Spiritual Deceivers and Other
Biblical Truths
If we read what Apostle John writes
in 2 John, we will be reminded us of just how many "spiritual
deceivers" there are out there. John was writing to a local
congregation in this letter, telling them to be careful to walk in "truth
and love" and to not be taken in by the deceivers or false teachers of the
world.
7 I say this because many
deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in
a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Watch
out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so
that you receive your full reward. 9 Anyone
who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone
who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father
and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to your
meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person
into your home or give any kind of encouragement. 11 Anyone
who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.
What is a spiritual deceiver?
It is anybody who teaches other than what the Bible says is true. It
could be a religion that says we can only get to heaven by doing good
works. Or that says there is any other
way to Heaven other than through Christ. Jesus said “No one
can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6b) It is any false teaching that does not acknowledge the
coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, or who doesn't abide in the teaching of
Christ. Such a person does not know God.
Anyone who claims to be a
Christian, yet doesn't believe fully in what the Bible says is a spiritual
deceiver; we cannot trust their words to be true. There are many of them
out in the world. Even those "name it and claim it" pastors that
we see on TV can be a spiritual deceiver and sadly, a lot of them
are.
There is only one way to be assured
of the truth, and that is to be familiar with God's Word and to know what it
says. It is by studying it every day, by ourselves, through a small-group
Bible study and through worship at a Bible teaching church.
We need to be very careful whom we allow to be our "spiritual teachers",
as there are many "seducing spirits" out there, determined to keep us
away from Jesus and His truth. The saying "the devil wants our
soul" is fully true, and we must be careful to protect ourselves from the
lies that abound concerning our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Truth Shall Set Us Free
31 Jesus said to the people
who believed in him, “You
are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 “But we are descendants
of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean,
‘You will be set free’?” 4 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth,
everyone who sins is a slave of sin.
35 A slave is not a
permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.
36 So if the Son sets
you free, you are truly free. (John 8:31-36)
The truth has been under attack
since the very beginning of time. We look back at creation and see that Adam
and Eve lived in a perfect world and had only one prohibition. That one thing they
were prohibited to do was to not eat from the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. Of course, Satan came along and said, "Is that
really true? Did God really mean that you shouldn’t eat from that fruit which
is pleasing to the eye and certainly would taste very good?" Satan
attacked God’s truth.
We
go down through history and we see that “truth” question comes up time and
again. When Jesus stood before Pilate, 37 Pilate said,
“So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You
say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the
truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” 38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked. (John
18:37-38)
Pilate acted as if he did not know
the truth. In our day and age God’s truth is daily assaulted and attacked. In
fact we are told that society today no longer accepts or believes in an
absolute truth. Everything is “grey” and it depends on the “circumstances” on
how the truth is interpreted. Truth depends on how a person determines it is
relevant in his or her life.
Today, we need to learn again that there is a truth.
There is an absolute truth of God and Scriptures. When the Lord tells us there
is sin, there is sin. When the Lord tells us there is forgiveness, there is
also forgiveness. The Psalm writer says: 10 For you are
great and perform wonderful deeds. You alone are God. 11 Teach
me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor
you. (Psalm 86:10-11).
We can’t trust our mind to tell us the truth…. We have to
trust in the truth. And Jesus is the truth!
He stated this when old “doubting” Thomas asked, “how can we know
the way?” 6 Jesus told
him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can
come to the Father except through me. (John
14:5-6)
Even
though the world might disagree, even though Satan would assault the fact that
there is truth, there is truth. Jesus is the Truth, and THE TRUTH SHALL SET US
FREE!
This was the truth then and is the truth now.
Often
unbelievers say that they know the Bible better than most Christians. Have you
ever run into a person like this? Just because people say they've read the
Bible doesn't mean they really understand it. Simply said, they
can't. It is impossible to understand what the Bible says and means without
being filled with the Holy Spirit. If we don't believe in Jesus, we don't
have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of you, and the Holy Spirit is what
directs us in the knowledge of the Bible.
Jesus
tells his followers that “9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.” (John 16:9) And that “13 When the Spirit of truth comes,
he will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13)
Non-believers
don't know the spiritual meaning of the Bible, which is a big book with a big
picture. So when they quote a verse without knowing the context,
(Unfortunately many Christians take some scriptures out of context.) it becomes
somewhat garbled and vague in the meaning. The Apostle Paul writes to the
church in Corinth, telling them that; “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to
those who are perishing. In their case the god of the world (Satan) has
blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the
gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians
4:3-4) So we see that they really can't help it!
Funny
thing about the Bible, it wasn't written for unbelievers, but as a guide for a
believer’s life. And the Holy Spirit is a Christian's ultimate guide to
all truth. So, next time you get into a discussion with a non-believer
over the Bible, remember, they don't and can't understand it, it is just words
to them, so we can't take it personally when they want to argue with us or call
us stupid over it.
A story was told to show the “truth” of other religions and their main “man” compared to Christians. A man became lost in his travels and wandered into a bed of quicksand.
Confucius saw the man’s predicament and said, “It is evident that men should stay out of places such as this.” Next, Buddha observed the situation and said, “Let that man’s plight be a lesson to the rest of the world.” Then Mohammed came by and said to the sinking man, “Alas, it is the will of Allah.” Finally, Jesus appeared on the scene and said, “Take my hand, brother. I will save you. The truth is Jesus is the one who can meet our needs this Christmas season and forever.
Dwight L. Moody said “If you want to prove a stick is crooked put it next to one that is straight.”
Jesus is the truth…. What will we do with Him? Let us not be deceived by the world.
