Walter MartIn's Word Faith Movement WARNING:W/ Gospel of greed; get it get it, SLIDESHOW

SEND THIS BLOG TO A FREIND BY CLICKING HERE!!!
THE AUDIO CAN BE TURNED ON OR OFF ABOVE features the song GET IT GET IT. YOU CAN GET THE SLIDESHOW FOR YOUR FREE USE AT THIS LINK

Walter Martin (1988)
“If you have your Bible, if you have your Bible I’d like you to turn with me to Acts chapter 20. I’d like to read a few verses from this passage which I believe are very apropos today.

Talking to the elders in the church of Ephesus as he is preparing to go to Jerusalem where he will be bound by the Jews, and later to die. The apostle writes these words or speaks these words and Luke records them. I take you to record this day v.26, Acts 20:26. That is a direct quote from Ezek. 34 where the scripture says if you do not warn the wicked man of his wicked and he dies in his sin, I will hold you accountable for it. So we are suppose to warn the wicked of the wickedness they perform and also of the judgment of God upon them. If we don’t we become accessories after the fact of their sins. So, Ezek. 34 is what Paul is definitely referring to. I want you to know I am free from the blood of all mankind because I am giving you the whole counsel take heed there unto yourselves and all the flock unto which the Holy Spirit has made you rulers. The Greek word episcopos- a ruler to fend or tend therefore the church of God which he has purchased with his own blood. “For I know this after I leave you savage wolves shall enter in among you and will not spare the flock.” No mercy and notice this from your own selves men shall arise speaking contrary things to draw away disciples after themselves.

Therefore watch and remember, for a period of three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day to the point of tears.” Now there is a twofold warning to the Christian Church. Now we are speaking this morning on the warnings of God, the warnings of God. This passage tells you that after the apostles would leave the Church there would be savage wolves, they are characterized as wolves. Ravenous wolves who will enter in and they will not spare the flock. Which means they will attack the flock from without, they will penetrate the sheepfold, and they will chew up the sheep. Now that’s as clear as crystal right here. I know this after I leave, this is going to happen. We have those savage wolves today. We have theologians in theological Seminaries and departments of religions of schools who literally chew up the flock. They chew up the people who are studying for the ministry and then they spit them out into our pulpits where they can chew us up. These are the savage wolves who come in not sparing the flock. Apostate’s in positions of authority in the Christian Church. Apostates who abdicate the ordination of homosexuals, forbidden and cursed of God. Apostate’s who deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Apostates who will ordain you if you deny the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection, and the 2nd coming. Apostate’s who denominate our denominational structures and our educational institutions. Apostates who have come in and are chewing up the Church. That is very clearly stated here that we are to lookout for these people. Paul said I warned you day and night for three years to the point of tears. Very important.
Now there is a 2nd part of this that is seldom preached on because when you preach on it people get upset in my ministry what else is new. It’s a occupational hazard because you have to tell them the whole counsel of God. Notice Paul’s emphasis here, “I have not avoided declaring unto you verse 27 “all or the whole counsel of God.” The whole counsel of God is to warn against the savage wolves, cultists occultists, non Christian religionists, atheistic and skeptical philosophers, psychologists whatever they may be, who have attacked the church from without and some have penetrated and chewed up the church. Now there’s a 2nd warning from God, this warning is one the Church has paid very little attention to and because we have paid so little attention to it, it has thrived and become lethal. Why? Because what’s close to you that you don’t see, it does you far more harm than something you can get in perspective and easily identify. So let’s take a good look at what he saying here. From your own selves v.30 you ought to mark Church itself, menwill arise. It does not say possibly, could, he said will arise. They will speak contrary the meaning of the word in the Greek, King James says perversion, the word in the Greek is contrary. They will speak contrary things for the purpose of drawing disciples after them selves. So the warning of God is against people in the church in positions of leadership and respect. Who will draw disciples surrounding themselves, whose allegiance is not to Christ, but to that person. And they will draw the disciples after themselves from within the church so that there is no accountability for what they say. Now this isn’t my message this is the Pauline counsel to the Church at Ephesus. Warnings from the Holy Spirit. Look out for the wolves and lookout for the divisive schismatic leaders who will split and fragment and divide the church by attracting disciples to follow them.

Now the Scripture has many statements about false teachings and false prophets. Mt.7 gives one of the most frightening passages in all divine revelation it says and this is the lord Jesus speaking on the subject ( — dressed as sheep but inwardly or spiritually you are dealing with savage wolves, you will know them by what they produce). Now Jesus has said something else that the Church has forgotten today. Jesus said in my name or if you want the actual meaning of the Greek text, by my authority- name means authority. When you say “stop in the name of the Law” to criminal fleeing, you are saying stop by the authority of what? The law. The law says you can’t do that. Stop! When a King pronounces judgment in Old Testament times and recent times until kings went out of fashion. In the world a ruler person would say open the door in the name of the king….Alright once you get that concept in you mind Jesus said there will come men who will speak claiming there authority is from me. Now get that in your head carefully. There will come men who will speak in my name. That is, I am supposedly saying this to you, that is a very important phrase. There going to come and say I’m speaking to you in Jesus in my name they will work miracles in my name they will cast out devils… they will prophesy and preach. But when I meet them I will say leave me I never knew you workers of iniquity. Why? Because they use his authority and his name, because the power was in Jesus name, or Jesus’ authority not in them. And God honored the name of his Son. And they took that as a means of teaching there own false doctrines and false prophecies and because of that they corrupted the faith of the church. But inwardly, spiritually, they really roooaaar! And if you don’t know fleece from fur your dinner, dumb dum. And the only way you can know fleece from fur is to know how to test them. You don’t test them by Walter Martin, or by Norman Geisler, as good as the apologist and defenders of Christianity might be and as much as you trust them. You don’t test them by other people, you test them by Scripture. Then if your fidelity is the Scripture, and your allegiance is the Scripture, you reject them! But says Paul in the last days, men are going to be drawn away by false teachers and prophets in the church speaking in the name of Jesus. And your not going to test them your going to go along with them. And there gonna fragment and divide the Church because you wont’ test them.
Well it’s about time that we test them. Kenneth Copeland delivered the following prophecy during a three day victory campaign held in Dallas Texas. It is reproduced in the Voice of Victory 20th anniversary of his ministry. Found on page 9, his prophecy came from Jesus Christ. Copeland says, He quotes Jesus as saying. “You remember in my word I said to my disciples this kind comes not out by prayer and fasting.” He’s talking now about the power of prayer. He goes on “Don’t be disturbed (this is Jesus) when people accuse you of being God. The more you get to be like me God. But I didn’t claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that He was in Me. Hallelujah.” That is a lying spirit. Look at me read my lips. “That is a lying spirit.” That is not the Holy Spirit. Now for ten years I have warned and I’m tape and in print on this. That we were heading into the kingdom of the cults with the faith teachers. You are no longer heading there baby, you are there! Just so you are not mistaken let me give it to you again. Jesus speaking- “The more you get to be like me (Jesus) the more there going to think that way of you. They crucified Me for claiming that I was God. But I didn’t claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that He was in Me. Hallelujah.” That’s what your doing.” Now this was on TBN, this on Christian Television and radio stations. This is tolerated by the Christian Church, particularly the charismatic wing because they will not obey the Lord Jesus Christ and they will not obey; what the Scripture says. They are taken by people and ministries. And by large crowds and jet airplanes and by affluence as supposedly the seal of success. If your big and your powerful and your rich and people come to hear you, automatically it must be from God. No! Automatically it isn’t from God. You’re supposed to test what the person says by Scripture. And if you don’t test it by Scripture you can be taking in spiritual arsenic or cyanide and it can ruin your Christian life and take your eyes off Christ. The Scripture says it will overturn the faith in the Church.

…Charismatic differences. This is far beyond doctrinal disputes, he speaks it in the name of Jesus. He’s a liar, and the truth is not in him. Isa. 8:20 “If they do not speak according to this word they have, what? NO light in them,” in fact the Hebrew says there is no dawn. What deceives people about these false prophets is that out one side of their mouth the preach the gospel and out of the other side of their mouth they deny him who is the core of the gospel. And if you don’t put the two sides together you think your hearing Christianity. But your not!. The false prophets know that to get crowds they have to preach Christianity, the false prophets know that in order to have financial support they have got to get the church to contribute to them. So they will sound like the Church and they will prophesy in Jesus name, they will heal in Jesus name they will work miracles in Jesus name and then at the proper they will deny him. How do you know he’s a false prophet. It’s easy, he said so. I wonder if people who read this THOUGHT! THOUGHT! They crucified me for claiming I was God, but I didn’t claim I was God. He didn’t? That’s strange language, John chapter 8, “your father Abraham rejoiced to se my day coming he saw it and he was glad. But they said your not even 50 years old yet. You saw Abraham?” Jesus said, “before Abraham came into existence I AM.” And they reach for stones to kill him. who’d they think he was? Obviously God. John Chpt.10 “for thy Good works we stone thee not but for blasphemy. That you being a man make yourself out to be”, Who? GOD! Now we are dealing here with the doctrine of antichrist. And its not coming from an apostate professor of a theological seminary its not coming from a Jehovah’s Witness that knocks on your door. It’s not coming from the Mormon missionary that peddles up. Its coming from Kenneth Copeland on your television set on your radio and in print and if you resist the false doctrines of antichrist elsewhere, why will you not resist here? The answer is very simple because people hear the gospel being preached and they automatically assume that the person preaching is a true prophet of God. No Jesus said, the false prophets can do it. They only way you can find out is test them. I’m not avoided declaring to you the whole counsel of God for the space of ten years. I have told you day and night to the point of rage.

Now it’s come full circle there it is. Quote on TBN, “Dogs beget dogs cats beget cats, and God beget Gods, you are little Gods.” Close quote. That’s Kenneth Copeland on your television set. You are Gods! No your not, your sinners saved by grace. And he’s not a God, he’s a sinner professing to be a Christian, and denying in prophesy in the name of Jesus what Jesus said. That’s a false prophet, I don’t care how you spell it, if you say but look at the healings, look at the meetings, look at the miracles. READ Matthew Chapter 7, use your brains. Jesus said that’s exactly what’s going to happen, there going to preach and prophesy in my name. They do! In my name there gonna work miracles, they do. In my name they cast out devils, they do! And then they deny Him. Jesus said look out for them, because there here! And they are here now. They are on our Television sets our radios and print. Now the question is, will you tolerate it? We should be bombarding TBN and every Christian channel that produces and distributes this stuff. And we should be telling them we will not support the doctrine of the Anti-Christ. You may not do this with my money, and furthermore I’m not going to send any money. And then in addition to that I’m going to actively discourage everybody I know from sending you any money. And when you hold financial support they listen, but not until. So I’m suggesting over the Bible Answer Man program that we start holding support to people and ministries that do this. And I’m going to get a lot of flak, your going to hear a lot of people coming after me, and I want you to know, I could care less. This is the TRUTH, what I’m telling you is the truth and if it is a voice crying in the wilderness it’s the truth.(clapping). And the Holy Spirit will see to it that they will listen. Because I am a prophetic voice in this and have been for decade, of course I don’t for a moment believe I am a prophet, anymore than I believe I am an apostle. I’m a teacher, but you can speak with a prophetic voice, you can exercise apostolic office in given situations.

Believe me were in trouble, and if we don’t something about really quickly your going to be in more trouble than you know what to do with. Because people are keep accepting these as Christian representatives. What were getting is the doctrine of anti- Christ. If you deny that you don’t know your Bible. Jesus says through Copeland “I never claimed to be God.” That is not the Jesus of the Bible, you want me to tell you who it is, turn in your Bible to 2 Cor.11, I will tell you who it is. V.3 “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, … a different spirit … a different gospel” ….Then he goes on to say that there are false apostles, deceitful workman who transform themselves on the outside to look like the ministers of Christ but inwardly you are dealing with the imitation of Satan. I don’t bring judgment or play God, that is not my role or yours. But if Jesus Christ said it and the New Testament teaches it and it is Biblical theology and we reiterate what the text says we are not playing God, we are being faithful to what God said. Is Kenneth Copeland a Christian? If he is a Christian, let him repent! Let him apologize to the Church! Let him forsake these false doctrines. He is not a God, he lies when he says anyone in the Church is a God. He lies when he says Jesus Christ gave him this prophesy, this did not come from the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul calls Jesus our great God and savior Titus 2:13. Acts chapter 20 which I just read says, God purchased the Church with his own blood. Well who died on the cross? God in human flesh and purchased the Church with his own blood. The whole New Testament declares they deity of Jesus Christ. “In the beginning was the word and the word with God and the word was God.” And Kenneth Copeland knows it as well as I do! But he’s denying it, when you take your eyes off Scripture as the criterion for authority and you place it on experience and on people, and on revelations, and on messages that allegedly come from God, you are a set up for deception, you’re made for it. Because you don’t have any way to check it. But you must check it. The title of his article is “Take time to pray.” That’s the title “Take time to pray.” No take time to obey, take time to obey Christ and to obey him is to proclaim him Lord of all. I am the alpha and omega the beginning and the end the first and the last the Almighty Rev. 1:7-8. Who is He? “He is coming with Clouds and every eye shall see him and he is the almighty.” Well that’s what Christ said about himself. Thomas said my Lord and my Jehovah. And worships him and Jesus said because you have seen me you believe Blessed is they that have not seen and believe. Kenneth Copeland quoted every one of these verses and then in a prophesy, originating with Jesus Christ, he can deny the identity of Jesus Christ. You are now dealing with false prophets. I don’t presume to judge the eternal destiny of men that is not our task but I will tell you one thing Biblically speaking If you say you are Christ’s property then you have Christ’s spirit. Romans 8:9. And whoever does not have Christ’s spirit is not Christ’s property. Christ’s spirit does not deny Jesus Christ. Christ’s spirit exalts him. This is a denial of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is Jesus speaking “I never said I was God, never claimed to be God.” No that’s a lie, “let God be true and every man a liar.” I want a repudiation of this. And a removal of these men from the Trinity broadcasting Network Station until they apologize to the Christian Church and repent of this evil. And if they won’t, then it must be the task of the Christian Church to oppose them vigorously, publicly. And tell it to the whole Church. And read this until people can’t stand to hear it anymore. Until they will act on it. Don’t you dare talk about fidelity to Jesus Christ, and love to Jesus Christ and allegiance to Jesus Christ and sit by while men deny him! Your gonna be consistent than be consistent in obedience.

You may sit here and say “You sound very angry!” I am, I may be one of God’s last angry men, but I’m angry for the right reason. I’m in the presence of the doctrines of the anti-Christ and I plan to be angry that way the rest of my life. And if you don’t hear me angry about those kind of doctrines please come and tell me as quickly as possible, because I have defected from the ministry. So I’m going to ask you to covenant with me in prayer that God will bring Kenneth Copeland to repentance for this blasphemy and there may be a open apology and repudiation of it in the Christian Church. And then until this is done we will remain constant in prayer and we will not support what we know to be evil doctrine. If we do that God will bless us and honor us, if we don’t do it were gonna reap an awful harvest.

This morning was a very difficult message to preach, the warnings of God. Because whenever you talk this way you bound to be misinterpreted and people are bound to think somehow or another you’ve got some ax to grind and your after somebody’s neck. I’m not but if I sit still in the presence of the doctrine of antichrist I’m an accessory to those doctrines and I fall under the condemnation of Acts chpt.20. If you go further into revelation chpt.2 later on, you will find that the Holy Spirit commends the Church in Ephesus, above all the seven Churches because they tested these people, just as Paul told them to and they found out they were liars. And the Spirit says, good job, you did what you were suppose to do and he commends the Ephesians for it. May God make us faithful in the tradition of the Ephesians. The lord Jesus Christ paid the price for all sin on the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ rose victoriously from the dead for our redemption we are saved by his life. The Lord Jesus Christ has given us spirit so we can walk with him, he has also given us his spirit so we might discern evil, as well as good.”

The “Church of Christ” Denial of the Present-Day Ministry of the Holy Spirit by chocd.org

Once again, there are various positions on this issue within the CHOCD, but this is probably their most grievous error. Because it goes way beyond just rejecting the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, as recorded in I Corinthians chapters 12-14. It also includes the rejection of His "enduement of power." Jesus said in Acts 1:4-8 that He would "baptize them in the Holy Spirit" and they would "receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." And we see the fulfillment of this promise on the day of Pentecost. Peter said in Acts 2:39, that the promise of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit was for every believer, for "as many as the Lord our God shall call!" In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus had also promised that the miraculous would follow those that believed, in Chapter 16, verse 17. Jesus promised in John 14:16, that the Holy Spirit "would be with us FOREVER!" Paul said in Romans 11:29 that, "The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable."

The only verse that they can even attempt to take out of context to uphold their dispensational outlook is I Corinthians 13:10, that states at some point in time ("when that which is perfect comes") the miraculous will be done away with. They believe "that which is perfect" was the canonization of the Scriptures. But when you read this statement in context, you see that it couldn't be what or when they say it is. First of all, the Apostle Paul virtually tells us when it would happen, in verse 12, by telling us what would transpire at the arrival of "that which is perfect." He says, "For NOW we see in a mirror dimly, but THEN we will see face to face; NOW I know in part, but THEN I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known".

To prove that the miraculous didn't cease at the canonization of the Scriptures, all you have to do is plug their theory into verse 12, every time Paul says the word THEN. "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but THEN, at the canonization of scripture (300 AD), we will see face to face; now I know in part, but THEN, at the canonization of scripture, I shall know fully as I also have been fully known." The term "face to face" was used in Paul's day (as it is in our day) as a very literal term. At the canonization of scripture, who or what did Paul see "face to face?" At the canonization of scripture, how did the Apostle Paul grow in knowledge? He had been in Heaven for over 200 years! The fact of the matter is that when Paul referred to "that which is perfect" he was simply referring to the second coming of Christ, or when we would go home to glory, whichever came first. Will you gain knowledge when you get to heaven? Absolutely! Will you see anyone (Jesus, for example) "face to face?" Undoubtedly! So this verse is obviously a very precarious place to hang one's hat in an attempt to prove that the miraculous workings of God, through the power of His Holy Spirit, have ceased!

But some (not all) of the members of the CHOCD go even further in their defiance of the Holy Spirit, and say that he is not even a person of the Trinity. The Bible is very clear in attributing personhood to the Holy Spirit by stating that the Holy Spirit has a will (I Corinthians 12:11); that He can be grieved (Eph 4:30); that He would be our Teacher (John 14:26) and more. Many of the CHOCDs even come dangerously close to committing blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:31) by saying that any manifestation of the miraculous in this day and age are all 100% demonic! Take it from me, I am living proof that God still performs miracles today. Because in 1979, while a member of the CHOCD… I committed suicide. My family was falling apart, and thanks to the erroneous teachings of the CHOCD, all I had to fall back on was a "religion," not a living, personal relationship with the living Lord of the Universe. So faced with a future of hopelessness and despair, I took an overdose (130+) of sleeping pills, and laid down to die. But because of the mercy and grace of our loving Creator, a minister friend of mine from the Christian Church came by (after the pills had been in my system for nearly six hours!) As he struggled to help me get dressed to go to the hospital (with the rescue squad on its way), I lapsed into a coma. I went stiff as a board and my eyes rolled back in my head and I keeled over. But on the way to the hospital, as my friend prayed for me, I came to! I had no adverse side effects, other than being thirsty and feeling like I hadn't slept in days. The doctors didn't have a clue. My minister friend didn't even know what to think either. My own earthly Father went to the grave suspecting that the whole thing was an effort to get attention. Hey, you don't take over 100 sleeping pills to get anyone's attention but a mortician!

So now maybe you can see why I feel so strongly about reaching the poor souls that have fallen prey to the dead theology of the CHOCD. Legalism robs a believer of their Joy! And since the Joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10), then legalism is a parasite that will sap you of your ability to stand when the storms of life come your way. If the CHOCD wants to be a TRUE representation of the New Testament Church, then they must embrace that which the original church embraced. I am grateful for the basic biblical foundation that I received while in the CHOCD, but even more grateful that Jesus has shown me a "more excellent way!"

http://www.chocd.org/holyspirit.html

more about "The “Church of Christ” Denial of the ...", posted with vodpod

So Joel Osteen says Mormons are Christians, But what do Mormons say about Christianity?

more about "Joel Osteen Biffs It On Mormonism", posted with vodpod

A Response to Latter-day Saints Who Say, "We Never Criticize Christian Churches" Compiled by Bill McKeever

A common response to Christians who question the teachings of Mormonism is to accuse them of being contentious and unloving. Often Mormons will question the "Christianity" of the person and proudly claim that members of the LDS Church never criticize the beliefs of others and therefore conclude that no one else should either. As the following quotes demonstrate, Mormons leaders have long criticized Christians, and oftentimes very harshly.

Joseph Smith (Mormonism's founder)

Joseph Smith claimed that he had seen both God the Father and Jesus Christ and asked these personages which church he should join. He claimed he was told to join none of them, "for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight" (Joseph Smith History 1:19).

When asked "Will all be damned but Mormons?" Smith replied, "Yes, and a great portion of them unless they repent and work righteousness" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 119).

"Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth" (Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 14:10).

The Doctrine and Covenants (1:30) leaves no doubt to the Mormon teaching of exclusivity when it says the LDS church is, "the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased ...."

Brigham Young (Mormonism's Second President)

"When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness" (Journal of Discourses 5:73).

"The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God" (Journal of Discourses 8:171).

"With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world" (Journal of Discourses 8:199).

"Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity" (Journal of Discourses 10:230).

"The religion of God embraces every fact that exists in all the wide arena of nature, while the religions of men consist of theory devoid of fact, or of any true principle of guidance; hence the professing Christian world are like a ship upon a boisterous ocean without rudder, compass, or pilot, and are tossed hither and thither by every wind of doctrine" (Journal of Discourses 10:265).

"... the time came when Paganism was engrafted into Christianity, and at last Christianity was converted into Paganism rather than converting the Pagans" (Journal of Discourses 22:44).

"Brother Taylor has just said that the religions of the day were hatched in hell. The eggs were laid in hell, hatched on its borders, and kicked on to the earth" (Journal of Discourses 6:176).

John Taylor (Mormonism's 3rd President)

"We talk about Christianity, but it is a perfect pack of nonsense ...the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century" (Journal of Discourses 6:167).

"What! Are Christians ignorant? Yes, as ignorant of the things of God as the brute beast." (Journal of Discourses 6:25).

"What does the Christian world know about God? Nothing ...Why so far as the things of God are concerned, they are the veriest of fools; they know neither God nor the things of God" (Journal of Discourses 13:225).

"And who is there that acknowledges [God's] hand? ...You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Journal of Discourses 6:24).

Daniel H. Wells (Mormon Apostle)

"The whole system of Christianity is a failure so far as stemming the tide of wickedness and corruption is concerned, or turning men from their evil ways to living lives of righteousness before God our Heavenly Father. I would rather preach the Gospel to a people who have not got any religion than I would to a people who have got a great deal of religion. You take the Catholic world. What impression can the truths of the Gospel make upon them as a people? Scarcely any impression at all. Why? Because they are satisfied with what they have got, which we know is an error, and which is not calculated to stem the tide of wickedness and corruption which floods the world. It never will convert the world to God or His Kingdom, or convey a knowledge of God unto the children of men, and it is life eternal to know Him, the living and true God. The Christianity of the period will never make the people acquainted with God in the world. It will never bring them to eternal life as spoken of in the Scriptures.

It is an utter impossibility. In the first place they do not know anything about God, and in the second place, they apparently don't want to know anything about Him. They have reared a superstructure in the earth which is false. It is and has been a tremendous imposture to the children of men. Some have come out of it, to a certain extent, seeing its incongruity, and yet they have floundered in the dark, not knowing what was right; not having that knowledge of God which is necessary to obtain eternal life, they have been tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, without being able to find the truth.

Many who have thus been foundering are honest people; but the so-called system of Christianity is not only an error and a snare, but is a monstrous iniquity fastened upon the children of men throughout the earth. No wonder that people become infidel. The inconsistent and incongruous nature of the system is enough to make any being who reasons infidel. It was time the truth should be revealed; it was time for the Lord to restore the everlasting Gospel, for men were blind. Darkness covered the earth, even gross darkness the minds of the people in regard to religious subjects. Perhaps a darker time was never known since the earth began its revolutions around the sun. From what I have read and from what experience I have had in life, and the intelligence I possess, I make bold to give my testimony that the darkest period the world ever saw was when this work first commenced, when it was made known from heaven to Joseph Smith. It was no darker here, perhaps, than in any other part of the world; but it was just as dark in Christian countries as in any Pagan country, so far as true religion and the light of heaven were concerned" (Journal of Discourses 24:321-322).

Orson Pratt (Mormon Apostle)

"Q. After the Church of Christ fled from the earth to heaven, what was left?

"A. A set of wicked Apostates, murderers, and idolaters, who ...left to follow the wicked imaginations of their own corrupt hearts, and to build up churches by human authority..." (The Seer, pg.205).

"...all other churches are entirely destitute of all authority from God; and any person who receives Baptism or the Lord's supper from their hands highly offend God, for he looks upon them as the most corrupt of all people ...The only persons among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who have authority from Jesus Christ to administer any gospel ordinance are those called and authorized among the Latter-day Saints" (The Seer, pg. 255).

"This class of men, calling themselves Christian, uniting with the various forms of the pagan religion, adopting many of their ceremonies and institutions, became very popular, and finally some of the pagans embraced Christianity and were placed, as it were, upon the throne, and what they termed Christianity became very popular indeed. How long has this order of things existed, this dreadful apostasy, this class of people that pronounced themselves Zion, or Christians, without any of the characteristics of Zion? It has existed for some sixteen or seventeen centuries. It has spread itself and grown and gone into the four quarters of the earth. It is the great ecclesiastical power that is spoken of by the revelator John, and called by him the most corrupt and most wicked of all the powers of the earth, under the name of spiritual Babylon, or in other words Babel, which signifies confusion. This great and corrupt power is also represented by John as presenting a golden cup to the nations, full of all manner of filthiness and abominations" (Journal of Discourses 14:346).

"This great apostasy commenced about the close of the first century of the Christian era, and it has been waxing worse and worse from then until now" (Journal of Discourses 18:44).

"But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be ...But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance, and they are represented in the revelations of St. John as a woman sitting upon a scarlet colored beast, having a golden cup in her hand, full of filthiness and abominations, full of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; that in her forehead there was a name written - `Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots'" (Journal of Discourses 18:172).

"Who is Babylon? I have already explained that Babylon is a great power that should be in the earth under the name of a church, a woman - that generally represents a church - full of blasphemy ...These churches are scattered over the wide face of the earth, and this is called Babylon. Another angel is to follow the one that brings the Gospel, after it has been sufficiently preached, and proclaim the downfall of this great and corrupt power in the earth" (Journal of Discourses 18:179).

"The worshipers of Baal were far more consistent than apostate Christendom; for they had a faint hope that Baal would hear and answer them; but modern divines have no expectation that their God will say anything to them or to their followers. Baal's followers cried from morning until evening for him to give unto them a miraculous manifestation, in the presence of Elijah; but to even expect a supernatural manifestation or revelation now is considered, by modern religionists, as the greatest absurdity. Baal's worshipers, therefore, with all their absurdities, approached nearer the religion of heaven, in some of their expectations, than those who falsely call themselves Christians" (Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon, No. 1 (1850), pp.12-13).

"We have already proved in the previous numbers of this series that immediately after the first century the whole earth became corrupted by the great "Mother of Harlots," that apostasy and wickedness succeeded Christianity, that for the want of new revelation, all legal succession to the apostleship was discontinued that the gifts and powers of the Holy Spirit ceased and that the Church was no longer to be found on the earth: this being the case, all nations must have been destitute of the everlasting gospel for many generations - not destitute of its history as it was once preached and enjoyed but destitute of its blessings, of its powers, of its gifts, of its priesthood, of its ordinances administered by legal authority" (Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon, No.6 (1851), pg.82).

Heber C. Kimball (First Counselor to Brigham Young)

"Christians - those poor, miserable priests Brother Brigham was speaking about - some of them are the biggest whoremasters there are on the earth ..." (Journal of Discourses 5:89).

George Q. Cannon (Counselor to presidents Young, Taylor, Woodruff and Snow)
"I do not wish to say anything in relation to other forms of religion; I do not know that it is necessary that I should do so; but no thinking man can admit that Christianity so-called - I call it a false Christianity, untrue to its name - satisfies the wants of humanity at the present time. It is not a religion that satisfies" (Journal of Discourses 24:185).

"After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon" (Gospel Truth, pg.324).

Wilford Woodruff (4th LDS President)

"I said then, and I say now, may the Lord give me such periods of darkness as were enjoyed by the Apostles and Saints of old, in preference to the Gospel blaze of modern Christianity. The ancient doctrine and power will unlock the mysteries of heaven, and pour forth that Gospel light, knowledge, and truth, of which the heavens are full, and which has been poured out in every generation when Prophets appeared among the children of men. But the Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called" (Journal of Discourses 2:196).

Erastus Snow (LDS Apostle)

"There is a theory in the human mind - I will say with a certain school of modern philosophers - to satisfy themselves and justify their infidelity; the bent and tendency of their inclinations is that way. But it is probable that the crude, undefined devices and erroneous notions and ideas of modern Christianity touching the Deity leads to this infidelity, as much as anything else. The advocates of Christianity are in a great measure to blame. When we begin to scan the teachings and enquire into the views of the leading divines of modern times, and examine their articles of faith and their discipline, the teachings of different Christian denominations on the subject of the Deity, we do not wonder that the reflecting, careful thinker, should repudiate their crude notions" (Journal of Discourses 19:268).

B.H. Roberts (LDS Seventy and Historian)

"Nothing less than a complete apostasy from the Christian religion would warrant the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Introduction to the History of the Church 1:XL).

"This view of God as an incorporeal, immaterial, bodiless, partless, passionless being is now and has been from the days of the great apostasy from God and Christ, in the second and third centuries, the doctrine of Deity generally accepted by apostate Christendom. The simple doctrine of the Christian Godhead, set forth in the New Testament is corrupted by the meaningless jargon of these creeds, and their explanations; and the learned who profess a belief in them are wandering in the darkness of the mysticisms of the old pagan philosophies" (History of the Church, 1:LXXXV).

Parley P. Pratt (Mormon Apostle)

"The false and corrupt institutions, and still more corrupt practices of `Christendom,' have had a downward tendency in the generations of man for many centuries ...The overthrow of those ancient degenerate races is a type of that which now awaits the nations call `Christian,' or in other words, `the great whore that sitteth upon many waters" (Key to the Science of Theology, 1938 ed., pg.106).

James Talmage ( LDS Apostle)

"A self-suggesting interpretation of history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the Church of Christ ...From the facts already stated it is evident that the Church was literally driven from the earth; in the first ten centuries immediately following the ministry of Christ the authority of the Holy Priesthood was lost among men, and no human power could restore it" (The Articles of Faith, pp.200,203).

"The significance and importance of the great apostasy, as a condition precedent to the re-establishment of the Church in modern times, is obvious. If the alleged apostasy of the primitive Church was not a reality, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not the divine institution its name proclaims" (The Great Apostasy, preface).

Joseph Fielding Smith (10th LDS President)

"For hundreds of years the world was wrapped in a veil of spiritual darkness, until there was not one fundamental truth belonging to the place of salvation that was not, in the year 1820, so obscured by false tradition and ceremonies, borrowed from paganism, as to make it unrecognizable; or else it was entirely denied ...Joseph Smith declared that in the year 1820 the Lord revealed to him that all the 'Christian' churches were in error, teaching for commandments the doctrines of men" (Doctrines of Salvation 3:282).

Spencer W. Kimball (12th LDS President)

"This is the only true church ...This is not a church. This is the Church of Jesus Christ. There are churches of men all over the land and they have great cathedrals, synagogues, and other houses of worship running into the hundreds of millions of dollars. They are churches of men. They teach the doctrines of men, combined with the philosophies and ethics and other ideas and ideals that men have partly developed and partly found in sacred places and interpreted for themselves" (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pg.421).

"Presumptuous and blasphemous are they who purport to baptize, bless, marry, or perform other sacraments in the name of the Lord while in fact lacking the specific authorization" (The Miracle of Forgiveness, pg.55).

Bruce McConkie (Mormon Apostle)

"The traditions of the elders - as is also the case with the traditions of an apostate Christendom - are wholly devoid of the least scintilla of inspiration. They are, as Jesus said, 'the commandments of men'" (The Mortal Messiah, Vol.2, FOOTNOTES, Pg.412).

"What of seventies? Who are they, and how do they fit into the eternal scheme of things? That their mission and ministry is unknown among the cults of Christendom is one of the great evidences of the apostate darkness that engulfs those who call themselves by the name of Him who called seventies to stand as especial witnesses of that very name" (The Mortal Messiah, 3:99-100).

"Thus the signs of the times include the prevailing apostate darkness in the sects of Christendom and in the religious world in general. False churches, false prophets, false worship - breeding as they do a way of life that runs counter to the divine will - all these are signs of the times" (The Millennial Messiah, pg.403).

"What is the church of the devil in our day, and where is the seat of her power? ...It is all of the systems, both Christian and non-Christian, that perverted the pure and perfect gospel ...It is communism; it is Islam; it is Buddhism; it is modern Christianity in all its parts" (The Millennial Messiah, pp.54-55).

"As with other doctrines and ordinances, apostate substitutes of the real thing are found both among pagans and supposed Christians" (Mormon Doctrine, pg.72).

"When inquiring and scientific minds delve into the narrow and bigoted creeds of the apostate sects of Christendom it is not surprising that they rebel against those dogmas falsely set forth as the tenets of true religion" (Mormon Doctrine, pg.107).

"Christianity is the religion of the Christians. Hence, true and acceptable Christianity is found among the saints who have the fullness of the gospel, and a perverted Christianity holds sway among the so-called Christians of apostate Christendom" (Mormon Doctrine, pg.132).

"The only real superiority of the apostate sects of Christendom over their more openly pagan counterparts is the fact that the Christian sects (though rejecting the doctrines, ordinances, and powers of the gospel) have nonetheless preserved many of the ethical teachings of Christ and the apostles" (Mormon Doctrine, pg.240).

"And virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ whom they vainly suppose to be a spirit essence who is incorporeal uncreated, immaterial and three-in-one with the Father and Holy Spirit" (Mormon Doctrine, pg.269).

"Gnosticism is one of the great pagan philosophies which antedated Christ and the Christian Era and which was later commingled with pure Christianity to form the apostate religion that has prevailed in the world since the early days of that era." (Mormon Doctrine, pg.316).

"In large part the worship of apostate Christendom is performed in ignorance, as much so as was the worship of the Athenians who bowed before the Unknown God, and to whom Paul said: "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you" (Mormon Doctrine, pg. 374).

"For instance: The creeds of apostate Christendom teach untruths about God, and the scriptures say that those who accept these creeds 'have inherited lies.' (Jer. 16:16-21.) Those who accept any of the doctrines of the apostate churches are said to 'believe a lie.' (2 Thess. 2:1-12.) The process of apostasy consists in changing 'the truth of God into a lie.'" (Mormon Doctrine pg. 440).
"Pagan tribal gods were the creation of the imaginations of apostate peoples, just as the creeds and apostate views of God which prevail in modern Christendom are the result of forsaking the truth" (Mormon Doctrine, pg. 511).
"Mormonism is Christianity; Christianity is Mormonism; they are one and the same, and they are not to be distinguished from each other in the minutest detail ...Mormons are true Christians; their worship is the pure, unadulterated Christianity authored by Christ and accepted by Peter, James, and John and all the ancient saints" (Mormon Doctrine, pg.513).

"The gods of Christendom, for instance, are gods who were created by men in the creeds of an apostate people. There is little profit or peace in serving them, and certainly there is no salvation available through them" (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, pg.545).

Article link here

DANGER: The Church of Christ By David J. Stewart

The Church of Christ is a false church. They require good works for salvation. The Church of Christ is just as dangerous as Catholicism, Jehovah's Witness, or the Mormons, because they claim to be "Christian"; BUT they are not! Whereas religions like Islam and Black Muslim openly deny the Christian faith; the Church of Christ claims to be Christian, and so Satan uses them to seduce people into Hellfire.

The following doctrinal statement is taken directly from the Church of Christ website:

How does one become a member of the church of Christ?

In the salvation of man's soul there are 2 necessary parts: God's part and man's part. God's part is the big part, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift if God; not of works, that no man should glory" (Ephesians 2:8-9). The love which God felt for man led him to send Christ into the world to redeem man. The life and teaching of Jesus, the sacrifice on the cross, and the proclaiming of the gospel to men constitute God's part in salvation.

Though God's part is the big part, man's part is also necessary if man is to reach heaven. Man must comply with the conditions of pardon which the Lord has announced. Man's part can clearly set forth in the following steps:

Hear the Gospel. "How shall they call on him whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14).

Believe. "And without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him" (Hebrews 11:6).

Repent of past sins. "The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent" (Acts 17:30).

Confess Jesus as Lord. "Behold here is water; What doth hinder me to be baptized ? And Philip said, if thou believeth with all thy heart thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" (Acts 8:36-37).

Be baptized for the remission of sins. "And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).

Live a Christian life. "Ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).

SOURCE: Who are the churches of Christ?

There is much heresy in the preceding statement.

First, salvation is of God alone, and not men. This is plainly stated in John1:12-13, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Man has no part in God's salvation.

In Philippians 2:12 the Apostle Paul states, "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Carefully notice that the Bible says "work out YOUR OWN salvation"; it does not say anything about God's salvation. When God saves a man, it is then up to that man whether or not he is going to obey God or not. God saves us by faith, but then it is up to us to allow the Lord to live the Christian life through us. This has nothing to do with salvation. So many heretics today are trying to add holy living to faith for salvation. No sir! As we see in 1st Corinthians 5:5, some believers live in unrepentant sin; yet, they are still saved. How can this be? It's because eternal life is a "free gift" (Romans 5:15) not conditioned upon our lifestyle. I don't know why so many people can't seem to grasp the concept of a GIFT.

The only part that man has in God's salvation is to BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). In Psalm 51:12, after David had sinned horribly, we find David asking God for forgiveness... "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." David knew that salvation was of God alone... THY SALVATION!

Second, there is NOT one Scripture in the entire Bible that tells us to "repent FROM sin" to be saved. You can't find it. The word repent in the Greek simply means "to change one's mind." So a person need only repent OF their sins to be sins; and NOT FROM their sins. A lost sinner only needs to realize their GUILT of sin, and condemnation under the Law of God, and their justly deserved penalty of Hellfire to be saved. The change should come LATER, after a person is saved and the Holy Spirit convicts them (2nd Corinthians 5:17).

Repentance in the Bible is always towards God... "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." According to Granville Sharp's Rule of Greek Exegesis these events are one and the same, i.e., repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. To place your faith in the Lord to forgive your sins is repentance. You have realized your guilt of sin, and have TURNED to the Lord for salvation. This is the simplicity of God's salvation (2nd Corinthians 11:3).

Third, confessing Jesus as Lord is very different than confessing that He is the Son of God. Yes, we must recognize Jesus as the Son of God to be saved; BUT, we certainly do not need to make Him the Lord (Master) of our life to be saved. This truth is evidenced by the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Paul calls them "brethren," and yet they haven't presented their bodies as a living sacrifice for the Lord yet. That is to say, they haven't surrender their lives to God yet in Christian living. The Bible is filled with examples of Christian who ran from God, such as Jonah, Samson, Lot, and many others. Making Jesus the Lord of one's life has nothing to do with being saved. Again, God's salvation is a free gift, paid for by Jesus' precious literal blood.

Fourth, Baptismal Regeneration is a lie of the Devil. The very notion that a person is required to be water baptized to go to Heaven is absurd. The Apostle John tells us in 1st John 5:13 that he wrote his Epistle "so that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life"; YET, he never mentions baptism even once in the Epistles of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd John. The Apostle Paul plainly stated that Christ did NOT send him to baptize; but rather, to preach the Gospel (1st Corinthians 1:17). No one in the Old Testament was water baptized; yet we read in Genesis 15:6 that Abraham believed God and it was COUNTED unto him for righteousness. You see friend, you need HIS Righteousness to go to Heaven.

Fifth, living a Christian life is not a prerequisite for being saved. If it were, then God would be a liar and eternal life certainly not a "free gift" as Romans 5:15 calls it. To say that a lost sinner must persevere in holy living to be saved is to spit upon the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to insult God, and to negate Christ's work of redemption. Let me quote to you Romans 4:5, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Salvation is so simple. God simply asks us to believe on Jesus, i.e., He that justifieth the ungodly. Our faith by itself is counted for (or is equivalent to) a life of righteousness. This is because Jesus imputes (or places) HIS righteousness upon our eternal record the very moment that we place our sole faith in Him. The Word of God is clear... TO HIM THAT WORKETH NOT.


Conclusion

Where does the Church of Christ come up with all their heresies? They surely didn't find them in the Bible. God said what He meant, and meant what He said. Jesus said in John 14:2, "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." There is NO controversy if you believe the Bible. The Church of Christ is straight from the pits of Hell. I plead with you not to become a victim of their damnable religion.

The Word of God teaches that eternal life is a FREE GIFT (Romans 5:15; 6:23). If you keep that in mind at all times, then you'll see right through the lying words of such false prophets as Church of Christ ministers. Eternal life is a "gift" that cannot be earned, merited, or deserved. We all deserve to burn in Hellfire for our sins; but God in His wondrous love sent Jesus Christ into the world, to pay for our sins with His own literal precious blood (1st Peter 1:18,19).

"In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." —2nd Thessalonians 1:8

Ye Must Be Born Again!

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Church%20of%

Church of Christ Legalism Questionnaire

You WILL need to visit the site to make the answers pop up. But all CoC members should take this test.

Legalism Questionnaire http://ex-churchofchrist.com/legalismCoC.htm

LEE-gull-izm: noun, 1) something pertaining to obeying law, 2) becoming overly concerned with legal details and losing the intent of the law, 3) straining gnats out of one's coffee and swallowing huge hump-backed animals.

Hold your cursor over the answer you choose:

1. The "new covenant" is a phrase in the New Testament that is used to refer to
a. the new regulations in the New Testament about the work, worship and organization of the local congregation.
b. baptism and the plan of salvation
c. a new relationship with God based on forgiveness

2. The "gospel of Christ" is a phrase in the New Testament that is used to refer to
a. the new regulations in the New Testament about the work, worship and organization of the local congregation.
b. baptism and the plan of salvation
c. a new relationship with God based on forgiveness

3. The "law of liberty" and the "law of Christ" are phrases in the New Testament that are used to refer to
a. the new regulations in the New Testament about the work, worship and organization of the local congregation.
b. baptism and the plan of salvation
c. a new relationship with God based on forgiveness

4. James (in chapter 2) teaches that faith without works is dead. What kind of works is James talking about?
a. The work, worship and organization of the local congregation
b. All works commanded by God
c. mercy towards poor people

5. The story of Uzzah being struck dead for touching the ark of the covenant teaches
a. unauthorized worship is displeasing to God
b. God keeps his promises
c. God appreciates spontaneous worship

6. The story of Nadab and Abihu being struck dead for bringing strange fire before the Lord teaches
a. unauthorized worship is displeasing to God
b. God proved His acceptance of the sacrifice (Nadab and Abihu did not wait for God's acceptance)
c. God is displeased by substituting one's own works for God's works.

7. Concerning going to church
a. There are many scriptures that teach attending church is one of the most important acts of worship and obedience in a Christian's life.
b. There are many scriptures that teach one must attend church every Sunday.
c. There are two scriptures that tell us to assemble with other Christians with the purpose of encouraging one another.

8. Jesus viewed God the Father as
a. Someone who threw a big party with music and dancing
b. Someone who was bad-tempered and hard to get to know
c. Someone who only talked to church hierarchy

9. Peter viewed baptism as
a. for the remission of sins
b. to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
c. Both "a" and "b"

10. Concerning instrumental music
a. God accepted instrumental music in the Old Testament
b. David encouraged instrumental music in some of the same Psalms that are referred to in the New Testament
c. There is instrumental music in heaven
d. Jesus compared the church to a banquet with music and dancing
e. there is no condemnation of instrumental music in the New Testament
f. There is no condemnation of spontaneous unauthorized worship anywhere in the Bible
g. The apostle Paul unreservedly encouraged Christians to sing the Psalms
h. all of the above
i. There is no approval of instrumental music by God in the Bible
j. There is no approval of instrumental music in worship in the New Testament


Your Score:
9 to 10 incorrect answers: you probably found this questionnaire irritating.

9 to10 correct answers: you feel (would have felt) very uncomfortable in the strict Churches of Christ, and you got a big kick out of this questionnaire. If you attended hardline Churches of Christ in the past, you may have needed quite a bit of alka-seltzer to digest those mandatory camels.

Any scores in between and you may not feel comfortable anywhere.

What was the fifth century Pelagian Controversy? How was it similar to what is taught in the Church of Christ?

The Pelagian Controversy

The Pelagian Controversy took place during the early part of the 5th century and it placed at odds a man by the name of Pelagius against the Bishop of Hippo who we may know today as St. Augustine. The controversy came to a focal point at the Council of Carthage where the church declared Pelagius a heretic in 418 AD.

Now to understand this controversy, we need to look into the background of Pelagius.

Pelagius is known as a moral, earnest, and zealous monk who was born on the British Isles. Sometime later in life when he traveled to Rome, he became alarmed about the godlessness he saw in the clergy and other professing Christians. It was while in Rome that he earned a reputation for the calling of Christians to the 'attaining of virtue and righteousness'. In this way he and his followers had much in common with the Puritans in that they loved the precepts and laws of God and who were also very concerned about the moral laxity they saw in their own day.

The crisis point came, however, when Pelagius read a famous prayer written by St. Augustine and it was a statement in this prayer that troubled him greatly. The statement was, "Oh God, grant what thou dost command…" and it was this statement in that prayer which set into motion the controversy that was to ensue.

The question on Pelagius' mind was -why would anyone need to pray such a prayer? For what Augustine was asking was 'God help us. God grant unto us the moral ability to do the things you have commanded.' Because Augustine believed that, unless God grants the necessary Grace, man is inherently unable to live in obedience to God and in our fallen humanity we lack the moral power and ability in our own selves to always do the things God commands.

This teaching deeply concerned Pelagius. How can it be that a Just and Holy God would render a law or command that in our own humanity we do not have the moral power and ability to obey? For God to be just and at the same time issue a law or command that we can not possibly obey…( and then punish us? )...would not only be unthinkable but monstrous.

It was here that Pelagius rejected this teaching that man requires grace or some kind of divine assistance outside of himself in order to live in obedience to God. No, Pelagius argued, God does indeed save us by providing us with His laws and commands, by giving us the excellent moral examples of Christ and the Saints, by the cleansing waters of baptism and by the redeeming blood of Christ.

For according to Pelagius, our salvation can be obtained by our obedience to the moral and religious commands of God as found in the pages of the New Testament.

St. Augustine's Response

Augustine's response, however, was that Pelagius' doctrine was a spiritual impossibility. In light of Adam's fall, the idea that man can somehow decide to live and be saved by being obedient to the moral and religious commands and laws of God is simply an ability we do not have. Adam had it, but when he sinned he lost it, not only for himself but for all of his descendants as well.

It would be like an illustration of a long column of paper cups where, should a pin or needle be run completely through, not only would the integrity of the first cup be compromised but also the character of all the succeeding cups would be ruined as well. So it is with all of humanity in that we also, because of Adam's sin, have a flawed character or 'sinful nature.' And it is this sinful nature we have that makes us ever inclined to sin and thus makes it impossible for us to continually live in perfect obedience to God.

In Romans Chapter 5:10-21, the Apostle Paul contrasts how that through Adam we were made sinners but through Jesus Christ we can now be made righteous. In verse 19 he says, "For just as through the disobedience of the one man (Adam) the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man (Jesus Christ) the many will be made righteous."

In struggling with his own sinful nature Paul continues this thought in Romans Chapter 7 and says, 'I agree that God's law is good. But I see another law at work within the members of my body. For the very things I want to do -I do not do. And the things I do not want to do are the very things that I do.' Concluding his own sinful moral condition he laments in verse24, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
Here you can roughly translate this as " Who will save me from me ?! "
Historically Christianity has said 'We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are (inherently) sinners.' In other words, we sin and fall short of God's standard of perfection because that is what sinners and people who fall short do.

Church of Christ theology compared

For anyone familiar with the Stone/ Campbell movement, the similarities between it and Pelagian theology are rather striking. I would suggest this primarily because both believe that humanity is basically good or morally neutral, that man has within himself the moral power and ability to live and worship in obedience to God's commands and laws, and that by doing so we can in this way be saved by God's "provided means of salvation."

In other words, they directly or indirectly deny the effects of the fall or that Adam's sin adversely affected man's moral and religious abilities to keep commands and laws in order to be saved.

For, according to the Churches of Christ, if the believer will just obey the "five steps of salvation" (hear, believe, repent, confess, and be "water" baptized), live and worship in accordance to the pattern given to us in the New Testament, we can in this way be saved.

By contrast, evangelical Christianity starts from the understanding that, because of the fall of Adam, man's heart is inclined towards evil, that humanity has an inherit inability to keep the commands and laws of God perfectly, and that humanity is completely lost and has no power or ability through "N.T. law keeping" to be declared just or holy in the sight of God.

But if evangelical Christianity believes that we cannot be saved through our own moral and religious abilities of keeping the commands and laws of God, how then do they believe we can be saved?

http://www.cofcdilemma.org/Pelagian%20Controversy.html

The Heresy of Restorationsim by Damon Whitsell

Most of the information in this article is taken from the sources footnoted.


Restorationism is the claim that the Christian Church fell away from the truths of Jesus and the NT apostles and had to be “RESTORED” to it’s NT state and practice. The whole Christian church had become apostate and non-existent, is their claim. But this allegation is pure folly and uninformed speculation. This is also in total contrast and contradiction to the idea of “REFORM” and the protestant reformation.

The bible contains these promises about itself and Jesus’s Church.
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
1Pe 1:25A But the word of the Lord endureth forever.
Isa 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.

The main influence and emphasis of the Restoration Movement of the Cambellite’s and their subsequent offsping religions of the “restorationist” that followed and was spawned from them, is seriously flawed and based on the false assumption that the true Christian Church had been wiped clean from the face of the earth (needing to be completely restored) and that Gods promises about his church and word are not true. In the face of much persecution and attempts to abolish God’s church and word from the face of the earth, there has always been at least a large remnant of true believers and mabers of the incorporeal and invisible church of God. “’Restorationism’ is based on a belief called the Great Apostasy, that traditional Christianity has departed so far from the original Christian principles that it is not redeemable.” (2)

The Restoration Movement (also known historically as the "Stone - Campbell Movement") was started by Alexander Campbell when he opened this church the “Old Philadelphia congregation of the Church of Christ, this congregation came into existence in 1804. The records are in the possession of the church in Warren County, Tennessee.“ (1) The “Church of Christ” denomination had not existed until this point.

Although we mostly know of Alexander Campbell, Barton Stone and Walter Scott to be the founders of the restoration movement, it’s principles and precepts had already been laid by others including (get references)


The key principles of the Restoration Movement and the Restorationist are,

1. Christianity should not be divided, Christ intended the creation of one church.

2. Creeds divide, but Christians should be able to find agreement by standing on the Bible itself (from which they believe all creeds are but human expansions or constrictions) instead of on the opinions of people about the Bible.

3. Ecclesiastical traditions divide, but Christians should be able to find common ground by following the practice (as best as it can be determined) of the early church.

4.Names of human origin divide, but Christians should be able to find common ground by using biblical names for the church (i.e., "Christian Church," "Church of God" or "Church of Christ" as opposed to "Methodist" or "Lutheran", etc.). It is in this vein that conservative members of the Churches of Christ object to the phrase "Stone-Campbell Movement." (1)


The Heretical Restoration Movement is comprised of the Campbellites; Disciples of Christ, Church of Christ., Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, and the Disciples of Christ.(2) And is also comprised defecting from mainline Christianity. The Religious Affiliation of Alexander Campbell by adhernats.com (3)


The Heretical Churches of Restorationism are, Christadelphians, Latter Day Saint movement, Adventism, Millerites, Sabbatarianism, Seventh-day Adventists, Charismatic Restorationism, and more. (2)


The false doctrines of restorationism where perpetuated by these silly mottos! Great Slogans of the Restoration Movement by John Wadely.


Each of these false traditions give a different reason for believing the GREAT APOSTACY had taken place and necessitated a total “restoration”.


Restorationist dates for the Great Apostasy (2)

Restorationism is often criticized for rejecting the traditions followed by the early church, but different restoration groups have treated tradition differently. While some view all the Church Fathers as unreliable witnesses to the original Apostolic Church, others find in the earliest Church Fathers proof that the early church believed and practiced as some restorationists do, and the late Church Fathers differences as evidences of a gradual or sudden falling away. Common to all restorationism is the belief that the Church Fathers or post-apostolic church leadership had no authorization to change the church's beliefs and practices, but did so nevertheless.


The Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the apostasy started after the death of the last apostle, John. They believe that the Holy Spirit held the apostasy back in full force but after John died the spirit let the apostasy grow. They believe that it came in full after the First Council of Nicaea. Still, they believe that throughout all that time there were true Christians alive until the beginning of the restoration.


The Latter-day Saints also assign a very early date for the apostasy, beginning shortly after the deaths of the original Twelve Apostles at approximately 100 AD, and certainly being in a full state of apostasy by the 4th century. With this early date, they claim the least need to reconcile known writings and practices of the early church and Church Fathers. Although their writings are sometimes cited to show reminiscences of earlier true practices, they are also used to demonstrate that doctrine and understanding had been already altered.


The Sabbatarians have generally agreed on the approximate date of 135 AD as the start of the apostasy. Justin Martyr in about 160 AD had specifically defended the first day assembly, and so is considered an apostate to Sabbatarians. Nevertheless, the early church history recorded the continued keeping of the Saturday Sabbath for creation and Sunday Sabbath for the Resurrection in Hippolytus's time. They view the apostasy as not complete until the church stopped keeping the Sabbath sometime after Constantine.


The Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement views the Great Apostasy as a gradual process. Ignatius promoted obedience to the bishop in about 100 AD,[23] which is viewed by some as signaling the introduction of the idea of a professional clergy, who began to elevate themselves over the people, leading by a gradual process of corruption to the prophesied "man of lawlessness". Infant baptism, which restorationists condemned as coercive church membership, is similarly viewed. They believe that only adult baptism was practiced at least to the time of Tertullian, but that infant baptism was introduced locally around the time of Irenaeus. They often reject notions of original sin which entail a corruption of human nature, and admit only a defilement of mankind's habitual environment, traditions or culture. As do other Restorationists, they saw the church-state alliance under Constantine (see also Constantine I and Christianity and Christendom) as a kind of captivity of the church through the centralized power of the bishops. Finally, the development of the idea of the supremacy and universal authority of the Bishop of Rome is considered the completion of the Great Apostasy from which the Protestant Reformation only partially recovered, but most nearly did so among the Anabaptists and the Baptists


If you will investigate for yourself you will see that each of these scenarios is NOT TRUE and purely false. The Restoration movement and all of it’s associated religions or churches are cults based on false doctrine.


In his 1955 book The Rise of the Cults: An Introductory Guide to the Non-Christian Cults, Martin gave the following definition of a cult: "By cultism we mean the adherence to doctrines which are pointedly contradictory to orthodox Christianity and which yet claim the distinction of either tracing their origin to orthodox sources or of being in essential harmony with those sources. Cultism, in short, is any major deviation from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith."


These “cardinal doctrines” are generally agreed to be,

1. the Trinity 2. the full deity and humanity of Christ 3. the spiritual lostness of the human race 4. the substitutionary atonement and bodily resurrection of Christ 5. salvation by faith alone in Christ alone 6. the physical return of Christ 7. the authority and inerrancy of Scripture.


Certainly all the churches, groups or movements listed in this article meet the criteria to be called cults and in NO WAY could be considered Christian.


All this information and more is covered in the awesome video series Salvation through water? Church of Christ 14-14 from Dr. Robert Moory available for viewing on the How2BecomeAChristian.info web site on the “Church of Christ video page”


Sincerely, IJN, IHSDamon Whitsell H2bac.info

____________________________________________________
(1) http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Restoration-Movement
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorationism
(3) http://www.adherents.com/people/pc/Alexander_Campbell.html



This work is licensed (FOR YOUR FREE USE) under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon by evangelicaloutreach.org

A. Contradicts Doctrine and Covenants.
1. "Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord," Jacob 2:24. In contrast to this, we read in Doc. & Cov. 132:1 that David and Solomon were justified because of polygamy! Which reference is wrong?

B. Refutes Mormon Doctrine.
1. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost are ONE God, not three (Alma 11:44b; Mormon 7:7; 2 Nephi 31:21b and the last sentence in Testimony of Three Witnesses).
2. God is unchanging, not changing (Moroni 7:22; 8:18; Mormon 9:9,19; 3 Nephi 24:6).
3. God is NOT flesh and bones, but instead a spirit (Alma 31:15; 22:9-11; 18:24-28). Remember, Jesus said a spirit does NOT have flesh and bones (Lk. 24:39).

C. Condemns Joseph Smith for polygamy.
1. See Jacob 1:15; 2:23,24,27,31; 3:5; Mosiah 11:2-4; Ether 10:5,7.

D. Contains a false prophecy.
1. "And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded..." (2 Nephi 3:14).
COMMENT: Smith's enemies were not confounded but successful when they desired to destroy him on June 27, 1844 in Carthage, Illinois!

E. Refuted by Anthropology.
1. The Smithsonian Institution's Dept. Of Anthropology declares the Americas did NOT have steel or horses BEFORE 1492! The Book of Mormon (600 B.C. to 421 A.D.) claims each.
a. Steel (1 Nephi 4:9).
b. Horses (Alma 18:9).

2. Gordon H. Fraser, anthropologist and ethnologist, agrees with the Smithsonian Institution and adds that copper (Mosiah 8:10) was unknown at that early date as referred to in the B.O.M.!

F. Allegedly contains the fullness of the everlasting Gospel (Doc. & Cov. 27:5), but doesn't mention the following:
1. God the Mother, men can become gods, God is an exalted man, marriage for eternity, baptism for the dead, etc. COMMENT: According to Doc. & Cov. 128:17, baptism for the dead is the "most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel." However, it's not even mentioned!

G. Wrongly labeled the "most correct book" (History of the Church, Vol. 4, p. 461).
1. Had 3,913 changes from the original 1830 edition!
a. The 1830 edition calls Smith the "author and proprietor."

H. Claims itself to be UNtrustworthy.
1. May have errored (1 Nephi 19:6), wrote from memory (Ether 5:1), wrote to the best of THEIR knowledge (Jacob 7:26; Mormon 9:32), wrote as a result of HUMAN command (Mormon 8:1; Jacob 1:2), wrote what they considered precious (Jacob 1:2) and implies imperfection in their record (Mormon 9:32,33). COMMENT: Unlike the B.O.M., the Bible claims itself to be the inspired Word of God. See 2 Tim. 3:16,17; 2 Pet. 1:21.

I. Three witnesses for the Book of Mormon.
1. Martin Harris
a. Claimed he visited the moon (The Story of the Mormons, New York, 1902, p. 35).
b. Called "wicked" (Doc. & Cov. 3:12,13 and 10:6,7).

2. Oliver Cowdery
a. Was a thief (Letter quoted in Senate Document 189, Feb. 15, 1841, pp. 6-9).
b. Attempted counterfeiter (A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri From 1836 to 1839, p. 146).

3. David Whitmer
a. Said in the Spring of 1838 the heads of the church and many of the members had gone deep into ERROR and BLINDNESS (An Address to all Believers in Christ, by David Whitmer, 1887, pp. 27,28).
b. Was likened unto a "dumb ass" by Joseph Smith (History of the Church, Vol. 3, p. 228).

4. All three apostatized (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, pp. 114,115).
Friend, to become a Christian, go directly to God in sincere prayer asking for mercy because of your sins (Lk. 18:13). Know that Christ bought our salvation with His own blood (Isa. 53:6; Col. 1:14; Eph. 2:13). Place all 100% of your TRUST in Jesus for your salvation (Acts 16:30,31; Jn. 6:47; etc.) as you submit to Him (Lk. 9:23-26). Baptism, good works and church membership play no role in our salvation (Eph. 2:8,9; Titus 3:5; Rom. 11:6). "We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first" (Heb. 3:14). Study your Bible and only the Bible to learn about salvation.

Please pass this article on to a Mormon friend.
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/mormons2.htm

WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Answer: He is the Third Person of the Trinity (Matt. 28:19, II Cor. 13:14)

Personality and deity of the Holy Spirit proven!!!

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT -three divine persons by richesinchrist.com

Personality and deity of the Holy Spirit proven! by bible.ca

WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?. by bible-truth.org

Why did Jesus not say the Holy Spirit would know or not know? by Tony Capoccia

the Holy Spirit a Distinct Person Apart from the Father and the Son!!!!!!!! by light

Trinity Doctrine: "One God revealed through three distinct Persons" by apologetics for Christian

Brought to you by How2BecomeAChristian.info

Practicing kabbalah is a religion by Damon Whitsell

A kabbalahist named ALLA SAID: dearreal, I have no idea what a kabbalahist is? But, you can ask k231 how false I am in that. I am gifted in kabbalah. There is no ‘is’ because it is not a religion.

Kabala is very much a religion because it deals with religious matters! Being the creation, God or theology, man and his relation to God and the creation and the destiny of a mans soul (matters of the spirit). Kabala is not just a philosophical system as Buddhism is, with no god (panatheism). The occultic objective of kabala is to enlighten men to their so called ‘rightful place among the universal/collective soul’ AKA godhood. Kabala is pantheism, the belief that all things are god. It is often expressed this way,, ‘God is all, all is God’ And enlightenment (illumination as ALLA says) to this is called ’self realization’, among many other terms. Another way to refer to pantheism is monism, the belief that all things are one.

Kabala, like all other traditions of pantheism are totally contradictory to Christianity. CS Lewis and other theologians have said,,,, there is only two religions in the world.. Pantheism,, which seeks to absorb all other religions into its self,,, and is diametrically and emphatically opposed to Christianity. Then there is Christianity, which says that all men are sinners in need of a Savior,,, and Jesus is the only avenue (way) and option (name by which ALL men must be saved) for mans salvation from his fallen and depraved state,,,,, which has him alienated from God’s presence. (This is my paraphrase, I could not find the quote). Kabala is pantheism and pantheism is the antithesis of Christian theism,, they are totally incompatible.

The main reason people are attracted to pantheism is the idea of exaltation to godhood or ‘CHRIST’ status! But there is also another big reason why people are attracted to pantheism. While I could not find the CS Lewis quote I was looking for,,, I found one that gives insight into why people are so willing to believe in pantheism. Mr. Lewis says,, “The Pantheist’s God does nothing, demands nothing. He is there if you wish for Him, like a book on a shelf. He will not pursue you.”55.C.S. Lewis, Miracles p.93

H2bac.info site update 8-8-08

Here are some new or improved pages links and URL’s from H2bac.info

COC Video page "Church of Christ" Trinity TRINITY 2 Outcome Based Religion
VIDEO FREE MUSIC Historical Heresies

http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/cocvideopage.htm
http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/churchofchrist.htm
http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/trinity.htm
http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/trinity2.htm
http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/outcomebasedreligion.htm
http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/video.htm
http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/freemusic.htm
http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/historicalheresies.htm

LDS: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Internet by CARM

LDS, of course, is short for the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. The LDS church is making a concerted effort to dominate the Internet search engines. As the LDS Church knows, there is a line of anti-Mormon material out there. So, Mormon missionaries, Mormon colleges, Mormon blogs, etc. are being urged to write as much as they can on the Internet so that terms such as LDS, Mormon, Mormonism, Joseph Smith, etc. when searched on, will list websites favorable to Mormonism.

In other words, they're trying to flood the Internet with pro-Mormon information. Of course, the problem with this is that the truth will not be told.

The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, the LDS Church, is not Christian. It uses Christian words and Christian ideas, but it changes the meaning of the words and alters those ideas. So, instead of God being the eternal God, and Mormonism God is an exalted man from another planet.

Instead of Jesus being the creator of the universe (Col. 1:15-17), Jesus is the product of sexual relations between God and his goddess wife. Of course, when the LDS Church represents itself, it does not represent these "deeper" truths. Instead, he tries to appear evangelical all the while hiding beneath the surface these unbiblical, and false teachings.

So, Christians need to do the same thing. Christians need to flood the Internet with anti-Mormon material. We need to make sure that when the terms LDS, Mormon, Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, are put into search engines that a fair representation of information is presented -- not just the pro-Mormon propaganda produced by the LDS Church.

On the other hand, this is a good thing because it means the Internet is doing damage to the Mormon church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not want a full disclosure of its history, its altered Scriptures, its false prophecies, the dubious character of Joseph Smith, or the wacko quotes and teachings from so many of its prophets to be exposed on the Internet. So, the LDS Church is now trying to dominate the Internet with pro-Mormon material.

But don't be misled. When the Mormon missionaries come to your door and tell you that they are the restored church, don't believe them. All the non-Christian cults say that the truth was lost and that their profit, profit is, or person organization is the restoration of true biblical Christianity. But, the truth is they are not restoring anything. They are furthering the lies of the enemy and teaching a false gospel.

http://www.carm.org/lds/lds.htm

Mormon Dilemmas by Damon Whitsell

Joe Smith said : “As man is God was,,, as God is man may become”

I see at least 3 logical dilemmas in this statement. Do you agree?

Logical Dilemma 1: As man is God was

If God was once a man,,, where did man come from? There is no way around the fact that this statement implies that man originated apart from a creator. From my understanding there are only three possibilities for the origin of man.

1. Man was created by God and each kind makes after it‘s own kind. Animals do not evolve from one species to another. This is the biblical model of creation.

2. God created the cosmos and the basic materials for life and set evolution into motion. This is theistic evolution.

3. There was nothing and it went bang and eventually evolved into everything. Over billions of years simple life (if ya can call it that) arose and evolved into what we now call mankind without the influence of a God. This is what most people call evolution. Most do not even realize that this implies that one day (probably through a quantum leap, as evolutionist have proposed) that mankind will evolve spiritually into gods.

4. It is not really a logical possibility but some people believe that life on our planet was planted or seeded by alien beings. This idea is called the starseed theory or panspermia. Most who hold this belief do not ask themselves where did the aliens come from? This idea does not circumvent the necessity of a creator and/or evolution with or without a God.

The logical absurdity of, As man is God was, is that it naturally requires pure evolution. It would require that nothing became everything all by itself and eventually became a God (all by itself).

Logical Dilemma 2: as God is man may become

If man became a God before there was a God,,, why do we need a God or the Mormon teaching about becoming Gods to actually become a God. Doesn’t that imply that eventually all men should have or will become Gods? Or is the Mormon position that only one man evolved into a God and then said no other man could become a God unless he followed his rules and then he started the Mormon church and laid out all the does’ and don’ts about how to become a God?

Logical Dilemma 3: The book of Mormon

The book of Mormon is in agreement with the Holy Bible that there is only one God (and there where none before and there will be none after him), he is a spirit and he does not change. The bible even says that God is not a man (Num23:19).

Can’t you see the logical dilemma of Mormonism by initially saying that there is only one God and that he is unchangeable,,,,, and then going on to say that God was once a man?

Logical Dilemma 4: The book of Mormon

“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” (History of the Church, Vol. 4, page 461)

If the Book of Mormon is the “most correct book on earth”,,Why has it been changed so many times? Please tell me how many times has the Book of Mormon been revised since Joseph Smith translated it from the golden plates?

Mormon Dilemmas by Damon Whitsell is licensed(for your free use) under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.Based on a work at http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/mormonism.htm.Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Spectrumofrights_Comic1.

The “Church of Christ” is not the “one true church”! It is a Cult. By Damon Whitsell

A “Church of Christ” Member “asked” or rather stated: Does the Church have a name....what is it? I would be a shamed to say I was of any other Church, then the COC. Why? If you are in Christ, you have eternal life. Good Night!! Christ said, he was going to build his Church, did he..........Is it His Church? What name is it? On the day of Pentecost when Peter got up with the twelve, and the same day there were added unto them three thousand souls.....who's Church were these people added to.

Where in the bible does it name the church as the “Church of Christ”. It doesn’t. Rom 16:16 says “Churches (plural) of Christ” being demonstrative of the differing congregations through out the biblical area. And Paul mentioned this also.

1Co 1:12-13ow this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

Paul said there was unity among those “churches (plural) of Christ” in that they are not of Paul, Apollo, or Cephas. No they where “IN” Jesus. Paul the notes that his Christ given mission is not to baptize but to preach the gospel least the cross be made un effective.

1Co 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

The bible says we are saved by grace so that no man may boast, even as David and Abraham and all of his seed by faith have nothing to boast about. In contrast we are told to glory in the Lord and glory being “In the Lord”. It does not say to glory about being in any denomination or sect of Paul, Apollos or Cephas. No, The bible says to glory “in the Lord” or Glory about “being in the Lord” not anyone’s else’s faction.

1Co 1:27-31 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Although the Christian church is not called “the Church of Christ”, it is called the “Church of God” 8 times.

1Co 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

1Co 10:32 Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:

1Co 11:22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

1Co 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

2Co 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:

Gal 1:13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

1Ti 3:5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

This denominating (naming as different from others) of the church as the “Church of God” (as opposed to church of Baal) here in the bible is abused by another authoritarian/sectarian alledged one true church. The Churches of God denomination. Denominating is just naming. like a 5$ bill is "denominated" as as a five and not a one,.ECT. When one claims to be the one true sect they become sectarian. When one claims a name distinguishing oneself from another group, they have become a denomination. YES the COC is a denomination.

The “one true church” is not any sect/denomination or faction. No the “one true church” is those “found IN Jesus” through his death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. So does the bible call the church “The Church of Christ”. NO IT DOES NOT! I defy you to prove it.

Some questions that need answering by the COC members: When and How did Jesus become a member of the Church of Christ? When and How did the Apostles become members of the Church of Christ? Do you recognize people who call themselves the “CHURCH OF GOD” as a part of the church? Does wearing a Scriptural NAME alone mean that BODY is a Scriptural Body?

Upon what grounds do you refuse to recognize the “Holiness” people who call themselves by the name CHURCH OF GOD? Where the members of "Church of God at Corinth" LOST because Paul failed to call them CHURCH OF CHRIST? Is it possible for anyone to be a Believer who is a member of a church that is not called the “CHURCH OF CHRIST“? Where there any Churches in the New Testament -not called by the name- CHURCH OF CHRIST? Where their members saved or lost? Is the term “THE CHURCH OF CHRIST” found as a TITLE to any one CHURCH in the Bible anywhere? Where was your CHURCH OF CHRIST when Alexander Campbell was being baptized by a Baptist preacher?

Does it matter if you call your church the Church of God, Church of Christ, Church of Jesus Christ, Church of Jesus Christ later day saints,, etc.

It is safe to say that the “COC” is not the “One True Church” as their sectarian/authoritarian rhetoric proclaims! Paul also addresses this issue in I Corinthians 12:12-31.

1Co 12:12-31 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body neither, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way.

NO “The Church of Christ” is an pseudo/Christian cult that has many unorthodox/aberrant and heretical doctrines! If you doubt that the “COC” is a cult, look into it’s teachings and spend some time interacting with some of it’s members. The attitude of the individuals and the denominational organization itself speaks volumes. They laughably imply perfect understanding of the word of God with their motto, “We speak where the bible speaks, and we are silent where the bible is silent.“ Their claim to NOT be a denomination, but “the one true Christian church’ is absurd and ridiculous. The “Church of Christ” is a cult!!!

Universalist Paradox/Dilemma by Damon Whitsell

This was written in response to many post (which where basically just links to universalist site material) made in a MSN group by a Universalist named Rodger (associated with tentmakers.org).

If you will listen to what Universalist Rodger says, he says,, “Even though I was and am trusting for my salvation in what Jesus accomplished by His death and resurrection, through the power in the blood of His cross, I was, and still am unable to love a god who would let anyone suffer forever."

I could not find the quote but he also says that anyone who does not believe “as he does for pardon of sins” is of the hook anyway. So how can he trust in Jesus for his sins and dedicate his life, as he has, to telling others not to do the same because it matters not? He does not realize that when a person steps into the realm of biblical teaching he should so with great discernment because of the higher level of accountability and yes judgment for all teachers of religious or God’s truth.

And His dilemma is the bible itself. It speaks for itself and not many sit down for the first time to read it and walk away with the conclusion of universalism because the whole point of the bible is anti/ universal. Jesus is the only name by which we MUST be saved. He is the only savior and he settled the wrath of God by his propitiating atonement redemptive death on the cross.

Rodger wants everyone to believe that God sent his Son to die and incur our wrath and appease the righteous judgment of God through his death, but that anyone and everyone will be saved anyway.

Why does Rodger set his own criteria for the worthiness of God for our love? IE, "I cannot love a God that",,,, As finite created beings, are we worthy to say if our creator is worthy of love or not regardless of how he acts and what he chooses to do, and his criteria for us to be reconciled to him.

Mr. Universalist/Mr. Rodger. Why did Jesus die? Why did he have to die???????????

Universalist Paradox/Dilemma by Damon Whitsell by Damon Whitsell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/index.htm. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Spectrumofrights_Comic1.

**ALERT** Saddleback "Apologist" Shuts Down Purpose Driven Critic

This past week, Lighthouse Trails learned that a Saddleback apologist contacted IPOWER, the web hosting company for Apprising Ministries (a Purpose Driven critic), threatening IPOWER with legal action. This resulted in IPOWER notifying Apprising Ministries that they would shut down the website if a request to remove certain material was not complied with in 48 hours (by Saturday night). IPOWER has a policy statement on their website, which states they will take "corrective action" against websites that post "controversial" material.

As a private company, IPOWER has the right to refuse service to anyone whom they wish; however, given the controversial nature of many websites and blogs and with a customer base of over 700,000 sites, IPOWER will need to shut down thousands of websites, if they treat all of them in the same manner as Apprising Ministries.

There is growing concern among many Christian believers that the time is soon coming, largely because of hate crime legislation, when websites and ministries that challenge and critique popular and non-biblical religious movements (e.g. Purpose Driven, the emerging church, the New Age movement) will be shut down. A prime example, which has warranted growing concern, is that of MacGregor Ministries in Canada, who was recently informed by the Canadian government that they were being stripped of their non-profit status because they violated Canadian regulations that state non-profits cannot say other religions are wrong (constituting this to be hateful behavior).

Because the long-term implications of IPOWER's actions could set a precedent with other hosting companies (a precedent that could ultimately affect many voices who stand for the truth and the Gospel), Lighthouse Trails considers this current action to be of a very serious nature. Lighthouse Trails wrote a letter on July 25th to IPOWER, expressing our concerns. (Click here to read.)

Update: On July 26th, Apprising Ministries website was shut down.

ARTICLE LINK HERE

______________________________________________________

Hello ya’ll,

I don’t want to be an alarmist or anything but you all know that new “hate speech” laws have recently went into effect in America and around the rest of the western world. We often here of Pastors being censored in America and Canada. It has been about a month since I listened to the Jay Sekulo (ACLJ) show but he was harping about new laws that may be used to shut him and similar radio ministries down. I assumed it would be while before this affected the WWW.

But because of new pressures to web hosting companies, an apologist for the Saddleback Church was able to levy this new law to silence and censor one it’s critiques. Saddleback is Rick Warrens Church. Ya’ll all know him as the author of the “Purpose Driven” series of Christian book. If you have not done any study about the purpose driven material, you may be surprised to find out it is not very Christian and that it’s doctrines are more NEW AGE than anything. This mussling of their critics proves the Spirit of the individual and the movement itself. You may also know that the “purpose driven” material is classified as part of the “OUTCOME BASED RELIGION” or the “EMERGING OR EMERGENT CHURCH MOVEMENT“.

The shutting down of this Christian apologetic site could just be an isolated incident or it could start a trend. The way in which this happened is very unchristian like. Read the following article to show the motives. Poof! Apprising Ministries Online is Now Dark

I spent about 6 hrs making a page for outcome based religion and gathering related articles, video and book links. I will be working a couple of more hours on it as I found many more articles that I need to sift through and put on the page. I will be putting a “send this page to a friend” hot link for you to forward to anyone, if you wish. There is more info here than you need so I will be put them in order from most important to least soon. You can visit the page @ http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/outcomebasedreligion.htm

If you don’t know about “outcome based religion”, please study some of these materials and tell others about the false doctrine and politically correctness aspect of this worldly ecumenical movement.

Sincerely, IJN, IHS
Damon Whitsell
How2BecomeAChristian.info

Suicide and salvation. By Damon Whitsell

These questions where asked in a forum I visit. WHAT ABOUT SUICIDE? Can it be forgiven? Is it not written that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, is the only unpardonable sin? The questionnaire has yet to answer the questions himself, but his questions prompted this response and I would like to share it so that other may share it freely if they so wish. The questionaire advocates salvation by works.
______________________________

It always saddens me to see those that advocate “self salvation” to bring up suicide. It is always served with a generous portion of apathy and contempt for those who do commit suicide, and even those who are depressed to the point of considering it. There will always be someone that defines suicide as murder and try to state that murderers cannot be forgiven and end up in God’s heaven. The reasoning goes if you can save yourself you can likewise condemn your self. But the bible says that "all" are condemned already. From that we must be rescued.

But what does the bible say about murderers? It says they shall not have a place in God’s heaven. But when the Spirit of the new law of Christ says that we are ALL murders if we get angry at our brothers for no reason, it kind of levels the playing field huh? Like it or not we are all murderers! Have you not heard that if you break one of Gods laws you have broken them all?


Do you think King David will be forgiven his adultery and murder? How can a murderer be a “man after gods own heart”? I submit to you YES and that it is because David realized that “in him” was no good thing and long before he had anyone physically murdered, he had said in his heart “RACCA” ( not deserving of forgiveness) in anger against his brothers and had already committed murder. Just like Abraham, David was justified in Gods site by faith and blessed is the man to whom God will not impute sin.

The “self salvation” folks show their spiritual maturity to be null and void when they take the line of reasoning that people who commit suicide cannot be saved. The see no value at all in the prefacing suffering. They would even ridicule ‘Christian suffering” and sport a bumper sticker that says “to blessed to be depressed”. They would look upon those that are not like wise “to blessed to be depressed” as beneath them and possibly not even real Christians. But the question is “what does the bible say about depression?”.

Some folks need to do a word study on suffer & suffering! Christ said we must share in his sufferings. Jesus is called the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 42:1-4. Isa 53:3 says of Jesus "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." Jesus said we like him shall suffer for his names sake. Paul shared in Christ sufferings. He often said he wished to be absent from the body and to die was gain and preferred. He only wished to hang around for the sake of those whom he had been given charge over (us gentiles and the churches he had planted).

Christ suffered and said my God my God why has though forsaken me? Remove this cup from me if possible. What was that cup? It was the cup of suffering! It is safe to say that in Jesus humanity he was depressed and not jumping for joy. But he went to that cross anyway because of the joy that would come from it afterwards. It was what he was sent to do!!! Do you partake of the cross and the cup of suffering?

Elijah spent three days under the juniper tree thinking about killing himself. Only a divinely sent visit from an angel with a good meal (from heaven) got him physically strong enough to get out from under that Juniper tree and want to live again. He did finally go and face the threat of murder but lets not forget that without divine intervention Elijah would have been finished under that juniper tree. And lets not forget Job who is counted among the numerous bible figures to say “it would have been better for me to not have been born !!!”

Imagine this !!!. You cannot grow if you only have one “mountain top” experience after another. You only grow in dependence on God and spiritual maturity in the valleys of despair and helplessness. We are clay and He is the potter. How quickly we forget that if clay had feelings, it would hurt the clay to be molded and formed into something. How quickly we become unsympathetic towards the clay.

Suffering will make us or break us. Wounds are ways to reveal us! The real us!!! Suffering, and the way we respond to it, will show us where we are at in our walk with God. Can a wild horse be tamed unless it is first broken? Can a servant of God make a good servant unless he is first broken and made into something else?

I realize that some do not have the temperament disposition to get depressed often. But even those less prone to depression will have valley experiences too. Life is not all fun and games ya know. Life is painful. More so to some than others. To live is Christ to die is gain. I'm so tired and so weary but I must go on. Till the Lord come and takes, takes me away. There will be no sadness , no sorrow, no trouble I see. There will be peace in the valley for me ! someday !!!

I believe that some that commit suicide are deranged and delusional and are not really aware of what they are doing. But I believe that most that commit suicide are just tired of living and hopeless. Kind of like when an 80 yr old man loses his companion and he just turns his will to live off and dies shortly afterwards. Is that suicide also???

But I hate to be the one to tell some of you, but suicide can be the biggest act of faith ever. I don’t buy into the idea that a Christian will commit suicide just because he is sick of living this life. If a Christian commits suicide, yes he is tired of living this life but he does not expect to just end it and life is over, he expects to fall into the loving arms of his savior and to be face to face immediately.

It is never Gods will for anyone to commit suicide. Yes Jesus told Judas to go do what he had to do but it was Judas’s will to die. Jesus did not hang him there. I don’t think Judas was in his right mind. After all he betrayed the one that loved him. That would be called “grieved to death” if you ask me.

It is really disparaging to interact with people who would have shunned Jesus in his moments of trail in the Garden of Gethsemane. People like to play with words and try to say killing is murder. Consider this, Jesus knew he was to be taken and crucified, he said so before Judas betrayed him. Since Jesus knew he was to be crucified, did he commit suicide or self murder because he did not flee but went willingly to the cross?

Can you really know how God feels unless you too have been scorned and utterly rejected by the ones you love? Ask Hosea!! Would it destroy your faith to know that God too gets depressed and is very empathetic to those who are depressed and broken ?

Blessed are the meek and the broken hearted. For theirs is the kingdom of God!!!

This article is created and copyrighted by Damon Whitsell 2008. All free duplicating is allowed provided this Commons copyright licensing requirments is kept intact and attached.



Suicide and Salvation by Damon Whitsell is licensed (FOUR YOUR FREE USE) under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.Based on a work at how2becomeachristian.info.


This comment was a response to the posting of this article in a MSN discussion forum. It is added to encourage you to share this article with anyone whom you may know that is struggling with the suicide of a loved one. To forward this to someone, click on the BLOG article title link to go to the article webpage and click the “SHARE” button at the bottom right of the page.

Dear Damon, In the last 6 weeks I have heard of 3 suicides in our area....... I cannot tell you how this has blessed me. One of these persons have greatly broken up a co-worker since he is the Uncle of the one who killed himself. I was beside myself. This has really been helpful to me. I have wept and wept and wept over these lives. Two I believed with all my heart, were truly born again. One would travel extensively to third world countries and contracted some sort of mind disease. (I forget the name of it.) I had a cousin years ago (not in the last 6 weeks) but several years ago (5 to be exact) that actually gave all he had to the Lord. I often wondered about him. I pray that God deeply touches your heart as much as this post has touched mine. It brought me peace. Thank you so much. Anonymous ( The writer has not given me permission to divulge their name)

34,000 differing denominations or Unity Within Diversity UNITY IN ESSENTIALS by Damon Whitsell

This question was asked of me, "there are 34,000+ different Christian denominations today. Who is to say which churches constitute the congregations of 'true Christians'?" My responce follows.
____________________________________________________________________
I seen someone else make a similar statement about two weeks ago and have not had time to comment but would like to do so. The post I am commenting on used 19,000+ as the number of Christian denoms.


I would like to postulate a question that I believe statements like this beg to ask! I believe this is what people mean when they make such comments,,, "With between 19 and 34 thousand different Christian denominations,,,is it not ludicrous to think there is anything but confusion among christians as to what christianity is? Why should I consider joining such a confused bunch? Is there really any logical reason to consider Jesus Christ?"


It is my belief that people who make such claims, as there being 19 - 34 thousand denominations of Christianity, in a sense that there are that many different versions are really saying "you guys are fools and can't even figure out ya'lls own religion". Some may actually believe that there are many different versions of Christianity but I believe that most prop up such bogus ideas in there head to justify their denial of Jesus Christ.


FALSE TEACHERS, PROPHETS, GOSPELS AND A DIFFERENT JESUS


Every New Testament book except Philemon contains warnings against false teachings, false prophets and false gospels that teach a different Jesus and Spirit. Paul said there where false teachers among the Corinthians and Jesus said beware for many come false teachers have come to lead you astray. We are told that there are men who secretly introduce destructive heresies and that Satan and his ministers masquerade as servants of righteousness. We are even told that there are doctrines of demons.


To the church at Galatia Paul said "you are being thrown into confusion by people trying to pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ, I am astonished that you so quickly turn from the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel". We are told to not accept any other gospels than the one preached by the apostles, even if they come from angels or the apostles themselves.


Satan is rightfully decrypted as adversary. Christianity is not dualistic ( there is not a bad god and a good god battling it out) and because God is sovereign ,Satan cannot be rightfully viewed as an adversary to God. He is just a created fallen angel. Satan opposes Gods plan of redemption. He does this by perverting the simple gospel of Grace and certain truths about the nature of God, Man, Angels and salvation.


ORTHODOXY VERSES HETERODOXY


The new testament and church history shows that Christianity has always made a valiant effort to keep the gospel from being perverted in the midst of constant attempts to redefine the essence of Christianity from both terrestrial and celestial sources. The book of Galatians notes that some where trying to lure the Christians in Galatia back into the legalistic systems of Judaism and the epistles of john tell us that Gnostic teachings where already on the rise.


Detractors always like to claim that Christianity was not a codified belief system until the creed producing church councils,, which they wrongfully say was the beginning of what we call the Church. Dan Brown claims that it was at these councils that Christianity was invented. But anyone who knows church history will tell you that these councils where required because false teachings came to attention and had to be dealt with. The church councils where not held to establish real or essential Christian doctrine but to refute false heretical teachings that had risen up in the church. Establishing essential doctrine was a by product of some of these councils and as Gnostic writings continued to appear on the scene these councils also established what is the (cannon) measure of or for inspired scripture. Christians have always struggled to keep out the heterodox beliefs and to the keeping in of the orthodox.


SOLA SCRIPTURA


History shows that Christianity was institutionalized as the state religion of the roman empire by Constantine. The Christians had been persecuted, even to death, for their beliefs about Jesus for many years and the reprieve was welcomed but wrought it's own problems. The major problem was that religious belief cannot be mandated by a state since religious belief is soulish in nature and law cannot dictate personal belief. You can make a pagan say he believes in Jesus but you can't make him actually believe in Jesus through force. In the generations after Constantine people where said to be Christian by virtue of the place of their birth (i.e. in Rome) not by virtue of their beliefs. All roman citizens where decreed to be Christians because of their birthplace but that did not make all Romans non pagans or actual Christians. Christianity was temporarily redefined by some.


I am not at home so I don't have the specifics handy, but at one point a Pope made a decree that church tradition would be given as much emphasis as scripture regarding Christian beliefs. By elevating church tradition to the level of scripture as the authority for defining and living the Christian faith, the catholic church perverted the gospel as it had never been perverted before. The deification and worship of Mary, salvation by penance and works and many other heretical beliefs arose which required the protesting of the protestant movement. Once perverted the catholic church remained apostate and Christians required a separation and reformation. It was a return to the essential doctrines of Jesus and the apostles themselves.


UNITY WITHIN DIVERSITY


A few months ago I was engaged in debates at factnet ( a cult watch ministry ) with followers of Arnold Murray and the Shepard’s Chapel. They can be called a Christian cult because they do not hold to essential doctrine. They cannot be called a denomination or a true church. They have nothing in common with others that call themselves Christian except for the name Christian. They hold an unorthodox view concerning the nature of God, man, sin and salvation. From non essentials such as the heresy of pre-existence to the heresy of anglo-isrealism, to the essentials of God, man and salvation by grace not works or genetics, they are unorthodox to the core. They are not unified within diversity as real Christians are. They are isolated and don't have unity with those who hold to essential doctrines. Let me explain what I mean by unity with in diversity.


My phone book list about 20 different local Christian churches. Among them are denominations and non denoms and Christian cults. I can go to most of those churches and have much unity in beliefs with them, especially concerning Jesus. In essentials unity, in non essentials liberty and in all things love. Some I could not attend at all because they are diametrically opposed to essential orthodox Christian beliefs, but we must remember that they are cults by virtue of their unorthodox teachings.


Christians churches and denominations enjoy a shared unity within diversity about beliefs concerning God, man, sin and salvation amongst all non cult denominations and non denominational churches. But a follower of Arnold Murray and the Shepard’s chapel cannot enjoy that same unity with other local churches. To fellowship they have to travel to Arkansas or do their fellowshipping online with other Shepard chapelers. They are isolated, exclusive and authoritarianistic because of their beliefs.


There are beliefs that are essential to orthodox Christianity. There are beliefs that are important but not essential. And there are beliefs that have no relevance at all concerning orthodoxy such as eschatology. Because most of these churches hold to essential doctrines they could be called essentially Christian but some would have to be called Christian cults because they are not Christian by virtue of the essence of their beliefs about Jesus Christ yet still apply the term Christian to themselves.


THE VISABLE AND INVISABLE CHURCH


Who is to say which churches constitute the congregations of 'true Christians'?


I think it is fair and right to say that there are two real churches of Jesus Christ. The visible and the invisible. The cooperate and the spiritual. We must realize that the church is personal and spiritual and it is not an institution. There is not one denomination that is totally doctrinally correct. Denominations arise out of non essential matters such as which day is the Sabbath (SDA) and should we be baptized by immersion (Baptist) or sprinkling. If a denomination arises out of a misconstrued essential doctrine, it is not a denomination but a Christian cult.


It is safe to say that no church organization has the corner on True Christianity. There are true Christians within all Christian denoms and non denoms. There are false Christians within all denoms and non denoms. But there is exactly zero false Christians in the invisible church.


CONCLUSION


My conclusion is that it is not appropriate to say there are many Christian denominations and try to link any and all proclaimed denominations with true Christianity. The bible is full of warnings about false teachings, prophets, gospels spirits and even false Jesus‘. The bible even claims that it is a fallen angels agenda to pervert the truths contained in the bible. History shows the fight to keep Christianity from being redefined. It is absurd to say I will not consider Jesus because there is no unity in his followers because there is unity within diversity among the people of Jesus.


There are many individuals and groups that call themselves Christians but you don't become a car by parking in a garage. You have to become a car to be a car by nature. A Christian is a Christian by virtue of what they believe about Jesus Christ. I have avoided defining what is essential Christian doctrine because I don't have time but I will say it is safe to say if you don't think Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Light,,,, ,your not a real Christian. It is safe to say that not all, but close to all Christian churches listed in my phone book believe he IS The Way The Truth and The Light. It is safe to say that of 19 - 34 thousand alleged Christian denominations that there is only one true church and it is called the body of Christ of which Jesus is the head. The true church is not a denomination. The true church are people that hold to essential Christian doctrine.


It should be no surprise that there is unity within diversity within true Christianity. To be otherwise would be authoritarianism.


Had to get that off my chest, thanx.
_____________________________________________________________________
I am sorry for being so wordy in this post. I have been afk and been itching to express my opinion.


For anyone not taking the time to read all of this post I would like to ask how many Christian cults are there? And what doctrines are essential to "true" Christianity

34,000 differing denominations or Unity Within Diversity UNITY IN ESSENTIALS by Damon Whitsell is licensed (for your free use) under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at how2becomeachristian.info. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at ABOUT CCL http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Spectrumofrights_Comic1.
http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/essentials.htm

CULT UNITY By Damon whitsell

The aberrant pseudo-Christian cults are united against grace and faith alone for justification/salvation.

Spend some time in a Christian debate or discussion community for awhile and you will learn a few things. First and foremost is that there are so many different ways that people believe and teach about certain biblical topics. For those who are NOT well studied and versed on what is and what is not orthodox Christianity can get confused easily. There are only two groups of Christians. Those who adhere to orthodox teachings and those that hold heterodox or aberrant heretical teachings. The difference is that between true Christianity and Pseudo-Christian cults.

While the vast and flagrant differences of the cults on various doctrines and teachings is the first and most obvious thing that a participant or a lurker in those type forums will learn, the most prominent theme and common denominator among them is their united assault against salvation by grace alone, through faith alone. While most cults claim to be the only true church and the only ecclesiastic outlet of salvation, all cults stand united in denying that salvation is by grace apart from works.

Most cults will add baptism as a work we must do to be saved. Some will add the doctrine of Christian sinless perfection saying one must become sinless to be saved. Some will add a certain Sabbath day observance, restrict the use of musical instruments in church or require certain rules for dress and entertainment. But they all pervert and unite against the truth of justification/salvation by faith alone in Jesus atoning life death and resurrection.

Other marks of a cult.

Pseudo-Christian cults Have many other doctrinal distinctives that differentiate them from mainstream Christianity. While different Cult apologetics groups have given different definitions as to what doctrines are essential and non essential to orthodox biblical Christianity, the variances are minor. All list generally contain the following.

1. The necessary affirmation of the virgin birth of Jesus.
2. The necessary affirmation of Jesus literal death burial and resurrection.

Both of these denote Jesus's divinity and the Triune nature of God.

3. The necessary affirmation of salvation/justification by grace through atonement.

All apologetics groups affirm these three as essentials. Below these “prime” essentials is a level of sub-prime essentials which would include doctrines on the nature of God, the nature of man, the nature of sin and the biblical precepts of heaven and hell and divine judgment, etc. etc.

Cult apologetics pioneer Walter Martin defined a cult as follows,, In his 1955 book The Rise of the Cults: An Introductory Guide to the Non-Christian Cults, Martin gave the following definition of a cult: "By cultism we mean the adherence to doctrines which are pointedly contradictory to orthodox Christianity and which yet claim the distinction of either tracing their origin to orthodox sources or of being in essential harmony with those sources. Cultism, in short, is any major deviation from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith."

The glue and the sticking point that holds the cults apart from the real church is legalism. Legalism is mans efforts to appease God and justify himself through any kind of self effort. By far what the cults have most in common is legalism. In many cases that may be the only thing they have in common. Yet as you will learn they will all come together to say that salvation is not a gracious gift of God but must in some way be earned.

The question is sometimes asked in these rooms why don’t we just give the room up to so and so or so and so group? Have you ever entertained the idea of what that would result in? If all the “faith aloners” pulled out what would happen?

The only mutual point that ALL Pseudo-Christian cults share is their alliance against grace and support of human effort to obtain salvation. Once the debate over Salvation by Grace or by works was removed IT WOULD GET VERY INTERESTING IN THESE ROOMS. Don’t you think?

We would get to see people argue over who is the most perfect and deserving to get to heaven, which baptism by which church saves, and of course lets not forget which church is the one and only true church.
You will never see Cults come together to argue which cult is correct and which are not, but you will find that they will rally together and to refuse salvation by grace.

So lets imagine that all the “faith aloners” left and it was just various groups that are united against grace but very much at odds with each other over other matters. What would happen and which cult would be preferred over the others if we all left or just conceded and said OK salvation is not by grace?



CULT UNITY? by Damon Whitsell is licensed (FOR YOUR FREE USE) under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at ABOUT CCL http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Spectrumofrights_Comic1.

What is Justification? Is Justification Salvation? By Damon Whitsell

1. So “what is justification?”

First we must define salvation. I believe that salvation is best defined as a rescue operation. Salvation: Strong’s G4991 sōtēria Feminine of a derivative of G4990 as (properly abstract) noun; rescue or safety (physically or morally): - deliver, health, salvation, save, saving.

Job 25:4 How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?

Job 9:20 If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.

Let us notice that Job equates being justified with God as being perfect and clean (just, holy, righteous) and proposes a rhetorical question; “how can he be clean that is born of a woman?”. This shows that he IS NOT clean and CANNOT be cleaned or cleansed by his own self effort. “Born of a woman” here indicates both our sinful (fallen) nature which produces personal sin and the imputation of Adam’s sin to us. Rom 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Mankind’s basic problem that must be solved if we are to have eternal life with God is that God is just, holy and righteous (PS 97:2, PS 119:142, Math. 5:48) and we are unjust, unholy and unrighteous. (Isa 53:6, Jere. 13:23, 17:9, Rom 3:10-18, 3:23, 1Cor. 2:13, Gal.3:22, Eph 2:1-3, James 1:5) Our sin and God’s holiness separates us from God. But scripture says that God is just and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus. (Rom 3:26)

Justify ,justifier, justified and justification come from the root word just; which in its most common use means holy, righteous or innocent. Strong’s dictionary gives the following definitions for the following NT words.

JUST G1342 dikaios From G1349; equitable (in character or act); by implication innocent, holy (absolutely or relatively): - just, meet, right (-eous).

JUSTIFY, JUSTIFIED, JUSTIFIER G1344 dikaioo From G1342; to render (that is, show or regard as) just or innocent: - free, justify (-ier), be righteous.

JUSTIFICATION G1345 dikaio From G1344; an equitable deed; by implication a statute or decision: - judgment, justification, ordinance, righteousness. G1347 dikaio From G1344; acquittal (for Christ’s sake): - justification.

We can see from these definitions that to be just is to be holy righteous and innocent; and to be justified is to be rendered (shown, regarded) and declared to be just (holy, righteous and innocent). We also can see that justification is a decision that results in acquittal. Therefore Wayne Grudem in his book [Systematic Theology; an introduction to biblical doctrine], is correct in saying that “justification is an instantaneous legal act of God in which He (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, and (2) declares us to be righteous in his sight. (pg722)” Justification is a right legal standing before God concerning our relationship to God‘s laws, stating that we are completely forgiven and no longer liable to punishment (wages of sin=spiritual death). Mr. Grudem notes, “A right understanding of justification is absolutely crucial to the whole of the Christian faith. Once Martin Luther realized the truth of justification by faith alone, he became a Christian and overflowed with the new found joy of the Gospel. The primary issue in the protestant reformation was a dispute with the Roman Catholic Church over justification. If we are to safeguard the truth of the gospel for future generations, we must understand the truth of justification. Even today, a true view of justification is the dividing line between the biblical gospel of salvation by faith alone and all false gospels of salvation based on good works (pg 723).”

Martin Luther declared, “The doctrine of justification is the article by which the church stands or falls.”

“[Justification is] the chief doctrine of Christianity and the chief point of difference separating Protestantism and Roman Catholicism.” [Jaroslav Pelikan, in “The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine.” Vol4 Pg 139]

The (free=without cost) Theology Program from Bible.org at www.thetheologyprogram.com gives the following definitions of the Roman Catholic and Protestant views of justification.

ROMAN CATHOLIC VIEW: “Justification is a process through which the limitless merits of Christ are appropriated by the church through people responding to God through faith and works.”

The Council of Trent (1545-1563) declared “this disposition or preparation [of faith] is followed by justification itself, which is not only a remission of sins but also the sanctification and renewal on the inward man through the voluntary reception of the grace and gifts whereby an unjust man becomes just and from being an enemy becomes a friend, that he may be the heir to the hope of eternal life.”

The Roman Catholic view of Justification was summed up by the Roman Catholic Church with the Latin term; “ex opere operato” = “By the work performed”. The authors of the theology program further define this term as “the belief accepted by Roman Catholics and rejected by Protestants that the sacraments administer grace to the recipient by virtue of the act itself through the power given to the church, regardless of the faith of the individual”

PROTESTANT VIEW: “Justification is a forensic declaration in which a sinner is declared righteous while still in a sinning state. It is a justification in standing, not in nature that occurs in an instantaneous event.”

Martin Luther said of Jesus, “He has made His righteousness my righteousness, and my sin His sin. If he has made my sin to be his sin, then I do not have it and am free. If he has made his righteousness my righteousness, then I am righteous now with the same righteousness as He. My sin cannot devour Him, but it is engulfed in the unfathomable depths of his righteousness for he himself is God, who is blessed forever.” (“Lectures on Romans” in Luther’s works; Hilton C. Oswald p.188)

The reformers (Protestant) view of justification was summed up with the Latin term; “simul iustus et peccator” = “same time just and sinner”. The authors of the theology program define this term as “Luther’s paradoxical dictum explaining that a Christian has a legal or forensic righteous standing before God according to the work of Christ, while at the same time lives as a sinner according to his own merits. This was adhered to by the reformers in rejection to the Roman Catholic concept of infused righteousness.”

The main difference between the Roman Catholic view of justification and the protestant view of justification is wrapped up in 2 terms. 1. “Infused righteousness” (a process of God and man by which man must become actually righteous before he is said to be justified) 2. “Imputed righteousness” (a one time event in which God justifies sinners by reckoning Christ’s righteousness to their account through a legal declaration). The biggest difference between the Roman Catholic view of justification and the Protestant view of justification is that one is by faith and works together and the other is by faith alone. The Catholics view justification as a work of both God and man together while Protestants view justification as a work of God alone. Wayne Grudem says of the Protestant Reformation “When the good news of the gospel truly became the good news of totally free salvation in Jesus Christ, then it spread like wildfire throughout the civilized world. It was simply a recovery of the original gospel which declares, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23) and insist that “there is therefore no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. (Rom 8:1)” Pg. 729.

Does the bible say that justification is a process or an event? According to the bible, who does the justifying, God or man? Is justification by faith and works or by faith alone?

Rom 3:19-28 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Rom 4:1-5 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified (past tense) by faith, we have (present tense) peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Paul says that God “justifies him who has faith in Jesus“(Rom 3:26) and that “a man is justified by faith apart from works of law” (Rom 3; 28) The word of God which was delivered to Paul by Jesus himself (1Cor 1:23, 15:3) says that “since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom5:1) Because “a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” (Gal2:16)

Justification is solely a work of God that we must receive. We must answer God’s call.

Rom 8:30-34 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

Act 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Rom 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

ATONEMENT/RECONCILIATION: G2643 katallage From G2644; exchange (figuratively adjustment), that is, restoration to (the divine) favor: - atonement, reconciliation (-ing).

In the Old Testament, we can see that the institution of the Passover points to atonement through a vicarious substitution. The sacrificial system (esp. the day of atonement) pointed to the perfect sacrifice that Christ would give on behalf of our sins (Lev, 16:9-10, 16, 29) Christ is later called the lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world. (John 1:29, Rev. 5:7) In addition, Isaiah 53 vividly describes atonement through a vicarious substitution.

2. So “Is justification salvation“?

I believe so. Obviously, there are many other biblical terms to describe salvation such as election, calling, regeneration (spiritual rebirth), conversion (moral revolution through faith and repentance), sanctification (growth in likeness of Christ), glorification (receiving a resurrected body), and others. But Justification embodies other biblical terms for salvation such as atonement (restoration to divine favor), reconciliation (restoration to divine favor), redemption (to purchase), propitiation (the act by where which God‘s righteous wrath is satisfied by the atonement of Christ) and deliverance (ransom) . The preceding definitions come from Strong’s dictionary, Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem or The Theology Program.

Justification is the result of God applying the work of Christ to the believer though faith (trust) in Jesus Christ’s death in our place on the cross; resulting in the forgiveness of our sins and the imputation of Christ perfect righteousness to our account. Justification is the result of atonement, reconciliation, redemption, deliverance and propitiation rendered through Christ perfect life and substitutionary death. In my opinion, regeneration (being born again) is the only other biblical term for salvation that could possibly rival justification as an accurate synonym for salvation but regeneration is still not as fully a descriptive term for salvation. Regeneration causes conversion through faith and repentance. The result of justification is that we go from an unjust state to a totally justified position while still not being totally just in actual practice. (John 9:41, 1John 1:8)

Justification and salvation are terms that are used interchangeably in God’s word. We are “saved through faith“(Eph 2; 8), and “justified by faith” (Rom 5:1, Gal 2:16). We are saved not according to our works (2Tim1:9) and we are not justified by our works (Gal 2:16). We are saved by God’s grace. (Acts15:11, Eph2:8) We are justified by God’s grace. (Titus 3:7, Rom 3:24)

As noted above, if we are to have eternal life with God, mankind’s most basic problem that must be solved is that God is just, holy and righteous (PS 97:2, PS 119:142) and mankind is unjust, unholy and unrighteous. (Isa 53:6, Rom 3:10-18, 3:23, Gal 3:22, Eph 2:1, James 1:5) God is intrinsically by His nature just and he cannot even look upon sin (iniquity) Holiness is an immutable attribute of God’s character. Hab 1:13a Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity. Therefore, God must punish our sin. Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Eze 18:20a The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Spiritual death (separation from God) has always been the wages of sin. (Gen2:17, 3:6,23,24, Eze 28:15,16) The solution to mans problem is the Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I believe that salvation and justification are synonymous because the promise of eternal life is achieved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ resulting in our redemption and reconciliation to God through Christ’s atonement. That atonement needs to be applied to us, through faith in Jesus as our Savior, because of our sins and separation from God. But Jesus bridges the gap between God and us. He provides the way that we may be restored to right relationship with God both at the moment of faith and even more so in the moment of death. Salvation and justification is achieved for us, by Jesus Christ, by our sins being imputed to Him on the cross (thus making a propitiation towards God), and Jesus’s perfect righteousness being imputed to our account for us. (Gen 15:6, Rom 4:3-5, 8-11, 22-24, 5:13, Gal 3:6, James 2:23) Christ perfect sacrifice expiates our sin through propitiation (the act by where which God‘s righteous wrath is satisfied by the atonement of Christ) i.e. [Rom 3:25, 1John 2:2, 1John 4:10]` And the work of Jesus Christ results in our justification and salvation. God is just and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus. (Rom 3:26) Therefore, I would say, yes, “Justification is Salvation…Would you say that a person who God has justified is not saved?

Perhaps you have heard the popular and clever play on words for “justified” that says “just-as-if -I-had-never-sinned” or “just-as-if-I-had-lived-a-life-of-perfect-righteousness”. These sayings contain a portion of the truth about justification but not the whole of the truth of justification. Obviously we have not “lived lives of perfect righteousness” nor have we “never sinned” and we are in fact deserving of death as the wages of sin, because we are in reality sinners who have transgressed God‘s laws . Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, ‘Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Deu 27:26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen. Jam 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. But JESUS LAYED DOWN HIS LIFE so,

Joh 3:15-18 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Joh 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

Joh 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
It was Jesus, 1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. It was Jesus Gal 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: It was Jesus Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Jesus not only saves us from the penalty of sin (spiritual death), but also from the power of sin so that sin should not have dominion over us. (Rom. 6:6,11) Because, Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

It was because of justification by faith alone that Paul could say Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. John the Baptist said of Jesus Christ “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Rom 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Rom 5:15-19 But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Heb 7:26-27 For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

Heb 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

Eph 1:5-7 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Eph 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor.

Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

1Pe 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

1Jo 2:1-2 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

Gal 1:3-5 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver (RESCUE) us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

There are only two ways to be saved. 1. Actually be totally and perfectly just, holy righteous and as innocent as God is. 2. Be justified by God as a free gift. When you stand before God on judgment day will you say I am just and deserve eternal life; or will you fall on your face and say “Lord have mercy on me a sinner“?

If you have been working for your salvation or justification, or if you have never known Jesus, will you receive God’s free gracious gift of salvation by faith (trust) alone in Jesus Christ as your savior at this moment?

This article is created and copyrighted © by Damon Whitsell 2007. Free duplicating is allowed provided this notice and these Commons Copyright © licensing requirments are abided, kept intact and attached.

What is Justification? Is Justification Salvation? by Damon Whitsell is licensed (FOR YOUR FREE USE) under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.Based on a work at how2becomeachristian.webs.com.