Thou Shalt Have No Other gods Before Me

Fellow believers in Christ, I felt an urgency to research and write a response to the growing call for all faiths to join in universal prayer with one another. Upon first glance, this may appear to be a good and worthwhile thing for all of us to take part in. However, upon looking into the Word of God, it is exactly the opposite of what our God would have us do, for it gives the appearance that all faiths are just as valid and equal to the teachings of the Judeo-Christian faith in the one true living God. I urge all believers to read what I have written and then check out its validity and truth through your own search into what the Bible would have us do and believe in relationship to the practice of interfaithism. God's word says that "my people perish for lack of knowledge." I believe this is but a taste of the beginnings of the roots of the future one world religion. Let us not succumb to being conformed by the world, but to be transformed into the image of Christ by remaining rooted and grounded in His Word. Again, consider what I have written and then search the word of God for yourselves. We can only be deceived when we do not renew our minds by the "washing of the water of the Word." May the Lord bless and keep each of you.

Love in Christ,
Ginger Rahn

There are those that assert that Christians are arrogant when they proclaim that there is but one way to heaven. How can it be arrogance, when Christianity is the only religion that does not exalt mankind, but rather places him in a position of humility and complete service to and need for an all supreme and sovereign God? Christianity proclaims that there is nothing that man can do to earn God’s favor or secure entrance into heaven by his own deeds? The foundation of Christianity is the opposite of arrogance, for it is based on humility and the knowledge that salvation itself is a gift from God because He first loved us even though we are sinners. There is not one of us that can live a perfect and sinless life no matter how hard we try. Foremost is the realization that if we keep every bit of the law all of our life, but then fail in keeping one small part, we are then just as guilty as if we had broken all of the law. Just as there is no such thing as being a little bit pregnant, there is also no such thing as being just a little bit guilty of sin. Because of this, there is only one who was ever completely sinless, and therefore qualified to be the sacrificial Lamb, to suffer the punishment and death that we so rightly deserve. Instead, Jesus took our place upon the Cross. Only His blood could wash away our sin, and restore us to a right relationship with our heavenly Father.

Yes, God is a loving God, but He is also a just God. Just as He provided the sacrificial lamb for Abraham so that his son Isaac would not have to die, He also provided the sacrificial Lamb, Jesus, His only Son, to die in our place. He alone paid for our redemption and entrance into heaven. Salvation is completely dependent upon what Christ did on the Cross. Salvation is gained by one’s faith in what Christ alone did upon the Cross to pay for our sins. We can not even boast about our faith, for even that is a gift from God and nothing that we created by our selves. God’s favor can not be earned. God chose to love us unconditionally even in our sinful state. That is why He asks us to come to Him just as we are; he does not require that we do anything except to recognize Him as God. God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die upon the Cross to pay for our sins. Forgiveness is freely given IF we will only call upon His name, receive Him as Lord and Savior, and repent. He gave us the law to act as a mirror, that is to show us our sinfulness that we might recognize our need for Him and the power of His Holy Spirit to indwell us. He will then do the work of transforming us to be more like Christ, as we willingly give up our free will right to live independently of Him, in exchange for the greater joy of knowing Him as Lord and Savior and glorifying Him in thought, word, and deed.

There is no other name by which one can be saved except the name of Jesus. To think that there is any other way is to make the death of Christ on the Cross meaningless and useless. Yet that is exactly what many are so readily doing today. They will often assert that all beliefs are mere concoctions of the same theme; therefore, all paths or equal and lead to the same place. Statements like – “My god may be Allah, yours may be Christ, Buddha, or the Dahlia Lama, but we are all praying to and believing in the same god. (I have purposely used god, instead of God, as there is but one true God.) So let us put our minor differences aside and agree that we can unite together for the same outcome.” It is this kind of deception, known as Interfaithism, Universalism, or Syncretism which is being widely disseminated and even creeping into our evangelical churches today.

Let us take a brief look at just what is included in the list of these minor differences that we are expected to set aside in order to be a part of this new all inclusive religion known as Interfaithism. The following are but a few of the Christian doctrines that are to be considered minor differences, no longer important, and therefore should be easily discarded:

(1.) There is but one true God.

(2.) Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary.

(3.) The divinity of Jesus Christ.

(4.) Jesus is the Son of God.

(5.) Jesus died on the Cross and paid for our sins.

(6.) Jesus arose from the dead and ascended into Heaven.

(7.) Salvation is not earned but is a free gift of God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

These are but a few of the doctrines of Christianity that we must be willing to toss aside as meaningless. So what have we to fear? This “new gospel” is no gospel at all, but the complete gutting of faith in Christ and what He alone did for us. This is the apostate church of the latter days as described in the Book of Revelations which has the appearance of religion but lacks the power of God Himself. Man has finally accomplished devising his own religion whereby he has no need for God and can change all the rules to suit him self, thereby making himself god.

God said that we are to have no other gods before Him for He is a jealous God. The word jealous, as used here, means that He is vigilant and zealous in His care for us not to be corrupted and deceived by Satan, false teachers, or false gods. He does not want any of us to perish, or die in our sins, but desires that all would come to the saving knowledge of faith in His only Son whom He sent to pay for our sins. There is no other religion that offers the gift of salvation. All other religions are based on the idea that somehow, if one seeks to be as good as he can, he can save himself, thus becoming his own god and thereby having no need of God or His forgiveness.

It is said that the last virtue of a decaying society is tolerance. The original meaning of tolerance was – “sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one’s own.” However, now it has been revised to mean that now not only must one be willing to indulge the differences in beliefs, practices, or lifestyles, but in addition, one must also accept those values as being equal to and just as valid as one’s own. By this revised definition, those who will not accept them as being equal, are now labeled as being intolerant bigots. A bigot then is one who believes that there are Biblical truths of absolute right and wrong and will not compromise the Word of God; Refusing to believe that everything is relative, and therefore always subject to change, as man decides for himself what is right and wrong, based upon his own opinions and whatever is easy and comfortable to him.

According to this definition, God Himself is an intolerant bigot. Of course, He is tolerant in that He grants us free will to choose to follow Him, or to go our own way independent of Him and His ways. But He is not tolerant in that, if we choose to be His, we are commanded (not a suggestion} to follow no other gods but Him. This is not because He is a domineering tyrant, but because He is an all knowing and loving God that seeks our very best and wants to protect us from the corrupting and ultimately destructive results of following after false gods. A false god is any other god but Him. False gods include Baal, Allah, Buddha, Hindu gods, earth, wind and fire gods, self, etc., etc., etc. What part of “no other gods” do we not understand? Did any of these other gods give their very life that we might be redeemed and have eternal life?

Yet Satan is still working his old craft of deception. Just as he said to Eve: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3: 4, 5) He is still in the business of trying to draw man away from the knowledge of God to destroy and devour mankind. He knows his time is short so he is steadily seeking to insert his lies of – “Surely a little bit of Buddha, and Allah and a little less of that useless nonsense of the blood of Jesus and the Cross shall not do you any harm.”

Yes, Christianity is not an inclusive religion, but rather an exclusive religion in its assertion that there is but one true God. Therefore, Christians are easily declared to be intolerant bigots. In reality, Christianity is not a religion, but rather a personal relationship with Christ. There are those that scoff and proclaim that it is impossible to have a relationship with a dead person. They, of course, do not understand that Jesus is NOT dead. He arose and is more alive than ever, and has sent His Holy Spirit to indwell all of those who trust and believe in Him as Savior and Lord. He never leaves us or forsakes us. While there is still time, it is my daily prayer and my heart’s desire that many others may be drawn to the Lord to know Him, love Him, and serve Him as Lord and Savior. This is the day of salvation, for none of us is guaranteed a tomorrow.

Christians, “Be not deceived; God will not be mocked.” Don’t be drawn into the lie that we should join together in prayer with members of any and all other religious faiths. By doing so, one is denying the Lordship and deity of Jesus Christ. God is not indecisive in His requirement that we are to place no other gods before Him. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them en thou when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” “Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve Him, and shalt swear by His name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (for the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.” “And thou shalt do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with thee..” “And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes; to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all commandments before the Lord our God, as He hath commanded us.” (Deut. 6: 4-7, 13 – 15, 24, 25) Note that all of His commandments are not meant for our harm, but for our good and His protection over us. Also notice that He is very explicit that we are not to even recognize any other gods, much less pray to them. He tell us in no uncertain terms that, if we want to remain under the wings of his care and protection, that we must not stray into the realm of any other gods. Other faiths do not worship or pray to the same one true living God that we know and serve. They worship and follow other strange gods that we are not to have any thing to do with. That’s why God’s Word tells us to resist the devil and give no appearance of evil. Why in the world would any of us want to reject the redemptive power of such a loving God, and place ourselves in the same rebellious realm of Satan and his demons that are surely headed for the pit of Hell? God never created Hell for mankind, nor does He desire any of us to go there. He sent His Son to die on the cross that we me may have eternal life in Heaven with Him. He sends no one to Hell. We send ourselves there by our own rebelliousness and rejection of His plan for our salvation.

Christians, be not deceived. Do not be led astray by the apostate lie that there are many paths to God. Hold onto your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, for He alone has provided for your way to God the Father. Remember His words: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me.” He is the “good Shepherd, and we are His Sheep.” Do not be intimidated by the politically correct atmosphere of the world. Do not be conformed by the world, but be transformed into the image of Christ by the renewing of our minds through the Word of God by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Stay rooted and grounded in Christ that you may not be led astray. Endure to the end!!

With His help, I choose to trust the Lord to deliver me from evil. I trust in His Holy Spirit to lead me and guide me into all truth that I may endure to the end. I trust in His Word that I may know His truth and not be deceived. I am His, and He is my God. I am carved in the palm of His hand, and those who are His can not be taken away, for “Greater is He who is in me
(& them) than he who is in the world.” I am not saved by my works, but I am saved that I may do good works that will forever magnify and glorify my Lord and Savior. I praise the Lord, and thank Him for His grace and mercy. He is faithful to reveal my sin, and forever merciful to forgive me. He allows me to come before His throne of grace to repent and ask His forgiveness. God forbid that I should ever knowingly be willing to compromise, add to, or set aside any part of God or His Word. May I ever proclaim, even with my last breath, that Jesus is Lord, boasting only in the Cross, and salvation through faith in the saving works of CHRIST ALONE. God is so wonderful! He alone makes life worth living. Won’t you too heed His call?

I thank you Lord for blessing me and my husband by making us one in you, and one with you. Oh the joy of knowing that “We are your people, and You are our God.” “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” May the love of God be shed abroad in our hearts! Let us praise His name forever. Amen.


There is a little song that always brings joy to my heart, and I hope it does the same for you
(Even though you may not know the melody, here are the words.)

Heaven is a wonderful place
Full of glory and grace
I wan’na see my Savior’s face
Heaven is a wonderful place
I wan’na go there!!

Ginger Rahn