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A Pinch of Truth and An Ounce of Deception
You got to admit, it's nice to just sit back and have someone else (like a Pastor) tell you what the Bible says. After all, he's the Pastor...he's the expert in this little black leather book. He's got all the answers and all you have to do is sit back and listen, consume and do what he says. If this is all you're doing, do you see a problem in this system? I do. It makes you blind to the truth and keeps you comfortable in sin.
Here's A Shocking Example
In this sermon, Pastor Creflo Dollar is encouraging his followers that it's the Devil's wish that you keep the law of God. He adds that if there is no law, there is no sin, therefore we can conclude that we shouldn't keep the law, because doing so would save us from sinning.
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He compared the law to the law of "speed limits." He says, "if we have no speed limit laws then you can't get a ticket!" Shockingly, everyone in his audience ate this up. Now, lets use some common sense here, since he compared it to driving laws. How safe would you feel today if you got on the road and there were no traffic laws? I know I wouldn't get on the road.
How to Detect Biblical Deception?
Read your Bible. Our only source of defense against the Devil is to arm ourselves with the Word of God. When Jesus was at His weakest, the Devil chose that time to try to get Jesus to sin. How did Jesus defend Himself? With scripture, the Word of God saying, "...it is written..." Shouldn't we also do our best to arm ourselves with the Word of God?
The Bible has some warning for us about teachers.
- Matthew 7:15: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
- Matt. 16:11-12; Jesus warns about the false doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
- Matt. 24:4-5: Jesus warns to watch out that no one mislead you.
- 2 Tim. 2:1-3: Paul warns of deception, rebellion and the man of lawlessness.
- 2 Tim. 4:3-4 : Paul warns a time will come where the people will not tolerate sound teaching.
- 2 Tim. 7-11: Paul explains how lawlessness is at work, how Jesus will reveal the lawless and destroy them at his return. The work of the lawless is helped by Satan in giving false signs and wonders, with deception.
What does the Bible say about those who teach or don't teach the commandments?
- 1 John 2:4: He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
- Matthew 5:19: Don't break any commandments, and if you keep and teach others to keep it, you will be called great in heaven.
- Revelation 12:17: The devil infuriated with the woman that keeps the commandments. In other words, in the last days, God's people will be keeping the commandments of God.
- 1 Timothy: Tells God's people to keep the commandments of God until He returns.
- John 14:21: God acknowledges we love Him when we keep His commandments and He will love us for it.
- John 15:10: To abide in God's love, we need to keep His commandments.
- 1 John 2:3: Only those who keep the commandments can say they know God. But those, like this pastor, who says to NOT keep the commandments (the law), he is a liar and the truth is not in him.
So what does the Bible say about the law? Let's read.
- Deuteronomy 28:1,2: Blessings of obeying God's law.
- Psalm 19:7-11: Psalmist describes God's law as perfect and wonderful.
- Jeremiah 31:31-33: God's new covenant: His law inside us, in our minds and hearts.
- 1 John 5:3: God's law is not a burden.
- Matthew 5:17, 18: Jesus came not to destroy, but to fulfill the law. Note: If Jesus was keeping the law, then according to Pastor Creflo Dollar, Jesus was doing the will of the Devil.
- John 14:15: If we love Jesus, we will keep His commandments.
- Romans 7:12: Paul indicated it was still in effect.
- 1 John 2:3-6: John indicated it was still in effect.
- Romans 3:31: Law not made void by faith in God's grace.
- Romans 7:22: Paul delighted in the law.
- Hebrews 8:10: How the law can be kept.
- James 1:22-25: Function of the law is to reveal sin not changed after the Cross.
Is Lawlessness True Freedom?
First I want to say what the Bible says about those who rather live outside of the law. 1 Timothy 1:9 lumps the lawless with the disobedient, the ungodly, for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers.
Second, I want to use a very practical approach to this. I live in the United State of America and here we have TONS of laws. Mostly to protect us by providing civil stability. We define what is good conduct while driving on the road and we have laws that will punish us if we steal, murder or start a fight. Now imagine for a moment that all these laws would be suspended for 1 year. Meaning this country would be 100% lawless...you can do anything you want and you will not be punished for it. How long do you think this country would last? Would you feel safe going outside to do groceries? How about to go to the bank? Or just a walk on the street? I think you would feel you have less freedom without the law than with. Because it's the law that provides safety and comfort in knowing you can go outside, and not be raped, murdered or robbed. To be free of God's law, is not true freedom.
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Image Sources:
1 - Joel Osteen
2 - The Infiltrator
3 - Pastor Creflo Dollar
4 - My Image
That's why it's so important for people to read the Bible for themselves. The more you read, the more you'll understand. The devil loves it when people stay ignorant concerning the Bible. That way, pastors can easily deceive people.
We need Gods law for every reason, to be good people and do good to others I could not imagine this life without it❤️
Amen, life without the law would be chaos. Everyone would just do what was good in their own eyes...kinda sounds familiar
Wow I have learnt alot from your post about not just listening to sermons at church but to read the word of God too because some sermons could be misleading. God bless you Soo much.
I have a question
How does one detect false sermon??
Hi @prince-opk, glad this has been helpful. The main thing is to pray for the Holy Spirit to help you and to guide you in your reading of the Bible. Jesus was able to defend himself from Satan when tempted by him by the very words of the Bible, "...it is written..." was Jesus's response. This should tell us just how powerful it is to know the word of God.
It's only after you know the word that you can tell when someone else says something contrary to what the Bible says. For example, some preach that you are saved if you are rich! Meaning, if you are poor, God hates you and you will not go to heaven. That is just unbiblical. Or another bigger topic, the state of the dead. It's incredibly popular to believe that Satan lives under the earth, is read with horns and has a pitchfork. These are not Biblical concepts of hell, those are mergers with Greek mythology...but people today eat that up as if it were undisputed truth.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thank you Soo much. I would from now on read the word most effectively than ever inorder not to be misled by anyone. Am really grateful.
I have a question?
How does a Christian really get to know God?
The same way you get to know your girlfriend or your wife. You have to spend time with God. Spend time in prayer and in reading scripture. Don't speed read, but focus on smaller parts at a time and meditate on them. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you as you read.
Thanks you Soo much would pay much attention to reading and meditating on the word of God more and would from now on always seek the council of the holyspirit. God bless you
First of all I want to say we are not under the law but under grace,it also means that we are not under the old(law)convenant but under the new(grace)convenant,grace does not make you lazy or misbehave or do things against the law.Rom6:14states that sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the law but under grace ,the reason alot of believers are struggling with sin is because they are still trying to fulfill the law that has been abolished through the sacrifice of Christ .Also 1cor15:54 states that the strength of sin is the LAW,so the more you preach the law the more people will struggle with sin,we are justified by grace and not the law,so crifflo dollars is not deceiving anybody he is preaching the gospel Paul preach.
Hi @asekevwe, thanks for taking your time to comment. I think the issue may be with the confusion over what the book of Romans says about the law. The old covenant says that a sacrifice is needed to atone for sins. This is an inferior covenant because the sacrifice is inferior. It requires constant sacrifices of a lamb to take our place, which is why they would have streams of blood leaving the camp.
The new covenant is a better and more perfect one because it's the Son of God, Jesus the Christ who takes our place. With His atoning blood, we don't need to continue to sacrifice lambs over and over. The law says we have sinned, and therefore need a sacrifice, but through the blood of Jesus, we can say, His blood is sufficient. So that is the new covenant. We keep the law which shows us what our sin is, and when we do sin, we turn to Jesus and ask for forgiveness of our sins. And because of Gods grace, we have faith in his atoning blood to redeem us.
The law is like a mirror which has no power to remove the spot of sin on your face. All it can do is show you what sin is. Gods grace is what has the power to remove that spot on our face and when we accept His grace and have faith that His blood is enough, we have forgiveness of sins. Atonement. But without the law, we don't know that we have a spot on our face. Without the law, we are blind. Like living in a dark room filled with filth...we'll never know we're surrounded by filth unless we turn on the lights.
Grace is what has the power to remove those spots
But without the law, you would not know your sinful, therefore you would be left with the spots on your face.
Reflect on a keyword Paul used:
Let's look at what it means to establish something:
So what is Paul saying? Under no circumstances are we to remove the need for the law, instead, we need to keep the law as permanent.
Very good analogy with the law and the photo of the spots; that the law magnifies or points out sin and our need for a Savior (or in the illustration, a need for a cure for oddly leach-looking spots on one's face ;-)
LOL!!! Yes, it gets rid of leaches too :-)
glad you liked my analogy too!
GAL2:21 STATES;I DO NOT FRUSTRATE THE GRACE OF GOD,IF RIGHTEOUSNESS COMES BY THE LAW CHRIST DIED IN VAIN,SO going back to the law and want to get justified by it is frustrating the grace of God.
GAL3:11-12 states,BUT NO MAN IS JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW IN THE SIGHT OF GOD,IT IS EVIDENT:FOR THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH IN CHRIST NOT BY TWO COLD TABLET OF STONES.
GAL3:13 STATES;CHRIST HAS REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW,BEING MADE A CURSE,SO THAT WE CAN RECEIVE HE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM BY FAITH.
LET ME TELL MY FRIEND,AM NOT SAYING I KNOW VERY MUCH,BUT NOBODY CAN KEEP THE LAW,ITS IMPOSSIBLE THAT WHY JESUS CAME TO FULFILLED THE LAW AND REMOVED IT BY NAILING IT TO THE CROSS.
ANYBODY WHO STILL LIVES BY THE LAW IS PUTTING HIMSELF IN BONDAGE AND CONDEMNATION;THATS WHAT THE LAW DOES.
GAL3:24-25 STATES ,THE LAW WAS OUR SCHOOL MASTER TO BRING US TO CHRIST THAT WE MIGHT BE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH(GRACE).BUT AFTER THAT FAITH(GRACE)IS COME,WE ARE NO LONGER A SCHOOLMASTER(LAW)
THE BIBLE IS VERY CLEAR ABOUT IT ,PAUL WAS VERY CLEAR ABOUT IT.
ABRAHAM LIVE 430 YEARS BEFORE THE LAW CAME,BUT HE WAS RIGHTEOUS BY FAITH AND WE ARE IN THE NEW CONVENANT WHICH IS MIRROR IN THE ABRAHAMIC CONVENANT,HE NEVER LIVE UNDER THE LAW.
GOD FIND FAULT WITH THE LAW.
ROM10:4 STATES,FOR CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS TO EVERYONE THAT BELIEVETH.
I CAN GO ON AND GIVE YOU SCRIPTURES OF WHAT PAUL PREACH ,THANK YOU.Hi @truth-be-told,let me ask you a question first, can you keep the law?I don't think so,we have the ten commandments and 613 statues ,and like James said2:1 he that fails one fails all,I think you don't understand Paul's writing ,Paul never preach the law to the gentiles who knew nothing about the mosaic law,it's the gospel of Christ he preach,you need to study the book of Galatians and see how Paul react when they were going back to the law,he laid a double curse on those perverting the gospel od Christ to go back to the dead law.GAL 2:16 STATES THAT BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW NO FLESH WILL BE JUSTIFY BEFORE GOD.
Hi @asekevwe: In regards to your previous post. It's true, we are not "under the Law, but under grace" as a means of salvation. The law does not save us. We are saved by grace through faith, and yet, the law does have a purpose. Note later in the book of Romans 7:7-12. Note the following from Romans 7:12, "the law is holy, and the commandment is holy."
It's also very important to note the various use and kinds of law in the Bible, because it's easy to get them confused.
Our task as Bible students and Christians is to discern which of these still apply.
So a few principles:
Now some conclusions:
Hope that helps. Cheers.
May I ask you a question? Do you consider yourself a sinner?
You see, we are all sinners.
1 John 1:8-10:
Take away points:
The danger in saying you are no longer a sinner, because there is no law, is that leads to moral relativism. Leading you to do what is right in your own eyes.
Read Judges 21:25
Another interesting factoid:
When accused on trying to take away the law or doing contrary to it, Paul (in his defense) said,
Glad someone understands this
Just replied below to you.
@originalworks
text of this post and it appears original!
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Thank God! Finally somebody gets it! We arent saying go and do the opposite of the law.. We are saying the essence was to give us a heart! God wanted us to come to The New Testament and know his will by The Spirit and not just by laws.. So he gave us a heart that knows what God wants! For example, as an adult you may not need a law for daily routine, why because you have been raised to understand it and now do it for the love of yourself and others. So, likewise, doing the works of God is from understanding through the Bible what God wants. Its like calling brushing your teeth a law.. Of course if you dont, its not good, but the idea of teaching you is for you to imbibe oral health, not to give you a 'law'.. Im sure we understand
Great post, fully agree!