BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS

Background of Religion
What do born again Christians Believe?
In the Philippines, we often differentiate between "born again" Christians
and Catholics. In actuality, the two are not mutually exclusive. There are many
born again Christians in the Catholic church and some within Protestant churches
who are not born again. Whether or not one is born again is entirely a matter of
faith, not church affiliation.
So what does a born again Christian believe? For starters, they believe in
God. They believe in one God existing eternally in three persons: the Father, the
Son, and the Holy spirit. They believe in the Bible as their authority on all
spiritual matters. They believe that Jesus is God. They believe He came to earth,
was born of a virgin, and eventually died on a cross and then was raised from
the dead on the third day. Most importantly, born again Christians believe that a
person can only be saved from their sins by placing their faith in Jesus Christ. It
is because of the free gift of God's grace that we can be saved through faith. To a
born again Christian, salvation has nothing to do with good works or church
attendance.
It is on this final point that born again Christians differ with the Catholic
church. Of course, there are some Catholics who understand that salvation is
through faith alone, but probably most do not. For people in the Philippines, their
decision about faith verses works will be the central theological decision of their
lives (whether they know it or not).

How Do I Decide What to Believe?

It is important to have a sound basis for deciding any matter related to our
own salvation. After all, it directly affects where we will spend eternity.
The Catholic church developed in about the fourth century after Christ at
the time that the Roman Empire adopted Chistianity as its state religion. The
mixture of governmental interests with Roman traditions at that time had an
effect on the structure of the church. Over the centuries the Catholic church
became highly structured and reliant not only on the Bible as a source of
authority, but on a myriad of more recent traditions.
A born again Christian, by way of contrast, seeks the truth solely from the
Bible itself. They recognize that only as we cut through the centuries of manmade rules and institutional traditions can we understand clearly what Jesus and
the writers of the New Testament actually taught concerning our salvation.

Basis for Decision-Making

Most Catholics
Born Again Christians
Bible + Tradition + Modern Church Law
The Bible
Once a person understands that the true Christian's basis of authority are
the words of the Bible itself, then they will find that their questions are quite
easily answered. The basis of salvation, according to the apostle Paul in
Ephesians 2:8-9 is faith alone. He writes, "For by grace you have been saved,
through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so
that no one can boast."
Most of us are familiar with John 3:16 which says, "For God so loved the
world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not
perish but have eternal life." What many people may not realize is that John uses
the Greek word for "believe" more than 90 times as the basis of salvation, each
time with nothing else attached.
Of course good works are important. In fact, a person who claims to have
Christ but whose life shows no change at all over time may need to admit that
they did not genuinely, sincerely, place their faith in Christ. Works do matter...-But for the born again Christian, these works are the RESULT of their salvation,
not the MEANS of salvation. The work of Christ on the cross is sufficient.
What a relief to know that we do not have to "earn" our salvation. We are,
of course, completely unable to please God on our own. We begin life in a state
of sin and spiritual death. On this Catholics and Protestants agree. Who are we,
then, to think we can earn our way to heaven? In Hebrews 11:6 we are reminded
"Without faith it is impossible to please God."
Fortunately, God is a God of love. While we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us." (Romans 5:8). "We love Him because he first loved us." (1John 4:19).
What a blessed thing that the Creator God of the universe reached down to sinful
man through His only son and gave us the perfect love that only He could give.
If you would like to be born agian, then simply believe in Christ alone for
the forgiveness of your sins. You can express this faith in Christ through prayer
right now. The following is a suggested prayer:
Lord Jesus, I need you.
If you sincerely prayed that prayer, then you can know that Christ is in
your life and that all of your sins (past, present, and future) are forgiven. You
need never pray this prayer again. Jesus said, "I will never leave you nor forsake
you." (Hebrews 13:5)
If you, as a born again Christian, commit a sin, simply admit it directly to
God in prayer and thank Him that you are already forgiven. As you pray and read
your Bible daily, you will grow closer and closer to Him as your friend and Savior.

If you just prayed the prayer above, it is very important that you recieve
the help of other believers as you begin this new relationship with God.

Source: http://www.learnaboutjesus.biz/page3.html
History of Born Again
The Born Again Movement traces its origin early in the 19th century. In
reaction to Protestant Liberalism a group of Protestant theologians from
various denominations (Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and
Evangelicals etc.) wrote a 12 volume book entitled The Fundamentals.
The book contains a compilation of essays of Protestant doctrines and
the Born Again Movement adapted their doctrines from this 12 volume books
that is why some of their doctrines are similar to those of mainline
Protestants. In the strictest sense Born Again Christians is an offshoot of
mainline Protestantism, no wonder they claimed to be a non-denominational
Church.

Born Again Movement arrived in our shores in the late 1930s and
gained its popularity in the 70s and 80s which is considered the golden era
of Born Again Movement in the Philippines. During this years membership in
various Born Again Churches increase because they where able to infiltrate
mainline Protestant Churches and had lured nominal Catholics into their fold.
However their steady growth ceases starting the year 1990 and their
membership declined in the succeeding years. In the year 2000 Born Again
Churches in the United States send their missionaries in the Philippines to reestablished the Born Again Movement and this time their primary mission is
no longer to infiltrate Protestant and Catholic Churches but targeted the
youth in schools particularly college students.
In Davao City there are various Born Again Churches, the following are
the most common Born Again Churches that is actively recruiting students to
join their ranks,

House hold of Faith,

Victory Chapel,
G12,
PSALM and Maranatha Family Church.
Born Again evangelist does not want to discuss the history of the
Christian church, in their Bible studies with their prospects, they intentionally
limit the discussion to the Bible alone. They conceal the history of the
Christian religion because it will show that their movement did not originate
from the apostles. It is necessary for them to negate history because St. Paul
warned us not to accept teachings that did not originate from the apostles
Gal.1:8 and Born Again Movement evidently cannot trace the history of their
church into the time of the apostles.

Method of Evangelization
Born

Again evangelists employ the basic principles of human

psychology in order to lure people into their fold. Their method is both
manipulation and deception, let me explain why.
There are two principles that work behind their method emotion and
common ground (music). Born Again evangelist realized that music is a
common ground among youths, so they adopted music to attract young
adults into their churches. If you attend the service of one of these Born
Again Churches you can see that their music ministry is like a rock and roll
band, they intentionally composed alternative type gospel songs in order to
add attraction to their service. In this way those people whom they invited
will experience a pleasurable feeling and will come back for more.
Aside from music they add into their arsenal the appeal to the
emotions of the people. The sermons of their pastors are directed to stir up
the emotions of the listeners and sometimes they would even come to the
point of crying in the pulpit that is the reason why their pastors must be a
good public speaker.

Born Again evangelist knew that once they where able to touch the
persons emotion it will be very easy to manipulate him. Through music they
grant pleasure and through emotional manipulation they control the people,
this is a classical example of psychological conditioning (this is also used to
train dogs).
Clearly Born Again evangelization has deception as its chief foundation
and they even used selected passages from the Bible to deceive people. They
usually start evangelizing by asking ambiguous questions such us Are you
saved? or Are you born again?, if the person answers no or I dont know
they will tell you that you must accept Christ as a Lord and Personal Savior in
order to be born again otherwise you will be damned to hell. And if the person
will answer yes they will invite you to their church and worship with
them. And if the person is a Catholic that would mean that you have
to leave the Catholic Church and do away your Catholic beliefs about
Mary, the Saints, confession etc. Let us be vigilant not to fall to the
snares of the Born Again movement.
EXPOSING THE BORN AGAIN DOCTRINES
Bible Alone Doctrine:
Following the battle cry of the Reformers Sola Scriptura! or Bible
alone, Born Again Christians will only believed what they can find within the
pages of Sacred Scripture. Hence for them historical records, writings of the
early church fathers are superfluous. It is virtually impossible to argue with a
Born Again in the realm of history because they will just dismiss it as
irrelevant to our salvation.
Born Again Christians view the Bible as the final authority for a
Christians faith and moral not the Church, aside from this they also view the
Bible as sufficient for everything related to salvation. They are also strict
literalist they have no regard for the historical background of the passages in
the Bible. And they take most of the passages as literal unless in contradicts
their doctrines.

In support of their false doctrine of Bible alone they frequently quote 2

Timothy 3:16 which says; All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach,
to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice: a close analysis of this passage
will bring out the truth that the Born Again Christians erred in their
interpretation of the said passage.
What does Paul mean when he said all scripture is inspired? First and
foremost the scripture that Paul is referring here is not the Bible as what we
have now but the Old Testament. In verse 15 of the same chapter Paul said to
Timothy from thy infancy thou hast known the holy scriptures, and during
Timothys infancy not a single New Testament was ever written yet therefore
Paul is clearly referring to the Old Testament as God-breathed or inspired.
Furthermore it states that scriptures that is inspired by God is
profitable for teaching, reproving, correcting and instructing, clearly this
denotes that Scripture is a tool used by the man of God in the four corners of
his ministry to teach, reprove, correct and instruct. The Contemporary English
Version of the Bible brings out the clear meaning of this passage Everything
in the Scriptures is God's Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping
people and for correcting them and showing them how to live.
Nowhere in this passage states that Scripture is sufficient for teaching,
reproving, correcting and instructing but rather Scripture is profitable or
useful. In John 21:25 it says, But there are also many other things which Jesus
did which, if they were written every one, the world itself. I think, would not
be able to contain the books that should be written.
Every thing that Christ did is important for our salvation and those
things that Christ did that were not written down were preserved in the
Apostolic Tradition.
The passage 2 Timothy 3:16 does not also prove that Scripture is the
only and final authority for a Christians faith and morals, because this
passage speaks of the nature of Scripture that it is inspired by God and it is a
tool used by the man of God for his ministry.

Born Again Christians must rethink and reconsider these questions in

their search for the truth; did Christ instruct the Apostles to write the Bible?
When Christ ascended to heaven did he left us a Bible or a Church? And lastly
did Christ instruct us that the Bible is the final authority or the Church?
(cf.Mt.18:18).
The Bible is very clear that the Church founded by Christ is the final
authority. In Mt.16:17-19 Christ founded the church and he gave to Peter the
keys which symbolize authority and in Mt.18:17-18 this authority is extended
to other apostles. In 1 Timothy 3:15, the church is called the pillar and
bulwark of truth therefore if we want to know the gospel of Christ go to the
Church that He himself founded.
The Church was able to give us the Bible because it is the pillar and
bulwark of truth, the contents of the Bible is the very gospel that the church
has been preaching for 300 years before the Bible was compiled in 397 A.D at
the synod of Carthage.
Furthermore the Bible also tells us that it is not sufficient because not
all teachings of Christ where written down.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:15 Paul said Therefore, brethren, stand fast:
and hold the traditions, which you have learned, whether by word or
by our epistle. In this passage Paul urges us all to hold on to the traditions
that they handed over to us both by word (Apostolic Tradition) and by epistle
(Bible).
Therefore it is absolutely wrong to believe that the Bible alone is
sufficient because it is recorded in the Bible the teachings of Christ are
handed over to us through Oral/Apostolic Tradition and Sacred Scripture. The
Catholic faith is this that we have Sacred Scripture, Apostolic Tradition and an
infallible interpreter the Magisterium
Faith Alone Doctrine:

Like any other Protestant Churches, Born Again Christians also believed
in the invented doctrine of the Reformers the so called Faith Alone doctrine.
Born Again Christians is fond of quoting the Scripture out of its context
especially the verses that emphasized the importance of faith.
However Born Again Christians do not express the totality of the
Biblical doctrine of salvation since they only select the verses they read and
used in their Bible studies. The Born Again always make it a point in their
Bible study and preaching that you dont need to perform good works since
God would look into your faith not on your good works.
Protestants divorce faith from good works because part of doing good
is obedience, since they do not want to obey the Vicar of Christ the pope
hence they dismissed the importance of good works. This doctrine is not only
contradictory to Scriptures but it is also heretical (cf. Js.2:24).
The Catholic Church taught us that faith and good works is
complementary to each other, we put our faith into action by doing good
works. In James 2:26 it clearly denotes that faith cannot be separated from
good works since faith without good works is dead.
Even in the time of Christ there were people who believes in faith alone
but Christ rebuked them for this erroneous belief. In Mt.7:21, Christ said not
every one who calls me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of Heaven but he
who does the will of my Father in heaven, in this passage Christ rebukes
those who have faith in him alone but does not do the will of the Father.
But what is the will of the Father? In Eph.2:10 we are created for a life
of good works since it is through good works that we can put our faith in
action, as what St Paul said faith that works through love (cf. Gal.5:6).
Although faith is necessary for salvation (cf. Heb.11:6), it must be united with
good works.
In Acts 16:30-31 it shows the unity of faith and good works. The jailer
asked Paul what must I do to be saved? The phrase must I do denotes an
action, something the jailer must perform in order to be saved. And Paul

answered the jailer believe on the Lord Jesus, which connotes that he must
have faith in Jesus Christ. Thus combining the thought in the jailers inquiry
and Pauls answer it tells us that the act of believing or having faith is not just
a mental assent but a good works by itself.
Hence it proves that faith and good works is inseparable from each
other. A faith accompanied by good works is a living faith that is why in Pauls
epistle to the Romans 2:7, he told the Romans that eternal life is the reward
for those who persevere in doing good works. This is proved by the example
of a man named Zacchaeus wherein he put his faith into action by doing good
works (cf. Lk.19:8-9).

The Danger of Faith Alone:

The belief in faith alone doctrine of Martin Luther is very dangerous,
because it undermines the very fundamental way of cultivating values and
putting our faith in practice that is through charity.
If we have faith alone there exist no difference between the devil and
us. Because even the devil believes in God (cf. Js.2:19), the fundamental
difference between us and the devil is that we are capable of putting our faith
into practice by being charitable. And being charitable is being a loving
person but the devil is incapable of being charitable hence if we have faith
alone and does not have love there is no difference between the devil and us.
In the end of times God will judge us by how we put our faith in action.
In Mt.25:32-46, the criteria of Gods judgment will be base on our good works
not by faith alone. If we die having our faith alone and faces God for
judgment (cf. Heb.9:27) on what basis would God judge us, if we have not
done any good works in our life? Would such dead faith saved him? Certainly
not!

Conclusion:
Being a faithful Christian means that we must be obedient to God and
to the people he mandated to tend His flock. In Luke 10:16, Christ told the

seventy two people He mandated to go house to house that those who

rejects them also rejects Christ and the Father. In Mt.28:18-20, before he
ascended to heaven He mandated his apostles to make disciples to all
nations thus those who rejected His disciples also rejects him. And the
successors of Christs apostles are the bishops that we have now. Hence to
reject the bishops and the pope is also rejecting Christ.
Source:http://catholicdefender2000.blogspot.com/2011/03/exposing-bornagain-movement.html