THEO 678 Blog - Part 2

"Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.  Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself." -Hebrews 7:25-27

Anti-Messiah Cults believe that Jesus' work was not sufficient. And the main reason  is because they need His work to be insufficient, because each Anti-Messiah cult has a prophet that is said to be the fulfillment of the second coming.  The "third Adam," if you will.  How can these cults justify this belief based on Hebrews 7? Jesus died once for all for the world, so another sacrifice is not necessary. His atonement is fully sufficient for all people. How do these cults justify a prophet who is said to complete something that was already completed by Christ?

These groups are somewhat similar to the groups discussed yesterday.  However, the types of cults that are in this classification are more specifically centered around a prophet rather than just a doctrinal system.  These are dangerous because many of them seem to want to unite all people into one "true religion."  Some say that Moses, Jesus, Buddha, and other religious leaders were all prophets, but the founder or leader of these religions had come to be the final prophet.

The overarching principle behind these cults and the cults discussed yesterday is this belief: one is saved by works because the blood of Jesus is insufficient.  The problem is that it is impossible to know how much is enough to be saved.  Where is the assurance?  Through Christ, we have assurance because we could never do enough on our own to be saved.  Through faith in Jesus, His blood covers our sins and gives us salvation.