Misconception #1
Satan is God’s Equal and Ruler of Hell
Popular culture often paints a picture of Satan being a god-like character, the ruler of hell who with his demons torment the souls of bad people. This probably began or was heavily influenced by Dante’s Divine Comedy. Dante’s poem describes the sinner’s descent into the underworld where Satan lives and controls its core. However, Dante’s poem is contrived of myths stemming primarily from Roman Catholicism and Islam, rather than Biblical truth.
Today’s TV shows, movies, games and the like continue to paint this dangerously incorrect picture of Satan. To increase his power or to diminish his abilities are both very dangerous roads to take, to dismiss Satan altogether as a fairytale is by far the most dangerous.
What The Bible Actually Says
The Bible tells us that God is the One who has the power to cast people into hell, Luke 12:4-5. That Jesus holds the keys of death and Hades (the grave or temporary place of hell), Revelation 1:18. In fact God prepared hell first and foremost for Satan and his fallen angels (Matthew 25:41) and Satan is not there yet, as he currently is allowed to go between Heaven and earth, Job 1:6-12, 1 Peter 5:8. But he will not be allowed to roam forever (Revelation 12:12) as he will be bound (Revelation 20:1-3), then eventually cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:10), the final destination of hell. He won’t be going there as a master of it or of anything for that matter, but as an eternal prisoner, along with all who reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Misconception #2
Purgatory Is Where Some Believers Go First
Roman Catholic theology states that Purgatory is the place where a believer who dies in God’s grace spends time to be cleansed of sin that was not taken care of during this life, before they are allowed into the presence of God. Roman Catholics use 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 as the basis for this theology. That the believer is cleansed by fire for a period of time before they are allowed to enter Heaven. This theology is not Biblically sound and is dangerous as it promotes works-based salvation. No where in Scripture will you find anything that resembles this idea of a place called Purgatory.
What The Bible Actually Says
Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that we are saved by God’s grace, through our faith in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection (Romans 5:8). That nothing apart from that will grant us salvation. Jesus died once for ours sins (Isaiah 53:5) and for all the sin of the world, healing us of them, Hebrews 7:27, 1 John 2:2. The good works a believer does is the good fruit of salvation, rather than the means by which salvation is given, see our study on faith and works.
We’re going to be imperfect in this life but the sign of a saving faith is the good fruit displayed in that person’s life, a very real and noticeable change from who they were before repentance and faith. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 is actually telling us that when we give our account to Christ at His judgment seat for believers, the good works we did will be like gold, silver and fine gems, which will pass through the fire of judgment. Our bad works will be like wood, straw and hay, which will burn up forever. Believers do not pass through the fire, but only our works of this life and for the good works we did, Heavenly rewards await.
Misconception #3
Believers Turn Into Angels When They Die
Another pop culture image that has been around for a long time is that when a person dies, mainly a believer in Christ, they get wings and go to Heaven as angels. Part of this same idea is that a deceased loved one can become your guardian angel. It’s a nice thought, but this is not founded in Biblical truth.
What The Bible Actually Says
The Bible never indicates or states that angels were once humans. In fact angels are created beings which serve divine purpose for God. Angels like Gabriel bring God’s most important messages to mankind and angels like Michael lead God’s Heavenly army in battle against Satan and his demons and is the angelic protector of Israel. Scripture says that angels even long to look into the Gospel message, 1 Peter 1:12. They are so curious about it, it would not make sense if they were once human, because they would’ve experienced the salvation firsthand and would have no need to be curious about it. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 states that those who die believing in Christ “fall asleep”. In other words the body of the believer lies in state in the ground or wherever, but the soul is alive with the Lord until the day of resurrection when all who died in Christ or are alive at His return for His church will be caught up, perfected, soul and body. We will live eternally with the Lord in perfected, resurrected human bodies, like that of the body which Jesus Christ gained after He rose from the dead. Because humans do not turn into angels, the concept of having a loved one as a guardian angel is not Biblical. The Bible does state that there are guardian angels who watch over nations and peoples (Daniel 12:1, Matthew 18:10), but they are by no means deceased loved ones. The idea of us turning into chubby little angels who sit on clouds and play harps and protect our earthy loved ones is Biblically unfounded and is a pop culture myth.
Misconception #4
Ghosts Are The Souls of People Trapped On Earth
For centuries people have believed in hauntings of disembodied humans, people who died tragic deaths, somehow now trapped on earth in a spirit realm. Presently we have many television shows and movies based on this idea. However the Bible makes it clear that human souls do not get trapped on earth.
What The Bible Actually Says
God is sovereign over all things, no event that happens, happens without Him allowing it or orchestrating it. So when we die, regardless of how, God is in control, our souls go on to be judged (Hebrews 9:27), the believer goes to be with the Lord and the unbeliever to a place of torment (Luke 16:22-24) reserved for those who are destined for the Lake of Fire after final judgment, Matthew 25:46, Revelation 20:11-15. The Bible does state that there is a spirit realm which is inhabited by good spirits (angels) and bad (Satan and his demons). Satan and his demons are deceptive and yearn to mislead and destroy, 2 Corinthians 11:14-15. If anyone is in communication with a spirit entity then it’s most likely that of a demon. It may sound like a medium is actually communicating with your dead aunt, but they are not, demons will pretend to be good spirits to trick and deceive people in order to gain trust. Most likely though that medium is a fraud who is praying upon the gullible and hurting. Your deceased loved one is either with the Lord (if they died in Christ) or in Hades (temporary place of hell) if they did not believe.
Misconception #5
Abraham Is The Founder of Three Religions
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all lay claim to Abraham as the founding father of their faiths. There are a lot of similarities between these faiths, all being monotheistic, all claiming some of the same prophets and angelic messengers and all claiming to share some of the Biblical books. It’s a nice idea that all these faiths lead to the same God and therefore there are many paths to Heaven. But these faiths do not share the same core belief in Jesus, which is required to be the Truth.
What The Bible Actually Says
The Bible doesn’t speak of any of these faiths by name it instead tells us that Abraham believed and trusted in God and therefore righteousness was applied to him, Genesis 15:6. God used Abraham to bring forth a nation of people God would call His, the nation of Israel along with many other nations of peoples. Jesus tells us that before Abraham was, “I Am”, meaning He was around before Abraham because He is not created but is God, John 8:58, John 1:1-5. Jesus told the Jewish people that their father Abraham longed to see His day come, John 8:56. This tells us that Abraham knew Jesus long before the world knew Jesus. It’s clear that faith in the One True Living God requires faith in Jesus Christ.
Today’s Judaism is reliant upon other writings outside of the Bible, such as the Talmud and others, along with what we as Christians consider the Old Testament. Those who practice this modern Orthodox Judaism reject Jesus as their Messiah. However it’s the Old Testament faith of Abraham which leads straight to Jesus, the promised Jewish Messiah and Savior. As for Islam, Muslims recognize Jesus as a prophet but not the Son of God or God, but Abraham knew Jesus to be God. Jesus Himself tells us He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, that nobody comes to the Father accept through Him, and that He and the Father are One, John 14:6, John 10:29-30. The Bible makes it perfectly clear that Jesus is the only way and that Abraham believed in God and upon His promised Messiah, who is Jesus. Therefore it can be clearly determined that Abraham is the father of many nations, including Israel, but not necessarily of three different religions or faiths. There is one True faith and that is faith in Jesus Christ as our great God and Savior, Titus 2:13.
Misconception #6
Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are Christians
Often times people associate Mormonism and sometimes Jehovah’s Witnesses with Christianity, like different flavors of the same truth. While an entire article could be written on each, I’ll need to keep it short here. Both of these religions have Jesus in their doctrinal belief system. Mormonism was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 as the Church of Christ which would be later known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The LDS believe that Jesus is Satan’s brother and is the first example of what humans can achieve, to go from human to god. They believe that Jesus is a god due to His good works and perfect life, but not the One True God and part of the Divine Trinity. They preach a works-based salvation that requires the LDS faithful to do all that they can before any grace of God can be applied. The best they can hope for is a life filled with enough works that they too may become a god. There are many other unbiblical teachings which derive from the founder Joseph Smith and their extra-biblical documents such as The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses started out in 1870 and believe that Jesus is Michael the archangel, a created being and do not believe that He is God or that His death is needed for a substituting atonement of our sins. They believe that Jesus’ death was a ransom payment for Adam’s sin. They believe that salvation is achieved by a combination of faith, works and obedience. To justify their position, their Watchtower Bible and Tract Society have corrupted the scripture with their own bible translation called the New World Translation (NWT) and base many teachings from its founder, Charles Taze Russell and others who succeeded him. Both of these religions generate works that can outwardly seem godly and the devout can even shame a true Christian when it comes to outreach and evangelism. But make no mistake these are not Biblically-centered Christian faiths.
What The Bible Actually Says
The Bible makes it clear that Jesus is indeed God (John 1:1-17, John 10:29-30), He is the Son, a member of the Godhead or Trinity of God which consists of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are all three distinct persons of God, but one Being, 1 Timothy 2:15, Matthew 3:16-17, John 14:16-17. It also makes clear that we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ’s atonement for us on the cross, John 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15:1-6, Ephesians 2:8-9. Both Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses reject these Biblical truths and therefore based on these alone cannot be qualified as true Christianity. Both actually fit the definition of a cult, defined as: a religious group that denies one or more of the fundamentals of Biblical truth. Without faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died for your sins, Who was buried and Who rose again on the third day, there is no salvation, merely religion. These two religions along with all the other religions of the world preach “do”, do this, do that and get this. Christianity on the other hand is a relationship with God, through the person of Jesus Christ, where the believer acknowledges it’s not what they “do”, but it’s all about what Christ has done for them as guilty sinners in need of a Savior. True Christianity follows the Bible alone and has no other books, prophets or “founders” outside of Jesus Christ and the Bible’s sixty-six books, Genesis to Revelation, Revelation 22:18-19.
Misconception #7
All Good People Go To Heaven
Circulating the world today is a belief that good people make it to Heaven, doesn’t matter your faith or what you believe in, if you are a genuinely good person then you won’t need to worry. This was once associated primarily with the non-monotheistic religions, like Hinduism and Buddhism. The idea that good people get rewarded for being good, primarily in the form of karma which is understood properly in conjunction with the idea of reincarnation. What’s happened in the last century or so is a blending of these ideas with Christianity, forming a type of belief called “New Age”. It sounds so nice on the surface but is untrue, dangerous and Biblically incorrect.
What The Bible Actually Says
In the book of Romans we’re told that no one is righteous, not even one, Romans 3:10-11. No one on their own seeks God or goodness. Goodness is of God, not of human nature as Jesus tells us that evil comes from our hearts, Matthew 15:18-19. Sure good things can come too, but the truly good things are of God, a result of Jesus’ imputed righteousness upon the saved believer. Any “good” things done apart from Christ are considered as filthy rags or unclean by God (Isaiah 64:6) and we can do nothing righteous apart from Christ, John 15:5, Philippians 4:13. It is the saving grace of God applied to the person who puts their full trust in the Lord Jesus Christ’s work on the cross which allows someone to enter into Heaven. The sad reality is there are plenty of “good” people in hell — good being defined by human morals vs. God’s standard. They are condemned because they rejected Jesus (John 3:18) in this earthly life. The gift is free and anyone can accept it (Romans 6:23), but human nature is to choose our sins over the gift of God. It’s Jesus who brings a person to the place of repentance and in that state we can choose to trust in Him alone. The Bible tells us that we all die once and then comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27), so there is no reincarnation, but rather resurrection. For the believer a resurrection to life everlasting and to the unbeliever a resurrection to the Lake of Fire and eternal punishment for the sins committed in this earthly life.
These are just seven of many misconceptions out there in the world. As a Christian it’s vital to study God’s Word and to understand what’s Biblically true and what is not. We are to test the spirits to make sure that they are of God, 1 John 4:1.
