Congregationalists embrace a very important
Biblical concept: the priesthood of all believers. Every believer is given great freedom in
determining individual beliefs, but this freedom comes with great responsibility:
the necessity to study and think for oneself.
No priest or minister can assume responsibility for another’s soul. As largely non-creedal churches loosely
associated together based on their style of church governance, there is some
variation in the beliefs held by the different Congregationalist churches.
Following is a list of some of the errors held
by many Congregationalists.
- Congregationalists
worship on Sunday. This practice is
based on the belief that the divine law was “nailed to the cross,” leaving the
seventh-day Sabbath for the Jews. A
careful study of Scripture, however, reveals Yahuwah’s law is perpetually binding. Thus,
the fourth commandment enjoining worship on the seventh day of the week is still a requirement of the divine law.
Because it is important to worship on the
correct day of the week, it is of vital importance that the correct calendar be
used for calculating that worship day.
The Gregorian calendar is a papal innovation of a pagan calendar. It can
never establish Yahuwah’s true, holy Sabbath [lunar Sabbath].
- Congregationalists
commemorate the birth and death of the Saviour at Christmas and Easter. These celebrations are rooted in paganism and
are wholly unfit for participation in by any true believer. Scripture teaches the importance of observing
the great anniversaries in salvation history, but such observances are to be
done at Heaven’s appointed times, not on days that honor pagan deities.
- A number
of Congregationalist churches teach universal salvation, the belief that all
sinners will ultimately be saved. It is
the heart-longing of the Father that all of His wayward earthly children should
be reconciled to Him. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
The reality as revealed by Scripture, however, is that many will choose
to remain in rebellion against the kingdom of Heaven. Scripture explicitly states that those who continue in rebellion, those who are “not found written in the book
of life” will be “cast into the lake of fire.”
(See Revelation 20:5-9.)
Yahuwah warns, “The wages of sin is death.”
(Romans 6:23) Yahuwah is a lover of
liberty and will force none to be saved against their will.
- Other
Congregationalist churches teach predestination – the Calvinist idea that Yahuwah has preselected those who will be saved and
those who will be lost. Scripture
teaches that salvation is the result of Yahuwah seeking the lost, unwilling that any should perish. “Yahuwah commendeth His love toward us, in that, while
we were yet sinners, Yahushua died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
The secret to salvation is not
predestination, but surrender of the human to the divine will. It requires the assent of the human will
because Yahuwah will never force any to be saved against their will. That is why the Father ceaselessly,
yearningly invites all to come to Him: “ . . . the one who comes to Me I will
in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37)
- Many
Congregationalist churches teach glossolalia as proof of baptism of the Holy
Spirit. While the gift of tongues
certainly has been given in both apostolic and modern times, the majority of
modern occurrences do not fit the Biblical criteria for speaking in tongues that are understood by the listener.
Heaven is inviting all Congregationalist
believers to further study, laying aside all error, and accept the fullness of
truth as it is in Yahushua.
