[mfblume]

One man whom I knew believed the work of the cross did not fully resolve the issue of sin, and events decades after the cross actually put an end to sin. I informed him that was seriously wrong, since the cross paid the full price for sin. He refused to believe. So we actually disfellowshiped over it. I think the issue is THAT serious.

But he also accused me of worshiping a criss-cross piece of wood. I said no, it's WHAT WAS DONE with the cross. The DEATH is what remitted our sins, because Jesus took our sins and experienced the death penalty that OUR sins deserved. He died in our places making it as though we actually died in the sight of God to pay for our sins. And His resurrection from the dead led to His ascension into heaven where he made atonement like the high priest entering the holiest of holies to atone for Israel. That crossed shaped couple of boards is not the issue. It's His death, burial and resurrection. If we had the actual cross he died on and worshipped it as a relic, that would be the problem the Israelites had in worshipping the serpent on the pole. The cross had its purpose like the serpent on the pole. But it's not the issue itself any more. He died once. No more. He lives forevermore. It's the death that led to the resurrection that's the issue. Especially the Atonement afterward. Wearing a cross is futile, too.

He couldn't grasp that, I guess. So he insisted I worship two beams of wood. lol

Anyway, that's what happened here, too. The difference is that the issue here included the mistaken notion that we were FALSELY accused of thinking baptism in water and going through the motions of confession saves people. That is totally wrong. I repeated it over and over again that baptism and confession without genuine faith in our hearts that only God can see is what makes anything else meaningful. But like my brother with whom I disfellowshipped, my clarification was ignored and the fabrications continued to go forth that we believe rituals without faith save a person.

Whatever...

Basically, these spirits despise the work of the cross, and are its enemies.