Among our modern charismatic prosperity preachers there are those who believe the Catholic church is Christian, they are deeply deceived.
I am a former Catholic, no one can convince me there is anything good inside that system. If you have never been in the Catholic church you are not qualified to counter my assertions that it is a demonic cult, unless you have studied extensively what the church teaches.
It has been my experience that those who are not Catholic but defend it as Christian, have never been in the church. Those who defend the Catholic church do not understand that they can use exactly the same terminology as an Evangelical, but mean very different things. Now even the "Evangelical" church has caved in to the pressure to accept the Catholic church as Christian.
When a Catholic says they are saved by grace, they mean the more good works they do the more graces they get to earn heaven.
When a born again believer says they are saved by grace, they mean we can do nothing to earn heaven, that it is a free gift of God, not of anything we can do, it's all God's work. When we trust in Christ, then He does all the saving, His blood paid all the debt we owed and we are kept saved by His power and His blood.
Be very careful to defend a religion you have never been in yourself. Be careful not to make judgments based on what sounds like good language. It is important when we hear familiar language that we ask what the person means by it, understanding is important.
The devil is now moving Christian verbiage into secular realms. The public non-believers are deceiving people by talking about prayer when their meaning is nothing more than saying something believing it will come true by virtue of the power of their own words.
Prayer is nothing if not directed toward the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. Hindu's pray, Buddhist's pray, Catholic's pray, Mormons pray, JW's pray and people every other pagan religion prays. But their prayer if answered is answered by the devil to deceive, while prayer to the One true God through His Son Jesus Christ is the only prayer that is legitimately heard by God and only if we are not walking in sinfulness.
Ephesians 2:8-9 ". 8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.…"
Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
Isaiah 59:2-3 " 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters wickedness.…"
All false religions base their acceptance into heave on their own works.
Isaiah 64:6-7 "6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 7 There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.…"
John 9:31 "31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will."
There are those who say "don't judge" a lot to justify their desire to like or someone. Sadly they have chosen to judge someone as good simply because it's so much fun and happiness thinking nice things and having an idol to brag about.
The truth is these same people who say "don't judge' are choosing to judge unrighteously by judging someone as good without evaluating their life or their belief system.
Why do these people think it is wrong to judge someone as bad by the evidence, but it is alright to judge someone as good without evidence. This makes no sense, if we should not judge at all then we should not judge as good or as bad, but they choose to judge as good.
The truth is that we are to judge righteous judgment, that is, seek the evidence and witnesses and make a determination based on those findings. This is rational and reasonable discernment.
It is as foolish to judge someone as good with scanty evidence as it is to judge someone as bad in the same way. We are to make judgments, we do it every day when we avoid a person because they are a thief or a liar or a rapist. When they are false teachers we are to assess that on the basis of Scripture and be warned to keep our distance and even warn others to keep their distance. The only reason to be in the presence of any of these god haters and offenders is to bring them the gospel. Other than that, they are to be avoided.
Proverbs 16:17-20
17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;
He who watches his way preserves his life.
18 Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
19 It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly
Than to divide the spoil with the proud.
20 He who gives attention to the word will find good,
And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.
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