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Biblical Contradiction: Signs Of a True Believer According to Jesus?

By
Bassam Zawadi

Note:

Actually this challenge is only to those Christians who believe that Mark 16:9-20 are part of scripture. Because you have others such as Bruce Metzger that say that this passage is interpolated (Bruce Metzger, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration, p 226 as cited Shabir Ally in his debate with Joseph Smith in Atlanta in October 2000)

Jesus said:

Mark 16:17:

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues.....

Now according to Jesus, one of the signs of a true believer is that he would have the ability to drive out demons in his name.

However..........

Luke 9:49

"Master," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us."

Apparently, someone could have the ability to drive demons out in Jesus' name and yet not be a believer.

Also......

Matthew 7:22

²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Apparently there are also people who would have the ability to drive demons out in Jesus' name and yet Jesus would not accept them because they were not true believers.

So was Jesus' criteria for a true believer in Mark 16 wrong?

Appendix

Sam Shamoun tried responding back to this article here http://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zawadi_true_believer.htm 

Sam Shamoun on the contrary has done nothing but made it worse for himself. 

He thinks that by quoting Luke 9:49-50 that it helps him. On the contrary it does not. 

Luke 9:49-50

⁴⁹"Master," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us."

    ⁵⁰"Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."

This actually reaffirms that Jesus taught that anyone who is driving out demons in his name is not against them. So even if they are hypocrites then they are not against him. 

Christians may argue back and quote Paul to back them up. Here is what Paul says. 

Philippians 1:15-18

    ¹⁵It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. ¹⁶The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.^{[c] 18}But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

So basically Christians will argue back saying that Jesus really meant that they are not against you in the sense that they are still preaching Christ. However, this is none sense. Because hypocrites could distort and give a wrong preaching of Christ even they claim that they are preaching Christ. Just like how the hypocrite Pharisees claimed to be preaching the Law but they were not. So this means that the hypocrites indeed are against Christ even though they drive demons out in his name. 

Secondly, Sam quotes the last verse of Mark 16 which says 

Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

However, this just proves my case even stronger that we confirm the word of God being preached by the disciples BECAUSE OF THE SIGNS THAT ACCOMPANIED THEM. So if hypocrites are preaching falsehood and they have these signs then how do we confirm that it is the word of God?

Thirdly, Sam quotes 

Mark 13:22-23

²²For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. ²³So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

However this does nothing but just present another contradicting verse. 

Then Sam says that we will recognize the true preachers from what they preach. That they should preach what Jesus taught them. 

Well I would like to see using the Gospel Alone where Jesus explicitly taught that he was sent to die for the sins of the world and that his death was going to replace the Law. That if people wanted to inherit eternal life then they should believe in the death of Jesus Christ. 

I would like to see those teachings by Jesus. 

But for sake of argument lets agree that Sam is right and that there is no contradiction (but there is) and that Jesus said warned us about false prophets to come and deceive people. Then it is probably possible that those who performed signs and miracles and preached Christ crucified were the false prophets that Jesus was warning us about. 

Recommended Reading

http://www.answering-christianity.com/sami_zaatri/false_prophets.htm

http://www.answering-christianity.com/god_kingdom.htm

Back to Rebuttals, and exposing the lies of the Answering Islam team section.

Rebuttals by Bassam Zawadi.

Islam and the Noble Quran - Questions and Answers.

Answering Trinity.

Contradictions and History of Corruption in the Bible.

Questions about Jesus that trinitarian Christians don't have logical answers for.

What parts of the Bible do Muslims believe are closest to the Truth? and Why?

"Allah" was GOD Almighty's original Name in the Bible according to the Hebrew and Aramaic sources.

Scientific Miracles in Islam and the Noble Quran.

Most of the Bible's books and gospels were written by mysterious people!

Jesus mentioned Muhammad by the name in the Bible.

Did Isaiah 53 really prophesies about the crucifixion of Jesus? It supports Islam's claims about Jesus peace be upon him never died on the cross.  I also addressed John 19:36-37 from the Bible and proved that Jesus never got crucified, since GOD Almighty promised that he will protect Jesus' body and not let even a single bone be broken.   My question to all Christians is: How in the world is it possible for the feet to get nailed on the cross without any penetration to the bones by the nails, hence breaking part of the feet's bones?! I also added refutations to Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, Zechariah 12:10 and Psalm 34:20, which supposedly prove the Christians' belief about Jesus crucifixion.  I proved that this dogma has no truth what so ever and exposed the wrong Trinitarian English translation of Zechariah 12:10.

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