There are many man-made religions and gods. But according to the Bible, there is only ONE true God,
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:"
(Deuteronomy 6:4)
and only ONE way to serve Him.
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
(John 4:24)
The true God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All the rest are
frauds!
"Understand that I AM HE: before me there
was no God formed, neither shall there be after me." (Isaiah 43:10)
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
There are not many paths to God. Just one—His name is Jesus.
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
(John 14:6)
A relationship with Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, cannot be compared to any religious imitations.
Jesus stands alone without equal.
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:"
(Philippians 2:9)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
What distinguishes "Christianity"
from religion?
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Jesus Christ rose from the dead and was seen by over 500 people.
None of the major religions of this world make the claim that their
leader did this. They all lay in the grave dried up carcasses.
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Jesus Christ offers forgiveness of sins.
Guaranteed, no doubt about it, you can be forgiven. Muslims can only
hope at best, hope that Allah will be merciful on them. They have no
assurance of anything. God; however, has PROMISED to save all
those who come to Him.
"All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37)
Every single person on
this earth has sinned—lying, stealing, fornication, etc. Therefore, we need to
be forgiven. If you tell a Muslim that you did something wrong and ask
him for a solution, he'll shrug his shoulders. A Hindu will tell you
maybe you can get it right in your next life (which is, incidentally,
considered a curse by those in the east). A psychiatrist will tell
you, "You need some counseling, step into my office. Oh, that'll be $200
per hour once a week." I knew a Buddhist woman who had been going to
her therapist for 20 years and was no closer to relief than the first
day she went! Ask Jesus for forgiveness and He will say, "I forgive you
and will give to you the water of life freely." And you will be forgiven!
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Jesus Christ offers His disciples a relationship with the God of the universe, unlike the religions of this world.
Religion requires certain rituals and rites in an attempt to please God, hoping that these vain oblations will work.
Most religious services are synonymous with a funeral. Buddhists chant to scrolls,
giving food and cigarettes to statues. These statues cannot speak or hear
(Buddhists even have to light the cigarette because their god can't do
it). Muslims have to obey strict dietary, cleansing and cultural
laws. Hindus worship any of a combination of millions of gods and goddesses
with rites (Shiva, for example, has six arms!). Catholics do penance and worship a host of saints as well as a goddess named Mary.
Some people
even claim to be their own god (which is ridiculous—they can't even
make one hair white or black as a result of their own will).
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To the Christian, Jesus Christ is Almighty God,
Savior and Creator. Jesus has provided the sacrifice necessary to pay for our transgressions.
The blood sacrifice of Christ pleased God because it made a way for every man, woman, boy and girl to know Him.
Even though they had previously been criminals, who transgressed His holy laws,
Jesus paid the price for those transgressions. Everyone that repents
of their unbelief, turns to God in faith and believes in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
becomes a child of God. (Jesus
+ Faith = Salvation)
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Jesus is with the Christian's morning, noon and night—guiding, directing, loving, perfecting.
Jesus does this through His Holy Spirit that dwells within us, and through
His Word. God's Word is pure and teaches us how to live. It
also shows us how to know the One True
God, not some imitation—
1) Recognize that He is Holy and without spot.
2) Recognize that we are sinful and full of spots.
3) Recognize that He loves us and sent
His Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins.
4) Believe upon God's only Begotten Son.
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Various religions have their "Holy Books" which are reported
"revelations" coming through various means (e.g. dreams); But the origin
of the Bible is quite different. It is rooted and grounded in history.
It came from the experience of a specific people (Jews), in identifiable places, at
particular times. The archaeological records have only confirmed that the places and names found in the Bible are
accurate—none have ever disproved it. The Bible is not a "Holy Book" in the sense of
esoteric philosophy like all other "religious" books. It is holy in the
sense that it is God's Word spoken through His people.
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The Bible does not
contain the characteristic untruths of other religious books. In Job, one of
the oldest books of the Bible (written in about 3500 B.C.), Job wrote,
"He [God] hangeth the earth upon nothing." Back then, people believed
the earth was on the back of turtles and elephants and all kinds of
strange things—you will find no such ridiculous statements in the Bible.
The only way Job could say that the earth was suspended in air is by the Holy Spirit of God revealing it to him.
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The Bible is not a scientific book, but when it speaks about
"scientific" matters, it is always correct. The Bible says that "the life of the flesh is
in the blood." This is one of the most medically accurate statements
that can be made. The blood carries all kinds of antibodies, nutrients,
etc. George Washington died because the doctors (I'm sure they were the best at the time), bled him to
death
thinking that bleeding would help his condition. They took a quart of blood at the
last bleeding. They drained his life out of him—"the life of the flesh is in the
blood." Science was wrong.
When a man severed his hand in 1988, doctors could not reattach
it immediately because of his internal injuries. So what did they do? They
attached his hand to blood vessels in his abdomen to keep it alive and
reattached it to the man's wrist two months later. The blood flow kept that hand alive—the life of the flesh
is in the blood. The Bible told us this important fact over 5,000 years ago and science has only recently
agreed. Does that mean that the Bible was wrong when scientists said
bleeding was the answer? No. Science simply had not caught up yet.
You
don't find truths like this in the various religious books but rather myth, superstition, and human wisdom.
How could the
psalmist write about the method of Christ's death a thousand years before Jesus
came down to this earth? Crucifixion wasn't even a method of death in Israel when Psalm 22 was written.
The Bible is an awesome book. If we can trust the Bible for these amazing
insights, can we afford to not believe it when it comes to life and
death and heaven and hell?
Concerning manuscript evidence for the Bible,
there is more evidence for the Bible than ANY other ancient
manuscript—including the ones we use to assemble our history books—
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- Aristotle - 5 copies available for comparison
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- Homer - 643 copies available for comparison
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- Plato - 7 copies available for comparison
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- The Bible - 30,000 copies available for comparison (includes
5000+ Greek copies and another 25,000 written in other languages). This wealth of evidence is
simply staggering.
Other interesting information—
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The Bible was the FIRST book ever printed by moveable type.
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The Bible is the best-selling Book of all time (press runs increase every
year).
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The Bible is the most circulated book in the world.
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The Bible is the most translated book in the world.
- The Bible is the most loved book in the world.
- The Bible is the most hated book in the world.
No book is like the Bible. Millions have suffered and died for it.
It has been burned. It has been spoken against; nevertheless, it still stands because Jesus said,
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall NEVER pass away."
(Matthew 24:35)
The caretakers of the Scriptures, the Jewish people (an ancient people), are still with us today and prophesies concerning these people are still being fulfilled.
God is not a human, He is a
Spirit. God does not accept our motives based on what we think to be
true. A person can live their life on this earth without the God of the
Bible while trying to live a good life; but this is not acceptable to
God. The Bible says that without Jesus, "...all our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags." (Isaiah 64:6). We cannot please God with our humanistic good works.
If you die trusting in those works, God
will reject you. Why?—Because you rejected His Son, His Beautiful love offering given for you.
For a Bible-believing Christian like myself, the most important part of
being a disciple of Jesus Christ is being saved from the wrath to come,
loving my Jesus with all my heart, receiving His love, and loving others as I love myself
which is a result of loving Jesus. Many people admire Christ's teachings of kindness, forgiveness, and tolerance.
These are good rules to live by. However, it is impossible to live up to these statutes without a relationship
with Jesus Christ. Reader, if you are unsaved, please ask God to reveal Himself to you. He can be known—
He is
not unknowable like the Hindu says,
He is not unreachable like the
Muslim says,
He is not a force (or non-existent)
like the Buddhist says,
You are not alone in this world like the atheist
says; and,
You certainly don't have to be unsure about His existence like
the agnostic says.
Come to Jesus Christ and you will never spiritually hunger, thirst or wonder again about Who God is.
One of my favorite passages of scripture is:
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my
yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
—Jesus the Christ, Matthew 11:28-30
One more time. There is one God; He is the true God. He is the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. There is none other. The Bible says so!
"I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."
~Isaiah 44:6
"Is there a God beside me? yea, there
is no God; I know not any."~Isaiah 44:8
"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded
thee, though thou hast not known me." ~Isaiah 45:5
"There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour;
there
is none beside me." ~Isaiah 45:21
"...there is none other God but one.
For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us
there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we
in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him."
~1st Corinthians 8:4-6
I have studied many
different religions in my lifetime. As a matter of fact, I've been doing
it for 20 years. I have yet to discover a religion that makes any more
sense than the plain truth of God's Holy Word—The Authorized King James
Bible. I do not endorse any religion; religion is the worst thing that
ever happened to this world! My goal is to lead others to the Lord Jesus
Christ, Who is our salvation.
There is a right answer to the comparative religion
question—His name is Jesus.
Remember Friend—Salvation is NOT found in a religion; but in a Person—THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST!
Ye Must
Be Born Again! |
