Strong Delusion
The Modern church is in turmoil. Corruption is rampant. Sound Doctrine has fallen to the ground. (2Tim4:1-5) Although they have full, free access to the Bible, the Very WORDS of God, they cannot agree on the basic fundamental issues of: Repentance, Faith, sin & Grace. Pastors stand in pulpits and tell people in one breath to 'obey God & live holy' and in the next, that they are not 'able' to obey. They insist that Grace is NOT license to sin, while at the same time they teach it's normal to for a real Christian to sin everyday! No wonder people are confused.
The average professing Christian who attends church on a regular basis is perplexed & frustrated, wholly ignorant of Bible truth, but convinced they will make it to heaven in the end because of Grace. Ask them to produce a single shred of evidence that their faith is genuine or that they understand the true nature of God's Redeeming Grace & be accused of 'judging' or preaching a 'works' salvation. Self examination is out of the question because it is by 'grace' we are saved through faith, not of works! (Eph2:8-9)
The real possibility of having the 'faith' of devils, as James2:19 states, "The devils believe and tremble!", has never occurred to them. They have heard that 'Faith without works is dead' (Js2:17) But they do not understand the true impact of this statement and how it applies to genuine saving faith. The reason James said that faith without deeds is dead is because your DEEDS are the ONLY evidence that salvation has taken place in your soul! That's why scripture points out that you will be judged ACCORDING to your deeds! Rom2:7-10, John6:29, 2Cor5:10
Faith is substance & evidence, Heb11:1, and it is EVIDENT by your Obedience to God that you have NOT believed in Vain! 1Cor15:2. Thus scripture states that true faith, 'Works by love, purifies the heart & has victory over the world' Gal5:6, 1Pet1:22, 1Jh5:4 You are not left in bondage to sin & satan, groping in darkness and lusting in your heart.
IF YOU ARE TRULY SAVED, you have been:
"Called out of darkness into His marvelous light!" 1Pet2:9
"Turned from darkness to light, from the power of satan to God!" Acts24:18
"Delivered from the power of darkness & translated into the kingdom of His love!" Col1:13
"Crucified with Christ & made dead to sin." Rom6:6-7
"Turned into a New Creation in Christ!" 2Cor13:5
"Escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2Pet1:4
So please stop kidding yourselves about entering the Kingdom. If you are still in bondage to sin, lust or greed, you are NOT on the road to heaven. Your 'faith' has been hijacked by the false teachers. The deceiving spirits have spoken lies into your ears, you believed them and have forfeited your inheritance through the deceitfulness of sin. (Heb3:11-14) How could this possibly happen, you ask? False doctrine is the key.
False teaching through Spiritual doublespeak:
By the use of scriptural language and proper sounding terminology, the deceiving spirits have been able to deceive multitudes of preachers into teaching a 'doctrine' of demons! 1Tim4:1
The subtly of this deception is brilliant. Here's how it works:
1) They undermine the authority of God's Word by questioning the meaning.
For example on the issue of salvation by Grace not of works. They conclude that since 'grace' is a free gift from God, unmerited favor, man can do nothing to earn it, therefore he can do nothing to effect its outcome once he has received it! Called the doctrine of 'eternal security'. The problem with this deduction is that it precludes everything scripture has to say about enduing to the end, continuing in the faith, abiding in Christ & remaining steadfast in the faith.
But they have a rebuttal: 'Yes,' faith without deeds is dead, if a person is 'really' saved he will thereby continue, endure & remain. So we are saying the same thing! Here's where the real deception begins to set in. The Bible tells us plainly that we are to OBEY God, Strive to enter by the Narrow Gate, Keep ourselves in His Grace & endure to the end. (To name a few) (Rom6:16, Matt7:13-14, Luke13:24, Matt10:33, 1Jh5:18) It also teaches that God will Judge those who 'Obey not His Gospel' Rom2:7-10, 2Thess1:8
Again the demons will agree, YES we are commanded to obey the Gospel of Christ, which is to believe on Him who God sent! John3:16 (back to the faith of devils) But the Scriptures have much more to say about 'believing' on Christ which involves OBEDIENCE to His commands.
"For this is the love of God, that we Keep His commandments & His commandments are not burdensome." 1Jh5:3 This truth is stated throughout the Gospel of John and repeated by John numerous times. So you are NOT believing in God unless you are actively Obeying Him. That's what John meant when he said, "If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son!" 1Jh2:24 (abiding in Him means obeying Him!)
The Deception takes on many forms: 2Cor11:13-15
What this doublespeak has done is confuse the issue just enough to delude the human mind into a false sense of security. People can say they believe in Christ and that the Bible is true while at the same time they disobey His Commandments and sin everyday. Further examples:
2) Since no one is perfect, Grace must be God's way of accommodating man in his sin.
Christ said His Yoke is easy and burden light and He died for our sins, therefore the only way man can be happy & at peace with God at the same time, is by accepting the fact that he is forgiven by Grace and no longer has to worry about being perfect. (Rom10:9-10, 13) We confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord & believe in our heart God raised Him from the dead & we're saved! Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved! (sounds biblical enough)
But the end result is people who 'believe for a while' but having no 'root' they quickly fall back into satan's bondage, ensnared by the false notion they can be saved while continuing in sin. Luke8:13, Jh6:66, 8:30 It's the 'sensual' message spoken of in 2Pet2:1-3, they appeal to the flesh nature with great swelling words of emptiness! 2Pet2:18
This is why the Bible doesn't make sense to most professing Christians. They read the passages about holiness, obedience, self-denial and remaining steadfast to the end and can't understand how it applies to them! How could anyone be happy in Christ suffering, baring a cross, or giving up all their worldly possessions? (1Pet4:12-14, Luke14:26-33, Matt19:21)
Therefore the preachers MUST be right. These passages really mean, 'as long as I believe in Jesus and do my best I have nothing to worry about', "So I'll pursue my worldly lifestyle, enjoy my vain amusements and leave all that 'works' stuff to the fanatics." Thus the delusion is complete. The false doctrine become reality in the mind and the conscience is seared with the hot iron of self deception. 1Tim4:1-3 The person becomes a 'hearer' of the Word instead of a 'Doer' Js1:22 and he is deceived into believing himself secure when he is lost! Rev3:17
No wonder so few will Contend for the truth, why bother. It's all been done for us.
Speaking lies in hypocrisy
What makes this false doctrine so popular when it is so easily refuted by scripture? The answer is simple, people want the best of BOTH worlds! They want to indulge the flesh, enjoy the world and still make it to heaven when they die. OSAS is the perfect remedy. It permits carnal behavior, excuses it because of Grace and uses correct Biblical apologetics while doing it!
3) You can sin and NOT die! 2Cor11:3
The perfect deception. If you can convince the human mind that the purpose of Grace was merely to forgive their sins and cover their imperfections, you have unwittingly aligned yourself with satan. His original argument against God's truth in the Garden was exactly that! When the woman repeated God's warning of death for violating the Command not to eat of the tree, what did he say? "Thou shall surly not die! God knows when you eat you will become like Him, knowing good and evil." Gen3:4
In other words: YES Rom8:13 says, "If you live according to the flesh you will die." & Gal6:8, "For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption!" & Eph5:6 "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of immoral behavior the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience!" BUT it couldn't mean I'll die & go to hell for doing these things. Could it?
The preachers say no. To protect the false doctrine of OSAS they invent something called, 'Carnal Christianity' again basing it loosely on scriptural passages out of 1Cor3:3, 5:5, 6:12 Under it professing Christians can commit random acts of immorality, drunkenness, lust, etc and NOT be considered 'practicing' the sins listed in 1Cor6:9-10, Eph5:5-7. By twisting scripture the false teachers 'imply' that a true child of God walks daily under the bondage of sin and at times these sins may become extremely grievous, but they will never enter into condemnation.
To varying degrees OSAS is taught in the vast majority of Churches around the world. Some teachers are more blatant than others, using grace as license for lawless behavior. Others will suggest that people who return to sins bondage were never saved to begin with. Irrespective of the extreme, BOTH views lead people into error. When a person believes that nothing they do can send them to hell under grace, the flood gates are open to every sort of deceiving spirit satan can conjure. The spiritual safeguards are removed and the shield lowered.
They Believed in Vain! 2Cor15:2
In order to protect the false doctrine of eternal security the OSAS preachers must go into doublespeak overtime. Everything is explained away & means the opposite of what it says!
1) Faith is not substance & evidence, but a vague acknowledgment of Christ, based on the assumption He died for your sins & offers Grace as a gift. YET in itself Faith is defined as a Firm persuasion, based upon a hearing, producing confidence in the truth. No wonder Jesus said that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, Matt17:20, if it's real no sin can withstand it!
2) Grace is presented as a vast scheme of indulgences, as though God feels sorry for you and is willing to just sweep your sins under the rug if you believe. But in Scripture Grace is Power. Christ gave Himself to Redeem us from every lawless deed & Purity for Himself His own special people zealous for good works! Titus2:14 "Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions & desires!" Gal5:24 "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus beforehand for good works!" Eph2:10 "For sin shall not have dominion over you! Rom6:14
3) Obedience is 'works'. Under OSAS any talk of obeying God is out of the question because it's all been done for you in Christ. In Scripture however, Obedience is the Cornerstone of the faith, which leads to purity of heart, 1Pet1:22, Steadfast endurance, Col1:23, Confidence in the faith, Heb3:14, Freedom from sin, Jh8:31-32, & Victory over the world, 1Jh5:4
4) Sin is inbred so no one can ever be free from its corrupting influence. Therefore since no one is perfect, we all sin everyday and God's Grace keeps us pure. But these are all lies from satan designed to put you back into bondage and led you into hell. Scripture says those born of God have Victory over sin, because Christ purchased the Victory for us! 1Jh3:8, 5:4 Also if we put on the Mind of Christ, we can CEASE from sin in the flesh, 1Pet4:1, And when we OBEY from the heart that form of doctrine to which we are delivered, we are set free from sin & made slaves to righteousness, having fruit to holiness, which ends in eternal life! Rom6:17-18, 22
2Pet1:4 says we have "exceeding great & precious promises that through these we can become Partakers of the Divine Nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust!"
Eph4:24 says, "If you put on the new man which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness, you will be renewed in the spirit of your mind & escape lust."
Col2:12 says, "You were buried with Him in baptism & raised with Him through faith to walk in Newness of life!" Rom6:6
If all this means that a Christian has no choice but to sin everyday, then the Bible is fraudulent! But since it is the Truth of God's Word you have but one choice toward life, OBEY Him and live! Reject the false teachers & their ruinous doctrines, "Awake to Righteous & sin not, some of you do not have the knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame!" 1Cor15:34
Come into the Light of Christ & the Knowledge of His Glory & Behold the face of God!