4. The truth about God does not share His glory with no other
The fourth important truth about
Jesus Christ we all should know, understand and believe in order to avoid becoming
a victim of deception is to be able to make a clear distinction between what is
genuine and what is counterfeited, what is God’s power and what is man’s wisdom
because Satan has a counterfeit to everything that the Lord has established especially
with regards to worship. The apostle Paul expressed deep concern with regards
to this situation by stating; “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent
deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the
simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom
we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not
received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted --- you may well
put up with it!”
He further said; “For such are
false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of
Christ. And no wonder! For Satan transforms himself into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into
ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” We
therefore have been forewarned saying; “For false christs and false prophets
will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the
elect. See, I have told you beforehand” (2 Corinthians 11: 3-4, 13-15; Matthew
24:24-25).
The stark reality is, both Satan
and his ministers transform themselves as ministers of righteousness, and
therefore, “the coming of the lawless one to whom Satan the dragon gave his
power, his throne, and great authority will be according to the working of
Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous
deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the
truth, that they might be saved. And for
this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the
lie (Satan), that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but
had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).
To avoid being or becoming a
victim of deception one has to begin with the root cause of the problem which
began with the first Adam whom the Lord God took and placed in the garden of
Eden to tend and keep it, and the Lord commanded him saying, "Of every
tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely
die."
Therefore to avoid being or
becoming victims of deception, we must know, believe and practice the truth and
take no pleasure in unrighteousness, because God from the beginning chose us
for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to
which He called us by His glorious gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now there is only one truth, and
that is Jesus Christ Who is the Word of God. Therefore, whatever the Lord has
spoken, whether it is in the Old or the New Testament, they remain in force
forever, unless an amendment, alteration, or a reformation has been made or
instructed by the Lord Himself. Any other teachings regardless how appealing
one might think they may be, are all blatant lies and remember, the Lord said
quite distinctly; “I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give
to another, nor My praise to carved images” (Isaiah 42:8;48:11).
Remember also that, all lies are
of the devil as we have been duly instructed saying; “You are of your father
the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth
in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar
and the father of it” (John 8:44).
Unfortunately, some of us are too
casual and lackadaisical when it comes to rejecting error and accepting the
truth especially when it comes to worship not realizing or taking into
consideration the fact that truth is of God Who requires us to worship Him in
spirit and in truth, while on the other hand all lies are of the devil and
whether wittingly or unwittingly we are worshiping the devil. \
The worst mistake we as believers
are doing is to equate and associate the works of man’s wisdom with the power
of God when the Lord unequivocally stated;” I am the LORD, that is My name; And
My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images’ (Isaiah
42:8; 48:4).
We fail to realize that the power
man possesses is from his own resources which he attained from the moment he
partook of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil for which the Lord attested
to and said; “"Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and
evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and
eat, and live forever." On another occasion the Lord said; “Indeed the
people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to
do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” (Genesis 3:22’
11:6)/.
And therefore, we have to choose
between having our faith in the wisdom of men or having our faith in the power
of God because God does not share His glory with no other. If you know these
things, blessed are you if you do them, for truly, these times of ignorance God
has overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.
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