Just what is a christian cult anyways

[Henry]

I agree essential no compromise, in secondary issues they do not matter.

essentials are:

That God is triune

That Jesus is God in the Flesh Eternally God the Son.

That we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus alone.

Those are few anyways, that if compromised will begin the building the walls of a cult.

 

[willow the wip]

I agree

 

[Heidi]

If we don't sit on the fence, we better prepared to be persecuted for it. We also better make sure that we are not in error. I was just witnessing on a forum with unbelievers. One unbeliever who worships some goddess was furious at me for saying that she didn't believe in God. She wanted me to recant. I said that i will not contradict my Lord and savior's words that He is the only way to God. I was subject to overwhelming harrassment for my words. I still will not take them back. I cannot take them back. We are either for Him or against Him. If we are not persecuted for His words, then I think we need to look at whether or not we're compromising Jesus's words so that people will like us.

 

[willow the wip]

The bible says to Live in sprit and in truth persicution is one aspect of our walk.

Jesus said that if you follow me you will be persicuted!

 

[Henry]

Heidi

Amen I have been blantenly isulted and ridiculed as well, first by the oneness group that I left, who still insist that I am apostate and unsaved, one pastor told his people not to listen to me I was the devil and so on.

All becuase I say that Modalism is wrong and that water batism is not part of salvatoin but somethign we do after, but just like here, instead of looking at the bible in these matters, they attempt to discredit me by calling me apostate and decieved by satan, this has happened to me here as well.

I was also visiting a wicca site one time, they were saying that Christians were racist and that the God of the Christian faith was a blood monger ,and many more terrible accusations. MOst of them based on things that RCC did not he midle ages. And mind you even then they had the facts all mixed up.

Anyways I deffended that faith and quite nicely told them that if they are going to demand that we respect them, then they should do like wise. They were making false statements about what we believed, blaiming us for everything in the world they considered bad, and forgeting the history of the pagans they calimed to be, as we know the pagans were varied but many participated in human sacrfices, even babies.

Well, they really did not talke to me, they just started calling me names, and sending me emails, telling me that I just hated them and one guy said I wanted to trick him so I could kill him, scary stuff.

I was amazed at how twisted and mixed up they were, and worse how much hate was filled in there hearts, mind you wiccas are susposed to be loving a tolorant folks.

Anyways, the fact is that satan is behind all that stuff, and when ever the truth is shined in on dark they litterally freak out. It is satans defence, but praise God the light does get through to those whom he has elected.

So yes we are going to persecuted more and more as the end draws near. But that is OK praise the Lord when we are persecuted for speakingthe true gospel.

 

[Dave...]

Henry

If I had to pick a denomination, I would be Baptist. I study from Alistair Begg and John MacArthur mostly. I'm unaffiliated with a church at the moment; actually it's been a while since I've gone to church. My last Church was Assembly of God. I left just under two years ago. I've heard ex-members call it a cult, but I've never really thought about it like that, I just knew a proper understanding of scripture was not high on the priority list there. Some good did come out of it though; I got to see Corinth up close. Actually, all joking aside, I do consider that which makes them unique to be false, and not to be taken lightly.

Willow the whip

I've heard that before about Billy Grahm, it still amazes me that he said that. The AOG that I spoke about to Henry had a member who was Mormon and he was voted on the board. :o


God bless
Job

 

[Henry]

Job

Baptist huh, the ministry in which I voluntee my time in is predomently baptist. They are very concerned with the accurecy of biblical doctrine, always questoining an refining what they believe, and super encourageing a REAL bible studies.

I may start going to an AOG, my wife likes it there, and the one that we know of are full of some great folks who have a fire for the Lord, plus they eat allot of pot luck dinners and I am sucker for food

However I do not know too much about there seriousness of bible study, I know that in some churches a bible study is nothing more then an indoctrinatoin and often even less then that, I like to get into the nitty gritty of it.

Hey, that Corinth joke was not nice

What is this about the mormon, was he a convert from the mormon church or still a practicing mormon? If still practicing why would he even want to be in a church that he would have to think is the church of satan as a mormon.

Anyways, thanks for anwering m y question.

As for me I would likely lean toward a reformed theology congregation, with calvinistic veiws, though not the fatalistic that ideals that are so often presented, or better said mis presented.

 

[Shana]

"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (II Corinthians 6:17-1.



The doctrine of separation is one of the most important teachings in the Bible. Christian separation means that you come out of the world and trust Christ. Separation is well described in the nineteenth chapter of Genesis. God told Lot to separate himself from the people in the city. God said,

"Up, get you out of this place: for the Lord will destroy this city" (Genesis 19:14).

Lot reluctantly obeyed God, and left Sodom. But Lot's wife did not want to separate herself from her lost friends. As Lot was leaving, his wife turned around to go back with her lost friends. And the Bible says,

"His wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt" (Genesis 19:26).

this is refaring to sodom or people who commit sutch things like e.g. Idolitry and sodomy ect in this day and age were to have nothing to do with sutch poeple that commit sutch in the name of Jesus Christ .

I believe that we don't have to participate in what we may believe to be the false beliefs and teachings of others but we can still treat them with love and gentleness. If all of the Christians separated themselves physically from who they might consider to be sinners, how would we be able to reach out to them with the gospel and love? Separate, yes, as far as not being participants in what they are doing, but that doesn't mean that we see ourselves as better than they are and that they are the "untouchables. "But for the grace of God, we could be in the same situation. We have to find the balance between not sharing in what we believe to be wrong with still maintaining and showing love for all. If we don't we will end up with the wrong attitude. All should be done out of love. We are to be lights in the world and we are to display love for all men, wanting the best for all men, even those whom we may consider to be false teachers.


"Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness to all men. For we ourselves also were somtimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. " Titus 3.

 

[Heidi]

A cult is anything that is worshipped in place of Christ. Any time a church doctrine is worshipped as a divine authority in place of Christ's words, it is a cult. Virtually all churches have some false doctrines. My church is Jesus. I visit many different churches to take communion and have fellowship with other believers. I do not subscribe to any particular doctrine except Christ's words.

 

[willow the wip]

What is a Cult?

Cult is a loaded word and is sometimes used by people to describe something they simply don't like. In his book A History of Heresy (another loaded word) David Christie-Murray wrote:

Heresy, a cynic might say, is the opinion held by a minority of men which the majority declares unacceptable and is strong enough to punish.

One dictionary definition of cult is "great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing". While to some cult is a derogatory term, given this definition, it needn't be seen as such. Some adherents to the Catholic faith are not uncomfortable about referring to the cult of Mary. Indeed devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ may, in this manner, be seen as cult like. What are we to think, however, when this devotion is directed to another human being, or to someone other than the true and living God? Protestants would put devotion to Mary into this category and thus define cult again in a derogatory fashion. What of the Mormon devotion to Joseph Smith? Or the devotion of Moonies to Sun Myung Moon? What about the devotion of the followers of Rajneesh? Then, of course, there are those who give their devotion to organisations, such as the devotion of Jehovah's Witnesses to the Watchtower Society. Can such devotion, and even worship, be compatible with devotion to the God of the Bible? These questions bring us to the definition of cult most relevant to the work of Reachout Trust.

"A religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious"

Another word we often use to clarify what we mean when we use the word "cult" is "counterfeit". This squares very well with the dictionary definition of "unorthodox or spurious". A counterfeit can be said to be something that is made to look like genuine currency, with the full market value of genuine currency, but that is baseless in that it does not have the "spending power" it appears to have. In examining in the light of the evangelical Christian gospel the beliefs and spirituality of people within the cults, occult and new age and all not upholding biblical truth, we are working to sort out the genuine from the counterfeit. In training and equipping Christians to explain and share the evangelical Christian gospel in a relevant way, we are helping spread the evangelical Christian message amongst those people who are victims of the counterfeiters so that they can enjoy the genuine wealth of God's kingdom.

 

[willow the wip]

Why do You Have to Tear Down Other Faiths?

There are some misconceptions about the work we do. Reachout Trust might be commonly known as an "anti-cult group" but this is something of a misnomer. The term is very negative and makes us sound as though we are thoroughly against something or another but not for anything in particular. It is a common mistake that suggests that cults are our whole motivation and reason for being. It is telling that to people in the cults others are viewed according to their attitude to the particular cult or group whereas to a Christian people are viewed according to their attitude to Jesus. There is in fact no such thing as an anti-Mormon or an anti-JW, and certainly not in Reachout. The way these terms are used by our critics is quite derogatory and negative and does not reflect the very positive nature of the work in which we are engaged.

We are described first and foremost as An International Christian Ministry. We are evangelical Christians then and not anti-cultists and, like all Christians we have a very positive message. The description goes on that upholds biblical truth. This is very important because our role is to stand in defence of our faith rather than simply in contention with the faith of others. The case of Mormonism illustrates this point very well. The primary and most important claim that Joseph Smith ever made in this respect is that "all churches are corrupt and an abomination" in the sight of God. Systematically the LDS Church has attacked Christianity from that time.

LDS Apostle Orson Pratt declared:

…all other churches are entirely destitute of all authority from God…Both the Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the 'whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickednesses. (The Seer, pg.255)

Today that same message is brought to the doors of millions of people by more than sixty thousand LDS missionaries, who clearly teach that Joseph restored the gospel which was lost after the apostles were killed. Since which time, it is claimed, "the Christians" have twisted, corrupted, added to and taken from the word of God. It is a message in which the Book of Mormon is presented as the book of the restoration,

the most correct book of any book on earth - Joseph Smith, History of the Church.

But a message in which the Bible is presented as the book of the apostasy, into which many errors have crept and whose dependability is confined to those parts that agree with the "restored gospel" of Mormonism.

In the face of this blatant attack on "the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 3) we stand as watchmen on the towers, sounding a clear warning (Ezekiel 33: 7-9), "upholding biblical truth", and snatching from error those confused by deception (Jude: 22-23). This is a positive activity and one for which we do not apologise.

Finally we describe our work as one of building bridges to those in the cults. We appreciate that people are more apt to build walls and so we teach and practice bridge building. Of course anything approaching the challenging of other faiths in the course of our work leaves us open to the accusation of being destructive rather than constructive. A word that is bandied about a great deal in this respect is "polemical". So-called anti-cult writings are labelled polemical with the clear intention of representing them as altogether negative, ill meant, and mischievous. The noun polemic is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and in Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary, as the art or practice of disputation. The New Fowler's Modern English Usage defines a controversial discussion, argument, or controversy, esp. over a doctrine, policy, etc.

Following the injunction of scripture the Apostle Paul reasoned in the synagogues, earnestly attempting to convince people of the truthfulness of his message, "contending for the faith". Those who heard did not always receive him well either, accusing him of being a troublemaker (Acts 17:1-10). It has ever been so because bridge building is not conceding the other person's viewpoint, and contending for the faith involves contention. That's why it is called contending for the faith.

Reachout Trust was founded, and is run by, evangelical Christians whose devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ and his gospel has led them to this work. We take seriously the injunction of Scripture to Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matt.28:19). In Christian love we reach out to those whose walk of faith, we believe, is leading them away from the true and living God who, through Christians everywhere, is calling them to follow Him as their Creator and Saviour.

 

[willow the wip]

What is the History of This Type of Ministry?

From the beginning the church has had to combat error. Paul combated the cult of Gnosticism in his day (Colossians 2: 8,18,19) as did the apostle John (1 John). Church leaders frequently fought against the doctrines of salvation by works and by faith in religious systems and secret initiation. In the first few centuries of church history the work of firming up and of clearly defining the faith once delivered happened largely in response to the threat of error both from outside and inside the church. Classic examples include:

EBIONISM - A second century form of Unitarianism, that denied the deity of Christ, taught law keeping, and often practised circumcision. This was a Judaistic heresy that sought to go back to the law and preserve monotheism by denying the trinity. Men and women are naturally drawn to a religious system that promises salvation by good works. A mixture of grace and works is a primary characteristic of the cults.

MONTANISM - A charismatic heresy that, like the Mormons, taught continuing revelation which carried equal weight with scripture, practised a form of blood atonement which assigned sin-atoning power to martyrdom, and encouraged a spiritual elitism, claiming to be a new breed of super-Christians (the only true church).

ARIANISM - a Fourth century heresy that, like Jehovah's Witnesses, taught that Jesus was a created being, different in essence from the Father, and therefore not God.

We are living in a post-christian era in which the seeker is faced with a smorgasbord of new ideas and spiritual concepts. It is also an era in which people are not so confident in the answers offered by science. People are spiritually thirsty and willing to consider any remedy that is different from the same old formula. Our society is much like the one into which the early church was born. It is international, pluralistic, where all sorts of alternative spiritual realities are made available to the seeker.

With the advent of the New Age movement and the rise of home-made religion, spiritual deception is no longer something that happens to someone else somewhere else. Our neighbours, our friends and work colleagues are looking to luck, fortune tellers, Mystic Meg, crystals, tarots, totems, the god within, the new age to come. Many are, like most Christians, regretting the growth of liberalism and the onslaught of uncertainty, the overwhelming cynicism and growing despair that this world offers. They are looking for certainty and assurance, hope and comfort and they are finding them in the dogmatism of a conservative Mormonism, or in the doom laden message of Jehovah's Witnesses that confirms their fears and offers escape. It is the role of the Christian church to be a light bearer in the darkness and confusion. It is the calling of the Christian to "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints."

Church history is replete with stories of those who contended for the faith. Our spiritual forebears fought hard for eternal truths cherished by today's believers. Tomorrows believers will inherit what we contend for today.

 

[Dave...]

Henry

I think the Mormon thought he was both Mormon and Christian. In this day and age tolerance and ecumenism seems to be the direction of the church.

Willow the whip

You said

Church history is replete with stories of those who contended for the faith. Our spiritual forebears fought hard for eternal truths cherished by today's believers. Tomorrows believers will inherit what we contend for today.

Amen. Here is one of those people. Spurgeon set a great example. If you can find the time, this is an excellent read. This also applies to what we are talking about on this thread. (Quote from this link below.)

"Spurgeon and the down grade controversy"

http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/downgrade.htm

Shana

You bring up a good point; one that I believe needed to be mentioned. I agree with you 100%.



"It now becomes a serious question how far those who abide by the faith once delivered to the saints should fraternize with those who have turned aside to another gospel. Christian love has its claims, and divisions are to be shunned as grievous evils; but how far are we justified in being in confederacy with those who are departing from the truth? It is a difficult question to answer so as to keep the balance of the duties. For the present it behooves believers to be cautious, lest they lend their support and countenance to the betrayers of the Lord. It is one thing to overleap all boundaries of denominational restriction for the truth's sake: this we hope all godly men will do more and more. It is quite another policy which would urge us to subordinate the maintenance of truth to denominational prosperity and unity. Numbers of easy-minded people wink at error so long as it is committed by a clever man and a good- natured brother, who has so many fine points about him. Let each believer judge for himself; but, for our part, we have put on a few fresh bolts to our door, and we have given orders to keep the chain up; for, under color of begging the friendship of the servant, there are those about who aim at robbing the Master.

Spurgeon was now suggesting that true believers might have reason to sever their organizational ties with those who were promulgating the new theology. In his estimation the truth of the Word had been so seriously compromised that true Christians needed to consider the command of 2 Corinthians 6:17: "'Come out from their midst and be separate,' says the Lord. 'And do not touch what is unclean.'" This was not a call for a new denomination. Spurgeon clearly distrusted earthly organizations:

We fear it is hopeless ever to form a society which can keep out men base enough to profess one thing and believe another; but it might be possible to make an informal alliance among all who hold the Christianity of their fathers. Little as they might be able to do, they could at least protest, and as far as possible free themselves of that complicity which will be involved in a conspiracy of silence. If for a while the evangelicals are doomed to go down, let them die fighting, and in the full assurance that their gospel will have a resurrection when the inventions of "modern thought "shall be burned up with fire unquenchable.

The article rocked the evangelical world. Spurgeon, who for decades had been almost universally revered by evangelicals, was suddenly besieged with critics from within the camp. What he was proposing was diametrically opposed to the consensus of evangelical thought. All the trends were toward unification, harmony, amalgamation, and brotherhood. Suddenly here was a lone voice but the most influential voice of all urging true believers to become separatists. The church was neither prepared nor willing to receive such counsel not even from the Prince of Preachers.

Down Grade IV

Despite pleas from some of the brethren that he soften his rhetoric or tone down his complaints, Spurgeon ratcheted up the intensity in a September Sword and Trowel article. Reader response to the earlier articles vindicated his position, Spurgeon believed. Letters had been pouring in to corroborate his worst allegations. In fact, he was now wondering if his alarm had been too little, too late:

According to the best of our ability we sounded an alarm in Zion concerning the growing evils of the times, and we have received abundant proof that it was none too soon. Letters from all quarters declare that the case of the church at this present is even worse than we thought it to be. It seems that, instead of being guilty of exaggeration, we should have been justified in the production of a far more terrible picture. This fact causes us real sorrow. Had we been convicted of misstatement we would have recanted with sincerely penitent confessions, and we should have been glad to have had our fears removed. It is no joy to us to bring accusations; it is no pleasure to our heart to seem to be in antagonism with so many."


God bless
Job

 

[Henry]

Job

To be sure mormons do think of themsleves as christians, more so they think they are the true christians, becuase the mormon church has revived the lost gospel as they claim. But that goes for all the cults, the oneness say the very same thing, that the trinitarians twisted the faith and they have brought it back to what the apostles taught.

You will find that every cult in one way or another, will make the claim that they have the faith of the apostles, the Jahovas Witnesses, the Mormons, the oneness church, they univeralist, the new agers, and so on all make that same claim.

Which is why it is so very important that we lean on the full teaching of the word of God, just as it is written and not on our ideas, or so called logical conclusions. Mans logic is right out of hell, so says the word.

Anways, as the end of this age comes closer and Jesus is nearer his return, there will be more and more false teachings, that will sound great, even making the truth seem wicked by mans standards, we have to stay grounded in Gods word, not willing to compromise the truth for mans sakes, and be bold even in the face of tribulatoin and ridicule by the people who teach these hell driven lies.

PS one way to know a false teaching is when the gospel and salvatoin are ever Jesus plus something. We are not particiapnts in our salvatoin we are granted the gift.

 

[Coming out of the dark]

hi I am new to the board but I felt compelled to comment.

My comment is directed at Justjake:

I used to attend that church you just mentioned in your earlier post and by your criteria and for that matter, all the criteria mentioned on this board,that church is a christian cult. I just wanted to warn you that your friends are deeply involved <because that is the only kind of involvement that there is in that church> in a christian cult. I got out by the hair of my chinny chin chin

One other thing that I do want to say is that it is an AOG church but I do not think that is a reflection of the AOG. Frankly I think it only reflects on those who are in leadership in THAT church. I know many people who are involved in AOG churches and they are very normal mainstream churches that follow normal church guidelines in doctrine and operation. They do not try to control their members marriages, child rearing, finances, etc. You see in My humble opinion, the most dangerous thing about these types of groups is that they remove normal peoples ability <and need> to think for themselves and they spoonfeed them their morality and their spirituality which is not how God intended it.

THank you for reading. I hope that I have added and not taken away from the discussion.

Coming out of the dark!! :B-fly:

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Coming out of the dark,

I appreciate your honesty. I have been bombarded with the name " cult"and heretic" since I came on this forum in June. I attend the UPC.
I agree that there are some churches in a particular group that are doing wrong, but you cannot lump the whole organization together because of a few churches that have done wrong. It's not fair to those who are sincere and are doing the will of God.
You are right concerning the leadership. If they are not doing Gods will , but their own, then what purpose is it for them being in leadership. None whatsoever. They are only hurting innocent folks and will answer for it at the judgement.
It's good that you got out of a bad church. I would too if I found out soon enough.

God bless

 

[Henry]

Coming out of the dark

You pretty much talked about the christian cults who are OK with the doctines, but have leaderships and controll issues.

All christian cult are not so merely on doctrine, sadly there are those who are sound in doctrine but have other issuse that would make them cultic in there activity.

Glad to know that you got out, I was also in a cult one that was both doctrinaly a cult and also a controll group, but getting out was very nice and I have learned more about God words since likely becuase of them.

Funny how God works those things out.

Henry

OH Rose, you have not been called these things, dear. The modalist teaching are a heresy and that is just a fact, and any christian cult book will have the UPC listed, you personally are not being called these things, you just so happen to belong to a group who is.

Go to any non demominational christian book store, take a look at the books on cults, and see for yourself the UPC is listed right along with the mormons and the like, I know you do not like this and take it very personally, but a fact is a fact.

 

[BB1956]

CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS & RESEARCH MINISTRY http://www.carm.org
HOME PAGE


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What makes a church or group non-Christian?

There are many non-Christian religions and cults in America: Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Unity, The Way International, Unitarianism, Islam, Hinduism, etc. They all claim special revelation and privilege and those that use the Bible invariably interpret it in disharmony with standard biblical understanding And, groups like the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses object to the label "cult" because it often gets an emotional reaction as well as is a label they want to avoid.
The dictionary defines cult as "a system of religious worship or ritual"; "devoted attachment to, or extravagant admiration for, a person, principle, etc.", "a group of followers." This is a typical secular definition and by it, any believer in any god is a cultist, even atheists since they have an admiration for a principle and are a group of followers of the philosophy of atheism.
The definition I use for "non-Christian cult" or "non-Christian religion" is a group that may or may not include the Bible in its set of authoritative scriptures. If it does include the Bible, it distorts the true biblical doctrines that effect salvation sufficiently so as to void salvation.1 If it doesn't use the Bible, it is a non-Christian religion and does not participate in the benefit of divine revelation.
In Christian bookstores, there are almost always 'cult' sections which include the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. So, I am not alone in describing what a non-Christian, bible based cult is. Nevertheless, what makes something non-Christian is when it denies the essential doctrines of the Bible.

The Deity of Christ, which involves The Trinity
the Resurrection, and
Salvation by Grace
All of them add to the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Some cult groups even add to the Bible, i.e., Mormonism which has the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price. Also Christian Science has added Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. The Jehovah's Witnesses, however, have actually changed the text of the Bible to make it fit what they want it to. For information on this see Jehovah's Witnesses and how they have changed the Bible.
Cults add their own efforts, their own works of righteousness to the finished work of salvation accomplished by Jesus on the cross. All Cults say that Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient, but our works must be 'mixed with' or 'added to' His in order to prove that we are saved and worthy of salvation. They say one thing but believe another. They maintain that they must prove themselves worthy and that they must try their best to please God and prove to Him that they are sincere, have worked hard, and are then worthy to be with Him. In other words, they do their best and God takes care of the rest.
This is absolutely wrong. The Bible says that we are saved by grace not by works "For by grace you have been saved through faith...not as a result of works, that no one should boast, (Eph. 2:8-9, NASB); not by anything we do "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law" (Rom. 3:28, NASB). Because if there was anything that we could do to merit the forgiveness of our sins, then Jesus died needlessly "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified...I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly (Gal. 2:16, 21, NASB).
People in cults will often cite James 2:26 where it says that faith without works is dead in an attempt to demonstrate that works are part of becoming saved. While it is true that faith without works is dead, it isn't the works that save us. James is saying that if you have real and true faith, it will result in real and true works of Christianity. In other words, you do good works because you are saved, not to get saved. He isn't saying that our works are what saves us, or that they, in combination with the finished work of Christ, save us. James is simply telling us that if we say we have faith (James 2:14) but we have no works in correspondence to that faith, then that faith won't save us because it is a dead faith. This agrees with Paul who tells us that faith is what saves us, "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). This faith is real faith, or true saving faith, not just an empty mental acknowledgement of God's existence which is what those who "say" they have faith but show no corresponding godliness are guilty of. Incidentally, you should realize that faith is only as good as who you put it in. Just having faith in something doesn't mean you're saved. That is why it is important to have the True Jesus, because if you have great faith but it is in the wrong Jesus, then your faith is useless.
In Mormonism Jesus is the brother of the devil begotten through sexual intercourse from a God who came from another planet. In Jehovah's Witnesses he is Michael the Archangel who became a man. In the New Age Movement he is a man in tune with the divine consciousness. Which is true? The only true Jesus is the one of the Bible, the one who is prayed to (1 Cor. 1:1-2 with Psalm 116:1; Acts 7:55-60); worshipped (Matt. 2:2, 11, 14:33, John 9:35-38, Heb. 1:8), and called God (John 20:28; Col. 2:9). The Jesus of the Cults is not prayed to, worshipped, or called God. And since the Jesus of the Bible is the only one who reveals the Father (Luke 10:22) so that you may have eternal life (John 17:3), you must have the true Jesus who alone is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
Another common denominator among the Cults is their methods for twisting scripture. Some of the errors they commit in interpreting Scripture are: 1) taking Scripture out of context; 2) reading into the Scriptures information that is not there; 3) picking and choosing only the Scriptures that suit their needs; 4) ignoring other explanations; 5) combining scriptures that don't have anything to do with each other; 5) quoting a verse without giving its location; 6) incorrect definitions of key words; and 7) mistranslations. These are only a few of the many ways Cults misuse Scripture.
If you want to be able to witness well to a person in a cult, you need to understand their doctrines as well as your own. It would be a good idea to study both Christian Doctrine: the Bible, God, Creation, Man... and Christian Doctrine: Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Salvation... as well as the The Three Essential Doctrines of Christianity to become better equipped. Through study you will be able to answer questions that often come up in witnessing encounters. A Christian should know his doctrine well enough to be able to recognize not only what is true, but also what is false in a religious system (1 Pet. 3:15; 2 Tim. 2:15).
Jesus warned us that in the last days false Christs and false prophets would arise and deceive many (Matt. 24:24). The Lord knew that there would be a rise of the spirit of Antichrist (1 John 4:1-3) in the last days. Its manifestation is here in the forms of Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the New Age Movement, among others.

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1. This definition of "cult" is not sufficient to cover all that needs to be discussed in cult theologies and practices nor is it broad enough to address the topic of world religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam which are do not fall under the definition I've employed.
The term cult can range from any group of worshippers of any God who pay no attention to the Bible, to a small, highly paranoid, apocalyptic people who gather around a charismatic leader that uses the Bible to control them. Nevertheless, I've chosen a definition. I'll probably modify it as I learn more.


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The problem with imperfect human beings and they judging who is a Christian or what is a true christian organization is just their opinion, they will always be imperfect human beings in this wicked world we're living in. Just because a human being says another human being isn't a Christian or doesn't belong to a true Christian organization doesn't necessarily mean what that person says or judges is true.
We have to remember that the Jewish leaders during Jesus and his apostles time didn't consider Jesus and his apostles and disciples true servants of the true God. Saul of Tarsus before he became the apostle Paul helped imprison Christians and approved the stoning of some Christians. He honestly thought he was doing God a sacred service when he did such thing to Christians before he became a Christian.

 

[JasonLickliter]

I thought a cult was a religious organization that the leader was a human that teaches they are the divine figure.

I dont care what people choose to follow. If you approach me and want to talk about what you follow and its different view or religion that I believe in, thats fine. But if you do that, Im going to want a chance to tell you my view and about what I follow. I dont like it when the conversation is controlled and one sided and someone dosnt even care for what I have to say. Dont even want to hear what I have to say. At that point I always suggest we talk about something else like weather, football, your job or something.

So I had people from the church of jesus christ of latter day saints speak with me before and have attend 2 churches there. Very nice people and very giving.

There ideas didnt line up with mine. So I moved on. I believe in not listening to what others say. Just go and check it out yourself. Make a decision if you think its good for you or not.