But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)

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In the beginning of ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, the requirement was this personal relationship with Jesus. Jesus said “God gave His only-begotten son, so that none who believeth in him should perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

In the early church, believers were lead by direct disciples of Jesus, or by disciples of those disciples, and their ministry was accompanied with signs and miracles confirming their ministry (Romans 15:18-19).

This early church suffered persecution both by the elders of Judea and throughout the Roman Empire.

At some point, it became convenient to stop this persecution. Even more, an emperor was willing to make Christianity the official and only recognised religion of the Empire. This must have been a good thing?

- the downside of this was that not 100.0% of the citizens and slaves in the Empire were convinced that they should convert to the new religion – note, not everyone believed, so the “faith in Jesus” requirement was dropped to merely becoming a member of “the only apostolic church of Christ”.
- now, not everyone was willing to abandon the “pagan” religions, so there had to be some evil done for the greater good: destroying the temples or converting them to churches, persecution and murder of “pagan” priesthood
- in a convenient was, the pagan gods are preserved as patron saints (so for example Bacchus became St. Martin)
- as 100% of the population was included in the church, not everybody believed and had “spring of living water” in themselves: the water was now delivered in the canister called “the holy sacrament of faith”.
- believers are no longer worthy to have personal relationship with Jesus, salvation by faith in Jesus and the grace of God is replaced with the intercession of the Lady and saints, with the ministering of the church sacraments
- later the requirement of faith was removed, so the canister without water could also quench thirst (salvation by the membership in the Church and by the seven sacraments)
- the Empire needed soldiers, so 1 John 3:15 “no murderer has the eternal life abiding in him” was relaxed to the permission to killing in a just war or in a “holy war” (Crusades)
- as the Empire was holy, all its wars were just and killing in them permissible
- “blessed swords” in the form of the cross as apposed to “cursed sabres in the form of the crescent Moon”, ater also blessed guns and cannons
- fighting and dying on the side of Crusaders and the holy church brings man directly to Heaven with absolution of all sins, the slain and the opposite armies are also damned and sent to Hell
- later, those who did not want to kill for the holy Empire are being persecuted as they ought to have submitted to the Empire as there is no authority except that from God (Romans 13:1)
- now only a proxy of faith is required to actually believe, the rest get saved by the membership in the church, sacraments and faith of some proxy (i..e. priest or “godfather”)
- requirement of seven sacraments was dropped to two, infant baptism and church burial, in the meantime the believers can live as they want (they will repent in the Purgatory)
- eventually, sins of the souls in the Purgatory can be forgiven by a donation of money to the church (indulgences), faith in the church and Pope’s absolution is all there is required
- priest no longer has to believe in God or examine faith and conscience (2 Corinthians 13:5), only in the holy church
- “holy inquisition” persecutes the heresies in believing or science, using “whatever means necessary” (murder and torture to extract confessions) to force them to recant (Cathars, Giordano Bruno, Galileo Galilei)
- everything is permissible for the purpose of spreading the power of the church and destroying the “enemies of the church”, even that the holy inquisition would both sell to Satan to better torture and extract confessions and be holy inquisiton at the same time, with the heretics witnessing against themselves (prototype of the mounted trials?)
- any reformation, revival of faith and/or carismatic movement is extinguished as danger or heresy and excommunicated or subject to the holy inquisition
- the holy apostolic church and the Pope proclaimed “infallible” (Romans 3:23 says “not one is righteous, for all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God”, 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 “preaching is incomplete”)
- “kill them all and let God sort them out” (Arnaud Amalric before the genocide on Albigengs – Cathars, 1209-1229 AD, 200,000-1,000,000 burned and murdered), massacre and genocide on Hugenots (1572 AD, 800,000-900,000)
- the believers are no longer to see the Holy Bible in their language, they hear only illegible Latin on mass, translators to the language of the commons are burned (William Tyndale, 1536 AD, strangulation and burning at stake)
- Jesus and faith are no longer required, as the grace of Lady and the intercession of saints suffice
- reformists and revivalists are “damned and excommunicated” (Martin Luther 1521 AD, Jean Calvin), offenders like paedophiles are being rotated until the secular authorities made it impossible
- black sacraments for the enemies of the church so they would be damned and never go to Heaven or Paradise

AUTHORITY OF THE SCRIPTURE

Examining each believer’s conscience:

2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Salvation by faith in One God of both Jews and Gentiles through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God on the cross of Calvary (Golgotha):

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Romans 3:27-30
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

1 Timothy 2:5-6
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time

1 John 2:1-2
1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Signs and wonders in the first apostolic church:

Acts 5:12
And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people.

Romans 15:18-19
18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, 19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

Human teaching not infallible but “incomplete”:

1 Corinthians 13:9-10
9 Our knowledge is incomplete and our ability to speak what God has revealed is incomplete. 10 But when what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will no longer be used.