Is Moroni Baloney?

I’ve heard that there are many similarities between Islam and Mormonism.  After a quick search I found these.

• Joseph Smith was visited by the angel Moroni. Muhammad was visited by Gabriel.
• Both Muhammad and Joseph Smith were given visions.
• Both Muhammad and Joseph Smith claimed that Christianity was at one time the true religion, but lost the truth at some point.
• Both claimed that the Bible is corrupted and unreliable.
• Both wrote their own book, supposedly inspired by God.
• Both men claimed to be illiterate, but miraculously wrote their respective “holy books.”
• Both the Koran and the Book of Mormon are based on a record stored in heaven. Islam has the “mother book,” and Mormonism has the golden Nephi plates.
• Both men were polygamists with many wives.
• Both claimed to be the final prophet of God.

Those are amazing similarities for two religions founded about 1,200 years apart.

2 Corinthians 11:14 comes to mind: For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. Could it be that Joseph Smith and Muhammad were deceived into thinking they were speaking to an angel? The similarities between these religions suggest that Satan isn’t that creative in founding new religions that twist the truth of the Bible.

The Sinner’s Prayer: Fact or Fable?

Is someone who prays the sinner’s prayer definitely saved?

One of the scariest passages in the Bible is Matthew 7:21–23: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Jesus was saying that there were people who claimed to be Christians and did things for Jesus, but still ended up in hell. In other words, they weren’t really true followers of Christ. 

When we accept God’s gift of salvation, we are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). But exactly what is a “new creation”—and how do we know we are one? We should be showing evidence that we’re Christians by bearing the fruit of:

• Repentance (Matthew 3:8) 
• Thanksgiving (Hebrews 13:15)
• Good works (Colossians 1:10)
• The Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23)
• Righteousness (Philippians 1:11)

We should all check to see if our lives are in fact producing that fruit. If someone isn’t bearing that fruit, but they’ve prayed the sinner’s prayer, is he or she saved? According to the Bible, if the individual continues in a lifestyle of sin, he or she is of the devil (1 John 3:8). In other words, the conversion was false, and that person is headed for hell.

Jesus spoke extensively about false conversions. He discussed it in the parables of the sower and the seed (Mark 4:1-20), the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24–30, 36-40), the good and bad fish (Matthew 13:47–50), the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-14). If he spoke about it so many times, isn’t it important for us to understand?

People don’t get saved by simply reciting the sinner’s prayer. They get saved by repenting from a life of sin and putting their faith in Jesus. This requires much more than a few words; it requires a change of heart, attitude, and direction in life, including submitting to the lordship of Jesus Christ. It should result in a life that, while not perfect, constantly seeks to obey and glorify God.

2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.” I encourage you to ask yourself: Do I feel confident that I am going to heaven merely because at one point I prayed a sinner’s prayer, or have I truly allowed God to change my heart and life as a Christ-follower?

Who’s afraid of the Ten Commandments?

Why do people dislike Way of the Master and using the Ten Commandments in evangelism? Did Ray Comfort just make it all up? I say that if it’s biblical, then it doesn’t matter whether we like it, we just have to do it.  

Referring to unbelievers, Charles Spurgeon said, “The law serves a most necessary purpose. They will never accept grace until they tremble before a just and holy Law.”

Martin Luther once said, “Satan, the God of all dissension, stirreth up daily new sects, and last of all, which of all other I should never have foreseen or once suspected, he has raised up a sect such as teach…that men should not be terrified by the Law, but gently exhorted by the preaching of the grace of Christ.”

So, it seems like Ray Comfort just rediscovered a forgotten principle of previous generations of Christians. Even though it’s great to quote Charles Spurgeon, Ray Comfort, and Martin Luther, it’s much more critical to look at what God says.

§         The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul. (Psalm 19:7)

§         Sin is transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4)

§         Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (Romans 3:19–20)

§         I would not have come to know sin but by the law. (Romans 7:7)

§         By the commandments, sin becomes exceeding sinful. (Romans 7:13)

§         So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)

Now you have a choice. You can do your best to get around these Bible verses (among dozens of others) and centuries of Christian tradition, or you can use the tool God has blessed us with—the Ten Commandments—to explain sin and lead people to grace. I urge you to learn what to say (2 Timothy 2:15, 1 Peter 3:15), and go preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). People are in desperate need of having the gospel explained to them.

I would highly recommend listening to Hell’s Best Kept Secret.

Really good Friday

It’s almost Good Friday. If their thoughts aren’t overshadowed by a big fluffy rabbit and decked out eggs, most people tend to think of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which occurred about 2,000 years ago. They might even have a vague notion that it had something to do with the sins of the world.

What many people don’t understand is that Good Friday is a reflection of thousands of years of biblical history, during which God foreshadowed His plan for redemption for mankind through Jesus Christ.

• In the second chapter of the Bible (Genesis 2), after Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. God knew this wasn’t adequate clothing, so He killed an animal to cover their nudity and sin. The first animal to ever die died to cover Adam and Eve’s sin.
   
• In Genesis 22, God tested Abraham, telling him to sacrifice his only and long-awaited son, Isaac. God stopped Abraham before he killed Isaac, instead asking Abraham to sacrifice a ram. Some people believe that Isaac was to be sacrificed on the same hill where Jesus, God’s only Son, was crucified.
   
• The Jewish people celebrate Passover every spring in remembrance of a time that God sent the angel of death to kill the firstborn son in every household, as a curse on the Egyptians who enslaved the Israelites. Each Israelite household was to sacrifice a spotless lamb, and put its blood on the door post so that the angel of death would pass over that house. Not only did this foreshadow the blood of the sinless Jesus saving us from eternal death, but Jesus actually died during the Passover celebration. 
• The Jewish people also celebrate Yom Kippur, which is the Day of Atonement. Years before Jesus was born, the priest would put his hands on a lamb to signify the transfer of the people’s sins to the lamb. It was then sacrificed for the covering of their sins. God has long required the shedding of blood for forgiveness of sins.
   
• In Isaiah 53, written hundreds of years before Jesus lived, there are dozens of prophecies about the Jewish Messiah, including, “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all,” and “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.”
   
• When Jesus was about 30 years old, he met John the Baptist, who had been appointed to announce the imminent ministry of Jesus. John, familiar with God’s ways, said, “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
   
• Shortly before Jesus’ death, He and the disciples were eating the Passover meal. There are four cups of wine to be drunk that night. The third cup was in memory of the lamb of Passover, where they were drinking a toast to that lamb that had covered their sins. Jesus changed the meaning of this cup of wine from commemorating the blood of the Passover lamb to commemorating His blood, which would be spilled once and for all for all who would believe Him.  

There was a fourth cup of Passover, which Jesus said he wouldn’t drink until He returns again. When Jesus returns, He’s going to come as a conquering king. He will punish those who have not obeyed Him—by repenting (turning from their sins) and trusting God for their eternal welfare—with everlasting destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9).

This Good Friday, I hope you take time to contemplate the meaning of the loving sacrifice Jesus made to forgive your sins—and to decide how you will respond.