opposed to the Word—prevents them from practicing the love of the cross, from loving and serving the poor and needy as their own body. And thus they reveal the true nature of those who serve the church and the altar instead of following the Word: a life of vain faith, living according to worldly desires, unable to practice the love of the cross.