Pride and Deception

I was hesitant to write this article because most opinions expressed by Christians are taken as being hateful and discriminatory by those outside the church. This is how far the hatred of Christianity has developed. The culture as a whole hates us because we say we have the truth and try to give them a glimpse into the heart of God. But to tell you the truth, we should expect this reaction because the Bible tells us that this is how it will be. This passage from Romans 1:21-32 says it all:

Romans 1:21-32 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (22) Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools (23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (24) Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. (25) They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. (26) Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. (27) In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. (28) Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. (29) They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, (30) slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; (31) they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. (32) Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

But what I am more concerned about is how the church reacts to its own constructive criticism. Within our own house, we can’t seem to get it right. I am not talking about denominational differences. We have always had those and have been able to co-exist. But now, even on the essentials of the Christian faith, we are having all kinds of splits and divisions. Let me give you some concrete examples. Many churches now are teaching things such as:

*Jesus Christ was not really God in the flesh
*Christianity needs to work with other religions to find a common truth (Universalism)
*A watered down version of the Gospel the promotes self over the Christ
*Inclusion of gay and transgender people in the ministry.

These are just a few of the deviations from orthodox Christianity that we are seeing happen right in front of us.
The cultures influence on the church has never been stronger than it is today. People who attend many of our congregations today will not hear the Gospel, will not hear about sin and will not hear about God’s grace. Instead they will hear health and prosperity, good morals and an inclusive message of unity for all religions. This is not what Christ had in mind when He said “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel!” The true Gospel is that Jesus Christ came to save sinners (all of us) from death and hell by offering Himself as a holy sacrifice for our sins. Only He could do that because only He lived a perfect life. God’s wrath is satisfied because of His death on the cross and His resurrection three days later is proof that He was God and that we who believe will also be resurrected one day!

So why do churches that preach and espouse these unbiblical doctrines seem to prosper and grow? It is because they tell people what they want to hear and not what our Lord commanded them to teach. If you notice, the emphasis is on the here and now and on all things temporal. Faith is nothing more than a tool to get the things you want from God. To that end, their preachers are always very rich and do not mind flaunting their wealth. Through pride and deceit they lead many people down the path of error by twisting God’s holy Word for their own purposes. Then, when God’s Word is not proclaimed in truth, other things slowly come into the church. These things seem acceptable through the wisdom on man but are nothing but deadly errors. Things such as universalism (mixing Christianity with other religions to form a hybrid) or gay clergy are becoming the norm for the church.

This is a dangerous time for the American church and it is why we
must all return to the study of the scriptures. We must put ourselves under the teaching of those who preach and teach the whole truth of God’s Word. We must understand what the Gospel is and what it isn’t. We must become so familiar with the truth that we will easily recognize deceit and error. We must pray like never before for our churches and our pastors. We must put on God’s armor to protect ourselves. We must become true Disciples of Christ!

S.T. Woods

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