From New Age to Biblical Christianity (Part 2)

Complimentary Story
      Of all the beliefs I held as a New Ager, I stuck most tightly to reincarnation because that teaching felt so right to me; but I wasn’t about to let my subjective feelings be my authority for truth. Eventually I became convinced that the New Age, including reincarnation, was and is a lie because: 
   1). Channelers, Satanists, and demons conjured during seances teach that reincarnation is true and that the Bible is not. They teach that the souls of the dead successively return to the earth in new forms or bodies until the soul becomes evolved enough to stay in a higher sphere. (But different persuasions of Satanism exist. Some believe the soul can be cast into “hell” but that “hell” is an endless party of debauchery.)
   I had no desire to hold to a doctrine of demons.
   2). Because Satanists and such hate the Bible, they induce seekers to believe that people are gods and have more than one life on earth and can “work off” their “bad karma,” that neither sin nor divine penal retribution for sin exists, and that Jesus is not needed.
   I did not want to hold to doctrines of Satanists, channelers, and demons.
   3). Satanists incite their members to practice occult arts like tarot cards, divination, talking to the dead or with spirit beings (both of which are demons in disguise, sometimes beautiful disguise). The New Age teaches these same occult arts.
   (The preceding beliefs, teachings, and practices, in various degrees, can be found in the writings of Oprah Winfrey, Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, Gary Zukav, Deepak Chopra, Marilyn Ferguson, Kevin Ryerson, Shirley Maclaine, etc.)
   The August 1994 issue of High Society featured an interview with Anton LaVey, late high priest of the Church of Satan. In the following excerpt, assertion is made that Satanism and the New Age call on the same source of power:
   “LaVey makes no distinction between white and black magic, claiming that white Wiccan witches and ‘new agers’ have been freely calling upon the dark forces and suiting them to their own hypocritical purposes. He stated, ‘All magic is the realm of the Devil, no matter how righteously you dress it up. The claims that ‘black’ magic is only for destruction and ‘white’ for healing is bunk. Satanic magic is used to invoke powers of justice, and can be used to help yourself or one you care about, just as easily as it would be used to curse someone.’” (http://www.church ofsatan.com /Pages/HighSoc.html)
   Some say all roads lead to God. Tongue in cheek, I agree. But when you arrive in His presence, will He meet you with salvation or condemnation? If you have been made at peace with God, reconciled to Him, during your one life on earth, then your guilt of your sins (or, in New Age parlance, your “bad karma”) has been erased. Yes, guilt of sin is erasable. You don’t have to pay for it. But the deceiver, Satan, does not want you to know or believe that. If you reject Jesus Christ and His completed work of reconciliation and would rather pay for your sins yourself, then you will do just that forever and ever in the lake of fire.
   New Ager, will you keep on agreeing with Satanists, channelers, and demons conjured during seances that your soul is okay and will simply reincarnate or will you move your trust for the forgiveness of your sins to rest once and for all time upon the Lord Jesus Christ?
   Solely by the mercy and grace of God I stopped believing demons and am now trusting Christ Jesus alone.
   The Bible, in 1 Timothy 4:1 warns, “Some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” Can we see a correspondence in detail that New Age teachings are taught by spirit guides/light beings (i.e., demons which can take on beautiful form) channeled by New Agers who communicate with spirits (i.e., mediumism, forbidden by God) and that these teachings are opposite to what the Holy Spirit teaches in the Bible?
   No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).
The Bad News and the Good News in a Nutshell:
   We are all helpless, ungodly sinners (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10, 23, 5:6, 12; 1 John 1:8), enemies of God (Romans 5:10). We have each broken His moral law (Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21; Romans 13:8-10; James 2:9-11). For this, His wrath is upon you (John 3:36; Romans 2:5-6). His wrath is upon me. We are all doomed to final punishment, the second death which is the lake of fire (Romans 2:12; Revelation 21:8). White-haired grandmas and hardened murderers are all in the same bag marked “sinners” (Psalm 14:2-3; Proverbs 20:9; Luke 18:19; Romans 3:9-18).
   Yet, in His unfathomable mercy toward breakers of His law, God the Father sent the Son of God, Jesus Christ, to suffer and be crucified to death to pay sinners' debt owed to God (Isaiah 53:4-12; John 3:16; Galatians 1:4; Hebrews 13:12; 1 John 4:9-10).
   Having paid the penalty to God the Father and the payment being accepted and approved by the Father, Jesus was raised to life from the dead on the third day (Luke 24:1-12; Acts 13:26-41; 1 Corinthians 15:3-11, 17-19).
   Now, any sinner who comes to the risen Lord Jesus Christ, not in lip service or mere head knowledge (Matthew 7:21-27; Luke 6:46-49; James 2:19-20), but in actual faith and repentance for the forgiveness of his or her sins, is made at peace with God the Father and declared righteous in His sight because the Son of God, in going to and suffering His humiliating and bloody execution, took upon Himself the punishment that that sinner deserves! (Luke 18:9-14; Acts 3:19-20, 26:18; Romans 4:3, 23-25, 5:1-2, 8:1; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 3:18).  These people -- and these people alone -- will enter the kingdom of heaven, though no one of them is worthy (John 6:37-40, 10:7-9; 14:5-6; Acts 10:43; Philippians 3:9). It is Christ Jesus to whom they cling who is worthy, and they, by God's doing, are in Christ (Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
   The rest will be sentenced to the lake of fire (John 3:18; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 1 John 5:12; Revelation 20:11-15).
   In this we see that the one true God is merciful, gracious, and just (Job 8:3; Romans 9:14-16).
   Books countering New Age beliefs (available on www.amazon.com):
   Disclaimer:  Veronique Dexter does not necessarily endorse the content of each book in its totality. It is the reader’s responsibility to exercise discernment, checking these writings against the word of God to the end that you are not deceived by any unbiblical teaching.
   • Inside the New Age Nightmare: For the First Time Ever . . . a Former Top New Age Leader Takes You on a Dramatic Journey by Randall N. Baer.  This former New Age leader gives rare insight into what the New Age movement is all about and what lies behind it. (The week this book was published, the author met a puzzling death: his car ran off a mountain pass.)
   • The Beautiful Side of Evil by Johanna Michaelsen. The author became an assistant to a psychic surgeon and discovered the true demonic source behind the miraculous healings she witnessed.
   • Oprah, Miracles, and the New Earth: A Critique by Erwin Lutzer. Dr. Lutzer reveals the true nature of such New Age spirituality, tracing its roots across a range of false belief systems and back to its first appearance in the garden of Eden.  In a day when so many seek direction from the media, it remains essential to carefully discern between Truth and The Lie.

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