Jolly Ole St. Nick?

There are children in Christian homes who can tell you more about this guy than Jesus.

 

Last Christmas, I shared with you the history of the holiday we call "Christmas".

In that post, I also discussed the Santa Claus myth, and my personal opinion on the issue of teaching young children to believe in that myth.

In short, I believe it's wrong to teach your children to believe in a lie, but my concerns transcend that simple moral, though I believe that alone should be enough to convince believers not to engage in this kind of behavior.

No, the problem of Santa goes deeper and further than this, but it has little to do with Santa Claus himself, and more to do with people's view of God.

Myths are great, IF they have a scent of the "true myth" (as Tolkien called it) of the Gospel. This is what makes myths like the Chronicles of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings so wonderful. They were written by Christians and contain a scent (sometimes much more than a scent) of the true myth of the Gospel, the very real and true story of Jesus Christ the Hero.

Of course, none of us are teaching kids that Narnia really exists and they might be able to reach it through an old wardrobe, but I digress.

What makes the Santa myth so terrible and dangerous is that, quite apart from having a scent of the true myth of the Gospel, it is totally in opposition to it.

Rather than write more, let me share a video with you that explains what I mean in a short, catchy poem.

So now you see what I mean. The Santa myth is a false gospel. Children, especially in the ages we are dealing with, are so very impressionable. Maybe when they discover you lied to them about a false god when they turn 7, or 8, or whatever, they will understand and move on. But the underlying message, that of merit, entitlement, and materialism, will likely remain, if only beneath the surface.

Believers say without Santa Claus, Christmas loses its magic and mystery for kids. The mystery and power of Jesus Christ are not enough? If that is true for you, then you are forgetting your first Love. We must never lose the wonder of the Cross. Besides, there are much better ways to do fun Christmas things with kids. Like the Jesse Tree, among others. Shoot, tell them about the REAL St. Nick, he was one awesome guy!

Eschatology Part Three: Know the Bible

 

This post is part of a series. See part one here and part two here. Rule One: It's none of your business. Rule Two: No one is right. Rule Three: Know the Bible. So you still want to study eschatology? Alright. So by know you realize and accept that you cannot figure it all out and no human ever has. Good.

Now read the Bible. All of it. Cover to cover. Genesis to the maps.

Unless you are willing to take in the whole counsel of God, you will never understand the End of Days. The great and glorious Day of the Lord is the culmination and consummation of all of God's plans for humanity. It is a wonderful and complex event that will change everything, forever. Like the ending to any great novel or film, one cannot skip to the end and expect to understand what is going on.

First, most people believe that the go-to book is Revelation on the End Times, but this is not true. Revelation contains a lot of End Times information, but most of it is a rehash of more detailed information that was already inspired in earlier books of prophecy in the Old Testament. So trying to pull all your information out of Revelation is like trying to pass an essay exam on the Cliff Notes (hint: it won't work). (If you do want a short version of the End Times, Jesus Himself laid out a concise view in passages like Matthew 24.) Secondly, God is good to tell us plainly what we must know about things like salvation and the End Times in very clear language, but He tends to hide the deeper meaning within His Word for those with a thirst to actually seek it. For example, you can read just one Gospel and learn enough about Jesus and His work to be saved and spend eternity in glory with the Holy One, but if you read all four Gospels, you will be blessed with a deeper understanding of the Messiah. If you read the whole New Testament, you will gain more wisdom and an even greater blessing. And should you read the whole of Scripture, you will uncover that the entire codex is about Christ. From the moment of Creation through the Fall, the patriarchs, the Law, the judges, the kings and prophets, you will discover, to your blessing, that Christ is hidden in every page. It is the same with the mystery of the End Times. There is important information in Genesis which is every bit as key to understanding the End of Days as the information in 2nd Kings as the information in Daniel as the information in Revelation. It's all interconnected, and if you do not know it, you will not understand it. I will not sit down for a serious discussion of the End Times with anyone who hasn't read the entire Bible at least once.

Thirdly, there's this old proverb: "There's a reason Revelation is in the back." We chuckle at this, and while funny, it is also true. When the Church fathers gathered to make the final decisions on the Bible's canon, they were torn over the issue of Revelation. It was a complex book that even they didn't fully understand, and they feared that ignorant people would read it and draw terribly erroneous conclusions about it, creating heresies and leading people astray. In the end they were undeniably convicted that it was, without a doubt, the Word of God, and could not be excluded from canon. So they put it at the very end, hoping people would have enough sense to read the rest of the Bible first before reading it. Despite their best efforts, their worst fears did come true, and we suffer today from a near endless supply of madmen using Revelation as their weapon of choice.

While we have discussed much in earlier posts about how understanding the End Times is not essential to Christian life, it should follow than any serious student of the Word will have an opinion on the subject. Whenever I hear someone say "I really don't have an End Times view," I know that really means "I don't study my Bible much." Before my pastor challenged me to read the entire Bible, I too had no strong opinions on eschatology. "The major views all have merit, I don't really know which one I believe." was my reply. I did not begin my reading to uncover the answer to eschatology, I just wanted to know God's Word and know His heart better. As I read, however, I uncovered something glorious. A story. A wonderful, beautiful story about a Hero who sacrificed everything to win the heart of a rebellious and sinful people. I also began (began mind) to understand something of how that story will play out in the end. I don't know much, but what I know is glorious beyond reason. I also believe it will end just as it began, in suffering. For if we share in His suffering, we will share in His resurrection. (Philippians 3:10-11) I did not intend to build up my eschatology when I read through the Bible, but it happened anyways. You might not intend to try and figure out the plot to a mystery novel when you read it, but you do it anyways. It's in our nature to unpack mysteries.

I'm not going to reveal my particular beliefs on eschatology here. That is just one of those things I will only discuss in a personal conversation face to face. What I have tried to do here is help you on your way to discovering the truth about the End. If my beliefs have any merit at all, then I can trust you to discover it for yourself in the Bible. Here are a few final bullet tips on studying eschatology.

1. Study eschatology as one not studying it. That is, you enter this study not to simply figure out the End of the story, but the truth about the Storyteller. Any venture I've made into Scripture to prove a point or figure out a mystery has failed. However, when I have studied the Bible to better understand God, I have often gained wisdom into those hard subjects I could not earlier discern.

2. Read the entire Bible without commentary. Don't read any other books on eschatology either. Avoid any outside opinions and let the Holy Spirit teach you.

3. Pray often for discernment as you read.

4. Keep a journal on everything God teaches you while reading.

5. When you finish reading the entire Bible, I guarantee you will have your own, genuine opinion on eschatology, among other things!

6. Now, test your theories by comparing them to those of others. I strongly encourage you to seek out not only the latest authors, but those of bygone eras as well. There are many ideas which have only sprung up over the last 100 years or so that probably are nothing but hot air. Romanian Pastor Elijah Morar once told me, "If someone discovers something they believe to be totally new in Scripture today, then it is either not new or heresy." It doesn't hurt that many of the older books are also now free, either.

7. Never stop learning or reach a point where you become unteachable. Always be willing to change your views, but be unwilling that anything other than Scripture do so.

Those are my recommendations for approaching eschatological study. Enjoy the journey, remember all is for the glory of God.

The Fall of Jericho

Joshua 6:1-21

Steps of obedience are like the tumblers of a lock. Each one must connect to open the door. The city of Jericho would never have fallen if they had failed to march around the city one of the six days or if they had shouted at the wrong time, or if they had failed to shout when the time came. They had to follow God's instructions exactly in order to receive His help in the battle.

Likewise, when God instructs us, we should follow the plan exactly. If we falter or deviate from the instructions, we should not be surprised if the walls do not come tumbling down. So often our failures and frustrations come from half-hearted, partial obedience to God, which falls short of His glory and therefore fails to bring about the wonderful results He intended for us.

Beloved, do not give up. March on. Keep silent until the right moment, God's moment. Then shout for all you're worth. Then you will see the glory of God revealed, then you will see your enemies melt in fear, then the walls around your life will crumble, and you will be free. Stay the course, do not give up.

Never, ever, give up.

Theodicy

"If God is good, why does evil exist?"

First, to answer the question, we must first define evil. God defines evil/sin as something that falls short of His intended purpose (Rom 3:23). Therefore, evil is the privation (or lack of) good. Evil is not a thing in and of itself, rather, it is the absence of what is good, a lack of total perfection.

A.W. Tozer puts it this way,

"Everything in the universe is good to the degree it conforms to the nature of God and evil as it fails to do so."

Secondly, humans, and not God, are the cause of this want of good in Creation. God gave us the responsibility to ensure His goodness endured in this world by obeying Him, and we squandered it. (Genesis 2-3) He could have dealt with sin and evil right then and there, and prevented any of the terrible consequences of evil (lack of good) in the world. However, to do so would have meant our immediate judgement and destruction, we being not only part of but also the cause of the evil (lack of good) in the world. In order for God to deal justly with evil and sin, He must punish all sin and remove all evil, not just the parts we don't like. (Ez 18:25)

But God, rich in mercy and love, did not want us to be destroyed. (Ez 18:23, 2 Peter 3:9) Instead of dealing with evil in the garden, He permitted the world to continue in evil (that is, lacking perfection) with all the flaws and consequences thereof (death, hate, suffering, etc) in order than at the right time (Romans 5:6, Galatians 4:4-5) He could send His Son Jesus into this evil (imperfect) world to Himself suffer evil and die a sinner's death in order to redeem humankind back to Himself (John 3:16-18).

Why did God allow an evil (imperfect) world to continue afterwards? Because God intended to save not only those present at the time of Jesus' death and Resurrection  but also humans from every single tribe and tongue worldwide (Rev 5:9, Rom 11:25, Matt 24:14). Until the full number of God's people are redeemed, God will hold back His judgement which will in fact end all sin and evil (imperfection) from the world forever and ever.

So, God withholds His solution to the "evil problem", which ultimately finds its source in the sins of human beings, so that He can save humans from it. His patience means our salvation (Rom 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9).  If God had dealt with evil in the Garden, or after the Cross, and not permitted evil to continue until this time, you and I would have been cut off, excluded from the Promise and without hope.

In short, God doesn't destroy evil because we are evil and He loves us. There is coming a day, however, set and known only by the Father God, when He will bring in the last of His people and deal with evil with all justice and judgement. Today is the day of salvation, do not resist God if He stirs your heart to repentance.

Praise God for his mercy and patience!

Lessons from a Missionary

So there's this old guy, and he's pretty awesome. We'll call him Bob. I'm sure I'm leaving a lot out, but here's a brief bio. Bob is a great Christian man, father to believing children, is a towering theologian, former pastor, former music minister, and leader of an independent missions organization to Romania. And he can do a great Donald Duck impression.

Whew.

Anyways, flash-back many years. My life straying from God, at last, has come to a total ruin. Feeding from the proverbial trough of the world, I came to my senses, and lifted my eyes to my Father, hoping perhaps He might accept me back as a mere servant, but He came running, embraced me as a son and put His robe around me and a gold ring on my finger. Then he sent his servant to lead me to Steven's Street Baptist Church, where my life began again in Him.

The very first thing I heard about was a mission trip to Romania. Having plenty of the world's goods at the time, I leaped at this opportunity and signed up. A few months later I was soaring in the clouds over the Atlantic Ocean to Romania, where God would do so many things in my life in a very short amount of time.

1. Be Flexible! Bob was the man in charge. In the months before we left, he repeated a mantra over and over, telling us to engrave it onto our minds. "Be flexible." Things were not going to go as planned, they never do on mission trips. God guides us by the Spirit, which we know from John 3 is like a wind that blows here, then there, and we don't know where it's coming from or where it's going to. In short, God tends to overturn plans on mission trips perhaps a bit more than in regular life. It's so important to be flexible, or submissive to God on these kinds of trips. You have to be ready for anything, ready to drop what your doing and head in a different direction. A person's eternal destiny may hang in the balance. Boy, that sure was good advice. There were times when things changed suddenly, but when I was tempted to become frustrated, I simply remembered "Be Flexible" and it became well with my soul. What I've learned since coming back is that "Be Flexible" is not only for mission trips, but for every facet and season of this abundant life in Christ Jesus. Sure, most people's plans and schedules don't get as overturned as often during the day to day life by God as during a mission trip, but God does step in and demand changes in your plans, and often times quickly too. If we become married to our plans and dreams and schedules, and not to Christ, we may snap in two when this happens. But just like a flexible branch, you too can bend and not break if you are constantly ready for God to step and change everything. Life will be better, trust me! 2. Don't Look at the Bus, Get ON the Bus! In Romania, buses took us everywhere we did not walk. The first time we walked out of our hotel to get on a bus, a curious thing happened. We all got in front of the bus and stood there, talking to one another. Suddenly Bob shouts, "Don't look at the bus, get ON the bus!" My senses snapped to attention, and I got on board. Odd, why was I just standing there? But it didn't stop there, at almost every bus stop, we would gather and just stand in front of it, and not get on until he shouted at us to. Why? I really can't say, perhaps a psychologist would know, but it did get me thinking.

In our day to day life, God has a purpose for every breath we take. Each day, the Bible tells us, God has prepared good works in advance for us that we might walk in them. So many of us are all for what God is doing, we clap, we cheer, we amen, and we say we will help, but often times we continue to just stand there and not do anything. Or take a simpler example. We see simple needs each day we could fulfill in the name of Christ, spreading His light and message, but we just stand there.

I saw a commercial once where someone throws a piece of trash on the ground, and several people gather around it to complain about the litter, condemn the man, and mourn that people aren't more considerate. Suddenly a man passes by, picks up the piece of trash and tosses it into the trash can. This example illustrates how many Christians act towards ministries and needs. Ever saying the right things, but not acting on them. Better was the man who said nothing, but stepped in and solved the problem.

So when God opens a door of opportunity before you to do some good in His name, whether great or small, "Don't look at the bus, get ON the bus!"

I doubt whether Bob has ever known what a great impact those two phrases of his have had on my life, but thanks brother!

("Bob" has since entered into his Master's happiness. Before he passed, he got to see this post. I am grateful.)

Eschatology Part Two: No One Is Right

 

This post is part two of a series, see part one here. Rule number one of Eschatology was: It's none of your business. Rule number two: No one has it right. No one really understands how the End will come except God the Father. Even Jesus, God the Son, does not know the hour when it will happen. How then can mortals expect to understand it? Indeed, it is truly a conceited person that believes he has the end-times figured out completely, or believes his theory is without fault. Each of the major Eschatological theories have some major flaws and places where they appear to contradict Scripture. This is because the mystery of the End is so beyond us that even it appears to contradict itself at points (though this apparent contradiction is entirely due to the inability of Man to comprehend it.) So I will freely admit here and now that my own theory on the End may not be totally right, or even partly so. I do believe that some  of my interpretations are very close to correct, and that others might be partly correct, but I also think that a few are completely speculatory at best. Examine my claims, and you will find that there are discrepancies and apparent contradictions, and even passages which appear to directly contest what I am suggesting. But here's the thing, that will be true for any human interpretation of the Scriptures concerning the end-times. Ultimately, the total Truth of the End escapes us all, and this is precisely how God wants it. He has said several times that the End is not to be our focus and the details are not for us to know. Therefore, we cannot expect to understand it fully. Nevertheless, God has given us information concerning the End, and even tells us in Revelation that we shall be blessed by studying it. We shall not know the full truth of it until it happens, and I guarantee that all of us who have dared study Eschatology will look on in awe at all the things we missed or got wrong.

Consider for a moment the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. In Luke 24:13-27 these men encounter Jesus, but do not know it is Him because they were kept from recognizing Him by God. Jesus talks to them about what just happened in Jerusalem. They confess their disappointment and sorrow that the man they had hoped would be the Messiah was recently put to death. Jesus rebukes them for their ignorance, because the suffering and death of the Messiah and his Resurrection were all foretold by the prophets. Yet these men, learned in the Bible, did not see it until Jesus personally taught them and supernaturally revealed it to them. They had reasoned in their human thinking that the Messiah would be a totally different kind of person, conquering with armies and power, not with suffering and death on a cross. I think it is similar with the end-times. All the prophecies are clearly laid out before us, but we cannot see them until God wants us to see them, just like the ones about the Messiah were essentially hidden from man until God revealed them at the proper time. Until then, we bumble through them using human logic to puzzle it out, forgetting that it is written, "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' says the LORD." Isaiah 55:8

The study of Eschatology is in fact so nebulous that the group of Christians I started with years ago did not even bother to study it at all. The Church of Christ takes no official stance on the matter, and in fact leaves the entire book of Revelation (after the letters) to gather dust on the proverbial shelf. It's a can of worms that they believe only causes division and profits nothing in practical Christian living. I do not know if they are entirely correct in those assumptions, but neither do I believe they are entirely wrong. The end-times is a can of worms that does often cause division and contention within the Church, and while it may profit us to study it, that profit is not worth the price if we cannot learn to agree to disagree. I absolutely refuse to discuss the end-times with anyone I believe will make it into a point of contention, or are so closed to the idea they might not be right they cannot accept a different point of view.

"I'm fully prepared to change my Eschatology mid-air." Douglas Wilson*

I heard that comment from a round-table discussion of pastors once, and it stuck with me. I take those words now as my own. I will not die on the hill of my own end-times beliefs. I freely admit that any of the major interpretations could be right, and I wrong. If it comes to pass that nothing I assumed about the End was correct, I shall accept it with joy. For when the End comes, I shall hardly care how right or wrong I was, and care only that my Lord has come for me to take me home with Him. It matters not to me how He accomplishes it.

Nevertheless, one cannot study the Bible or what it says about the End and not form a belief about it. In my next post, I will discuss what I believe to be the proper way to approach the study of Eschatology and the erroneous ways people approach it. I truly believe if you approach the Scriptures with an open mind and with a clear understanding of the how and why certain things were written they way they were, you can reach reasonable conclusions about the end-times.

*(A thanks to John Gardner for helping me find the author of this quote.)

Eschatology Part One: An Introduction

 

Eschatology: the study of "end-times", or how the Bible says the end of the world will go.

I won't label my beliefs concerning Eschatology. I'm sure some would label it one thing or another, but I despise labels. I especially despise the label theologians typically give my view of the end-times, because the label implies I disagree with the Scriptures, which is far from the truth.

First, I will tell you that the only thing I believe a Christian needs to understand and believe about the end-times is that Jesus Christ will return, that this return could be at any time, and that when He returns He will gather His children and judge the world. As for the rest, I will quote my Lord who said "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority." (Acts 1:7) In other words Jesus told his disciples, "It's none of your business when I come back."

So we must study Eschatology in light of the fact that our Lord and Savior told us it was not for us to know the specific details. The whole mystery surrounding the end-times is there on purpose. God does not want us to know what is happening until it happens.

In John 13:19 Jesus said, "I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he." And this, ultimately, is the purpose of prophecy. It is not so we can see things coming and perhaps react differently, but so that when it comes, we will know that it was from the Lord. The Jews spent about 400 years trying to figure out how and when the Messiah would come, and nothing turned out the way they expected. Even the disciples of Jesus, who believed in Him, were still expecting the conqueror Messiah up until the Crucifixion. I believe most people today are as confused about the end-times prophecies as the Jews were about the Messianic ones 2,500 years ago.

So then, the prophecies about the end-times are not really for us, unless we are the generation that sees it come to pass. Of course, almost every generation of Christians throughout all of the last 2,000 years has believed it was that generation. People today see signs and try to match headlines with passages from Scripture, shouting that it proves we are near the end, but each generation has read the papers (or heard the town crier) and believed the same things. Jesus tells us this is foolish.

 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ²³  And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. Luke 17:22-25

Jesus tells his disciples there will come a time when Christians will be desperate for the end to come, and will desire to see it, but will not see it. And people will come trying to delude you into believing it, but to resist them. He says that He will come as quickly and as unexpectedly as a lightning bolt.

My point in this introduction is that to argue or contend about issues of Eschatology is fruitless and sinful. Christ has basically told us that we cannot know when it is coming, that we can be led astray by trying to find out, and that the purpose of the prophecies are for those who are experiencing it, that they will believe and draw strength from it.

I hope, as we explore the prophecies of the Day of the Lord, you will keep an open mind and separate yourself from any preconceptions.

Spiritual Blindness

First, go and watch this video.

Did you go an watch it? If not, you must for this to make sense. I'll wait.

What is happening to you in this video (as long as you've never seen it before) is called inattentional blindness.

Daniel Simons at youarenotsosmart.com says,

"What is inattentional blindness? It’s missing something right in front of your eyes because you are paying attention to something else. What makes that a great topic for You Are Not So Smart is that this blindness is always part of experience, but you can spend a lifetime without ever knowing it happens. You tend to have an intuition and a belief that you see everything you are facing, and if something out of the ordinary was to happen, it would instantly grab your attention. Not so. Science has revealed you are basically blind to that which you are not attentive, yet your conscious experience and your memories don’t reflect this." Humans are arrogant and prideful. We believe that if we could see it, we will see it, especially if it were odd or important. This test has proven scientifically that no, we would not. If our attention is focused elsewhere, we will never see it. Only when your attention is called away from the basketball players and onto the gorilla do you finally see him.

Humans don't just have inattentional blindness when it comes to physical vision, either. The Scriptures tell us that humans also have a kind of spiritual blindness that prevents them from seeing God or understanding the Gospel. (2 Corinthians 4:4, Romans 3:11, 1st Corinthians 2:14)

I believe these three truths tell us that the reason humans cannot see or understand+ the Gospel on their own effort is similar to our problem with inattentional blindness in the physical realm. We see only that which our attention is focused on. Paul's sweeping condemnation of all mankind in Romans 1 explains that when humanity threw out the knowledge of God long ago in the garden, we began to focus on the created things instead of the Creator, namely ourselves. Therefore, although the Creator is plain to us through His creation, we don't see Him for the same reason we don't see the gorilla in the video. Our attention is focused elsewhere. In this way, Satan has blinded us, not through some magic power, but by simply misdirecting our attention to selfish attitudes that prevent us from ever seeing God, even though He is plainly displayed before us in His work.

When evangelists try to point people to God, the reaction is similar to our reaction when the video first tells us there was a gorilla we missed. "Nonsense!", we cry. Surely if there were a gorilla, we would have seen him, such an outlandish thing could not have danced before our very eyes unnoticed. But it did. When we tell people there is a God and a Savior and everything about the Gospel, men scoff. Surely if a god existed, especially one so involved in human affairs, it would be more obvious to us. Folks, God is as obvious as that gorilla, if not more. If you do not see Him, it is because you aren't looking for Him. God must reveal Himself to humans in a similar way the gorilla is revealed in the video: first through proclamation (preaching), then through divine revelation (by God). Salvation is dependent on God, not on human determination.

But this spiritual blindness can happen to believers as well. I am convinced that God is daily putting on displays of profound truth for us believers that we often miss due to our misdirected focus. We are too focused on our jobs, hobbies, worries, concerns, and so forth and miss the displays of grace and truth that could be ours. God is always for us if we are His, yet we do not see it because we are not focused on Him. Perhaps this is why it was written "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you." Such a Kingdom focus would ensure we see what is important, and not what is passing away. If this experiment proves anything, it is that we will miss things. We can't focus on everything at once. It is best to see God and miss the world than to see the world and miss God.

Rightly Dividing the Word of God

I'm currently examining the beliefs of other Christian sects. Motilism, Bitarianism, Deification, Arianism, the long list of heresies goes on and on. Each of them has one thing in common: they use the Bible to support their views. But they don't use it right. They do not "rightly divide the Scriptures," as Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:15. In fact, if one takes the time to read the passage in context, we will often find that the passage they are using to support their heresy is the very best to refute it.

Take 1st Corinthians 8:5-6 for example. The ancient heretic Arius tried to use this verse to show that Jesus is not God.

"5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live."

Anyone with the Spirit reading this text should see the error of Arius. Not only does this passage not refute the fact that Jesus is God, but it's one of the very best passages to show the Bible teaches that Jesus is God!

But of course, I have now revealed the cause behind all this heresy. How can a person seriously studying the Bible come to such erroneous conclusions? Because the Bible can only be understood by those who have the Spirit of God. It is written:

"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor 2:14

We cannot expect unbelievers to draw the right conclusions from Scripture. They can't. They will either dismiss it as total foolishness (the common response) or twist it in their sinful minds to create lies, for it is written:

"He [Paul] writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." 2 Peter 3:16

And we know all lies have their origin in Satan, the Devil, for he is the father of all lies, for it is written:

"43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:43-44

So, therefore, all heresy has its roots in the Devil, who moves his children (the Lost) to carry out his errands (2 Timothy 2:26), among which is to distort the truth and create lies from Scripture to lead people astray. Did not the Devil twist Scripture against Jesus in the wilderness? See Matthew 4:5-7. Did he not even twist the words of God in Eden to lead Man astray in the beginning? See Genesis 3:1-4

How do we fight heresy? How can we know when someone, even if they profess Christ, even if they are upheld as great teachers of the Bible, are spinning a yarn and not the truth? By knowing the Word ourselves! If we read those last two passages again, we see that Jesus knew the Word of God more intimately than Satan, and used it rightly to drive him away. Contrastly, Eve's failure began when she misquoted the words of God when she said "we must not touch it." It seems a slight error, but it proves she was not as familiar with God's word (short as it was then) as she ought to have been. "²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. ²⁷ But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him." 1 John 2:26-27

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15