How are people, in general, and the church, and
individual Christians being deceived today?
We are deceived when we
listen to and when we buy into the words of humans, or tradition, and we don’t
test what we are hearing with God, in prayer, and in his Word. Jesus said, “You
have heard… but I say…”
We are deceived when we
mostly listen to humans, and we don’t spend time with God, or we spend little
time with God, in prayer and in his Word.
Yet, it is possible to spend
lots of time in the study of God’s Word, and in saying prayers, but if we don’t
obey (do) what we have been taught, but we walk away, and we forget what we
look like, then we are open to being deceived, or, in fact, we have already
been deceived.
Deception
Do not be deceived… Gal. 6:7a NASB
What are some ways in which all human beings,
including Christians, may possibly be deceived today?
I believe one of the biggest
ways is via half-truths.
Lust and Adultery
For example, a person might lust
after another person, fantasize about someone he or she is not married to, get
involved with another romantically, and/or have intimate private conversations
with another. He (or she) may also be involved in “horsing around” with
someone, but not get physical, or not go all the way physically. He (or she)
may also view pornography or sexually-charged movies or TV shows and/or
masturbate. Then, he (or she) would determine that none of this was committing
adultery.
But, Jesus said that to lust (covet,
long for, desire, yearn) after another, with whom you are not married, is
committing adultery in your heart.
Lies and Deception
Another half-truth is in the area of telling lies. There is something people call “white
lies,” which they consider harmless, because they tell them in order to not
hurt people’s feelings. Sometimes these are in the form of false compliments,
or saying to people what will bring them comfort, or saying what one might
believe the other person wants to hear, i.e. what would make him or her feel
good about themselves.
Kidding and teasing is
another way of telling lies, oftentimes, though, with real intent behind the
words, but covered up with “I’m just kidding.”
And, another is through
non-denial denials, avoiding answering direct questions by shifting the focus
to something else, such as by not denying liability for what was asked, but by
saying, “But I would never do that.”
And yet, another is to find a
loop-hole or a way around a direct question, if the question is not asked
specifically in the right way. The person hearing the question, though,
understands the intent of the question, but he or she feels they can skirt the
real question since it was not stated specifically enough. It is a game some
people play in order to avoid telling the truth.
But, whether telling an
outright lie, or avoiding telling the truth, when required, or skirting around questions,
or non-denial denials, or giving false compliments, or “just kidding,” these
are all still lies, and are all ones we must put off/avoid.
First Half Gospel
The biggest half-truth, though, is this false grace gospel which is
permeating much of today’s church here in America. The first half is true, that
Jesus Christ, the Son of God (God the Son) left his throne in heaven, came to
earth, was born as a baby, grew to be a man, was fully God yet fully man while on
the earth, suffered as we suffer and was tempted in like manner as we are also
tempted, yet without sin.
He was crucified on a cross
for our sins, although he had done no wrong. Yet, he who knew no sin became sin
for us on that cross. Thus, when he died, he put our sins to death, and when he
was resurrected from the dead, he rose victorious over sin, hell, Satan and
death, on our behalf. So, through faith in him we can be forgiven our sins,
escape punishment in hell, and have the promise of heaven when we leave this
earth. This half is true!
But, the false grace gospel
states that we don’t have to repent of our sins, we don’t have to obey God, and
we don’t have to submit to Christ and his cross, for the total responsibility
for our salvation rests on God’s shoulders, not on ours, and all we have to do
is have some non-descript belief that Jesus did all that for us, and to accept
his forgiveness, and heaven is guaranteed us, no matter how we live our lives. This
is a lie!
The Other Half
Jesus and the NT apostles taught
repentance and obedience for the forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with
God in heaven. Jesus said if we hold on to our old lives, we will lose our
lives, but if we lose our lives (die with him to sin), for his sake, we will
gain eternal life. Paul said if we walk according to the flesh, we will die in
our sins, but if by the Spirit we are putting sin to death, we will have
eternal life. Scripture teaches that if we continue in willful sinful
practices, we don’t have eternal life with God, but a fearful expectation of
judgment and fire. This is the truth!
Reap and Sow
God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Gal. 6:7b-8 NASB
Jesus Christ died on that
cross, not just to save us from our sins, but to deliver us from slavery
(bondage, addiction) to sin. He died, not just to forgive us our sins, but to
transform us and to conform us into his likeness.
He died, not so we could
continue in the pattern of living we had before we “believed” in him, with the
same insufficient character, of the flesh, but he died to change our pattern of
living and our character (nature), that we might conform to walking in his
ways, and in his truth, and according to the divine nature, not the sin nature.
He died that we might no
longer live to please ourselves, but him who gave his life up for us. Instead
of living our lives for what is trivial, insignificant, commonplace, routine
(habitual sin), spiritually stagnant, unconcerned about our walks of faith, and
for self-pleasure, he wants to change us to where we take him and his word
seriously, to heart, so that we walk in it, and we do what it says.
So, he is asking us to pay
attention to what he is saying, for this is critical that we get this. He died
for us on that cross, too, that God (Jesus Christ) would be our only true
source of life, in how we live our lives day in and day out, that we would find
him to be our supply for all that we need, our foundation for all that we think
and are and do, instead of finding our lives in the things this world has to
offer us, which are passing away.
So, for any of us to change,
we must own up to our sin, not deny it or hide it or pretend it doesn’t exist.
We must not only confess it to God, but to others whom we have sinned against,
where that is possible. And, then we must turn away from that sin, put it off,
and die to it, not in our flesh, but only as empowered by the Holy Spirit, as
we yield control of our lives over to the Lord, making him truly owner-master
of our lives. The Holy Spirit will then crucify us with Christ in death to sin,
and will resurrect us to new lives in Christ, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness.
If we don’t do this, and we
don’t allow the Holy Spirit to transform our lives and to give us new lives in
Christ Jesus, to be lived to his righteousness, free from slavery (addiction)
to sin, but we continue on in our sinful patterns and our ungodly characters,
thinking we have heaven guaranteed us, then we need to read this passage of
scripture again, for if we sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption, but if we
sow to the Spirit, we will reap eternal life.
Lord, I Need You
Songwriters: Christy Nockels
/ Daniel Carson /
Jesse Reeves / Kristian
Stanfill / Matt Maher
To teach my song to rise to
You
When temptation comes my way
When I cannot stand I'll fall
on You
Jesus, You're my hope and
stay…
My one defense, my
righteousness
Oh God, how I need You.
Don’t Lose Heart
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. Gal. 6:9-10 NASB
I believe the Lord Jesus
would have me add a word of encouragement here to those who are walking
according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, but who are being
opposed by those who are teaching this false grace gospel or by those who are
living according to this false grace gospel.
He is saying for us to not
lose heart in doing good, in teaching what is true, and in telling people the
way to salvation in Jesus Christ, our Lord. For, we will reap a harvest one day
if we do not give up. I find this so hopeful and so encouraging! He is saying
to stay the course, even if all looks hopeless, and even though we see so much
evil all around us, and so many people trapped in sin’s deceitfulness. And,
even if we don’t see now much fruit for our labors in the Lord, but mostly what
we see is people being deceived.
The good we must do to people
in these times in which we now live is to tell them the truth, not what they
want to hear, but what they need to hear, even if they don’t like it, they
reject it (and us), and they hate us in return. But, we must do so in love. We
must show them the way to true salvation from sin, so that they will find true
hope, healing and deliverance in Jesus Christ from their sinful practices. This
is the best good we can do for them!
Oceans / Hillsong
United
So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the
waves
My soul will rest in Your
embrace
For I am Yours and You are
mine
Spirit lead me where my trust
is without borders…
And my faith will be made
stronger…
Thursday, February 8, 2018,
5:15 a.m. – Thank you, Jesus!
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