My Christmas Discovery
This story is about being perfected in Christ. It is a journey that we, as Christ’s own, are obligated to take. As believers, we know full well that God in His mercy sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins (Romans 5:8). This article is not meant to question your salvation, but it is meant to challenge you into a deeper walk with Him who needs to be our Lord.
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. John 14:23
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Luke 6:46
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Romans 8:13
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Philippians 3:12-15
So what is Christmas to you? It is easy to observe that this holiday has become engrained as a practice, world-wide. Family gatherings are customary, with many having developed their own traditions for observance of this day. We were certainly no different in our home, as I was growing up.
Yet even with all the tinsel and glitz, we were told that the real meaning of Christmas was in the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ. Right there near our tree, was a pop-up “nativity” scene in which that original blessed night was depicted. Stockings were hung, Santa was expected, and the warm glow of our Christmas Tree burned long into the night…
Later on in my life, God graciously saved me; and Christmas became even more special. The redemption bought for me through God’s own blood, began with the arrival of Christ on earth, in that lowly stable in Bethlehem. Nothing really changed in my outward celebration of Christmas; but inside of myself, there grew to be a greater love and appreciation for the “true meaning” behind this wonderful holiday. The unsaved world around me brought great corruption to this day, but I was confident that in my own observance, I was serving the Lord in “spirit and in truth.”—see John 4:23.
Have you ever known of someone who couldn’t admit when they were wrong? Someone who never apologizes? Well, the Bible says that it is all of mankind’s tendency to be defensive this way—even after receiving salvation! This is why we need the Lord to search our hearts, and expose unholy ways within us.
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts. Proverbs 21:2
For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. I Corinthians 11:31
Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Psalms 19:12,13
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms 139:23,24
My brethren, when I hurt the Lord, it really hurts me inside; especially when I am claiming service in His name, and am instead being hypocritical. So you can imagine my great outrage upon discovering the true source of this holiday; and the Bible’s opposition to it! In those angry moments, it was easy to reject the Christmas holiday—my whole artificial tree went straight into a dumpster; but the powerful hold of this deeply engrained holiday was not so easily broken…
It is possible to know what is right to do, yet not have the strength or ability to carry it out. According to I Corinthians 13:11, it is upon becoming adults that we put away childish things; and so it was for myself with Christmas; I knew that it was not right, not of the Lord, but I still could not put it away. Doubts started creeping in—wasn’t I saved? Hadn’t God loved me in those earlier years, when I celebrated Christmas but didn’t know the truth? There are so many seemingly good, Godly people celebrating this day—how can it be wrong? Why should I think differently, and create problems for others by my non-compliance?
There were answers, of course! Just not easy ones. Sure, I was saved; what I had done in ignorance would be forgiven me, but now I was accountable (James 4:17). As for the others, many of them may also currently be ignorant. For those who do know, they mostly yield to pressure, or are “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” And finally, obedience to Christ will create problems in this world; just look at the prophets, the disciples, and Jesus! It brings to my mind these words from my savior; “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed…”—from Luke 9:26. Sure, my thinking is clear now; but it was neither obvious, nor easy to receive at the time.
Folks, God’s will does not always “feel” so good. Jesus said to come after Him, we must first deny ourselves—who really does that today? It certainly will not be easy, and produce a “good feeling.” Our natural man of sin within us will not want self-denial; salvation won’t eliminate such natural tendencies. Next we are to take up our cross—daily! Ouch! Another unpleasantry, but our savior lived it before us.
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus really showed us the type of surrender that we must have. He wanted God the Father to take away all the suffering He was to undergo! But He wanted even more that the will of the Father be done. It was painful; our Lord sweat drops of blood! Will we do that for Him, whom we call Lord (Hebrews 12:2,3)?
It was between 12-14 years ago that I first came to the truth about Christmas; I embraced it within, but could not live it outwardly. In spiritual immaturity, I gave in to the pressures of family and society. Each year, I also asked forgiveness.
When the Lord blessed me to re-marry, I figured that I would have to keep going along with the festivities, so as not to make waves. And so I did, year by year—but the conviction of the Holy Ghost (John 16:7,8) began to grow about this subject again. God had given to me a wonderful help-mate in my wife Jamie. She loves the Lord dearly, and would now be my strength to take a stand in this area. I knew I could count on her for support, praise be to God!
This is now the 4th year that we have not observed Christmas. When handling this with the family, I wrote a letter and we sent it in September; before the first year we abstained. While it is always right to stand for the truth, this issue is really charged, and I believe it should be handled carefully. People need time to mull over this information, and pray thoroughly. This is a major change of a life-habit, and it should not be hastily rushed into! To share such a thing in November or December is very difficult. People are already in the midst of holiday preparations; therefore most will automatically reject the message without thought, and be offended. They need less pressure when facing such an enormous decision; they need mercy, and understanding. Pray thoroughly over this issue for yourself, and also present it to others only after much prayer—that way God is in charge, and you needn’t be concerned with saying everything “just right.”
These, then, are the facts I’ve discovered about Christmas; and also Biblical directives that pertain to it. I know you were waiting for this! The following points are not given in a particular order. You will find numerous lies in what is reputed to be true in this holiday. Some of this information is taken from the comic, The Force; available at www.Chick.com. Other observations were found in The Truth About Christmas, which can be found at www.EAEC.org.
1) December 25th is not accurate for Jesus’ birth. Most would reply, “So what—no one knows what the date is!” Not true. The exact date is unknown, but the approximate time is near the beginning of October. This is gotten because Jesus’ earthly ministry lasted 3½ years; Going back from His crucifixion on the 14th day of Nisan, the Jewish month that corresponds to our April, you come to October.
There were also still shepherds “abiding in the fields.” Sheep were brought in from the pasture no later than October 15th, because the rainy season comes after that time.
The taxation ordered by Caesar Augustus would also not be called for during the winter, due to the extremely difficult travel conditions for that time of year. If you wanted tax compliance, you don’t try to force people to travel home for it in the winter!
Another clue to the time frame is found in the fact that the inns were full. This would not be likely if a town’s residents were merely returning. But there are several Jewish holidays that occur at the end of September, beginning of October; Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Festivities filled up the inns with visitors.
As you can see, evidence is truly overwhelming for the time of Christ’s arrival. So what, then, could possibly be the reason for saying the date of December 25th?
2) December 25th is an ancient pagan holiday. It pre-dates Christ’s arrival by some 2,000 years! But it is the nature of this holiday which should be genuinely disturbing to those who love Christ.
The system was set up by Semiramis, who declared herself to be the “queen of heaven.” She was queen of Babylon at the time. She also declared that her son Tammuz, was in fact the sun god Baal. It was known that December 21st was the shortest day of the year, and so it was declared that on this day Baal dies. Then on the 24th, Baal starts coming back to life! The 25th is then celebrated as his birthday, or resurrection. And yes, this day was observed with evergreen wreaths, and trees, much like today.
Brethren, we know how our God feels about Baal worship; do you really want to link Christ with such evil? A kingdom divided against itself will not stand; you cannot say that our God is wanting us to espouse Satanic deceptions in furthering His kingdom! It violates His own holy nature, and would greatly contradict instructions He preserved for us in His blessed Word.
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. II Corinthians 6:14-18
The question then that will remain with us is, how did such opposing viewpoints become linked together? It doesn’t seem to make sense, does it? But this is a specialty area of Satan; causing black and white areas to become gray, and deceiving us into calling evil good (Isaiah 5:20,21).
3) Christmas is a Catholic holiday. This is even given away by the name, which is abbreviated for Christ-mass. By the time the December 25th holiday came to the Roman Empire, it was known as Saturnalia. It was this pagan holiday that was “adopted” as the birthday of our Lord Jesus! This became official in the Catholic Church within the first 100 years of its existence. Catholicism is in no way Christianity! It originated in the Roman Empire with the takeover of Emperor Constantine. He created a fusion of his own pagan beliefs with names and practices from Christian tradition. Catholicism is really cloaked Baal worship, handed down from the days of Semiramis. In doing this, Constantine was combining the majority pagan religion of Rome with the compelling strength of the Christian faith. Please see our article The Catholic Faith; or visit www.chick.com for more resources on Catholicism.
4) The Christmas tree is Biblically condemned. You will find that God took time to address this “tradition” specifically in Jeremiah 10:2-5. This is not a harmless custom; God condemns it! Some new versions (like the NIV Bible) completely alter this passage in Jeremiah; you will only find the truth (John 17:17) in the King James Bible. The revision editors Westcott and Hort wanted to keep their pagan holiday of “Christ-mass” and therefore changed God’s preserved text to suit their wishes.
For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. II Corinthians 2:17
5) Christmas is not a Bible doctrine. If we are to follow the Lord in keeping with His Word (Romans 10:17), it’s easy to see that we were never told to commemorate the birth of Christ. Our God did not “overlook” this event! We are not told to celebrate Jesus’ birth, or His resurrection; only His death (communion). Satan had already created his own counterfeits for the other 2; these are now observed as Christmas and Easter. Also, the eternal God of the universe has no birthday! The world loves the little Christ-child in a manger, but rejects Jesus for who He really is, and what He has done for all that will receive Him. The holiday has no Biblical commission to observe it.
6) Being yoked together with unbelief. The world loves Christmas, but hates Christ and His holiness! Isn’t it amazing to see so many “new” faces at church this time of year? You know it isn’t a part of their lives for the rest of the year. Maybe it’s what they feel they must do, to still be “good enough” to receive what they want! Lots of non-Christian countries and “faiths” continue to observe this day for purely selfish motives. People love parties, love getting gifts, and love time off work. The blood atonement of Christ means nothing to them, but they would fight tooth-and-nail to keep celebrating Christmas; doesn’t this tell you that something is wrong?
7) Carrying on unscriptural traditions. These are perpetuating lies as a supposed teaching of Biblical truth. Many times, for example, the “wise men” are depicted as being present at Jesus’ birth. There are three of them, bringing gifts.
First of all, the wise men weren’t present at Jesus’ birth; they only showed up after nearly 2 years had elapsed, since the time of the actual birth. Matthew chapter 2 is clear about this.
Secondly, the Bible never gives the actual number of wise men who came—it lists 3 types of gifts, not 3 wise men. In fact, such travel in those days was very dangerous; it is almost certain that the wise men came in a very large caravan for protection purposes. The Bible tells us that “all Jerusalem” was troubled at their presence; how could only 3 men disturb a very large city? It was because of the ancient “convoy” accompanying them.
Thirdly, the exchanging of gifts is not Biblically based. The wise men brought gifts to Jesus; it was the old eastern custom to bring gifts to a new king (as with Solomon in II Chronicles 9:1). They did not exchange gifts with themselves, or with Joseph and Mary. In fact, the singular example of “gift exchange” in the Bible has some decidedly negative overtones! Please read Revelation 11:3-13, with the gift focus in verse 10.
Fourth, the emphasis of proper gift–giving is lost. It may be well to exchange gifts with loved ones, but we followers of Christ are to give without hope of repayment. This is straight from Luke 6:35! When is the last time you have done this? This type of giving is to be a constant fruit of a Christian; not just in the month of December, which is another problem. There are numerous people which give selflessly, at this time of year. Why only think of it now? Where is your “Lord” for the rest of the year? It is also important to be discreet in your giving; keep it private and personal, without broadcasting what you are doing to others (as much as possible). This instruction is straight from Jesus directly in Matthew 6:1-4.
8) Santa Clause is a Catholic hoax. Of course, Biblically you will never find a Santa Claus. Did you know that Santa is an anagram of the name Satan? And of course, Santa is also known as Saint Nicholas. He gives gifts to those who have been “good,” which is reflective of the works-type salvation required within the Catholic faith.
9) Observing days is forbidden in scripture. This was a significant change that was instituted in the New Testament through Jesus Christ. We are now to live consistently for our savior, even as He is; the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. Galatians 4:10,11
Brethren, you can in no way “sanctify” the ungodly day of Christmas by your good intentions. Remember that “all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” before God (Isaiah 64:6). Israel’s first king, Saul, tried to please God in his own way—and was condemned (Read 1 Samuel 15). And even if you have experienced such positive emotions as joy, peace, and happiness in regard to this day, we need to remember that the heart is deceitful, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Ours is a walk of obedience in faith, not one of “good feelings” and material prosperity. Remember that many are alone and struggling, and that often this “season”, which emphasizes warm family relations, will cause many to sink into a desperate loneliness. Brethren, this is not of Christ! We will each give an account to God for our service; in how we have come to regard and practice the truth in His Word.
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John 12:25
So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. Luke 17:10
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. John 12:48
WARNING: To avoid Satan’s snares and deceptions, return to the pure Word of God; which is the King James Bible. Revised translations are not small word alterations meant to bring clarity! Major doctrinal changes have occurred, which will tend to bring doubt and destroy your faith. To follow these new “versions” of the truth, is to build your spiritual house upon sand, and become as the ones reflected in Matthew 7:21-23. Please use this entire passage, Matthew 7:21-27.
Satan means to deceive you into sincerely following his alternate “truth.” You are really being set up to fall, and serve the antichrist.
Pray and seek God diligently in this matter; for time is short. See also our Word of God section and the section on A Sure Salvation vs. Eternal Security.