CULT
This term today is almost always used in a derogatory way and has a wide range of meanings, depending to a great degree on the one who is using the term. Some people would define a religious cult as any religion that does not hold to the historical Christian teachings, such as the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth, the Trinity, the bodily resurrection of Christ, salvation by faith in Christ, etc. But today, a religious group may be labeled a cult solely on the basis of their moral or political views, if they are more conservative or liberal than the one who calls them a cult. Sometimes it is used to describe a religion that claims they are the only ones right and that only they will go to heaven.
How can I know who is telling the truth? Ultimately one will have to go back to the Scriptures and see what they teach on a particular belief. But in short, any “new” religion or “new” belief is suspect, for “there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9; see OCCULT).
CURSING
Exodus 20:7 says, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Millions of people curse God and His Son Jesus Christ and think nothing about it. They may even respond, “It is no big thing, others do it.” But God said He, “will not hold him guiltless.” These same people would be greatly offended if another would curse their loved ones, but somehow it is OK to curse the one who made us? “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). I never hear people cursing Buddha, Allah, Muhammad, other religious leaders, or even the devil, and we should not curse anyone (Jude v. 9), but why then do it to God and His Son Jesus Christ who created us?
This term today is almost always used in a derogatory way and has a wide range of meanings, depending to a great degree on the one who is using the term. Some people would define a religious cult as any religion that does not hold to the historical Christian teachings, such as the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth, the Trinity, the bodily resurrection of Christ, salvation by faith in Christ, etc. But today, a religious group may be labeled a cult solely on the basis of their moral or political views, if they are more conservative or liberal than the one who calls them a cult. Sometimes it is used to describe a religion that claims they are the only ones right and that only they will go to heaven.
How can I know who is telling the truth? Ultimately one will have to go back to the Scriptures and see what they teach on a particular belief. But in short, any “new” religion or “new” belief is suspect, for “there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9; see OCCULT).
CURSING
Exodus 20:7 says, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Millions of people curse God and His Son Jesus Christ and think nothing about it. They may even respond, “It is no big thing, others do it.” But God said He, “will not hold him guiltless.” These same people would be greatly offended if another would curse their loved ones, but somehow it is OK to curse the one who made us? “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). I never hear people cursing Buddha, Allah, Muhammad, other religious leaders, or even the devil, and we should not curse anyone (Jude v. 9), but why then do it to God and His Son Jesus Christ who created us?