MUSLIMS WIDE-EYED AT “CHRISTIAN” HOLLYWOOD

              

By NiteOwlDave      
niteowldave@gmail.com

There are a few important truths that our Muslim friends need to know about America and the Christian faith.

First, despite claims to the contrary, the US is not a Christian country. It is a melting pot of religious diversity which the US Constitution allows.

A small number of Islamists live here. A much larger number of so-called Christians call the US home. Over 25 per cent are said to be evangelical Protestants. Twenty per cent cue up behind the Pope as Roman Catholics.

According to the PewResearch Center at http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/ , there are -        

• Christian (Total 70.6%)
• Evangelical Protestant 25.4%
• Mainline Protestant 14.7%
• Historically Black Protestant 6.5%
• Catholic 20.8%
• Mormon 1.6%
• Orthodox Christian 0.5%
• Jehovah's Witness 0.8%
• Other Christian 0.4%

Non-Christian Faiths (Total 5.9%)

• Jewish 1.9%
• Muslim 0.9%
• Buddhist 0.7%
• Hindu 0.7%

    Other World Religions (Total 0.3%)

• Other Faiths 1.5%
• Unaffiliated (religious "nones") 22.8%
• Atheist 3.1%
• Agnostic 4.0%
• Nothing in particular 15.8%

We may be surprised to learn that Hollywood plays a vital role for the Muslim’s erroneous perception of what it means to be a Christian.

Islamists believe that the US is a Christian country, and therefore believe that the movies and TV programming they see reflect Christian values and the teaching of the Bible. In the majority of Muslim countries, programming is controlled as is all pro-Muslim entertainment.

Hollywood is hardly bound by such restrictions. Few script writers and film makers are Bible-believing Christians. Movies today are laced with cursing Christ, sexual deviance and marital cheating, cheap-thrill killing, and the joy of illegal drug usage.

These are not things that square with what the Bible teaches.

In Iran, Hollywood movies are not shown on TV or at the theaters, but people can watch them by satellite or DVDs which are illegal in the country. Nevertheless, many are said to watch them.

Says a middle-aged Iranian-born man, who was raised to believe that Hollywood tells the truth before he fled, at age 20, to a nearby country, got saved, and now is in the Lord’s work full-time.

“Muslims think that what they see are how Christians in America really live or approve."

 “Hollywood doesn’t reflect the God-fearing side of man in their movies,” he said. “The opposite is true. It promotes too much sin and evil.

“The film people produce movies and television sitcoms that, generally, mock and curse the Lord Jesus Christ and present a Bible-believer as a mindless fool."

He adds, “Hollywood rarely tells the truth of the crucified and risen Christ whose shed blood paid the total sin debt for those who will repent of their sins and accept Him.”

Hollywood and most U.S. media groups fear the Islamic extremists. They are aware that a simple drawing of Allah or Mohammad sends the Muslims on the warpath seeking the blood of the “infidels.”

A Muslim believes the baloney that killing in the name of Allah increases his chances of gaining entry into virgin-clogged Heaven. A Muslim has no assurance of Heaven, ever.

The Bible says entry into Heaven is based upon placing our faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and has nothing to do with our good works. Of course, it is a given that a Christian should do good works as evidence of our faith.

THE ROLE OF GOOD WORKS IN GAINING HEAVEN

We present here an exchange between a Roman Catholic and a Protestant on the subject of salvation by FAITH PLUS WORKS and FAITH ALONE.

Faith Plus Works

Although many Catholics are confused and pretty ignorant when it comes to what the Church teaches regarding salvation, the official teaching of the Catholic Church is pretty easy to find. 

Faith Alone
 
The "official" Roman Catholic Church (RCC) teaching seems secondary if the vast majority of RCs are "confused and pretty ignorant" re their personal salvation and are on their way to eternal Hell because the RCC taught them to believe the gospel of Christ but deemed it insufficient without adding good works to the mix.
 
Who cares what the ancient councils believed if the RCC preaches a false gospel today? And anything that adds to the simple gospel of Christ is false. As you know, Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
 
Of course, the important pitfall to be avoided here is the false idea that we work for our salvation rather than because of our salvation, or that works precede rather than follow salvation.  

Every true believer will bring forth the fruit and works of the indwelling Holy Spirit because true, spiritual life is irrepressible. It is the same with a newborn baby. If he/she is alive, it is soon obvious. 

Faith Plus Works

The Catholic Church officially teaches that no one can earn his own salvation by his good works. One of the first heresies condemned by the early church was Pelagiansim, which taught that we can earn our salvation by our good works.

Faith Alone

Good. But, today, unofficially, the RCC is heavy on works for salvation.

Faith Plus Works

Later, at the Council of Trent, the Church condemned semi-Pelagianism, which is the teaching that we have to make the first move in the process of salvation. So, first, the Church has always taught that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” and that salvation is a free gift of grace.

Faith Alone

I doubt that most Catholics think salvation is a free gift. When I asked a nun what I had to do in order to go to Heaven, she replied, “Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died for your sins. But, of course, we have to do our part.”                

When I asked for an example of what our part might be, she replied, “Well, I am a nun and I gave up marriage and children. So I did my part.”

Faith Plus Works

We don’t make the first move. God, in grace, makes the first move, and if it were not for his totally undeserved grace, we would all die in our sins.

Faith Alone

Amen!

Faith Plus Works

The difference between certain Protestants (although by no means all) and Catholics on the question of salvation concerns what is expected of us once we’ve been given the gift of grace.

If you read the parable of the talents, you will see the Catholic position rather clearly. The master gives each servant a certain number of talents (these are given absolutely freely; the servants did nothing to earn or deserve them), and then when the master returns, he assesses how they’ve done with the gifts they’ve been given.

The one who hid his gift in the ground has his gift taken away.

In other words, the Bible consistently teaches that we must make use of the gifts which have been given to us. So, it’s not OUR talents that save us. All “talents” are God’s free gift through Christ on account of his atoning death.

But we must WORK with the talents that have been given us. As Paul puts it in Galatians 5:6, “Neither circumcision nor un-circumcision count for anything, but faith WORKING through love.”

Faith Alone

Unlike circumcision, faith working through love is the automatic outcome of the sealing of the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation. If there is no change, then we conclude it was a false profession of faith. We are not working for faith but because of faith. No works, no faith.

Faith Plus Works

It would seem that in the first century, some Christians had already begun to misinterpret Paul’s writings as teaching that good works were unnecessary for salvation (although Paul never taught that—he said that the works of the Old Testament Law were of no avail, but not works prompted by grace).

Faith Alone

What about Titus 3:5 which says, "NOT by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his MERCY He saved us"? You can't have both, so pick one. Is it works or is it mercy?

Faith Plus Works

So, later in the New Testament, in the book of James, the explicit question is asked (for the only time in the entire New Testament): namely, are works necessary for justification.

Here is the entire text (James 2:14-26):
“What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?  
“If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food.
 
“And one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?
 
“So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Faith Alone

No problem. Ephesians 4:30 says, "By their fruit (works), ye shall know them." Good works have nothing to do with saving the sinner but are the evidence that the Holy Spirit has taken up residence within the believer at his moment of salvation. All truly born again believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and will produce good works which are the outward evidence of the inner change.

If good works could save us, why did Christ need to die?

Faith Plus Works

“But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.”                                                                                                                                         
“You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.”

“Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren?

“Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?

“You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works.

“And the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.”

“You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

“And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.”
 
Faith Alone
 
Let me try and summarize the above: 

If a newborn baby is alive, there is evidence. If no evidence, the baby is dead. If a person is born again, there will be evidence. If none, he remains dead in his sins. The above verses are not telling us to do good works in order to complete our salvation.                                               
 
It is simply stating that good works will automatically follow salvation because the indwelling Holy Spirit brings changes to the heart. So works are the evidence, not the grounds of faith. To make works the grounds of faith is deadly error.                                                      
 
As far as I know, the majority of Roman Catholics believe they must add their "good works" to the finished work of Christ. That is the great error of the RCC. The Bible tells us, ALL our good works are worth nothing compared to the blood of Christ.
 
Faith Plus Works
 
The key in the text quoted above is that works are the evidence and completion of faith. Apart from faith (and grace) our works are as “filthy rags,” but once we’ve been given the gift of grace, our faith is “completed” by works.                      
 
Faith Alone
 
So, am I to conclude that Christ did His part and I must do my part in order to go to Heaven? In that case, why did Christ say in John 19:30 that our redemption was "finished" (completed) when He died on the cross?

How can a sinner add anything to the "finished" work of Christ, especially since, as it is noted in Isaiah 64:6, "all our righteousness’s are as filthy rags?" In Isaiah 42:8, God says, "I am the LORD: that is my name and my glory will I not give to another..." The belief that we contribute to our own salvation is the lie of Satan, the arch enemy of God.

   

RELIGION CANNOT SAVE ANYONE

Jesus can because he paid it all
 
By Mike Gendron.   
 http://www.progospel.org/default.asp?sec_id=180014816
 
For 34 years, Evangelist Mike Gendron was a devout Roman Catholic and a strong defender of the "one true church." 

In 1981, at an evangelistic seminar, Mike heard for the first time that salvation is not by works or sacraments, but by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. He also discovered the Bible must become his authority in all matters of faith.
 

I have found that many Roman Catholics reject the gospel of the Bible because of their strong religious faith.
 
Why? Because they are trusting their religion - their denomination - to get them to Heaven. Many of them hold a strong loyalty to an empty belief system and say, "I was born a Catholic and I will die a Catholic."
 
They are convinced that the Roman Catholic Church is the church Jesus founded.
 
Tragically, Catholics have been indoctrinated with a fatal flaw.  

They have been taught that salvation is dispensed through the sacraments by an installment method. Instead of passing from spiritual death to life, their salvation is said to be received piecemeal, a little at a time.   

This is why they are utterly dependent upon their priests for salvation.
 
Wrongly, they have been taught that their priest administers baptism for regeneration and justification; he hears confession to absolve sin; he offers the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist; he imparts the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of Confirmation; he gives Last Rites for those who are dying; and he offers Mass for Catholic souls suffering in Purgatory.
 
None of that aligns with what the Bible teaches. By the supreme authority of God's Word, we can see that all of these teachings are completely false.
 
Salvation from the power and punishment of sin is instantaneous, unconditional, and eternal. It occurs at the moment our sovereign God brings to life those who are spiritually dead in their sins (Eph. 2:1-5).
 
He graciously grants repentance and gives the gift of faith to those who humbly receive and believe Christ and His Word (John 1:12-13; 2 Tim. 2:25; Jas. 4:6-8).
 
The Lord Jesus calls those who are heavily burdened by legalistic rituals to come to Him for rest. To everyone who embraces Him with empty hands of faith, He offers an eternal relationship in exchange for their empty religion.

When God opened the Apostle Paul's eyes to the light of the gospel, he quickly realized that religion could not save him. Clearly, no one had more reason to boast about his religious activities than Paul.
 
For Christ's sake, Paul suffered the loss of all things and counted them as rubbish, in order that he may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of his own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
 
Paul exchanged his religion for a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. He exchanged his futile attempts to become righteous with the gift of Christ's righteousness that comes by faith (Rom. 5:17). He exchanged everything he was doing for what Christ had done! 
 
Salvation (getting saved) is a one-time prayer of acceptance of Christ for paying all of our sins when He sacrificed Himself on the cross and rose again from the dead. It launches us as His forgiven kid.
To get saved, we must call out to the Lord in a simple prayer like this -
 
Dear God,
 
I am a sinner.
 
Others have sinned greater than I have but, nevertheless, I stand before you now as a lost sinner, deserving of Hell.
 
I choose to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became a man.
 
I choose to believe that He allowed Himself to be put to death, that He arose again on the third day, and is alive today.
 
The Bible says that Jesus Christ shed His blood and died to pay the penalty for our sins, and I believe that.
 
Father, I want to be cleansed of all my sins right now.
 
I know that Jesus Christ died to make me right with God, and that I am forgiven for all my sins, and will go to Heaven when I die.
 
Right now, at (time and    date)____________________________, I bow down at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ, and I am dumping all of my sins there.  And I mean ALL of them!

I ask that the blood of Jesus Christ wash away all my sins - past, present and future.

I believe that the blood of Jesus Christ has now washed away all my sins - past, present and future.
 
I am sorry for my sin, God, and I accept your forgiveness.
 
Right now, I declare that I am a Christian. I pledge my allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
I ask, Father, that you will make me aware of when 
I want to sin, and give me the courage to say No.
 
I ask, too, that you will help me understand the Bible, and to make the rest of my days on earth count for eternity.

I pray all of this in the name of Jesus Christ - my new Lord and Savior - amen.
 
So, now that you are saved (AKA “born again)…
1. Begin attending a church that teaches from the Bible alone.
2. Do good works.