Christian Living

The Cross Is Not Your Salvation

by Eyvonne Black
12/02/24
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My Christian Journey

I was born and raised in a Pentecostal Church, and anyone who knows about Pentecostal Churches will know that the hymns alone can bring you to the altar on your knees in tears, confession, and repentance. I loved one particular song passionately as it always brought me to joyful tears: At the Cross, At the Cross Where I First Saw the Light.' As I closed my eyes and raised my hands above my head, all I could see was the picture my dad had on his wall in our front room: a 'bloody-bodied' blued-eyed man hung on two planks of wood with a crown of thorns on his head. It was a constant reminder to be grateful for our Saviour's sacrificial death.

Growing up in Church in those days, you didn't question anything. You trusted and respected your Bishop so much that you took everything he said as 'The Gospel' (the truth). No one encouraged us to be like the Bereans (to examine the scriptures for ourselves). The feeling was, well, why should we? Our Bishops, Pastors, and Elders studied the Bible or went to Bible school so they knew the Word of God.

The Mother of the Church called me the rebellious one as I never felt ready to get baptised. I was always searching, feeling I needed to know more and that something was missing.

Over the past 40 years, I must have been baptised four times. Each denomination in Christendom I went to wasn't satisfied that I was baptised correctly, so I kept getting baptised to be a part of that congregation, only to feel something was still missing. I wanted to know the complete 'Truth' and thought I had to keep searching until I found it.

The Image of Cross-Representation
The cross is the principal symbol of Christendom, but few people know its originality. It is documented that 'the human brain processes images 60.000 times faster than text and 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual.' There are enough images worldwide to convince us that our Saviour died on the cross, so why should we not believe that?

The New Testament was written in Greek and translated into English. The first person known to translate the Bible into English was John Wycliffe in the 14th Century. However, William Tyndale's 16th-century translator is also known and widely recognised, perhaps because he translated the Greek straight into English. Wycliffe went from Greek to Latin and then English. Tyndale also wanted the Bible to be distributed universally without the Catholic authorities knowing. The Catholic authorities found out his plan condemned and disregarded his translation, as they felt it was not authentic. He was captured and brutally killed at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church.

Both translators Wycliffe and Tyndale used the Greek word stauros as the cross rather than the literal translation meaning upright stake or a pole. In the Bible books of Luke and Peter, the Greek word xylon was used again, meaning wood or timber. There are no private interpretations of the Greek literature.

Why did the early translators of the English Bible use the word cross?
The influence of using the cross in their translation was to seal what had already been established by Emperor Constantine the Great in 325 AD. However, Christians privately used it as a symbol as early as the 2nd Century. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says, 'Christians were extremely reticent about portraying the cross because too open a display of it might expose them to ridicule or danger.' Constantine was converted to Christianity in 312 AD. He forced the Church to use the cross as a principal symbol, not for scriptural reasons but for personal satisfaction.

The Cross: A Symbol of Paganism
Britannia states, 'Cross forms were used as symbols of religion or otherwise long before the Christian Era.' I wondered why the 2nd Century Christians would fear being exposed. Could they know that the cross was recognised as a pagan symbol?

Ancient Egypt: The Anku is an Egyptian cross-shaped symbol with a loop at the intersection of two lines, commonly used by ancient Egyptian gods to represent life.

Middle East: The cross was an initial religious symbol representing the god Tammuz, the son of Semiramis. It originated in Ancient Chaldea, known for its Astrology and witchcraft practices.

The Goddess Diana: The cross appeared on top of the head of the Greek Goddess Diana in Ephesus. The Ephesians commonly worshipped her, later known as Artemis in Greek. She is the goddess of fertility and childbirth. She is mentioned in the New Testament in Acts 19:28 (NKJV): 'And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.'

The Celtic Cross: Known as the sun cross or the sun wheel. Pagans worshipped the sun with the Celtic Cross. The circle in the cross represents the sun.

What Does the Bible Say?
We must ask ourselves whether we are taking forms of idols and using them in our worship. Earl Henn, in his article The Cross: Christian Banner or Pagan Relic, states, 'Many of the comfortable, familiar customs and traditions of the world have, indeed, been borrowed from the rank paganism and have nothing at all to do with true Christianity.'

The Most High consistently spoke through Moses to warn the children of Israel not to follow the customs of the nations. Deuteronomy 12:30-31 partly warns, '… be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, 31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, …'

Universally, the image of the cross is everywhere: in homes, Churches as standard, eating halls, venues of any kind, cars, vans, lorries, signposts, and billboards. It is also worn as a necklace, ring, pendant, earring, and bracelet and printed on clothing, bags, shoes and body tattoos, to name just a few. In some Churches, it has become a ritual to make a cross sign when entering and leaving. Make a sign of the cross when a hearse passes or when you hear of someone who has died. None of these practices were a part of the 1st Century Christian congregation or encouraged by Jesus as something to come. His command was for us to preach the Kingdom message Matthew 10:7 and to observe the memory of what he did to save us 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

The Apostle Paul preached for us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ in Romans 13:14. What did he mean by that? He meant to become followers and imitators of Ye’shua’s nature and character. That is what the word Christian means—to become Christ-like.

To make an image of any form representing Almighty God or his son Jesus the Messiah was detestable to God, so much so that it is the 2nd commandment of the ten mentioned in the Bible. Exodus 20:4 says, 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth…'

How Should We View the Instrument on which Jesus was crucified?
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 (ESV) states that a man hanged on a tree is a curse by God.

22 'And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.'  Galatians 3:13 mentions this said law. We know that Jesus was without sin and died as a curse before God for our sins so that we might not be cursed but be forgiven with the privilege of gaining Eternal life 1 Peter 3:18 Romans 6:23. 

Devil's Advocate
Let's play devil's advocate and say Jesus was crucified on the cross. After all, in his post: Did Yeshua Die on a Cross or a Stake, Natan Lawrence makes a strong argument that Jesus [Ye’shua] died on the cross. He based his reasoning on the fact that Thomas, who was not at the first appearance of Jesus after his resurrection, said, 'Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails-plural (John 20:25) ESV. The Greek word helon-plural is used rather than helos-singular. Natan states, ' the fact that Thomas mentions nails (plural) indicates that Yeshua's arms were outstretched when attached to the stake, requiring a nail on each wrist.' Still, even if that was the case, do we want to carry a curse around our neck or hang it in our car, house, or Church? Do we want to be signalling a curse on ourselves when we see a hearse of death?

The cross is worn by Christians who feel it has significant meaning, others who wear it as an ornament, and still others who do notorious and evil things. The cross is not respected as an image of Christian values. Some people wear the cross to guard off evil spirits and feel it will protect them, unaware that witches use the cross as a symbol for witchcraft, too.

When Jesus said,' If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up…. and follow me' Matthew 16:24 (ESV), what was he saying? He wanted us to recognise that the Christian journey will not be easy; it can be painful and can even cause us death. He continues in v25, 'For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.' By making that statement, Yeshua was saying we lose nothing serving him and doing his will because our future is Eternal John 10:28.

If The Cross Is Not Your Salvation, What Is?

Yeshua [Jesus] left us a commission to preach the Kingdom's message. And a model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13.  His Word, the Bible, for us to read and study 2 Timothy 2:15. The Bible is the only symbol we should carry with us so we can be a spiritual encouragement to anyone who wants to know the reason for our hope.

The mobile phone is a valuable tool, and we are privy to immediate information at our fingertips. As Kingdom Citizens, there are no excuses. When we obey the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:2-17, live by Fruits of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23 and stay zealous to fulfil our God-given Purpose, we can then Stand Firm and put on the Helmet of Salvation Ephesians 6:17.

References
Henn, Earl L, The Cross Christian Banner or Pagan Relic? May 1996

https://www.britannica.com/crossdefinitionsymbolismtypesandhistory

https://www.britannica.com/crosssymbolofchristendomNov 2024

https://www.britainnia.com/signofthecross

https://www.christianity.stackexchange.com/choosingthecross

https://www.goshkabialek.pl/peacefulrelict

https://ifvp.org/thisiswhyourbrainlovespictures

Lawrence, Natan, Did Yeshua Die on a Cross or a Stake? Sept 2012

https://lifehopeandtruth.com/crucifiction3mythsaboutthedeathofjesuschrist https://www.loc.gov/lettherebelight/williamtyndale July 1997

https://www.museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk