“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” (2 Peter 2:1-3 NASB).
Secretly and deceitfully, a sizable (very large) number of disrespectful, shameless, blatant, malicious, morally unclean deceivers, who are manipulators, opportunists, and liars, who are untrustworthy, egocentric, and fake (of false faith) “Christians,” are rapidly increasing in size and are deceiving the minds and hearts of people by the thousands or millions. They may give the appearance of righteousness but deny it by their practices.
They are positioned, stationed, and established as those who are indifferent, hard-hearted, irreverent, detached, and cold-hearted wanderers who stray, deviate, and depart from the truth of God’s word. They are dishonorable, improper, corrupt, vile, and those who misrepresent the word of God, the gospel of Christ, true worship of God, and the character of God/Christ. And this is describing these false prophets/teachers/pastors/preachers.
And these are people who are among us, who profess faith in Jesus Christ, many of them charmers, friendly, and winsome, and so many people like them, and they are drawn to them, and they trust them, some without question. For they may be great public speakers and know how to win the hearts of the people, and so they cleverly and skillfully blend lies in with the truth to where the lies are barely recognizable to the unsuspecting.
Though few in number, there are those of us who are publicly speaking against these liars and deceivers who manipulate and alter the truth of God’s word to make it more palatable and acceptable to human flesh and to the ungodly of this world. We are bringing these deceptions out into the open and we are exposing them for what they are, but this does not dissuade them, and multitudes are still following after them and after their lies.
So what are these “destructive heresies” that they are promoting? The biggest and most grievous of them all, I believe, is in how they distort, dilute, alter, and misrepresent the gospel of Christ that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught. They deliberately remove Scriptures from their context and make them say what they do not say, and they lead many people to continue living in sin while claiming heaven as their eternal home.
What is popularly being taught by them is that anyone can just pray a prayer or make a public statement of faith in Jesus Christ or merely acknowledge who Jesus is and what he did for us on that cross, or just claim that they accept his gift of grace into their lives one time in their lives and now all their sins are forgiven, heaven is guaranteed them when they die, and it can’t be taken away from them, but regardless of how they live.
But that is not the gospel message that Jesus and his NT apostles taught. They taught that we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow Jesus in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). For if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in walks of holiness and righteousness and not in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, we will die in our sins. We will not have eternal life with God regardless of what our lips profess.
And many people are following their sensuality (licentiousness, outrageous conduct, conduct shocking to public decency, wantonness, lewdness). And this sensuality rejects restraint, i.e. it rejects God’s moral laws and his moral boundaries he has set in place for us to not cross over. And this violent spite which rejects restraint indulges in lawless insolence. And so many professing Christians are walking in its ways and not in the ways of holiness.
So many professing Christians are daily or habitually and deliberately engaging in what is immoral, wicked, evil, morally unclean (impure), unfaithful, deceitful, and addictive. And they do this via viewing particular TV shows, movies, videos, and/or porn sites, and via listening to what is immoral and lewd via songs, games, podcasts or whatever. And then they do this by acting out what they have seen and heard on a consistent basis.
Then so much of “the church” is pacifying them in their sins, telling them that all their sins are forgiven, even present and future sins which they are doing habitually and deliberately against God. They are being promised that their sinful practices will not hinder them, too, from going to heaven when they die. And many are teaching against repentance, and against obedience to the Lord, and against holy living, calling them “works salvation.”
And so the truth of the Scriptures, and the truth of the gospel which Jesus and his NT taught, are definitely being maligned big time in our present age. And it appears that the majority of those calling themselves “Christians” are following after the lies, and not the truth. And this is evidenced in people’s lifestyles, in their practices, in what they view and listen to on a consistent basis, and in the things they love to talk about and share with their friends. And it is evident in what they say they believe about the gospel, too.
But the liars and the deceivers, even if rebuked publicly, don’t skip a beat, but they go on in their deceptions, and their followers seem to be increasing, for these lies are being delivered through the media, and so many people are relying on the media to tell them the truth instead of studying the Scriptures for themselves, in context, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, with the intention of getting to the truth and to obeying the truth.
But God will judge all liars and deceivers who misrepresent his word. And he will judge all of us according to our works/deeds. And those who live according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit, who are engaged in habitual and deliberate sin against the Lord, and not in walks of holiness and righteousness, and not in obedience to the Lord, will not inherit eternal life with God, but hell will be their eternal destiny, instead, sadly so.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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