THERE ARE FIVE VITALFOUNDATIONAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRUE CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM. There Are Actually Many More Differences Between Islam And Christianity, But The Five Pillars Of Islam Compared To Christianity Indicate This. Many people do not realize that there are five pillars of faith in Christianity that can be compared to those of Islam.

What are the five vital differences between Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad that have most profoundly impacted on their respective followers?

Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad are undoubtly amongst the most influential people. Both are followed by a very large section of humanity. Their teachings, actions and examples have profoundly impacted their respective followers with secondary impact on entire humanity.

Happy Riches Answer requested by Yeshua Delhiwala and Raj Gangaram

Here are the differences at the foundation level between Islam and Christianity.
The Five Pillars of Islam consist of:

1. Shahadah: sincerely reciting the Muslim profession of faith.
2. Salat: performing ritual prayers in the proper way five times each day.
3. Zakat: paying an alms (or charity) tax to benefit the poor and the needy.
4. Sawm: fasting during the month of Ramadan.
5. Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca.

The five pillars of True Christianity consist of:

1. A foundation of repentance from dead works, and faith towards God.
2. The teaching of baptisms.
3. Laying on of hands to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
4. Resurrection of the dead.
5. Eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:1-5 )

Let us have a look at these five foundations:

1. Muslims do not have to repent, they merely have to make a profession of faith. Christians have to repent from violating from the Ten Commandments. Muslims can bear false witness to advance their cause. Christians have to repent from bearing false witness.
2. Muslims have to do perform rituals five times a day every day bowing down towards the Kaaba at Mecca. Christians are called to be baptized and give God the glory by lifting holy hands towards Heaven as they are raised from the water for cleansing them from their sins through the blood of Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Muslims have an alms tax once a year. Christians receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit so they can love the poor every day.
4. Muslims claim they fast forty days, when in fact it merely going without food during daylight hours for forty days and eating in the evening, for one period every year. Christians look forward to being raised from the dead and being overcomers of sin through the power of the Holy Spirit.
5. Muslims have to make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lifetime. Christians look forward to the eternal judgment of God to receive their rewards, because they know they have received God’s mercy.

What we have is a works-based political ideology that sees worldly domination as setting up a kingdom in the name of Allah on Earth, on the one hand. While, on the other hand, we have a call for people to understand the grace and mercy of God, based upon people trusting their Heavenly Father to deliver them from evil through Lord Jesus Christ, whose Kingdom is not of this world. For that which is of this world belongs to the god of this world, who blinds the minds of unbelievers.

Learning The Truth Requires Us To Understand What Evil Really Is

THE GOSPELS APPEAR TO BE CONTRADICTORY BUT CHRISTIANS KNOW THEY ARE THE REAL STORY. This Is Not Because Of the Scientific Plausibility That Upholds The Validity Of The Scriptures, But Because Of A Personal Experience With The Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible is an incredible book because it is written in such a way that only those who truly desire to know the truth will find it.

What makes Christians so sure the 4 gospels chosen for the Canon are the real story?

Happy Riches answer requested by Anonymous

One of the amazing truths about life, apart from the fact people die and cease to live, is we are able to know the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ and possess the assurance of this relationship, even though He is not physically with us everyday.

I cannot speak for other people, but for myself, having come to know Lord Jesus Christ, I was surprised afterwards to learn that the Bible instructs us to seek what I had experienced in meeting the only person who had risen from the dead.

The four Gospels were accepted by members of the church in the second century because these people had a relationship with Lord Jesus Christ and they understood that what was written therein was what the apostles had taught. What was taught from the majority of witnesses concurred with what was in the four gospels.

The authenticity of the Gospels has held up under investigation by many people applying varying techniques to fault them. Here are two:

1. Cold case detective J. Warner Wallace questioned the reliability of the Gospels (when questioning the integrity of the Bible). After applying the techniques he used to solve murder cases that had not been finalized for years, J. Warner Wallace concluded that the veracity of the Scriptures concerning the death and resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ was astonishingly true. He became a Christian.
2. Dr. Zukeran looks at five reasons why the Scriptures are authentic by looking at the internal and external evidences for the date, the reliability of the oral tradition, the written transmission of the texts and whether miracles are veritable.

Many people believe that there are aliens who control this planet. They point to evidence of circles (proven to have been made by mechanical means). They point to the many sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). They point to the people who claim they were kidnapped by aliens. They point to the inexplicably mutilated animals found in various places around the world. They point to the Roman Catholic Church and its many practices that correspond to pagan worship of the gods. They point to the inexplicable archaeological findings that testify to ancients possessing technology foreign to modern man—the most notable being the many massive stone structures that are made from what appears to be laser cut stone.

All of these reasons for people believing in aliens can be demonstrated from the Scriptures to be the result of ancient man and fallen angels. The Gospels have much more evidence of being reliable than the false view of aliens that is presented by people who are looking for intelligent life in outer space, rather than accepting that the ability to think that they possess has been given to them by their Creator.

The record of Lord Jesus Christ that we have been permitted to possess has been made available to inform us how the purpose of God was achieved in judging the god of this world. We were given four different perspectives. These may appear incongruent to the casual reader or anybody who merely wants to remain ignorant of the truth. Yet for those who have examined the gospels under forensic constraints, the fact that there are four different version is testament to their authenticity.

As Jesus said of the Old Testament bearing witness to him (John 5:39–40), the Gospels do so too, only more explicitly. Consider any other person in history. Not even the greatest of prophets or religious leaders come close to establishing the testament delivered by Jesus of Nazareth—let alone the testimony borne to Him by others today that He lives. As C.S. Lewis stated: “Either this man [Jesus] was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.”

Understanding The Depth Of Knowledge That Comes With The Gospels

THE HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS PRODUCE A SINGLE NARRATIVE. Many Like To Point To The Supposed Perceived Discrepancies, But Then Everybody Really Likes To See What They Want To See Rather Than Seek The Truth. How much a person wants the truth is often the determining factor between who remains deceived and who is set free from being deceived.

Is there any scholar who has merged the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke into one narrative?

Harry Riches Answer requested by Diane Shatto

Archibald Thomas Robertson (D.D.; LL.D.; Litt.D.) wrote A Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of Christ.

Here is a compilation that has not been written by a scholar but is harmony of the four gospels: the Combined Gospel.

That the four gospels have been written by different individuals also attests to the veracity of the accounts. Different witnesses of an event see everything from their point of view. What is observed has to be processed according to the filters that are used by different individuals for processing information. Then there is the matter of location. Is the observer located on the North, South, East or West side of the event?

What people really need to grasp is that unless a person understands the significance and the implications of the only words written by the Finger of God, no one is truly able to fully comprehend the Scriptures, as God desires everyone to do, when they begin to grow in the knowledge of the truth, after having come to recognize that Lord Jesus Christ is the only mediator between the Heavenly Father and every person that is born.

Knowing Some Of What It True Does Not Guarantee Knowing Everything Needed

THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN EITHER EXISTS OR IT DOES NOT. If The Synagogue Exists, One Thing Is For Sure, It Is Not Easily Found On Google Maps. Naturally, if such a synagogue were to exist we would expect it to be an organization that operates behind the scenes.

Do the Bible verses Rev 2:9 and Rev 3:9 reveal that modern Jews are not really biblical Jews but are something else?

During my research on the history of modern day Jews, i found The Synagogue of Satan Revealed at Last!! and it gave me disturbing revelations. How much truth is on this blog?

Harry Riches requested by Anonymous 

Many people have not truly understood the Scriptures. They see something and then they add their own interpretation, which is essentially adding to the Word of God. When people add to the Word of God they will be made a liar.

• Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you, and you be found a liar. (Proverbs 30:5–6)

One of the reasons so many people fail to interpret the Bible correctly, and possibly the foremost reason, is they are not taught of God. If a person is taught of God, then that person will understand that the Ten Commandments need to be understood to interpret the Scriptures. If anyone dismisses the Ten Commandments, know for sure that they are not speaking according to the truth.

• You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. (Deuteronomy 4:2)

• To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:20)

If you want to understand the truth about what is to come, but you do not understand the truth of the only words written by the Finger of God, what shall you do? For the Synagogue of Satan is as real as the difference between darkness and light.

Fortunately, the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5). That which is written in the Old Testament is for our edification, so that by the instructions found therein, we might be saved through faith in Lord Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 3:15).

Unless the Son of God does what He has always done to those whom He chooses, your salvation is according to your faith. For by faith we need to reach out to the Son of God and have Him change our heart. Whereas, those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going because the darkness blinds their eyes (1 John 2:11).

Those Who Are Genuine Understand The Commandments (1 John 2:4)

ONLY ONE MAN IS ACCREDITED WITH HAVING PAID THE PRICE FOR THE SIN OF THE WORLD: LORD JESUS CHRIST. At The Time He Was Mockingly Crowned The King Of The Jews And Known As Jesus Of Nazareth. Yet rise from the dead He did and all who have encountered the risen Lord of Life know that there is more to life than the futility of being born merely to die.

How come only Jesus' death can take away our sins?

John, Chapter 1 (King James Bible) 

Harry Riches answer requested by Anonymous

The reason only Jesus’ death can take away the sins of the world, and thereby everyone’s personal sins, is because He was crucified as an innocent man, even though the Universe was created through Him.

No other person who has died has permitted himself, or herself, to be crucified on behalf of other people in accordance to the requirements of the Laws that were given to Moses for the sacrifice of sins.

More than this, the sin of the world came upon Jesus in the form of the Evil One consuming His body when He was hanging on the cross.

• When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54)

People feel earthquakes and see the results of an earthquake. Earthquakes do not fill people with awe. Something that the people saw happen to Jesus of Nazareth filled them with awe.

• By disease his skin is consumed, the first-born of death consumes his limbs. (Job 18:13)

Two other men were also crucified alongside of Jesus. One placed on either side of him.

• Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.(Matthew 27:38)

Each of these men hanged as did Jesus. However, only Jesus’ skin was consumed by disease.

When all present saw Jesus’ body change color, possibly turning grey/white in an instance, and they saw nothing happen to the two robbers on either side of Him, they would have realized that this was something that never happened before: an innocent man declared to be the King of the Jews, crowned with thorns, crucified, who in an instance turned into what the Jews perceived the archetype of sin.

The man in the photo has a skin disease on his hand. Imagine how the centurion and those present were struck when they saw Jesus’ whole body turn into something that looks like that man’s hand as His skin was consumed by disease.

• For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Because Jesus became sin on our behalf, our Heavenly Father is prepared to accept all of us who by faith acknowledge this truth and allow the blood of Jesus to wash us clean from our own iniquities, because His Son has paid the price for sin in our stead.

Knowing The Truth And What Eternal Life Has To Offer Begins Today

MANY LIKE TO THINK THAT WHEN JESUS OF NAZARETH DIED ON THE CROSS THAT NONE OF THE LAWS OF MOSES DELIVERED BY MOSES ARE APPLICABLE, FOR THEY WERE NAILED TO THE CROSS. What They Do Not Understand Is The Mosaic Covenant Was Nailed To The Cross, But The Law Of God Still Stands. Those who violated God's moral law need to recognize this and change their ways. If they are unable to do so, then they need help, which is why Jesus died.

When Jesus Christ came, did he abolish the laws of Moses?

Happy Riches Answer requested by Jamar Grimsley

Yes. Jesus abolished the laws of Moses. But one has to distinguish between the laws of Moses and the Law of God. Jesus upheld the Law of God. For we read:

• Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17–19)

Moses was a prophet who bore witness to what God wrote and said. Moses spoke of the day God would raise up a prophet like Him, Who would be as God but not fearsome in appearance. Thus God would become man and show his loving-kindness.

• The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren—him you shall heed—just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ (Deuteronomy 18:15–16)

There does appear to be a paradox in that we read in the gospels concerning the law, this did not provide grace and truth, whereas Jesus did.

• For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)

Many people read this Scripture in the gospel of John and immediately think that God’s Law is of no avail; therefore, abolished. However, we are also told that God does not change (Malachi 3:6) and that the gospel is an eternal gospel (Revelation 14:6). This suggests that the gospel was before the law and also contained in the Law and the prophets. The Bible tells us that this is the case.

• And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” (Galatians 3:8)

• But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. (Romans 3:21)

The gospel is about justifying those who have faith. The Law and the Prophets bear witness to this. Yet the Gospel was preached before the Law was written down, but the gospel does not exclude the law of God. The Gospel incorporates the Law of God. To this the Gospel is fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Thus we read:

• For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near. (Hebrews 10:1)

• For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3–4)

Therefore, those who walk according to the Spirit of God uphold the Law of God—the Ten Commandments—but not the laws of Moses. For what is classified as the laws of Moses were not able to bring about the redemption of humankind. The various laws consisting of rites, ceremony and statutes, were ineffectual. Actual redemption was effected through the death and resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, the gospel message was still resident in the Law, because God does not change.

Jesus abolished the laws of Moses but not the Law of God. For Heaven and Earth shall pass away before one iota or one dot of the Law of God shall pass away. Hence, we read that Jesus fulfilled the Law in order that the Law might be fulfilled in those who walk according to the Spirit of God.

The Ten Commandments Were Designed For You To Enjoy And Possess Life

SOME WOMEN ARE VIRTUOUS, OTHERS ARE MERELY INNOCENT, BUT THEN THERE IS THE WOMAN WHO IS LIKE A GRAVEYARD TO ALL WHO VISIT HER. The Book Of Proverbs Has Much To Say About Women: Some Good, Some Bad, Some Excellent. Those that live in the graveyard of sin are not just bad, they are ruinous to good health.

What does proverbs chapter 2 in the Bible speak about?

I don't quite understand it, please explain. Especially the part about The immoral woman, is it referring to an actual woman or something else?

Happy Riches Answer requested by Jamar Grimsley

The natural reading of the passage tells us what is required to inhabit the land and remain in it. If a person dies, how can they remain in the land forever. Even bones will eventually decompose. So the passage points to eternal life.

• My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:1–5)…So you will walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will inhabit the land, and men of integrity will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it. (Proverbs 2:20–22)

Few people understand the fear of the Lord. When I say few, I have yet to meet one. Most have the common version that is a reinterpretation of what people think the fear of the Lord might be, even if keeping away from the wanton woman who is interested in merely carnal matters is part of understanding the fear of the Lord.
But the first born of Creation delighted in the fear of the Lord. The key to our salvation is understanding the fear of the Lord.

• He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; (Colossians 1:15)

• And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear. ( Isaiah 11:3)

• The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. (Proverbs 8:13)

If a male truly loves God and desires to walk in His ways, he will not turn aside like Samson and indulge in the treacherous pleasures of the flesh.

• Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a harlot, and he went in to her. (Judges 16:1)…When Deli′lah saw that he had told her all his mind, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up this once, for he has told me all his mind.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hands. She made him sleep upon her knees; and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” And he did not know that the Lord had left him. (Judges 16:18–20)

Walking in the ways of the Lord Jesus Christ are essential if we are to experience the joys of eternal life now. Eternal life is not something that begins sometime in the future, it begins once you have received it—that is, unless you decide to disregard what you have been given and turn away. However, once you truly have been saved, you will be known by your fruits; delighting in the fear of the Lord—the hatred of evil—will be paramount.

The Wise Understand The Fear Of The Lord; Lack of Knowledge Causes Suffering 

HUSBANDS LOVING WIVES AS IN HEAVEN ON EARTH MIGHT NOT BE POSSIBLE BUT IT OUGHT TO BE. Sometimes People Think Of Better Things To Do Than Get Married And Love Their Partner, Well That Is What The Divorce Stats Tell Us. God has so much more in store for all who are willing to love him and learn his righteous ways.

Will my husband still be my husband in heaven?

I just read a passage in Matthew 22 that is making me doubt this:( Are there any branches of Christianity that believe marriage is eternal?

Happy Riches Answer requested by Diane Shatto

What is written in the Bible is instruction regarding the requirements for overcoming sin and death.

In the Old Testament, we learn that people were married to more than one person. This could have been a woman who was married to more than one man as in the case of a levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5).

Jesus was asked what would happen in the resurrection concerning a person who was married to more than one person. Jesus replied:

• For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. (Matthew 22:30)

The implication is that even those who are married on Earth are not going to be interested in copulating in Heaven. The bliss that they will experience shall surpass the short-lived pleasures that are sometimes experienced on Earth.

But marriage is more than a physical matter. Marriage concerns relationship and experiencing pleasures of the soul together. In the presence of God, this will be what each will be experiencing, and the highs and lows of emotions will be unknown. Bliss is something everyone can handle; whereas, the lack of bliss is not so inviting.

There is one matter that intrigues. Man was made in the image of God—male and female. This suggests that a man and a woman are required to complete the image of God. A little more thought and one realizes that this was on Earth. In Heaven, God makes up the difference. Happiness is not just love, not just joy, but the combination of love, joy and peace merged into one blissful state.

As for what different branches of thought within Christendom believe about marriage, who really cares, when the truth is what we really want. For only the truth sets us free (Galatians 5:1).

The Truth Can Only Be Known When We Understand The Standard For Truth

PARABLES ARE DESIGNED TO HIDE TRUTHS FROM PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY KNOW IT ALL, NOT JUST THE SIMPLE. When A Simple Person Does Not Understand Anything, The Simple Simply Asks And Is Not Aware That He Is Showing His Lack Of Knowledge. Those who think they are wise would not dare let others see that they are so dumb that they would not understand a simple parable, hence they will scoff.

According to Mark 4:12 Jesus speaks in parables so people won't figure things out and repent. Why wouldn't Jesus want people to understand and repent?

For those of you who keep saying I'm misinterpreting scripture- I am just stating what the verse says word for word I am not interpreting it.

Happy Riches Answer requested by Diane Shatto

The reason Jesus spoke in parables was so that those who truly desired the truth would seek Him out. Many people like to stand afar off, philosophize and present their opinions about what life means. This is natural for people to do, because being opinionated is what people do, who like to think that they are someone special.

Yet death laughs at each one of us. Death says, “Fool, your life is in vain. You are a nobody, yet you thought you were someone. You are like a goldfish in the bowl; a parrot in front of a mirror.”

To the opinionated, Jesus was merely a babbler. Nothing has changed. The same as it was when the Apostle Paul was in Athens. For we read:

• Some also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers met him. And some said, “What would this babbler say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he preached Jesus and the resurrection. (Acts 17:18)

Jesus spoke in parables, which contained truths that they did not understand. The parables contained truths that are to be found in the Old Testament if only people truly understood the message. For even today, theologians, religionists and others who toss out the Old Testament do not understand the truths of Jesus.

• All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 13:34-35)

• Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders which he has wrought. (Psalms 78:1-4)

The aim was clearly to demonstrate who were genuine and who were to choke on the regurgitation of the leavened bread they ate.

• In the meantime, when so many thousands of the multitude had gathered together that they trod upon one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”(Luke 12:1)

When we understand the hypocrites were being sorted out, we realize that this is why Jesus rejoiced that the fools of the world, who had no answer for overcoming death, but were telling everyone to listen to them, were not humble enough to admit their ignorance.

• At that time Jesus declared, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.” (Matthew 11:25–26).

Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said, “Rabbi, we know no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with Him.” (John 3:1–2)

Nicodemus was doing what those who were genuinely interested in learning the truth do. Nicodemus decided to encounter Jesus for himself and not listen to the babble of the rabble, the hypocrites of this world, who claim they are more intelligent than others, yet they cannot overcome death, even though they like to claim they are more knowledgeable than any Creator—even the One who exists.

One has to take into account that Jesus clearly spoke of what was to happen to the hypocrites (Matthew 23). When Jesus told them that He spoke in parables least they repent, in all probability He was baiting them that they might repent. Nicodemus is evidence of this, for we read of Nicodemus

• Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” (John 7:50–51)

• After this Joseph of Arimathe′a, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who had at first come to him by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds’ weight. They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. (John 19:38–40)

Understanding that Jesus used parables to sort out the sheep from the goats is helpful when seeking to comprehend the truth of the gospel message and how God discerns the thoughts and intentions of our hearts while permitting us to have freewill.

Many People Think An Extended Vocabulary Makes Them Intelligent Yet ….

CHRISTIANS FALL SHORT OF WHAT THEY ARE PROMISED BECAUSE THEY ARE SUCH HYPOCRITES. Afterall Faith Without Works Is Dead. Christians fall short of a lot of things really, but fortunately for them, they have access to the grace of God through Lord Jesus Christ, providing they exercise faith.

Can a Christian living according to the Bible and to Jesus' be on good terms with the world's values such as materialism, consumerism, etc?

American easygoing false Christianism, Free-masonry and the Vatican, which is the The Great Prostitute which the bible talks about think so, preach so, and promise so:

I John 2: 15 to 17; James 4:4.

The Vatican is also the Mother of idolatry and for it everything goes provided that it “looks” right.

Harry Riches Answer requested by William Rocha Lacerda

You ask the question, but one is inclined to think that your mind is already made up. You are of the belief that the Pope is the Antichrist and the Roman Catholic Church is really an adaption of pagan religion to Christian terminology.

You probably view the fact that the following verses from the Bible, written sometime about 60 CE, clearly indicate that the Roman Catholic Church is being referred to:

• Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. (1 Timothy:1–3)

You may have in mind, also, the fact that the Vatican has changed the Ten Commandments to exclude the second commandment by amalgamating it with the first commandment and redacting them before splitting the tenth commandment into two commandments. The Vatican has the third commandment as the second, whereas the Jews have always held the second commandment to be “You shall not make for yourself any graven images.”

• "You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, nor any manner of likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them. For I the Lord your G‑d am a jealous G‑d, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments. —-"The Second Commandment - You shall have no other gods... Judaism, Torah and Jewish Info

When speaking of materialism and consumerism these are atheistic ideals that form part of economic philosophy. More to the point, understanding the truth about what Jesus taught is often misconstrued that people have to live in poverty and walk around like a holy man such as the Hindu sadhu.

Sadhu Sundar Singh memorized the Bhagava Gita and eventually saw the truth, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He became a Christian, who forsook the ways of the world completely, and walked the Earth, living the life of a holy man when he was not travelling to the West. One ordained clergyman met the Sadhu when he was traveling through the Western World (using materialistic means) and exclaimed that he was just like meeting Jesus Christ. Anyhow, even though material means were used for Sadhu Sundar Singh to traverse the globe (for he traveled through Europe, the USA and to Australia, before returning to India) this is what one writer reports:

• Finally, at the end of September, he returned to India, grieved about the greedy materialism he had seen in the West. In the East many people worship idols, he observed, but in the West people worship themselves.[1]

Has anything changed from after the 1st world war, when the Sadhu made his observation of the West. Note what the book of Revelation has Jesus saying to the Church of Laodicea:

• “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and white garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 3:15-21)

We have to understand that while materialism can become an idol, it can become a subtle form of programming that allows people to think that they have sufficient goods and life is really great. All the people now have to do is develop a means to live for ever and everything will be fine. To which the One who has the keys of life and death effectively says, “Remember me! I am standing at the door of eternity.”

Recognizing the truth and realizing one’s own ineptitude to overcome death and its cause is what is required if a person is to discover the reality of Lord Jesus Christ having risen from the dead.

But your assertion appears to be that people are more in love with the present world than having any real interest in discovering what is to happen to them when they depart this world. They may go to church and make noises with a “fake it, to make it” mentality. They may make out that they are religious because it helps. Many organizations are religious in nature, such as the Freemasons. Becoming a Freemason evidently helps in job security within the world, but not in knowing Lord Jesus Christ.

The message to the people of the Church of Laodicea is often interpreted as referring to people living and enjoying the benefits of materialism. Can this be denied? Trusting in one’s material wealth and thinking one is somebody, relative to those who possess lesser amounts of wealth, does not curry favor with God. Only those who have a relationship with Lord Jesus Christ find favor with the Heavenly Father.

Therefore, if we let Lord Jesus Christ into our lives, we will probably be like Sadhu Sundar Singh and understand that the material is not where life is at. Peace and joy that comes from receiving the righteousness of Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning of life. This is where the true riches are to be found.

Nevertheless, God promises that we will be healthy, wealthy and wise, if we walk with Him (Proverbs 8:18).

The Only Words Written By God Himself Point To How You Can Possess Life