LEARNING DAILY

 

2 Thessalonians 2:3, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away occurs first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition

 

In one of the last pages of the blog this verse was used to address the rejection of truth which is called apostasy or the “the falling away”. Look around and take some time to reflect what is going on in the world and specifically the United States. Is there any doubt that there is a rejection of Biblical truth and truth has become what individuals say it is? This is not a new thought as individuals have been determining truth for themselves for many years. Is there any doubt that people are “falling away” from key and true doctrines of the Bible to follow false teachings that claim to be true or real Christian doctrines?

 

There are verses of Scripture that highlight apostasy during the New Testament times I want you to consider. John 6:60-66 describe followers who did not understand His teachings; they were too difficult for them to grasp. Understand that the Holy Spirit had not been sent to Believers to teach them all things. Because they could not understand, they left “and walked with Him no more”. In Galatians 1:6, Paul writes of those who walked away from the teachings of Jesus to follow a different gospel. 1 Timothy 4:1 warns that in the last days, there would be those who will depart from the faith to follow the doctrines of demons. And, 2 Peter 3:17, is a warning for us today to stay alert to those who would teach false doctrines (such as the rapture of the true Church is not real). There has always been a problem with apostasy and the Bible indicates it will become worse in the last days.

 

I write about this today to make sure all Believers do not fall to the lies that are being spoken, by so many held to be authorities or leaders in all areas of life (This includes leaders in the church and in government!). These false teachings or misinformation begins very subtly, by a simple twist of truth that grows and pollutes one’s faith and beliefs. Evil becomes good and good becomes evil through slow and misleading thoughts until one begins to believe the false teachings as true. It is difficult to detect the teaching of apostates because only a small difference in Scripture causes error to be taught. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:13-14, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” If Satan can “masquerade as an angel of light and pretend to be one of God’s good angels he can empower false apostles to masquerade as apostles of Christ” (DJSB). Believers cannot look for these false teachers to just outright lie but rather to twist the truth just enough to make the false look believable. Yet, they seem to be less and less concerned with just twisting the truth to make it believable; the lies are becoming more and more bold and shameless today.

 

The only way to recognize false teaching is to stay in God’s Word, staying close to truth; knowing truth will help us recognize or at least warn us of something not being right. Then we go back to find the truth and do what it says.

 

The goal of those who are deliberately trying to mislead people is to stay in power and to bully those who know, believe and want to follow God’s truth into submission to their desires and way of life. I wonder how much longer God will allow this before He takes the true Church out of this world and until He removes the Holy Spirit who restrains the man of sin and the powers of evil from having their way on earth. The rapture and the judgment of God must be very close!

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.