mini_despatch_oct01

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MINI-DESPATCH. October 1, 1997.

TRUE AND FALSE SALVATION .

The expected span of a man's life may be (depending on where he lives on this earth) seventy, eighty or more years. ETERNITY is forever! A man's entire life may be spent in gaining as much of this world's goods, finance, material possessions and glory as he can grasp to himself in those brief years. ETERNITY is forever! Yet a man may never even think seriously about forever at all, the Bible calls such a one a "fool". (Luke 12:16-21).

It would seem patently obvious that the question "how can I send Eternity with God in heaven?" is the most profound, the most important question for anyone to ask, and the issue it raises is the greatest issue of any human being's life. That issue is salvation of the soul. It is foolishness to ignore salvation altogether, and to act as though this life was the only reality. It is also foolishness to not make a proper search of the Creator's information book, the Bible, or to take lightly the doctrinal correctness of being "saved." Multitudes have made that mistake, and have based their own destiny on what they imagine God tells them is the Divine basis for salvation. This study deals then with the Creator's true Plan for Eternity with Him, salvation for lost sinners, and what are the Devil's counterfeits.

STARTING WITH THE FALSE IMAGININGS.

The 1990s have seen an explosion of neo-paganism, the occult, witchcraft, New Age demon-possession, tribal shamanism, and the blackest of black Satanic practices have reached epidemic proportions in our day! The world is filled with imaginings about life after death, who and what "god" is, and what is man's final destination. ALL religions but Christianity are delusions, for there is only one Son of God who came to died for the sin of the world. In fact Christianity is not a religion at all, it is GOD reaching down to save man. Religions are man's attempt to think up answers to the mystery of life - with Satan having a field-day in deceiving as many as he can. The following parable from Werner Gitt's book "What About the Other Religions?" is helpful:

"A false parable: The equality of all religions is expressed in the following story: God lives on

the top of a high mountain, and the people find themselves at the foot of the mountain. From different sides, people attempt to scale the mountain, to reach God. Many ways are attempted. On one side someone attempts the way of Buddhism, at another place, Islam, others try Hinduism. Many possibilities are attempted. Well-meaning and tolerant, an observer finally said: It really doesn't matter from which side of the mountain the climb is attempted; eventually they will meet at the top. Is this view correct? Does it deliver a true picture? ReImagesing within this imagery, God said: this mountain is not scalable by any man through his own strength, no matter how he attempts it. '[God] dwelling in the light which no man can approach , whom no man hath seen, nor can see:' (1 Tim. 6:16). God has, through Himself, made a way, and he has, through Jesus, climbed down to us at the foot of the mountain. It is stated about him in Luke 1 :78-79: 'Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.'"

Many religions gathered at the Religion and Cultural Diversity Conference in Melbourne this July, 1997. The most poignant, tragic agreement of that Unity in Diversity meeting was "God is not known by any religion, and God is unknowable." All the delegates agreed here. Why was that? Because all had refused Jesus Christ as Saviour, and all had tried to climb the mountain by themselves, and thus they did not know God, they had not found Him with all their religious efforts. The sad part is that they therefore had concluded that NO ONE could really know God at all! Yet, the simplest person who has accepted Jesus Christ and His shed Blood for their own sin, can and does know God. Why? Because they have realised that God came down the mountain, and have given up all efforts of their own to reach God or find favour with Him. They bowed the knee, and repented, and took humbly the grace and mercy offered in Christ Jesus.

How does Christianity differ from the world's various religions? There is really no comparision with Christianity and religion, religion can never save the soul. Christianity can be viewed as SALVATION FROM GOD, it is not religion, it is a lifeline, deliverance, redemption, liberation from terrible bondage.

1. In the thousands of religions and the multitude of "gods" and "ways" on this earth, there are none that can bridge the gap between a holy God and fallen man. They all seek to reach God on their own, self-help. None can say as the Christian can say,

"I have found a personal relationship with my Creator, I have my sin forgiven,

and my guilt is gone, I am certain I will go to Heaven. I am at peace in my soul."

2. All religions have dead founders. Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He defeated death. The old Testament Scriptures are filled with prophecies about a Saviour who would come to the world. In no religion has there ever been such prophecies, which were made hundreds of years before Christ's birth, and were all fulfilled to the uttermost. Just look at these examples in Genesis 3:15; Numbers 24:17; Isaiah 11 :1-2; Isaiah 7:14. Christianity is a miracle of God's Grace.

3. In Christianity the Saviour authorised by the Almighty Creator is found, and in Christianity alone. Religion has been judged by God as false, idolatry, wickedness and sorcery. See these examples of these unauthorised ways of getting to God, all condemned by the Heaven Father: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; Revelation 21:8.

God has said quite plainly about the idol worshipper,

"He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside,

that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?"

All religions have idols, whether they be images of Mary and the child, huge Buddhas, trees and rocks, sacred sites, nature itself, totems or religious icons, or simply a "god" who is nothing like the Biblical God. There is but One who God has declared to be Saviour:

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him."

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

4. In no religion on earth has God left Heaven to come to man in order to save fallen humanity. Only through the incarnation of Christ Jesus did God come from Heaven to earth to dwell amongst us. In the religions man is suffering alone, lost and hopeless. God would not, could not leave us in such a state - He became one of us, a tiny babe, and took part Himself in the tragic history of mankind, and took upon Himself the only way - took the punishment due to ourselves. (Romans 5:1-11).

5. The greatest difference between religions and Christianity is that the religions STOP people from going to heaven, stop them from finding forgiveness and God's mercy, and bar the way to entering God's Kingdom - whilst Christianity OPENS the Way to Heaven, Home, mercy, forgiveness and God's Kingdom.

THE SECTS.

There are many false paths that are called "Christian"! It would not be so difficult for seekers of God if the false religions were all called names other than "Christianity." This is not the case, as you have discovered I'm sure. The most deceptive, dangerous and evil of the false "salvations" are found, not in the pagan religions, but in Christendom itself - called Christianity, and claiming to be sound Biblically. To the casual seeker these false churches and groups can seem very appealing indeed. The most dangerous lies of all are, of course, lies and errors about salvation. The sects are those who have departed from the message of the Gospel, and have developed their own "special" message and doctrines. They are just as deadly as other religions, and can be termed "religion", even though they claim to be Christian. The Roman Catholic Church falls into this category, it is a liturgical, idolatrous RELIGION in every sense of the word. It is a sect, the biggest sect in the world. Sadly, many formerly Protestant denominations have so departed from the true Way that they are only religions and sects today.

WHAT ARE THE Images FEATURES OF THE SECTS?

Sometimes we meet people who seem unsure in their "Christian" faith, or seem to have no Holy Spirit power to have victory over sin, we can assume they are saved but have problems somewhere. We may counsel them, to no avail. When these people are questioned about their "salvation" they may confess that they have "gone down the front" or "had hands laid on them", yet they may know nothing of Biblical salvation at all. The true problem for these persons is often that they were never saved at all! They have not been told the proper message in the first place. The missing ingredients are often REPENTANCE before a Holy God, and the SHED BLOOD of Christ, as our sacrifice for sin:

1. NO ONE can be saved IN THEIR SIN! By this I mean, one must want to depart from sin, be saved from SIN, before one can be saved. If this were not so, Heaven would one day be filled with people who wanted to get out of going to hell, but didn't want to stop being a sinner. God saves us from the punishment for our sin, hell, but also He saves from being a sinner, SIN itself - and to do that He must have the free-will agreement of humans. How can a person receive salvation if they have never heard a preacher who has said "repent", or read about it in the Bible? (Matt.3:2; 4:17; Mark 1:15; 6:12; Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30).

2. NO ONE can be saved unless they put their trust in what Christ did on the Cross of Calvary. There is no remission of sin unless there is Blood sacrifice! How can a person be saved if they did not hear a preacher tell the reason why Christ died, and what His death accomplished for the world? Or read about it in the Bible for themselves? Many today read only from new versions of the Scriptures, which often have removed all mention of the Blood shed for the sin of the world. No wonder they reImages unsaved. (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; John 6: 53-54; Acts 3:19; 17:30; 20:28).

"Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance

of God."

A SECT can be a church calling itself Christian, which preaches about Jesus Christ, which claims to spread the Gospel, but leaves out vital ingredients in its preaching about salvation. The word "sect" is from the Latin word "secta", meaning a different way of thinking or behaviour, it is from the word "secare" which means "remove" or "cut".

Werner Gitt tells us: "Secrae is the etymological root of dissect (to open a corpse, to take apart), as well as "section" and "sector". Another theory is that the word derives from the word "sequor" (to follow, in the sense of following a sect) and this is equally apt. The Jewish-Greek philosopher, Philo of Alexandria (circa 25 BC-50 AD) and the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus (37/38 - 100 AD) refer to the Pharisees, the Saducees, the Essenes and the Greek philosophical schools as secta. The word describes a school, party or school of thought and suggests something private and unauthorised. In the NT we find the parallel term heresy (Greek hairesis ), as in 1 Cor. 11:19; Gal.5:20; 1 Peter 2:1, for example. The followers or members of the heiresis are heretics (Greek, hairetikos) which means someone who makes a free decision in favour of a school of thought or party." ("What about Other Religions?" p.p.100-101).

As we see from Gitt there were Jewish sects, as there are Christian sects today. The sect may not be obviously a sect, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormans or the Seventh Day Adventists are. Sects can be certain Pentecostal, Uniting, Lutheran, Baptist or Presbyterian churches - although it is not generally accepted to call them sects. How can we identify a sect then?

IDENTIFICATION OF A SECT:

1. The most important feature of a sect is that the central truth of the Gospel is missing! If this central truth is missing in a Images-line church, then it has strayed into becoming a sect. Here we must look carefully at what is being preached. The doctrine of Salvation, that it is necessary to repent, trust in the Blood of Christ, Jesus is the Only Way to God etc. If people are deprived of these vital doctrines then the church is no longer a Christian church.

2. The sects do not encourage personal, free investigation of the Scriptures. They have set Bible teaching, which is supplemented by books, videos, magazines which preach the same messages. People are kept busy with these supplements, and quote the same verses and applications as the videos, magazines etc. Only a section of the Bible is taught, such as the "faith" movement, which concentrates on the passages on "faith" predominately. The genuine Gospel, prophecy, sound Christian living, the proper doctrines of the Bible are left out in the "faith" movement. The Jehovah's Witnesses concentrate on proving Jesus Christ is not God, and pushing damnable heresies about the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The J.W.'s founder "Pastor" Russell died in 1916 in the most miserable way, and is now in hell, he has paid for his foolish apostasy.

3. The sects always have human beings as authorities, and their teaching and doctrines are set against the Scriptures of God. Personalities predominant in sects. You will hear people speak often of these live or dead leaders or founders. Kenneth Copeland, Mary Baker Eddy, Ellen White, Rodney Howard-Browne, Sai Baba, Pastor Russell - or who ever is followed. Sound Christians are followers of Christ Jesus, all other Christians, leaders or Pastors, are merely saved sinners, even though used of God sometimes in wonderful ways.

4. Sects often claim they have "new" teachings which are an additive to the Biblical Scriptures. These may come from the sect's founder or from a special "move of the Spirit", which is extra-biblical revelation. But the Bible in reality is a completed work to which can be added nothing at all! (Revelation 22:18-19). Any group which is claiming that they have "new" revelation" which is equal in authority to the Bible, or is even of greater authority than God's Word is a sect. Sects change the meaning of existing Scripture as well, subtracting as well as adding, ignoring the plain teaching and making the Scriptures say something contrary to the obvious sense of the passage. This is why a knowledge of the Bible is vital to each individual. False teachings are relatively simple to spot when one is grounded well in God's Word.

5. Always the sects teach doctrines which interfere with the Biblical teaching about salvation. One of the teachings of many sects is the possibility of salvation after death. The sects often teach that people who die with no faith in God can still have a chance after dying. The Catholic Church teaches this, and prayers for the dead, alms given for the dead, and rituals entered into for the dead are common. Jesus taught that this is not so, by His teaching of the lost and how to be saved etc (Matt.7:13-14; 18:8-9; 25:21,30; 25:46; John 3:16; 3:36). Jesus Christ warned about the possibility of being lost forever after death (Matt. 18:8-9). The Bible makes it plain that DEATH is the time when everything is already decided (Hebrews 9:27). People are very disturbed at the demise of a loved one, and want to think that there will be a chance for them in the here-after. This is one of the appeals of some sects. People want a solution to "what happened to my relative who died not even believing in God?" There is NO solution if they neglected so great salvation as that offered in Christ whilst alive! (Hebrews 2:3).

6. Sects often claim that there is no salvation outside of their own group. This gives a strong authoritarian flavour to the sect, the hierarchy is seen as powerful because eternal life or death are in their hands, given by God Himself. The Catholic Church is one such group which claims that salvation is only found within its structures. (Gal. 1:9; Matt.7:15; 11 John 10-11).

7. Sects are so dangerous spiritually that they can be seen as death-traps! People who embrace the false teachings are bound in Satan's trap, "And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." (11 Timothy 2:26). Sadly, very rarely does someone from a strong cult escape! The sects offer something for needy people that they do not find in Christ Jesus! - and that something is what they are really seeking, that is why they fell into the snare in the first place. Satan has a trap designed for everyone:

The Catholic Sect offers ritual; granduer; control for weak people who need it; worldly beautiful tradition and drama; a "god" one can see, the Pope; a sense of superiority over others; and a "mother Goddess" figure who appears in apparitions. This appeals to the one who wants earthly riches and pomp, and wants "spiritual" things that can be seen.

The Christian Science sect has a place for those who are sick in body, and want above all else to be well physically. It teaches that sickness is all in the mind.

The Jehovah's Witnesses have a trap for those who dislike the Christian Churches and their preaching of Jesus Christ.

Theosophy appeals to the one who wants political world peace and unity, with humanity as top-dog with a god-like image.

Behind any sect, the appeal is always there that no true repentance is required, and the humbling of trusting only in the death of Christ Jesus is not taught. The sects have no real "offence of the Cross." This is why the sects do not give up their victims easily, there has to have been some kind of rejection of Christ Jesus and repentance in the inner soul, for people to turn to the cult in preference.

Nevertheless, the prayer of a righteous man or woman accomplishes much (1 John 5:13-21)

W. B. Howard ...Editor of Despatch
Extract of Unit 8 Bible College Course...Units 1- 8 already online

W. B. Howard ...Editor of Despatch

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Endtime Ministries...Christian Resource Centre Editor of Despatch W. B. Howard Ph. 0754941672 Fac. 0754948617 Mob. 0407636611 P.O. Box 238, Landsborough. Q. 4550. Aust.

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