The lies Satan uses to deceive the Church

Three lies Satan uses to deceive the Church The devil will never say to you black is white. He will say it is actually a bit off white! The most effective lies have to be plausible, and to be plausible they have to have an element of truth in them. Let’s look at the first one to see the pattern; “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God really said, You cannot eat of every tree in the garden? The woman replied to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, in case you die. The serpent said, Surely you won’t die! For God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you shall be like gods, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:1-5 First the psychological ploy. “Has God said?” This gave Eve the opportunity to show her knowledge, and correct the (deliberate) mistake. Her answer was spot on. Now she is feeling good having corrected the error, and is off guard. (Now for the coup de grace;) Second an appeal to the intellect “Come on, be reasonable. How can such good fruit, created by a loving God be deadly? God has an ulterior motive in telling you that fib, it’s because…” Then an appeal to the ego; “You will be better, smarter, more sophisticated, knowledgeable, empowered, more like God in fact!” This is heady stuff. Eve fell for it, and couldn’t wait to share her “enlightenment with Adam. She was deceived, Adam was disobedient. Note that God gave the command to Adam, Eve would have gotten the instruction from him. This is very illuminating. If you rely on getting the word of God second hand as it were, you will be more vulnerable to deception than if you read it for yourself regularly. However knowledge brings with it responsibility, not only to yourself, but also to those God has entrusted to your care. Abdication of that responsibility is disobedience. Unfortunately in the Church today there are leaders who are disobedient, and laity who are ignorant and gullible. The result is deception, on a grand scale, and as never seen before! Jesus predicted it:- “ Then (in the last days) if any man says to you, Look, Christ is here or there; do not believe it. For there shall arise false Christ’s, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect. Remember, I have told about it you before it happens”. Parenthesis mine. Matthew 24:23-25

Here are three of the lies Satan has sown in the Church. (Remember many of them contain truth, which gives them plausibility!) 1. Tolerance (God loves you, come as you are). True, but you come as you are to the cross, in repentance to receive new life. Even though the new life is a gift, there is still a transaction to be made; you cannot be born again unless you are willing for the old man to die! Your sin needs to be nailed to the cross, but you need to bring it there! The lie is you come as you are and are accepted including your sin. There is no requirement to change, other than perhaps superficial changes to enable you to fit in to the new “club.” There are mega churches with thousands of unchallenged unredeemed people there who have signed up to a toothless “loving” gospel of acceptance. (Of course their money is as good as anyone else’s!) Swallowing this lie neuters the gospel. In the name of “tolerance” we accommodate sin. Christ calls us to do something that our flesh rebels against, and which the world finds impossible. He calls us to love and accept the sinner, but to hate and reject the sin! To do that we need to offer an alternative to the sin, and the power to take hold of it. That alternative is the filling of the Holy Spirit and righteousness supported by truth. Instead churches that accept this lie are no more than “Christian” social clubs where the truth is watered down, and the Holy Spirit is absent! Members sign up instead of being converted, and change their appearance instead of their hearts! The way to destruction is wide, it is tolerant, unchallenging, uncritical and uncaring. 2. Inclusiveness True, in the sense that there is no discrimination, where there is “neither Jew, or Greek, male or female, slave or free, but all are one in Christ Jesus” The lie is when linked to the one above, that we include those with lifestyles that are condemned by Scripture. Homosexuals are welcome in the church, but part of repentance is to turn away from the old life and its wickedness. God does not condone wickedness, neither should the Church. Paul said in this context, referring to a thief, “let the thief steal no more, but work instead.” (paraphrased) The principle applies to all sinful lifestyles. Yet the Church accommodates in the name of inclusiveness practicing homosexuals and co- habiting couples (of both sexual orientations). This lie is like a cancer in the Church. It spreads across denominations and fellowships. It wrecks the faith and witness of Christians, particularly the youth. “Do not be unequally joined together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? What agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For you are the temple of the living God;” 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 Inclusiveness has spread its tentacles to doctrine as well, which leads us to:-

3. Relativism This is the idea that everyone is entitled to their opinion, and all opinions are valid. It is a humanistic idea, promoted by the “enlightenment” of the 18th century. (Most of the advocates of the enlightenment were also Freemasons) It is also unbiblical. The opposite of relativism is absolutism, which is found throughout the scriptures. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me” That is an absolute statement, it is also exclusive. It excludes ALL other so called paths to God! It is absolute, because it allows for no debate or argument! You don’t have to believe it of course, but if you do, you sign up to its implications. Yet many in the Church allow that those of other faiths though travelling on a different path, are nonetheless on a parallel one to God. (Pope Francis, Rick warren, Joel Osteen) They even say we are worshipping the same God, as Brian Houston of Hillsong (and others) have when they have stated that Allah and Jehovah are the same! (Allah is in fact a demon moon god, and predates Mohammed in the Arabian Peninsula) Relativism also leads to false doctrine and a false understanding of the Bible. There are many opinions about the first 3 chapters of Genesis. None of them take the text as it reads, which is the way it was meant to be taken. Scripture interprets itself, and a major problem is that Jesus and Paul both understood the first Book of Moses to mean what it says, and took the text literally. In fact, the various opinions are all contrived in a futile attempt to reconcile the word of God with humanistic origin theories, buttressed with pseudo “science”. This lie of relativism allied with the concomitant formulation of doctrines from scriptures taken in isolation has also led to theological rivalry in the Church. Calvinism, Armenianism, Transubstantiation, an exclusive priesthood, prosperity, and a host of others have led to divisions and cults. The Ecumenical movement has latched onto relativism in an attempt to glue together these unbiblical theological positions. They may as well try to stick together iron and clay! Relativism is a lie that slowly corrodes the truth from the outside inwards. It attacks peripheral truths first, and slowly migrates to core truths. Like corrosion in a car that starts off round the edges. The car still drives fine, but one day the corrosion shows up in the subframe, and suddenly the car is off the road, and headed for the scrapheap! Christians who accept this lie start by redacting or re-interpreting sections of scripture, on the assumption that they or someone else knows better. Relativism insulates them from correction, and soon the authority and veracity of the bible is undermined. The foundation for their faith is progressively weakened until eventually it winds up on the scrapheap, of no further use to them. The sad thing is the corrosion usually goes un-noticed until their faith and commitment is tested by persecution, and found like the rusty car to be unreliable, unable to stand up to the stresses placed upon it. “ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work”. 2 Timothy 3:16-17