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| There are some
easy ways to spot a cult. You do not have to learn every doctrine of
every cult to be an effective witness or to be able to recognize a
cult. There are a few key areas that you can look at that will help in
discerning a cult. For example, what a group says about the Bible,
God, salvation, man, and particularly Jesus Christ. One of the easiest ways
that a cult can be spotted is to find out what they say about who
Jesus is. The following statements
are representative of the majority of false claims that are made about
Jesus. Along with these misconceptions we have listed the truth about
Jesus according what God has revealed to us in the Bible. |
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Topics
Include:
Man or Prophet |
Born of Virgin |
Created by God |
Not the Only Son of God
Dying for Our Sins Not Enough |
Never Come Again |
Not Raised from the Dead
One Way to God |
No Sin |
Not in Old Testament |
We don't have to do anything
Social & Political Activist |
No Hell
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Jesus
was only a man or a great prophet, He was not God... |
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Many
world religions, cults and schools of thought in liberal Christianity
today will actually sound like they are being very complimentary about
Jesus. They will say that He was a great teacher or prophet.
Some call Him an advanced spirit medium or even a wizard. Some
call Him the greatest creation of God. All of these titles are either
inadequate or false. Jesus was God in the flesh. He was the Creator. No other title or
description is correct or acceptable. No other title or description
leaves Christianity in tact as the one true religion.
John
1:1-5 , 1 John 1:1-4 , Colossians 1:15-20 & 2:9 , Philippians
2:6-11 |
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Jesus
was not born of a virgin... |
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This
is an essential doctrine of the Christian Faith. If Jesus was not born
of a virgin then, He was not who the Bible said he was. He would not
have been Emmanuel "God with us." If then He was not God in
the flesh, He could have not died as a sacrifice for our sins and
consequently we have no salvation available to us. This one seemingly
small doctrine that so many are so willing to throw out or compromise
on is 100% essential.
Isaiah 7:14 , Matthew
1:18-23 , Luke 1: 26-35 |
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Jesus
was created by God... |
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Some maintain that Jesus
was the first and greatest creation of God and that
there is nothing and no one else above Him. Some movements claim that
Jesus started as Michael the Archangel and became Jesus the Christ when he was
born to Mary. As great as this sounds,
it falls pitifully short of the reality of scripture. John 1:3
plainly states that "all things that were made were made
by Him" The Bible does not say "all other things".
Jesus is God. He is fully God and fully man. John
10:30-38 , Matthew 1:18 , John 17:5 & 24, Colossians 1:15-20 John
1:1-3 , Philippians 2:6-11 , Hebrews chapter 1. |
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Jesus
is not the only Son of God... |
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The term sons of God is
found in scriptures 11 times. Genesis 6:2&4, Job 1:6 & 2:1,
38:7, John 1:12, Romans 8:14&19, Philippians 2:15, 1 John
3:1&2. These refer to angels in some cases and to Christians or
Godly men in others. There are those that will say that Jesus was not
special being God's son because we are all God's sons or God's
children. In John 3:16, we have the term "only begotten"
Son. The Greek word here is monogenese. John uses this
term 5 times to describe Jesus. It carries the meaning of a unique,
special or out of the ordinary. In John 1:14, Jesus is called the
"only begotten" of the Father. The term only begotten finds
explanation in some part by the Hebrew word yachid that
is translated in the scriptures as "only one" "only
beloved" or "darling". These terms speak of a deep
relationship between a father and a son and not a mere fact that one
has produced an only child. Jesus is God's unique one of a kind dearly
beloved before the foundations of the world Son. While we may be heirs
and joint heirs with Jesus, and sons of God...there is only one Son of
God and that is Jesus Christ!
John
3:14-17 , John 3:36 , Hebrews 1:1-14 |
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Jesus
died for our sins but that was not enough... |
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There
are those who believe that the sacrifice Jesus made at Calvary was
inadequate to secure a person's salvation. They teach that something
in addition to Christ's atonement is necessary. However the Scriptures
reveal that salvation is a gift from God according to the Apostle Paul
in Romans 6:23. The word of God clearly teaches that faith and
repentance are what is required to be saved. There are no further
baptisms, steps or processes to go through that can finish or aid in
one's salvation. To suggest that one has to do something or can do
something to earn their own salvation would imply some of the
following: First, it is implying that what Jesus could not complete
everything necessary for mankind's salvation on the cross. Second it
implies that man some how is capable of making up for the alleged
deficiency of Christ's atonement. Third, the assumption has to be made
that it is up to the "individual movement" to invent
these rules and requirements since they are not found in God's Word.
Romans
6:23 , Romans 10:3-10 , Ephesians 2: 8-9, Hebrews chapter 9 |
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Jesus
never said that he would come again... |
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The scriptures listed
below speak of Christ's return. The language is very clear form each
of these Biblical writers. This is verified in Scripture by angelic
witnesses, human witnesses, divine revelation and Christ's own words.
Still, there are some groups who claim allegiance to Christianity who
openly deny that Christ is returning. To deny this fact is a blatant disregard
for the truth of the Bible. It also forces the person to accept a
method of interpretation that would make it both possible and
convenient to merely dismiss anything that you were personally
uncomfortable with. This is the plight and the plague of liberal
Christianity.
Matthew
24:1-30 ,
1
Thessalonians 4:13-18 , Acts 1:11 , John 14:2-3
Mark
chapter 13 , Revelation 11:21 to 20:6 |
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Jesus
was not physically raised form the dead... |
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Follow this hyperlink for the response to this erroneous line of thought.
1
Corinthians 15:1-23 , Luke 24:36-53 , John 20:1-31
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Jesus
is just one way to God, there are others... |
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Many
will say that Christians are arrogant when they maintain that Jesus is
the only way to God. It must be noted though that Christians are not
the ones who make this claim. Jesus Christ himself is the one who
makes this claim. Jesus is in a very unique position to make this
claim. He is the creator. The message that He preached and the things
that He said were validated by the miracles that He did. His life and
ministry were prophesied hundreds of years before hand. Unlike
other religious leaders who were born and died. Jesus was born died
but He rose from the dead and lives today!
John
3:14-17 , John 14:6-7 , 1 Timothy 2:5-6
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Jesus
isn't needed because there is no sin... |
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Today
psychologists, philosophers and New Age cults will tell you that there is no
sin. "There are only appropriate or inappropriate choices."
It is just a matter of education to get everyone to make appropriate
choices." Sin is a reality that the world denies but, the Bible
is full of examples from Genesis to Revelation of the inherent evil of
the heart of man. Jesus is the only cure for it. Mankind keeps
insisting that it is getting better and better as a species. The truth
is that we are deteriorating spiritually, physically, morally and
socially. Even so Lord Jesus come quickly!
John
3:14-17 , Romans 3:23-30 , Romans 6:23 , 1 Corinthians 15:1-8
Jeremiah
17:9 , Genesis 6:5 , Judges 2:10-11 , 1 Kings 14:22 , Revelation
20:7-10
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Jesus
was not mentioned in the Old Testament... |
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Follow this hyperlink to WTVU for an exhaustive study. |
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Jesus
never said we had to do anything except ...
" love and accept
everyone"... |
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Jesus
is many times seen like a "Hippie" of the 1960's. He is
depicted by some as a "Flower Child Prophet of Love and
Peace." The Gospel is referred as the "Gospel of Peace"
in Ephesians 6:15. 1 John chapter 3 tells us we are to love one
another. ( This is telling Christians to show love to other
Christians, read it closely and you will see that 1 John is written to
Christians ) Combine this with today's "Tolerance Movement"
and "Political Correctness" and you have a very distorted
view of the teachings of Jesus. Jesus is seen as someone who taught
that we should love every one. He did teach this. Love, however, does
not mean accepting another person's religion or lifestyle as valid or
equal in truth as your own. Love does not mean that you can not tell
someone the truth when they are wrong. Love does not mean that you are
to never stand for what you believe. Love does not mean that you never
mention God or Jesus because it may offend someone. If you look at the
life of Jesus you will find that Jesus was not politically correct,
tolerant to sin, or silent when it may offend someone. He spoke the
truth in love!
Matthew
28:19-20 , Luke 18:22 , Luke 14:26 , Matthew 3:7 & 16:24
Revelation
2:1-3:22 , 2 Timothy 2:15 , James 1:12-14 & 21-22 , Romans 12:1-3
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Jesus
was a social and political activist , he was not concerned with sin... |
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This
line of thought is present in many forms. The pseudo-scholars of the
"Jesus Seminar" have come up with this type of conclusion.
Jesus is seen by them as a political activist, who after the death of
John the Baptist, found himself as the leader of a political
dissention movement. They claim that all this talk about sin and Jesus
dying on the cross is taking away from His real mission which was
political reform. Liberal Christianity in it's milder avoidance of the
sin issue sees Jesus as a teacher of a moral code, a social worker, a
builder of self-esteem, a freedom fighter, an advocate for the poor
and oppressed, or just a good example for us to try to follow. While
Jesus was concerned with with all of the aforementioned things, His
purpose for coming to Earth was to bring us salvation form our sins.
Many churches have gone about trying to change the world with one of
these better ideas while completely ignoring why Jesus himself said he
came to this world. The only way to improve the world is to deal with
sin and Jesus is the only answer to mankind's sin problem.
Luke
19:10 , John 18:37 , Luke 4:43 , John 1:29 , Mark 2:1-12 , Romans 6:23
, Subject of the book of Romans , Hebrews 9:26 - 10:12 , Ephesians
5:1-6 , Mark 1:15 Mark 6:12 , Luke 13:3-6
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Jesus
never said anything about Hell... |
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This
point is not difficult to refute. Read the Bible passages below. Look
at John 3:16 "that whosoever believes in Him should not perish..."
Those who read the Bible and find no mention of Hell or future
retribution for the unsaved are simply not paying attention to what
they are reading. If there is no Hell then why was it that Jesus came,
suffered and died? To save us from nothing? That does not seem to fit
in with the overall teaching of the Bible.
Matthew
5:22-30 , Luke 16:2-31 , Matthew 15:42-50 , Mark 9:43-47 |
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Who
is
your
Jesus
?
(click here) |
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