Spiritual Idolatry: Difference between revisions

The Bible often speaks against Idolatry.  In today’s modern culture, especially within Western Civilization, we don't see many graven images or literal idols made of wood and stone to which the masses bow.  Yet, idolatry is just as alive and well today as it has ever been, even among the more advanced societies.  In reality, an idol is anything upon which we base our self-worth or value or to which we devote ourselves without question or restraint.   

The message often points to Catholicism as “polished up idolatry.”  They took down Jupiter and lifted up Peter.  They took down Venus and lifted up Mary.  They took down the Sun God and replaced it with the Son of God.  They ultimately elevated a Pope to a level of infallibility as the Vicar of Christ.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the beliefs of the message.  The message condemns the concept of a Pope, but has elevated William Branham as not only the most powerful prophet of all time, but also the sole and final authority upon which scripture is interpreted.  In fact, the message claims that there is no one within our day that will make the rapture without accepting the message of William Branham.   

In Acts Chapter 19, Paul challenged the idols of Ephesus.  This challenge was made at the very heart of the culture of that society.  With great zeal and violence the people of Ephesus fought against those who challenged their idols.  We see the same response today when the idols of the message are challenged.  Stop and ask yourself, how much of the message ideology that is preached today is in reality folklore that has been made into idols?

The false teachers that Paul refers to in the Book of Galatians were not encouraging the Gentile Christians to ignore God’s law, as they had in their pagan days. Rather, they were urging them to adopt all the Old Testament Mosaic law, in order to be justified and pleasing to God (Gal 2:14–16).

Our insecurity regarding our acceptance with God is the reason we make idols. We look at our knowing of Him (which fluctuates so much) instead of His knowing of us in Christ. We are desperately trying to firm up a positive self-image by using our idols. Paul reminds us that the gospel shows us we don’t need to make ourselves beautiful or lovable to God; He already knows us. If this is the case, we don’t need to make an idol out of other people’s approval or even our own self-approval.<ref>Timothy Keller, Galatians for You, God’s Word for You (Purcellville, VA: The Good Book Company, 2013), 107.</ref>