People say terrorism has no religion. It definitely does. In the name of many kinds of man-made "religion" there have been horrible acts of terrorism and persecution throughout the ages against people. Today people are still facing the devastation in soul and body due to man driven religion. Sadly, the world will continue on this course trying to solve the problem through "unity" in religion. They will do this by creating a "One World Religion of Unity," but this will only serve to hold people in the chains of their sin which will ultimately force them to worship the Father of Lies. It will be the greatest form of deceptive terrorism that has ever occurred on this earth. We are not far from this as revealed in Revelation 13. Faithfully, God is warning people about it ahead of time so they can see the difference between religion and Christianity. In contrast, true Christianity is not a religion because it's not man-made. It actually is a WAY that was coined "Christian" due to the name of Jesus Christ who exemplified how to receive Salvation or Eternal Life. Today this WAY of Jesus is both followed and persecuted today (Acts 9:2; 16:1; 18:6,9,25; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22; 2 Peter 2:2) Yes, Christ is a man, but He is more then a man. He is God in a man's body! That distinction makes all the difference, and if God says something it makes sense to exclude every other voice and take what he says seriously? Unfortunately, over the ages true Christianity or the Way has been fragmented by man, and has become in many ways 'man driven." As a result, people are disconnected from Jesus, and people have become bored with, unfulfilled by and misinformed about Jesus, and what he intends for people. But this should not cause people to rule out that there still is the true Way of Christ today which is alive and powerful! We do not enter into this true way of faith and experience the power of it because we have a problem. Our problem is that we are looking at man (ourselves) for answers, and not God through Jesus. In John 14:9 Jesus said, " If you have seen me you have seen God." When we look at man we allow the world to define good things as evil, and evil things as good. And if we are not diligent we can start believing those lies and deceptions. With alarm, we live in this day, and sadly it is deceiving people causing much confusion!!! The Way of Jesus is far above human strength and reason. It's not confusing. The Way of God actually destroys chaos and brings peace! Honestly, if you were to die tonight are you at peace with God according to his terms? It's a True Relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit and based in God's love that makes a person a follower of His Way. We know people by what they do, not just by what they say. If you say you are a Christian, and do not repent of your sin, diligently turn away from sin throughout your life or if you continue in sin you are not a Follower of the Way. Doing things that are not of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is sin. Murdering, Lying, stealing, coveting, sex outside of a marriage between a man and woman, worshipping anything else but God, dis honoring your parents, not resting in God are examples of sin. Words are important, but actions are what reveal the truth. True Christianity, therefore, ought to be seen as distinct from all religions, because it's the only Way of living that depends on the work of God (Jesus Christ) for salvation rather then the works of man. The works of man and words of man don't get us any where. On the contrary, the works of Jesus Christ that occurred during his life are described with inspired words in the Bible, and God's Word and actions are enough to believe in and emulate. God will judge us according to our works or if we placed our faith in Christ's works, and only the way Jesus lived will be approved by God.
“So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world— to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.” John 18:33-38 ESV
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””
John 13:35 ESV
“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!””
John 14:6-7 NLT
“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies.”
Hebrews 10:24-27 NLT.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:15-23 ESV
“Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns. And written on each head were names that blasphemed God. This beast looked like a leopard, but it had the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion! And the dragon gave the beast his own power and throne and great authority. I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery—but the fatal wound was healed! The whole world marveled at this miracle and gave allegiance to the beast. They worshiped the dragon for giving the beast such power, and they also worshiped the beast. “Who is as great as the beast?” they exclaimed. “Who is able to fight against him?” Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty-two months. And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his dwelling—that is, those who dwell in heaven. And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword. This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful. Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke with the voice of a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. He did astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was watching. And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die. He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name. Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.”
Revelation 13:1-18 NLT
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