What Makes a Church or

Group Non-Christian?

      There are many non-Christian religions and cults

in America: Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses,

Christian Science, Unity, The Way International,

Unitarianism, Islam, Hinduism, etc.

They all claim special revelation and privilege and

those that use the Bible invariably interpret it in

disharmony with standard biblical understanding 

And, groups like the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses

object to the label "cult" because it often gets an

emotional reaction as well as is a label

they want to avoid.

      The dictionary defines cult as "a system of religious

worship or ritual"; "devoted attachment to, or

extravagant admiration for, a person, principle, etc.",

"a group of followers." 

This is a typical secular

definition and by it, any believer in any god is a

cultist, even atheists since they have an admiration

for a principle and are a group of followers of the

 philosophy of atheism.
     

 The definition I use for "non-Christian cult" or

"non-Christian religion" is a group that may or may

not include the Bible in its set of authoritative

scriptures. If it does include the Bible, it distorts

the true biblical doctrines that effect salvation

sufficiently so as to void salvation.¹

 If it doesn't use the Bible, it is a Non-Christian

 religion and does not  participate in the benefit

of divine revelation.

     In Christian bookstores, there are almost always

 'cult' sections which include the Mormons, Jehovah's

Witnesses, etc.  So, I am not alone in describing what a

non-Christian, bible based cult is.  Nevertheless, what

makes something non-Christian is when it denies the

 essential doctrines of the Bible.

The Deity of Christ, which involves The Trinity

the Resurrection, and Salvation by Grace

      All of them add to the finished work of Jesus

on the cross. Some cult groups even add to the

Bible, i.e., Mormonism which has the

 Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants,

and The Pearl of Great Price.

Also Christian Science has added Science and

Health with Key to the Scriptures.

The Jehovah's Witnesses, however, have actually

changed the text of the Bible to make it fit what

they want it to.

 For information on this see

Jehovah's Witnesses and how they have

changed the Bible.

      Cults add their own efforts, their own works of

 righteousness to the finished work of salvation

accomplished by Jesus on the cross. All Cults say

 that Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient, but our works

 must be 'mixed with' or 'added to' His in order to

prove that we are saved and worthy of salvation.

They say one thing but believe another. They

 maintain that they must prove themselves worthy

and that they must try their best to please God and

prove to Him that they are sincere, have worked hard,

and are then worthy to be with Him. In other words,

they do their best and God takes care of the rest.

      This is absolutely wrong. The Bible says that we are

saved by grace not by works "For by grace you

have been saved through faith...not as a result of

works, that no one should boast, (Eph. 2:8-9,

NASB); not by anything we do "For we maintain

 that a man is justified by faith  apart from

works of the Law"

 (Rom. 3:28, NASB).

Because if there was anything that we could do to

 merit the forgiveness of our sins, then Jesus died

needlessly "nevertheless knowing that a man is

not justified by the works of the Law but through

 faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in

 Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith

 in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since

by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified...

I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness

comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly

(Gal. 2:16, 21, NASB).

      People in cults will often cite James 2:26 where it

says that faith without works is dead in an attempt to

demonstrate that works are part of becoming saved.

While it is true that faith without works is dead,

it isn't the works that save us.

 James is saying that

 if you have real and true faith, it will result in

real and true works of Christianity.  In other words,

you do good works because you are saved, not

 to get saved.

 He isn't saying that our works are what saves us, or

that they, in combination with the finished work

of Christ, save us. James is simply telling us that

 if we say we have faith (James 2:14) but we

 have no works in correspondence to that faith, then

that faith won't save us because it is a dead faith. 

This agrees with Paul who tells us that faith is what

saves us, "Therefore having been justified by

faith, we have peace with God through our

 Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1).

 This faith is

real faith, or true saving faith, not just an

empty mental acknowledgement of God's

existence which is what  those who "say" they

have faith but show no corresponding godliness

are guilty of. 

Incidentally, you should realize

that faith  is only as good as who you put it in. 

Just having faith in something doesn't mean

 you're saved. 

That is why it is important to have the

 True Jesus, because if you have great faith

but it is in the wrong Jesus, then your

faith is useless.

      In Mormonism, Jesus is the brother of the devil

 begotten through sexual intercourse from a God

who came from another planet. In Jehovah's

Witnesses he is Michael the Archangel who

became a man. In the New Age Movement

he is a man  in tune with the

divine consciousness.

Which is  true? The only true Jesus is the

one of the Bible, the one who is prayed to

(1 Cor. 1:1-2 with Psalm 116:1; Acts 7:55-60);

worshipped (Matt. 2:2, 11, 14:33,

John 9:35-38, Heb. 1:8), and called God

(John 20:28; Col. 2:9).

The Jesus of the Cults is Not

prayed to, worshipped, or called God.

Since the Jesus of the Bible is  the

only one who reveals the Father (Luke 10:22)

so that you may have eternal life (John 17:3),

You Must Have the True Jesus who Alone is

The Way, The Truth, and The Life (John 14:6).

      Another common denominator among the

Cults is their methods for twisting scripture. Some

of the errors they commit in interpreting Scripture

 are:

1) taking Scripture out of context;                            

2) reading into the Scriptures information that   

              is not there;                                                                                    

           3) picking and choosing only the Scriptures that suit

   their needs;                                                                       

 4) ignoring other explanations;                                   

 5) combining scriptures that don't have                 

anything to do with each other;                                

6) quoting a  verse without giving its location;   

7) incorrect definitions of key words; and             

8) mistranslations.                                                          

These are only a few of the many ways

Cults Knowingly Misuse Scripture.

      If you want to be able to witness well to a

 person in a cult, you need to understand their

doctrines as well as your own. It would be a

good idea to study both

Christian Doctrine: the Bible, God, Creation, Man...

 and

Christian Doctrine: Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Salvation...

as well as the

The Three  Essential Doctrines of Christianity

to  become better equipped.

Through study you will be able to answer

questions that  often come up in witnessing

 encounters. A  Christian should know his

doctrine well enough to be able to

recognize not only what is true,  but also

what is false in a religious system

 (1 Pet. 3:15; 2 Tim. 2:15).

      Jesus warned us that in the last days False

Christs and False Prophets would arise and deceive

many (Matt. 24:24). The Lord knew that there

would be a rise of the spirit of Antichrist (1 John 4:1-3)

 in the last days.

Its manifestation is here in the forms of

Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses,

 and The New Age Movement,

among others.

Cults
by Matthew Slick
www.carm.org/cults/cults.htm

Back to Cults and False Religions

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