Strange and different ideas about religion have become popular again

Strange and different ideas about religion have become popular again. People like to hear someone whose ideas excite their imagination. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and always (Hebrews 13:8). And his good news will never change (Galatians 1:6-9).

The first Christian leaders knew this problem well. That is why they constantly referred to the Old Testament (the first part of the Bible). They wanted to prove that they really were teaching God’s word. During their lives, God was doing things that he had promised to do long before. So their message was not different or strange. It was the same message that God had always declared to his people.

The problem was that, even in the first Christian churches, some people were already teaching strange and different messages. And often, they too said that their ideas came from the Old Testament. But they were not teaching people to believe and to trust in Jesus. They were not teaching people that only God’s grace (love and kindness) can save them by the death of Jesus. Instead, they taught people to obey rules, customs and traditions. And they taught that people could save themselves by that method. That is why those ideas were strange and different. And they were also wrong, foolish, and dangerous.

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