Guest Post: The True Gospel in comparison to Cults and a Cultic mindset

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am overseas.  This is by Ward Snodgrass.  He runs the edifying Facebook Page “Solomon’s Porch” here.

The Language and Mindset of Cultists

What is a Cult???

According to Webster’s Dictionary…..a cult is… “A system of religious worship or rites and ceremonies”

According to secular reference tools (dictionary)…. Christianity is a Cult…
What Webster’s does not elaborate upon …..
Is that a cult has another defining factor…
Cults are followings of Personage and their Philosophies and Morality and Ethics….
Cults are religious followings of people (most of the time one person) and their belief on things

Christianity is not a cult…
Because…
It does not fit either criteria….

1) It is not mere conduct of rites and ceremonies, it is a personal relationship with God

2) Jesus and “his Philosophies and Morals and Ethics’…..are not the views of a mere human person. They are Absolute Truth and the basis of which all other beliefs are false…..

If Jesus were not actually and fully in fact The Truth ..The Son of God Almighty….Christianity would be a non responsive hollow explosion of words and powerlessness as cults are….

1 Corinthians 15:17
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

Should Jesus not actually be Jesus…
And actually be the Messiah…
Christianity is as valueless as a dead hollow cult….
He is Truth though!

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

It is this rock..
This standard..
Which is the reference of comparison for all other beliefs, religions, and ways of life
Most Cults, if not all have some very common threads
They exist in …Language and Mindset
The specifics of how these two things pervert the truth is to varying extremes….

Here are Some cults … and their Founders… (so you have reference as to what a cult is)

Mormonism… Joseph Smith
Christian Science.. Mary Baker Eddy
Church of Scientology.. L Ron Hubbard
Jehovah Witness.. Charles Taze Russell
Branch Davidians.. David Koresh
Scientology…L Ron Hubbard
Seventh Day Adventism…William Miller
Unification Church… Yong Myung Moon
Worldwide Church of God.. Herbert W. Armstrong
The Baha’i faith… Mirza Ali Muhammad
Unity movement.. Charles and Myrtle Fillmore
The Way International..Victor Paul Wierwille
The International Church of Christ…Kip McKeen
The Church of Almighty God….Zhao Weishan

This world … Is replete with CULTS
How do we begin to make a difference?
How do we know which way is right?
If I took a Mormon, Jehovah Witness, a True Christian, and a Universalist and put them all in one room…..
And then invited a non Christian in…
How would they know the difference and truth of what was talked about????
It is an apparent mess….
The solution revolves around Three Things….

First is The TRUTH (Jesus Christ)

The Christian has this…none of the rest do. It ought be used with precision and allowed to divide to bone and marrow.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart..

Encouragement on how to develop “applying” Truth….

a) We should know Christianity well first..

These comments and teachings are for those who know Christianity well enough that they ought be using it effectively to change the lives of others. If you do not know Christianity well enough to know what it is yet, you should do so before going anywhere near seeking to understand the depth of what varying cultists believe.

If you are a “mature Christian” who knows the truth, you ought consider how to incorporate truth into the lives of others though (Yes, even cultists) to make a life changing difference…

b) Educate yourself to what others believe

It amazes me how many Christians I run across…. that can readily…Say “Mormonism (or pick a cult) is a lie of Satan!!!!!”

Good….bravo…
Then I ask..
“Why?”
Often this brings about a period of silence..
I think it is good that they should know it is wrong…but
If they do not know what it is that hold the minds of others captive…
How can they know what someone believes or thinks?
And more importantly…
How can they lovingly help the one caught up in falsehood?

The Key is LOVE…..Doctrinal Truth without Love is like a Clanging Symbol…you only come across like a prideful cultist when you offer Truth without Love.

Second is LANGUAGE

Herein lies the specifics of the battlefield in others
The Mind is the battlefield
And that we fight against false philosophies
And that when we “fight” we actually are replacing falsehood with truth starting with LANGUAGE CONCEPTS
This is an ENORMOUS PROBLEM

A JW, Mormon, Christian Scientist and a Christian….
Can all go about free use of the terminology in Biblical Christianity… Because the Theology of what the words mean has been changed and accepted…
You can sit for instance with a Mormon…and say…
“Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation”
They will readily nod and agree
They will go out with you and fight for the concept of that statement
But…
What those words mean to them is ENTIRELY different than what they mean to a True Christian Believer….
The Mormon in this example believes that…
“The Way of Salvation” that Jesus provides is…
Primarily His Teachings…
How he lived…
They believe that if he follows Jesus Teachings and does as Jesus did that he will become as Jesus….
That they will earn his way to becoming a God….
That is what… “Jesus is the only way to salvation” means to them

Cults capitalize on…
The Average Christian’s Inability to understand how they have redefined the Word of God….
So then…
Proper DEFINITION and USAGE of what is really being taught in God’s Word will deny the cultist of part of the Language Barrier
Instead of then saying to that Mormon .. “Jesus is the way to salvation”….
You need to very explicitly explain first….
Who Jesus is…..
What Salvation is…..
This will present them with communication that smashes the language barrier they have…
They cannot then derive a different meaning from your words

Something else confusing is the amount of incorrectly divided scripture that will be used to “defend’ their viewpoint….
Sheer volumes of Biblical Quotations to support what they believe….
The cultist then will go about a process….
They will juggle terms and meanings and quote things from the Bible…
Misdivided…(Prooftexting out of correct understanding)
They often will sound close enough to elicit agreement from a Christian on one area or another….
Most of the time..
The Christian will “go along” with many discussions..because
They do not know enough of their own doctrine of TRUTH to recognize or explain to the cultist how and where they are wrong
The solution to this is not EASY
It is something that requires STUDY and PRACTICE
The Christian must realize that for every doctrinal or Biblical term they mention…
A redefinition of those terms occurs within the cultist…
Realizing this…
You can be prepared for their acceptance of what you have said
(Because how they understood it was different than you offered it)
And…
Then comes your weapon…
The Word of God…
Properly Divided (Understood)…
With Clear Word Meanings…

CLEAR
WORD
MEANINGS

The cultist will be agreeable to all the re-definitions of the spiritual concepts within themselves in your conversation until you require a definition of what those words mean….
They cannot change the actual Word of God….
Any cognizant person has to agree that in context words mean what they say. And the Word of God is what it is….
Cultists may very well then you brush away saying something like this……”You interpret it your way, I will interpret it my way”
This can go on..it takes loving prayer filled labor in presenting the Word of God that will plant seeds of change in the lives of the lost.

Romans 10:15
How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”

One thing the Cultist cannot dismiss though is.. Jesus Christ….
What HE has done for you and in your life..and….
What the Words in the Bible actually mean when forced to define them…
The Jesus of Scripture….is an Eternal Living Personality..
Who cannot be dismissed by redefinition of terms…
Whenever a Christian Encounters a Cultist then……
Certain Primary thoughts should be in their mind…..

1) The Christian should strive to direct the conversation to the problem of terminology and maneuver the Cultist into a position where they must clearly define the terms they are using and the authority as to their meanings

2) The Christian should then compare these “definitions” with the various contexts of the verses that the cultist draws upon to support their view

3) Ask the cultist to clearly define the these terms to start with….

New Birth
Atonement–Propitiation/Expiation
Eternal Judgement
Forgiveness
The Incarnation of Jesus Christ
Love

So that by so doing….
When these terms come up in conversation….there will be no misunderstanding of what is meant…This will require you to actually know what these concepts are beforehand through your study so that you can present these concepts to someone from the Word of God so that they can see you are not offering your own conceived notions and opinions.

4) You should lead the cultist to the importance of properly defining the terms in scripture as the basis for the doctrine they support. If they will not agree to the Scripture as a basis of Truth, you need to establish that Scripture Alone is the only basis of truth and that anything added to it or taken from it or misunderstood in it will lead to falsehood. (Galatians 1:6-10)

5) It is the Christians’ RESPONSIBILITY to present a clear testimony of their own personal experience of having received a new born again (regenerated) life as an Ambassador of the Ministry of Reconciliation…..

2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Please do not forget that cultists are masterful at lifting scripture text out of context (prooftexting) to put forth incorrect meanings to the concepts they believe are true…..They “wrest” with the true meaning

2 Peter 3:16
as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

They are doing so unto their own destruction
It is the Christian’s Responsibility to assist them in love to Understand that correct context is clear about this

A review of the picture of cult semantics….

1) The average cultist knows his own terminology thoroughly. They also have a general historic knowledge of Christian usage, and therefore they are prepared to discuss many areas of theology negligently, thinking it their duty to “convert you”…..

2) The advanced (well trained) cultist will carefully avoid definition of terms concerning major doctrinal issues such as…

The Trinity
The Deity of Christ
The Atonement
The Resurrection
The Process of Salvation by Grace
Justification by Grace
(To mention a few)

If pressed in these areas…
(And you should press, press, press)
The cultist will redefine these terms to fit into their belief system ..unless….
You lead them to define terms explicitly….

3) The Christian needs to seek a point of conversational departure from a discussion when they realize they are getting nowhere……
Preferably on “The Authority of the Scriptures”
This will allow the Christian to direct the conversation ending and hopefully lead to setting up a future time to discuss the “Authority of the Scriptures (a completed 66 book Canon called a Holy Bible)” as the next future topic to engage in should a further conversation be agreed upon…..

4) The Christian needs to be familiar with what the cultist associates to the terms used. Knowing where their mind goes when they think on doctrine is invaluable.It allows the Christian to know what the cultist is thinking and also makes him feel more comfortable discussing things “on his own terms”…

Example…
We are going to talk about “Salvation”….
It is more than acceptable to talk about what they consider “salvation” to be as long as there is understanding that the same thing is being talked about…
Language is a Major Area of Battle with Cultists
Satan has used it to cause division and discord
Only by clearly communicating on the same thing meant in conversation can some real communication take place..
Otherwise there is a lot of words and no understanding
This is how Satan, not Jesus, prefers things to be

The Last of the three things is….MINDSET

First and Foremost..The Belief Systems of Cults are characterized by close-mindedness..They are not interested in rational cognitive evaluation of the facts…
These “Cult Core Beliefs”…
Are pumped to the cultist from “someplace else”….
This provides for isolation within the cultists mind…
And within themselves they do not choose to shift to logical consistency unless motivated to have to do so…
This is really a warped form of agnosticism on a inner personal level….AS MOST CULTISTS will have great dislike and hostility toward Christians for the message they bring……
They show by their reaction that the message (Gospel Truth of Jesus Christ) is associated by the messenger (You)…..
There is no differentiation made as to where the message comes from ..This is how their prideful minds work….
Therefore most cultists will identify your message with you (not God) and will assign you hostility for “judging them”
Here in lies a doorway…..
Christians should seek to separate themselves from the message they bring….This will present the cultist with a dilemma

“How can this person (The Christian) be such an acceptable personality (because you love them with truth) yet not share (the Cultist’s) theology?

You see.. They consider themselves acceptable….
They may well consider you unacceptable due to what you believe, before they get to know who you are…so
Should you manage to make yourself acceptable to them, it causes a internal evaluation in them as to what your belief system is …because…
1) It is not the same as theirs..and
2) Surprisingly to them, you are an agreeable personality

Many Cultists view Christianity as religious exploitation, existent to take money from the masses for prosperity or entrapping people in legalism. While that may be true of false apostate Christianity, that is not true of the Truth and Freedom of Jesus Christ and his Gospel. One of the things that attracted them to their particular cult was ..

Promised and Apparent freedom from things like these, or simply being raised from childhood into wrong binding beliefs…
Some cults deny Eternal Punishment, others cater to pride and provide that it is by your effort that you are rewarded (and no one else)..which is Salvation by Works…..
These aspects of falsehood exist as being appealing to those caught in cults….
Therefore..demonstrating true unfettered Genuine Love to them is the beginning of separating you from your viewpoint in their minds….
Their understanding that you have a genuine interest and care in their well being will start to crumble walls…
For instance..Do not share the doctrine of Eternal Judgement with
them as “Repent or Go to Hell!!!”…
Lovingly explain that if it were not true you would not be saying a thing, and that the only reason you are is because you care about them…care about them…..
You need to be free from all appearance of guile and ulterior motive….another example…

“Hey Tommy, would you like to go to church with me next week?”
This is VERY BAD
VERY BAD
It is impersonal to the cult trapped mind and
To the cultist they see ulterior motive…. (What they really care about is “converting me” or looking good to people for bringing me)
The reason why…
Is because…
To them an invitation to “Church” means just that…
Almost without exception…
Cults manifest a type of institutional intolerance for any people who do not hold their position….
This is why they accuse Christians of that exact thing…
Because in their mind that is their reality…

Example….One of the major Mormon Statements on the issue, and a part of their early teaching to children is….
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true authorized Church of Jesus Christ. All other churches are an “abomination” before God”
They believe that they have been restored the Aaronic Priesthood of Melchezidek (both gross biblical misinterpretations), and that they have the only valid true priesthood relationship with him

Most cults have a similar ingrafting of Intolerance….
What occurs is a psychological blindness and a spiritual blindness through out the being of the cultist….
This occurs from the conditioning of the “Cult Core Belief System” And its Isolation from the cultist …this produces in the cultist a dual isolation….
Isolation from the source of what they follow and….
Isolation from God through the rebellion of human nature and repeated violation of divine law….
This Isolation is Devastating….
What is often done is a conditioning of response to the truth

For Example…
To a Jehovah’s Witness….
The doctrines of Hell and Eternal punishment does not match up with their concept of a “loving God”…
It is against their “Core” (The Watchtower Society)….
It though is not enough that there is disagreement…
They believe themselves to be in the truth and that all else is of Satan….
So…They attach association of Christian Terminology incorrectly to justify their errant sight….You say …

Holy Trinity
Deity of Jesus
Hell
Eternal punishment
Immortal Soul

These words will trigger off within them that you are to be associated with Satan, because this is what they have been taught if they have studied the material they are fed….
The basis of all cult core belief is Pride…..
It is the result of Human Flawed Beings….
Thinking themselves knowledgeable of what only God really knows….
Satan has used Sinners to spin lies for over 2 millennia about the Deity and Resurrection of Jesus…

Almost all cult belief stems around either…

1) No Eternal Punishment (Everyone will be eventually be ok)
or
2) The Pride of Salvation by Works (I earned it!, I did!)

All cultists believe themselves to have the truth….
They though only have a misdivided version of Gods truth….
The parts of his word they have, they also have explained to them by people caught in darkness….
Their “Core” can even change their mind on issues…
That is ok…
After all they are the Authority…

In Practical Summary……
1) Understand The Language Barrier
2) Understand their Mindset
3) Understand what Doctrine they Follow. Understand what goes on in their mind when you discuss issues of Gods Word
4) Know Gods Word. Know it implicitly. Use it specifically to define what words means by the context they are in…

Most importantly though…..
Cultists like members of False Religion (and most of the occult)
Will not usually be swayed by the intellect of your presentation of Gods Word…but rather……
By the love from your heart that they can feel in theirs.

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Here are resource links to understanding what many cults teach and believe…..

EXCELLENT GENERAL APOLOGETIC RESOURCES
http://www.waltermartin.com/cults.html
http://carm.org/
http://alwaysbeready.com/
https://arcapologetics.org/

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/5574-christian-science

MORMONISM (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)
http://www.alphamin.org/
http://www.waltermartin.com/mormon.html
http://www.watchman.org/articles/mormonism/

Mormons believe Jesus came to show them the way to live so that they can become Gods themselves. They have adopted a belief system that was given to a practitioner of the Occult named Joseph Smith, supposedly on Golden Plates from the Angel Moroni. We know from Galatians 1:6-8 that the mere origin of this false belief system should be set aside. Mormons believe in extra Biblical Inspiration in a companion book they call “Pearl of Great Price”.

JEHOVAH WITNESSES
http://alwaysbeready.com/jehovahs-witnesses

Here is some info on Jehovah’s Witnesses that I have gathered. I
suggest to anyone trying to witness to a Witness, to stick to the deity of Christ and salvation by grace. Do not go into the eternal substance of the soul and various other weird winds of doctrines.

>From the Heretical New World Translation (The NWT..Jehovah Witness Bible), these verses prove the deity of Jesus Christ (the first reference is for God and the second one is for Jesus)..so you can illustrate to lost JW’s the Truth from their own accepted book….. :
No other gods…Deut 32:29>John 1:1
Created alone…Isa 44:21>John 1:2,3
First and Last…Isa 44:6>Rev 1:17,18
Only Savior…Isa 43:11>Acts 4:12
Lord of lords…Deut 10:17>Rev 17:11
Worshipped…Matt 4:10>Rev 5:11-14
Omnipotent…Jer 32:17>Php 3:21
Omniscient…1 John 3:20>Col 2:3
Holy…1 Sam 2:2>Acts 3:14
Immutable…Mal 3:6>Heb 13:8
Judgement Seat…Rom 14:10>2 Cor 5:10
Source of Lving Waters…Jer 17:13>John 4:10-14
Sent Holy Spirit…John 14:26>John 16:7
Stone of Stumbling…Isa 8:14,15>1 Pet 2:7,8
King of Israel (In a spiritual sense)…Isa 44:6>John 1:49
Mighty God…Isa 10:20,21>Isa 9:6
………………………………………………………
When Jesus claimed to be the “Son of God” this was a claim to be God (John 5:18).

Jesus is on with (John 10:30), and the exact representation of (Heb 1:3) the Father. In Him dwells all the fullness of the divine quality (Col 2:9).
………………………………………………………
The Trinity:
Who raised Jesus from the dead?
God>Acts 4:10
Father>Gal 1:1
Son>John 2:19-21
Spirit>Rom 8:11

Plurality in the Godhead…Gen 1:26, 3:22, 11:7…God refers to Himself as “us”.

Matt 28:19 says that we are to baptise in the name (onoma is the
singular form of name in the Greek) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus is called God (John 20:28) and the Holy Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3,4).
………………………………………………………
Explanations:
Jesus is called “the firstborn of all creation” in Col 1:15. The word
firstborn refers to Him being the first in rank over all creation. He
is also called “the firstborn from the dead” in Col 1:18 and Rev 1:5. This refers to His resurrection. The word for firstborn in the Greek is prototokos. This does not mean first created (as Jehovah’s Witnesses say). If Jesus were the first created the word protoktistos would have been used.

No man has seen God at any time (Exo 33:20; John 1:18, 6:46; 1 Tim 6:16), but God is seen (Gen 32:30; Exo 24:9-11, 33:11). This apparent contradiction can be explained by the preincarnate Christ (who is God).

Jesus says, “…the Father is greater than I am.” (John 14:28) This
refers to the Father having a greater position when Christ was on earth. He did not say that the Father is better than Him because they are equal in essence.

SCIENTOLOGY
https://arcapologetics.org/…/contrasting-scientology-and-c…/

Hopefully enough to get you started. The Links to General Apologetic resources above should guide you to understanding a vast wealth of information about what those trapped in Cult Mindsets think and believe. Feel free to request any additional or particular information you may desire. Peace to you.