AVOIDING DECEPTION BY AVOIDING COMPROMISE

I run a separate blog about political deception, so this post is not about politics.  However, as I know people who are enamored of specific different candidates who are amazingly deceived about key aspects of what they stand for.  They turn a blind eye to a small issue, then bigger and bigger issues, and finally they swallow the whole enchilada.

This piece is about SPIRITUAL DECEPTION, which works the same way, and I often see these operate in parallel.  After all, we are spiritual beings, and our brain is not compartmentalized to the degree we think it is.  We sort out all manner of information, and it is critical that the truth always be honored and clung to for dear life.

The main issue is that Satan never starts off with a big compromise. If you listen to our Kingdom Gospel Ministries drama, COMPROMISE CITY, some of those little compromises seemed like good ideas to keep the peace and accommodate diversity. Satan starts with something that seems almost innocuous. Perhaps the interpretation of the early portions of Genesis. He will quote you the thousand years as a day mantra and get someone who generally believes the Bible to compromise on what is plain as day - God made the world is six calendar days. In fact, God wrote it TWICE on the tablets for Moses as the entire basis for the Sabbath (though some folks would sure enjoy 1,000 years of rest and have made a great head start toward that goal!) The problem is, 1,000 year long days doesn't solve ANYTHING. The gulf between Genesis and naturalistic religion is not bridgeable without either side capitulating entirely.  An evolutionist once said that if there were a God, and he used evolution, he would not be a God worth serving. He is totally right. The children of darkness are sure often smarter than the children of light.

How about qualifications for leadership? The Bible is clear that an elder or deacon must be the husband of one wife. Yet, despite allowing for the most liberal interpretations of forgetting what occurred prior to salvation, churches are being led by pastors divorced as CHRISTIANS from other CHRISTIANS for unbiblical reasons!  In fact, it is rampant.  The fact is, God FORGIVES, but you cannot simply toss aside your children and need to have continuing contact with your ex, saved or not to be a proper parent.  Or how about temper?  Some Christians can be the maddest and meanest folks around – yet they are leading ministries and often abusing others.  Or how about the BIG one, the love of money? God’s leaders must not love money, yet to be a leader in the Word-Faith movement, you have to LOVE money – that is the very foundation!  When people mess with the Word of God, they sure do end up with a mess.

There are many others – ladies, you knew I could not forget you and simply pick on the men.  Satan will whisper to a woman - "No difference between male and female" and call her to be a pastor. Huh?  Don't they all say GOD called them?  They are lying. The Holy Spirit forbade it. The Holy Spirit changes not because God changes not and the Holy Spirit is God.  All manner of deception has occurred, and not just with the many cults started by women, but by women who subtly pervert the word of God.  They fight Paul, they fight the Holy Spirit, they fight the absolute clarity of the Word of God.  Women also use "Submit to one another" out of context. "The specific clarifies the general" is a cardinal rule in interpreting ANY text.  Right after it, it commands the woman to submit to her husband in EVERYTHING.   Yes, people in the church are to have a submissive spirit and regard each other.  In the home, mutual respect and love are critical, but the man is never called upon to submit to the spiritual authority of the woman.  And on it goes…and goes…and goes.

So often, these deceptions build on each other and in the end the Bible has no absolute authority in the person’s life.  Everything is open to interpretation, and the devil gladly supplies those.

To avoid all this mess, stick to the WORD OF GOD. Read it and study it daily. Ask God to interpret it to you through the author, the Holy Spirit.  He dwells in us to teach us. Who better to teach us than the author of THE BOOK?  We can ask the Lord about all our questions, but we can never take exception to even one jot or one tittle of the precious Word of God.  God takes no deception lightly and he is NEVER deceived, and we are to be holy as he is holy.  We are surrounded by deception, people functioning in rebellion to the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and accepting the words of mere men as gospel rather than the Word of God.  It is hard to stay on the narrow road, but no matter how many people you see on the superhighway to hell, stay on the sometimes bumpy but always narrow road that leads to life eternal.  Few there be that find it.  Be one of those few!