How can a person determine a true church from a false or a cult?

Question

church of God, vs. Jehovah Witnesses. vs.others

Answer 1

Excellent question! Rather than look to human ideas, it makes sense to examine the Scriptures to answer this question.

The bible most closely associates being "Christian" with preaching about Christ and Christ's teachings. Review all three times the bible uses the term "Christian" and note that the context connects the term with:
"declaring the good news"
'teaching quite a crowd'
'open eyes, turn from dark to light'
"uttering sayings of truth"
"persuade"
"keep on glorifying"

(Acts 11:20-26) [The early disciples of Jesus] began talking to the Greek-speaking people, declaring the good news of the Lord Jesus... and taught quite a crowd, and it was first in Antioch that the disciples were by divine providence called Christians.

(Acts 26:17-28) [Jesus said to Paul] I am sending you, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God... Paul said: “I am not going mad, Your Excellency Festus, but I am uttering sayings of truth and of soundness of mind. ...Do you, King Agrippa, believe the Prophets? I know you believe.” But Agrippa said to Paul: “In a short time you would persuade me to become a Christian.”

(1 Peter 4:14-16) If you are being reproached for the name of Christ, you are happy... But if he suffers as a Christian, let him not feel shame, but let him keep on glorifying God in this name


Sadly, false Christians try to hijack the term "Christian" and hide its Scriptural implications. This is because Trinitarians and anti-Witnesses recognize that it is the preaching work that makes it clear that the relatively small religion of Jehovah's Witnesses are by far the most prominent followers of Christ:

(Matthew 28:19,20) Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded


Interestingly, despite the lying slander of their accusers, Jehovah's Witnesses teach that no salvation occurs without Christ, that accepting Christ's sacrifice is a requirement for true worship, that every prayer must acknowledge Christ, that Christ is the King of God's Kingdom, that Christ is the head of the Christian congregation, that Christ is immortal and above every creature, even that Christ was the 'master worker' in creating the universe! Jehovah's Witnesses are the true Christian religion.

Learn more!
http://watchtower.org
http://watchtower.org/library/ti/index.htm

Answer 2

Jehovah's Witnesses:

According some of the comments:

1 "Adds or takes way from God's Word."

NWT is the one of the most accurate translation available today.

New Testament:

While critical of some of its translation choices, BeDuhn called the New World Translation a “remarkably good” translation, “better by far” and “consistently better” than some of the others considered. Overall, concluded BeDuhn, the New World Translation “is one of the most accurate English translations of the New Testament currently available” and “the most accurate of the translations compared.”—Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament.

“Here at last is a comprehensive comparison of nine major translations of the Bible:

King James Version,
New American Standard Bible,
New International Version,
New Revised Standard Version,
New American Bible,
Amplified Bible,
Today's English Version (Good News Bible),
Living Bible,
and the New World Translation.

Passages looked at include:
John 1:1; John 8:58; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-20; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8; 2 Peter 1:1

Jason BeDuhn
Associate Professor of Religious Studies, and Chair
Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion
Northern Arizona University

2 "Must accept Jesus as the Son of God"

Since Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in the trinity, we are one of the few that actually believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

3. "Accept the free gift of salvation, or do certain works or rituals"

Jehovah's Witnesses are known for rejecting rituals.

Our publications testify to the fact we do not believe in earning salvation.

On the other hand Paul also said that faith without love is valueless.

James said faith without actions is dead.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe in walking the talk as to doing God's will.

4. "charismatic figure who is seen as a special authority by the followers"

Jehovah's Witnesses, follow God's word and Jesus is our King / Ruler.

Yes it's true, we won't do anything if it's not found in the bible. Yes I guess we are guilty cause we follow Christ.

5. "government seen as enemy, civil laws ignored."

The apostles were told by the civil authorities to stop preaching in the name of Jesus.

Paul was arrested and tried by Rome (also see Eph 6:12)

Jesus was tried and executed by civil authorities.

http://www.watchtower.org/

Answer 3

The answer is easier than you might think:

There are a few major factors to consider.

Do it's members truly love one another? (John 13:35 - "By this all will know you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves)

Is it truly separate from the world? John 15:19 - Jesus said that his followers would be no part of the world (This is probably one of the hardest aspects)

Is the religion actively telling others about God and his purposes? Matthew 24:14 says that the true religion would have people preaching about it throughout all of the earth.

Any religion that does not advocate all of the above can be ruled out as the true religion.

Answer 4

There is only one true Church, and that is the one founded personally by Jesus Christ upon the apostles. All others are manmade counterfeits preaching partial Christianity, as we were warned by Paul (2 Tim 4:3-4).

It isn't difficult to identify the Church founded by Christ. All you have to do is look back into history for a Church that was present in every century back to the First Century. If there was no Baptist Church in the 7th century, then Baptists cannot be the Church founded by Christ. If there were no 7th Day Adventists in the 5th Century, then they cannot be the true Church. If there were no Methodists in the 3rd Century, then that isn't it either. Make a list of every Church for which you can find specific documents and records dating back at least to the end of the 1st Century, and you'll have your answer. It will be a short list.

It would also have to be a Church which has not disintegrated into thousands of conflicting denominational fragments, for Christ said that the members of His Church would be ONE, even as He and His Father are ONE. That means unity of belief and unity of worship throughout the centuries and throughout the world.

Answer 5

Cult has many meanings, some of them referring to something negative, and some are neutral. But in the sense you are using it, it's negative. So, in this sense, a cult is usually led by a charismatic figure who is seen as a special authority by the followers. He or she may claim their authority is from God. Cults are usually exclusive, that is, they see themselves as special insiders, chosen ones, over and against all the rest of the world, who are the lost, or even the enemy. The leader structures the lives of the followers, and does not allow them to think for themselves. Usually very radical ideas are preached. Sometimes the government is seen as an enemy, and civil laws are ignored. Very often, followers of the cult are not allowed to have contact with their families or the outside world. They are made to feel totally dependent on the leader.

Some churches can be false without being a cult, in the sense I have described.

That is up to you to decide the truth from the falsehood. What is your standard of "truth"? If your standard is the Bible, then you need to become very familiar with the Bible, in order to see if a particular church is aligning itself with the Biblical teachings.

Answer 6

A false church or cult will add to or take away from the word of God. For instance have their own bible or book to go with the bible. They will not acknowledge Jesus Christ as the son of God and the only way to heaven. Some will say you have to do more than accept the free gift of salvation, such as do certain works or rituals.

Answer 7

there is honestly no connection between faith and morality. people being moral is merely an version to persevering with our species. If we were continuously murdering anybody and stealing, we may die out very rapidly. truly, those who're non secular have a tendency to be far better immoral than those who're no longer. a a lot larger share of theists live in prisons than do atheists. international places like Sweden, the Czech Republic, France, and the Netherlands, which all have very extreme atheist populations, have different lowest crime charges contained in the global. As for present day international locations basing their regulations on the ten Commandments, it truly is totally incorrect. america changed into shaped below a mundane authorities, attempting to eliminate all connection between the church and state. in case you truly word the ten Commandments, it isn't very supportive of democracy, the freedom of speech, or the freedom of religion. absolutely everyone who works on Saturday, tests out yet another guy's spouse, worships something except Yahweh, or says "Oh my God" is to be positioned to demise. different present day ecu international places are ruled by the same idea. As for determining authentic from incorrect, the Bible or Yahweh do not look like large courses. God is shown as being very jealous, controlling, overly in contact with human beings's own lives, illiberal of any selection non secular beliefs, horrifically violent, supportive of slavery, the thrashing of slaves, the rape of lady slaves, genocide, and capital punishment contained in the bright. i wish this thoroughly solutions your question.

Answer 8

Accorcding to Merriam-Websters even the baptists are a cult

Cult (Pronunciation: 'k<)
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: French & Latin; French culte, from Latin cultus care, adoration, from colere to cultivate -- more at WHEEL
1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents

Answer 9

first off if you have a true relationship with God he will lead you to the church that is serving Him and not themselves

Answer 10

"Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." -- Matthew 7:19-20

Are their actions-- not just what they claim to believe-- consistent with your beliefs?