Why would any born-again believer use a phrase like "pray for the dead"? Yes, I agree with praying for his family, but why would I pray for him if he were saved?
The dead who have been saved by God no longer need our prayers; they are with God. What would we pray for when praying for the dead? Those who believe in praying for the dead believe the person who died could not go into the presence of the Lord without first finishing the punishment themselves in a place called Purgatory, which Christ paid for on the cross. They believe in purgatory as a form of finishing work that the human does, as though they could add anything to what Christ did for them.
2 Corinthians 5:8 "but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord."
Unbiblical ideas, coupled with a lot of biblical language, are not something to ignore. Why were the other two hosts on that program not correcting the one who was calling for a prayer for the dead person? Fear of offending someone is the lie of Satan; correction is necessary when dealing with Biblical truth.
Christians ought to stop adopting the language of the unsaved to placate them. This is exactly what Catholicism did to entice the pagans to become members of the church many centuries ago. Over time, there became more paganism in the church than Biblical truth, making the church more fully cultic.
The idea that just "joining a church gathering" will make people Christians is itself a pagan idea. People do not become saved by being a member of any cult or pseudo-Christian organization. Nor do they become Christians by joining an authentic Christian gathering.
I began to understand when Kirk proclaimed to a Bishop that he was "very close to becoming Catholic." Whether or not he was saved, I do not know, but I thought his testimony was one of salvation. Now, I am confused. But none of that matters when we are focused on Christ instead of people.
Since most Christians in our day are more focused on political leanings than on Christ, I see how they might be easily fooled by emotional deliveries in which the speaker says all the right words. This is why it is important to focus on Christ and what He says in His Word and not on people who "appear" good.
The antichrist will say all the right things in the beginning, fooling many apostate Christians. He will do lying miracles, promising prosperity and safety. It will sound so good that most people will clamor to follow him.
It is human nature to want to follow and elevate a person they can see with their eyes. The danger with this is that it can and often does lead to worship of man above Christ. It is very subtle but amounts to the same thing.
I do not judge Kirk's Christianity based on anything he said, but I do take issue with declaring that a dead Christian person must pay further sacrifice with his own body to secure his salvation, and I reject the idea that we should pray for or speak to dead people.
Let's keep our focus on Christ, take a lesson from martyrs to follow Christ even if it means our death, not to follow a person, but to follow Christ.
