Introduction

When I was growing up whenever someone was caught telling a lie we always said "Liar, Liar, pants on fire!". Childish, yes, but very appropriate if you think about it. All cults have several things in common. First, they mimic Christianity, though they are only a pseudo-form of the truth. Several of the cults, like the Mormon Church, have gone so far into mimicry that they are actually considered a separate denomination like the Presbyterian or Methodist Churches. Second, the cults twist the Scripture to suit their platform of belief, rather than conform what they believe to what the Scripture teaches. Many of the cults, though not all, use various forms of brainwashing techniques to gather and retain their converts. They use holy deception, as they call it, to trick a person into their midst, then on tearing down the barriers of the person's old belief system they slowly inculcate the new, cultic doctrines.

"Liar, Liar, pants on fire!" is a true saying, for those deceived by cults are walking a pathway that can only lead to eternal damnation in the next life. Jesus said,  "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me". (John 14:6). The cults would have you believe there are other ways to God, but our Lord teaches only one way: Faith in the historic and Biblical Person of Jesus Christ. Anything that distorts that simple Gospel message is cultic, and leads to anything but Heaven.

In this and eight other studies we will be looking at various cults, and how they twist the Scripture into something outside of the truth. All Scripture quoted is from the King James version, and this research was compiled from various sources. Two of the best sources I used were The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error by Keith L. Brooks (Moody Press) and Larson's Book of Cults by Bob Larson (Tyndale Publishing House, 1982). I have also had personal contact with several of these cults myself, which "flavors" this writing.

Be aware, this series of studies is not meant to be a personal attack on any person, for all people are precious and need to hear the Gospel of Christ. These studies are designed to attack the lies that the cults are propagating, leading men and women to damnation and away from peace in Christ. If you know anybody who is involved in these cults, please don't use the material to attack them. Use the material, in conjunction with the leading of the Holy Spirit, to try and lead them out of the lies of the cult and into the Truth of God's Word. Redeem that soul for Jesus!
 

I came into contact with The Way, International, back in 1978 when I was still a young bachelor. I was new to the military, a young Airman, so I and four friends decided that we would pool our money together and rent us an apartment downtown. It helped greatly that we were all Christians, and we really couldn't wait to get "off base".

About 4 months after we moved to our new apartment a group of young people, two attractive young men and two beautiful young women, moved in next to us. Of course, this intrigued us. We went to welcome them to the neighborhood and started to share the Gospel of Salvation with them when one of them said "We're Christians, too!".

We were four young men, Christians dedicated to the Lord, but here were four people of different sexes, unmarried, living together, and proclaiming to be Christians. This blew our minds, even more so when they declared that they were "missionaries" and there was absolutely no sexual intercourse allowed within the group. When I asked what Church sponsored them we were introduced to Victor Paul Wierwille and The Way International.

In 1957 a United Church of Christ Minister named Victor Paul Wierwille resigned his pulpit and set up his own "denomination" called "The Way, International". Wierwille said that he actually heard God call him and tell him that "God will teach me the Word as it has not been known since the first century, if I would teach it to others". Wierwille taught that his doctrine was that which man had long since lost because of denominationalism and sin, that his "Word" as to what the Scripture taught was the pure doctrine of the first century Church available no where else.

Not long after I and my friends were introduced to The Way, we were invited (for a fee, of course) to attend a series of lectures called "Power For Abundant Living". Before we committed to these courses we found out that these missionaries disbelieved in the deity of Christ, and talked about holy spirit in a strange way from what we knew the Scripture taught. Since what the missionaries believed was far from what we, as Christians, knew the Scripture taught, we refused the courses. Praise God we did!

The Power for Abundant Living courses are actually a three week long series of taped lessons designed to indoctrinate "new followers" into the fold. Over thirty-six hours initiates must listen to either tapes or watch videos of Wierwille teaching with only ten minute breaks allowed every three hours. No notes may be taken .. you must pay close attention and try to absorb everything Wierwille teaches. You are not allowed to ask questions, just accept what you are told. In essence, you are brainwashed!

The Way departs from Biblical Orthodox Christianity in several areas. Followers of the Way believe that Jesus Christ is not God, but only the Son of God. Jesus did not come into existence until He was born of the Virgin Mary, and there is only God the Father in Heaven. The holy spirit is something that God, who is spirit, gives to man, not a Person of the Godhead at all. Those who believe in Trinitarian doctrine are unredeemed, because such doctrine is the wrong type of belief to be saved. But if you never get saved, don't worry: Wierwille teaches that non-believers after death are just dead. The only hell is the eternal separation from God, non-existence, not a Lake of Fire as taught in Revelation 20.

Followers of The Way teach that if you do not speak in tongues then you have never received holy spirit, and are therefore not saved. But don't despair: If you want to be saved, they will teach you how to speak in tongues.

Once you have been saved you are, in fact, free to sin for you are forgiven anyway. The Way is, in many respects, a modern day form of Gnosticism (teaching "we're saved so we're free to sin"). Followers of the Way do not recognize:

2 Corinthians 5:17  "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

That the truly saved believer becomes a new creature because he is saved. Salvation, true Salvation, brings a supernatural change in the life of the new believer. We are not perfect by any means after salvation, but the true Child of God seeks after his Lord, tries to please him. The person who gets saved so he will be free to sin is a heathen in Christian garb.

Though the Way uses terms common to Orthodox Christianity like "Born Again" and "Jesus Saves", what they mean by these terms is radically opposed to Orthodox Biblical Christianity. Wierwillites take the word of their leader, Victor Paul Wierwille, as if he were a divine oracle. Under his charismatic leadership this cult takes in an average 1 million dollars per year, with holdings at over 20 million dollars. The cult is up beat, hip hop, and appealing to younger and older teens disillusioned by orthodox backgrounds in sterile or dead Church assemblies. Once a member you are welcomed, encouraged, and loved - made to feel a part of the group. To young people this sense of belonging with the absolute freedom to sin that the Way teaches makes the cult hard to turn down.

In the following table you can compare how The Way, International stands when viewed in the light of God's Word:
 

The Holy Bible Says:	The Way, International Lies By Saying:
The Person of God Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  Genesis 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  Deuteronomy 4:35  Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.  John 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.  1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.  Matthew 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Matthew 3:16-17  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:   And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Genesis 11:7-8  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.  Isaiah 48:13-16   Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.  I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.  Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.	The Person of God Elohim, God alone, is Creator of heaven and earth.  The Bible teaches that there is only one true God, that God was in Christ, that God is Spirit, and that God is eternal whereas Jesus was born (Wierwille, The Word's Way, p. 26) God is most holy; God has no equal.  God alone holds the power of salvation (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 124) The trinitarian dogma degrades God from His elevated, unparalleled position.  Besides, it leaves man unredeemed  (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, Book Jacket) Biblically there are three: 1) God who is holy spirit, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2) Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the son of man, and 3) the holy spirit, God's gift, which God made available on the day of Pentecost (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 123).
The Lord Jesus Christ John 1:1-4  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  Matthew 1:18  Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.  Isaiah 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  1 Timothy 3:16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.  John 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. Romans 1:4-6  And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:  By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:  Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:  1 Corinthians 15:13-17  But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.  Hebrews 7:25  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  Acts 1:11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.	The Lord Jesus Christ The gospel of John established the truth of God's word that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, but not God the Son or God Himself (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 16). Jesus Christ's existence began when he was conceived by God's creating the soul-life of Jesus in Mary. (Wierwille, The Word's Way, p. 37) When Jesus was born, he came into existence .. foreknowledge became a reality (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 85). Jesus and God are not one from the beginning, but they were one in purpose (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, pp. 119-20). Jesus just "took part, not all" of Adam's flesh and blood (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 71). He was sinless because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, yet was born of Mary with a body of flesh, as all mankind (Wierwille, The Word's Way, p. 161). Jesus Christ was a man ... whose life was without blemish and without spot, a lamb from the flock, thereby being the perfect sacrifice.  Thus he became our redeemer (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 79).
The Personage of the Holy Spirit John 15:26  But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:  John 16:8, 13-14  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ... Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.  John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.  Romans 8:11-15  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  Ephesians 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;  1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.  Romans 8:9-11 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.	The Personage of the Holy Spirit God is holy, and God is spirit.  The gift that He gives is holy spirit (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, pp. 27-28). Many confuse the Giver, Holy Spirit, with the gift, holy spirit (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 128). In the new birth, man receives spirit from God, who is the Spirit (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 128) At Pentecost the speaking in tongues was the external manifestation of the receiving of the gift of holy spirit .... At the conclusion of his (Peter's) message, he taught them how to receive the new birth and speak in tongues (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 131). The holy spirit field ... is the field God raised me up for .... There's no one I can't lead into speaking in tongues, if they are Christian and want to do it (Elena S. Whiteside, The Way - Living in Love, p. 178). To worship by the spirit we must operate a manifestation of the holy spirit .. which produces true worship in speaking in tongues (Wierwille, The New, Dynamic  Church, p. 90).
The Nature of Sin Romans 3:10-12  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.  Romans 3:21-25  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;  1 John 1:9-10  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  1 John 3:4-5 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.  And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.  1 John 5:17  All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.  Romans 14:23  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.  James 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.	The Nature of Sin We, as well as Jesus Christ, were with God in His foreknowledge, but not in existence, before the foundation of the world (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 29). The Bible teaches that all men since Adam are born "dead in trespasses and sin" (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 70). What does God see on the palms of our hands? He sees on them nothing but sin, doubt, fear, bitterness, quarrels, lies, hatred -- everything that stains a sinner (Wierwille, The Bible Tells Me So, p. 108). Man fell because of disobedience to God's Word (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 66).
The Nature of Salvation Ephesians 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;  1 Peter 1:18-19  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:  Revelation 1:5-6  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.  Hebrews 9:22-26  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:  Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;  For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.  Colossians 1:20-22  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:  Hebrews 10:12-18  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;  From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.  For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.  Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.  Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.  John 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  Titus 3:5-7  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.  Romans 3:24-27  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.  Romans 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.	The Nature of Salvation Jesus brought righteousness because he willingly gave himself as a perfect, sinless sacrifice, a perfect redeemer (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 76). There are two parts: sin and disease, one is removed by the blood of the lamb and the other by the flesh of the lamb (Wierwille, The Bible Tells Me So, p. 87). Christ has redeemed us, not only from some of the things mentioned in the curse, but from all of them, which includes sickness and disease (Wierwille, The Bible Tells Me So, P. 84). ... the physical punishment which he went through brought our healing (Wierwille, The Bible Tells Me So, p. 84). When we have salvation, we have wholeness, even physical wholeness, if we simply accept it (Wierwille, The New, Dynamic  Church, p. 31). God is our Savior as the author of the plan of salvation. Jesus Christ made the new birth available as the agent of the plan of salvation and as the finisher of faith (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 147). All born again believers have "the faith of Jesus Christ" which is the measure given to everyone when he believes.  After a person has confessed with his mouth the Lord Jesus and has believed in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, he is a privileged son of God with access to all His promises (Wierwille, The New, Dynamic  Church, p. 29). NOTE: The church of Israel, which is the bride of Christ ... is the church of the period of the Law and of the gospels ... also the church of the Revelation.  The body of Christ began on the Day of Pentecost and continues until the return of Christ.  Everyone who is born again by God's Spirit is a member of the Church of Grace, the body of Christ (Wierwille, The New, Dynamic Church, pp. 7, 10).
The Nature of Hell Daniel 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.  Hebrews 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:  Revelation 20:12-15  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.  2 Thessalonians 1:8-9  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;  Mark 9:45-48  And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  Matthew 13:41-42  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.	The Nature of Hell The result of the one man's work (Adam's) was death; the result of the other was life (Wierwille,  Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 75). Death for the believer is referred to as falling asleep because in sleep there is an awakening point.  But for the unbeliever, the Christ rejecter, the ungodly, their resurrection is temporary for they shall meet a second and final death (Wierwille, Are the Dead Alive Now?  P. 98).

 

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