Many have asked why I don’t study or teach on the cults or the occult. To that I give the following answer:
In the Garden of Eden there were two trees, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God allowed man to eat from the tree of life. It was a “type” of Christ. It caused him to live forever.
Man was commanded not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was not a tree of knowledge that he could not eat from but a tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God does not want us to know evil with our intellect. He will cause us to know evil with our spirit.
GEN 2:9 And out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die. "
GEN 3:5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Like Eve, we see that the knowledge of evil “is desirable to make us wise”, “to make us equal to God, knowing good and evil”. Knowing about the cults gives us an edge when talking to people, both Christians and those in the cults. It makes us feel a sense of pride. Scripture says, however, “knowledge makes us arrogant but love edifies”.
God does not want us to “witness” to the cults through our knowledge of their beliefs but rather, He wants us to “witness” through love. Again, it says, “They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another” not by your knowledge of their beliefs.
It has been my experience that Christians find it difficult to “witness” through love. It is easier to witness through knowledge.
Another area of contention is the belief that we are to “witness” to cultists who come to our door. We should look at the next verses to give us the definitive answer to this idea.
2JO 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist. Watch yourselves that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
Again, it is the pride of knowledge, not the love of people, which forces us to “witness” to these strangers. Perhaps, if we truly loved them, we would be going to their homes on Saturday mornings and telling them the gospel.
Scripture clearly says that we are not to greet them nor are we to invite them into our home. They come in pairs for a purpose. There is strength in numbers. They feed off each other’s presence. They are rarely persuaded to the truth. An interesting statistic reveals that a great number of Southern Baptists have been persuaded to Mormonism as a result.
EXO 23:13 "Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.
God desires for us to know evil only by our spirit, His Spirit within, not by our soul, mind, will or emotions.
HEB 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
