Beware Of Deceptive Cults

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There are “false Christian” groups in our midst in America today. How can a person know a group is true or false? The Bible gives us sound advice that we should use to test these “so-called religious groups.” Opinion is not enough.

Just because someone claims to be a Christian church that does not make it so. There are four basic signs that can be used to discern a false group.

  1. They always ADD to the Bible, either with more scriptures or they change scriptures to say what they want. They ADD in that they claim to have more revelations and teachings that are needed for one to know God. (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18-19 and Proverbs 30:6)
  2. They always SUBTRACT from Jesus. They offer a different gospel or they offer “another” Jesus. One false group will say that Jesus is not Almighty God but a “little” god. Another false group will say that Jesus is just one of many gods. They often do this so that they can undercut what Jesus says. But for a real Christian what Jesus says is of great importance. (Matthew 28:20; Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Corinthians 11:3-4; Hebrews 1:1-2)
  3. They always MULTIPLY what it takes to be a follower of God. These false groups “who claim to be the only one with ultimate truth” will often fall into the trap of requiring work and good deeds to earn salvation. The main problem is that a person needs to be saved by the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Good works cannot undo the sins of a sinful nature. (Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 5:6-8; 6:23)
  4. The fourth sign of a false group is that they ultimately DIVIDE by saying they are the only one with the truth. Though Christianity has been around for over 2,000 years, they will claim that it is only since they arrived that it has been correctly taught and given to people. Faith in the Jesus of the Bible is the key to Christianity. Most Christian denominations are basically “orthodox” in their beliefs. This means they agree that Jesus is our only hope, the Bible is His Word, there is only one true God, and that a person is saved by grace. (Matthew 24:11, 24; Galatians 1:6-9;

2 Peter 2:1-2)

Please be careful of false religious groups. Learn the simple truths of the Bible so that you may be able to discern the true from the false. (Hebrews 4:12; Matthew 7:15-20; I John 4:1-4)

Pastor David Howell