Resignation Letter to the Masonic Lodge
To the Master, Officers, and members of Pensacola Lodge #42 Free & Accepted Masons:
Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ,
It is after much consideration that I submit my resignation from Pensacola Lodge #42 and from all Masonic bodies. I have taken this step in spite of the fact that I value very much the relationships and associations I have developed within these organizations over the years. However, One whom I love more than all of you has said, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37)
Masonry establishes itself as a compliment to one’s church, which sounds fine. But Masonry has prayers, rituals, and solemn ceremonies in which the authority of the Bible is invoked. The Lodge is not secular but religious. But in my study of the Bible, it seems clear that Masonry asks us as Masons to do things contrary to Biblical teachings. For example, Jesus commands us to “teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19–20) and to preach the gospel to everyone (Mark 16:15), yet Masonic etiquette forbids me, as a Christian, from sharing my Savior with my non-Christian brothers. The very Bible that sits on the altar commands these things. It is one of the “three great lights of Masonry,” and yet its teachings are ignored for the sake of fraternal harmony.
When I was initiated into Freemasonry, I was led to believe that my involvement would not interfere with my duty to God. Yet, I was led through three blood oaths in the three degrees of the Blue Lodge which are in direct violation of the commandment of Jesus Christ found in Matthew 5:33–37.
I have since come to realize that Freemasonry is a “Fraternal Order” which has a plan of salvation. The Masonic plan of salvation does not require faith in Jesus Christ, but rather depends on imitating Hiram Abiff. At many places, Masonic ritual encourages Masons to believe that they will go to heaven. Consider the Covering of a Lodge: it is “a clouded canopy or starry-decked heaven where all good Masons hope at last to arrive.” Consider the Three Steps “. . .as Master Masons, we may enjoy the happy reflections consequent on a well-spent life and die in the hope of a glorious immortality.” Consider the prayer just before Hiram is raised: “Yet, O Lord! have compassion on the children of Thy creation; ad minister them comfort in time of trouble and save them with an everlasting salvation.”
With all of this, Freemasonry is encouraging Master Masons to believe that they will go to heaven when they die. But just who are Master Masons? They include Hindus, Moslems, Buddhists, and men of many other religions which reject the claims of Jesus. Freemasonry is encouraging false hope in unsaved men. Just after Hiram is raised, ritual tells us that we should imitate Hiram Abiff so that we can welcome death and get into heaven. The Bible is clear. John 14:6 contains the words of Jesus. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father but by me.”
It is obvious that Freemasonry is not following the teachings of Jesus, because ritual encourages lost souls that they will get into heaven. Ritual suggests imitation of Hiram Abiff as the way to the “Celestial Lodge” above. The book of 2 John, verse 9 states: “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God.” When coupled with the fact that Masonic ritual teaches salvation on the basis of imitating Hiram Abiff, rather than Faith in Jesus Christ, it is clear from this verse that the Masonic Lodge does not have God. The GAOTU cannot be the God of the Bible, because it rejects the claims of His Son.
I know that many of you profess to be Christians. I would like to encourage each of you to examine and pray about the contents of Masonic ritual. As Christians, can we take part in an organization which teaches salvation without Jesus? Galatians 1:8–9 makes it clear that the penalty for teaching a false plan of salvation is condemnation. I encourage you to prayerfully consider these things.
The oaths which I took are null and void. God has released me from them. Leviticus 5:4–6 makes it clear that when something is hidden from a man and he takes an oath thoughtlessly, he is guilty of sin. When he recognizes it as sin, he may be released from it by confessing it as sin and claiming the promise found in 1 John 1:8–9.
I want you to know that I am not rejecting you as individuals, however I am totally rejecting Freemasonry and all Masonic bodies. I want nothing more to do with it, now, or at any time in the future. I do not want a demit, which allows joining another lodge. I am no longer a Mason.
I encourage each of you to get out of the Lodge. I pray that my involvement in Freemasonry will not result in the loss of anyone’s soul because he believed the promises in ritual. The Masonic plan of salvation is a ticket to hell. I encourage each of you to read the Book of John in your Masonic Bible. Read it again and again, until you know the truth.
In Jesus,
Justin R. Oswald
