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R-11. HOW to WITNESS to Christians in CULTS!
The first thing that you can do is to point out the areas of OTHER CULTS to the Christians that you are witnessing to from another church denomination which you feel is also a cult. For example, let us assume that you feel that the Roman Catholic Church is NOT SOUND Biblical Christianity and you want to witness to the Roman Catholic Christians. You can show the Roman Catholic Christians HOW the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints came to believe what they believe. Point out to the Christians in the Roman Catholic Church how BOTH the Jehovah’s Witness Christians and the Mormon Christians have ADDED to what the Bible ITSELF teaches.
This way you are getting Roman Catholic Christians to see that CULTS ADD things to the Bible that are necessary to be saved. And by ADDING to God’s word things that are NOT found under the NEW COVENANT written in the New Testament is HOW they are NOT SOUND Biblical Christians.
And if you are witnessing to Christians in a different cult then you can explain how the Roman Catholic Church has ADDED church TRADITION to be equal to Scripture. In other words, your GOAL is to get whoever you are witnessing to for THEM to see that their church denomination has ADDED books or tradition to the Bible as things REQUIRED to be saved that are NOT taught under the New Covenant written in the New Testament. For example, all of the seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christian church denominations have ADDED the OLD COVENANT to the NEW COVENANT as a REQUIREMENT to please God and to receive eternal life in the world to come. But avoid ever calling those you are witnessing to, a CULT. Since my first example is witnessing to Roman Catholics, I will stick with that example all the way through this study.
You may have to explain how these Christian churches came into existence and what they added as being required for salvation.
For example, Joseph Taze Russel is said to be the founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses but the ROOT of the error of ADDING to the New Covenant goes back a little further. For you see, Joseph Taze Russel was a follow of the Seventh Day Adventist Sabbath-keeping church denomination. In other words, ALL seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping church denominations ADD or MIX the Old Covenant WITH the New Covenant to form ANOTHER gospel. The Apostle Paul exposed the errors of keeping the Law of Moses contained in the ordinances of the ceremonial laws such as the keeping of the feast days and the weekly Sabbath days.
Please read Galatians 2:21.
“I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the LAW, then Christ is dead in VAIN.”
In other words, if ANY church denomination ADDS any of the ceremonial laws or ordinances that were written in the Old Testament to the NEW COVENANT then Jesus Christ died on the cross in VAIN for those church denominations. Those church denominations are NOT truly trusting in the one sacrifice on the cross that Jesus made for the forgiveness of sins. And thus, they are teaching a DIFFERENT gospel on how to be saved.
Also, both the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons have a GOVERNMENTAL ruling body over the people and the people MUST believe and obey whatever the RULING body says that they must believe and obey. In other words, all the Christian church denominations, that some Christians call CULTS, have either a single person or a group of spiritual leaders who do ALL the INTERPRETING of the Scriptures. And, according to those so-called self-appointed spiritual leaders, THEY are the ONLY ones who can interpret the Scriptures CORRECTLY. And, therefore, all their followers MUST believe and obey everything that their spiritual leaders teach to them.
Show the Catholic Christians HOW the LEADERS of both of the cult church denominations CONTROL what their followers believe and obey. Both the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses are RESTRICTED to read and study ONLY what their so-called self-appointed spiritual leaders give to them to read and study. And, vice-versa, show the other falses churches how the Roman Catholic Church has ADDED church TRADITION to be above what the Bible itself teaches.
Now, we who are on the outside looking in can easily see how they are being CONTROLLED by their church denomination. But to THEM, they are seeing themselves as being PROTECTED from FALSE teaching NOT KNOWING that they themselves are being DECEIVED by their OWN church denomination. And all that the Protestant and Roman Catholic Christians want to do is to get THEM to read and study the Bible for THEMSELVES so that they can see straight from the Bible that they are being DECEIVED by their church denomination.
And we, as Protestant and Roman Catholic Christians can also see a very simple SOLUTION that would help those Christians see for themselves that they are being deceived. IF only they would search OTHER sources outside their church denomination as to HOW their church denomination came to be. Then they could see HOW their leaders ADDED man-made doctrines to the Bible to form a DIFFERENT gospel which CONTRADICTS the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ written in the New Testament of the Holy Bible. We as Protestant and Roman Catholic Christians are on the outside looking at these cults. And we know that IF they would just simply TRUST us enough to at least CONSIDER what we have to say long enough then they would see that what they are being taught CONTRADICTS what the Bible ITSELF teaches.
Now, AFTER you get the Roman Catholic Christians to see just how EASY it would be for ANY Jehovah’s Witness or ANY Mormon to SEE that they are being DECEIVED by their OWN church denomination, then ask THEM if THEY have ever read and studied the Bible to see if the Roman Catholic Church is teaching them SOUND Biblical doctrine where NONE of the Roman Catholic Church teachings contradict ANY verses in the Bible? Ask them WHY the Protestant Church denominations came OUT of the Roman Catholic Church denomination during the Reformation that began with Martin Luther? Ask them if they have ever TRULY studied sources OUTSIDE of the Roman Catholic sources. Then REMIND them about the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses who use ONLY their OWN church denominational SOURCES to research their own church history which BLINDS them to the TRUTH. Remind them how EASY it would be to show all Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses the truth IF they would just simply TRUST us long enough to explain to them that what their church denomination teaches CONTRADICTS what the Bible ITSELF teaches. Remind the Roman Catholic Christians that those in CULTS are WARNED to NOT listen to anyone outside their church denomination. And that is WHY it is much harder to get them to see that they are being deceived.
Now, to ME, the one true mark of every CULT is that they self exalt themselves to be the ONE and ONLY TRUE church and if you are not a part of THEIR church denomination then you can NOT be saved. So ask them if their church denomination teaches that THEY ALONE are the ONE TRUE church? They may not know for sure either way. They may know for sure but they themselves do not believe that all other Christians are not true Christians. So have some documentation from THEIR own church denomination that states that their church denomination is the only true church.
Here is a quote that is taken from an article reported by CBC News. The emphasis is mine.
“The Vatican issued a document Tuesday RESTATING its BELIEF that the Catholic Church is the ONLY TRUE church of Jesus Christ.
The 16-page document was prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a doctrinal watchdog that Pope Benedict used to head.
Formulated as five questions and answers, the document is titled "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church."
It says although Orthodox churches are true churches, they are defective because they do not recognize the primacy of the Pope.
"It follows that these separated churches and communities, though we believe they suffer from defects, are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation," it said.
The document adds that Protestant denominations — called Christian Communities born out of the Reformation —are NOT TRUE churches, but ecclesial communities.
"These ecclesial communities which, specifically because of the absence of the sacramental priesthood … cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called 'churches' in the proper sense," it said.
The document is similar to one written in 2000 by the Pope— who was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the time—that sparked an angry reaction from Protestant groups.”
So then, I am simply ASKING you as a fellow brother or sister in our Lord Jesus Christ, have YOU personally ever searched your own church history using sources OUTSIDE of the Roman Catholic Church?
What I mean by this is have you ever wondered why there are so MANY DIFFERENCES between what the Protestant church denomination believes and what the Roman Catholic Church believes and teaches? Have you ever wondered WHY the Roman Catholic Church has a PRIESTHOOD and almost none of the Protestant churches have a priesthood? Have you wondered why the Roman Catholic Church has a weekly sacrifice of the Mass and the Protestant churches do not have any sacrifice of a Mass in any of their church services?
So WHERE did all of these DIFFERENT things come from? WHEN were they ADDED to the universal Christian church that Jesus built? For the IN-DEPTH study with all the resources and Scriptures please read the study “WHAT IS THE ONE TRUE CHURCH” In this study, I will briefly say that the Catholic or more precisely, the UNIVERSAL church that Jesus built was DIVIDED even in those days of the original Apostles of Jesus Christ. But after the first hundred years, the universal church began to divide even more. And then the divisions became so bad that a Roman Emperor named Constantine made an EDICT that commanded that Christianity is the STATE religion of the Roman Empire. And by doing that then every PAGAN religion automatically became “CHRISTIAN” in NAME only. In other words, there were far MORE unsaved Pagans that were required by Roman LAW to call themselves Christians than there were TRUE born-again Christians.
And most of these Pagan Christians still kept all their Pagan ceremonial worship services that became MIXED with Christianity. But the “NAMES” were changed to better fit the Old Testament ceremonial laws of Moses so that they would sound more Christian. For you see, the universal church was DIVIDED and SOME Christians were indeed Sabbath-keeping Christians that kept SOME of the laws of Moses contained in ordinances. And when all those Pagans were automatically forced to become Christians there were MANY of the duties of the Old Testament PRIESTHOOD that were ADDED to the universal church that Jesus built.
But there were also many smaller sects of Christianity that did not go along with all those changes. So the Christians who self-appointed themselves as the so-called spiritual leaders EXCOMMUNICATED any Christian who did not believe and obey whatever they taught. And they had the Roman government on their side to keep the PEACE and try to stop all the CONTROVERSY and DIVISION.
And that is WHEN the ROMAN universal church was created by MAN. And all other Christians who would NOT conform to the Roman Catholic Church were called a heretic. And they were persecuted BY the Roman Catholic Church.
Now, IF the Catholic Christians to which you are witnessing are following what you are explaining to them then go ahead and move on to the CONTRADICTIONS between what the Roman Catholic Church teaches compared to what the Bible ITSELF teaches.
One of the first things that you want to show any Christian that is being deceived is that we all will be JUDGED by the words that Jesus himself taught us under the New Covenant written in the New Testament. STRESS to them that they will not be judged by the leaders of their church denomination. NO Pope will be their JUDGE. The Vatican will NOT be their JUDGE. ONLY what is written in the NEW TESTAMENT of the Holy Bible will JUDGE them on the Day of Judgment. So ask them point-blank as to WHO will they TRUST for their very eternal life? Are you going to trust what the Roman Catholic Church teaches OVER what the Bible ITSELF teaches? Then REMIND them of the other CULTS who are trusting in the own church denomination to the point of even CHANGING words in the Holy Bible to fit what their church denomination teaches.
Then ask them the question, “Did you know that the Roman Catholic Church has its OWN Authorized Version of the Bible?” Did you know that Roman Catholic translators who translated the authorized Catholic Bible CHANGED the word SAINTS to holy people? Do you know WHY that matters?
Well, it matters because ALL Christians are called SAINTS in the King James Version of the Bible. BUT in the Roman Catholic Church, the ONLY way to become a SAINT is to meet all the qualifications of the Roman Catholic Church to be declared a saint by the Pope. And then, according to the Roman Catholic Church, you can PRAY TO those Roman Catholic “saints” to get your prayers answered. So then, IF Roman Catholic Christians would ever find out that ALL Christians are SAINTS then that would cause Roman Catholic Christians to DOUBT what they are being taught by the Roman Catholic Church.
Here are a few examples of the verses that are CHANGED by the Roman Catholic translators of the authorized Roman Catholic Bible which I will abbreviate as ARCB. And the King James Version I will abbreviate as KJV.
Matthew 27:52 from the KJV.
“And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,”
“The tombs opened and the bodies of many holy people rose from the dead,”
Romans 1:7 KJV.
“To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“To you all, God's beloved in Rome called to be his holy people. Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 14:33 KJV.
“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in ALL churches of the SAINTS.”
“For God is a God not of disorder but of peace. As in ALL the churches of God's holy people,”
Now let us read a passage of Scripture from the Old Testament where ALL the people who love God are called SAINTS in the King James Version or translation of the Bible. BUT the authorized Roman Catholic Bible CHANGES the word saints to be his faithful servants.
Psalm 149:4-9.
“For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
5. Let the SAINTS be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
6. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;
7. To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
8. To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have ALL his SAINTS. Praise ye the LORD.”
“For Yahweh loves his people, he will crown the humble with salvation.
5. The faithful exult in glory, shout for joy as they worship him,
6. Praising God to the heights with their voices, a two-edged sword in their hands,
7. To wreak vengeance on the nations, punishment on the peoples,
8. To load their kings with chains and their nobles with iron fetters,
9. To execute on them the judgment passed -- to the honor of ALL his faithful.”
Get the Roman Catholic Christians to see that the Roman Catholic Church NEEDED to CHANGE the English translations of the Bible that used the English word SAINTS because the Roman Catholic Church exalts the saints ABOVE every other Christian. And that FALSE teaching would lead Roman Catholic Christians to wrongly believe that ONLY the SAINTS make it to heaven. And only the SAINTS will worship God in heaven. And ONLY the SAINTS will be given the HONOR to execute judgment. So the Roman Catholic Church painted themselves in a corner so to speak. And the only way to NOT be found out to be a false teacher was to make their OWN translation of the Bible.
But most Protestant church denominations ENCOURAGE their followers to read and study ALL translations of the Bible. There are only a few Protestant churches that forbid their followers to read the “apocryphal books” in the Old Testament that are in the authorized Roman Catholic Bibles. BUT few Roman Catholics know and understand that the “apocryphal books” were NOT in the Hebrew Scriptures. And that they were written BETWEEN the end of God talking to Israel and the coming of the ministry of Jesus.
Here is an article from another website that is short and to the point of answering the question of what are the “apocryphal books”? And when did the “apocryphal books” become a part of the Roman Catholic Bible? The emphasis is mine.
“During the period between the completion of the Old Testament and the first writings included in the New Testament (i.e. the period between 450 BC and 50 AD), many essays, psalms, and historical accounts circulated throughout the synagogues and early churches. Some of these documents gradually came to be regarded by certain of the believers as actually inspired and deserving of a place in the canon.
We usually date the first definite listing of the accepted books of the Bible as occurring around 367 AD. However, the second set of booklets had been assembled through the years, and these were given the name Apocrypha (meaning “hidden”). Though they are all from the time before the birth of Christ, they were never included in the Hebrew Bible. However, many Christians regarded them as valuable for reading and edification, and in some editions of the Bible, they were interspersed among the Old Testament books.
Then Martin Luther, in his Bible translation of 1534, extracted the apocryphal books from their usual places in the Old Testament and had them printed at the end of the Old Testament. He stated that they “are not held equal to the Sacred Scriptures and yet are useful and good for reading.” After that, many Protestant Bibles omitted them completely. However, in 1546 the Roman Catholic Council of Trent specifically listed the apocryphal books approved by the Roman Catholic Church as inspired and they are always included in Roman Catholic Bibles and are usually interspersed among the books of the Old Testament.
The Apocrypha generally consists of 14 booklets of which 1 and 2 Maccabees and 1 Esdras are the main documents and form the bulk of the apocryphal writings. First Maccabees is a historical account of the struggle of the Maccabee family and their followers for Jewish independence from 167 to 134 BC. Second Maccabees covers the same ground but dramatizes the accounts and makes moral and doctrinal observations. Other books are Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Ecclesiasticus, and The Wisdom of Solomon.
Since neither Jesus nor the apostles make any reference to the apocryphal books, most Christians have regarded their authority as secondary to that of the 39 books of the Old Testament. Yet within these apocryphal books are passages of great piety and historical information. We should therefore approach the Apocrypha with a discerning mind and heart, and carefully discriminate between that which is in harmony with the essentials of the Christian faith and that which deviates from what is taught in the 66 books of the canon. We have the Lord’s promise that he will lead us into the truth, and we live by that promise in everything we read.”
So it was in 1556 that the Roman Catholic Church officially added the “apocryphal books” to the canon of Scripture. And BEFORE 37 A.D. the “apocryphal books” were NOT considered as being Scripture. These are just some of the reasons why most Protestant church denominations do NOT accept the “apocryphal books” as being equal to Scripture. Also, Hebrews 1:1,2 teaches us that there was a time when God spoke to his people Israel through the prophets, and in these last days, God has spoken not only to the children of Israel but also to the Gentiles through his Son.
Hebrews 1:1,2.
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”
And this is another one of the reasons why Protestant Christians believe that from the time of the prophet Malichi to the prophecy of the announcement that the baby Jesus is the Messiah God did NOT reveal anything NEW to the children of Israel that were not ALREADY revealed to them from Genesis to Malichi.
Please read the prophecy in Malichi and then read the beginning of the fulfilling of the prophecies in the Old Testament.
Malichi 4:5,6.
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
6. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
Luke 2:25-33.
“And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
26. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
27. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
28. Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29. Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
30. For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31. Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
32. A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.
33. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him.”
The children of Israel were focused on all the prophecies that spoke of a mighty warrior Messiah and NOT a suffering Messiah that would DIE for their sins. And even the closest disciples of Jesus could not believe that their Messiah DIED. They were NOT expecting their Messiah to die. Jesus stayed with them for forty days proving that God raised him from the dead and gave him eternal life. And even when Jesus ascended into heaven his disciples still WONDERED WHEN their Messiah was going to restore the kingdom of Israel. BUT Jesus kept TEACHING them THROUGH the Holy Spirit after his ascension into heaven.
So the New Testament is REVELATION knowledge from Jesus teaching his disciples, face to face, and from Jesus teaching his disciples THROUGH the Holy Spirit all the way through to the Apostle John and the book of Revelation.
So I have to agree that the “apocryphal books” should NOT be made equal to the Scriptures of the Hebrew Bible. And that any NEW revelation AFTER the book of Revelation should NOT be treated as Scripture. For you see, that is HOW false teaching comes. A perfect example of this is the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints that have ADDED their prophet's NEW REVELATIONS to be EQUAL to the Scriptures. And I do not know ANY Roman Catholic who SANCTIONS the ADDING of the book of Mormon to be equal to the Scriptures. But YET the Roman Catholic Church has approved certain VISIONS of the Virgin Mary as being from Almighty God. And thus, the Roman Catholic Church has ADDED these visions of the Virgin Mary to be ACCEPTED to be from Almighty God as part of God’s plan of salvation.
So HOW is that any DIFFERENT from the Mormon Church that ADDED a vision of Almighty God and His Son to the teachings of the Bible as being “Scripture”?
And if you are witnessing to Mormon Christians then use the illustration of the visions of the Virgin Mary and ask them WHY they do NOT worship the Virgin Mary? Then show them that THEY have added a vision of Almighty God and His Son as being SCRIPTURE.
Thanks for reading and my God bless you richly as you continue to witness to the churches that say that they are Christian churches but they are NOT SOUND Biblical Christians because they do NOT follow and obey the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ under the New Covenant written in the New Testament of the Holy Bible.
If you are witnessing to Roman Catholics then please read the studies under the heading >>>WHAT EVERY CATHOLIC MUST KNOW!<<<
If you are witnessing to Mormons then please read all the studies under the heading >>>MORMONISM<<<
If you are witnessing the Jehovah’s Witnesses then please read all the studies under the heading >>>JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES<<<
If you are witnessing to any seventh day of the week Sabbath-keeping Christian then please read the studies under the heading >>>WHAT IS THE TRUE SABBATH?<<<
And if you are witnessing to any Christians that believe that they can never lose their salvation no matter what they do or do not do then please read all the studies under the heading >>> IS CALVINISM BIBLICAL?<<<
Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
Once Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even atheists understand the REASON that Yahweh CREATED the Son of MAN, Jesus, was to have DOMINION over the work of Yahweh’s hands.
And after you understand that the REASON that Yahweh did that is to STILL His ENEMIES, Satan and the fallen angels.
Then you can understand that God made His human Son to become “a” Lord, “a” King, and “a” God, under and subject to his God and Father in order to JUDGE Satan and the fallen angels.
For a deeper understanding of this WAR that Lucifer and one third of the angels waged against the throne of Almighty God, please read the studies under the subject category called ** Q-0 Why Are We Here? Is God at WAR? **.
More studies are coming in this SHORTER Biblical Unitarian view of who Jesus is according to the WHOLE word of God.
If you have a PARTICULAR verse of Scripture that you would like to know the sound Biblical Unitarian meaning, then please email me at MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail.com and let me know.
For further and more in-depth studies on this subject of Jesus being created to STILL the enemies of Yahweh, please read the studies called D-25. A NEW LOOK at JOHN 1:1, In the BEGINNING!
And also read the study called D-28. The PRE-ADAMIC LUCIFERIAN FLOOD!
At the top of my homepage, there are subjects or categories which contain compiled lists of ** ALL Studies! ** I have written on that particular subject. So, if a link within a study is broken, then click on ** ALL Studies! ** to find the suggested study.
Or you can scroll down to the MORE dropdown menu list to find those studies as well.
Thanks again for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
And again, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading ** D-0 The BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of Jesus! **
And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading ** C-0 The TRUE FOUNDATION of the Church! **
This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century.
So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.
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