Why we must reject the message
We were asked a question recently - "What did William Branham teach that takes a person away from Christ?"
The question was posed to an ex-message believer by someone who still follows the message. The message follower made the point that, even if William Branham's doctrine is hard to understand, or even if some of it is wrong, it shouldn't matter because the spirit behind it is true. He went on to ask: What's wrong with wearing dresses, not drinking, and all of the other rules that message followers live by?
Why we must reject William Branham's message
There are a number of reasons why we must counsel people to leave the message and simply follow Christ.
William Branham pointed away from our common salvation
William Branham stated the following in 1964:
- The Word, the Word in the days of the apostles does not work in this day.[1]
But Paul said:
- ...there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.[2]
And Jude tells us:
- Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.[3]
By pointing away from the work of Christ, William Branham distorted the Gospel. There is biblically no room for the message. If it is damnable and dangerous, then we need to flee, and for argument's sake, if it is not accurate in its claims, and yet "harmless", then there is no need for it to even exist. This is a hopeless conundrum for a message believer.
William Branham pointed to himself more than to Christ
The net effect of William Branham's message put his teachings ahead of the Bible. The message becomes your idol.
Here is the testimony of a former message follower:
- As a message believer, when I read about Noah, William Branham was on my mind. When I read about AbraHAM, William Branham was on my mind. When I read about Moses, William Branham was on my mind. When I read about Elijah, William Branham was on my mind. When I read about John the Baptist, William Branham was on my mind. When I read about Paul, William Branham was on my mind. When I read about John in Revelation, William Branham was on my mind.
- And the saddest of all, when I read about Jesus, guess who was on my mind!? Now who continually placed himself in every Scripture he could think of to put my mind on him instead of my Savior? If that didn't take me away from Christ, I don't know what did! Yes, I had to repent with an unbelievable brokenness. I still weep as I write this.
Message ministers point to the message more than to Christ
By teaching that anyone that doesn't follow the "message" of William Branham is doomed, the "message" becomes the point of salvation, and Christ's sacrifice once and for all time is minimized, if not lost altogether. When people look to the "message" for salvation, they're no longer looking to Christ for salvation.
The majority of message followers exalt the message above the Bible
In response to this, many message believers will say:
- ...I have never put Brother Branham's teachings above the Bible! He told us that the Bible is our absolute and that is what I believe.
While such people may think that they place the Bible above William Branham's teaching, this is in fact not the case. In fact, the opposite is true. William Branham's message ALWAYS trumps the Bible.
William Branham mixed law and grace
William Branham stated that Christ came to magnify the law. Christ come to magnify the law[4]
But the Bible does not say this.
William Branham used this concept of the magnification of the law, among other things, to bring Old Testament law into the church, thereby going directly against Paul's teaching in the book of Galatians.
The message is built on lies
William Branham portrayed himself as a simple, honest, uneducated man who was sent from God as a prophet to forerun the second coming of Christ. However, many of the stories that he told have been proven to be untrue and many of the doctrines that he said he received directly from God were, in fact, plagiarized from other ministers.