THE HOLY BIBLE TEACHES GOD’S ONLY COURSE
All scriptures of the Bible are “given by inspiration of God;” and are said to be dependable for teaching correct doctrine, and for thoroughly preparing the people of God for what he want them to believe and do (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the only way or course to God the heavenly Father (John 14:6).
THE BIBLE TEACHES THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS
The surpassing works of Jesus Christ reported in the Bible affirm him as God’s promised Savior of the world and God’s only divine Son; and confirm the Bible as God’s only revelation of himself to the world:
- Jesus spoke to his disciples on an occasion after his crucifixion and miraculous resurrection from the dead. He said to them:
“This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:44-48).
- Before Jesus was crucified he had said : “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6; John 1:1-4; John 3:16).
- Writers of the gospels of Jesus Christ witnessed that before the crucifixion of Jesus, he performed many miracles and works which no one else did, including but not limited to healed all manners of sicknesses, casted out demons, raising several people from the dead (John 15:24).
THE TRUTH VS DECEPTION
The scriptures spoken by God, first through inspired writers and ultimately through his divine Son, are essentially about Jesus Christ as God’s Savior of the world (Hebrews 1:1-3). Jesus Christ has demonstrated that he is the way and the truth and the life–The only way to God the Father of salvation (John 14:6). Witnessing and testifying the truth of Jesus Christ is “the spirit of prophecy” about God’s salvation (Revelation 19:10).
Nevertheless, the Bible warns us that in the perilous days which we live, imposters who are workers of the Satan, will come to deceive many about Jesus Christ and the biblical Word of God. They will have a form of godliness, but deny the power of God to work in their lives. And they shall deceive people who do not study and follow the Holy Spirit to know the Scripture. (2 Peter 2:1-3; 2 Corinthians 11: 13-15; 2 Timothy 3:5,13). The Scripture has the only truth which sets people free from the devil’s deceptive powers. (Ephesians 6:12; John 14:6; John 8:32 ).
THE TRUTH SETS FREE.
The born-again author of The Light That Was Dark, Warren Smith, said he and many others were largely deceived into spiritual darkness by forces behind teachings called A Course In Miracles (ACIM); which claims to be dictated by the “Voice” of God (preface viii). But Warren said he was freed from these deceptive powers of darkness by studying the Bible and believing in the liberating power of Jesus Christ.
Examining and comparing how teachings of ACIM concerning Jesus fails to align with the truth of Bible teachings might help us to be more aware of or be freed from the deadly deception of such courses.
COMPARING WHO JESUS IS IN THE BIBLE WITH ANOTHER COURSE
THE BIBLE: “In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God and the Word was with God…Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:1-2NIV). “Who being in very nature God… he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even the death of a cross (Philippians 2:6-8). God the Father has revealed Jesus Christ to be God’s “only begotten Son,” who died as an atonement for the sins of the world (Romans 3:23; John 3:16). And God the Father has decreed that “every knee shall bow,” and “all the angels worship” Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:12; Philippians 2:10 ). Jesus said: “I am the Alpha and the Omega…the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).
ACIM: “Christ is God’s Son…He is the Self we share…with one another, and with God as well” (Workbook. P431). Jesus is Christ “along with you” (Manual for Teachers p87). “I am the holy Son of God Himself” (Workbook, p363). “God gave the Sonship to you” (Text, p321). “The Sonship is your Self” (Workbook, p22).
COMPARING HOW SIN IS TREATED IN THE BIBLE WITH ANOTHER COURSE
THE BIBLE: “Sin is disobedience” toward the Word of God (1 John 3:4). Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, sinned in disobeying God in the Garden of Eden, being deceived by a devil-serpent (Genesis 3; Revelation 20:2). And they died spiritually, being separate from God; and eventually they died physically. (Genesis, chapter 3; Ephesian 2:1; Hebrews 9:27). Moreover, all their descendant have “ sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal through Jesus Christ” (Romans 6:23; John 3:16).
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as the sacrificial atonement for whoever repents and believes in Jesus’ atonement for their sins (John 3:16; Acts 2:38). “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).
ACIM: “The Course has its own definition of what forgiveness really is just as it defines the world in its own way” (preface, xi). “Sin is the home of all illusions” (WB, 419). “There is no sin.” (WB, p419). “My Self is holy” (WB, p20). “Let me remember there is no sin” (WB, p424).
Jesus Christ’s apostle Paul said, if anyone, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified,” let them be under God’s curse (Galatians 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:2).
The Lord Jesus Christ condemns anyone who “adds to” or” takes away from” the written words of God in the Bible (Revelation 22:18-19). The Bible reveals Jesus Christ as the only way or course to God.
