What About Religion 'X'? : Tools To Expose The Deception

WHAT ABOUT RELIGION 'X'? : TOOLS TO EXPOSE
THE DECEPTION

Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Net

Last Updated : July 23, 2006

The Answers Are In God's Word, Purpose Of WordWeaver's Work,
Know Your Enemy, The Only Begotten Son Of God, Enemies By
Choice, Persecution, Passive Rebellion, Cloak Of Deception,
Blood Atonement, Salvation Plan In Thirty-One Verses, Saving
Grace vs Good Works, Pressure Tactics, God's Fruit Remains

Recently, a dear sister in the Lord approached me with a
serious problem she is having regarding a certain family
member, a former Christian from childhood, who had converted
to the Islamic faith after entering a relationship with a
Muslim man. It seems that just as much as this dear sister
and her husband are hopeful of converting this couple to the
Christian faith, the Muslim couple is also determined to
persuade the Christian couple to embrace the teachings of
Muhammad as found in the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an.
Whenever I am confronted with such situations where my
advice is requested, my first reaction is to seek the Lord
in prayer, as I certainly don't want to give my answers, but
rather the Lord's answers. If there is one thing I emphasize
over and over again in my writings, it is that God not only
knows all of the answers, but that He has also already given
us many of them; and those answers are to be found in His
Holy Word, the Bible. It is for this very reason that we are
admonished that, just as much as the Lord esteems His Word
above His very Name, in like manner, we should also esteem
His Word in our lives even more than our necessary food:

"I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name
for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast
magnified thy word above all thy name." (Psalms 138:2)

"Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips;
I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my
necessary food." (Job 23:12)

"But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)

Unfortunately, while many Christians know this to be true,
due to time constraints, or perhaps due to a lack of skill
in the Word of the Lord, they are not always capable of
immediately finding the answers they need in the Bible;
thus, they require the help of someone who is more familiar
with it. It is at this point that my work enters into the
picture. Like various other archeologists of the Word of
God, I have simplified the work for some Christians by
mining God's wonderful Gold for them, and by clearing away
the piles of theological rubble and doctrines of men which
have buried the truth for literally centuries. Once I have
extracted this precious Gold, I have then associated certain
nuggets, or verses of Scripture, with others to show how
they may fit together.

My work is also very similar to what one does on a weaver's
loom, or else when one crochet's a certain pattern into a
piece of fabric. Each verse in the Bible is like a different
colored piece of thread. To a novice in the Word of God, all
of these various strands may at first appear to be thrown
together in one large unorganized pile of confusion. He may
stare at this pile in bewilderment, not having the slightest
idea as to where to begin to sort out all of the various
colors in order to weave them together into the proper
pattern. Picking up a thread at a time, over the years, I
have done exactly that. As each new thread, or verse, has
been woven into the fabric, the pattern has become clearer
and clearer. Many of us believe that we are now at a point
in history, where that pattern may soon find its completion
with the Return of Jesus Christ. This act of creating the
pattern one step at a time is clearly revealed in the
Scriptures through the following verses:

"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to
understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and
drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept,
precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a
little, and there a little:" (Isaiah 28:9-10)

Returning to this dear sister's problem, as in other
instances, after prayerfully reading her touching letter, I
immediately realized that it wasn't really necessary for me
to write a long response to her, as much of the advice I can
offer her, is already included in articles I have written
previously. Thus, the purpose of this article is to point
the way to other articles which contain the answers which
she, and others in situations similar to her own, may need.
While my first reference will be specifically geared towards
the fallacies of Islam, please note that all of the other
articles I recommend can easily be used to refute the lies
of any belief system which refuses to acknowledge Jesus
Christ as the only Captain of our Salvation, the only
Mediator between God and man, and the only High Priest who
intercedes for us before the Throne of the Father.

The very first article which I believe that a person should
read, should he or she be confronted with the Islamic
deception, is 'The Holy Qur'an: Doctrine Of Devils!'. This
article can be found under the Controversial Issues article
group. There are two specific reasons for which I am
suggesting this particular article. First of all, it is
important that one knows his enemy. By using the word
'enemy', I am not necessarily referring to the person who
has embraced the lies of the non-Christian religion, but
rather to the deceptive spirit to which one has yielded
oneself. Whether one realizes it or not, such a person has
become enslaved to that particular antichrist spirit.
Consider the following verses:

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits
whether they are of God: because many false prophets are
gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God:
Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and
this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard
that it should come; and even now already is it in the
world." (1 John 4:1-3)

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to
obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin
unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
(Romans 6:16)

Concerning the first set of verses above, if you read my
series, 'Is Jesus The Only Begotten Son Of God?', you will
come to understand that what John is really saying is that
anyone who denies that Jesus is the only begotten, or
born-in-the-flesh, Son of God, is antichrist. This is what
I personally believe John means when he uses the phrase 'is
come in the flesh'. Many people, including Muslims and
members of other non-Christian faiths, do believe that Jesus
was born in the flesh. They believe that He was a wise man,
a holy prophet, and a great philosopher and teacher;
however, they deny His Divinity as the only begotten Son of
God. After you have carefully read all of the articles I am
going to recommend in this current article , I encourage you
to read the aforementioned series in its entirety, as I
believe that it will give you a much expanded understanding
of the full Nature and Identity of Jesus Christ.

Of course, at the same time, after having heard the truth of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, if a person continues to resist
the truth, then sadly, by his own choice, he has not only
made himself the enemy of God through his rebellion, but he
has also made himself your enemy as well; and this can occur
even within one's own household and immediate family.
Consider some of the teachings of our Lord:

"He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth
not with me scattereth abroad." (Matthew 12:30)

"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He
that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of
me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me." (Matthew 10:36-37)

This word 'enemy' is derived from the Greek word 'echthros',
pronounced ech-thros', which means hated, odious, hateful,
hostile, hating, and opposing another. Thus, by opposing the
truth of the Gospel which you share with them, people become
your and God's enemy. Consider some of the following verses
where this thought is further confirmed:

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being
now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."
(Romans 5:8-10)

"As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes:
but as touching the election, they are beloved for the
fathers' sakes." (Romans 11:28)

"(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell
you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of
Christ:" (Philippians 3:18)

"For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness
dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his
cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him,
I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body
of his flesh through death, to present you holy and
unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:"
(Colossians 1:19-22)

In the case of inter-faith or multi-faith families, it
should be noted that while a Christian may never actually be
persecuted in a physical sense, he may very well become the
object of verbal or emotional persecution, because of the
wayward beliefs of the opposing party. While some people of
other faiths, such as the Muslims, will even claim to be
very opened-minded towards Christianity, the fact of the
matter remains that within their hearts, they are simply
exercising passive rebellion against God; and eventually,
the time will come, as it does with all men everywhere, that
said persons are going to have to make a choice one way or
the other; either in complete favor of Jesus Christ, or else
against Him. He said so Himself in the verse I shared
earlier. If you are interested in reading other verses which
deal with family persecution, I encourage you to read the
article 'Civil Disobedience And Christian Persecution' found
under the Government And Politics article group.

In stating 'know your enemy', I am referring to the fact
that one needs to fully understand the mentality of the
person who holds to the non-Christian faith. In this
particular case, we are dealing with the mentality of the
Muslim, based upon their holy book, the Qur'an. To fully
combat the deceptions of Islam, the Christian needs to not
only understand what Muslims are taught about their own
faith, but one must also understand how Muslims are taught
to view the Christian faith as well. In this regard, 'The
Holy Qur'an: Doctrine Of Devils!' will serve our purpose
well. In addition to this, it will also serve the second
purpose of preparing and protecting the Christian from the
lies which will undoubtedly be thrown at him when he
confronts the Muslim. By already knowing what is contained
in their holy book, the Christian will be one step ahead of
his adversary. Don't be surprised if your enemy is amazed by
how much you actually know about the Qur'an after having
read this article. As Jesus said concerning the unbelieving
Jews of His day:

"If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had
sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin."
(John 15:22)

In other words, once you shine the Light of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ upon a person, they no longer have any excuse
whatsoever for hiding behind the cloak of lies and delusions
which Satan has thrown upon them by means of his many false
religions. Such persons are now forced to either come to the
Light, or else to further withdraw themselves into the
darkness of the sin of rebellion by becoming even more
deluded by the lies of the Father of Lies. Consider the
following verses:

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of
the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)

"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
(John 9:5)

"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the
world; but that the world through him might be saved. He
that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And
this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their
deeds were evil." (John 3:17-19)

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44)

"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and
declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no
darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him,
and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if
we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ
his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:5-7)

In dealing with persons of non-Christians religions, one of
the primary difficulties seems to be in helping them to
understand the significance and the necessity of the Blood
Atonement of Jesus Christ. As we Christians know and accept,
this is the very foundation of our faith, without which
there is absolutely no hope of forgiveness, or of obtaining
Eternal Life. To assist you in explaining this most vital
element of the Christian faith, I have written an article
entitled 'The Blood Atonement: In Jesus' Own Words', which
can be found under the Salvation And Holy Ghost article
group. This article was specifically inspired by the deluded
followers of the Urantia Book who make the false claim that
the Atonement Doctrine is strictly an invention of the
Apostle Paul and that it is not to be found in the teachings
of Christ Himself. Thus, in order to expose this demonic
lie, in this particular article, I rely heavily upon the
actual Words of our Lord in order to show why His Sacrifice
was necessary. If a Muslim, or a believer of any other
non-Christian faith, truly reverences the Words of Jesus
Christ as they claim, then this article will definitely
provide the information so that the Christian can bring them
to the point of decision; either in favor of, or fully
against, the teachings of our Lord.

To further supply the Christian with Scriptural ammuniton to
be used against the fiery darts of the Wicked One, in
addition to these first two recommended articles, I suggest
the article 'A Verse A Day To Keep The Doubts Away!'. This
particular article, which is also found under the Salvation
And Holy Ghost article group, contains thirty-one key verses
which explain the Salvation Plan. These verses should prove
to be extremely beneficial to anyone who is attempting to
witness to another concerning the reason and the purpose for
Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross. In fact, I encourage you
the reader to try to memorize as many of these verses as you
possibly can.

Another stumbling block one encounters when trying to bring
a non-Christian to the Saving Grace found in the Sacrifice
of Jesus Christ, is the fact that many religions teach that
Salvation, or Eternal Life, is the result of leading a good
life. In other words, it is based upon good deeds, and other
meritorious works of the flesh. In some cases, such as with
Judaism, it is a matter of observing certain laws and
regulations, that is, the traditions of the Elders. Certain
other religions also recognize the merit of the Mosaic Law
of the Old Testament. In fact, many laws in existence today
in various parts of the world, find their origin in the Laws
first given to Moses on Mount Horeb, or Sinai. This common
belief can be used with some degree of success to wean
people from their faith in good deeds through observance of
the Law, to the Saving Grace found in Jesus Christ.

To understand the link between the practices and rituals of
the priesthood of the Old Testament, and the new Priesthood
established in the New Testament, I recommend that you read
'Is Jesus The Only Begotten Son Of God? Part Two'. You will
find it under the Controversial Issues article group. This
article shows the connection between Paul's Epistle to the
Hebrews concerning the high priest Melchizedek, and the
Levitical priesthood of the Torah, or Pentateuch, that is,
the first five books of the Bible. This article clearly
shows how Jesus' Final Sacrifice replaced the sacrifices
offered by the Levitical priests. While it is somewhat deep
reading, it will nevertheless add to the foundation you have
already established by reading the first three recommended
articles.

The fifth article on your recommended reading list is 'The
Royal Law: Thou Shalt Love!'. You will find it under the
Salvation And Holy Ghost article group. This article will
further expose the deception of those who depend upon their
own good works, or good deeds, to try to save themselves. To
reiterate then, the five primary articles which I suggest
you read, in this order, are the following:

1. The Holy Qur'an: Doctrine Of Devils!
2. The Blood Atonement: In Jesus' Own Words
3. A Verse A Day To Keep The Doubts Away!
4. Is Jesus The Only Begotten Son Of God: Part Two
5. The Royal Law: Thou Shalt Love!

In addition to the above, the following articles, all found
under the Salvation And Holy Ghost article group, will add
to your understanding of the Salvation Plan and Message:

1. The Children Of Light: Are You One Of Us?
2. One Fantastic Party - Are You Coming?
3. A Special Invitation To You!
4. To Pray Or Not To Pray?
5. Is The Message Of Salvation For All Men?

Concerning Grace versus Law, or Grace versus Works, that is,
good deeds, this topic is also discussed in the following
two articles, and probably in a number of others to lesser
degrees as well:

1. 'The Gospel Of Thomas: Introspection Or Heaven-Spection'

This article can be found under the Apocryphal Articles
group, and discusses looking to oneself instead of to Jesus
Christ for our Salvation.

2. 'The Parable Of The Sower: Salvation And Service'

This article can be found under the Discipleship And Early
Church Pattern article group and also discussed Grace vs
Works.

If you slowly, carefully and prayerfully read the first five
articles I have suggested, and then the additional seven
supplementary articles as your time permits, I can assure
you that you will not only increase your personal
understanding of the Salvation Plan, but you will acquire a
great wealth of Scriptural knowledge, and thus arm yourself
with the tools that you need to combat any false, erroneous,
misleading or deceptive doctrine with which Satan might
attempt to entrap you through these non-Christian belief
systems. Please keep in mind the Apostle Paul's admonition
when he wrote:

"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not
ignorant of his devices." (2 Corinthians 2:11)

Before concluding this article, it is important that you
realize that, despite your earnest and sincere desire to
witness to others, no matter how faithful you are to perform
your task, you cannot win anyone to Jesus Christ. While it
is indeed your Christian responsibility to share the Gospel
of Truth in whatever capacity or form the Lord shows you;
please don't ever forget that only God's Eternal Spirit can
convict a darkened heart in order to bring a person to the
Saving Grace of Jesus Christ. In times past I have seen
people pressured into saying a particular Salvation prayer.
It wasn't that the person really wanted to or was ready to
accept the Lord; but rather it was a means to get rid of the
insistent Christian who wouldn't leave until he had brought
the person to a decision. I must truly question how many
people have actually been saved through such high-pressure
tactics. Salvation only comes when one truly acknowledges
his own sinful condition and need for a Saviour, and then
recognizes and accepts that Jesus Christ is that Saviour. In
short, only God's fruit will remain, while ours will not:

"...And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be
saved." (Acts 2:47b)

So again, as I also point out in 'Free Will And Personal
Choice', a person must choose to yield himself to God's
Spirit of his own accord, and not because someone is
standing beside him saying 'You better do this or else!'. It
is through accepting the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ by our
own free will that we manifest our love towards God the
Father. Anything short of this will not suffice. With these
thoughts I am going to bring this article to a close. It is
my hope that the recommendations I have made here will not
only strengthen your own faith, but that these articles will
also assist you in your endeavors to witness to others of
non-Christian religions. I wish you the best.

WHAT ABOUT RELIGION 'X'? : TOOLS TO EXPOSE THE DECEPTION

WHAT ABOUT RELIGION 'X'? : TOOLS TO EXPOSE
THE DECEPTION