Let this be a warning to you:

While on Facebook recently I clicked on something that looked interesting. It was called "restoringtheoriginalbible.com" and since the Bible is one of my top interests, I had to check it out.

The Web site offered what was claimed to be "the Bible in the original order that it was written in." The volume has over 280 pages of commentaries and appendices and claims to have restore the books of the Bible to their orginal order. Immediately, I smelled a rat. How would anyone know (unless they've been alive for 3,400 years) the exact order of the writings of the Bible, especially the New Testament. Even our best Biblical scholars are not sure.

So, my "investigative reporter" mode kicked into high gear. Doing a "whois" search on G E E K T O O L S.com I found the domain "restoringtheoriginalbible.com" was registered to the Christian Biblical Church of God of Hollister, California about 80 miles southeast of San Francisco. It wasn't long before I was on the church's Web page, checking out their beliefs.

I soon discovered the following: First, the CBCOG teaches a doctrine called "Baptismal Regeneration." This simply means that no matter how hard you believe in Jesus to forgive you of your sins, you have no justification whatsoever until you submit to their baptism. What you have in your heart for Christ is worth nothing until you crawl in the tank and get dunked.
This is not a unique doctrine with the CBCOG. There are many groups that believe this, including the Roman Catholics, the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Christ and many more. I once had a Church of Christ preacher tell me that if someone suffered a fatal heart attack on the way to the baptismal font, they would go to Hell because they were not baptized. Sorry for you, buddy. Tough Luck!

Regardless of how many believe Baptismal Regeneration, the Bible does not teach it. Nowhere in the Bible will you find the phrase "he who is not baptized will be damned." Those words nor such a concept just do not exist. Our salvation is by the grace of God and is connected to NOTHING that we can do (Eph. 2: 8,9; Tit. 3:5).

Secondly, the CBCOG doesn't even know who God IS!!! Their believe statement says that God is a "family" which currently includes two members, the Father and Jesus. What about the Holy Spirit? Oh, they say that's just an "force" of God and not a person. This is identical to Russellian (Jehovah's Witnesses) theology. Funny, though, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as "He," "Him" or "His" over and over again. Eight times in John 16 alone. Peter said in Acts 5 that the Holy Spirit could be lied to. You can only lie to a person. You can't lie to a table, a tree, a kangaroo or any other impersonal thing. The Bible clearly teaches the Holy Spirit is a person, and is God. Sorry about the CBCOG.

There are many other points of doctrine where the CBCOG deviates strongly from true Biblical theology, but time doesn't permit an exhaustive study. Perhaps I'll hit some more of these point later...as the (personal) Holy Spirit leads me.

The point is, however, just because a religious group packages a nice looking leather bound "bible" (at the ridiculously low price of a mere $119.50 plus $9.00 shipping and handling), it doesn't mean they have any orthodoxy in their doctrine. STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!! Jesus warned us in Matthew 7: 15 that these false prophets come to us in sheep's clothing, but inside they are ravening wolves!!

Caio for now,

Dave