Discipleship Answers

When you understand the true purpose of the Commandments of God, then you quickly learn that God's Law is something that no true disciple can do without. To find out why, come grab a listen.

Which is the Most Important of the Cardinal Virtues and Why? Come Grab a listen.

Today's Christians have a definition of Grace that is vastly different from the Grace that Paul was teaching. According to the modern definition of grace, Christians today would consider Paul a legalist who was not walking in the grace of God. In our 7th episode of this series, come find out why.

How Can We Know for CERTAIN that Paul the Apostle was NOT Teaching AGAINST obeying the Old Testament of WRITTEN Scripture? The biblical evidence is OVERWHELMING if you look at it objectively. So far, in this series, we had 5 lessons including no less than 32 CLEAR Biblical examples where Paul simply COULD NOT have been teaching AGAINST obeying the Old Testament of written Scripture. He clearly taught AGAINST DISOBEYING Scripture so many times, that he simply could not have been teaching the disobedience to the Old Testament Commandments, that Christians now assume that Paul was allegedly teaching. We are now at the 6th the reason that we know that Paul could not of been teaching against obeying the Old Testament of written Scripture, and we include more examples, just as we have in every other episode. Please come join us and grabbed a listen.

Paul had a clear definition of Grace which many modern Christians ignore today. He clearly described what Grace was, and how grace functions, (Titus 2:11-15). What is even more significant is that Paul clearly instructs us that when we talk about Grace, THIS is the definition that Paul instructed us to use. Paul even went on further to say that when we exhort or rebuke people concerning Grace, we were to do it with all authority, using THIS definition of Grace. Moreover he instructs us that we are not to let anyone disregard us, when we talk about Grace this way. So, what do modern Christians do, they immediately disregard and completely contradict this passage when they talk about Grace. Come grab a listen as we attempt to reestablish the definition of Grace that Paul instructed us to use.

Many Christians today desperately want to believe that Paul taught that since we are saved by grace through faith in Messiah, that this also supposedly means that we should not obey God's Commandments any longer. The big problem with this idea is that both the Old Testament and the New Testament of Scripture openly calls the lifestyle of living outside of God's Laws and Commandments to be LAWLESSNESS or in Greek ANOMIA. The FACT is that Paul taught AGAINST Lawlessness more than any other writer of the New Testament Paul said that lawlessness was a characteristic of someone controlled by the sinful nature, and that we should not be lawless anymore after coming to Christ, (Romans 6:19). Paul said that not submitting to God's Law is carnal minded. It's hostile against God. It cannot please God. Such a mindset and lifestyle leads to death, (Romans 8:5-8). Paul said that lawlessness is a characteristic that defines the Antichrist, (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12). That's a serious problem for most Christians. They are not teaching the same grace that Paul preached.

We are continuing our series on how we can KNOW for CERTAIN that Paul was NOT teaching AGAINST obeying the Commandments of God in written Scripture. In lesson 3 of this series, we see that Paul overtly states that NOT SUBMITTING to God's Law is carnal minded. It is hostile against God. That lifestyle cannot please God, and that such a mindset leads to death, (Romans 8:5-8). Therefore, in light of Paul's OWN teachings, there is NO POSSIBLE WAY that Paul was teaching the lawless grace, that most Christians believe Paul was teaching. It's not even possible. Come grab a listen.

There are multiple reasons why we can KNOW for certain that Paul was NOT teaching AGAINST obeying the Commandments of God in written Scripture. We are out to establish the proof of this in multiple podcast episodes. Episode 1: Paul made 6 clear testimony statements that he believed EVERYTHING and that he was in accordance with everything written in the Law and in the Prophets In Episode 2, (this episode), we see that the apostle Paul fully UPHELD the ongoing authority, the validity, and the continuing usefulness of the so-called Old Testament Scriptures to contact. He even went so far as to tell his student and protégé Timothy to CONTINUE doing the Sacred Writings that he had learned since childhood... Come in and grab a listen.

Paul was NOT teaching 'Reject God's Law now because you are saved by Grace and not by works.' Paul was NOT teaching ‘Don't obey God's Law now because you are saved by Grace.' Paul was NOT teaching, '· Disobey God on purpose. Do the OPPOSITE of What God's Commandments and Instructions, tells people to do, because disobeying what God said to do proves that you are walking in God's Grace through Christ. Disobeying God on purpose shows that you are trusting Christ, and not trusting in your own obedience to save you.' How do we KNOW that this was NOT what Paul was trying to Teach? Because Paul openly testified in SIX different statements that he was NOT teaching against God's Law in written Scripture, like people think he was. Acts 24:14-16 Acts 25:7-10 Acts 28:17-11 Paul clearly said that he served the God of Isaac Abraham and Jacob. Paul clearly said that he believed EVERYTHING, and that he was in ACCORDANCE with the Law and the Prophets. Paul said that he always did his best to maintain a clear conscience before God and before man. Paul said that he had committed no offense against the Law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Cesar. Paul said that he had done no wrong to the Jews. Paul said that he had done nothing against the customs of the Jewish fathers So do you believe that Paul was telling the truth about what SAID he believed, how he lived, what he taught, and what he practiced? Or, was Paul LYING teaching the opposite of what he claimed to be teaching? Christians, you CANNOT have it BOTH ways.

The short answer is it depends. What are you a fan of? Why do you enjoy this person or thing? Does this person promote things that God considers to be good, or do they promote wickedness? Does your fanhood cause you to violate Biblical Instructions? the answers to these questions make all the difference in this case.

Quite Simply, you cannot give away what you do not have, Some are not truly Saved and Born Again. They do not have the Holy Spirit pulling them to obey God's Word. Some do not know the Word of God. They have not experienced a life transforming work that God's Word can do in your life. Some do not truly believe the Word of God. To them, it is the radical opinion, and not a living reality. They do not practice doing the Word of God, so they do not see the value it can bring to your life. Therefore they do not see the value of passing the importance of God's Word on to other people. Some preachers have their own agenda. They are more interested in controlling people, then they are in making sure that their people walk in true freedom. So they keep their people ignorant of the Scriptures, in order to more easily control them. Come grab a listen.

I know that that is a popular idea in the word of faith movement….The word of faith movement teaches that a person should pray only once and be done. From THEIR perspective it is supposedly a lack of faith to continue praying for the same thing. The problem with the word of faith approach is that this is NOT biblical at all. Scripture overtly teaches the OPPOSITE concept. Come Grab a listen.

As it is Written: Matthew 5:10-12 (NKJV) Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Most people do not fully understand this concept, but obeying this command is a living faith declaration of WHOSE Kingdom you belong to, and to WHOM you truly belong. It is a living Pledge of Allegiance to the Kingdom of God. Come Grab a Listen.

Holiness is not just an Old Testament Idea. Holiness is not a New Testament Concept. Holiness is a WHOLE Testament concept. Holiness is a BIBLICAL concept. What is even more important is the fact that holiness IS in fact a salvation issue (e.g. Hebrews 12:14cf; Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:14-16). Holiness IS a Salvation Issue. Come Grab a listen.

The answer could be YES or NO. It truly depends on what you mean by, "Having the Holy Spirit." If You mean it one way, then the answer is NO. If you have another meaning in mind when you ask the question, then the answer is most definitely, YES! This is one of those instances where what you have in mind when you ask the question makes all the difference between the answer being yes, or the answer being no. I will explain.

Idolatry is worshiping anything else other than YHWH Almighty God. Scripture plainly tells us that those who walk in idolatry and worshiping false gods will be condemned. They will be in the lake of fire, (Revelation 21:8; Galatians 5:19-21).Throughout the Whole Testament of Scripture, we are clearly told that we should flee and run away from ALL idolatry. (Deuteronomy 20:1-3; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 1 John 5:21). Why does Almighty God forbid idolatry? Does God forbid idolatry because He's not Woke? Does God forbid idolatry because He's being selfish and greedy, and He wants all the worship and wants all honor for Himself alone? Is the reason that, YHWH forbids idolatry because the more people worship God, it gives Him more Power, Glory and Authority? Is God just being mean and narrow minded when He forbids idolatry? Believe it or not, quite a few people today foolishly assume that God has these bad ulterior motives when He forbids idolatry. In spite of the popular woke opinion, NONE of these false accusations against Almighty God come close to revealing God's true motivations when He forbids idolatry. If you truly want to understand why got forbids idolatry, come grab a listen to this episode of Discipleship Answers.

As It Is Written: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise. (Proverbs 12:15 NKJV) YHWH Almighty God does have a place and a good purpose for our feelings. Part of the key to growing up as a disciple is learning what purposes God has designed for things, (such as our feelings), and then keeping the things that God has given us in their correct and proper place; so that what God has provided for us can best achieve the purpose for which God intended when He gave us something. Without these good and proper boundaries, any blessings that God gives us can turn into a curse.

What is hate speech and how can I avoid it? Come Grab a listen.

Yes...Yes it Is. Come see WHY.

Does God Care Where We Shop? Do all the places that we shop have to be Godly or Christian? Come grab a listen as we address this very down to earth question of everyday Godly living.

Yes, when healthy coemption crosses the line into selfish ambition and rivalry it is a sin, (Galatians 5:19-21). In fact the difference can be an Eternal Life, or Eternal Death distinction. Come Grab a Listen.

The answer is Both Yes AND NO God will guard us in His Peace, as we keep our minds on Him, (Isaiah 26:3). God will cause everything to work together for our good, in as much as we love Him and we are called according to His purpose. At the same time, we are also guaranteed that while we are in this world, we will have tribulation and we will be persecuted if we seek to live well in Christ Jesus. Find how these ideas reconcile together as you listen.

You cannot follow two leaders who travel in two opposite directions. If you follow YHWH and Messiah, you will by necessity distance yourself from the sinful world. If you follow after the sinful world and its ideologies, you will by necessity be distancing yourself from YHWH and from Messiah. You must deliberately choose WHICH you will follow, in which you will serve. If we want to know what we are truly following, then we have to observe and pay attention to the way that were walking, to see if it matches the ONE that we're supposed to be following.

We know from Scripture that to repent literally means to turn away from the things that YHWH considers to be sin, and then to RETURN to the things that YHWH considers to be good, righteous, and pleasing in His Sight. Repenting is not complete unless the changes your mind and attitudes, unless it changes your intentions and desires, and unless it changes your habits and your way of life, away from sin, and into agreement with YHWH and His Ways. That's what Scripture means when it talks about, "Doing the DEEDS of repentance. In part 3 of this teaching series on what is repent, and why does it matter, we discussed making action plans so that we can repent successfully. Thank you for joining us.

We all love to talk about the Grace of God. God's Grace is FANTASTIC. God's Grace helps us to believe and come to Christ for salvation. God's Grace helps us to recognize our sin and to confess our sins. God's Grace provides forgiveness for our sins through Messiah's death and resurrection when we confess our sins. God's Grace empowers us to learn and to do the will of God. God's Grace is powerful and life-changing, when we submit to God and allow His Grace to work through our lives. What many people forget is that if we do not properly use God's Grace to help us turn away from sin, and to empower us to return to YHWH, to return to His Ways; and if we don't properly use the Grace of God to help us do the will of God, then WE WILL STILL bear the consequences of sin. People forget that even with God's Grace, the real consequences of sin are NOT REMOVED, if we do not repent. If we continue to walk in sin, we will inherit the wages of sin, (which is death and destruction). Grace is there to empower us to repent, and we receive God's forgiveness as we repent. True grace DOES NOT teach that you will inherit the blessings of God and His Kingdom, without turning away from sin. If you truly want to escape the biblical consequences for sin, the only viable option you have is to repent. Even Jesus the Messiah said that if we do not repent we will perish. So, if you don't want to perish, then you have to develop a lifestyle where your turning away from sin, and you are RETURNING to YHWH and to His Ways; the ways that He says are pleasing to Him.

In simple terms, Jesus the Messiah plainly said that unless we repent we will perish, (see Luke 13:3). Quite simply, if you want to be saved and live in God's friendship for all eternity, then repenting is required. It's not optional In this three-part podcast series we will be covering the following concepts, as it pertains to what repenting is, why it matters, and how to repent successfully. Here is an overview of the entire three-part series: We need to understand that Almighty God is the judge; because unless we understand and respect the judgments of God we will not know and we will not recognize that we have sinned. Also, unless we recognize and respect that God is the judge, then we will not see any need or any urgency to repent. We need to understand and respect what repent means from God's point of view; because you cannot repent successfully, without understanding what repent means in God's eyes. We need to understand and respect God's definition for sin; because you cannot successfully turn away from sin; unless you understand how God defines sin. We need to understand the REAL consequences for sin if we don't repent; because human nature is that we will not see the urgency to repent and overcome sin, if we do not understand the Biblical Consequences of continuing to live sinful lives. We need to make a choice of our will to repent, because all good and lasting changes in life begin with the choice. We need to prayerfully create an action plan that faithfully aligns with the definition of repent. In other words, we need to be doing the deeds of repentance. We need to persevere. We keep practicing the deeds of repentance; until our attitudes, our words and our actions are pleasing to YHWH. Repenting is a lifestyle, not an event.

Where is the Verse? Please so me the Bible verse that says that making money or having money is evil. You can search the Bible from cover to cover and you will NOT find such a teaching in all of Scripture. The Bible has much to say about money and how to use it. Come listen in.

1st Recolonize How Much Messiah Loves You 2nd Learn Messiah's Love Language. 3rd Learn and Practice KEEPING His Commandments.

Should negative emotions be considered a sin? Sometimes they are. Sometimes they're not. Part of growing up as a disciple of YHWH Almighty God and Messiah is learning to distinguish the difference. It's easy to deceive ourselves into thinking that everything that seems good and everything that feels good must be from God; while everything that feels bad or everything that seems bad must be a work of the devil. While thinking this way may be understandable at times, this is a mark of grave immaturity. Disciples who are healthy, growing and thriving do not maintain such a belief system for any great length of time. Negative emotions can help us, if we use them right. Come join our podcast.

It's a nightmare scenario… Imagine that you have gone through all of your life. You THOUGHT that you've been walking with God. You prayed. You occasionally went to church. Sometimes you read the Bible, or you heard in church. You did some charitable deeds. You think you're okay. You assume that your Christian. Then, the Day of Judgment comes, and both the Father and the Messiah declare, that they have not known you, and that you didn't really walk with them. Now that is a nightmare scenario. How could such a terrible thing happen? It can happen if we do not pay attention and overcome Vain Worship. We all know that the 3rd Commandment teaches us that it is possible to use God's Name in vain (Exodus 20:7). To do something in vain means to cause it to become useless, worthless or to render it meaningless. Did you know that Scripture says that it is possible that we could cause our entire religion to become meaningless or useless, if we don't control our mouth, (James 1:26)? According to Jesus and the Scriptures it is possible for our prayers to become vain, meaningless and useless, (Matthew 6:7; James 4:3; Proverbs 28:9). According to Scripture, it is possible to study in vain, if we don't allow the Scriptures to direct how we think and change how we behave. It's possible to be always studying, but never quite be walking in the truth, (2 Timothy 3:1-7). According to Messiah, it is also possible to offer God worship, but for God to consider the worship that we offered to be a worthless and meaningless vanity in His Eyes, (Matthew 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-13). Imagine trying to worship God all your life, and having none of it count or do you any good, as far as God is concerned. Let's avoid that nightmare scenario. In this episode of Discipleship Answers, I answer the question, what is vain worship, & how do we avoid it. Come listen in, so that we can study and remind ourselves to offer God worship that He will accept and honor. Shalom.

In the original biblical languages, there are 10 Hebrew words the translators have translated into fear in our English Bibles. There are 8 Greek words that are translated fear in our English Bibles. From the biblical point of view fear can be sinful enough to condemn you, or fear can be righteous enough to save you. So, biblically speaking, fear can be a very good thing, or a very bad thing. The real deciding factors confronting believers is not what is fear, but more precisely, exactly what are you afraid of? And why are you afraid? The answers to those questions will make all the difference between whether you are living in a righteous and faithful fear, or in a wicked and sinful fear. Come join us for the podcast.

It seems that whenever you talk to any armchair theologians about the Law of God as it was handed down to Moses, emotional passions flare up, and all common sense seems to leave. Many folks seem to believe that the only purpose of the Law was to hold us over until Christ came, and then Christ came and made the Law of God obsolete. The big problem is that Jesus the Messiah Himself openly SAID that he did not come to abolish the Law, (Matthew 5:17-20). So why do many who call themselves Christians, ignore what Jesus said, and they insist that Jesus caused God's Law to be abolished, even when Jesus said that he did not come to accomplish that task? It seems that whenever you talk to people about honoring the Commandments of God as handed down to Moses, people get crazy and lose all amount of moderation in their approach. All they want to talk about is that you cannot obey the Law to get saved. I have no argument with that. I believe that Messiah lived a sinless life, died for our sins and God raised him from the dead to purchase our salvation. I don't disagree with that. You can't get saved by obeying the Law. So what? I never said you could. The fact is that there are at least 10 OTHER INDISPENSABLE Purposes that God designed His Law to accomplish in a believer's life. Many believers ignore the true purposes of God's law for the strawman argument that it doesn't cause salvation. Please listen to this podcast, and come learn about the REAL purposes that God's Law was actually it is intended to fulfill in the life of believers today.

Today we are exploring the question: Neighbor Joe Davison Asked: “Who is Really the Master of My Life? Am I the Master of My Life, or is God the master of my life?

How important is it to you that the Almighty Creator of the Universe would forgive your sins? We have an awesome promise in (1 John 1:9). Scripture tells us that God is faithful and just to forgive our sins, when we confess them. So that means that making a proper confession that God will accept is a pretty crucial discipline that every disciple must learn. This podcast is all about how to make a proper confession that God will accept. Do come join us.

A brother in the Lord asked the question: "Is it good to brag about your knowledge of God." The short answer: It can be BOTH good and bad. You can hear the details in the podcast.

When ever one tries to follow Biblical Instructions, one first must understand a few things We need to understand what the Bible instruction is, and what it specifically tells us to do. We need to understand at least in part some of the principles behind Instructions We need to understand the mechanics of how to obey the instruction that we encounter 2 Corinthians 13:5 specifically tells us to examine ourselves and to test ourselves to make certain that we are in the faith. 2 Peter 1:10 specifically tells us that we need to apply all diligence and we need to make certain about God's calling and choosing us. It's good to know that we need to do that, but how do you go about it. This podcast goes through the specifics of how to do the spiritual checkup, so that you can make sure that you are growing and thriving in your relationship with God and Jesus Christ. It's all about learning to ask the right questions, and being honest with your answers. Please join us for this very important podcast. Thank you.

Have you ever been reading your Bible, and you encountered a Bible promise, and wished to yourself, “Wow! I really wish that this biblical promise was more of the physical reality in my life and my circumstances? Have you ever looked at a Biblical Commandment, and directive, and said, “Man, I can really see that what the Bible is telling us to do here is really good advice. I really wish that I could implement this directive into my life so that I could experience God's favor and blessing in that area of my walk with God? Have you ever been frustrated because you don't seem to be experiencing the victories in your life and circumstances that Scripture tells us that we should have a believers? If you have any kind of thriving relationship with God, I'm 100% certain that you have experienced those thoughts and feelings at some point in your walk with the Lord. I am not suggesting that this podcast will be a one sized, cure everything solution. At the same time, when I am not experiencing the victories that I would like to be seeing in my life, the principles in this podcast is one of the first places I look, as a normal part of my spiritual checkup. When I run across a biblical promise I would like to have, I asked the question, “Whose responsibility is it to accomplish this in my life? What is God's part of the job? What is my part of the job? What might be someone else's responsibility, if anything? In short am I fulfilling the Responsibility Principle? We must never forget that our relationship with YHWH and with Messiah is above all a RELATIONSHIP. It is a hard and fast spiritual law of relationship that every relationship includes a division of responsibilities. That is that each member of any relationship has certain responsibilities that they MUST fulfill if the relationship is to grow and to thrive. There is NO such thing as a genuine thriving relationship between parties, where one party does 100% of the labor, and the other party does 0%. Unless both parties are active participants in the relationship itself, then NO genuine relationship truly exists. This is one of the reasons that the Free Grace/Ultra Grace/Hyper Grace movement FAILS so miserably when it comes to making successful and overcoming disciples of YHWH Almighty God, and of Jesus Christ. That's because the whole counterfeit grace theories of these movements assumes that God must take on 100% of all responsibility in our relationship with Him, and we take up 0%. They assume that if we take on any responsibility at all, then we are suffering from a lack of Grace. In reality what they have accomplished, is to make a genuine thriving relationship with God, IMPOSSIBLE. Please don't fall for the lie. Please don't forfeit a growing and thriving relationship with God. Please don't Neglect the Responsibility Principle. Responsibility Accountability Respectability Credibility You CANNOT be Effective without these things, and we CANNOT build these things without observing The Responsibility Principle. Brother Michel Lankford

Today's Question: To understand the truths of scripture, who would you ask and why? The Quick Summary Answer First: Go to God in prayer directly with your questions before all else. Second: Keep notes on what you think God is telling you in answer to the questions you brought to Him. Third: Take your notes and do your own Bible study FIRST Fourth: Practice Doing what God is showing you through the word Fifth: Compare your notes and conclusions with other Bible resources and commentaries. Sixth: Then, if you still need further counsel and advice on how to understand and obey a passage, then you seek out other older brothers and sisters and gather other human opinions after all that. Come listen for the details.

Is the Roman Catholic Church a legitimate church, or is of a cult? A key question is What spirit do they carry? Jesus the Messiah told us that we could recognize whether something is good or bad, righteous or unrighteous by the fruit that it produces, (Matthew 7:15-20). With this in mind we've been looking at the different characteristics, or the fruit that are universally identified as being a cult, and we've been comparing these fruits or characteristics to the Roman Catholic Church. The central question being, does the Roman Catholic Church fulfill the characteristics and bear the fruit of a cult, or does it fulfill the characteristics and bear the fruit of the legitimate congregation belonging to YHWH Almighty God, and to Jesus Christ? A Cult will generally operate in a noticeably different spirit than what Scripture describes as the Holy Spirit. The concept is a little bit more abstract and harder to pin down then the obvious and clear concepts that we have been able to easily identify in past episodes so far. Getting this one right calls for closer fruit inspection, but it be done. Suggested Readings Matthew 5:43-48. According to Messiah, the true test of character is not how a group treats the friends, but it's how we treat our enemies. Jesus said, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven… How we treat our enemies proves WHOSE child you truly are. If you're following the Holy Spirit of God, you're going to do the works of Matthew 5:43-48. Does the Catholic Church do that, or do they not Galatians 5:22-26. This is what being controlled by the Holy Spirit of God looks like. Luke 9:49-56. According to the Messiah, wanting to forbid and to prevent people from doing good works because they are not of your particular group, and wanting to call God's wrath, judgment, condemnation and death on people who disagree with you, is a sign that you do not know what spirit your following, and that you are not a right spirit., So how does the Catholic Church, treat its enemies and people that disagree with them or that they disagree with? Genesis 4:1-15. Abel and his offering were accepted by God. Cain and his offering was NOT accepted by God. The critical lesson here is, how did Cain respond to the problem? Did Cain say, 'Wow, I'm really screwing up here. If I change my attitude and my ways God will accept me, and I'll be happy again?' No, Cain's solution was, I will murder my brother. I will silence the opposition, and God will have no choice but to accept me once my brother is gone. And so Cain murdered Abel over the issue of worship. Abel was the first martyr. So, how does the Catholic Church treat the opposition? Do they carry the spirit of Abel, or do they carry the spirit of Cain? You can always tell what spirit you are carrying by how you treat your enemies As always, we will inspect the Catholic Church using its own writings, comparing that with Scripture, and not just our own opinions on any matter. Brother Michel Lankford

How does a person get saved for certain? How does a person go from being a sinner into being a righteous person who is justified in the eyes of a perfect and a Most HOLY God? There is no other question more important than this in all of religion. That is because if one is not in right standing before Almighty God, then literally nothing else matters in the end. We've been exploring the question, "Is the Roman Catholic Church a true Church of God, or is it a counterfeit religious cult? Jesus the Messiah told us that we could recognize whether something is good or bad, righteous or unrighteous by the fruit that it produces, (Matthew 7:15-20). With this in mind we've been looking at the different characteristics, or the fruit that are universally identified as being a cult, and we've been comparing these fruits or characteristics to the Roman Catholic Church. The central question being, does the Roman Catholic Church fulfill the characteristics and bear the fruit of a cult, or does it fulfill the characteristics and bear the fruit of the legitimate congregation belonging to YHWH Almighty God, and to Jesus Christ? The apostle Jude made a critical point in his apostolic letter. It's something we need to pay close attention to: As It Is Written: “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 3–4 NASB95) Did you catch the all critical important statement there? Jude clearly said that there was a faith for which we must earnestly contend. There is a faith that we must earnestly defend, but that faith was already once for all handed down to the saints in the first century in which Jude was writing his epistle. So, the question then becomes, is the faith that the Roman Catholic Church proclaims the SAME faith that was already handed down to the saints in the first century? Or, are they teaching a vastly DIFFERENT faith than that which was ONCE FOR ALL handed down to the saints in the first century? This issue is especially CRITICAL when facing the question, "How Does Someone Get Saved?" What does the Roman Catholic Church teach that someone must do in hopes of receiving salvation? Does what the Roman Catholic Church claim actually MATCH what the first century apostles said? Does what the Roman Catholic Church claim regarding salvation match the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints in the first century? If a group changes the ways and means by which a person is saved and made right before God to be opposite of what Scripture teaches, that group is a cult by definition. A Cult will Change the method by which we are saved and Justified We will again be looking at the Roman Catholic Church according to its own writings, and then we will be comparing those words to what the apostle said; to that faith which was handed down to the saints in the first century. If the to agree together, then the Roman Catholic Church is a church. If they oppose each other than the Roman Catholic Church is a cult, pure and simple.

Jesus the Messiah told us that we could recognize whether something is good or bad, righteous or unrighteous by the fruit that it produces, (Matthew 7:15-20). With this in mind we've been looking at the different characteristics, or the fruit that are universally identified as being a cult, and we've been comparing these fruits or characteristics to the Roman Catholic Church. The central question being, does the Roman Catholic Church fulfill the characteristics and bear the fruit of a cult, or does it fulfill the characteristics and bear the fruit of the legitimate congregation belonging to YHWH Almighty God, and to Jesus Christ? One of the fruits and characteristics of a cult is that they will almost always treat Scripture as a second-class or third-class citizen in authority. A cult will almost always say something like, “Yes, we know what Scripture says, BUT OUR Authority is HIGHER than Scripture.” Whenever any religious group; it doesn't matter whether the group is Roman Catholic, Protestant, nondenominational, Hebrew roots, Whole Testament, or whatever they label themselves; whenever you see any group minimize the authority of the written Scriptures, so that they can lift themselves up and elevate themselves in authority, you are in a dangerous group. At that point you are either in a cult already, or your group is getting ready to become one. So, when you want to know whether something is a cult or legitimate church belonging to YHWH Almighty God, and to the Savior Jesus Christ, you must explore the question, where does this religious group place Scriptural authority?

Jesus the Messiah told us that we could recognize whether something is good or bad, righteous or unrighteous by the fruit that it produces, (Matthew 7:15-20). With this in mind we've been looking at the different characteristics, or the fruit that are universally identified as being a cult, and we been comparing these fruits or characteristics to the Roman Catholic Church. The central question being, does the Roman Catholic Church fulfill the characteristics and bear the fruit of a cult, or does it fulfill the characteristics and bear the fruit of the legitimate congregation belonging to YHWH Almighty God, and to Jesus Christ. One of the key fruits or identifiers of a cult is that they like to CHANGE the definitions or the standards established by Almighty God in His Word. If you're going to be a successful cult leader, one of the first things you must do is allow people to drift away from God's definitions of key terms, because if people hold fast to God's and Standards, they will recognize the cult is counterfeit right away, and the called with his leadership would lose their power and authority over their followers lives. They would quickly recognize the counterfeit, and they would not follow those leaders anymore. Therefore, for cult leaders to succeed, it becomes paramount for them to modify or change God's definitions for key terms, and to forget how God defines those key terms, so that the leadership can get away with doing whatever it wants to do, and still pretend to be godly. That's why we want to avoid being deceived by the counterfeit, we must compare everything to God's definitions of key terms.

Any time that you see a religious group elevating human beings to the position, to the power and to the authority of God Almighty, that is one of the first signs of the dangerous religious cult. By their own writings and testimonials, they elevate the Pope into the position of God Almighty. Popes have declared themselves to be God Bishops and cardinals have declared the Pope to be God Popes have declared themselves to be infallible Catholics claim that Christians are required to obey the Pope, without question, even if the Pope leads them to hell and everlasting torment. There is no way that this kind of heart attitude is Christian. Only a cult requires your absolute obedience to their leader, even if it completely devastates you for all eternity. That's not a church along to Messiah. That is a cult in the utmost.

One of the very first signs of a dangerous religious cult is when the organization elevates regular human beings to the position, to the power, and to the authority of Almighty God. Whenever they displace Almighty God's authority and they elevate human beings to God's power and authority, that is one of the first signs of a cult. The Catholic Church does this in a number of ways. The Roman Catholic Church forces people worship Mary the mother of Messiah as a god

The question of the school podcast series is, "Is the Roman Catholic Church a Cult? How would you know? Jesus, then Messiah and the Son of God is the one who gives us the answer to that question. If you want to know what something truly is, you don't judge it by what it claims to be. You judge it by the fruit it bears in comparison to what it claims. As Jesus said, "You will recognize them by their fruit." (Matthew 7:15-20). When we inspect the fruit of the Roman Catholic Church, it will give us our answer. If it produces more of the fruits of a dangerous religious cult, then it's a cult. If it produces more fruits of the legitimate church following Jesus Christ, then it is a church. By their fruits we will recognize them.

This is a question that I have received quite a few times in my more than 30 years of discipleship ministry. Is the Roman Catholic Church really a church, or is it a cult? I have written papers and other such articles answering this question, but I received a request that I would answer this question in audio format so people could listen in their cars which is why I'm adding it to this platform.