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10 Reasons To NOT Convert To Eastern Orthodox
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have you heard some people are saying
there's a trend of people converting to
the Eastern Orthodox Church is that
something to celebrate in this video I'm
going to give 10 reasons why people
should not convert to Orthodoxy don't
miss any of this because some of these
points may surprise you a ton by the way
I love Orthodox people I have nothing
against them personally and I do pray
for them these are the standard official
teachings of the Orthodox Church that I
find problematic are you ready here we
go number one PR praying to Saints an
icon veneration the Orthodox Church says
it's a fine practice to pray to the
Saints create pictures of them which
they call icons place them in their
churches and homes and then bow down to
them kiss them and pray to them but we
don't see that practice in the days of
the Apostles nor in the Old Testament
there are no records of the Apostles
bowing down to a picture of Abraham
kissing it or praying to it in fact to
do that would be a violation of the
second of the Ten Commandments which
says you shall not make for yourself a
carved image or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above or that is in
the earth beneath or that is in the
water under the Earth You shall not bow
down to them or serve them what is
forbidden is not the images per se but
the Bowing down to or serving of these
images for there were God prescribed
images of cherubims and in the
tabernacle curtains there was palm trees
and things like that representing the
Garden of Eden but it' be wrong for a
person person to start bowing down to
those images of those palm trees or
those cherubim and to pray to them
having pictures in church was actually
not a universal practice in the early
church it was largely not done even some
Regional councils like the Council of Al
Vera forbid it saying Canon 36 pictures
are not to be placed in churches so that
they do not become objects of worship
and adoration yet in Orthodox Churches
this is practiced in the confession of dositheus
dositheus
which is accepted by the Orthodox Church
it says now we adore the Saints and the
holy icons the second Council of NAA
which is also accepted by the Orthodox
church and even is considered infallible
by them made a decree quote We Salute
the venerable images we place under
anathema those who do not do this it
goes on to describe requiring both
saluting and kissing the image and have
a strong desire towards it and how that
Council defined what an anathema is it
says quote an anathema is nothing short
than complete separation from God so
something that is forbidden the Bible
and not a universal practice of the
earliest Christians this Council which
the Orthodox Church accepts says you are
separate from God if you do not salute
and bow down and kiss these images
that's completely undermining God's word
number two denial of penal
substitutionary atonement Eastern or
Orthodox people reject the idea that
Jesus Took the punishment for our sins
that's right you didn't mishear me the
Orthodox do believe that Jesus died on
the cross but they don't believe that in
doing so Jesus Took the punishment from
the father for our sins instead they
talk about Christ sacrifice simply being
a victory over death and Corruption but
not that he bore the wrath of God this
is hugely problematic I would say
because it's really ripping out the core
of the message of the gospel because
God's justice needs to be satisfied
either we take the penalty for our own
sins in Hell or Jesus can take the
penalty for us on the cross there is no
option of God just not punishing if he
is to remain just the reason for
rejecting this Doctrine is that they
think it somehow would break the Trinity
if the father poured out his wrath on
the son yet the criticism isn't valid
because Jesus willingly went to the
cross and the father wasn't hating the
son while on the cross instead he was
punishing Jesus for the sins of all who
had believe and most importantly it's
actually what the Bible teaches Isaiah
53:10 says yet it was the will of the
Lord to crush him he has put him to
grief the father crushing his own son
here to make atonement for our sins
earlier on in that same chapter it says
but he was pierced for our
transgressions he was crushed for our
iniquities upon him was the chastisement
that brought us peace and with his
wounds we are healed healed notice that
he got what we should get the
chastisement some translations even have
punishment here he got the penalty for
what you and I should get this is the
heart of the gospel and tragically the
Orthodox Church rejects it number three
Faith plus works for salvation decree 13
of the confession of dossus says we
believe a man to be not simply justified
through faith alone but through faith
which works through love that is to say
through faith and works faith and works
Paul literally says in Ephesians 2:9 not
as a result of works that no one may
boast that we saved by but by grace
through faith good works are a fruit of
Salvation we're saved for good works but
not by them Romans 4:5 says and to the
one who does not work but believes in
him who justifies the ungodly his faith
is counted as righteousness no notice it
doesn't say to the one who works and
believes it says to the one who does not
work but believes that's the one whose
faith is counted as righteousness the
very next verse says the same thing just
as David also speaks the blessing of the
one to whom God counts
righteousness apart from works not along
with Works apart from it so it can't be
Faith plus works it must be faith not
works that makes us right before God an
orthodox priest father spiran said
salvation is a free
gift but we must work and repent in
order to enable ourselves to receive
God's grace that is like saying this
apple is a free gift from me to you but
you must work for me to get it as soon
as working is required to receive the
Apple it is no longer a free gift so if
salvation is a free gift as Romans 6:23
says it is then that necessarily means
that we don't have to work to receive
God's grace Grace means undeserved favor
anyway undeserved kindness as Paul says
in Romans 11 but if it is by Grace it is
no longer on the basis of Works
otherwise Grace would no longer be Grace
we do the good things to say thank you
to God for his salvation but not as a
necessary thing to do to obtain it or
keep it now before James 2 pops up in
the comments from someone James agrees
that simply believing is what made
Abraham right before God James says and
the scripture was fulfilled that says
Abraham believed God and was counted to
him as righteousness and he was called a
friend of God so on what basis was
Abraham counted as righteous simply by
believing God trusting his promise he
was called a friend of God so James
doesn't go against faith alone salvation
he affirms it he just makes the point
that true faith will result in good
works and not everyone who claims to be
someone with faith is a person with
faith their Works evidence if they are
and that faith that Abraham had made him
willing to sacrifice his own son Isaac
some 30 plus years later that sacrifice
wasn't making him more right before God
he already was from the moment he
believed and that's the same with us the
good works we do do not increase our
right standing before God we are already
right with him the moment that we
believe in what Christ has done for us
number four unbiblical beliefs about
Mary E in Orthodoxy believes four things
about Mary which are foreign to the
pages of scripture firstly they believe
that she lived her entire life
completely free of sin even though Paul
says all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God and Mary described
herself as rejoicing in God her savior
only Sinners need a savior secondly they
believe that she was an Ever virgin for
her whole life despite being married to
Joseph the scripture says that Joseph
knew her not until she had given birth
to a son and he called his name Jesus
until which implies that afterwards
Joseph knew his wife like Adam knew Eve
and conceived a son thirdly they believe
that her body was assumed up into heaven
just like Elijah in the Old Testament
but without any scriptural support
saying that that happened and fourthly
they also give her titles like Queen of
Heaven All Holy mediatrix the world's
salvation elevating her status I would
say far beyond what is biblical
warranted and this focus on Mary has led
to unbiblical practices such as the
frequent recitation of prayers directed
to her and hymns sung to her during the
Orthodox liturgy singing praises to her
for example one of the most common
Orthodox hymns sung about Mary is called
the aathy hymn here are some of the
lines Rejoice oh bride unwedded the
world's salvation Rejoice deliverer from
the M of sin and they're speaking about
Mary here but by the way for while never
experiencing marriage you held o virgin
the God of all in your womb and gave
birth to an eternal son who grants
salvation to all who chant hymns of
praise to you what salvation by singing
hymns of praise to Mary it goes on most
holy thecus save us rejoice bride of God
all blameless Maiden who saved the world
from the flood of sin uh no she didn't
Jesus did Rejoice Tabernacle of God the
logos Rejoice Holy One holier than the
holies Rejoice key to the doors of
paradise you are the only hope of the
Hopeless no Jesus is not Mary Rejoice
the Gate of Salvation you all loable
mother who gave birth to the logos the
holiest of all who are holy while
accepting this offering now deliver
everyone from all calamities and deliver
from f future punishment those who cry
out wow no friends Jesus saves us from
the punishment not Mary she's not the
hope of the Hopeless she's not the
deliverer from the me of sin she's not
the world salvation Jesus is the fact
that this hymn is a regular part of the
Orthodox Church liturgy should be enough
reason for anyone to not want to join
the Orthodox Church I respect Mary she
had a very special role but these things
about her in these hymns in the Orthodox
Church elevator a status that the Bible
never gives her and therefore robs Glory
from God the entire church service
should be focused on the triun god with
no songs or hymns sung to anyone but God
number five tradition over scripture
Eastern Orthodoxy places a significant
emphasis on tradition considering equal
in authority and the source of it they
reject the Bible as their sole
infallible rule of faith yet in essence
they actually put tradition as a higher
authority than the Bible because they
say quote only holy tradition can
correctly interpret Holy Scripture never
says that in the Bible Jesus said that
the holy spirit will guide the apostles
into all truth they are infallible in
their teaching since they would be the
ones to write down scripture but that
doesn't mean that that promise carries
over to church councils or to fathers
who would live after them Paul tells us
to follow some traditions but look what
he limits it to so then Brothers Stand
firm and hold to the Traditions that you
are taught by us either by our spoken
word or by our letter so we are called
to follow Apostolic tradition Traditions
from the apostles themselves but that
does not mean we are called to follow
traditions that have Arisen after the
times of the Apostles and since we're
called only to follow the apostolic
Traditions the only way that we can
determine what truly is a tradition from
the apostles is by going to the pages of
sacred scripture because someone can
claim that a tradition goes all way back
to the apostles but if you're just
having to take their word for it that's
hugely problematic because false
teachers can also claim the same so
thankfully God has left us the
scriptures that we can go back to to see
what the apostles teachings are imagine
a famous teacher who wrote a book of
life lessons long after he's gone some
people claim this is what he really
meant and you can't understand him
without going to us to come to
understand what the teacher really
believes reading his book is the best
source of information rather than going
to those who claim to be an authority on
him and so what we have is the book of
scripture straight from the apostles
Traditions like those other people's
statements maybe sometimes they're
useful but if you want the real deal the
teachers own writing trumps what others
may say about him number six rules or
practices that contradict the Bible so
let me give you two examples where
Orthodox tradition goes against
scripture in the Orthodox Church they
allow priests to marry but they forbid
marriage for Bishops which contradicts
Apostolic teaching Paul explicitly
states that a bishop should be the
husband of one wife showing that Bishops
are clearly allowed to get married even
Peter was married the scripture speaks
about Peter's mother-in-law and when
Jesus entered Peter's house he saw his
mother-in-law lying sick with a fever
Peter was married Paul describes how
he's even allowed to get married if you
would like to do we not have the right
to take along a believing wife as do the
other Apostles and the brothers of the
Lord and sephus there's no forbidding of
marriage in the Bible for any role
Apostle Bishop Elder in first Timothy
Paul goes on to talk about how some
people in the last days will depart from
the Faith by devoting themselves to
deceitful spirits and teachings of
demons now what are these teachings of
demons that he's talking about well an
example of it is in verse three when he
says these people forbid marriage so to
forbid marriage for a certain class of
person such as Bishops according to Paul
would be a doctrine of demons another
example of a rule or practice the
Orthodox church has is that they insist
that a person must not eat or drink
anything from the time that he goes to
sleep the night before he plans to take
part in the Eucharist now that's not
something the Bible says so if your
church service is at 11:00 on Sunday
morning you can't eat anything or drink
anything for breakfast or through the
night you must abstain from it all but
that's not something the Bible says
instead in 1 Corinthians 11 Paul when
he's giving instructions about the
Lord's Supper he actually says if anyone
is hungry let him eat at home so that
when you come together it will not be
for judgment because some in the
Corinthian Church were seeing the Lord's
Supper as just a regular meal some were
eating all the bread others were even
getting drunk off the wine so eating at
home before the Eucharist is what Paul
instructs rather than fasting since the
night before so that you aren't hungry
when you partake in it and so you can
focus on what the bread and the cup
represent Christ's body broken and blood
poured out for us these two examples
undermine Orthodoxy claim to Faithfully
preserve Apostolic teaching by teaching
Traditions that are contrary to it
number seven toll houses after you die
this is a concept that many orthodox
people accept and it's this concept that
after death Believers will go through
toll houses which are spiritual
checkpoints in the air where the soul is
confronted by demons and angels at each
toll housee the soul is tested for
specific sins it committed during its
Earthly life such as Pride or greed
slander or lust the demons would then
accuse the soul of its sins while the
Angels advocate for the soul presenting
evidence of repentance virtues and and
good works weighing up good vers bad
Deeds this concept of a post-death trial
by demons and angels is completely
absent from the pages of the Old and New
Testaments the Bible teaches us that
Believers are immediately with the Lord
upon death and the idea of toll houses
introduces fear and uncertainty really
contradicting the Assurance of Salvation
we have in Christ Orthodox fathers also
teach that the prayers and good works of
relatives here on this Earth can
actually benefit those in the after life
potentially even releasing them from
punishment for their sin The Souls of
those involved in Mortal sins depart
into Hades and they endure The
Punishment Due to the sins that they
have committed but they are aware of
their future release from there and are
delivered by their Supreme goodness
through the prayers of the priests and
the good works which the relatives of
each do for their departed especially
the unbloody sacrifice benefiting the
most that's the Eucharist which each
offers particularly for his relatives
that have fallen asleep it is understood
that we do not know the time of their
release we know and believe that there
is Deliverance for such from their
direful condition and that before the
resurrection and judgment but when we
know not this is clearly something
contrary to scripture in The Story of
Lazarus and the rich man Jesus speaks
about the rich man in Hades who was in
torment and wanted Lazarus to come to
him and cool his tongue there but
Abraham said to him and besides all this
between us and you a great Chasm has
been fixed in order that those who would
pass from here to you may not be able
and none may cross from there to us see
that none may cross from being in that
torment to being with the people of God
this shows the permanent nature of it
all for those who end up in punishment
they're there forever it's too late for
them your Deeds now cannot affect those
who have Departed from this world number
eight no Assurance of Salvation e
Orthodoxy teaches that no one can be
absolutely certain of their salvation
you know the Protestant um is is looking
if you died right now well I think yes I
hope that if I died right now if I
dropped dead right now that I would
inherit the Kingdom of Heaven that's my
hope we have to live
knowing that our Salvation is not a
guaranteed story are you SA saved is the
question we
receive the answer
is I hope
so and yet the biblical gospel says that
we can be it says in first John I write
these things to you who believe in the
name of the son of God that you may know
that you have eternal life God wants us
to know that we have it the reason why
Orthodox people say they cannot be 100%
sure is because what they're resting
upon for their salvation is not not
simply the finished work of Jesus on the
cross but it's also their obedience they
see baptism as a requirement for
salvation taking the Eucharist gets more
forgiveness of sins confession to a
priest fasting praying and other works
like that Orthodox Archbishop satius
said this the initiative and effort of
Christ is not enough man must cooperate
as well that's not biblical Christ did
enough did he only do 90% of what was
needed to get you to heaven or did he do
100% And if he did 100% how much is left
for us to have to do to get to Heaven
Must Be nothing we just believe his
promise and be we benefit from it think
of it this way if God was to make a
promise to you how certain could you be
that it would happen clearly 100% to say
anything less would be to call God a
liar or unreliable and that's what he's
promised Jesus said truly truly I say to
you whoever believes has eternal life
let's say my wife said to me dinner will
be ready at 6:00 p.m. and I said I'm not
really sure it will be that's basically
to tell her I don't think you're
reliable and people can be unreliable
but Jesus can't be so to say that I
can't be 100% sure I'm going to heaven
even though he's promised it to those
who believe is to really say that you
don't believe in him you don't trust him
it's to call him unreliable because
salvation is a promise that God makes to
you it's not a promise that you make to
him this is important distinction
there's only one one side making the
promise here and it's God we aren't
promising to be obedient enough as a
condition for salvation although
obedience will be a result instead he's
promising I've laid my life down for you
and I will take you safely to my
heavenly Kingdom if you would trust that
I've done it for you so do you trust do
you trust that you will not perish but
you shall have eternal life trust him
and you can be sure of your salvation
number nine denial of the guilt of
original sin e Orthodoxy rejects the
concept of original sin now they still
agree that Adam's sin affects all humans
in that we all die as a result of his
sin but they deny the guilt of Adam's
sin carrying over to all humans and that
only a person's own sins make the person
guilty before God but the biblical
position is that Adam represented Us in
the garden he acted on our behalf which
actually makes us guilty then for his
sin similar to to a person who hires a
Hitman to take someone out both the
person and the Hitman are responsible
for the same action because the Hitman
represented him and so Adam represented
Us in the garden and so Adam's sin in
the garden is what we inherited because
he was doing it on our behalf Romans
5:12 says therefore just as Sin came
into the world through one man Adam and
death through sin and so death spread to
all men because all sinned so we all
sinned in Adam verse 19 also says for as
by the one man's Disobedience so Adam's
Disobedience the many were made Sinners
so made Sinners because of Adam so by
the one man's obedience which is Christ
the many we made righteous even think of
how David said he was conceived in
iniquity conceived in sin that wouldn't
make sense if we weren't born guilty and
so what original sin is it's simply a
picture of the Gospel that we get
treated as if we did Adam's sin and so
Christ get treated on the cross as
though he did our and so it's actually
an amazing picture of the Gospel number
10 exclusivity of Salvation the historic
Orthodox claim is that they claim to be
the one true church and that there's no
salvation that they know of apart from
being part of that particular Church
here's a quote from Archbishop sorus
everyone must become a member of this
church to be saved everyone without
exception while Christ established his
church which is simply the people of God
Believers the Bible emphasizes faith in
him not affiliation with a specific
institution as the basis for our
salvation and when the Orthodox Church
claims this it really just causes people
to be anxious about which church to
become a member of because there's other
churches that also claim that about
themselves the Orthodox Church is not
unique about this you have the eesan a
Christo Church also claiming to be the
only true church and salvation only by
being part of them but the reality is
there is only one Church founded by
Jesus and it's not uniquely the Orthodox
church it's not the Catholic church it's
not the Protestant church it's the
people of God it transcends particular
denominations or institutions it's
genuine Believers in Christ who don't
rely on their works at all to save them
but Christ alone and if that's you
you're part of jesus' church this can
clear up that anxiety you may feel
ignore those people who are claiming
that you be part of their particular
institution to be saved that's not
biblical you don't see the Apostle
saying that and as you seek for a local
church to attend simply check to see not
how fancy their robes are or how pretty
their buildings are but are they
consistent with Biblical teaching do
they hold the Bible as their ultimate
Authority or not do they believe that
we're Sav by grace through faith and not
by works that's the test on how to find
a good local church but as we've seen in
this video the Orthodox Church doesn't
meet that criteria so don't consider
converting to Orthodoxy simply be a
Christian it's what the disciples were
called and find a good local church that
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