(Gentile).”
Romans 1:16. When a believer becomes ashamed of the Gospel he/she will
display definite signs that they are embarrassment by what the Bible says. When
this embarrassment becomes public the believer then feels it necessary to
change, re-interpret, and corrupt the word of God. Many Christians do this so
that they might remain a friend to the various religions of this world. In
addition, many Christians continually attempt to fit themselves into a posture
of political correctness (tolerance); in such a case the Gospel of Christ
becomes an even bigger liability. There’s a new breed of Christian emerging and
roaming earth who has found it convenient to line item veto the scriptures that
don’t jive with their preconceptions.
When we say yes to Jesus Christ we’re saying “Yes I believe
You, I believe
Your word, I believe in what
You did for me”. Contrary to popular
teaching, we aren’t given the option to believe one scripture verse while we
dismiss others. If we are to stand up for Jesus we must have a solid and sound
foundation to stand on. If we poke holes in the Bible then we are only
destroying our own footing. Make no mistake, if your biblical foundation is
wrought with holes, sooner or later you will fall for any deception.
As Christians attempt to appease those who are of a
different faith by rejecting portions of God’s word, they are virtually thumbing
their noses at God. We become compromisers of our faith when we publically
proclaim that the God of the Bible is the same God of all faiths. This
disobedience to God is reflected in the vocabularies of many who claim to be
Christians. How can we claim a relationship with the Son of God when we stand
opposed to His written word? I submit that there is no discernable difference
between the Christian that corrupts, ignores, or refuses to believe God’s word
and those Pharisees who referred to our Lord as Satan
“But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, the
prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” Matthew 12:24.
At that point Israel as a Nation was in full rejection of her Messiah. When we
claim a relationship with that same Messiah but dismiss His word as obscure,
unnecessary, or as having little or no remaining authority over us, then be
assured, Lucifer has taken over and Jesus has been dismissed. When Christians
become hostile to the word of God by voiding various truths, these folks can be
guaranteed that our God will not take that abuse of His word lightly. God is
longsuffering, but still He’s God. He’s not to be mocked. God’s word will stand
and those who reject it, or change it, or even minimize its authority as
something that should be relegated to past generations will be greatly surprised
at the end result of their foolishness.
Man creates his very own god; all he need do to conjure up a
god is to focus his mind on that goal. Oh wait a minute; wouldn’t that be
demonic? This is a perfect example of how demonic entities wind up masquerading
as a god. They are invited to take the throne man has created for them and they
are more than happy to facilitate man’s desires.
“To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike?” Isaiah 46:5. God is
asking those who insist on creating their own god out of some nonliving
material, to whom are they comparing Him?
These false gods consist of the god of Islam, the god of the
Mormons, the god of the Jehovah Witnesses, and any other man-created god. Have
you ever noticed that all manmade gods deny the deity of Jesus Christ? I can’t
speak for every born again believer in Christ, but these religions all sounds
demonic to me. God makes the following statement which should put all people who
worship false gods in their place. “Those
who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a
goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship!”
Isaiah 46:6. Are we beginning to see the absurdity of such folly? To
compromise our faith so we can be more presentable to the other faiths of this
world is absurd. It’s blatant disrespect for the Creator of the universe. God,
the God of the Holy Bible, makes it plain as day that there is no other God but
Him.
Is there any difference between those people in Isaiah’s day
and the purveyors of falsehoods who are bent on creating their own god and
establishing their own religion from nothing? Satan takes control over the minds
of the rebellious who find it necessary to negate the God of the Bible. Then
with control over their minds he plants the seed that they are worshiping the
same god as the Christians and Jews. Take Islam for instance. George Bush
claimed everyone, even Muslims, worshiped the same God, the God of the Bible.
Barack Obama declares this same lie, and many evangelical Christians agree. But
all it takes is a minimal amount of research to discover that the religion of
Islam established its foundation based on a manmade lie. God authenticates His
word by giving us history lessons in advance. What religion can boast of that?
For a Christian to agree with the two individuals above something must be
compromised – that would be their faith.
God declares that He alone is God
“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, …remember
the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and
there is none like me, …declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient
times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish
all my purpose” Isaiah 46:8-10. If we take God at His word
then how can we neglect these passages? Standing firm on God’s precepts is the
exact opposite of a faith-compromising Christian.
There is a huge difference between “religion” and Jesus our
Messiah. All who practice a religion must find a way to come before God through
their own good works. Religions are all works based. But Jesus requires zero
works as a prerequisite to obtaining salvation, and since Jesus is God Almighty,
He won’t have anything to do with false religions. He’s not a part of the
“bridge builders” whose pursuit it is to connect all of earth’s religions
together by insisting everyone worships the same God. Our Creator God says
otherwise. All attempts to unite the world under one ecumenical system are
satanic. The only Name that will secure us our own personal Heavenly inheritance
is Jesus Christ, the one and only God of all creation.
“…it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks”
Acts 9:5b. All of earth’s “religions” are the same
in that they are all kicking against the
pricks. Let me put it in simple terms everyone can understand.
Religion is akin to paddling a canoe up a 1000 ft waterfall. These adherents to
false religions paddling their canoes must reach the top of the waterfall to
keep from drowning. Impossible you say? Think about it, these foolish people
have nothing to rely on save a paddle and their own strength. All religions are
in this same predicament. All of their efforts to reach God are impossible
without Jesus Christ. For those of us who’ve placed our faith and trust in Him
we become Christ like, taking on the characteristics of Christ. Jesus then
becomes our strength; “I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13. We,
those who are born again, didn’t have to prove ourselves worthy before we were
allotted salvation. We didn’t need to knock on doors or become righteous first,
we don’t need to die in jihad to enter Heaven – Jesus did the dying – we’re
given life everlasting. All we had to do was believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and God immediately justified us. All we did to get to the Father was believe on
the One He sent “Then said they unto him,
What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said
unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
John 6:28-29.
The Christian who compromises his/her faith by promoting the
false assumption that the God of the Bible is the same God of all religions is
not only calling God a liar, but they are also giving false hope to those false
religions. Look at it this way; picture a cheerleader standing on the shore of
the river where those in the canoe are trying to ascend that 1,000 ft waterfall.
The cheerleader is calling for them to paddle harder, paddle harder, faster,
faster, but it’s all to no avail. The people in the canoe can’t get anywhere –
and they’re drowning. The impossibility of ascending that waterfall is the same
as believing we can get to Heaven without Jesus as our Savior. We can do nothing
by our own merit to earn our way into Heaven – Jesus already did it.
If you want to strike up a friendship with a person who is
following after the enemy’s lie that everyone worships that same god, that’s
fine; but there should be no misunderstanding on that person’s part as to just
where you stand concerning false religions. If you stand on God’s inerrant word
then you must be honest with those folks about where God sees them and their
religion. “…I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6. By
the words of that verse we must conclude that if we don’t know Jesus Christ as
the way, the truth, and the life, that He alone is the only possible way to the
Father, then we are in the same canoe as those folks who are attempting to get
to God by some other means than through faith in His only begotten Son, Jesus
the Christ. In the canoe or cheerleading on the shore, we are wallowing in
hopelessness. If we say we follow Jesus Christ but we deny He’s the only way to
the Father then we’ve diminished Christ’s deity and made void His work on the
cross and His resurrection. This would mean our faith is in vain.
“And if Christ be not risen, then is our
preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. ...if Christ be not raised, your
faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” 1 Corinthians 15:14, 17b.
These people who adhere to false religions remain in their sins.
The idea that all faiths worship the same God originates in
the deepest darkest depths of Hell and is a blatant attempt to create a vacuum
that will suck every adherent of every false religion straight down to the
abyss. A Christian who promotes this satanic lie is nothing more than a willing
advocate of the devil. Only Satan could have come up with such a deception. As
this malevolent supernatural being continues his opposition to God we see his
focus is on the Church to create confusion while establishing friction among the
followers of Jesus Christ; all to facilitate his agenda of death and
destruction.
When a Christian compromises his/her faith they are walking
with the devil. Help us Father to see the truth. Think about it – do you really
think Jesus “I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is
to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8 is apt to share His
Throne with any man-invented god?
God bless you all,
Ron Graham
twotug@embarqmail.com
