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2 Thessalonians 2:3, Let no one deceive you by any means; for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed.

1 Timothy 4:1,2, Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,

These verses of the Bible always get me in trouble.  So, do I ignore them or forget they are in God’s Word?  My last Bible class got pretty angry with me because “once a person is saved, he is always saved.”  I asked them to explain what falling away and depart from the faith was talking about and I got all sorts of answers.  Here I go again….

The word for falling away is apostasy.  The word apostasy comes from the Greek word apostasia which means, literally, "to defect, or to forsake the faith".  The David Jeremiah study Bible says this:  There was “false teaching circulating in Ephesus that later developed into Gnosticism.  It also apparently combined a speculative teaching based on OT law (1 Tim. 1:7).  These ideas were contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture (Ro. 5:8).”

The Life in the Spirit Study Bible states this: “The Holy Spirit has explicitly revealed in later times there will be a falling away both from a personal faith in Jesus Christ and from Scriptural truth.  There will appear within the church ministers who are highly gifted and mightily appointed by God.  Some will accomplish great things for God and preach gospel truth effectively, but they will depart from the faith and gradually turn to seducing spirits and false doctrines.  Because of their former anointing and zeal for God, they will mislead many.”

I challenge anyone to tell me this is not happening in our churches today.  In my sister and brother-in-law’s church, the preacher openly preached on homosexual activities being okay; their adult Sunday School teacher stated that the Bible was an outdated book.  I am so proud that they took their stand against this.  Other churches openly preach there was no empty tomb, no angels, no appearance of the Resurrected Lord.  The examples could go on and on!

I found this statement in an article on apostasy. “The true church of Jesus Christ has always been plagued by apostasy, but nothing like the present. The Bible makes it clear that doctrinal confusion will rise to a crescendo in the latter days, leading many to depart from the faith as they eagerly follow deceiving spirits and willingly adopt doctrines of demons. It has been well established that many of the false religions and cults of history have grown out of deceptions or apostate branches of Christianity.”

Does this sound like what is happening today?  The popularity of unbiblical teaching is growing.  The words of the Bible are being distorted by several growing church denominations.  They tell just enough truth to bring people in; that is deception and the teaching of deceiving spirits and the doctrines of demons.

Your protection against such demonic deception and activity is to remain totally loyal to the Lord Jesus Christ, obedient to the Word of God, and to have a love for the truth.  Be aware of persons with such great charisma that people follow him and his deceptive teachings, teachings that are mixed with truth and error.  May this awareness be accompanied by a desire to do the will of God, to walk in His righteousness, and walk in the fear of God.

Sorry for the length today.  One last thing.  I talked with my sister yesterday and in our discussion, she told me that she had shared the blog with a neighbor.  To say the least, I was thrilled.  I told her that was exactly my hope and desire – that readers would share the blog with others.  Please consider doing that if you have been blessed.

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