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What The Bible Says About Judging
Did You Know That The Bible gives very specific instruction about our behaviour towards heretics and teachers of false doctrine.
Also See Judge Not...The Bible’s very specific instruction about our behaviour towards heretics and teachers of false doctrine
MARK THEM AND AVOID THEM--"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them." (Romans 16:17)
SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM THEM--"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you," (2 Corinthians 6:17)
REBUKE THEM--"...rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;" (Titus 1:13)
REJECT THEM--"A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject;" (Titus 3:10)
WITHDRAW FROM THEM--"...we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us." (2 Thessalonians 3:6)
TRY THEM--"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits wheth I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them." (Romans 16:17)
REPROVE THEM--"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." (Ephesians 5:11)
TURN AWAY FROM THEM--"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (2 Timothy 3:5)
HAVE NO COMPANY WITH THEM--"And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed." (2 Thessalonians 3:14)
RECEIVE THEM NOT--"If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." (2 John 1:10-11) *
The Real Jesus?
From an article by James Walker, Director of Watchman Expositor
One of the commonly heard statements from various cults is that no one else had a right to say that they are not real Christians. Christianity is not a logo or trademark, and if a group claims to be Christian and believe in Jesus - as the Mormons do - it makes little difference what they believe about Jesus or who they teach that He is.
The illustration below shows why Christians not only have the right - but also the responsibility - to publicly explain why Mormonism is not Christian, and that while they have every right to believe in another Jesus, it doesn't mean they believe in the same Christ we do, nor does it make them Christians.
With a little adaptation the story can also be used with a Christian Scientist, New Ager, or other group member that claims to be Christian.
Am I Also A Mormon?
What would happen if a Christian friend and I were to get two ten speed bicycles and put on white shirts, dark slacks, and ties and then began going door-to-door in Salt Lake City?
Let's say we made up a couple of black name badges and calling ourselves "Elder Walker" and "Elder Jones," proclaiming door-to-door that we believed in Joseph Smith.
But once in the home of the real Mormons, we say that we believe that Joseph Smith was a WOMAN, who was born in California in 1905.
Now any good Mormon should know that Joseph Smith was not a woman but a man, and he was born in 1805 not in 1905 - and it was in Vermont not California.
Well, perhaps I would just be off on a few irrelevant historical details.
But what if I went on to say that Joseph Smith also never taught the "Law of Eternal Progression?"
[Note: this is the Mormon belief that God was once a man, that we were once his spirit offspring in the pre-existence, and that if worthy we could one day become Gods ourselves. (History of the Church, Vol 6, p. 305-6).]
The Law of Eternal Regression??
What would happen if I said that Joseph Smith, that is Miss Joseph Smith, taught the Law of Eternal REGRESSION - that we used to be Gods in the pre-existence, now we have regressed to humans, and if we are worthy, we can one day be vegetables?
And even worse, what if hundreds - even millions of Mormons started believing us?
"Now wait just a minute," a Mormon might answer. That is not what Joseph Smith taught, and you're not a REAL Mormon missionary.
He is absolutely right!
I would be teaching a counterfeit Mormonism and a different Joseph Smith.
Rights and Responsibilities
Not only that - if even a few Mormon families were converted by us bogus Mormons, he, his Church leaders in Salt Lake City, and every other discerning Mormon have the right to warn their own followers and the general public of the difference between our Joseph Smith and the genuine article.
More than the right, they would have the responsibility to help their members avoid the trap of these "mock Mormon Missionaries."
Hopefully, they would go beyond warning their members of our error. Perhaps they would even sit down with us in love and explain, from their scriptures and history why, even though "we believe in Joseph, too," we were actually teaching an imitation Joseph Smith.
In this issue of the Expositor, we present just some of the reasons that we believe the Jesus of the Mormons is not the same Jesus that's worshipped by Christians.
It is our hope that our Mormon friends will realize that ours is not an unprovoked attack.
Instead, we are exercising our God-given right and moral responsibility to inform our fellow believers about differences between the real Jesus and the ones taught by their leaders, which we see as a counterfeit.
Perhaps they will even accept our invitation to sit down and to explore the scriptures and discuss our fundamental differences.
Resources
The best offense against spiritual counterfeits in knowledge of the truth, how to defend the truth, and most importantly how to apply the truth and is in no way meant to ‘bash’ anyone. This section is only the tip of an iceberg of gargantuan proportions. The cults ....take advantage of people’s ignorance of the Bible by distorting it’s doctrines.
Books
‘Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions’ by John Ankerberg and John Weldon (Harvest House Publishers). For anyone who would like to find out more about these, and other dangerous groups.
Online
An excellent online secular resource is Rick Ross’s site]. He is an internationally known expert regarding radical, extreme and often unsafe groups-- some that have been called "cults." Since 1982 he has been involved in hundreds of interventions in an effort to help the victims of destructive groups. Mr. Ross has been qualified and accepted as an expert witness. He has testified in numerous court cases across the United States concerning destructive groups and their influence and assisted law enforcement. The archive contains thousands of documents, which includes news stories, related research, reports, court records, book excerpts, personal testimonies etc.
Matthew 18:7 “Woe to the one through whom the stumbling block comes”
The Warning Tract
by CARM.org
You can witness for a hundred hours to a cultist and maybe, just maybe he might leave his cult. But, you can pass out Warning Tracts to people before they get sucked into a cult. It is easier to prevent people from joining a cult, than it is to get them out. The Warning Tract is VERY effective at inoculating people from joining cults. If you'd like the FREE Warning Tract, please go here and download it for free.
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