The Strand Study Bible

JOHN JOHN To deny the Triune Godhead, and Christ a part of it, one cannot be a Christian ( Gen 1:26 a & 3:22 & 11:7, Isa 6:8 & 48:16, Ezk 3:24 , Mt 28:19 c and Rom 1:20 a ). 2. We must be willing to worship God in “truth” In order to worship God in truth, we must be willing to “serve” His great interest (Exo 20:3-5). According to Genesis 22:5-8, the great interest of God is and always has been the subject of salvation. God’s great interest from Genesis (Gen 3:15,21) through Revelation (Rev 1:5) is the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of mankind (salvation by grace - Gen 22:1-5, I Sam 1:3, II Chro 7:1-3 & 29:28-30, Psa 138:2, Mt 1:21 and Eph 2:8-9). NOTE - Worship is not us having our way, but God having His way. Worship has nothing to do with how we feel, even though a lot of Christians consider worship to be “therapeutic.” Worship is not serving our interests, but rather serving God’s interests, which means “ bowing down ” to who God is (the Triune Godhead) and “ serving ” His great interest (proclaiming His salvation by grace). According to Christ in John 4:20-24, one would need both spirit and truth to worship God correctly. Therefore, if true worship means “ bowing down ” to who God is and “ serving ” His great interest, then the following religions either do or do not worship God correctly: Messianic Christianity (c. 4000 BC) - God “ working ” to save men ( Gen 3:15 a ) Messianic Christianity didn’t start with the birth of Christ; it started with the promise of Christ before the world began (Rev 13:8 and Titus 1:2). Messianic Christianity does bow down to God as a Trinity and does serve God’s great interest by teaching salvation by “grace.” 1723 Judaism began in Canaan sometime after the death of Moses. However, Moses did not start Judaism. Moses believed in a coming Messiah (Acts 3:19-24 and Heb 11:24-26) and even met the preincarnate Christ at the burning bush (Exo 3). Judaism neither bows down to God as a Trinity nor serves God’s great interest by teaching salvation by grace. Judaism believes in salvation by “works.” Judaism is more concerned about a person’s actions Every tradition of Judaism points to a remarkable religious revelation wrought by the genius of the desert chieftain, Moses… 4 Like so many religions ( Buddhism , Confucianism , Islam , etc.), Judaism started with a man’s death and became a movement. According to Bruce Bickel & Stan Jantz, in their book called World Religions & Cults 101 , there are about eighteen million Jews worldwide. About seven million of them live in America. 5 Judaism has a current membership of about 7 million followers worldwide. Judaism believes in a literal Hell; they just don’t believe it’s eternal. Hinduism (c. 1000 BC) - Men “ working ” (via karma ) to reincarnate themselves into something better ( Religious Note after I Ki 6:38) Hinduism began in India c. 1000 BC According to the New Age Encyclopedia : Hinduism has no known founder… 4 (works) than a person’s beliefs (faith). According to the New Age Encyclopedia : Mythology (c. 4000 BC) - Men “ working ” to become gods ( Gen 3:5 ) Polytheism (c. 4000 BC) - Men “ worshipping ” many gods ( Gen 3:5 ) Judaism (c. 1400 BC) - Men “ working ” to save themselves (Lk 18:9-14) ( Deut 34:6 )

Hinduism neither bows down to God as a Trinity nor serves God’s great interest by teaching salvation by grace. Hinduism believes in “works” (called karma ), which is used to obtain a better reincarnation.

According to An Incomplete Education by Judy Jones & William Wilson: Hinduism is very old: Predates all other world religions, except Judaism… 6

Hinduism is more or less a “designer” religion. You want to worship a god or several gods? No problem, have it your way. Or would you rather not even trouble yourself with the gods? Again, no problem, have it your way. In Hinduism, gods are not essential. Judy Jones and WilliamWilson sum up Hinduism best in their work, An Incomplete Education as: Very disorganized: Has 330 million gods…easy… 6 The influence of Hinduism in our culture today is staggering. The world is very aware of the terms: karma (good or bad fortune), meditation , mantra (repetition chant of Transcendental Meditation), yoga , and Vishnu . According to Bruce Bickel & Stan Jantz, in World Religions & Cults 101 , Hinduism has a current membership of 790 million followers, making it the third largest religion in the world. Over one million Hindu’s live in America. 5 Hinduism does not believe in a literal Hell, only in reincarnation.

Grecian Thought (600-400 BC) - Men “ reasoning ” away the notion of God via:

* Atheism -Thales of Miletus is considered the father of atheism. His Ionian science of Nature