You ever hear the tale that Constantine was the great “Christian” emperor who converted Rome and gave us a holy empire? That he suddenly saw a vision of a cross in the sky, heard the words “in this sign conquer,” and went from persecutor to church builder overnight?
That story’s about as polished as a marble bust in a museum, and just about as lifeless, too.
I have a coin, an original from Constantine’s time 307-337 a.d. One side has Constantine’s image, nothing new there. But flip it over and what do you find? Soli Invicto Comiti. That Latin means “to the Unconquered Sun, Companion of Constantine.” That ain’t Jesus, folks. That’s Sol Invictus, the official Roman “sun god”. The “god” of military strength, eternal fire, and imperial power. The same sun “god” Constantine publicly honored… after he supposedly converted to Christianity.
So you tell me, what kind of “conversion” lets you still slap pagan gods on your currency?
Let’s get honest here. Constantine didn’t dump the old “gods” because he met Messiah. He merged them. He was a shrewd politician, not a born-again believer. His so-called conversion was nothing more than a political chess move, a calculated gamble to stabilize a shaky empire by taking advantage of the growing Christian population, who, up until that point, were still being hunted down, tortured, and burned alive.
Constantine didn’t abolish idolatry. He absorbed it. The sun god didn’t disappear, it just got baptized in Roman politics.
He didn’t destroy the temples of Rome, he just rebranded them. Didn’t end pagan holidays, he repackaged them, slapped Christian names on them, shifted a few dates, and sold it to the masses as a new faith… all while the core remained the same: control the people, control the power.
And that’s where the real warning comes in.
See, the early believer, the ones who actually followed Yeshua, refused to bow to idols like Sol Invictus. They didn’t “make peace” with the empire. They didn’t do interfaith services and call it unity. They laid down their lives rather than bend a knee to any god but the Most High. Their faith cost them everything, and they knew it would. It was never meant to fit comfortably into Caesar’s palace.
They didn’t put their faith on a coin. They lived it in their blood.
That’s the difference between political faith and pure faith.
Political faith says, “Let’s blend what works, unify the nation, make a new empire.”
Pure faith says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me”, and it means it, even if it means death.
When Constantine put Sol Invictus on his coins, he didn’t just leave behind a scrap of Roman history, he left a trail of spiritual compromise that carried into centuries of church confusion. And that compromise still affects people today. Whole systems of doctrine and church structure grew out of that fusion, rooted not in Scripture but in imperial politics.
So don’t be fooled when someone waves a cross in one hand and holds a scepter in the other.
Don’t believe the lie that faith can be managed by rulers, legislated by emperors, or minted by Caesar.
The true ekklēsia, the called-out ones, isn’t printed on money, carved in stone, or written in imperial law. It’s written on hearts. It’s alive in those who refuse to bow to any name but the Name above all names—Yeshua, our risen King.
So hold that coin. Look at it. And remember: One side shows the face of empire. The other shows the sun god it served. Neither side bears the image of the One who died for you.
Constantine may have tried to brand Christianity with Roman power. But Messiah brands His people with something no empire can touch—truth, sealed in Spirit, and tested by fire.
That’s the real legacy.
Written by my beloved.
Image by chatgpt at my direction.