The Inconvenience of Serving God

We have our daily and weekly routines.  Work, Wednesday small group, family time, and Church on Sunday.  We often and easily forget that God does not work by our schedule.  Sometimes, God gives us an opportunity to serve him and glorify him at times that interfere with our daily or weekly routine.  How we respond to this reflects where our heart stands with God’s Will and our ultimate desire to worship and serve him.

Recognize that God does not NEED our service.  Acts 17:25 explicitly reminds us of this.  Jesus himself declares that he does not need to be served (Mark 10:45).  We are not doing any favors to God for going out of our way to serve him.  Nor do we do God a favor by going to church or attending a weekly bible study.  It is God who supplies us the ability and opportunity to serve him! (1 Peter 4:11).  So, we must first strip the subconscious self-righteous mindset away from ourselves and recognize that he needs nothing.  He is not lacking in any glory.  In fact, he will be glorified no matter what we do or don’t do.  Thus, faithfully and willfully serving God, is a manifestation of our own heart.

Routines of weekly habits of service is nice and establish healthy habits and constant positive influences.  Volunteer at your church of weekly at a local food bank is a good thing.  But serving God does not end once our volunteer shift is over.  God’s will is continuous and eternal.  Jesus is the prime example.  He was constantly serving.  Not only did he attend all the weekly, monthly, and annual organized religious functions but he did more than that.  He served continuously outside of weekly, monthly, and annual organized religious functions.  He fed, healed, and preached in unorganized ways (but orderly as ordained by God).  When something needed to be said, he said it.  When something needed to be done, he did it.  When people were in need, he met that need.  In fact, more often, when Jesus obeyed the will of his Father, it was at seemingly inconvenient times.  Of course, to God, nothing is inconvenient; but from our worldly perspective it would have been. How does this translate to us now?

We may have just got out of Church and boom, someone that did not attend church is in need of help.  We may have had a family lunch planned after church, and this person who did not bother to attend church, needs our help at that moment.  This person may not even want to attend church or bible studies; it does not matter.  We may be having a nice family time, watching a movie or playing in the back yard with the kids when someone in need reaches out to us.  How do we asses the level of need and importance?

There are of number of quick questions we can ask: 

(1) Has this person heard the Gospel?
(2) Is there need manifested from a greater spiritual need?
(3) What would magnify the glory of God more?  Address the need later or immediately?
(4) Is this an opportunity to love and serve God and others?

Point #1: The gospel message is the most important and greatest message we can ever have the opportunity to tell someone.  Paul said it is of first importance (1 Cor. 15:3)!   Even when Paul couldn’t meet a physical or material need, he made sure they heard the Gospel regardless (Acts 3:6).  The greater spiritual need can be seen by the fruit being manifested.

Point #2: Questions about Jesus’ childhood, worship on Saturday or Sunday, or not celebrating Halloween is one thing (disputable matters, Romans 14:1-23); but questions about desiring getting divorce (not due to abuse), desire to use drugs, willing sexual desire of the same-sex or cheat on their spouse, desire to steal, and be greedy all come from the heart (Matthew 15:19).  And it is these manifested desires reveal a greater need;  If these individuals do not know the Lord, they are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3-5; Romans 1:28-32) under God’s judgement, they NEED the freedom and healing only found in Christ.  They NEED a follower of Christ to love them by gently speaking the truth of God to them.  divorce, greed, theft, drugs, sexual immorality, are all symptoms of the greater problem (Matthew 10:28).  They risk the ultimate consequence of sin; eternal separation from God.  And THAT is an urgent need to address!  This may be their only and last opportunity to hear the truth of God and see God’s grace and love shine through you.

Point #3:  Going out of your way for someone else has a far more meaningful effect than pushing it to the side, planning it later (when its more convenient), or pawning them off to someone else.  This helps people to see how important they actually are to you (and to God, once they understand).  This greater impact shines love and grace brighter.  It also elevates the importance of the truth you speak to them about.  Elevating truth, love, and grace to a higher (the highest) level of importance brings God glory.  It also shows within yourself, how you value serving God and how much you really feel about sin.  If you truly believe sin is the worst form of offense and those who live in sin are eternally offensive to Almighty God; this will manifest in the urgency to address it.

Point #4:  Godly LOVE, that glorifies God, is selfless and sacrificial (John 15:13).  Are you denying yourself to follow Christ (Luke 9:23)?  You must ask yourself what kind of love are you expressing to that individual and before God.  Does the love you show them out weight their love for their sin?  Their selfish love may be leading them to desire a divorce but your selfless sacrificial love quickly intervenes.  Their selfish love may be leading them to desire to hurt themselves or someone else, but your selfless sacrificial love quickly intervenes.  If we just simply desired to love selflessly, but we do not actually act on the importance of that love, our love is no more urgent or important that their love for their sin.  True Godly Love IS INCONVENIENT at times.  But we get over ourselves because we love God and others more than ourselves.

Unwillingness to Do What Is Right

If this person has heard the Gospel, presented personally by you or someone you know than they have heard the most important message.  But serving does not end their either.  James is pretty blunt when he said “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17).  When we are confronted with a actual need, and we know the right thing to do is help, but justify how busy we are with other things, we fail to do the right thing, we sin.  We must ask ourselves if this persons need may have a greater impact on the life of them and others around them.  If they follow through with their desire for a divorce (not in cases of abuse or sexual assault), that will have a longer lasting sinful impact on the loved ones around them.  That sin may then become more acceptable and more normal.  That person is already under God’s judgement due to their unrepentant sinful desires, but we fail to do the right thing and address it, we too are then in sin. Proclaiming the Gospel and selflessly sacrificially loving those who are lost and in need is what is right.  Jesus even commands us to LOVE our enemies (Matthew 5:44)!  Keeping in mind that we all were once enemies of God (Romans 5:10), yet, he still selflessly and sacrificially loved us by going to the cross (Romans 5:8).  Now we are slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:18) and under the Law of Life (Romans 8:2).  Do you feel the godly obligation to obey Christs commands to selflessly and sacrificially love?

Duty and Obligation to Serve

This is not legalistic.  The inherent sense of duty and obligation to obey derives from our faith; it does not justify us.  We are not scoring extra browney points with God when we go out of our way to serve him and others.  We do not gain extra favor from God.  We are just doing exactly what we are called to do.  We are being obedient to Christ and seeking God’s eternal glory.  That is why we SHOULD and WILL desire to serve people when it is inconvenient.  The understanding of this duty and obligation comes with the maturity of our faith.  When looking at the fruit of the spirit we see the characteristics of a mature and maturing faith (Galatians 5:22-23).  We should SEEK to mature in faith (Hebrews 5:13-14), so that we can quickly and easily assess how urgent that need is and know the best ways to respond in faith.  If someone is reaching out because they are feeling like they are going to hurt themselves or someone else, failing to help them in that moment is sin.  Even pawning the request for help off to someone else is us failing to meet that need.  That person reached out to you, not someone else.  God is granting you an opportunity to serve and love him through this situation.  If we are far away, and can not physically meet a physical need, the Church is there to serve, just as you are.  If you reach out to the church for assistance to address in that persons urgent need; they should find the resources and personnel to assist.  If people in that church are not willing to address an urgent need; that is a discussion that needs to be had with the church leadership.  

How Do We Know If Someone Is A Believer or Not?

Do they openly claim to believe that Jesus is Lord God (John 1:12, 8:24, 58; Col. 2:9; Eph. 1:13; 1 Cor. 12:3; Romans 10:9)?  Do they seek to follow Christ and glorify God (1 John 2:4)?  Has God actually changed their life (John 3:3, 7; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:17)?  Because God will change lives, do they actually serve God in faith (James 2:18-20)?  Does their life produce spiritual fruit of obedience (Matthew 7:15–21; Romans 8:14).  Why does this matter?

Accountability

If people are not believers, they are slaves to sin, and thus, we can only expect them to have sinful desires.  But, if someone claims to be Christian and follower of Christ Jesus as Lord God and Savior; they are expected to serve God and others.  They are expected to be repentant of their sin and seek holiness.  When they are unrepentant and sinful, we are to humbly rebuke and correct them so that they repent and spiritually mature. But this is reserved for only those IN the church (1 Cor. 5:12-13).  Jesus even prescribes disciplinary measures to ensure the church seeks holiness (Matthew 18:15-17).  Paul declares that all scripture is profitable for “teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness^, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16).  Paul even had to rebuke Peter publicly and sharply (Galatians 2:11; Titus 1:13).  Thus, we need to hold all those in the church accountable for not selflessly and sacrificially loving and helping those in need, even when it is inconvenient.  Jesus was the most harsh with those who were very religious but fruitless.  God disciplines those who he loves, his children (Hebrews 12:6).  A church is least effective when they are not assisting those in need and no one is held accountable for the lack of love. 

Our Time and Possessions

We need to understand that all our time and possession are not ours!  Literally, EVERYTHING belongs to God (Hebrews 2:10).  Even our bodies are not our own (1 Cor. 6:19)!  Therefore, with everything, we must LOVE God with all our heart, soul, and mind and love our neighbors (in the church and outside the church, even our enemies)(Matthew 22:37-39).  The same Godly love that is selfless and sacrificial. 

One of the primary missions of the church is the reach those in need and lost.  And if it is lacking love, it is failing to be obedient to Christ Jesus and is less fruitful.  If it is actively loving those in need and seeking the lost, God is most glorified and the Holy Spirit works through it!  This, at times, maybe all the time, is inconvenient in our daily and weekly routines, but are to we seek God’s glory and his will, not ours- all the time, even when it is inconvenient.

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Public Evangelism

Before setting out to conduct street evangelism and open air preaching it is a good idea to research the county and city ordinances regarding noise violations and disturbing the peace.  Odds are someone will get offended and call the police claiming one of the two.  When police are called, they have reasonable suspicion that a crime or ordinance violation has been committed.  They are obligated to respond and investigate.  This should be expected. (check out Is Street Preaching Biblical?).

Some cities require you to obtain a permit to pass out flyers or do speeches on public property.  It is right to seek to obtain the proper permits as most cities will not deny them knowing it will be a religious assembly and protected free speech.  In some countries it is flat out illegal to give religious speeches in public.  This is where a more modest personal approach is best suited like walking up to individuals and speaking to them more privately in a public location.  Where religious proselytizing is illegal, than an even more subtle approach is required through networking and relationship building for the missional purpose of presenting the gospel.  Once understanding the governing laws regarding public evangelism, next it is important to understand the culture of that public area.

College campuses, public parks around downtown business headquarters, suburb parks, tourist areas, and the region these parks are located in help understand the angle and focus of approach.  Regions that are less culturally divers or have a concentrated sub cultures are keys to understanding the spiritual needs of that area.  Once you have conducted the proper research and planning, having a game plan of what topics need to be touched and how to frame the conversations is next.

Planned Discussion

Of course the absolute end goal of all discussions are gospel presentations.  But getting there is not always straight forward.  On the personal level; You always want to introduce yourself, ask their name and if you can ask  them some questions.  Trust the Holy Spirit.  If they say no and do not want to talk, move on.  If you are open air preaching, and someone comes up asking genuine questions, you want to address them on a personal level.  If you have an evangelism team with you, have them address that persons questions and continue preaching.

Personal Public Evangelism

When walking up to people and getting their consent to ask questions always introduce yourself and ask for their name.  Throughout the conversation, call them by name; this is more personal and relates to how personal the subject matter actually is to them.  Avoid using phrases like “I believe…” or “I think…” because it is not a matter of your opinion verses theirs.  These are eternal truths, not personal opinionated beliefs.

Q:  Do you believe in God? (yes/no)

Deck of Cards analogy;  “If I throw a deck of cards in the air, what is the chance it will fall down in a completed house of cards?”, “Where did the deck of cards come from in the first place?”  “If I don’t have a deck of cards, what is the chance, a deck of cards will appear in my hand from nothing?”

Piece of Paper analogy;  “If I write ‘laws of nature’ on a paper, then tear it up into very small pieces, then throw it up in the air, what is the chance it will fall back into place in the correct order?”;  “Where did the piece of paper come from in the first place?”; “If I didn’t have a piece of paper to write ‘laws of nature’ on, what is the chance a piece of paper will appear from nothing or the letters will form themselves to form the intelligible sentence structure and words?”

Sometimes it is best, that when someone denies the existence of God, may was well just go straight to a gospel presentation.  You can do this by asking next:  Do you know who Jesus is?  Some may even argue that Jesus never existed either.  At that point you can attempt to explain to them the historical facts but odds are they will reject those too.  If that is the case, you can ask them what they believe or again, straight up ask them if they have ever heard the gospel itself.  If they are still willing to listen and engage in a friendly dialog, go right head and present them the gospel.

If they already claim to believe in god, continue on to ensure they get to know the truth about the real God if they don’t know him already.

Q:  Who do you think God is? (the universe / everyone / one being / unknown) 

These first two questions help gauge what the person believes; New age, agnostic, atheist, or theistic. 

Q:  Do you think God is pleased with you and how you have live your life?

Naturally most people will say yes.  The idea here sets up revealing to them their own contradictions and how they actually do not meet God’s standard with the follow up questions:

Q:  Are you a good person?  Are you morally perfect? 

Again, naturally, most people will say yes.  The Moral crime proofs then expose some flaws in their claim.

Moral Crimes Proofs;  “have you ever lied; have you ever stolen anything; have you ever hurt anyone, emotionally or physically; have you ever sexually desired someone; have you ever said GD or JC, and not as a noun?”  What do you call someone who has lied and stolen?  What do you call someone who sexually desires someone who is not their spouse?

Repeat their own answers.  Of course people who steal are called thieves and people who have lied are called liars.  Then ask:

Q:  Do you think God is pleased with thieves, liars, adultery/cheaters, and blasphemers?   

The discussion then may steer to relative morality.  The follow up question related to relative morality exposes further dilemmas in that belief:

Q:  Are you opposed to racism, rape, or killing homosexuals?  Why?

They are compelled to admit they are opposed to these because they are wrong.

Q:  Are countries and cultures that currently practice them, are they wrong?  Are societies in the past that condoned them, where they wrong?  How are they wrong, when their society condones it?  Is there a universal morality that applies to all mankind?  Where does that come from if not from society?

Q:  Does someone who commits such crimes/moral wrongs be punished?  (yes/no)

Here they have been lead to see that morality is transcendent and that moral wrongs deserve punishment.  Understanding the required justice is next.  This is where most Christians fail.  Understanding God’s perfect Justice is very important.

Q:  Why not just forget about the crime of racism, rape, and killing homosexuals?   Why even bother prosecuting them?  Just let them go free with no punishment. 

Now explain the actual value of violating God’s law and the worth of a transcendent crime.  Sin has eternal value in that it is an offense against the eternal God.  This eternal offense requires a just punishment.

Q: How much good can you do to pay back an eternal debt?  How much good can a friend of yours do to pay back your eternal debt?  If the crime of racism, rape, and killing homosexuals is just given 2 hours of community service, is that enough, why not?  

Q:  Early you admitted to being a thief, liar, adultery, and blasphemer.  You admitted to committing transcendent crimes against a perfectly holy and just God that you can not repay and still requires an equal just punishment.  Do you want to know how to be made right before God, have your debt payed for, and truly know God for all eternity?

(Due to the examples used above and given the dysfunction of today’s misquoting society, we must include this disclaimer:  we do not advocate, support, or encourage teachings or actions for rape, racism, and murder)

Avoid the arianistic Christian cliche “accept Jesus in your heart” or “say the sinners prayer”.  That is not what really happens and NOT what Jesus calls for.  Jesus called for people to REPENT and BELIEVE.  Thus, we should call for the same.

Present the Gospel message: God sent his eternal Son from heaven in the form of Jesus to die for your sin on the cross, payed your eternal debt of sin, and rose again three days later proving that he has the power to give life, eternal life.  He did this so that you can be free from the punishment of sin and free to truly know God.  Only Jesus lived the life you could not live and pay the price for sin that you can not pay so that you can enjoy God in this life and for eternity after this life.  Are you ready to leave your sins behind, repent and believe in God The Son?

Pray with that person and ask the Holy Spirit to work in their heart, empowering them to believe, make them born again, a new creation, adopted by God, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and follow Jesus Christ as their Lord God and Savior.  After praying, discuss any concerns they may have and give them your contact information.

This is a very general discussion with the key talking points but you will encounter all kinds of different people with all kinds of different arguments and justifications.  Not having every answer is OKAY!  You must remember that you are NOT the spiritual eye openers, The Holy Spirit is.  You are called to be faithful to God and loving to neighbors, strangers, and enemies; and there is nothing more loving than sacrificing your time, emotions, and efforts to give someone the greatest gift we can offer, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and pray that God gives the greatest gift of all; eternal life.  

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Is Street Preaching Biblical?

People have probably heard a preacher on the side of the road with a mega phone preaching.  Some people stop in listen while others carry on shaking their head.  In modern times, most feel that it is not the best approach to evangelism.  Some will go as far to say that it is too judgemental and pushes people away from God.  But is that true?  Is street preaching unbiblical, unnecessary, and harmful?  First, we must always look to God’s word and see what his faithful servants have done in the various cultures.

First we can look at Noah.  There was no church building to preach in.  No temple to preach at.  Just him and the world.  Peter describes Noah as a preacher or Herold of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5).  Of course the world listened and laughed maybe even felt judged and offended as he told them that God was going to judge the world due to their unrighteousness.  Next we can look at Jonah.  He literally walked down the streets of the large city proclaiming that the city will be overthrown if they don’t repent (Jonah 3:1-5).  Then we can look at John The Baptist.  He came out of the wilderness open air preaching in public (Matthew 3:1-2; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3).  Jesus himself preached in public on a hill (Matthew 5-7).  Apollos, a disciple of Jesus, explicitly preached in public (Acts 18:27-28).  Paul himself didn’t always preach in churches or Jewish temples (Acts 17:22-34) even preached in the market place (Acts 17:17).  Given these biblical accounts we can now dive into the important questions:

Is Street / Open Air Preaching Wrong?

Clearly the answer is NO.  Jesus did it.  Jonah was told by God to do it.  The Apostles, lead by the Spirit, did it.  In different cultures throughout history.  The type of culture or time period does not exclude street preaching.

Is there a best ‘time and place’ to do it?

Again, looking at the biblical accounts, the time and place is everywhere, at all times, with who ever is willing to listen!  But this leads to the next question.

Doesn’t it drive away people from the church?

This is a failed excuse by those who don’t want to do it or who feel sympathetic to the sin of the world.  Those who feel that people are driven away from being saved by preachers fail to understand or deny God’s Absolute Sovereignty.  A quick study of John chapter 6 should answer this false dilemma:  John 6:26-40

²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” ²⁸ Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” ³⁰ So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” ³² Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”  ³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives Me WIIL come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

So who WILL come to Jesus?  ALL that the Father HAS GIVEN.  How many will be lost?   NONE.  How many of them who God has given to Jesus come?  ALL.  But will some of them not come? NO.  ALL WILL.  Re-read  John 6:26-40 and let it sink in.

So how many people will street preachers turn away who have been given to Jesus?  NONE.  Street Preaching may drive away people, but not the ones God has called.  SIN has already driven away those who are ‘driven away’ by street preachers.  The lost are still lost, BUT now they have ZERO excuse for sure make God’s judgement on them that much justified.

People that claim to have been driven away from the Church due to ‘offensive’ street preachers clearly were not searching for Jesus but validation from man.  Some one that gets extremely offended, yet, has been given to Jesus, WILL, still, come to Jesus eventually.  Period.  That moment when they were offended by being called a sinner may stick with them and the Holy Spirit may break down the wall in their heart because of it.  OR like Pharaoh, God may use that moment to harden their heart further.  Who knows, but the result of the street preaching is UP TO GOD.  Regardless, EVERYONE who has been GIVEN to Jesus WILL come, no matter how offended they think they are by street preachers.

Are there Good and Bad ways to street preach?

Of course!  There is never a moment where we are not to be loving.  Even during street preaching and dealing with hecklers, agitators, and aggressively profane people.  But LOVE is also speaking the TRUTH.  Because Jesus IS TRUTH.  Using profanity and personally attacking people is not the way to go about proclaiming the truth and love of Jesus.  But don’t forget, the truth of Jesus is offensive to the world.  People WILL get offended.  Period.  Matthew 10:34-36, 15:19-20:

³⁴ “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶ and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you;  

Pointing fingers at people telling them God hates them does NOT honor or bring glory to God.  BUT telling them that they are lost and in need of a savior does.  One focuses on sin, of which we are all sinners, but the other focuses on Jesus.  One hypocritically judges, while the other rightly judges.  One points down to man the other points up to Christ Jesus.  It is true however that ALL those who have been given to Jesus WILL come, even if the preacher is unloving in his approach BUT the preachers themselves are still held to a standard that which is loving God and their neighbor.  When street preaching we must keep Jesus’ words in Luke 6:27-28 in mind: “²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.“

Some preachers were even maliciously bashing Paul behind his back (Philippians 1:17-18).   These guys were trying to belittle Paul and assert themselves as authority.  Their preaching was out of selfish ambitions.  YET Paul rejoices!  Why?  Because no matter the motives of the preachers, Christ is still proclaimed.   Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17) and people are still hearing the gospel despite the short comings of the preachers.  God is GOD despite the imperfect preachers.

 Why then do people get so offended?

John 3:19-21:

19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

John 3:18:

“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already…”

They are hateful and offended because they feel judged.  This is true, they and the whole world have been judged.  Judged and convicted as sinners before a holy and righteous God.  Yet, they love their sin more than God’s righteousness.  Thus, they hate the messengers.  Nothing new.  Genesis 19:9 quotes the people of Sodom rejecting Lot’s plea for them to stop their sin “they said, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.”.  That’s just like saying “don’t judge me”.  

What is the purpose of Street / Open Air Preaching?

This is the most effective way to reach people who refuse to check out a church, who don’t want to or thinking googling anything about gospel and even reaching people who are privately searching but don’t know where to start.  There are thousands of reasons why speaking publicly in a public place and reach people who can not normally be reached.  The ultimate goal is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ for all the world to hear.  This sparks public conversation and those who hear take it home with them and tell their friends what they heard and saw.  Which may lead the friend to do some research.  The results are NOT up to the eloquence of the speaker or anything about the preacher himself.  The Holy Spirit is the one who works in the heart of the person who hears the message.  Regardless of the results, the preacher is called to be faithful to the Lord and proclaim the Lord’s good news. 
 

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John of God, The Spiritual Healer from Brazil

John of God is a fairly well known spiritual healer based out of Brazil.  He has been interviewed by Oprah and featured on ABC News, Newsweek, and other international news outlets.   He is a medium and spiritual healer that performs odd ‘surgeries’ that heal the individuals illness and spirit.  He claims to be possessed by ‘entities’ such as dead saints and doctors.  He claims that all his spiritual encounters and healings are done by God’s will.  Given his region of the world is predominately catholic and mentions the ‘saints’ it would seem that the God he is referring to is The God of The Bible.  BUT is he serving God’s will?  Is allowing himself to be possessed by ‘entities’ God’s doing?  Is he OF God?

The first major problem for John of God, to be actually ‘of God’, is when we read in God’s actual word, Deut. 18:10-12,14; he straight up contradicts The God of The Bible.  Within the nation of Israel, the offense of medium or necromancer was punishable by death.  Although that physical consequence is no longer required thanks to Jesus and his mercy, the spiritual death remains without repentance (Lev. 20:27).   Despite explicitly contradicting God’s own word, which exposes him as a false prophet and teacher, people flock to him.

DOES HE ACTUALLY HEAL?

According to testimonies on his website and on the websites of his followers, of course, he does in fact heal.   To validate some healings, the Australian 60 Minutes, followed 40 Australians who traveled to see John of God to be healed.  They went through the healing process.  John of God channeled an entity who then healed them.  He would stick forceps deep into the nose of some and scrape the eye for others.  Though none of their illnesses related to the nose or eyes, the ‘operation’ seemed to be conducted carefully.  BUT, as James Randi and Joe Nickell who are investigators of such type of supernatural healings point out, these are nothing more than shock and awe acts.  It only SEEMS hardcore when he uses knife to scrape someones eyeball or to stick surgical forceps deep in someones nose.  The most extreme act that can be done by anyone to seem professionally surgical.  The Australian 60 Minutes followed up with the 40 Australians who went to John of God to be healed, and found out that none of them were.  In his interview with Oprah he then states that the healing is up to God, implying that some people he tries to heal, even after channeling spirits and scraping their eyes, still may not get healed.  That’s an easy cop out considering all the time, money, and actions spent- only to have nothing happen.  ABC News Primetime had a biased program special of John of God.  They limited the skeptics time to just 19 seconds while boosting the time of Dr. Oz who was more sympathetic to John of God.  There were 5 noted attempted healings.  A man’s brain tumor shrank.  BUT he also had medical treatments before going to see John of God.  Why couldn’t the God of the universe make his brain tumor vanish?  A second “healing” is someone who felt as though they suffered from chronic fatigue; who, after visiting John of God, feels better.  Really?  A third is of a man who HAS ALS; and he had no change.  A fourth, an actress who had breast cancer, had no effect.  A fifth is a paralyzed woman, who “walked” using braces to hold her self up.  She can still not walk but “feels” something is improving, except her ability to walk.  NOW let us consider the healings of THE SON of GOD and the Apostles.

Jesus fully healed people close to death (John 4:47-50) and raised people form the dead (John 7:11-17, 8:40-42, 49-56, 11:1-45).  He instantly drove out possessed people (Matthew 15:21-28, 17:14-20; Luke 4:33-34; John 8:26-39).  He healed those with high fevers, but not just any fever, it was high enough for it to be obvious and everyone to be concerned; not just a feeling (Luke 4:38-39).  And these weren’t hurt feelings Jesus was curing, they were obvious DISEASES (Mark 1:32-34), like Leprosy (John 5:12-14; Luke 17:11-19) and blood diseases (John 8:42-48).  He without a doubt, at that moment, healed people who were paralyzed (John 5:17-26, 7:1-10), literally and obviously blind (Matthew 9:27-31, 12:22-23; Mark 8:22-26; Luke 18:35-43; John 9:1-12), mute (Matthew 9:32-34), deaf (Mark 7:31-37), and crippled (Luke 13:10-17).  Other OBVIOUS physical deformities undeniably instantly healed (John 6:6-11).  The Apostle Peter heals a crippled person (Acts 3:1-11), Palsy (Acts 9:33-34) and raises people from the dead (Acts 9:36-41).  The Apostle Paul heals a crippled person (Acts 14:8-10), casts out demons (Acts 16:16-18) and raises the dead (Acts 20:9-12).

Now, simply comparing, we see that John of God is NOT healing in the same way THE SON of God is healing or the Apostles.  Its difficult to tell if he is actually healing anyone at all.  IF John of God IS OF God, then why is he not able to heal like the Apostles?  NOTICE, that he claims his healing powers come from other ‘entities’ that enter him.  The Apostles’ healing power came from God himself.

IS HE ACTUALLY POSSESSED BY OTHER ENTITIES?

It is interesting to note that he does not drive out demons or people possessed by other spirits.  That may have something to do with the fact that he claims himself to be possessed by other spirits.  As we see in God’s Word, spirit possession does and can occur.  The question is DO people gifted with the supernatural gift of healing need to be possessed by other entities (besides The Holy Spirit) in order to heal?  There is ZERO accounts of angels possessing believers to perform miracles.  So we can rule out godly angel possession.  What does that leave us with now?  Have you ever stopped to wonder why God forbid mediums in the first place?  See, when people come to faith, and know the true living God, they are filled by HIS Spirit (Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19).  Leaving no room for other spirit possession.  Plus, why would you even need another spirit to enter you when you have GOD HIMSELF in you?  BUT Hey, if John of God claims to be possessed by other entities besides The Holy Spirit (and can’t be godly angels either) than we can take his word for it because that is supported by God’s Word, just maybe not the kind of entities he thinks they are.  In fact, we would concur that he is filled with non-godly entities because why else could he confidently contradict God’s Word and be deceived?  

IS HE A CON-ARTIST?

There are some key points to consider.  (1) He uses pseudo-medical operations unrelated to the area of issue and the same ‘operations’ used by previous exposed healing con-artists in the past.  If he CAN heal AND is OF GOD, why not actually perform a real operation IF he is in fact OF GOD?  The Apostles healed cripples and raised people from the dead; IF he is a supernatural healer of God, he should be able to as well?  The major rhetorical question is, why doesn’t he?  (2)  He set up his own compound called the CASA where people from around the world spend thousands of dollars to go; if he is OF GOD, why doesn’t he heal from a distance like Jesus did or go to where the sick are, like hospitals?  WHY does he have people spend thousands of dollars to travel and accept even more money from people once they get there (after spending thousands on traveling costs already)?  Jesus not only healed while he was traveling but he ALSO went to places where the sick congregated; for free (same with the Apostles).  Something interesting to point out here, there was a slave girl who told fortunes and made her master rich, but was possessed by demons (Acts 16:16-18).  Have you heard of Simon Magus or Simon The Sorcerer?  The people who followed this guy proclaimed “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God”, sounds familiar right?  This guy was even baptized by Philip.  BUT he did not have the Holy Spirit.  Instead, he wanted to BUY the power and use it for material gain.  But Peter sharply rebuked him (Acts 8:9-23).  (3) The most obvious point to consider, if he is OF GOD, why does contradict God?  (4) Satan, and demons have the abilities to do signs, wonders, and what seem to be miraculous things.  Some who DID miracles in the name of Jesus, Jesus himself didn’t even know them (Matthew 7:21-23).   Jesus warns us of false people who can do great signs and wonders (Matthew 24:11,24).  Even in the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was warned about false people who can do amazing things (Deuteronomy 13:1-3).  Thus, miracles are not proof that he is OF GOD.  

WHAT MAKES HIM ANY DIFFERENT?

When considering the slave girl (Acts 16:16-18) and Simon Magus (Acts 8:9-23), what makes John of God any different?  Nothing really.  They all performed amazing acts and gained a following of believers that made them wealthy and they all were not OF GOD.  Simply calling your self John of God does not make you of God.  Well, maybe it does in a different way; it identifies him as of God and ruler of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 John 5:19; John 12:31).  The god who masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).  But being OF GOD, the eternal creator of the universe, that is clearly a big no.  And all one has to do is study The Bible to see.

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When Someone Says "The Lord told me…"

Some people will claim God spoke to them directly, either verbally, in a vision, in a dream, on their private air plane, or they were lifted up to heaven and met God face to face.  But are their claims true?  If these claims are true, what are the implications?  If they are not true, what does that mean for the person making that claim?  How can we know the trustfulness of their claims?  We need to seek God’s actual word to test these type of claims.

Face Value

Why are we not to take their claims at face value?  The Apostles (The Holy Spirit) explain why in a very clear way.  Paul (The Holy Spirit) encouraged and praised the Berean church when they tested what they were taught against Holy Scripture (Acts 17:11).  John (The Holy Spirit) does not just suggest but commands us to test teachings and its teachers to determine if they are from God or not (1 John 4:1).  People claiming the same things the Apostles claimed, personal encounters and experiences with the risen Jesus, are to be put to the test (Rev. 2:2).  And we are called to have righteous judgement (John 7:24) because Jesus tells us that we CAN and WILL know them to be true or false (Matthew 7:16).  When rightly judged, we are even called to refute and expose those who contradict God’s actual word (Titus 1:9; Eph. 5:11).  THAT is why we do not take something at face value if it seems different from the true gospel message.

WHEN someone quotes God’s new (extra biblical) sayings:

When God spoke to the Prophets of the old Testament, they recorded exactly what God wanted them to record.  When the Apostles spoke with Jesus and had visions from heaven, they recorded exactly what God wanted them to record.  BUT somethings were not meant to be recorded (2 Cor. 12:2-4; John 20:30; Rev. 10:4).  The point is that specific chosen individuals, The Prophets and Apostles, were tasked with writing Holy Scripture and the very Words of God.  

• Kenneth Copeland gave a claimed prophecy in which Jesus allegedly said, “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.”(Kenneth Copeland, “Take Time to Pray,” Believer’s Voice of Victory, February 1987, 9.) THAT IS HUGE!  He did he just quote the very words of God?!  If so, is this not the same as Holy Scripture?  
• Paul Yonggi Cho, pastor of the world’s largest church, located in Seoul, South Korea claims to have received his call to preach from Jesus Christ Himself, who supposedly appeared to him dressed like a fireman. (Dwight J. Wilson, “Cho, Paul Yonggi,” Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, 161.).  THAT IS HUGE!  Did he just meet the risen Christ?!  Then Cho recently made the news by changing his name from Paul to David. As Cho tells the story, God showed him that Paul Cho had to die and David Cho was to be resurrected in his place. According to Cho, God Himself came up with his new name.(Paul Yonggi Cho interviewed by C. Peter Wagner, “Yonggi Cho Changes His Name,” Charisma & Christian Life, November 1992, 80.).  THAT IS HUGE!  He must be an Apostle like Paul!
• Morris Cerullo purports to have first met God at the tender age of eight. Since then his life has been one mind-blowing experience after another: he says he was taught by leading rabbis;(“God’s Faithful, Anointed Servant, Morris Cerullo” (promotional literature, on file).  led out of a Jewish orphanage by two angelic beings; (Cerullo, The Miracle Book, ix; and 7 Point Outreach — World Evangelism and You (pamphlet), 4.) transported to heaven for a face-to-face meeting with God;(Cerullo, The Miracle Book, xi.) and told he would be capable of revealing the future.  WHAT? NO WAY, he met God face to face and lived! 
• On the Something Good Tonight programs of Tuesday and Wednesday, October 26th and 27th, 2004, Oral Roberts related a second vision or conversation he allegedly had with God the Father recently. God supposedly revealed to Oral that the second coming of Jesus is delayed, and being blocked because of the indebtedness of God’s people, and by the fact that most of them are not returning a faithful tithe.  OH SNAP, Better give more money!  
• Benny Hinn posted on twitter stating: “I saw Jesus walk in my bed room”.  THAT IS HUGE!  He witnessed personally and literally the risen Lord and Savior, present in his bed room! 

Given the role of the offices of Prophet and Apostle, these men would then be Prophets and Apostles!  Thus, they write Holy Scripture, apart from the bible!  Or… at least that’s what the implications ARE for them to be true.  All someone has to do is listen to their broadcasts and at some point they will tell a story about how they have seen the risen Lord and quote from him in some form or fashion. 

If anyone says “The Lord told me…” and then they proceed to quote the Lord in their books or blogs, they are recording God’s Word, except its new, and not in God’s Word, the Bible.  If we compiled all those quotes from these type of people, we could generate the Word of Faith Prosperity Bible and we could all have the new additional words of god.  See, that’s the crux of it all.  If you believe that these people actually heard God speak to them, how can you pick and choose which modern ‘prophet’ is of God? 

TRUE OR NOT

Their claims are either true and thus carry with them the authority of God because, after all, they are his words right?  Or their claims are not the actual words of God and they are liars and deceivers, even if they believe their own claims.  People who believe these teachers MUST then believe that God’s real Word, the complete bible, can be added to and supplemented.    That is exactly what Kenneth Copeland, Cho, Paul Yonggi, Morris Cerullo, Oral Roberts, and all the others like them teach and DO.  That is a slippery slope that leads only one way.  Because, then, how could Word of Faith followers denounce Islam? or Mormonism?  or Jehovah’s Witnesses?

THE HYPOCRISY

As Word of Faith teachers continue to have more visions and prophetic utterances of God’s actual Words or messages from angels, it is then hypocritical to say that Muhammad, Joseph Smith, or Charles Russell are false prophets.  All of which claim special revelations from God and make claims of truth from God outside of the bible.  If they deny  Muhammad’s, Joseph Smith’s, or Charles Russell’s visions and prophecies than they are hypocrites, but if they accept them than they are in direct contradiction of what Jesus said in John 14:6.

THE IMPLICATIONS:

1. They are Prophets of God
2. They record God’s Words to them
3. They have witnessed the risen Lord and Savior
4. They are Apostles
5. They write Holy Scripture outside of The Bible.
6. The Bible is not sufficient. 
7. Muhammad, Joseph Smith, and Charles Russell must also be true

WHEN SOMEONE SAYS “THE LORD TOLD ME…”

When someone, anyone, claims that the Lord told them something, anything, we must ask them (1) how do they know Muhammad’s, Joseph Smith’s, or Charles Russell’s visions and prophecies aren’t from God either then.  When someone, anyone, claims that the Lord told them something, anything, we must ask them (2) why it was not recorded in the Bible and why they should not write an addition to the bible with those new revelations.  Yes the Bible does not specifically talk about Internet Pornography but we CAN understand how it is sin through what scripture has revealed.   We must also ask (3) why John’s written testimony in The Bible is not sufficient (see John 20:31).  We must ask why (4) all that was once delivered from the OT Prophets and NT Apostles is not enough (see Jude 1:3).  We must ask them WHY because we are called to!  To protect us from being deceived and believing a false teacher and false prophet.

Even if the prophetic utterance is so basic as to tell someone something personal like “God told me he wants you to be happy”.  We must ask why The Holy Spirit did not reveal that to them already through The Bible (Heb. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).  They even say things like “God wants you to walk up to someone in jeans and a blue shirt and speak blessings over them”.  The question is WHY you are not approaching people with the gospel to begin with as it has already been made know that it is your duty to as a follower of Jesus?  Secondly, the details like that, are so general that eventually, it will fulfill itself even if it was not from God.

If Scripture (The Bible) is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work, than what else is lacking?  That’s the point, God’s Word renders these additional revelations as pointless and unnecessary. 

THE OBVIOUS FAILURE:

The most obvious failure is that people who believe in the Word of Faith teachers do not KNOW God’s Word well enough to TRUST IT completely; if they need these guys to make them feel as though it is more complete.  They feel the need to hear these extra biblical messages because they are not satisfied with ALL that God has actually revealed in scripture already.  These Word of Faith teachers would not have such a large audience if the people of God truly sought God’s Word already.  But this could also be because it is a heart issue. 

THE HEART ISSUE:

The Word of Faith teachers justify themselves through their own teachings which justifies their lifestyles of self happiness and wealth.  Their audience desire the same thing.  Its natural.  They want to be happy in their lifestyles and desire wealth (blessings) as well.  Taking it deeper, the ultimate reasoning is to be like God; and some Word of Faith teachers are not scared to admit it.  The popular Word of Faith teachers even teach that they and their followers are like ‘little gods’ and thus can make themselves wealthy (blessed) because of their own divinity.  Kenneth Hagin has asserted, “man…was created on terms of equality with God, and he could stand in God’s presence without any consciousness of inferiority (which is a blatant lie given what is revealed in actual Holy Scripture Gen. 18:27; Isaiah 6:5; Rev. 1:17)…. He made us the same class of being that He is Himself…. He lived on terms equal with God…. The believer is called Christ, that’s who we are; we’re Christ” (which again is a blatant lie: Matthew 24:23) (Zoe: The God Kind of Life, pp. 35-36, 41).  Morris Cerillo says “the whole purpose of God was to reproduce Himself. …you’re not looking at Morris Cerillo, you’re looking at God, you’re looking at Jesus” (The End Time Manifestation of the Sons of God, Audio Tape 1, Sides 1 &;2).  Kenneth Copeland’s remarks, “You are not a spiritual schizophrenic — half-God and half-Satan — you are all-God”(Ibid., 16-17.) and “You don’t have a God in you; you are one, When I read in the Bible where God tells Moses, ‘I AM,’ I say, ‘Yah, I am too!‘”(This is straight up blasphemy! see Isaiah 45:5) (Kenneth Copeland, The Force of Love (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1987, audiotape #02-0028), side 1.).  Welp there it is.  THIS IS the very first temptation from Satan in Gen. 3:5.  First he distorts God’s Word, like the Word of Faith teachers do, and then he tells them they will “be like God”; exactly as the Word of Faith teachers say.  How ironic.  Yet, they have followers who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ who think they are like God and little gods.

Conclusion

When someone claims that God literally told them something; test it!  Do not automatically denounce it as false because who knows, maybe God did talk to them.  BUT do not automatically believe it either!  Do what The Holy Spirit instructs us to do and TEST them.  See TEST OF PROPHECIES page for Biblical ways to test and rightly judge what which is from God or not.  If we are to believe what they claim at face value, the implications are huge and can lead us to blaspheming God’s Holy name and truth and believe in heresies.

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A Different Gospel

There is an original and true Gospel message proclaimed by The Apostles.  Sense then, there have been attempts by others to add to it, change it, or preach something entirely different.  How do we know what is the true gospel and what is a different gospel?  That means we must first know what the true gospel is before we can discern a different one.  Everyone knows the most basic form but not everyone understands its supreme and ultimate value and meaning in relation to the identity of God himself.

We must only consider that which was taught from the beginning to the Apostles and from the Apostles.  Luke starts it off nicely:  “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, ² until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. ³ To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:1-3).  It is not just everything that Jesus taught pre-crucifixion but also all that he taught post-resurrection and before his ascension.   There are even things that Jesus said and did that were not recorded (John 20:30-31) but all that is written is enough for salvation (1 John 5:13).  Because The Bible is sufficient for salvation, there is nothing more that needs to be added; the Holy Spirit spoke this through John when writing the last letter of The Bible (Rev. 22:18-19; Deut. 4:2).  It is this faith that was once delivered from the Apostles and nothing after (Jude 3).  The early church only looked at the teachings from the Apostles and not teachings from any other sources (Acts 2:42).  That scripture alone is the foundation of faith (Ephesians 2:20) because it was the Apostles who were taught all things (John 14:26).  This is why the authority of the Apostles is so important in the message they proclaimed (2 Peter 3.2; Acts 5:2-4; 1 Cor. 14.37; Rom. 2.16; 1 Thess. 2.13; 2 Thess. 3.6).  Therefore if something else is preached, it is not of God (Gal. 1.8-9).  With all that said: WHAT is THE true gospel that the Apostles proclaimed?

In its most basic form, it is this: 

All people are sinners (Romans 3:23) and separated from the holy and righteous God (Isaiah 59:2).  Jesus Christ died for our sins.  He was buried and raised from the dead three days later.  He appeared to the disciples and over 500 other people (1 Cor. 15:3-8) before ascending to heaven (Acts 1:6-12) and has given us his righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21) and eternal life (John 3:16).  

But this simple presentation has some huge and serious implications.  Why did he have to die?  What is sin and why did he have to die for them?  Did he need to die, could I have died for my own sin, or someone else?   How did he rise from the dead, was he actually dead, did God die?  Why are the 3 days significant?  Digging deeper into the implications of the gospel leads those who seek truth to see the person and works of Jesus in the absolute most deepest way.  The value and purpose of his death leads to the greatest truth about God himself.  This is why teaching a different gospel is so dangerous.

Breaking down 1 Cor. 15:3-8 we can dive deeper into what the Apostles taught.

“that Christ died for our sins…”

Q: Who is this Christ the Apostles talk about?

The Incarnation of God in the flesh (John 1:1,14). Jesus’ per-existence in heaven as God the Son (John 1:1, 14, 5:18, 8:58; see Psalms 2:7; Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2). Jesus’ physical existence in the world as the incarnate Son of God. (1 John 4:2; 2 John 1:7; 1 Timothy 3:16; Matthew 1:23). Jesus’ physical actual virgin birth (Luke 1:26–31; Luke 2:7). Jesus has two distinct natures: (John 14:11; Philippians 2:6–8). Jesus’ Divine Nature as God the Son (Colossians 2:9). Sinless (Hebrews 4:15), One with God (John 10:30, John 14:8-9). Jesus’ human nature as Son of Man (Luke 2:40; John 19:28; Hebrews 2:17).

Jesus’ divine authority and nature (Hebrews 1:8, 10). Greater than angels (Hebrews 1:4–5) and worshiped by angels (Hebrews 1:6). Power over death (Matthew 9:24–25; Luke 24:36–39). Divine authority to forgive eternal sin (Matthew 9:6; see Psalm 103:2-3). Acceptance of Worship (Matthew 14:33). Omniscience (Matthew 24:1–2). Immutable (Hebrews 13:8; see Malachi 3:6). Creator (Colossians 1:16; John 1:3; see Isaiah 44:2; Genesis 1:1). First and the Last (Revelation 1:17; see Isaiah 41:4).

Q: What does ‘Christ’ mean?

Christ in greek means “anointed one” and “chosen one” and also means “Messiah” in Hebrew. The same “anointed one” that Daniel 9:25 prophesied about that was to come (also see Isaiah 61:1). Ancient Israel were expecting an anointed king to free them from Roman rule, but want Jesus accomplished was freedom from the rule of sin (Romans 6:18). Jesus Christ, the Messiah, thus saves us and frees us from our slavery and debt to sin.

“that Christ died for our sins, and that He was buried”

Q: How did he die and why?

Jesus’ physical crucifixion and bodily death on the cross (1 John 4:2; 2 John 1:7; John 19:28; Luke 23:46). Prophesied in the Old Testament (Isaiah 7:14; Psalm 2:7), Purposeful as part of God’s eternal divine plan of redemption (Romans 3:25). Jesus’ perfect atoning payment for sin on the cross. Paid for sin with the incarnated bodily of God in the flesh (Acts 20:28; 1 John 3:16). The Lamb of God (John 1:29). Perfectly Satisfied God (1 John 2:2; Hebrews 7:27). Was the substitutionary atonement for mans sin (Isaiah 53:5-6).

As slaves to sin we were unable to do good or come to God on our own (Romans 3:10-18; Hebrews 11:6) and sin is so offensive to a perfectly holy and righteous God, the cost of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Because we are sinners, it was God that had to act on our behalf (Romans 5:8). If one of us sacrificed ourselves for another, the debt of sin would remain (Romans 3:23). Jesus was sinless and the perfect sacrifice (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:5; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22). Thus Jesus alone was the only one able, who could pay for the price of all sin (1 Peter 1:18–19).

“…and that He was raised on the third day, and that He appeared to…” 

Q: Who raised him and why on the 3rd day? 

Jesus’ physically resurrection from bodily death 3 days later (Luke 24:13-43; John 20:19-31; John 21:1-25; 1 Corinthians 15:5-7).  Jesus foretells of his death and resurrection on the 3rd day (Matthew 12:39-40, 16:21; John 2:18-22, 10:17, 18) and that HE was going to raise himself.  The 3 day claim proves his exact words and validates his act which also correlates with the Jewish feasts.  Jesus was crucified during the Feast of Passover (Exo 12, Exo 13:6-8, Lev 23:5, Deut 16:3-8, Num 28:16), when lambs were sacrificed in the temple to pay for that year of sin for the people of Israel.  In Egypt, the people smeared the lambs blood over their house doors so that angel of death would pass over them.  Jesus was the Lamb of God for the world (1 Cor 5:7).  The third day was the Feast of First Fruits (Exo 34:25-26, Lev 23:10-14, – Late Passover Num 9:10-11) and Jesus was the First Fruits of the resurrection (1 Cor 15:20, 23, 2 Tim 2:6-8).  All these feasts were to point the people of Israel to recognize the Messiah when he arrived, and some did.

“…when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”

Q: Where did he go?

In Jesus’ glorified physical body, He literal ascension from earth to heaven as the Apostles watched (Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:6-12). He ascended and is sitting at the right hand of God the Father in heaven (Mark 16:19; Acts 7:55,56; Matthew 26:64; John 20:17; Ephesians 4:10)

the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received (1 Cor. 15:1-3)

Faith in the true gospel message, of the person and work of Jesus, is the most important message because it is life changing and eternal life (Romans 1:16, 6:23; John 3:16) that then produces good works (Acts 7:59; Ephesians 2:8-10; James 2:17-26; 2 Corinthians 5:17). This message, that brings salvation, is a free gift.

Jesus’ Gospel Presentation – John 3:16-18:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

The eternal creator of the universe selflessly acted on behalf of the world and sacrificed his only begotten Son so that whoever believes are given eternal life with God. God had to give himself because the world was perishing on their own.

We see that the gospel is the absolute basic form of the most powerful truth from God. The Gospel leads us to seek God deeper and deeper. When we study and investigate what The Apostles taught about the identity of Jesus we are then lead to profound truths of his truest identity. Jesus of Nazareth leads to Jesus the Christ, then leads to Jesus the Son of God, which then leads to Jesus, God The Son. The same is true with other aspects of the gospel. Recognition of Sin leads to our total depravity in sin, which then leads to the need for a savior. Teaching a different gospel, leads to different untrue beliefs.

Jesus of Nazareth -> Jesus Christ -> Son of God -> God The Son -> The Triune God
Sin -> Man needs a savior -> Only Jesus can -> God acts on behalf of Man -> Jesus saves Man

A DIFFERENT GOSPEL

In modern times, the Word of Faith teachers tend to change what is taught about the identity of Jesus and of sin.  That we can be like God, even little gods.  We can become sinless and speak things into existence.  These tweaks to the gospel message really turns everyone into their own type of Jesus Christ.  If their teachings are true, than Word of Faith followers should be able to forgive the sins of non believers and even sacrifice themselves to save the soul of non believers. Why not speak salvation for non believers into existence?  The Lamb of God essentially becomes irrelevant.  The identity of God The Son is belittled into nothing more than being like Adam and you and I.  While sin is diminished into something that can just be spoken away.  They do not hold to what was once passed down from the Apostles and instead rely on their own claimed visions and prophecies from God.  That means they can essentially write their own bible and call it God’s Word with all the new messages and teachings they receive that is not taught by the Apostles.  Different gospels look like this:

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Teaching	Start	leads to:	leads to:	leads to:	leads to:	absolute truth:
The Apostles	Jesus of Nazareth	Jesus The Christ	Jesus The Lamb of God	Jesus The Son of God	Jesus God The Son	The Triune God
Joyce Meyers	Jesus of Nazareth	Jesus The Christ	Jesus The Lamb of God	Jesus The Son of God	Jesus spiritually died in hell	Not God the Son or the Triune God
Adoptionism	Jesus of Nazareth	Jesus adopted by God	Jesus The Lamb of God	Jesus the adopted son of God	Jesus not the only begotten son of God	Not the eternal God The Son or the Triune God
Oneness Penticostalism	Jesus of Nazareth	Jesus The Christ	Jesus the Lamb of God	Jesus The Son of God	Jesus God The Son was just the 2nd mode of God	Not the unique God The Son and not the Triune God
Docetism	Jesus of Nazareth was an illusion	Jesus The Christ (illusion)	Jesus The Lamb of God (illusion) Actually a different person on the cross.	Jesus The Son of God (not actually present)	Jesus God The Son (not actually present)	No actual atonement for sin

When someone teaches something different than what was preached by the Apostles, is effects the absolute truth.   Just by inserting the slight idea that “Jesus died spiritually in hell” we must then conclude that he was not the eternal God the Son; because then he could not be eternal or God.  By teaching that God just reveals himself in three different modes, we must then conclude that there are not three distinct and unique persons that make up the Triune God.   By teaching that the person Jesus was merely adopted by God, we must then conclude that Jesus is not the eternal God The Son or a person of the Triune God.

These slight changes in teachings different from the gospel that was passed down by the Apostles builds off itself into other heretical doctrines and forms entirely new religions.  This is proven by Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Islam, and the gradual decline of Apostolic teachings in the Word of Faith movement.

How do Different Gospels Come About?

• The first major problem is the lack and ignorance of Church History.  Majority of these different gospel details have already been exposed and addressed by the early church.  Read the early church writings at https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.i.html
• The second major problem is the lack and ignorance of proper biblical understanding and interpretation.  
• The third major problem is that a majority of these teachers fail to understand their own natural inclination to be like God.  Thus, their different gospel details reflect that.  Some even openly admit it and are proud of it.

Are Those Who Deny Jesus as God The Son saved?

First, it is important to point out that I or anyone do not need to judge the hearts and souls of anyone.  We do not have to because it has been done already (John 3:18; Romans 1:18-32).   So when I say that someone is not saved because of their disbelief in the true gospel message, I am not judging anyone but only agreeing with the judgement God that has already made known by him. 

It is critically important to note that Paul made it a priority to make sure his hearers currently understood the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-3) when he reiterates it again and again in detail for them.  Because believing the TRUE gospel is salvation; thus believing in a false gospel is NOT salvation.  Now in regards to the gospel detail about Jesus, God The Son:

A majority of heresies to not make it to this truth about Jesus. They will believe that Jesus was a man, a prophet of God, who died for sin. But at the truth of Jesus being the Only Begotten Son of God they fail to understand. This then makes it impossible for them to see him as God The Son. To deny Jesus as the eternal Son of God one must ask do they then even know God? Jesus himself felt it was important to speak about and the Apostles, lead by the Holy Spirit, felt it was important to record in their gospels. Sense Jesus and the Apostles through the Holy Spirit declare his eternal existence and relation in nature to God; anyone who denies this, how can they say they know God? Because Jesus IS God The Son; they can not really know God because they are denying who he is. Jesus states: “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:33). They are denying God The Son. The Holy Spirit hits it on the head when he has John record this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1,14).  Thus we can see as God makes known, that they do not know God.  They may claim to know him, but he wont (Matthew 7:23).  And those who do not know God, are?  Not saved.  BUT we also DO NOT claim to know God’s will for them either.  In God’s divine will, the Holy Spirit may convict them of this, draw them to God the Father, learn of Jesus truest identity, and come to be saved by believing in the true gospel!  We all can hope and pray for this. 

The issue is that just about any subtle change in the gospel details has huge effects on the absolute divine truth.  It can lead people into believing a lie or believing in the true Triune God and eternal life with him.  ANY different teaching added to and injected into the true gospel makes it a different gospel.  And a different gospel does not lead to salvation.

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Are There Prophets Today?

Much like Apostles, there is the Office of The Prophet and gifts of prophecy; two separate things.  We know both existed and used in the days of The Bible but did they continue on after all the Apostles of Christ died?  The word itself, prophecy can mean various things.  We need to see the biblical definitions and uses of the word, then analyze the character of its use in scripture, research church history and compare with modern claims.

The Office of Prophet

We can peice together the bibical definition of the Office of Prophet in the information put forth in Exodus 6:28-7:2, Numbers 12:1-8, and Deuteronomy 18:9-22.  These verses make it clear that The Prophet is one who is chosen by God and speaks forth the message to people which God has revealed to him. Forthtelling and foretelling are two different types of messages.  The later is less frequent.  Forthtelling involved insight into the will of God; it was exhortative, challenging men to obey. On the other hand, foretelling entailed foresight into the plan of God; it was predictive, either encouraging the righteous in view of God’s promises or warning in view of coming judgment.  The divinely chosen person would be charged with God’s message, proclaimed it in oral, visual, or written form to the people on God’s behalf.   It was their duty to admonish, reprove, denounce sin, threaten with the terrors of judgment, call to repentance, and bring consolation and pardon (Jonah 3:4).   Predicting the future was never intended merely to satisfy man’s curiosity, but was designed to demonstrate that God knows and controls the future, and to give purposeful revelation. The prediction given by a true prophet would be visibly fulfilled.

Old Testament History of Prophets

Now considering the historical perspective of this Office, it was rare.   Noah was technically the first Prophet post Adam.  God spoke directly to him and he attempted to relay the warnings of the coming judgement to the people of the world; but of course they didn’t listen to him.  Him as prophet was validated by God flood.  Then God spoke directly to Abraham and the was validated by God faithfully proving what he had revealed to Abraham (Genesis 12:2–3).  Next was Jacob, whom God spoke to in visions and later foretold the future that also was faithfully validated (Genesis 49).  Then there was Joseph which God spoke to him through visions of the future and allowed him to interpret dreams (Genesis 37, 40, 41).  Then there is Moses.  No doubt God spoke to him directly and validated him as a Prophet.  God even made his brother, Aaron, a Prophet, and mouth peice of Moses (Exodus 7:1–7).  Moses’ sister was also revealed to be a Prophet but nothing is recorded of what she declared besides the fact that eventually, her and Aaron spoke out of their own accord and not of God (Numbers 12).  The office of Prophet was temporarily given to The seventy elders of Israel during Moses’ time as well (Numbers 11:25).  Got not only allows people to temporarily fill the office but also allowed for evil men to be Prophets as well.  Balaam was such a prophet (Numbers 22–24) who’s sin Jude warns about (Jude 1:11).  After Moses died, Joshua took over and God spoke to him and validated him as well (Joshua 1:1–9).  Then came Deborah, the only recorded female judge of Israel (Judges 4:4).  In Judges 4:6–7, Deborah either passed on God’s message to the military commander Barak or enforced it; in Judges 4:9, she related a prophecy of future events.  Then came Samuel.  Samuel received his first message from God in 1 Samuel 3:4 when he was a small boy. He spent his life as God’s messenger; two of his most significant acts were anointing Saul (1 Samuel 9) and David (1 Samuel 1:13) to be king. Samuel’s words of God’s wisdom to Saul went mostly unheeded, and Samuel even returned from the grave to announce God’s punishment for Saul’s disobedience (1 Samuel 28:15–19). Again, another instance where God called another seventy prophets (1 Samuel 10:10).  Gad was a prophet to received a message from God to give to David (1 Samuel 22:5). Nathan seems to have been David’s primary link to God’s words. In 2 Samuel 7:4–17, Nathan told David that Solomon would build the temple. In 2 Samuel 12:1–15, Nathan rebuked David for committing adultery with Bathsheba and killing her husband.  God spoke to King David revealing details about the coming Messiah (Psalm 8; 22; 110).  The Tabernacle musicians in First Chronicles 25:1–7 who were appointed by King David prophesied through their music.  In 1 Kings 3, God asked Solomon in a dream if there was anything Solomon would like from Him. Solomon chose wisdom.   Elijah was probably the most significant prophet who didn’t write his own book. He proclaimed God’s word in the northern kingdom of Israel at the time of the evil King Ahab. It was he who ensured a widow was always supplied with oil and flour (1 Kings 17:8–16), who had a showdown with the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:17–40), and who was strengthened by God’s still voice in his fatigue and depression (2 Kings 2:1–11). At the end of his life, a chariot of fire took him to heaven, and his mantle fell to Elisha as his successor (2 Kings 2:1–12).  Ahab had four hundred false prophets who told them God was with them, but Jehoshaphat insisted on a prophet who actually heard from God. Ahab knew of one, but was reluctant to call him, since he never had anything good to say. Micaiah revealed that God had sent a lying spirit to the four hundred prophets in order to lure Ahab to his death. Ahab went to battle anyway and was struck and killed by a random arrow (1 Kings 22:13–28).  Elisha was Elijah’s successor and the second-most important prophet without a book. He spent seven or eight years as Elijah’s apprentice before Elijah was taken to heaven. He then helped wipe out organized Baal worship (2 Kings 10:28), brought a widow’s son back to life (2 Kings 4:18–37), and cured Naaman’s leprosy (2 Kings 5). His power and authority through God was so great that, when a dead man was thrown into Elisha’s grave, the man sprang back to life (2 Kings 13:2–21).   After Judah’s crops were obliterated by a swarm of locusts, Joel compared the devastation to what God would do if the people didn’t return to Him. Joel also predicted the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Joel 2:28; cf. Acts 2:16–21).  Amos was a Judean shepherd who was tasked with prophesying against Israel. His warnings were ignored, and Israel was taken into captivity by Assyria some time later.  God had Hosea marry a prostitute who remained unfaithful after they married. To show how God longed to forgive His people, He told Hosea to take Gomer back. In addition to the message to Israel of God’s faithfulness, Hosea includes a prophecy that Gentiles would one day follow God (Hosea 2:23).  Isaiah holds the record for being the prophet who is most quoted in the New Testament. He was an advisor to King Hezekiah of Judah but also had to walk barefoot and naked for three years as a portent against Egypt and Cush. His book contains prophecies of Jesus and John the Baptist, and Jesus used Isaiah 61:1–2 to begin His ministry in Nazareth. It’s possible that Isaiah was also a priest (Isaiah 6:4).  Micah served as a prophet during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah. His message mixed condemnation of sin with the promise of the coming Messiah. His book contains the only mention of Bethlehem as the place of the Messiah’s birth.  Jeremiah was one of the last prophets of the Kingdom of Judah and watched helplessly as it was picked apart by the Babylonians. Known as “the weeping prophet” because of how his words from God affected him, Jeremiah also gave the people a word of hope that they would return from captivity in 70 years. His counsel to submit to God’s judgment was ignored, and he was eventually taken to Egypt with the remnant of the royal family (2 Kings 25:26). Jeremiah also wrote the book of Lamentations, a lament for the fall of Jerusalem.   Habakkuk covered a lot of ground in such a short book. He prophesied Assyria’s fall, the Babylonian exile, and the future victory of the Persians. His prophecies were revealed in the context of a conversation with God, wherein Habakkuk asked God questions, and God responded.  In the visions and angelic encounters of Daniel 7–12, Daniel revealed more about the end times than any other book besides Revelation.  Ezekiel’s book of prophecy appears somewhat psychedelic, with its strange visions. Ezekiel was a priest exiled to Babylon in the second wave of deportations and relayed God’s judgment to the rebellious people. He also made several prophesies about the future, including the coming of Jesus, the New Jerusalem (Ezekiel 48:30–35), and the millennial kingdom (Ezekiel 44). Ezekiel was one of the few prophets who eagerly spread God’s message no matter what the resistance he encountered—although that may have been because God told him if he didn’t prophesy he would be held accountable for the souls of those he didn’t warn (Ezekiel 33).   Malachi was the last prophet to prophecy in Israel until an angel visited Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. As such, Malachi’s message was a call to obedience and a promise of the coming Messiah. Following Malachi’s oracle were 400 years of divine silence.  Not every single person who heard from God is named here but given the population of the world over these thousands of years, a Prophet of God was very rare. [1]

In the New Testament, there are only 24 named Prophets of God or gifted with prophesy and 4 named false prophets.  Given the early church history; the 12 Apostles, 70 disciples, 500 eye witnesses of Jesus, and thousands of people who came to faith at Pentecost and thousands more during the ministries of the early church; again, a Prophet of God in the early church was also rare.

Now considering the history from Noah, all the way to John, there were only a couple hundred prophets in scripture over the thousands of years.  The Office of The Prophet was every exclusive and rare; even after The Holy Spirit descended upon the church.

Did The Office of Prophet Continue?

In Ephesians 4:11 Paul notes the designations of Apostles and Prophets.  Some jump to the conclusion that because he notes this after Pentecost that this must mean they continued.  But considering the history and time of his statement, we see that many of the Apostles and Prophets in the NT were still alive; thus the chosen office holders were still alive, still holding the office.  Those positions were still in present tense at the time of his writing. This does not say anyone will be following after them.  Also, The Office of Prophet is not the same as the gift of prophecy.

The Gift of Prophecy 

Paul then explains how the gift is different from the office.  In 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 he addresses the gift.  1 Corinthians 12:3 opens up and states “…no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.”  Does this then make every professing Christian hold the office of Prophet?  No.  He then reveals the ‘gift’ rather than the office when he states “Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit.” in the next verse.  1 Corinthians 12:10 notes the gift of prophecy which is more specific and different than just professing simply Jesus is Lord.  In 1 Corinthians 14:1-3 he elaborates on this gift.  “Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy. ² For the person who speaks in another language is not speaking to men but to God, since no one understands him; however, he speaks mysteries in the Spirit. ³ But the person who prophesies speaks to people for edification, encouragement, and consolation.”  He then continues “I wish all of you spoke in other languages, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in languages, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.“.  Why is this kind of prophecy greater than speaking and interpreting languages?  He then goes in into 1 Corinthians 12:22-25 “But prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³ Therefore, if the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in other languages and people who are uninformed or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds? ²⁴ But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or uninformed person comes in, he is convicted by all and is judged by all. ²⁵ The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.”.  The big question here WHAT is being prophesied and what makes it greater than being able to translate and speak other langauges?  We see that The Prophets spoke the word of God to the people.  Paul declares in 2 Timothy 3:16 that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness“.  Hebrews 4:12 declares “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.“.  

And there it is.  The Gift of Prophecy declares The Word of God; and THAT is greater than knowing more than one language.  The Word of God is for believers in that it teaches, rebukes, corrects, and trains in righteousness.  The Word of God convicts and judges the hearts of unbelievers and when it penetrates their soul, they fall facedown and worship God!  REMEMBER the time period.  In most cases, during this time, not all the writings of the New Testament have been written.  The Apostles did a lot of traveling and were not always present at the churches.   How then did these early churches hear God’s Word?  Through those who were gifted with prophecy in the absence of The Apostles.  Just as in the Old Testament, those who were gifted with prophecy could also be validated by those whom were gifted with miracles and healing; just as the Apostles themselves were validated.  This is why the gift of prophecy existed in the early church, during the time of the Apostles as Paul noted.  The big question is: 

Where there gifts of prophecy in the church post-apostolic age?  

Again, we must take into consideration the time.  By that time, after John, all the Apostles wrote Holy Scripture.   We can then look at the writings of the generations of the disciples of the Apostles to see if they record a continuance of the gift of prophecy.  Clement of Rome, appointed by Peter and disciple of John wrote pointing to the previous writings as his authority and did not exorcise any gift of prophecy.  Papias of Hierapolis, a disciple of John and friend of Polycarp who was also a disciple of John also did not note any continuance of the gift.  Ignatius of Antioch, appointed by Peter and a disciple of John, who was also friends with Polycarp does not note a continuance of the gift.  Polycarp of Smyrna, a friend of Papias and Ignatius, and disciple of John also does not in any of his writings note a continuance of the gift.  Irenaeus of Lyon, who was a disciple of Polycarp wrote extensively against heresies in his day, always referred back to what had been written by The Apostles and does not note any true continuance of the gift.

Irenaeus does however give an account of a Marcus who claims to prophesy.  It is very interesting how this self proclaimed prophet teaches another woman to prophesy, because it sounds very familiar to the efforts of Word of Faith and Charismatic people now.  “It appears probable enough that this man possesses a demon as his familiar spirit, by means of whom he seems able to prophesy, and also enables as many as he counts worthy to be partakers of his Charis themselves to prophesy… he frequently seeks to draw after him, by addressing them in such seductive words as these: “I am eager to make thee a partaker of my Charis, since the Father of all doth continually behold thy angel before His face. Now the place of thy angel is among us: it behoves us to become one. Receive first from me and by me [the gift of] Charis. Adorn thyself as a bride who is expecting her bridegroom, that thou mayest be what I am, and I what thou art. Establish the germ of light in thy nuptial chamber. Receive from me a spouse, and become receptive of him, while thou art received by him. Behold Charis has descended upon thee; open thy mouth and prophesy.” On the woman replying, “I have never at any time prophesied, nor do I know how to prophesy;” then engaging, for the second time, in certain invocations, so as to astound his deluded victim, he says to her, “Open thy mouth, speak whatsoever occurs to thee, and thou shalt prophesy.” She then, vainly puffed up and elated by these words, and greatly excited in soul by the expectation that it is herself who is to prophesy, her heart beating violently [from emotion], reaches the requisite pitch of audacity, and idly as well as impudently utters some nonsense as it happens to occur to her, such as might be expected from one heated by an empty spirit. (Referring to this, one superior to me has observed, that the soul is both audacious and impudent when heated with empty air.) Henceforth she reckons herself a prophetess, and expresses her thanks to Marcus for having imparted to her of his own Charis. She then makes the effort to reward him, not only by the gift of her possessions (in which way he has collected a very large fortune), but also by yielding up to him her person, desiring in every way to be united to him, that she may become altogether one with him.” (Against Heresies: Book I, Chapter XIII).

How does Irenaeus know that this prophet and the gift of prophecy is false?  He is dedicated to the teachings of the Apostles “read with earnest care that Gospel which has been conveyed to us by the apostles, and read with earnest care the prophets, and you will find that the whole conduct, and all the doctrine, and all the sufferings of our Lord, were predicted through them.”  (Against Heresies: Book IV, Chapter XXXIV)

In 314AD, Miltiades, bishiop of Rome, wrote about the Montanist movement and their inability to validate their claims.  He paraphrases their claims: “For if after Quadratus and Ammia in Philadelphia, as they assert, the women with Montanus received the prophetic gift, let them show who among them received it from Montanus and the women. [they claim] For the apostle thought it necessary that the prophetic gift should continue in all the Church until the final coming. But they cannot show it [in scripture], though this is the fourteenth year since the death of Maximilla.”  Only 14 years after one of Montanist’s prophetess passes away and they still can not validate their claims.   Eusebius then adds “Miltiades to whom he refers has left other monuments of his own zeal for the Divine Scriptures“.  Miltiades is focused on scripture and seeks to only validate claims through divine scripture; of which Montanist’s can not.

The early church tests the prophets of Montanus of the mid 2nd centery and expose it.  Eusebius records Apollonius’ writings of the 2nd century refuting them.  It is again ironic, how it seems as though he is describing the Word of Faith movement now.  He is quoted “[Montanus] to be making additions to the doctrines or precepts of the Gospel of the New Testament, which it is impossible for one who has chosen to live according to the Gospel, either to increase or to diminish.“

Already knowing Holy Scripture, Apollonius points out that these new prophets are “making additions” to the gospel.  Something Paul and John both warned about (Galatians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 11:4; Rev. 22:19).

 “... he [Montanus] became beside himself, and being suddenly in a sort of frenzy and ecstasy, he raved, and began to babble and utter strange things, prophesying in a manner contrary to the constant custom of the Church handed down by tradition from the beginning… Some of those who heard his spurious utterances at that time were indignant, and they rebuked him as one that was possessed, and that was under the control of a demon, and was led by a deceitful spirit, and was distracting the multitude; and they forbade him to talk, remembering the distinction drawn by the Lord and his warning to guard watchfully against the coming of false prophets. But others imagining themselves possessed of the Holy Spirit and of a prophetic gift, were elated and not a little puffed up; and forgetting the distinction of the Lord, they challenged the mad and insidious and seducing spirit, and were cheated and deceived by him… secretly excited and inflamed their understandings which had already become estranged from the true faith… and filled them with the false spirit, so that they talked wildly and unreasonably and strangely, like the person already mentioned….“

Very interesting how these prophets, who violate what the Apostles taught, act like those who claim to be “slain in the spirit” or how they phrase ‘in the spirit’ now.  The church even met to consider their claims and actions to determine if they are in fact true or not.  When tested against Holy Scripture, it is easy to determine that they were not, but false prophets.

For the faithful in Asia met often in many places throughout Asia to consider this matter, and examined the novel utterances and pronounced them profane, and rejected the heresy…

Just as Paul encouraged (Acts 17:11) and John required (1 John 4:1).  They remained faithful the Word of God and rightly judged these prophets as heretics.

His [Montanus] actions and his teaching show who this new teacher is. This is he who taught the dissolution of marriage; who made laws for fasting; who named Pepuza and Tymion, small towns in Phrygia, Jerusalem, wishing to gather people to them from all directions; who appointed collectors of money; who contrived the receiving of gifts under the name of offerings; who provided salaries for those who preached his doctrine, that its teaching might prevail through gluttony… We show that these first prophetesses themselves, as soon as they were filled with the Spirit, abandoned their husbands…Does not all Scripture seem to you to forbid a prophet to receive gifts and money? When therefore I see the prophetess receiving gold and silver and costly garments, how can I avoid reproving her?…For although the Lord said, ‘Provide neither gold, nor silver, neither two coats,’(Matthew 10:9) these men, in complete opposition, transgress in respect to the possession of the forbidden things.  For we will show that those whom they call prophets and martyrs gather their gain not only from rich men, but also from the poor, and orphans, and widows…But if they are confident, let them stand up and discuss these matters, that if convicted they may hereafter cease transgressing. For the fruits of the prophet must be tried; ‘for the tree is known by its fruit.’ (Luke 6:43-45)… Exposing him, through him we expose also the pretense of the prophet [Montanus]. We could show the same thing of many others. But if they are confident, let them endure the test… when Maximilla was pretending to prophesy in Pepuza, resisted her and endeavored to refute the spirit that was working in her; but was prevented by those who agreed with her.” (Book V). 

Is it ironic that the Word of Faith movement and the Prosperity Gospel seem to go hand and hand?  Interestingly here, we see the same thing, only 1,830 years earlier.  What the Word of Faith and prosperity teachers claim now, is nothing new.  They claim to see visions, prophesy, and ask for monetary blessings as they live in mansions, wear expensive clothing, drive luxury cars, and brag about owning private jets and luxury boats.  All the while misquote, twist, and add to Holy Scripture and profit off of doing so.

There are two extremely important factors here: (1) None of the disciples of the apostles, and their disciples, note the real continuation of the gift of prophecy, and (2) those who did claim be gifted with prophecy after the apostolic age fail when tested against Holy Scripture.  We CAN come to the conclusion that the gift of prophecy was not existent in the same fashion from the Apostles after they passed.  And that is just a fact of early church History.

It is CRITICAL to note what Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.“

He also states in Matthew 24:11,24:

“and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.… False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”

Even Deuteronomy 13:1-3 makes known that false prophets can give signs and wonders THAT CAN COME TRUE.  That still does not make them a true prophet of God though.  A True prophet is seen in the message.  They make know the Will and Word’s of God that will NEVER contradict each other or purposefully lead anyone to idolize anything.  Their message is supremely the Glory of God alone and no other Gospel than the one the Apostles preached.

CAN There be a gifted prophet in our time?

All the discussion above is about history up to this point.  CAN God gift someone prophecy ? OF COURSE! God does as he pleases for his divine will.  Can a missionary go to a far away land where there is no source of scripture, and boom, the Holy Spirit grants him the gift of prophecy to deliver to them God’s Word?  OF COURSE!   The issue at hand is, are there CURRENT prophets or people who have the gift of prophesy?  Given the scriptural and historical evidences and testing the claims of popular modern teachers who claim it; not so far.  Current Prophets and those who have claimed the gift of prophesy have been nothing more than modern Montanists who either add to God’s Word and/or flat out contradict it.  Who knows, there very well may be very humble faithful believers who are gifted with prophesy who are not widely known.

What About Acts 2:17-18?

“In the last days, God said, ‘I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.‘”  This is a fun verse that Word of Faith and Charismatic people love to point to.  Here, Peter is quoting from Joel 2:28-32.  Keep in mind, prophesying can mean simply proclaiming God’s truths.  Notice after quoting Joel, Peter then gives them the Gospel message.  A message that can not be believed without having the The Holy Spirit in you.  So, God pours out his spirit and empowers anyone to receive and believe the gospel message, then, enabling them to prophesy the truth of the gospel message.  The Apostles and all the disciples were doing signs and wonders that validated their prophesying this gospel message; just as Joel stated hundreds of years before.  In the FULL CONTEXT of Acts 2:14-41, we see that Peter is pointing out that the time that Joel is predicting is for their age (“in those days”) in history and does not say “for the rest of history” or “in all the days to come” or “until the end of the age”.  Do not forget that preaching the gospel message, is, in a simple sense, prophesying.  It would be wrong to read into what is not said.  Peter and Joel do not say this continues but it also does not say it will stop.  It DOES however say that “in those days” of Peter, the Spirit pours out on “all people” (Jews and gentiles) and they will prophesy;  exactly as recorded in Acts and in the age of the Apostles.  Using this verse to justify modern day prophesy is dishonest and implying what is not stated. 

Conclusion

The Office of Prophet is chosen by God, ordained by God, in direct communication with God, the claims are in harmony with God, and validated by God.  The gift of prophecy was given by The Holy Spirit to those to proclaim God’s Word in the absence of the Apostles before the completion of Holy Scripture.  After the passing of all the Apostles, there is no evidence outside of scripture of any Disciple of an Apostle or their disciples, in their own writings, prophesying or stating the continuation of the gift or office.  Any claim or attempted of post-apostolic prophesy has been disproven by the false prophets own contradictory claims or their contradictions of God’s Word.  It is a historical and modern fact that the gift or prophesy does not exist the same way it did in the age of Apostles; or at least the known self proclaimed gifted prophets are not the same.  However, God, if he so chooses, could grant anyone at any time the gift.  Proof of the true gift is the prophesies faithfulness to all that God has already declared and consistency within itself.  There may be true gifted prophets out in the world but the ones on TV selling New York Times Best Sellers books are nothing more than modern Montanists for the digital age.

Because we can not state that the gift of prophesy has fully and completely ceased or that God will never gift it in the future, here is a biblical test to determine if prophetic claims are of God – The Eight point Prophecy Test

1.  https://www.gotquestions.org/prophets-in-the-Bible.html

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When An Angel Teaches A Different Gospel

Since the foundation of the Church, there have been many claims of supposed truth that has come down from heaven after what Jesus, and The Apostles of Jesus have made known in scripture.  Three most notable is what founded Islam, Mormonism, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.  All of these claim an Angel revealed something to their founders, different from the gospel that was proclaimed in scripture; either attempting to correct or add to it.  But, interestingly, The Holy Spirit knew this would happen and thus specifically said something about it.

Galatians 1:6-9

“I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; ⁷ which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! ⁹ As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” 

Papyrus 46 is the oldest manuscript of Galatians currently discovered.  It is dated around the end of the 2nd century.  It contains significant portions of Galatians.  With it is Romans, Hebrews, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, and possibly others.  The reliability of this is unquestionable.  It is important to note the date and relation Galatians has with the other scriptures discovered with it.  Though the original was written before this manuscript, the date of this specific manuscript is only two of three generations from Jesus himself. Secondly, it is also in agreement with all that which is revealed in the other letters discovered with it.  This is important later.

People, at the time of this writing, were ‘deserting’ the true gospel message preached by the Apostles to a ‘different’, ‘distorted’, and ‘contrary’ gospel.  The source of the ‘different’, ‘distorted’, and ‘contrary’ gospels came either from men or even spirits.  The Holy Spirit, through Paul, declares that even if the Apostles themselves begin distorting the original gospel preached, they are wrong.  Even if an Angel from heaven came and taught a distorted gospel, they are also wrong.  In other words, there is no other gospel no matter the source; natural (men) or supernatural (spirits) besides the original gospel that was first proclaimed.

The True Gospel

This is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ which includes the person and work of Jesus.  Jesus, The Son of God and God Himself, willingly, humbly, and voluntarily came down from heaven, to be born of a virgin, lived a perfect sinless life, and was the perfect sacrificial lamb to once and for all atone for the sins of all those who believe.  He then rose from the dead three days later validating his power over death and the power as the source of eternal life.  This is The Gospel message proclaimed by Jesus and The Apostles.   But, as time went on, human nature lead some to teaching something different, distorted, and contrary to this.

Gnosticism

This is a general term given to different early teachings.  Some of these early ideas are still apparent in cults and other religions today.  There are similar ideas in all these teachings.  They deny the foundational aspects of The Gospel message: The sufficiency of scripture, the incarnation of God as The Son and the sufficiency of Jesus death on the cross.  Some even deny the death of Jesus on the cross all together.  These Gnostics claimed that the source for their teachings came from divine sources and heightened states of spiritual awareness.  When people fail to understand and believe Galatians 1:6-9, their hearts and minds are open to just about any claim.

Islam

Around 610AD Mohammed, in a cave on Mt. Hira, hears the an angel who he believes to be Gabriel tell him that Allah is the only true God.  Right off the bat, this conflicts with what The Holy Spirit made known 500 years earlier (Galatians 1:8).  This belief system is different and contrary to what which was made known by Jesus and the Apostles.  It denies that Jesus was the Son of God and God in the flesh.  It denies that Jesus even died on the cross.  It denies Jesus’ sufficient atoning death for sin and denies the sufficiency of scripture.  In 746AD John of Damascus wrote about the claims of Islam where he said that Mohammad’s ideas of what Christianity believed derived from an Arian monk; of which Arianism is a distortion of the The Gospel as well.  Not only would Mohammad’s understanding of Christianity be influenced by a distorted gospel to begin with, but he then created his own system from there.  Regardless, at the premise, the birth of Islam conflicts with Galatians 1:8.  Either Galatians is false, or Muhammad’s teaching of a ‘different’, ‘distorted’, and ‘contrary’ gospel is false, both can not be true.

Mormonism

On Sept. 21, 1823 an angel revealed to Joseph Smith of the location of golden tablets and told him that he had been chosen to translate the book of Mormon.  The book of Mormon created an entire new system of religious beliefs that splintered off from Christianity.  A basic problem of the book of Mormon is that there are no archeological evidences to support any of its extreme historical claims.  Mormonism denies that Jesus is the One Triune God, in fact, Mormonism teaches that there is more than one god.  They deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus and the sufficiency of his death to forgive all sins once and for all.  They also deny the sufficiency of scripture alone and require other divine writings to aid in ‘correctly’ interpreting scripture.  Just like in Muhammad’s situation, Either Galatians is false, or Mormonism’s teaching of a ‘different’, ‘distorted’, and ‘contrary’ gospel is false, both can not be true.

The Easy Way Out

When an unverifiable person jumps up and declares that he has been given a vision or told by an angel to write a divine writing; it is then easy for them to explain away any true contradictions with scripture.  In the case with Galatians, it is then easy to say something like “God isn’t talk about me, but others after me”.  Or, even, claim that Galatians is a corruption of the original.  And people have no choice but to accept this unverifiable claim.  The major difference between Muhammad, Joseph Smith, and others who make this argument is that God never actually verified their claim for others to see.  Muhammad never performed any miracles and his prophecies failed.  Joseph Smith never performed any visible verifiable miracles.  The prophecies of the Jehovha’s Witnesses are continually failed and have been re-explained and failed again.  The Apostles were healing the blind and crippled and raising the dead to life.  Aside from the biblical recorded accounts, early church teacher, Papias, validated this as he knew of people who were raised from the dead in his day.  Membership growth and wining Wars do not validate someone’s spiritual truth claim.  Atheist church membership is growing and atheists have caused and won many wars.  Declaring “I will raise myself from the dead three days after I die” and then doing just that is validation. Declaring that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, then raising people from the dead is validating the source of power.  Anyone can claim that Galatians is wrong.  A 12 year old can just make that sort of claim just to reject the authority and justify themselves, but again, that does not make is so.  Its easy to make any claim, deny facts, and avoid being verifiable.

Not a Forgery 

So how do we know that Galatians is not a later forgery with the name of Paul as the author later inserted?  Well, its quite simple actually.  We just compare the vocabulary, writing style, theological point of view, cultural first hand knowledge, and presupposed historical situation to all the other Pauline writings.  Clement of Rome (and other early ancient church teachers) quoted from Romans and he wrote around 90 AD.  So we have outside sources to validate Paul’s Letter to the Romans.  When comparing such validated letters we see the commonalities of the letters from one author style.  Such is with Galatians, it is the same in vocabulary, writing style, theological point of view, and presupposed historical situation as the other validated Pauline writings.  Now of course no one now saw Paul pen the letters first hand; just like all other ancient writings, yet, given the evidences, we can be certain that this letter is in fact from Paul.  Even in Islam, Muhammad never wrote anything;  Joseph Smith never showed the supposed Gold Tablets to anyone; Jehovah’s Witnesses only have the unverifiable claims (and failed prophecies) of their founders.

This is a major problem for Islam, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.  They are forced to claim that the words in Galatians are not of Paul but must be later insertions and corruptions.  They are forced to go against the certainty of evidence support for the authenticity of Galatians.  Because if they admit the truth of Galatians, they are then exposed to the truth stated by Paul in Galatians 1:6-9.  So, of course, they take the easy way out and just flat out deny it.

Conclusion

Sense we can be certain that Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ validated by the other Apostles (Galatians 1:18-19, 2:9; Acts 9:26-29), wrote Galatians and a copy exists from the 2nd century we can conclude that his statement in Galatians 1:6-9 is from an Apostle of Jesus Christ validated by the other Apostles.  Therefore, the Apostolic statement must be true.  That if anyone and even an angel preaches a different gospel message, it is wrong.  Islam, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses do just that, preach a different gospel from other angels.  But unlike them, he is validated by Apostolic support and miracles through preaching the true gospel and declaring Jesus as Christ and eternal Son of God.  Sense Galatians 1:6-9 is true, the claims of Islam, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses can not be.

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Muhammad, a Prophet of God?

When a person is chosen by God to be God’s Prophet to the people they have unique characteristics that support their claims.  There are 4 key elements that reveal a true Prophet of God which can be used to test and see if this individual is from God.  Was Muhammad a true Prophet of God?

1. The individual chosen for this task makes it the absolute priority in their purpose (Jeremiah 1:5-10; Amos 7:14, 15; Isaiah 6:1-10).  
2. God does not lie or contradict himself.  Thus a Prophet of God would not bring false or contradictory messages from God (Isaiah 8:19, 20).  
3. God is supreme and sovereign in the message given and the individual knows for sure it is from God and they know God.  God makes himself known (Numbers 12:6).
4. Messages about the future and of what God will do, will happen how it was revealed it would (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).

It is true that Muhammad made his prophetship a priority.   For 23 years he revealed messages that he claimed was from God.  But this element alone does not prove that he was.  We must also consider all the key elements of a Prophet together.  Because anyone can devote their whole life and even sacrifice their lives for something the believe to be true- even if it is actually untrue. 

Element 2 reveals a major problem for Muhammad.

“Now the apostle was anxious for the welfare of his people, wishing to attract them as far as he could. . . . When the apostle saw that his people turned their backs on him and he was pained by their estrangement from what he brought them from God he longed that there should come to him from God a message that would reconcile his people to him. Because of his love for his people and his anxiety over them it would delight him if the obstacle that made his task so difficult could be removed. . . . Then God sent down “By the star when it sets your comrade errs not and is not deceived, he speaks not from his own desire,” and when he reached His words “Have you thought of al-Lat and al-Uzza and Manat the third, the other”, Satan, when he was meditating upon it, and desiring to bring it to his people, put upon his tongue “these are the exalted Gharaniq [Numidian cranes] whose intercession is approved.” When the Quraysh heard that, they were delighted and greatly pleased at the way in which he spoke of their gods and they listened to him; while the believers were holding that what their prophet brought them from their Lord was true, not suspecting a mistake or a vain desire or a slip, and when he reached the prostration and the end of the Sura in which he prostrated himself the Muslims prostrated themselves when their prophet prostrated confirming what he brought and obeying his command, and the polytheists of Quraysh and others who were in the mosque prostrated when they heard the mention of their gods, so that everyone in the mosque believer and unbeliever prostrated . . . Then the people dispersed and the Quraysh went out, delighted at what had been said about their gods, saying, “Muhammad has spoken of our gods in splendid fashion. He alleged in what he read that they are the exalted Gharaniq whose intercession is approved…”

Muhammad approved of other gods speaking on God’s behalf. 

“The news reached the prophet’s companions who were in Abyssinia, it being reported that Quraysh had accepted Islam, so some men started to return while others remained behind. Then Gabriel came to the apostle and said, “What have you done, Muhammad? You have read to these people something I did not bring you from God and you have said what He did not say to you.” The apostle was bitterly grieved and was greatly in fear of God. So God sent down (a revelation), for He was merciful to him, comforting him and making light of the affair and telling him that every prophet and apostle before him desired as he desired and wanted what he wanted and Satan interjected something into his desires as he had on his tongue. So God annulled what Satan had suggested and God established His verses, i.e. you are just like the prophets and apostles. Then God sent down: “We have not sent a prophet or apostle before you but when he longed Satan cast suggestions in his longing. But God will annul what Satan has suggested. Then God will establish his verses, God being knowing and wise.” (Ibn Ishaq, pp. 165-166) 

But wait, that wasn’t from God.  Muhammad spoke from his own desires and listened to Satan.  Now of course to explain away this huge error, Muhammad then claims God just simply made “light of the affair” and “annulled” the false prophecy.  

This still does not negate the fact that Muhammad failed two major elements of being a true prophet.  Firstly, why couldn’t he recognize the difference between God and Satan?  Does He not know God’s will?  Did God not make himself clear enough for Muhammad to know it was God speaking?  Obviously God is not at fault so it is not an issue of God’s clarity.  The first major issue is Muhammad did not know the difference.  Secondly, it is impossible to escape the fact that Muhammad falsely prophesied.   This is the major and clearest test of a true prophet of God.  This was not a failed future prophesy of something that did not come to pass, this was a flat out lie (even if Muhammad did not purposefully lie).  This also impacts the 3rd element of a true Prophet.

Aside from God not making himself known to Muhammad in that example above, his wife even testifies to an incident(s) where Muhammad was influenced by Satan again.

Aisha narrated: “Once the Prophet was bewitched so that he began to imagine that he had done a thing which in fact, he had not done.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari 3175)

Aisha narrated: Magic was worked on Allah’s Apostle so that he used to think that he had had sexual relations with his wives while he actually had not. Then one day he said, “O Aisha, do you know that Allah has instructed me concerning the matter I asked Him about? Two men came to me and one of them sat near my head and the other sat near my feet. The one near my head asked the other: ‘What is wrong with this man?’ The latter replied, ‘He is under the effect of magic.’ The first one asked, ‘Who has worked magic on him?’ The other replied, ‘Labid bin Al-Asam, a man from Bani Zuraiq who was an ally of the Jews and was a hypocrite.’ The first one asked, ‘What material did he use?’ The other replied, ‘A comb and the hair stuck to it.'” (Sahih Al-Bukhari 5765)

But according the Quran, magic is from Satan (Qur’an 2:102) and Satan has no authority over those who know God (Qur’an 16:98-100).  How can Muhammad have been under the power of magic if he was THE Prophet of God?  We must discredit his wife’s testimony as unreliable but then that leads to other issues about understanding Muhammad because she is a source in Islam for how Muhammad lived.  Despite the major issues above, we will continue on for the sake of argument to the 4th element of a test of a true Prophet of God.  

When God delivers messages about the future, they contain key details that make them undeniable when they come to pass.  Any one can make a vague prophetic statement:  Here’s mine:  A powerful nation will fall with in a few generations time.  Boom.  Am I now a prophet?  My prophetic statement is vague in its details that when related events take place, it can easily be applied.  Therefore, when we see God make himself known, he gives key details that make his statement of future events clear when they happen.  Lets look at a prophesy from Muhammad.

“The Roman Empire has been defeated – in a land close by: But they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious – within a few years.”(Q 30:2-4).

We already see the vague-ness of this prophetic statement.  “in a land close by”, which land?  How far is “close by”?  Then we see the usage of “defeat” and “victorious”.  By who’s expectation is the event a defeat and or victory?  Some times, those who lose feel as though they were still victorious.  Other times those who are actually defeated feel as though in some way they were victorious.  With that said, the only true reliable detail is the time frame stated, “within a few years”.  According to Yusuf Ali the Arabic word for “a few years,” Bidh’un, can mean a period of three to nine years.  So what was the the event that took place within the 3 to 9 year period?  nothing.

The details matter.  That is clearly God’s command to discern a false prophet from a true Prophet; examine the details.

The Persians defeated the Byzantines and took Jerusalem at about 614 or 615 AD. The Byzantine counter-offensive did not begin until 622 AD and the victory was not complete until 628 AD, making it a period between thirteen to fourteen years.  Renowned historian and Muslim commentator, al-Tabari, places the Roman victory in 628 A.D. (6 A.H.), right after the signing of Hudaiybiya.  And that’s a problem.  That is 13 to 14 years later, not 3 to 9 years.  The one key detail in Muhammad’s prophecy fails.

Some can argue “but it happened as Muhammad said it was going to” but referring back to my prophet statement, at some point, at any point, in history, yes, any vague prophecy can occur and that only proves that God makes himself known through the details of actual occurrences verses non divine prophetic statements.  Any human can make any kind of vague prophetic statement.  And when the vagueness can be matched up with some event in history; that does not prove anything still.  The details prove if it is of God or not.  The single key detail provided by Muhammad fails still.

Other Major Issues 

If Muhammad was receiving truth from God than the statements he claims must be true.  Aside from the blunders listed above, there are other areas where Muhammad failed in stating what was true.

Muhammad misunderstood what Christianity taught in regards to the Trinity.  He did not understand this concept AND assumed that the sources for his information about Christianity is what was actually believed by the early church. 

And [beware the Day] when Allah will say, “O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah ?‘” He will say, “Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. (Quran 5:116)

O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not “Trinity”: desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. (4:171, Yusif Ali)

Why would Muhammad argue for monotheism in reference to Christian beliefs?  Christianity has always believed in ONE God.  His understanding of Christianity is that they believed there were three gods and one of them was taught to be Mary.  This is a false assumption.  Did God not understand what Christianity taught?  Of course not.  Did Muhammad not understand what Christianity taught, clearly.  BUT Muhammad gets his truth from God?  This can not be so given the misunderstanding of what Christians believe.

Also read The Quran: Who Wrote It?

A Better Prophet

Islam itself points to a greater prophet than Muhammad, unintentionally.  Muhammad was obviously an imperfect sinner.  When he died, his body began to decompose and stink.

Al-Abbas, the paternal uncle of Prophet Muhammad, entered Muhammad’s room three after his death, before his burial, as his body remained there for three days as the people were too busy to bury him, as all of them were engaged in debates of Al-Thaqeefa Council of choosing a ruler/caliph of Yathreb to succeed him. Once Al-Abbas entered the room, he put his hands at once at his nose, and said to the gathered men outside: “Bury your friend Muhammad fast, for his body began decomposition just like the rest of human beings“

Of course, there are those in Islam that believe the later created Hadiths from Al-Nisaa’i, Abou Dawood, and Ibn Maja that claim that Prophet’s bodies to not decompose and claim that the Hadith above was a fabrication.  But the Quran itself supports the Hadith above.

“We did not send before you except men, whom We inspired. Ask the people of knowledge, if you do not know. We did not make them mere bodies that ate no food, nor were they immortal.” (21:7-8)

They said, “You are only humans like us; you want to turn us away from what our ancestors worshiped; so bring us a clear proof.”(14:10-11)

Each prophet asserted his being a mortal human creature; God has commanded Muhammad in the Quran to say this to his people: “Say, “I am only a human being like you…” (41:6). “Say, “I am only a human being like you…” (18:110). 

With that said, Muhammad was a sinner and “only a human being like you” who died and was buried.  YET, we see a different existence of Jesus in the Quran.  

Jesus did not sin.

Hardly a single descendant of Adam is born without Satan touching him at the moment of his birth. A baby who is touched like that gives a cry. The only exceptions are Mary and her son“ [cf. Q 3: 36].

Jesus performed Miracles

We have made some of these messengers to excel the others among them are they to whom Allah spoke, and some of them He exalted by (many degrees of) rank; and We gave clear miracles to Isa (Jesus) son of Marium, and strengthened him with the holy spirit. (2:253, Shakir)

Jesus’ body did not see decay.

Behold! Allah said: “O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute. (3:55, Yusif Ali)

Jesus was a Prophet of God who received messages from God just like Muhammad.  BUT he was more.  Jesus was sinless and performed miracles THEN was taken up my God instead of being buried.

Even the Quran unintentionally validates Jesus as The Greatest Prophet.  He did not speak falsehoods or have failed prophecies.  He was not like all other men who were sinners.  He performed miracles and Muhammad didn’t.  Muhammad died and was buried, but Jesus was taken up by God (according to the Quran).

Read Jesus and Islam

Conclusion

We can see from the Quran itself and his followers that he was a failed prophet according to God’s tests for us of a true prophet.  Tests that even Islam says is from God (The Torah).  He failed to distinguish God’s revealings from Satan’s.  He spoke prophetically that contradicted God.  His prophecies failed to make God known and the prophecy itself failed to come true when he said it would.  But when genuinely seeking a true Prophet of God in the Quran, we can even see that Jesus is true and greater Prophet.

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The Quran: Who Wrote It?

Is the Quran today the same as the original teachings from Muhammad himself?  Of course Sunni Muslims would say yes.  In fact, all Muslims must agree that they are, but, in the Shiite sect of Islam, not all are in full agreement of the source of the final product of the original teachings.  To remove Christian bias, we will look at the historical quotes from Muslims themselves and see how accurate the Quran is.

Did Muhammad Write The Quran?

There are no eyewitnesses anywhere in the Qur’an who said they saw Muhammad talk to an angel, nor did anyone say he met or talked with Allah.  The teachings of Muhammad, came from Muhammad himself, only, verbally.  Muhammad did not know how to read or write.  

“Before this, you did not read any book, nor did you write anything with your hands”. (29:48). Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet (7:157)

So if Muhammad could not read or write, who wrote it? The Qur’an was revealed gradually over a period of 23 years to his followers, who then memorized what he said and in some cases write it down on various formats. It was written on leaves and bone and such.  The majority of the teachings of Muhammad were memorized by his followers.

Muhammad himself did not perfectly memorize all that was revealed to him. 

Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas’ud: … (Muhammad said) I am only a human being and I forget just as you do; so when I forget, remind me … (Sunan Abu Dawud: bk. 3, no. 1015; also Sahih al-Bukhari: vol. 1, bk. 8, no. 394) 

So, when the divine revelation was forgotten, they simply replaced the divine revelation with something they felt was better or similar.

We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth [one] better than it or similar to it … (Qur’an 2:106, Saheed International)

So the importance of his followers to memorize what he taught was very important.

Did Muhammad’s Reciters Perfectly Transmit His Teachings?

The battle of Yamama in 632AD, after Muhammad’s death, made his followers realize the need to write his teachings down.  Over 700 Muslims were killed, over 400 were followers who had his teachings memorized were killed.  What if everyone who only had it memorized were all killed?

Muhammad’s close friend, Salim, who had memorized a great deal of what Muhammad taught, was one of the over 400 reciters killed in the battle of Yamama.

“Abdullah bin ‘Amr mentioned ‘Abdullah bin Masud and said, “I shall ever love that man, for I heard the Prophet saying, ‘Take (learn) the Qur’an from four: ‘Abdullah bin Masud, Salim, Mu’adh and Ubai bin Ka’b.’”(Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 61, Number 521)

Zuhri reports, ‘We have heard that many Qur’an passages were revealed but that those who had memorised them fell in the Yemama fighting. Those passages had not been written down, and following the deaths of those who knew them, were no longer known; nor had Abu Bakr, nor `Umar nor `Uthman as yet collected the texts of the Qur’an.  (John Burton, The Collection of the Qur’an, pp. 126-127, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da’ud, Kitab al-Masahif’, ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 23:)

Different Versions of The Quran?

Here we already see, as recorded by Muslim sources, that portions of the teachings of Muhammad were lost.  However, during the reign of Abu Bakr, Hafsah (a wife of Muhammad) kept for herself a written copy of Muhammad’s teachings and kept it until 667AD.  In fact, there were others who also had memorized the teachings of Muhammad in different dialects and versions.

“Masruq reported: We used to go to Abdullah Bin Amr and talk to him. Ibn Numair said: One day we made a mention of Abdullah Bin Masud, whereupon he said: you have made mention of a person whom I love more than anything else. I heard Allah’s Messenger as saying: Learn Qur’an from four persons: Ibn Umm Abd (i.e., Abdullah Bin Masud – he started from him – then Muadh bin Jabal and Ubayy bin Kab, then Salim the ally of Ali Hudhaifa. (Sahih Muslim, Book 031, Number 6024)

“Anas is reported to have said: Four persons collected the Qur’an during the lifetime of Allah’s Messenger and all of them were Ansar: Muadh Bin Jabal, Ubayy Bin Kab, Zaid Bin Thabit, Abu Zaid. Qatada said: Anas, who was Abu Zaid? He said: He was one of my uncles. (Sahih Muslim, Book 031, Number 6029)

“Narrated Ibn Mas’ud: I heard a person reciting a (Quranic) verse in a certain way, and I had heard the Prophet reciting the same verse in a different way. So I took him to the Prophet and informed him of that but I noticed the sign of disapproval on his face, and then he said, “Both of you are correct, so don’t differ, for the nations before you differed, so they were destroyed.” (Sahih al-Bukhari: vol. 4, bk. 56, no. 682) 

“Concerning the arrangement of the Qur’an in the manuscript of Abd Allah ibn Mas’ud, Al-Fadl ibn Shadhan said, “I found in a manuscript of `Abd Allah ibn Mas’ud the surahs of the Qur’an in accordance with the following (different) sequence … These are one hundred and ten surahs.” (Al-Nadim, p. 53)…  One of our reliable friends has informed us, saying that the composition of the surahs according to the reading of Ubayy ibn Ka’b is in a village called Qariyat al-Ansar, two parasangs from al-Basrah, where in his home Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Ansari showed us a Qur’anic manuscript, saying, “This is the copy of Ubayy which we have, handed down from our fathers.” I looked into it and ascertained the headings of the surahs, the endings of the revelations, and the numbers of verses. … one hundred and sixteen surahs. (Al-Nadim, pp. 58-61)

The witness accounts to differing renderings between Masud’s version and Ubayy’s version.  Both of them were reciters of Muhammad.  A discovery of the early San’a 1 (Standford 07) manuscript proves there were different versions of the Quran outside of Ziad’s version.  

Due to the loss of a great deal of followers who only had Muhammad’s teachings memorized, Abu Bakr appointed Zaid ibn Thabit to compile all remaining Muhammad teachings.  Aside from potentially losing the teachings of Muhammad, there was a growing issue of differences between the different reciters of the teachings; this was also causing confusion and conflict.

“Hudaifa b. al Yeman came to `Uthman direct from the Aderbaijan and Armenian frontier where, uniting the forces from Iraq and those from Syria, he had had an opportunity to observe regional differences over the Qur’an. “Commander of the faithful,” he advised, “take this umma in hand before they differ about the Book like Christians and Jews.” `Uthman sent asking Hafsa to lend him the sheets [inherited by her father, `Umar, from Abu Bakr, and now in her possession] “so that we can copy them into other volumes and then return them.” She sent her suhuf to `Uthman who summon Zaid, Sa`id b. al `As, `Abdul Rahman b. al Harith b. Hisham and `Abdullah b. al Zubair and commanded them to copy the sheets into several volumes. Addressing the group from Quraish, he added, “Wherever you differ from Zaid, write the word in the dialect of Quraish for it was revealed in that tongue.“… When they had copied the sheets, `Uthman sent a copy to each of the main centers of the empire with the command that all other Qur’an materials, whether in single sheet form, or in whole volumes, WERE TO BE BURNED…‘ (Burton, pp. 141-142- citing Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, “Fath al Bari“, 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, vol. 9, p. 18)

“Ibn Abbas reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: “If there were for the son of Adam a valley full of riches, he would long to possess another one like it, and the son of Adam does not feel satisfied but with dust.” And “Allah returns to him who returns (to him).” Ibn Abbas said: I do not know whether it is from the Qur’an or not; and in the narration transmitted by Zuhair it was said: I do not know whether it is from the Qur’an, and he made no mention of Ibn Abbas. (Sahih Muslim: bk. 5, no. 2285) 

The Official Version, Not Authorized by Muhammad?

The solution?  Create a single source text in one specific approved rendering and dialect (Quraish, the Ziad version) and burn the rest.  But some of those who were closest to Muhammad disagreed with conforming to Ziad’s version.  By this time, Umar took power after Abu Bakr and then Uthman after him.  Hafsah, a wife of Muhammad, refused to give hers so that it would not be burned.  Even Abdullah Bin Masud, a direct follower of Muhammad, disagreed with Ziad’s version.

“Abdullah bin Masud reported that (he said to his companions to conceal their copies of the Qur’an) and further said: He who conceals anything shall have to bring that which he had concealed on the Day of Judgment, and they said: After whose mode of recitation do you command me to recite? I in fact recited before Allah’s Messenger more than seventy chapters of the Qur’an and the companions of Allah’s Messenger know that I have better understanding of the Book of Allah (than they do), and if I were to know that someone had better understanding than I, I would have gone to him. Shaqiq said: I sat in the company of the companions of Muhammad but I did not hear anyone having rejected that (that is, his recitation) or finding fault with it. (Sahih Muslim, Book 031, Number 6022).

This consolidation effort continued because of the continued discrepancies between the different teachings.  Abdullah’s variant readings were attacked by those who were in power.

Narrated Ibrahim: The companions of ‘Abdullah (bin Mas’ud) came to Abu Darda’, (and before they arrived at his home), he looked for them and found them. Then he asked them: “Who among you can recite (Qur’an) as ‘Abdullah recites it?” They replied, “All of us.” He asked, “Who among you knows it by heart?” They pointed at ‘Alqama. Then he asked Alqama. “How did you hear ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud reciting Surat Al-Lail (The Night)?“ Alqama recited:
“By the male and the female.” (Qur’an 92:3)
Abu Darda said, “I testify that I heard the Prophet reciting it likewise, but these people want me to recite it:
“And by Him Who created male and female.” (Qur’an 92:3)
But by Allah, I will not follow them.” (Sahih al-Bukhari: vol. 6, bk. 60, no. 468; also Sahih Muslim: bk. 4, no. 1799-1802) 

‘Yazid b. Ma`awiya was in the mosque in the time of al Walid b. `Uqba, sitting in a group among them was Hudaifa. An official called out, ‘Those who follow the reading of Abu Musa, go to the corner nearest the Kinda door. Those who follow `Abdullah’s reading, go the corner nearest `Abdullah’s house.’ Their reading of Q 2.196 did not agree. One group read, ‘Perform the pilgrimage TO GOD’ The others read it ‘Perform the pilgrimage TO THE KA’BAH.’ Hudaifa became very angry, his eyes reddened and he rose, parting his qamis at the waits, although in the mosque. This was during the reign of `Uthman. Hudaifa exclaimed, ‘Will someone go the Command of the Faithful, or shall I go myself? This is what happened in the previous dispensations.’ He came over and sat down, saying, ‘God sent Muhammad who, with those who went forward, fought those who went back until God gave victory to His religion. God took Muhammad and Islam made strides. To succeed him, God chose Abu Bakr who reigned as long as God chose. God then took him and Islam made rapid strides. God appointed `Umar who sat in the midst of Islam. God then took him also. Islam spread rapidly. God next chose `Uthman. (Burton, p. 143, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da’ud, “K. al Masahif”, ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 11;)

We were sitting in the mosque and `Abdullah was reciting the Qur’an when Hudaifa came in and said, ‘The reading of ibn Umm `Abd! [ie. `Abdullah] The reading of Abu Musa! By God! if I am spared to reach the Commander of the Faithful, I will recommend THAT HE IMPOSE A SINGLE QUR’AN READING!’ ‘Abdullah became very angry and spoke sharply to Hudaifa who fell silent. (Burton, p. 142, Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da’ud, “K. al Masahif”, ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 13)

Hudaifa said, ‘The Kufans say, “the text of `Abdullah“; the Basrans say, “the text of Abu Musa“. By God! if I reach the Commander of the faithful, I WILL RECOMMEND THAT HE DROWN THESE READINGS.” (var. Masahif) `Abdullah said, ‘Do and God will drown you, but not in water!’ (Burton, pp. 146-147- citing Abu Bakr `Abdullah b. abi Da’ud, “K. al Masahif”, ed. A. Jeffery, Cairo, 1936/1355, p. 13).

“The Syrians,” we are told, “contended with the `Iraqis, the former following the reading of Ubayy ibn Ka`b, the latter that of `Abd Allah ibn Mas’ud, each accusing the other of unbelief.” (Labib as-Said, The Recited Koran: A History of the First Recorded Version, tr. B. Weis, et al., Princeton, New Jersey: The Darwin Press, 1975, p. 23) 

As the political preasure against Abdullah mounted, eventually, Ziad’s version (Utmanic textual tradition) became the source for the current rendering of the Quran.  But, still remains some issues.

The Incomplete Teachings of Muhammad

When Umar heard people declaring that they knew the entire Qur’an, he said to them: “Let none of you say, ‘I have learned the whole of the Koran,’ for how does he know what the whole of it is, when much of it has disappeared? Let him rather say, ‘I have learned what is extant thereof’” (Abu Ubaid, Kitab Fada’il-al-Qur’an).

Ziad’s versions was also dependent on Abu Musa’s reciting of Muhammad’s teachings but with that came a problem.  He forgot some of what Muhammad taught.

Abu Musa al-Ash’ari sent for the reciters of Basra. They came to him and they were three hundred in number. They recited the Qur’an and he said: You are the best among the inhabitants of Basra, for you are the reciters among them. So continue to recite it. (But bear in mind) that your reciting for a long time may not harden your hearts as were hardened the hearts of those before you. We used to recite a surah which resembled in length and severity to (Surah) Bara’at. I have, however, forgotten it with the exception of this which I remember out of it: “If there were two valleys full of riches, for the son of Adam, he would long for a third valley, and nothing would fill the stomach of the son of Adam but dust.” And we used to recite a surah which resembled one of the surahs of Musabbihat, and I have forgotten it  (Sahih Muslim 2286).

Not just there, but other places where teachings of Muhammad had been forgotten.

We used to recite a surah similar to one of the Musabbihat, and I no longer remember it, but this much I have indeed preserved: ‘O you who truly believe, why do you preach that which you do not practise?’ (and) ‘that is inscribed on your necks as a witness and you will be examined about it on the Day of Resurrection’. (As-Suyuti, Al-Itqan fii Ulum al-Qur’an, Page 526).

Another one of Muhammad’s wives (Aishah) also noticed that some verses were being left out.  Even teachings relating to stoning and breastfeeding were not included in Ziad’s version because, well, one of her written records was eaten by a goat.

A’isha . . . said, “Surat al-Ahzab (33) used to be recited in the time of the Prophet with two hundred verses, but when Uthman wrote out the codices he was unable to procure more of it than there is in it today [i.e. 73 verses].” (Abu Ubaid, Kitab Fada’il-al-Qur’an)

“It was narrated that Aishah said: “The Verse of stoning and of breastfeeding an adult ten times was revealed, and the paper was with me under my pillow. When the Messenger of Allah died, we were preoccupied with his death, and a tame sheep came in and ate it.” (Sunan ibn Majah 1944).

When considering all this, we see that the current version of the Quran is lacking a lot of Muhammad’s teachings.  Of what was consolidated we can only truly conclude that it is the version of Ziad and what he chose to include.  Even in his version, it still lacks all the teachings that were lost when followers of Muhammad were killed or simply forgot what he said.  Those who disagreed with his version were attacked and their versions were eventually burned.  But we don’t need their copies to know that the current version of the Quran is incomplete.  The testimony from those who were close to Muhammad himself prove this.  This leads to more questions regarding the reliability of the Quran.

Perfect Preservation?

How do we know Abdullah’s version is not the actual or more acurate words of Muhammad?  It is historically recorded that his version was different.  If both Abdullah and Ziad were both followers of Muhammad, who decided that Ziad’s version was the true version?  Ziad?  Because he had political backing?  Does politics and power determine truth?  That is actually a minor problem.

The real problem is the claim that the Quran has been perfectly preserved.  This is logically not possible given the historical evidences from Muslim sources.  By their own witness, passages have been lost, forgotten, and cherry picked to create the Quran we have today. The only thing that can be stated is that Ziad’s version has been preserved, but not all the teachings of Muhammad.  In fact, it is not clear that Ziad’s versions is the perfect preservation of Muhammad’s teachings because it differed from Abdullah’s versions of what Muhammad taught.  Not to mention there were other versions that may have also differed that were lost and burned.

The one thing that we can conclude is that Ziad ibn Thabit is the primary source for the modern Quran.

Surah 15:9 boldly declares “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian.”  But what happens if this declaration fails?  Given the Muslim sources recording the loss of verses and forgotten verses it is proven to not have been completely guarded.  This means the angels and chosen followers of Allah were unable safe guard the preservation of the revelations of Muhammad perfectly.  How then can it be divine and not just the teachings of Ziad ibn Thabit?

A claim that can be made is that Ziad ibn Thabit’s version of the remaining teachings of Muhammad have been perfectly preserved.  This is only true if we leave out the facts of the loss of teachings prior to Ziad’s final product.  But then, who are Muslims really following?  The teachings of Ziad ibn Thabit?  They can’t say the teachings of Muhammad because, as shown above, some of his teachings have been lost AND others differed from Ziad’s version.  So they can not say for sure they are following the teachings of Muhammad.  The claim of a supernatural mathematical system that proves the perfect preservation only validates Ziad ibn Thabit’s version because it is not possible to include the calculations of teachings that were lost, forgotten, and burned.

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Commonalities of Cults

There are many subgroups of the Christian faith.  These subgroups tailor their teachings and focuses in different ways.  That is exactly how the Body of Christ functions BUT there are some groups that claim to be ‘Christian’ when in fact, they are not.  Some deny being ‘Christian’ but claim to have similar beliefs and ‘more correct’ views than that of orthodox Christianity; but how can you identify a cult?

The Teachings

Cults proclaim a NEW teaching or a more correct teaching revealed by a NEW prophet or writing.  Regardless of the source for their teaching, it is new a part from Christian orthodox.  They may even teaching an old teaching that was NEW in prior history but which is still outside of orthodox Christianity.  New writings are generated by the new prophet or group and followers are obligated to rely on the new writing along with or instead of The Bible.  Essentially, Cults teach that The Bible is not enough, cherry picked sections are only ones correct, or over all incomplete.

• Doubt or discredit the primary source (The Bible) as sole authority
• Generate secondary source(s) of authority to make new/morphed teachings authoritative
• Only approved teachings come from secondary sources.

 

The Rituals

Cults push followers to focus on their works by adhering to certain rituals or even abstaining from certain Christian orthodox acts such as communion and baptism.  Some even morph these acts and teachings of the acts to fit their new or more correct revelations.  Some rituals include financial indebtedness and status gains.  Essentially, they become controlling, isolating, and works based.

• Self centered rituals- “do this yourself to be good in yourself”
• Materialistic or worldly focus rituals- “give something tangible to get something tangible in return” 
• Pseudo love-  A false sense of loving others that which actually gratifies and justifies the self.
• End goal is deity of the self- “work hard and become a greater self or best self”

Verifiable

Their revelations and teachings tend to be non-verifiable and use circular reasoning to justify them.  A prophet is a prophet because it was revealed to him that he was.  Or the writings are divine because they were written by someone who said his writings are divine.  Some claim that they were given revelations in visions or by angels, and that’s that.  Essentially, the founder and their writings are unverifiable and have to be believed simply based on claim alone.

• Unable to verify or not supported with known history or testable natural phenomena
• Circular justification – “It is true because it is said to be true” 

Morality

Cults typically strive to be ‘good’ and do good.  They attempt to satisfy psychological, emotional, and intellectual issues of their followers.  They make their followers feel accepted and feel as though they have a purpose.  Some even provide financial security and promises of material and spiritual rewards.  But, this begins to fall apart once someone starts to question the groups teachings and wants to leave the group for what ever reason.  Those who question and desire to leave are guilt tripped, become more isolated, and more controlled by the group and its leadership.  The threat of destruction from God or their version of holy judgement is often deployed.  Those who do leave are shunned, and persecuted.  Those who remain in the group are caused to be depend greatly on the group.

• Emotional or materialistic moral justifications – “I feel or have therefore it is or should be” 
• Right and Wrong is defined through the secondary source of authority; which teaches how adherents should think and feel.
• Selective encouragement/ social conditioning- “You did good because you did what the organization/religion approves of; you did bad because you did what the organization/religion does not approve of”
• Decent or questioning the organized religion is a moral absolute evil.

Limit Learning

Cults often limit the source of their followers studies.  The groups that use the bible as part of their system discourage studying the bible alone and require the use of their writings.  This indoctrination allows for the cult to interpret how they want the bible to be interpreted to match their new teachings while at the same time allow the follower to feel as though they are learning what the bible says; even when they are not.  This is another form of manipulation and control.

• Instructed how to think only through secondary sources of authority as primary means to understand.
• Studying sources outside of the secondary authoritative source is discouraged by the organization or religious leaders and approved teachers.  Some may even actively restrict access to outside sources.
• Self teaching and self study is discouraged without the use of approved teachers or materials.
• Isolation is imposed to limit reaching outside sources of information.

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The Nashville Statement

The Nashville Statement is a document published online and authored by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood that clarifies the orthodox Christian faith position on human sexuality.  Over 150 predominate orthodox Christian teachers from around the world have signed the statement.  Of course it is not without controversy given our day and age and with some rejecting Christians.  Regardless, much like in the days of The councils of past, it addresses and clarifies the orthodox Christian faith in this specific matter.  But is it biblical?  Read the statement here: https://cbmw.org/nashville-statement/

First and foremost, it is critical to understand that God’s truth is not contingent on the feelings of man.  Secondly, speaking truth in a clear way, is being loving; even if the world doesn’t want to see it that way.  How do we know that this statement reflects God and his truth?  Quite simply, we test it against holy scripture.  What does Holy Scripture reveal about the sexuality of humanity?

The Old Testament lays the foundation for marriage and anything that is outside of the God ordained covenant marriage. 

• Humanity was created as Male and Female (Gen. 1:26–28).  This does NOT say both at the same time, or fluid depending on their feelings.  The Male and Females were commanded to multiply and fill the earth.  Thus, procreation was a blessing within the God created Male and Female dynamic.   
• Man needed an equally valuable helper to co-exist equally in fulfilling God’s command to procreate and bless the earth.  When Woman was created, she was ordained to be a wife to man.  They come together and create a God ordained family unit (Gen. 2:15-25)
• When sin entered the world, it was through the temptation to be like God and to decide for themselves what they want and desire- a part from God.  When accountable to God, neither, male or female, owned up to their disobedience but instead justified it by blaming someone else (Gen. 3:1-24)
• The Law of God makes clear that sexual activity outside of the covenant of marriage of a male and female is adultery and is explicitly forbidden (Exod. 20:14).  That even to “covet” another mans wife is equally forbidden.  Covet means to yearn to possess or have (Exod. 20:17; Deut. 5:18, 5:21).  As God reveals more, we see that homosexuality is also forbidden as they face the same death due to sin (Lev. 18:22, 20:13).  Levitical Law called for the physical death which is no longer required sense Jesus freed us from it in his mercy and forgiveness; but the spiritual death remains unless there is a changed heart and faith in what Christ has done for this sin.  
• In Judges 19:22-26 we see that homosexual desires are far more dangerous to someone’s spirit than rape.  Though rape is explicitly morally wrong and corrupts everyone involved, homosexuality was far greater in its moral corruptible potential because it is less obvious in its corruption and immoral nature with its vast ability to spread.  Something only God can see and something the world would not understand.
• Then we see the forbidding of transgenderism in Deut. 22:5.  Clothing isn’t the issue of the heart, it was the desire to be the other gender.  Gender confusion and transgenderism was not in God’s Will for mankind as this verse makes clear.
• The desire of coveting another persons spouse and adultery grows into other horrible acts (Job 31:1, 7-15).  We see this in David’s adultery with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11:1-12:15.  Even though David confessed his sins and was forgiven, he still faced the consequences of his sin (2 Samuel 12:13-14).  Those with unwanted desires can seek the Lord in faith and he will save (Isaiah 59:1)
• These sinful sexual desires can naturally come from birth (Psalm 51:5) BUT there is always hope in the Lord for restoration from natural sinful sexual desires (Psalm 51:1-19).  These sins may feel right and naturally tempting but lead to spiritual death (Proverbs 5:3-6).  These sins are to be avoided, fought, resisted (Proverbs 5:8-14).
• Covenant marriage between the God ordained man and women is truly satisfying.  Having self discipline and being devoted to what God has ordained keeps man from a forbidden pleasure that leads to spiritual death (Proverbs 5:15-23, 6:20-35, 7:1-27).  Fully knowing that God sees all, even our hearts.  He knows when we step outside of the covenant of marriage (Malachi 2:14).

What does Jesus say about the issue of human sexuality?

• Not only does Jesus support what is stated in the Old Testament, as he quotes from it as his authority, but also he expands on it in the sense that it is a problem of the heart, which manifests in actions.  When simply looking at another women lustfully, that is the same as committing the act of adultery.  Lust is having a sexual desire for someone.  If this is the case, he then follows up with how important it is to remove yourself from it.  It is far better to struggle than to be spiritually dead (Matthew 5:27-30).  This would obviously include viewing pornography.  
• Jesus validates the truth and authority of Gen 1:27, 2:24, 5:2 which he reiterates that God made humanity as Male and Female for covenant marriage.
• Divorce was permitted BUT not out of God’s Will but because of “the hardness of your hearts”.  In the beginning, before sin entered the world, there was no divorce.  But because as the hearts of mankind became sinful, it was permitted for the sake of the lives of the wives of the husbands who would marry other women and kick them to the street, or in some cases, have them killed just so they could remarry (Matthew 19:8-9).
• Jesus recognizes persons who are unable to have sexual relations either by birth, by choice, or my punishments of that culture as persons who are still accepted by Christ for God’s Glory.  This applies to those who are born in which ever way that prevents them from desiring or acting sexually (Matthew 19:12). 

What does The Holy Spirit reveal about the issue of human sexuality?

• Acts 15:20, 29 tell us to encourage those who claim to be in the body of Christ to abstain from sexual immorality.  What is the sexual immorality being spoken of here?  Everything revealed in the OT and by Jesus.  1 Thess 4:3-8 declares it is God’s Will that we abstain from sexual immorality and control our bodies and lustful desires.  Ultimately, rejecting this truth about sexuality is rejecting God (1 Thess 4:3-8).  The law of God is for the rebellious, ungodly, and sinful.  1 Tim 1:9-10 explicitly states sexual immorality and homosexuality is rebellion against God.  The law reveals our sinful hearts and points us to our need for Christ.  Everyone is tempted, just as Jesus was, but unlike Jesus, some are then drawn away from God’s truths about human sexuality and enticed by their own sexual desires which leads to sin and spiritual death (James 1:14-15).  The fact is that our fleshly desires are Waring against us, Christians are empowered by The Holy Spirit to abstain while others give in and accept them and even embrace them (1 Peter 2:11).
• Those who reject God’s word and willingly pursue their own sexual desires and passions are then granted that by God and allowed to pursue them because that is what they ultimately desire more than God.  Paul’s example is explicitly homosexuality (Romans 1:26-27).  Pursuing their sinful sexual immoralities, they then openly support, encourage, and applaud others who pursue them too (Romans 1:32).  Christians are called to “put to death” the worldly natures of sexual immorality, impurity, and lust (Colossians 3:5).  An undefiled marriage is one that in accordance of God’s ordained covenant marriage.  All others, are judged as outside of what God desires (Hebrews 13:4).
• Sexually immoral people will not inherit God’s Kingdom (eternal life).  But Paul reminds them that some of them “used to be like this” but have sense been “washed” and “sanctified” by “the Spirit of our God”.  Freedom from these sinful sexual desires is possible for all those who seek Christ Jesus (1 Cor 6:9-11).  In Christ, we are made NEW.  Our old ways are gone and we can live a life that is pleasing to the Lord (2 Cor 5:17).  In the truth of WHY Jesus died on the cross (sacrifice for sexual immorality) we can “take off [our] former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires” and be renewed in our minds by how we see our sexuality in Christ through purity and truth (Eph 4:20-24).
• We are commanded to “run from sexual immorality”.  The sin is not against someone else but against their own body.  We are created by God and our “body is not [our] own” (1 Cor 6:18-20).  Thus the idea of sexual freedom to love who we want to love goes completely against what God has made known.  Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its [selfish] passions and [sinful] desires (Gal 5:24).  God’s grace leads us to deny worldly lusts and sexual immorality (Titus 2:11-12).
• Sexuality is GOOD, within the covenant of God’s ordained marriage.  Marriage between a man and woman is even encouraged and highly recommended (though no commanded) to help resisting the temptation of sexual immorality (1 Cor 7:1-7).  
• We must speak the truth about human sexuality.  But with speaking truth, it must be done in a loving kind way because there is hope and peace that comes with forsaking the sinful sexual desires (Eph 4:15).  This truth also means that we are all sinners, just as much as the sexually immoral BUT those who trust and believe in God’s truth about sexuality are in Christ and recognize their sinful sexual desires as something unwanted (1 Tim 1:15).
• Gen 2:24 is also illustrated by how Christ is with the Church (Eph 5:31-32).  A holy covenant marriage in which there is no adultery in the sense that there are not allowed 3rd parties outside of the bride (the church) and the bridegroom (Christ). 

In light of what Holy Scripture reveals about human sexuality, we can then test the totality of scripture against what is stated in each article of the Nashville Statement.  When we do this, we see that it does not conflict with Holy Scripture but expresses what Holy Scripture declares in a modern language. 

Through early church history we see that the disciples of the Apostles and their disciples understood what scripture clearly declares about human sexuality.  The Didache written around A.D. 80 – 130,  Justin Martyr, c. A.D. 155,  Theophilus of Antioch, A.D. 168, Aristides of Athens in the A.D. 140s and Clement of Alexandria (Egypt) in the 190s explicitly agree with what is declared in the Old Testament and by the Apostles.  Some are even more specific in describing forbidden sexual acts such as Polycarp in early second-century, Irenaeus in France in the 180s, and Origen.  There has never been a time among God’s people that human sexuality outside of a covenant Marriage of a Man and Woman was morally right or justified. 

According to Holy Scripture, it is the position of true orthodox Christianity that the Nashville Statement is true in its expression of biblical human sexuality.  The authors and signers of this statement are in line with the teachers of the early church, The Apostles, Jesus, and The Prophets of the Old Testament.  Thus this statement unifies the church and clarifies biblical truth for the present generation and after.  Given the weight, relevance, and need for such a statement, and the unity of different teachers from different church backgrounds; this statement will be included to this site as an important historical authored document.  This statement proclaims truth and ALSO hope for all those afflicted by sexual sin.

Please read and understand the Statement here: https://cbmw.org/nashville-statement
  

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Who and What Is Satan?

Scripture reveals everything we need to know to recognize Satan and his schemes and temptations.   We will address where he came from, who he is, what he does, how he does it, and what his effects are and what they look like in the world around us.  We are commanded to test the spirits, and we can’t do that if we don’t know the difference.

 Where did Satan come from? 

He, and all the other angels of heaven were created at some point during creation (I John 3:8).  After he became full of pride and sin, he was caste out of heaven and to earth.  He was not annihilated from existence because, through being sin, he came dead already.  The death that which is separation from God.  He was not sent to hell but was allowed to remain on earth (Revelation 12:9).  Through his continued disobedience and deceptions on earth we see God’s power and righteousness more clear and greater- but by only those who haven’t been blinded by him

In Ezekiel 20:13-17 we read:

You were the signet of perfection,
 full of wisdom and perfect in beauty

Satan was made by God in perfect beauty with extraordinary wisdom.  He was given all the most beautiful wealthiest gifts and status. 

You were an anointed guardian cherub.
    I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God;
    in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
¹⁵ You were blameless in your ways
    from the day you were created,
    till unrighteousness was found in you.

He was anointed by God for a high role in the hierarchy of angels.  When he was created he was extremely powerful and beautiful; he WAS the standard of angels.  BUT, all that splendor and power ultimately corrupted him.  In the process of that corruption, sin was born in him. 

In the abundance of your trade
    you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
    and I destroyed [banished] you, O guardian cherub,
    from the midst of the stones of fire.
¹⁷ Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
    you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;

He became so proud of himself and all his power and beauty that he then thought he could make himself to be like God and above God.  And THIS is the essence of all sin.

“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the North.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:12-14)

He was ordained and placed by God himself a high status, with deep wisdom, wealth, and power.  A kind that no other angels had.  This closeness to God lead to a natural desire with all that he had, to be greater than God.

This pride lead to his rebellion and fall.  But his rebellion with a third of the angels failed, and thus, he enlisted the support from man by tempting them to succumb to the same choice that he made – to love themselves so great they also desired to become autonomous from God, defy Him, and be their own god.

It is important to notice how Satan uses others for his agenda.  Isaiah was also speaking of the King of Babylon, and Ezekiel was also speaking about the King of Tyre.  Satan enlisted angels, Eve, and others throughout history. 

Why would a wise and powerful angel, who was so close to God, think a rebellion would be successful?

It is important to see that his wisdom was not perfect and since he was not God, neither was his power.  Secondly, his pride corrupted him, thus infecting his limited knowledge.  He became so blinded by his own pride, that he really thought he could win.  Therefore, believing he could win, he then tried. 

Did God create an evil angel?

No, scripture is clear that God did NOT create Satan evil, but Satan, in his own self became evil.  Then, after sin was birthed in him, he was caste out of God’s presence.  Same with mankind.  Man was NOT created evil, but good (notice perfect is not stated).  It was then, when temped by Satan, did that same sin and corruption spread into the minds and hearts of mankind.

But Why Create Satan?

If God is all knowing and perfectly loving, why create a being that would ruin creation in the first place and save all the heart ache?  First, consider this:  What is greater than executing a punishment? Mercy.  What is greater than hatred?  Forgiveness.  What is greater than never being able to earn something?  Grace.  What is greater than never knowing what is right?  Truth.  How could you see righteousness without anything less?  How meaningful is a love that costs nothing?  By allowing Satan to do what he did, God’s glory shines brighter.  By allowing creation to be corrupted, he then gets to restore it in a greater, grander, most glorious way.  Its not about the necessity of evil, but it is about illuminating what already exists to a greater extent.  We would not see the vastness of God’s righteousness, glory, and love, if Jesus did not have to suffer on the cross. How would we ever see the greatness of God’s Love, Mercy, Forgiveness, and Grace; if he never revealed it?  And how could he forgive, if he never needed to?  How could forgiveness exist without something to forgive?  He allowed sin so that He would show the creation that he loves, that he is greater than all.  And at the end of time, when we see all that has taken place, and we will fully know God and his absolute glory, perfect love, mercy, forgiveness, and completely understand his amazing grace.

God is not ignorant or lack knowledge of time.  He is outside of time, created time, and had knowledge of all time at once.  He knew Satan would pull his dirty tricks and infect the world.  Which is why he already knew his Son would be sent to redeem the world.  This is hard for our finite minds to grasp because we see things through the lens of time.  We must see and understand God through his attributes, one of which is his eternal attribute.  He is eternal.  Thus sees all of time.  He is all knowing and good.  Thus he already had the perfect plan to redeem his creation, before it was created.  Which also he uses to reveal himself in a greater way to his creation, through his creations downfall.  Though God is not responsible for sin, he works around it for a greater end- His eternal divine glory revealed to creation on the most grandest scale.

If Satan is so obviously evil, how is he ABLE to deceive? 

Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. (2 Corinthians 11:14-15)

Satan masks his agenda and temptations like something good and desiring.  This pseudo-light is actually darkness and corrosive BUT is purposefully not made to seem that way.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.  Gen 3:1

With this pseudo-light and false hope that seems like God’s light and hope, but is actually not, he is crafty in how he presents it to individuals.  The Apostles warned of this false light and pseudo-gospel.

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:8)

It is critical to see HOW Satan deceived Eve.  They were in the very presence of God! Yet, were still able to be deceived.  How?  To see HOW it is possible to be deceived by Satan, we look at HOW he deceived in scripture.

HOW he deceives

Gen 3:1-8 Satan start off distorting what God said and in question form.

“he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

Notice that Satan adds in some words that God did not say, but speak as though God did say it.  He rephrases God in a different way.  His confusion and deception leads Eve to consider what he is actually asking.  God never actually said “any tree” yet, Satan says “has God said?” 

Eve then honestly responds with what God told her.

“The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; ³ but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’””

She was faithful to the Lord in her response.  That is exactly what He said and she needed to have complete faith that what He said was true.  But then Satan, after distorting what God said, follows up with casting doubt on what God specifically said.

The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

After distorting and proposing doubt, he then manipulates the meaning of what God meant by “you will die”.  God was speaking about his spiritual relationship with man (James 1:15).  THEN Satan proposes the ultimate temptation in all the universe; to be like God.  THE sin that was born in Satan.  She then felt, for the very first time, temptation due to the distortion, doubt, and twisting the meaning of Gods words.

“When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

She considered the question and meaning that Satan proposed.  This temptation lead her to consider what Satan told her and forget what God made clear.  She saw, was delighted in herself, and desired to be like God [his wisdom].  She then felt justified in her self.  She took for her self and disobeyed God.

Now fast forward to Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11.  Satan goes to the second Adam, the Son of God and God incarnate, and pulls out the big guns to get him to stumble just as he got Adam and Eve to stumble.  Satan sees the Son of God in the form of man, tired and hungry in the body, and goes straight to the point.

“the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’””

He was hungry in the body so Satan challenged him to satisfy himself, knowing he was fully capable of doing so.  The point was for Jesus to do a selfish act and satisfy himself.  That the pride of who he was would over shadow his mission of God the Father.  Where Adam and Eve failed, Jesus did not.  He did not forget the Words of God and instead of considering Satan’s idea, he quoted from the Words of God alone. 

Realizing Jesus had a firm knowledge of Gods words, he then attacks that.  He distorts what God said to confuse Jesus and manipulate him to spark a prideful selfish act. 

Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command His angels concerning You’;

and

‘On their hands they will bear You up,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Satan even quotes Psalm 91:11-12.  BUT again, distorts the meaning and purpose.  Satan attempts to tempt Jesus into thinking about himself.  It is not for Jesus to take selfish advantage of the protections of God but so that God The Father’s will is done, not his.  By proving to Satan this is about him, that would be a prideful and selfish act.  He has nothing to prove to Satan.  He only seeks the approval of his Father in Heaven.  Again, Jesus responds with Deut. 6:16 and uses God’s words alone. 

Then, here comes the biggest temptation yet.

“the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.””

Seems like an easy request with massive rewards.  Jesus could have all the kingdoms of the world, given to him; no more struggles with the dark forces in the world.  All he would have to do is bow down and worship Satan; and all the world would belong to him right then and there.  Of course, Satan, the great deceiver, would never really allow that; after all, he is still be the prince of the world  and be worshiped. 

Jesus could avoid the torture, pain, suffering, and try to put an end to it all right there; of course after worshiping Satan.  BUT, that wasn’t why he came.  He knew why he came.  He came TO be tortured, feel the pain of the world AND suffer FOR the world. AND he already knew he was going to retake the whole world and reconcile it back to God at his second coming anyway.  He kept his focus on God’s Will, God’s purpose, and God’s glory, not his own.

“Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’””

Jesus did not even consider his offer.  Instead, he again, quotes God’s word and the ultimate purpose for everything; to worship God and God alone.  Satan had no more tools greater than these, so he left him alone.  Also notice that once Jesus said “Go”; he left.  Even though Satan is opposed to God’s interests, he must still obey God’s commands. 

In each one of Satan’s temptations we see that they are all self-centered for self seeking satisfaction and tickle a desire to satisfy wants, and be like God in control and power.  A side note: notice that Satan’s temptations are very similar to the modern health, wealth, and happiness teachings of modern charismatic preachers.  The most important take away is Jesus’ responses to all the various temptations: God’s Word.

He distorts and twists God’s words by manipulating the meaning or adding in words that were not said.  After this, He then attempts to tickle a self-centered, self seeking, self justifying, prideful, desire to be like God or be our own god, in our own way.

His temptations are appealing and at times seem to satisfy an actual need.  But he doesn’t do it for us, he tempts us to do it ourselves.  He didn’t give Eve the apple, she took it.  He didn’t give Jesus bread, he told him to turn stone into bread.  He leads us to see something in a selfish light and encourages us to take it for ourselves.

Satan’s Authority

After being caste out of heaven and into the world, he still maintained his power (1 John 5:19).  John 12:31 states that He is the ruler of this world.  Ephesians 2:2 states the he is the prince of this world and is at work influencing all those who follow his scheme.  God allows him to have control in the world but only those who God has not called for himself (Colossians 1:13).  Those who do not believe in the true gospel message of scripture have been caught in Satan’s snare and do his will, knowingly or unknowingly whether they believe it or not (2 Timothy 2:26; James 1:13,14).  Satan is the god of this world in the fact that he is worshiped and his ideals are worshiped (2 Corinthians 4:4).  Thus because people of the world knowingly or unknowingly worship Satan and his ideals, they are his (John 8:44) until God redeems them from Satan’s grasp (I John 3:8). 

Satan Hunts

Satan searches the world for opportunities (1 Peter 5:8-9) to plant a selfish desire in our hearts and minds.  He seeks to do this by confusing us about what God clearly means in scripture.  He whispers in the ears of those who are or seem weak (Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:2) and tries to infect them with a selfish desire to be like god in their own way.   Satan roams the earth, even embedding himself with believers (Job 1:6-8).   Satan leads man to put mans interests before God’s (Matthew 16:23).  When people reject the person and work of Jesus, Satan swoops right in and influences their hearts and minds (Mark 4:15).

What other characteristics of Satan does the Bible teach us?

Satan influences people to do things contrary to what God desires (1 Chronicles 21:1).  Satan has the ability, when allowed by God, to inflict health issues (Job 2:6-7).  Satan tries to accuse those chosen by God of things worthy of condemnation but God rebukes Satan (Zech 3:1-2).  The best weapons against Satan, is God’s Word (Matthew 4:10).   “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11).   Simple belief in God does not protect you from being deceived, Satan and the Demons believe in God (James 2:19)

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” 1 Peter 5:8-9

 Other Religions 

You can see Satan’s influence in other religions.  Some claim to have been visited by an Angel or given information by an angelic source; yet seem to forget God’s words in Galatians 1:8.  Those religions then have self justifying rites, rituals, or belief systems that its followers must perform regularly or adhere to in order to be saved or maintain their supposed salvation.  These religions distort and twist God’s words by manipulating the meaning or adding in words that were not said.  They even generate their own writings and justify themselves.  Their teachings tickle a self seeking, self justifying, prideful, desire to be the originator and maintainer of their own salvation- through that chosen religion.  They seem satisfying as long as the religion is consistently practiced or performed enough, for less devote followers, to feel satisfied and justified in their efforts.  Secularism and Atheism is no different, this too requires a faith in something else besides biblical truth; a religious like devotion.  These religions seem appealing, self justifying, and self satisfying.  See the similarities with what Satan offered Adam and Jesus?

Questions to ask yourself:

1. Is someone else telling me how I should understand God’s word?
1. How do I know they are not distorting, twisting, and manipulating the true meaning?
2. Am I blindly believing what I am told to believe about the bible?
1. Are they telling me they are most correct, simply because they say they are?
3. Does what I am taught, lead me to justify myself by what I do?
1. Am I taught that I make myself right in God’s eyes by my works?
4. Is my religion based on a revelation from a later angelic source outside of scripture?
1. How do I explain Galatians 1:8?
1. If I am told by the religion establishment how to explain Gal 1:8, how do I know what I am told is true?  Simply because they say they are?
5. Does what I am taught, make me feel righteous based on how devoted I am in my deeds to the faith?
1. Am I taught that can earn and merit my place with God by how devoted I am to what I am told by the religious establishment?
6. Does what I am taught lead me to a greater devotion to God or the religion?
7. Does what I am taught lead me to see a greater need for Jesus and love for others?
1. Or does it lead me to feel a greater need for the religious establishment- as though it was god?
8. Do I really know who Jesus is or do I just believe what I am told about him by a religious establishment?
1. How do I even know the religious establishment is teaching the real Jesus?  Simply because they say they are?
9. Is my faith in The true God or in the religious establishment?

Satan’s temptations can seem appealing, may seem right, and may even seem like truth BUT the end result is always the same.  Worship of the self.  There is no greater deception than to convince people to worship themselves or a counterfeit god(s) that makes themselves feel justified by their works or what they are taught.

How is Christianity is Not a Scheme of Satan?

1. Faith is solely based in the person and works of Jesus; not the self or religious establishments.
2. The Bible is directly influenced by God, it interprets itself
1. Vague passages are understood in light of explicit passages
2. What is not explicitly stated is understood through what has been explicitly revealed.  What is not explicitly stated is understood through what is revealed about the Character of God himself in scripture (2 Timothy 2:15). 
3. Correctly understanding the language and culture the Bible was written in helps in correctly understanding the true meaning of what is written.
4. The Bible is correctly understood in light of the totality of scripture, not self interpretations of cherry picked verses (2 Peter 1:20).
3. Everything done in action and deed is for God’s Glory alone (Matthew 22:37,38).
4. The Gospel message as stated in scripture, does not and has not changed.
1. It is solely about the purpose, works, and person of Jesus. 
5. The mindset and focus of the Christian is eternal and heavenly and not material or earthly.  
1. Good deeds for others is not for personal validation or satisfaction but for salvation of others and God’s Glory.
2. Christians seek God’s Will and not their own.
6. Christianity is not faith in the church but faith in Christ, who is the head of the body of believers.
1. The difference between the visible church and the invisible church are those who claim to be Christian for selfish self seeking worldly means and those who are Christian because of faith in the gospel message which compels them to love, serve, and worship God.
7. Christians are saved by grace through faith.  This grace is unearned and unmerited. There is no amount of effort, deeds, or works that can earn the free gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9).  This free gift from God is only through faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16; 14:6)

Ability to Reject Satan

Because of Christ, man has been enabled by God to reject Satan; but only through faith in Christ (Mark 16:17).  Faith in Jesus enables us to then resit Satan (James 4:7).  And at the end of it all, the source of sin, Satan, and all his followers will be caste into Hell forever (Matthew 25:41).  

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Discussion with a Jehovah’s Witness

Evangelism takes shape in many forms.  At times God has random strangers walk up and ask random questions that spark spiritual conversations.  Other times major life events causes us to reflect on deeper matters which leads to spiritual conversations.  And at times, God even uses the internet.  In this case, God chose to use the internet.  A devout Jehovah Witness reached out and shared a screen shot image from the JW website about who they think Jesus is.  Given the massive importance of the topic, we felt it was necessary to engage in a dialog with this individual but it quickly changed in tempo, tone, and agenda.

THE DISCUSSION

We began to address the question, soon more questions rolled in.  As we attempted to address the new questions; the previously answered questions were re posted or asked in a different way.  It was odd but we continually attempted to address the same questions in the new re-posts.

The answers were not to the satisfaction of the individual, and as the same questions were re-posted, we noticed that our answers were being left out.  Even in some cases, only our references to support our answers remained but our actual answers were cropped out of the screen shot.

The individual’s rebuttals to our answers were in forms of YouTube videos produced by JW or screen shots from the JW website alone (later Wikipedia was used).  We then began to focus on bringing to light the unreliability of the NWT and issues with believing what you are told solely based off what the watchtower organization teaches.

The issues with the unreliability of the NWT and sole influence of the watchtower organization were never addressed by the individual.  Only more questions and rephrased questions without our answers were continually posted.

As we redirected the focus on the individual’s only sources, we began to notice our replies deleted and left out of screen shots as the same questions were re-posted again and again.

We then would ask follow up questions after we addressed the individuals question.  But, our questions were never answered.  No big deal, because our answers to their questions still shed light on the issue and brought truth to the odd constant questioning.

Given that this whole discussion (turned into an interrogation) was on Twitter, which limits messages to only 140 characters AND the constant bombardment of questions and re-posted questions; keeping up was becoming rather difficult.

The individual then made comments about how we had an audience.  It was then we realized that this was no longer a discussion but an attempt to publicly belittle and vilify.  So our focus shifted to the dishonesty of the re-posts and questioning and the unreliable nature of the sources.

Gradually, the questioning turned to more personal attacks and “showing [our] true colors” but the re-posts were manipulated where our answers were purposefully not included in the re-posts; with the accusation of avoiding to give an answer or changing the topics.  A clear dishonest accusation so that his audience would feel as though we were doing so.  When in fact we did address the topic, gave an answer which was deleted or cropped out of the screen shot in the re-post.  So the audience would not be able to see our answers, the original post was also deleted.

As we stood fast and focused on the fact the questions were answered in previous posts about Jesus and The Bible, questioning the reliability of the sources, and pointing out and exposing the dishonesty; we were then blocked.

WHY SHARE THIS?

There are important lessons to be learned here.  Those who do not live in the light, hate the light (John 3:30).  What is the light in regards to this discussion? The truth about God and Jesus.  The whole things started with the true identity of Jesus.  This individual may not have hated the person sharing the truth about Jesus but they hated the truth about Jesus: that He is God.  How is this hatred?  Well, if someone is truly forgiving, merciful, patient, loving, and gracious, there would be no need to block someone if they are having a simple civil spiritual conversation.  There would be no need to try and be dishonest and manipulative.  But it is the hatred of the light that leads people to become dishonest, manipulative, impatient and intolerant of truth.

Another lesson to be learned is that God WILL be glorified even if the hatred of the individual causes them to reject the dialog.  The person who remained patient and gracious in the conversation did so in faithfulness to the Lord despite the turned public interrogation and belittlement.  Not to mention, being in the public sphere, God may lead others, who witnessed all this, to be exposed to the truth.  For HIS will to be done!

In this day in age, social networks and the internet are a huge tool to reach people around the world.  Proclaiming the person and work of Jesus Christ world wide IS the mission; and this is a God given tool to do so.

THESE TYPE OF CONVERSATIONS ARE COMMON

The conversations usually start off civil.  A back and forth discussion about spiritual matters.  That is a good thing!  BUT when the lies become exposed, those who genuinely believe in the lies commonly become more and more hostile; that’s natural. BUT the dialog usually shifts from spiritual matters to personal matters; turns from a discussion to an interrogation in an attempt to shame, discredit, vilify, and belittle the truth speaker through any means necessary like dishonest quoting, and manipulation.  When these more extreme attempts fail and are also exposed; the dialog falls apart and the person who hates the truth flees or seeks to silence the truth speaker.  Because these situations on social networks, online forums, and conversation tools all over the internet are common, we should expect it BUT hope and pray for the truth to impact their heart by the conviction of The Holy Spirit.

COMMONALITIES TO LOOK FOR

• One way conversation;  when the individual asks questions and does not answer any questions posted to them.  This is a sign that they do not really want to seek truth but to only argue.
• Misquoting; when the individual consistently misquotes or leaves out the key answers to their questions.  This is done to avoid the truth within the answer given.
• Situation Manipulation and public deception; when the individual manipulates the discussion to frame it a certain desired way.  Like saying that the question is being avoided by asking it in different ways and leaving out what has already been stated when in fact the essence of the question has already been answered.
• Loaded or “Gotcha” questions;  these are deceptive questions posed to trip up the truth speaker in an attempt to vilify and shame them if they do trip up.  Quoting a verse in the bible where Satan or Pharisees are speaking and then asking something like “do you agree with this statement” without stating who said it is a common ‘gotcha’ question but at the heart is purposefully deceptive.
• Personal attacks; when the individual begins to make the questions personal and negative in tone.  In God glorifying spiritual conversations, it is not about the people in the discussion but it is about the glory of God and his Son Jesus Christ.  Both individuals are imperfect sinners but the truth of God is perfection.

HOW TO ADDRESS THESE COMMONALITIES

• Always address the question with truth.  Provide references and illustrations to help illuminate the answer. 
• If misquoted, re-state the answer and point out the misquote
• If the situation is being manipulated, point out this as well and re-focus the conversation on the truth.
• When personally attacked, do not buy into the bait; re-focus the conversation on the truth and not on any one individual.
• At the end of it all, the gospel (life, death, resurrection; person and work of Jesus Christ) needs to be proclaimed.
• Research context and backgrounds of bible verses to avoid the ‘gotcha’ questions then expose the line of questioning for what it is; being deceptive. 
• Continually re-focus the conversation on Jesus; He alone is the way, THE TRUTH, and the life.

Eventually, 1 of 2 things WILL happen.  The person who hates the light will genuinely consider the truth offered and The Holy Spirit will work in their heart OR the person will grow in hatred of it and either flee or attempt to silence the truth speaker.  Regardless, God WILL be glorified and His truth will shine.

HELPFUL INFORMATION FOR COMMON DISCUSSIONS

• GO TO: resource for quick bible verse references  
• Manuscripts of The Bible and Textual Criticism
• Evidence for The Resurrection   
• Did the Apostles distort what Jesus taught?  
• Correctly Interpret and Understand The Bible
• Modern Secular Historians and The Bible
• Early Accounts of Christianity from Non-Christians 
• Why The Bible is Divine: Prophecy 
• Why The Bible Is Divine: Christology
• Why The Bible is Divine: Miracles
• Information about Other Religions and points of discussion  
• Who or What Is The Holy Spirit? 
• Who Is Jesus Really? 
• The Triune God of Christianity

THE INDIVIDUAL OF THIS DIALOG:

We pray that this person considers the truths presented and the Holy Spirit works in their heart and mind to genuinely seek truth.  We thank the Lord for this opportunity to Glorify Him through the means that He has offered.  We pray that anyone following the conversation is impacted for God’s glory and seek Jesus Christ as their Lord God and Savior.

If you have any questions or comments about this article please contact us or join our discussion forms

Are You Fearless For Christ?

Are you fearless for Christ?  Seems like a basic and simple question but it is much deeper than most of us actually think.  The deeper question is, are you so dedicated to Jesus that you risk your own life to make him more known?  This is the question we must all ask ourselves in our daily lives.  Reflecting on what Jesus, the Apostles, and the early church had to endure and sacrifice should give us some pause and self reflection.

 FEARLESS ACCOUNTABILITY 

Think of the most popular highly esteemed preachers who everyone precised to be Godly men.  Now, what if they were wrong in essential areas of the faith.  Would you call them out?  Would you seek their repentance for God’s Glory?  That’s exactly what Jesus did.

The Pharisees were the top ranked most respected religious teachers in that day.  What they said, went.  Then, this guy out of a small village begins taking their spot light.  They try to downplay his significance and even attempt to make him look bad in public.  Then, boom, this person, who is Jesus, says publicly they are nothing more than a hypocritical (Matthew 23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29), unsaved (Matthew 23:13), blind (Matthew 23:16-17, 19, 24, 26), fake (Matthew 23:25-26), wicked (Matthew 23:28), brood of vipers (Matthew 12:34; 23:33) and children of Satan (Matthew 23:15).  Wow, harsh, but true story.  See Matthew 12:24-37; 23:1-38.  And that WE can recognize and know them by their fruit (Matthew 7:15-23).

Are you fearless enough to call out pastors and teachers privately and publicly that are hypocritical, blind, fake, and wicked?  What about yourself?  What if you were charged with being hypocritical, blind, fake, and wicked?  Are you humble and honest enough to do some self reflecting?  After all, if you are, you have to pull the plank of hypocrisy out of your eye before you can clearly see them.  Are you fearless enough to admit that?

FEARLESS IN SOCIETY

In a culture that is more and more becoming less tolerant of Christian truth, are you fearless enough to publicly stand for your faith in Christ?  Fearless enough to face being labeled a criminal like Jesus, the Apostles and the early church?  And, when the time comes, are you fearless enough to face hatred, physical abuse, torture, and possibly death?

Jesus makes this point personal.  “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you… If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.” (John 15:19-20).  Publicly proclaiming the Gospel message of Jesus Christ WILL cause those of the world to hate you.  Are you okay with that?  Or do you want the world to love you like its own?  Jesus was personally attacked.  He was publicly humiliated.  He was viewed as a criminal, physically abused, tortured, and killed.  Same with His disciples, and their disciples.

Are you fearless enough to attend church, bible studies, prayer groups, and risk being socially ostracized and publicly humiliated at your work place, social life, and even by family members?   

FEARLESS AT HOME

One of Jesus’ deepest and in some ways most devastating statements is this: “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:32-39). THAT is how huge and important the person and work of Jesus is. Faith in HIM is greater than family. Are you fearless enough to proclaim faith in him even if your own family hates you for it?

FEARLESS GRACE

In light of all this, are you fearless enough to truly love them still? Fighting hate with hate is a worldly reaction. Fighting hate with GRACE is a godly solution. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two…43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:38-4). This is NOT saying that you CAN be sinless BUT Jesus IS saying that we can exhibit the perfect GRACE that God has shown us. Are you fearless enough to show the perfect Grace of God to those who hate you?

IF you are not fearless enough for all this; than you need to reflect on what God has done on your own behalf.

FEARLESSNESS IN YOU

Jesus took on YOUR sin. He was hated, beaten, humiliated, and murdered; FOR YOU! He died and rose again to PROVE TO YOU that you have NOTHING to fear. He sent The Holy Spirit to empower you to be fearless in the face of everything that Jesus experienced. The Apostles experienced this as well. They, like Jesus, were also hated, beaten, humiliated, and murdered. The early church was hated, beaten, humiliated, and murdered too. TO THIS DAY there are Christians around the world that are hated, beaten, humiliated, and murdered! THEY are fearless because CHRIST is worth more than anything in this world. AND the reward for this fearless faithfulness to the person and work of Jesus Christ is greater than any amount of health, wealth, and happiness this broken wicked world could ever offer. Meditate on the Gospel, the Good News, and strive to see the fearlessness in its message! THEN GO, make disciples of ALL nations; fearlessly!

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The Watchtower’s New World Translation of the Bible

There are many bible translations but none that contradict each other except for the New World Translation.  This translation translates words and ideas differently causing conflict with the other translations.  Both can not be true so is the New World Translation a true biblical translation?  This article will look a a few areas of the translation where words are changed or added and explore the true meaning found in the Alexandrian, Byzantine, and Old Testament ancient texts.

Cross or Stake?

The New World Translation renders the Greek term word staurós (“cross”) as “torture stake” because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that Jesus was crucified on a cross.  The English word for “cross” comes from the latin word “crux”.  Whether “stake” or “cross” is used; this still does not negate the detailed history of the use of the thing.  Roman historian Tacitus describes such events.  Criminals, with their crossbeams are then mounted on the fixed pole for the purpose of slow painful deaths.  Jewish historian Josephus (born only a few years after Jesus was killed) records people caught by Romans, being nailed to them.  Roman politician Cicero, who wrote around 30BC, recorded the gruesome nature of this kind of execution.   Seneca the Younger, a Roman philosopher who lived during Jesus’ time, described the method as means to humiliate.  Jehovah’s Witnesses argue that Jesus was crucified on a crux simplex, and that the crux immissa was an invention of Emperor Constantine round the 4th century in defense of Christianity; but a graffito found in a taberna in Puteoli, dating to the time of Trajan or Hadrian (late 1st century to early 2nd century CE) shows a T shaped crucifixion.  The New Testament writings about the crucifixion of Jesus do not specifically describe the shape of the cross, but the early writings that do speak of its shape, from about the year 100 CE on, describe it as shaped like the letter T (the Greek letter tau) or as composed of an upright and a transverse beam, sometimes with a small projection in the upright.  When considering actual Roman history we can conclude that simply calling it a ‘stake’ is an insufficient word choice.  

An example of poor choice words in translations that can negatively impact the understanding is this:  The concept of our desperate need for Jesus.  If I was to say in greek, “I moved to Jesus”.  That is a good thing.  But if I was to have actually said in greek “I sprinted to Jesus”; notice the big difference.  Yes, sprinting is moving, but sprinting illuminates the desperation.  The New World translation would have used the word ‘move’ instead of ‘sprint’ because of their own theological agendas and would argue that ‘moving’ is what the greek word means- this is called deceptive truth.  Even though sprinting is moving and can mean moving, the author meant a more specific word to illuminate the truth.

Thus, with true historic evidences we can conclude that the ‘cross’ is best.  Therefore, we can conclude that Jesus was in fact crucified on a “cross”.  With this we can already see poor word choices in the New World Translation.  The reasoning for that poor word choice is due to an attempt to morph unbiblical teachings forced by changing the wording in scripture.  Not only does the word choice not fully express the message but it conflicts with actual historical facts.

The Place of The Dead- Hell?

The New World Translation does not translate the words sheol, hades, and gehenna as “hell” because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in hell.  Aside from the theological misunderstandings of God’s Justice and Love with Hell; and looking at the actual meanings expressed in the ancient biblical texts in the cultures it was written in we can see the same poor word choice issue.  In Jewish tradition, gehenna, is the place of fire and torment for the wicked (Kiddushin 4.14, Avot 1.5; 5.19, 20, Tosefta t. Bereshith 6.15, and Babylonian Talmud b.Rosh Hashanah 16b:7a; b. Bereshith 28b).  This place is know for this because historically and traditionally this is where children were burned to a pagan god. The same place Jesus states in Matthew 5:22, 29-30, 10:28, 18:9, 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6).  Sheol and Hades are cultural words that are synonyms for the same place describing a general sense of the world of the dead.  The context points to the specificity of the truth about this place.  In general, scripture tells us of a literal place where wicked and fallen angels will go for eternal torment.  But if God is Just and Loving, how then can he send anyone there?  Simple.  People choose to go there and because God is ultimately loving, he gives them what they ultimately desire; separation from himself.  It is God’s justice that requires payment for sin; thus this place apart from him is their rightful and just payment for their sins.  God remains perfectly Just and Loving by giving people what they ultimately desire with the perfect judged consequences of it.  This place is called Hell in English and the descriptive words are synonyms of that place.  The importance of understanding the culture and synonyms is key.  Misunderstanding this leads to unbiblical ideas which influences incorrect translations.  That is exactly what happened with the New World Translation.  The teachers of the Jehovah’s Witness religion failed to properly understand Hell.  They invented an idea about this subject and injected that false idea into how they translate the bible.

Already Came or Still Coming?

 The NWT gives the translation “presence” instead of “coming” for the Greek word parousia because Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Christ has already returned in the early 1900s.  This translation is soley based on the concept that Jesus already came.  When the authors wrote the word, in context, was in future tense.  Jesus’ physical presence was coming.  The translation of this word in the NWT is completely dependent on the idea that Jesus already came.  Did he?  Acts 1:9-11 specifically tells us that he physically ascended into heaven AND will return the same way.  Therefore we know that he will physically descend from heaven in the future.  Jesus discussed this with the Apostles in Matthew 24:3-32.  There are some huge points that need to be made here.  First, Jesus warns the Apostles (and us) about false Christs and false prophets.  “And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you… For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many… Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many… Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him… For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”  Jehovah’s Witnesses aren’t the only ones who claim that Jesus already came. 

Ann Lee (1736–1784), the founder and leader of the Shakers believed she was the female incarnation of Christ on Earth. William W. Davies (1833–1906), leader of a Latter Day Saint group. He taught his followers that he was the archangel Michael, and also declared that the infant was the reincarnated Jesus Christ. Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012), believed by members of the Unification Church to be the Messiah and the Second Coming of Christ.  Yahweh ben Yahweh (1935–2007), born as Hulon Mitchell, Jr., a black nationalist and separatist who created the Nation of Yahweh in 1979 in Liberty City, Florida. His self-proclaimed name means “God, Son of God”. He could have only been deeming himself to be “son of God”, not God, but many of his followers clearly deem him to be God Incarnate.  Inri Cristo (1948–), a Brazilian who claims to be the second Jesus reincarnated in 1969.  Apollo Quiboloy (1950–) is the founder and leader of a Philippines-based Restorationist church, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, Inc. He has made claims that he is the “Appointed Son of God”. Alan John Miller (1962–), more commonly known as A.J. Miller, a former Jehovah’s Witness elder and current leader of the Australia-based Divine Truth movement.  Miller claims to be Jesus Christ reincarnated.  This just to name a few throughout history.  The Jehovah Witness claim is nothing new.  How do we know they aren’t?

We continue reading in Matthew 24:  “So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them… For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be… And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory… For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah… and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”  And just like that; the entire earth will know.  The entire earth will see him.  “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.” (Matthew 24:21)  The power and great glory of his coming will be so great and so grand; more grand than the beginning of the World!  Well, the whole world did not see anything.  The power and glory was not that great if the Jehovah’s Witnesses are right… 

Their claim of him already coming conflicts with what Jesus revealed; therefore he has not come yet.  With that said, the NWT rendering of the word “presence” instead of “coming” is very incorrect because the more accurate word is in fact ‘coming’.  There was nothing like the flood, nothing more powerful than creation, no great and grand power or glory, and “ALL” the tribes of the earth did not see anything.

All Other Things?

 In Colossians 1:16, the NWT inserts the word “other” despite its being completely absent from the original Greek text. It does this to give the view that “all other things” were created by Christ, instead of what the text says, “all things were created by Christ.” This is to go along with their belief that Christ is a created being, which they believe because they deny the Trinity.  The NWT also adds the word other four times to Colossians 1:15-17. This implies that Jesus was first created AND THEN He created other things. There is no word in the Greek text for other. The NWT translators added it in order to put their false doctrine into the text.  The Alexandrian Text Types read “ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα”  which literally states “For by Him all things were created”.  They continue to read “καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν πρὸ πάντων” which literally states “He is before all things”.  The dishonest insertion of the word “other” attempts to impute something that is NOT stated in scripture.

The Word was a god?

This is a typical verse JW use in defense of their beliefs; John 1:1. But this defense is solely based on an idea injected into the bible and not originally from the bible.  The original Greek text reads, “and God was The Word.” The NWT renders it as “the word was a god.” This is not just a matter of correct translation, but of reading one’s preconceived theology into the text, rather than allowing the text to speak for itself.   The most revealing evidence of the Watchtower’s bias is their inconsistent translation technique. Throughout the Gospel of John, the Greek word theon occurs without a definite article. The New World Translation renders none of these as “a god.” Just three verses after John 1:1, the New World Translation translates another case of theos without the indefinite article as “God.” Even more inconsistent, in John 1:18, the NWT translates the same term as both “God” and “god” in the very same sentence.  

When considering the historical and cultural context of “God” in Israel we see that they were monotheistic. The earliest church teachers also taught monotheism.  Given the time of the writing of scripture, singular “God” is the absolute most correct translation.  The NWT cherry picks how to translate the word based on its own ideas outside of the bible to fit its invented teachings.

It is also important to note that if the author wanted to express a plurality of gods, the greek language could.  In other greek writings, when talking about the pantheon of gods, they do.  Therefore, the author could have chosen to express that here; but he didn’t.   The odd inconsistent justification is ‘Jesus is just a lesser god’  But this then comes into conflict with strict monotheistic verses in the bible. This is also self defeating because he is still a god.  But if there is only one Almighty God, than there can not be other gods, even if to a lesser extent; because by definition of God, there could not be more than one.  Another attempt to justify the existence of ‘lesser gods’ they will misunderstand Exodus 4:16 and Exodus 7:1.  But this is easy to spot the fallacy in the fact that Moses was only stated to be made “AS God” and not “A God”.  Moses was “as God” in the sense that he was given the authority and power to display powerful miracles that decimated much of Egypt.  This does not make him “a god” because his authority and power came from THE monotheistic GOD in the first place. 

YHWH

Second, Jehovah is not a Biblical word. It was created by combining the original Hebrew name for God YHWH and adonai (word used by Jews who didn’t want to say God’s name). The resulting combined word, “Jehovah” has been used for the name God by many groups but it is not found in the Bible. Nowhere do you find the word Jehovah in the original languages, Hebrew or Greek.  Instead the New Testament uses the words “Lord” [Greek: Kurios] and “God” [Greek: theos] when talking about God. The writers never used Jehovah, even when quoting the Old Testament. The Greek New Testament source for the New World Translation, Westcott and Hort, never used Jehovah. They used kurios for Lord and theos for God. The Kingdom Interlinear confirms Jehovah was never in the original text. This interlinear published by the Watchtower Organization shows how kurios (Lord) and theos (God) were changed to Jehovah in the English translation. 

When it comes to this translation we find it almost universally rejected by noted scholars in the field of Biblical translations according to Dr. Ron Rhodes.  British scholar H.H. Rowley asserted, ‘from the beginning to end this volume is a shining example of how the Bible should not be translated.’ Indeed, Rowley said, this translation is ‘an insult to the Word of God.’”  Dr. Julius Manti, author of A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, calls the New World translation “a shocking mistranslation.” Dr. Bruce M. Metzger, professor of New Testament at Princeton University, calls the New World translation “a frightful mistranslation,” “erroneous,” “pernicious,” and “reprehensible.” Dr. William Barclay concluded that “the deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is seen in their New Testament translation. It is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest.”  Former Jehovah witness David Reed notes, “an unbiased observer will quickly note that such anonymity also shields the translators from any blame for errors or distortions in their renderings. And it prevents scholars from checking their credentials.” 

The Watchtower Society must have been utterly embarrassed when the names of the translators of the New World translation were made known to the public. The reason for concern was the translation committee was completely unqualified for the task. Four of the five men in the committee had no Hebrew or Greek training whatsoever (they had only a high school education). The Fifth, Fred W. Franz, claimed to know Hebrew and Greek, but upon examination under oath in a court of law in Edinburg Scotland he failed a basic Hebrew test.  Raymond Victor Franz, Fredrick’s nephew, was a member of the divine Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  He later left the JW after studying the Bible and comparing it to JW teachings. He later wrote Crisis of Conscience (1983) and In Search of Christian Freedom (1991) that detailed his experiences with the Jehovah’s Witnesses and their inner workings and teachings.  Just these two examples prove the fallibility of the Governing Body and exposed it as less than divinely inspired by Almighty God.  Which, also, exposes the fallacies of the NWT.

Internal Theological Contradictions

There exist theological inconsistencies between the NWT and Watchtower theology.  Isaiah 40-48. By simply reading these eight chapters, or at least select passages from within them, and comparing them to other biblical teachings, major cracks in the foundation of the Watchtower’s primary biblical translation emerge.  Matt. 3:3 uses Isaiah for Jesus.  John 10:14 Jesus as the shepherd as in Isa 40:11.  When reading from the NWT; Matthew 3:3 even validates that Isaiah was speaking about Jesus and John The Baptist and records Jesus claiming to the shepherd as stated in Isaiah 40:11. And announced in just two verses prior is the statement from Isaiah “Here is your God.” and “like a shepherd HE will care for HIS flock”.  Remember, this verses is talking about Almighty God.  Then in John 10:14, Jesus literally states “I know my sheep and my sheep know me”.  These issues come from comparing the NWT with itself.  These are just a few examples, but it is recommended to study Isaiah 40-48 and compare it to what is stated in the synoptic gospels.

CONCLUSION

If ANY of these issues are true, than it proves the NWT has errors in its translation method.  Aside from translation errors, it is important to see that the translation method itself directly influenced by ideas invented outside of The Bible.  Then, the ideas, injected into the translation.  The source for the Biblical ideas comes from ignorant assumptions and misunderstandings, cherry picked from what the Bible actually declares.  To truly understand scripture one must keep in mind the cultural and historical implications associated with it; and interpret scripture with the totality of scripture and not from one or two selected verses and then jump to conclusions without the whole of scripture being reconciled.

Miss translations such as stake, Misunderstandings such as sheol, hades, and gehenna.  Extra-biblical injected theology such as presence instead of coming.  Added words such as “a” and “other”.  Extra-biblical created words such as Jehovah.  Self existent contradictions such as in Isaiah compared to Matthew and John.  These examples prove the New World Translation is not a translation of God’s Word but rather a translation morphed into The Watchtower’s teachings.  The source for the ideas that change the translation methods is from those who attempt to translate without proper education and preconceived extra-biblical beliefs.  The JW argument comes down to this:  The New World Translation is the most correct translation because the Watchtower re-translated the bible based off of Watchtower beliefs found in the New World Translation.  That is the same as saying: A circle is a square because a square is a circle.  This logical fallacy is called Circular Reasoning; and thus, is illogical.

Defending the New World Translation is the argument that the NWT is true because it is from the Watchtower, because the Watchtower is in the NWT of which it translated.  As compared to the argument for the NASB for example;  which is based from the Alexandrian Text types and Masoritic Texts simply translated into English using the common understanding of the language, culture, and history of the authors.

Also read The Jehovah’s Witnesses

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The Creed of The Universal Christian Faith

I believe in the One true God, who is in three persons:
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:
Who is eternal, holy, and perfect:
Almighty, all knowing, and always present:
Just, merciful, gracious, good, loving, and unchanging:
I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ, his one and only begotten Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary:
Having two natures; fully God eternal, and fully man incarnate:
He lived the sinless life, fulfilled prophecies, and proven with divine miracles:
Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:
The third day he rose again from the dead:
He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead:
The faithless to eternal hell, and the saints to the new heaven and new earth:
I believe in the Holy Spirit:
Who convicts mankind of sin and is the counselor and perfect helper of saints:
I believe all mankind is sinful and unable to save themselves:
Those who are chosen by God are unconditionally elected by God the Father:
Their sin atoned for once and for all by the work of the Lamb of God on the cross:
And brought into faith and eternally sustained by The Holy Spirit:
The new life of grace and truth in Christ Jesus:
I am saved by God’s grace through this faith in His Son:
I believe in the holy universal church:
The communion of saints:
The symbol of baptism and remembrance in The Lords Supper:
Submission to the elders and deacons who are of the saints ordained by God:
The forgiveness of sins:
The resurrection of the body:
And the life everlasting.
All revealed in Holy Scripture that which has been made complete:
Declared by The Holy Spirit through the Prophets and Apostles:
Which is God’s Holy Word, sufficient for Salvation and sole Authority of the faith:
All for God’s Glory, in all, and through all:
All for His Will to be done for all time, Amen.

36 lines, 358 words. Combining key statements from the disciples of the Apostles, their disciples, The Apostles Creed, The Athanasian Creed, The Chalcedonian Creed, and main doctrines from the Three Forms of Unity; which came down from the Apostles of The Lord as recorded in Holy Scripture.

If you have any questions or comments about this article please contact us or join our discussion forms

The World Changes, The Worldly Hearts Do Not

When reading through the Bible and take note of social norms in the early cultures all the way through the early church writings about social norms of those times; a pattern becomes apparent.  A social norms pattern that conflict with God’s moral standard.  Then, when looking at our modern times and its escalating social norms, we see the pattern continuing.  The pattern of child sacrifice and freedom for sexual immorality. But what is at the source of it and what is wrong with it?

Child Sacrifice. 

As early as 1500 BC we see The Phoenician culture practice sexual immorality and child sacrifice as a form of worship to a god Moloch.  This worship of Moloch even spread to North Africa and morphed into Kronos after the idea migrated to Carthage in Greece.  God set himself above the man invented god Moloch when he offered a greater alternative to human sacrifice (Gen 22:2-23) and commanded Israel not to follow those humanistic social norms (Leviticus 18:21).  But, as the fallen human heart is, even Israel eventually accepted the unholy social norms (1 Kings 11:1–8; 12:31; 2 Kings 23:10).  Even King Solomon could not escape his natural corrupted heart despite all his wisdom and knowledge of God (1 Kings 11:4-11).  More kings began to sacrifice their children (2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chronicles 28:1-4) then the people of Judah did the same (Jeremiah 32:35).  God made it absolutely clear, child sacrifice is unacceptable and incompatible to him (Leviticus 20:2-5).  The single common purpose for child sacrifice is to bring good fortune and future wealth whether from a god or from yourself as god.

But it did not end there.  Cultures continued to practice it.  Athenagoras of Athens around 175AD wrote a letter to the Roman Emperor explaining how Christians are against all forms of cruelty.  In Chapter 35 he uses specifically speaks of women who are pregnant purposefully terminate their pregnancy as absolutely wrong and goes against what Christianity stands for (read it here).  His statement “to regard the very foetus in the womb as a created being, and therefore an object of God’s care, and when it has passed into life [conception], to kill it; and not to expose an infant, because those who expose them are chargeable with child-murder” is clear.  He is not talking about killing a baby after birth but before it is born or “exposed”.  

Without question, child sacrifice to a god or god of the self is incompatible to Christianity.  And here we are, 2000 years later still discussing the issue like it was never settled or ever made clear.  The problem has never been the clarity of teachings but has always been the human heart to justify all types of evil.  Notice all the different cultures at different times; Phoenician, Roman, American. All whom practice the same thing for the same purposeful intended results; better fortune and more wealth.  
Also read Follow Your Heart?  | Abortion and God’s Gift | Me, Myself, And I and “Doing Me” 

Sexual Immorality 

Sexuality is not immoral when it is practice in the way that God meant it to be.  Sexual acts within the pure original design in beautiful and fulfilling.  Sexual desires and acts outside of the pure original design is enslaving, addicting, unfulfilling, and idolatry.  Sodom was demolished because of how sexually immoral that people had become.  The cultural norm had become ‘sex with anyone on demand’ (Gen 19:5).  Rape was viewed as part of the norm.  Adultery, fornication, same-sex (Gen 19:5-8), incest, bestiality, prostitution; all had no negative connotations in the culture.  They had become acceptable.  Lot even attempted to tell them that it is wrong, but they replied with the age old “don’t judge me” (Gen 19:9).   Later, God makes it absolutely clear about specific sexual acts are universally immoral (Lev 18:8-22) and the Holy Spirit reiterates this through the Apostles (Romans 1:26-28, 1 Cor 6:9-10). 
Also read Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah  |  Freedom for The Law and Sexuality

Aristitdes of Athens around 125AD, Justin Martyr around 150AD, and Athenagoras of Athens around 175AD reiterate what is stated in Holy Scripture about what God has defined as sexual immorality.
Aristitdes even has to argue for the sake of Christians in Rome; It is specifically the sexually immoral community in Rome that is persecuting Christians the most, because they refused to accept the acts as moral; as recorded in Chapter 17 (read it here). 
Also read Normalized Adultery

Without question, sexual immorality is ANYTHING that is outside of a one husband and one wife marriage.  Here we are 2000 years later still wrestling with this issue.  Again, the issue has never been the clarity of the teaching but of the sinful desire in the human heart that can be seen in all human history.  From the Sodom culture, Roman culture, and the evolving American culture we see the same attitudes and practices.  Christians refused the accept it as moral and get persecuted in culture for it.
Also read How “Love is Love” is Unloving.  | Born This Way | The “Jesus didn’t say it” Reasoning | Don’t Judge Me | The Beauty of Accountability | The Original Pure and Holy Marriage | A Godly Couple

Conclusion

The one thing that ties these two patterns of a sinful heart together is self-righteousness and self-idolatry; the worship of self, instead of God.  Abortion is justified for the supposed betterment of the self.  Sexual Immorality is justified because of self seeking desires. Its justified because “it is what I want”. 
Also read God’s Truths are Not a Matter of Opinions  |  Your Feelings Do Not Determine Truth  |  The Self and The Center of Everything

Through human history, with Holy Scripture as the standard for morality, we see the pattern of immorality through time and culture.  The world may change from dominate culture to culture but the hearts of humanity have not.  They will continue desire child sacrifice in various shape or form and sexual immoral freedoms until Christ returns to judge the world.  We are not bringing world peace, Jesus is.
Also read The Joy of TRUTH  |  The Other Side of The Real Jesus  |  Test, Discern, and Righteous Judgement

The church needs to remain kind, loving, and gracious BUT never sacrifice God’s holy truth out of fear of cultural offense.  Always remember, Jesus was murdered because he was offensive (Matthew 10:34).  He told his disciples that they WILL be hated and they WILL be persecuted (Matthew 10:16-25).  History, past and present, validate this.  But the proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world is not contingent on culture norms; it is our responsibility regardless of culture norms.
Also read Christians that are ‘too christian’  | All Christians Are Missionaries | Radicalized Christians? | The Absolute Greatest Message To Tell Everyone | True Revival 

If you have any questions or comments about this article please contact us or join our discussion forms

Being A Confessional Church

What does it mean to be a confessional church and why is it important?  In this day and age most people do not even know what being a confessional church is, in any shape or form.  This article will address a very important issue in the Body of Christ that most Christian leaders have neglected for generations.  We will review what ‘confessional’ is referring to, why it is important, discuss statements of faith, and clear up common misconceptions about historic Creeds and Confessions.

What is a Confessional Church?

Being a confessional church is actually pretty simple.  It is simply what the church believes to be true that which has been handed down from the Apostles.  Then you might ask, ‘but we have the bible, we don’t need anything else’.  That sounds good but if that was true, than we would not have Mormonism, Roman Catholicism, and other splinter chrstianish -‘isms’ that have branched off from the Christian faith- all of whom use ‘the bible’ as their source.  Confessions keep the church unified in its understanding of what the Apostles taught in scripture.  It solidifies true and sound doctrines but also guides the future generations into these same doctrines.  Confessions also helps the church resist and expose false doctrines before they corrupt the church as a whole.  Not only does it resist false teachings but also maintains the supreme value and authority of the truth in holy scripture.  Also read What is ‘Doctrine’ and does it matter?

What is “confessional” referring to?

Throughout Church history, there have been a number of times where the church body from around the world have come together to discuss exactly what scripture is saying and what it means specifically.  The Council of Jerusalem in 50AD was called and the Apostles attended where the debate of circumcision was addressed.  Thus, formulating a fundamental, universal, unifying truth, for the body of Christ.  Then in 325AD The Council of Nicaea met to address the three persons of the one God and addressed, what is now called, the Trinity.  The Nicaea council, together, unified, then authored a ‘creed’ describing the fundamental, universal, unifying truth, for the body of Christ.  These two councils set the church apart from heretical unchristian teachings and more clearly made known what the Apostles taught.  “Confessional Churches” refers to churches that agree with and adhere to the ‘creeds’ and ‘confessions’ declared that define exactly what they believe the Bible teaches.

What makes confessions important?

The Apostles had Jesus’ example.  The Disciples of the Apostles had the Apostles examples through the Holy Spirit.  The Disciples of the Disciples of the Apostles had all the explanations, elaborations, from the first hand eye witness accounts.   The 4th and 5th generation Church only had the divinely inspired writings from the Apostles and the writings from the disciples of the apostles who elaborated what the Apostles taught them.  As time went on, some people from with in the church started teaching their own version of what the apostles meant.  False teachings sprang up everywhere.  The councils came together and detailed exactly what the Apostles meant in a confession to keep the true church on track in sound doctrine.  The same is true for the church now.  “No creed, but the bible” is an ignorant phrase that opens the door for misinterpretations of the bible, thus leading to believing false doctrines about the bible. Also read Why The Disciples of The Apostles Matter Today

Its Bigger Than Just You

Confessions link you to all the brothers and sisters of the past.  It links your church community the all the previous churches throughout history.  It is a continuation all the way to the 70 apostles themselves.  It is you and your modern church community contending for the faith that was once delivered form the saints (Jude 3).  It is you and your modern church community following the pattern of sound words given by the Apostles (1 Tim 1:13-14).  It is you and your modern church community being rooted and established in the true faith that was taught by the Apostles (Col 2:6-7).  So that It is you and your modern church community will always remember what was taught from the very beginning from the Apostles themselves (1 John 1:1).  When a church wants to do its own thing, teach is own thing, in its own way, they fail to remember the church is not theirs but Christ’s and the corruption of the human heart has already began leading them away.  Confessions continually remind the church as a whole where it came from what was passed down to them.

What are the core Christian confessions?

1. The Council of Jerusalem in 50AD denounced legalism and established Apostolic authority in Acts 15:7-29.  
2. The Council of Nicaea drafted the Nicene Creed in 325AD which simplistically summarizes exactly what Christianity believes as a whole (The Nicaea Creed ).  
3. First Council of Constantinople in 381AD affirmed the Nicaea Creed and Athanasian Creed  to further detail Christianity and distinguish itself from common false teachings of that time. 
4. The Council of Chalcedon in 451AD explained Jesus’ two natures of being fully God and fully man (The Chalcedonian Creed).
5. The Belgic Confession, written in 1567AD to clarify what Christianity is in relation to the Arminius heresy.  It consists of 37 articles which deal with the doctrines of God (1-2, 8-13), Scripture (3-7), humanity (14), sin (15), Christ (18-21), salvation (16-17, 22-26), the Church (27-36), and the end times (37).  It is known as One of the Three Forms of Unity. (Read it here)
6. The Heidelberg Catechism written in 1563AD is the Second of Three Forms of Unity.  It is a teaching tool which also addressed false teachings in the Roman Catholic church.  It consists of 129 questions and answers with proof Bible references that span over all major areas of Christian teachings. (read it here)
7. The Canons of The Synod of Dort, completed in 1619AD is known as the Third of Three Forms of Unity.  It settled the heresy of Arminianism and unite the international Protestant church.  It affirmed The Heidelberg Catechism and The Belgic Confession.  The Canons incorporate them and address false teachings of Roman Catholicism and Arminianism. (read it here) 

“Non-denominational”, Non-confessional churches

With the rise of non-confessional churches, we have also seen a rise of false teachings developed in our modern time.  The Word of Faith movement and the Prosperity Gospel teaching churches are all non-confessional.  They teach things that were not taught by the Apostles and attempt to use the Bible to justify their teachings;  the exact reason and need for churches to affirm the past confessions.

Now not all non-denominational churches are teaching corrupted doctrines.  Some are not affiliated with any one denomination but are confessional affirming. But when a church rejects being confessional the heart of the church leadership comes into question.  Are they scared to ‘scare’ people away from their church or offend anyone?  Church, is for believers.  That is a time and place where believers come together to worship God.  Is the church leadership attempting to appease man instead of God to fill seats and get more donations?  All these questions come up when a churches leadership reject affirming historical confessions of what exactly the Apostles taught.  If a church is unwilling to make it publicly known what they believe, do they even teach what the Apostles taught openly and publicly leading to their martyrdom?  What is the source for their hesitation, fear of the opinions of man?  To be fair, some churches just keep it simple, and generate “Statements of Faith”.

Statements of Faith

Another thing more modern churches are doing is crafting their own “Confession” or making a public ‘statement of faith’.  They will have it posted on their websites or give out booklets at their churches.  Scanning through the statements of faith you can see some times the church actually affirms a traditional confession (but too ashamed to openly admit it some times).  When they state they believe in the Trinity or Jesus having two unique but separate natures, fully God and Fully man; they are affirming what was detailed at The Council of Nicaea and The Council of Chalcedon.  If they state they believe that we are saved by Grace through Faith, they are affirming parts of the Canons of Dort and the Three Forms of Unity.  The unnecessary thing of it all, is churches don’t need to continually write their own Statement of Faith if all they are doing is rewriting what has already been written in previous historic universal confessions.  Christ4All.com makes a statement of faith with proof verses and ties in a supporting universal Christian confessions and church father; as multiple verified statements supporting the truth from Apostolic teachings.  The Bible makes absolute statements of truth, traditional confessions and church father support help make sure the biblical statements of truth are correctly understood the way they were meant to be.

The Apostles Creed

This is the most simple and famous of Creeds for the Christian Faith.  It contains the fundamental teachings from the Apostles. Irenaeus wrote what is known as the ‘rule of faith’ around 180AD after false teachings were springing up distorting what the late Apostles taught (read it here).  It continually developed as Christianity became more uniform and set apart from all the centuries of false teachings.  As the Arian Heresy grew, it developed closer to the form we have today. 

1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:
5. The third day he rose again from the dead:
6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost:
9. I believe in the holy catholic [universal] church: the communion of saints:
10. The forgiveness of sins:
1l. The resurrection of the body:
12. And the life everlasting. Amen.

Set The Record Straight 

First of all, these Creeds and Confessions are NOT equal to scripture.  Second, they are NOT divinely inspired by God directly.  They are NOT a dos and do not list and is NOT legalistic.  They are NOT meant to be divisive!  These are all misconceptions put forth by those in the church who want to teach things that the Apostles did not teach. 

These Creeds and Confessions DO aid the universal church to ‘rightly divide‘ (2 Tim 2:15) what was taught at the beginning.  They DO help the universal church stay in the unified pattern of sound doctrine that which was taught by the Apostles (1 Tim 1:13-14).  By knowing what the Apostles meant in their writings, the church can contend for the faith (Jude 3).  We can hold fast to what has been taught and expose what is false (Titus 1:9).  Truth brings people in to the church because Jesus Christ is truth.  Thus, by knowing and maintaining what is true that which was taught by the Holy Spirit through the Apostles; the creeds and confessions lead to unity and community edification.

If you have any questions or comments about this article please contact us or join our discussion forms

What Makes Christianity The True Faith?

 What Makes Christianity The True Faith?  Can it be trusted and what makes it different from all other faiths?  We will briefly provide unintentional historic support, modern secular historians opinions, archeology and philosophical supports; as well as discuss the support from the death and resurrection and biblical prophecy for what makes Christianity true.  Again, these are brief to allow for self reflection and research. 

A)  Historical Evidences 

Unintentional Support

Ancient historians may not have believed the ‘fables’ but they still recorded what was taught, that validates what is recorded in the bible. This also supports people, place, a time and date which also supports the bible. Non-chrisitans such as Thallus (via Julius Africanus), Mara Bar-Serapion, Flavius Josephus, Cornelius Tactus, Pliny the Younger, Suetonius, Lucian of Samosata, and the Jewish Talmud.
Also read Early Accounts of Christianity from Non-Christians

Modern Secular Validation

In more modern times, it is look at from a more historical perspective with leaving out the spiritual aspects. A predominate Arts and Sciences Professor of Religion at Duke University, who is admittedly not christian, E.P. Sanders; stated this “Historical reconstruction is never absolutely certain, and in the case of Jesus it is sometimes highly uncertain. Despite this, we have a good idea of the main lines of his ministry and his message. We know who he was, what he did, what he taught, and why he died.” When talking about the bible.  Athiest and Emeritus Professor of New Testament, University of Nottingham, Maurice Casey, completely agrees with EP Sanders and believes there are more details that are historically reliable as well. Michael Grant, historian of the Roman Empire and worked at Ankara University, chairman of Humanity (Latin) at Edinburgh University, vice-chancellor of the University of Khartoum, vice-chancellor of Queen’s University of Belfast, and an expert of ancient Greek, Roman and Israelite history agrees with Maurice Casey and stated “‘no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non historicity of Jesus’ or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary.”
Also read Modern Secular Historians and The Bible
 

Archeology 

100% of all valid archeological finds related to an event or individual described in the bible have never contradicted the bible.  From the The Tel Dan Inscription, The Merneptah Stele, The Berlin Column base fragmen, Marine fossils found on mountains, The Amulet Scroll, and thousands of more major supportive findings of what is described in the bible.
Also read Archeology page
 

Ancient Record

Related to all the ancient inscriptions found, the vastness of ancient record of jewish and christian writings is to such extent they are all comparable and testable to the bible.  The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Septuagint, all the thousands of new testament fragments, and all the ancient christian writers quoting from the ancient documents.
Also read Apologetics page

Historical Evidences Conclusion

Given the unintentional support by non-christian ancient writers, modern non-christian historians who have access to review all the archeology and ancient records; it would be irrational to to make the claim the Christian faith is not a historical fact.

B)  Philosophical Evidences

The Ontological Argument

Described by St. Anselm and Rene Descarte, then elaborated by G.W.F Hegel buts forth an argument for how we can come to know the existence of God through logical reasoning.

The Cosmological Argument

Described by St. Thomas Aquinas and expressed in various ways by Gottfried Leibniz,Richard Swinburn, and Dr. Tom Morris provides an argument for knowing God through nature occurrences in reality.
Also read Why is there Something rather than Nothing?

The Teleological Argument

This argument, described by St. Thomas Aquinas argues for evidence of God through how nature is orderly in its vast complexity.  This lead to the development and continued development of study of the design of nature and its designer.

The Universal Morality Argument

This argument explains the existence of evil and how it can be known, the source of absolute moral truth, and absolute good.  We all believe there is a ‘evil’ that exists in this world, or we would never lock our doors at night, or be upset when someone steals our wallets.  This answers what the standard is that leads us to see evil; which shows us the standard of good that we all inherently hope for.
Also read Did God Cause The Orlando Florida Shooting?

The Argument for a Soul

In its own subcategory, the existence of something within us that is immaterial also leads us to understand the supernatural and not just the natural.
Also read Existence of The Soul

Philosophical Evidences Conclusion

Each one of these arguments leads us to understand a transcendent being and its characteristics and nature.  Characteristics and natures all described in the bible which is supported by historical evidences.

C)  The Death and Resurrection

The absolute fundamental truth of The Christian faith that sets it apart from all other religions and belief systems is the bodily death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. One of the toughest pills to swallow for all who are searching for the deepest meaning and purpose in life.
Also read The Evidence for The Resurrection

D) The Bible and Prophecy

The bible itself is support for the validity of The Christian Faith.  Aside from being historically accurate and extremely well preserved compared to all ancient writings, it is unified.  The unification is amazing in that it was written by different authors who did not know each other over generations from beginning of civilization to the last surviving Apostle.  The most compelling and next most difficult for people to accept is the accuracy of Prophecies.   The bible declared events to take place, recorded them, before they happened, and generations later, they happen how they are described.  These are not ‘self fulling’ prophecies because a lot of them deal with outside non-christian agents that fulfill them.  Nations were predicted to fall, they did.  New nations were predicted to rise, they did. Cities were predicted to be destroyed, they were. The prophecies of Jesus are astounding. The Daniel 9 prophecy giving a time line to the coming son of man, ends at Jesus.  This was written 400 years before Jesus.  The Isaiah prophecy describing what will happen the one who came to pay for the sins of many, was fulfilled by Jesus in every astonishing detail.
Also read Prophecy  |  Christology  |  Miracles
 

E) SUMMERY

Historical Evidences

Without taking into consideration the spiritual and supernatural elements of the Christian Faith; when only considering the historical evidences it is unintentionally supported by ancient writers closest to the time.  It is intentionally supported by modern non-christian and well respected researchers and historians.  It is continually and ever growing in the archeological support.  It is very rational and logical to trust the reliably of what is stated in the bible.

Philosophical Evidences

Without considering the Historical Evidences supporting the Christian Faith; when only considering a more philosophical approach we can see numerous angles of argumentation that support what is described in the bible.  These arguments also show the rational and logical validity of the Christian Faith and the reliability of the bible.

The Death and Resurrection

When focusing on the death and resurrection of Jesus without taking into account all other parts of the bible, we can see that he existed, died, and his resurrection is more probable and rational explanation when analyzing all other possibilities for the historic fact that the tomb he was buried in was empty.  This compels and forces people who hear this message in one of two directions; to deny the preponderance of evidence or admit the validity of the bible and the consequences and results from it.

The Bible and Prophecy

The Christian Faith is not merely a historically based religion but a faith that came from God himself and proven through all sorts of means.  A support for a supernatural cause for Christianity is unity in which different authors from different cultures and times all describe the same Being with the same Characteristics.  Also are the detailed prophecies that came true in every detail.  

Conclusion

History validates Christianity; philosophy rationally supports what is described by Christianity; the death and resurrection of Jesus leads to the uniqueness and absolute importance of the faith; and the bible itself points to its divine origin. All this combined is what makes The Christian Faith alone, true.

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