The Cults (non-Christian) of Christianity, also known as the Pseudo-Christian Cults, CLAIM to be Christian - yet at one point or another, they deny at least one or more of the fundamental beliefs of the historic Christian faith.
By the shoot that springs up we can judge the type of tree that is growing, by the blossoms we judge the kind of fruit, by the spring we judge the type of harvest coming, by the morning we judge the coming day, and by the character of the young man, we may generally judge what he will be when he grows up. 1
So too, by the doctrine of a cult we will know what kind of fruit it will bring forth.
For a group to claim to be Christian, and yet be something totally not Christian is downright wrong. Every cult will at some point reject (in varying degrees) the historic Biblical position on who Jesus Christ really is, what He has really accomplished on the cross, and the validity of His bodily resurrection.
View a sampling...
How Cults Deceive
Pseudo-Christian Cults
Cultic and Occult Groups
The actual historic position is that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God who was incarnated as a human being. He was, always has been, and is the Second Person of the Triune Godhead. He is 100% fully God and He was and is 100% fully man. Jesus never sinned, yet He suffered for sin in our place - He was the sinless Substitute for mankind. Biblical salvation is and can only be by grace alone, through faith alone,in Jesus Christ (God) alone. Anyhting less than this is a cultic perversion.
Because cults and cultic groups distort and twist Biblical terminology, they inetivably end up perverting or attacking the Person of Jesus Christ and atoning work. Hence, they end up with ANOTHER Jesus, ANOTHER spirit, and ANOTHER Gospel (2 Corinthians 11:4). Sadly, this always leads to a works based, human effort oriented salvation - which is not salvation at all but a counterfeit that cannot save from sin and its consequences.
This means that an individuals salvation (being saved from sin and its consequences) is dependent in varying degress upon the adherent, and not 100% dependent on the Living God. It is God alone who is able to save, not man plus God. All 'Pseudo-Christian' cults are based upon unbiblical teachings that have been distorted and ripped out of context.
Pseudo-Christian cults are not Christian by any stretch of the imagination - they are non-Christian cults.
What is a Cult?
Merriam-Webster Online
Deception in the Church - Defining Terms
Handbook of Today's Religions
CARM - About Cults
The Centers For Apologetic Research - Cults
Apologetics Index - Cult of Christianity
Handbook of Today's Religions - Characteristics of a Cult
Pseudo-Christian Cults Are Counterfeit Christian Movements
Merriam-Webster Online: Definition of Counterfeit
Wikipedia: Definition of Counterfeit
Encyclopedia Britannica: Definition of Counterfeiting
How Is Counterfeit Money Tested?
U.S. Secret Service: How To Detect Counterfeit Money
Counterfeit Detection (Currency): Spotting a Counterfeit
Proper Biblical Interpretation Always Exposes Counterfeit Christianity
Eight Rules of Interpretation (Used by legal experts for more than 2500 years)
20 Scripture Twisting Methods of Cults
