Both in ancient times and today, Satan uses the same simple method to fool believing people. This method is to distort the word of God, or to add to it, or to take away from it.
The same method by which Satan, the serpent, fooled Adam and Eve is still in effect today, and he is attacking Christians with it again: "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said..." (Genesis 3:1).
God gave us His Word and teaching through Christ, and this teaching cannot be distorted by any human additions or subtractions.
John 17:8 (KJV): "For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me."
Many believers have not learned from the example of Adam and Eve and fall for the serpent's deception as well. Throughout the thousand-year history of Christianity, a huge number of human teachings and traditions of elders have been introduced into Christian doctrine, while others have thrown out parts of the doctrine as unnecessary, thinking that God gave them something superfluous. They are stepping on the same rake as the scribes and Pharisees of Christ's time on Earth, and in essence, they are just like those HYPOCRITES who teach people to follow human doctrines.
People consider themselves smarter than God, so they begin to add their own human commandments to His teaching. They present themselves as worshipers of God, but they distort His commandments and teachings, which shows that in their hearts they do not respect God at all and are hypocrites, pretending to be His followers and admirers.
Matthew 15:3-8 (KJV):
3 But he answered and said unto them,Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
4 For God commanded,saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
5 But ye say,Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
6 And honour not his father or his mother,he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
7 Ye hypocrites,well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth,and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Mark 7:6-7 (KJV):
6 He answered and said unto them,Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me,teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
God, who in His wisdom created the entire universe, gave through Christ an absolutely perfect and ideal teaching to which nothing needs to be added and from which nothing needs to be taken away. This teaching saved people in the time of Christ and His apostles, and in our time, this teaching is sufficient for salvation. All human teachings, traditions, and decrees that people add to the doctrine given by God lead to problems and sin, to arguments and divisions in Christianity.
Isaiah 28:13 (KJV): "But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken."
The apostles also had to fight against those who tried to add their own commandments, decrees, and traditions to the teaching of Christ. The apostles of Christ urged the disciples to strictly follow only the teaching that came from God through Christ and to reject human teachings.
2 John 1:9-11 (KJV):
9 Whosoever transgresseth,and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
10 If there come any unto you,and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Galatians 1:6-9 (KJV):
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which is not another;but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we,or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before,so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
2 Corinthians 4:2 (KJV): "But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God."
1 Thessalonians 2:13 (KJV): "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe."
If a believer is wise, he will check what is preached to him against the teaching of Christ and the apostles, just as the noble Bereans did—the disciples to whom Paul and Silas preached in Berea, a Greek city.
Acts 17:11 (KJV): "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
Satan distorts doctrine with the goal of sowing divisions among Christians, and he does this precisely on the basis of those human teachings that are introduced into Christianity.
Romans 16:17-18 (KJV):
17 Now I beseech you,brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ,but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
Today, Christianity is divided into many churches and denominations, and human teachings and the distortion of Christ's doctrine are largely to blame. Satan has managed to divide the body of Christ, and now in the body of Christ (His church) there is no complete unity. Some teach one thing, others another, and heresies and human teachings that promote division flourish contrary to God's will.
Isaiah 28:13 (KJV): "But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken."
Orthodox churches, in particular, have been drawn by Satan into this snare, as they have accepted a huge number of traditions of elders that often contradict God's commandments.
For example, Jesus Christ gave a perfect teaching, and in it, He clearly taught about prayer: that one must pray exclusively to God. However, in Orthodox churches, they teach prayer to deceased saints and even to angels. This is a purely human teaching, as it does not align with the teaching of Christ. It leads to God losing communion with His children; instead of building a relationship with the Heavenly Father, Christians pray to the dead—something Jesus never taught.
Such prayers to deceased saints carry the danger that people begin to honor the dead saints more than God, which is the sin of idolatry. Many pray more to the Virgin Mary than to God, thereby placing her above Him. These people are fooled by Satan through sentimental human teachings; they have become idolaters.
Matthew 15:6 (KJV): "...Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition."
Entire services are dedicated to angels and deceased saints, directly violating the commandment that says: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4:10 / Luke 4:8). These people serve the creation instead of the Creator, and because of this sin, they receive a reprobate mind.
Romans 1:25-32 (KJV):
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie,and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections:for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men,leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness,fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters,haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding,covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God,that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
No comments:
Post a Comment