The Perversion of Truth

by Dr. Ken Matto

 

(Isa 9:6 KJV) For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

 

(Heb 1:8 KJV) But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

 

Do false doctrines like this just happen or are they planned diversions? Since the Garden of Eden, Satan has relentlessly attacked the Word of God and continues to do so. Not only are the cults attacking the Bible but now the churches have begun their own assault on the Word of God. Many Christians are being deceived into believing that the Bible contains the Word of God but is not the Word of God. In this study I would like to detail seven ways Satan perverts the Scriptures and six results of following perverted truth. This study will help arm you, so when you are confronted with false doctrine, you will immediately spot it and refute it.

 

We must keep in mind a very biblical fact, that anyone who is not saved that interprets the Bible will come to an erroneous conclusion because they do not have the Holy Spirit living in them. Unsaved clergymen fall into the same category as Hare Krishna because they are both in spiritual darkness. It is the unsaved church leaders which have done the most damage in Christianity by their incessant questioning of the verity God’s Word. Instead of building up the Christian, they confuse them which sows discord among the brethren.

 

(Prov 6:14 KJV) Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.

 

All the words that I am using will begin with a "D" for easier identification of false doctrine. This is a very serious subject and should not be taken lightly. We may take refuge in the fact that even though the Bible has been maligned and denigrated, these false doctrines do not have any effect upon the truth of God’s Word.

 

(2 Cor 13:8 KJV) For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

Just because someone dogmatically dictates a false doctrine does not mean it will come to pass, even if they twist Scripture to make it say what they want. The Christian has a firm foundation in Jesus Christ.

 

(1 Cor 3:11 KJV) For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

So let the false prophets falsify, and the cults collaborate, they will never move the Christian from Christ. I want to use Genesis 3:1-24 as the biblical foundation for our study as this chapter contains all of the thirteen principles I wish to enunciate.

(Gen 3:1 KJV) Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

 

Satan, the disciple of doubt, will try to cause you to doubt God’s Word in any way he possibly can. Satan has successfully used that four word statement "Yeah, hath God said..." to build doubt into both believers and unbelievers throughout the ages. He used it directly on Eve and because she pondered Satan’s query, the results were disastrous. Satan uses this method at present, but in a different manner, which we will refer to as the "indirect method." Satan does not speak openly to anyone today because he doesn’t have to. He has many willing servants to do his dirty work, and they are in all phases of society. I would like to focus in on some methods which Satan uses to cast doubt on God’s Word.

 

Modern Bible Versions

There is probably no more subtle method of getting you to doubt God’s Word than the modern Bible versions. We have been sold a bill of goods concerning these new versions. We have been told that they are the King James Version with updated language but this is a planned deception since all of the modern versions are founded upon corrupt manuscripts. I will not go into an in-depth study of the manuscripts but I will give you the results of these versions showing how corrupt they are, thus causing doubt. I will use two versions which represent all the modern versions to reveal the indirect method of doubt. I will look at the New King James Version and the New American Standard Version to show how Satan has used scholarly people in his plan. Let us look at one verse which is represents the indirect method of planting doubt. Let me quote the verse in question from the King James Version:

 

(Mat 6:13 KJV) "...For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

 

Both the NASV and the NKJV state that this section of the verse is omitted in early manuscripts. In all the modern versions you will find sayings like, "not in the oldest and best manuscripts." All the modern versions will cause you to doubt as to what is the Word of God, since so many words, phrases, and verses are attacked and deleted. The NIV is very bold as it omits Acts 8:37 totally. They just removed it from the text. Read that verse and you will see why Satan wanted it out! After you see so many deletions and textual questions, you will begin to question the veracity of God’s Word. Soon you will say something like, "Well if these verses are not true, then how may I be sure that the verses on salvation are real, or the verses on Heaven are real?" When you do this, Satan has succeeded to cause you to doubt the Word of God and you will probably disregard it. Satan reaches a majority of Christians with this method. To combat this method, buy a King James Bible and stick with it, because you will have a Bible which does not tear Scripture apart, but rather brings glory to Christ and power for your ministry. Avoid the new versions at all costs.

 

Cults

This phase of Satan’s methodology reaches very few Christians but does reach the unsaved populace to a great extent. I don’t think there is anyone reading this who has not been visited by a Jehovah’s Witness at their home. To the unsaved person they sound very Christian and logical. They gain their converts by saying all the right things. Once they gain access to your home, they begin to belch forth their pre-programmed religious dogma. If they go unchecked, they will convince and convert you.

Don’t think that just because you go to church you are immune to their doctrine. The first American convert to Hare Krishna was the son of a Conservative Baptist Minister. They will twist all the historical Christian doctrines and even write books which they claim are authoritative as the Bible, such as the Book of Mormon, which they claim holds equal authority to the Bible. Cults will pull Christ down to the rank of just a prophet or teacher.

 

Scholarship

Here is Satan’s most powerful tool. It is easy for us to reject the biblical interpretation of someone with a bald head, beads, and a robe but it is much harder to reject the hermeneutics of a Ph.D. in a nice suit. Under the umbrella of scholarship, the following non-scriptural teachings have found their way into the church: Liberation Theology, Secular Psychology, Sociology, Humanism, New Age, and other mind sciences like "Positive Thinking." Scriptures have been twisted to conform to these beliefs. In Liberation Theology, Christ has been reduced to a mere revolutionary but if we search the Scriptures, nowhere do we find Him trying to change the Roman Government.

Beware of the noun "Christian" being used as an adjective, such as: Christian Psychologist or Christian Sociologist. If a person uses their field of employment as the noun and describes their field with Christian, they are normally more enveloped by their field rather than the fact that they are a Christian. What I mean by this is that a person who claims to be a Christian Psychologist will find more of his identification as a Psychologist rather than a Christian because there is more worldly prestige in being a Psychologist than a Christian. The church swallows and follows much twisted doctrine promulgated by these self-proclaimed professionals.

 

The mind sciences are used of Satan to neutralize the gospel. Once it is neutralized we begin to doubt certain parts of it. When someone preaches God is love, that person indoctrinates others into believing that God is only love void of the rest of His attributes. God is love but He is also righteous, holy, and a judge. Satan will do everything in his power to get you to doubt parts of God’s Word.

If Satan can get you to doubt God’s Word in any manner, he will almost have complete victory. God expects us to take His word by faith, not by logic or reason. God does not and will not operate according to the dictates of man. If you feel yourself doubting any part of God’s Word, you were probably a victim of some kind of satanic attack, but the key is that now you know some of his methods and can guard against them.

 

(Gen 3:1-3 KJV) Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? {2} And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: {3} But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

 

Satan also attacks the Word of God by distortion, in other words, to twist the Scriptures to make it say whatever you want it to. God did not tell Eve she wasn’t to touch the tree but there would only be serious consequences if they ate from the tree. What happened here was Eve began to hold a conversation with Satan and eventually it led to total destruction of the relationship between God and man. In three places in the Bible we are warned not to add to nor subtract from Scripture, because severe consequences are attached to it:

 

(Deu 4:2 KJV) Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

 

(Prov 30:6 KJV) Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

 

(Rev 22:18-19 KJV) For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: {19} And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

 

Whenever we tamper with God’s Word it will cause confusion of doctrine. One need only look at the Charismatic movement and the total confusion it has brought into the church with all of its signs, tongues, miracles, healing, and prophecies. All of these revelatory vehicles were present in the early church for the purpose of confirming and spreading of the Word of God until the Canon was complete with the book of Revelation which constituted the closing of the Canon.

 

(Mark 16:20) Today all these so-called "revelations" are just vehicles of confusion and distortion. If a person hears a prophecy but it contradicts the Bible, that person will not know which one to follow, and I can guarantee that Satan will be right there to help.

 

In the present we have so many philosophies which tend to distort the clarity of God’s Word. One of the greatest examples of this is the Pre-Tribulational view which was trance channeled through a woman named Margaret MacDonald, in Port Glasgow, Scotland, in 1830. Prior to 1830 the church believed and taught in a single appearance of Christ on the last day. Margaret’s vision was perpetuated by John Darby, Edward Irving, and C. I.. Scofield and it is being taught today as if it was the traditional belief of the church. I challenge anyone to show me a publication from any pre-1830 author that "proves" the two stage appearance of Christ theory was the traditional belief of the church.

 

As a result of this grave distortion of the Scriptures, we have in the church today an escapist theology meaning that we western Christians will not go through any tribulation because God is going to rapture us. You see, it is all right if Asian Christians are persecuted or Christians under any hate filled regime but American Christians to go through a tribulation? This is preposterous!!! Why doesn’t God love us American Christians more than anyone else? Do you see the distortion of doctrine it brings? It sets up American Christians as some kind of special case, like we are immune from persecution.

 

God loves all believers equally and has no intention of pulling anyone off this earth until the last day or until someone’s physical death. The pre-Trib doctrine must be perpetuated with pretty pictures and time lines. The same method of manipulation is used by the Hare Krishna and Jehovah’s Witnesses. So far none of the dogmatic pre-Trib prophecies have come true, for example: The church was supposed to raptured in August 1981, September 1988, and September 1989. What happened, we are still here? Where is the mighty world ruler called Anti-Christ? Russia hasn’t invaded Israel yet, etc. Could it be that none of these prophecies will come true and the church will be raptured on the last day? So far it looks that way. Let me go to the Scriptures on two of these points to show you how distorted this doctrine is:

 

Mat 24:29 KJV

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

 

It states immediately after the tribulation, the heavens will disintegrate. How can the earth go on for a golden age of 1000 years if everything is collapsing?

 

John 5:28-29 KJV

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, {29} And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

 

How do I get two resurrections from John 5:28-29? It says that all that are in the graves will hear His voice, and will then be either in the resurrection of the damned or resurrection of life, and it also shows us that it will be a simultaneous event.

Do you see how confusing non-biblical doctrine can be? Before you get angry with me, you need to ask yourself a question, am I believing a doctrine because I have been told to believe it or because I have researched the Scriptures to see if it is true? When man puts uninvestigated visions and desires into the pages of Scripture, the result is distorted doctrine, which engenders confusion.

(Gen 3:4-5 KJV) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: {5} For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

 

In verse four Satan contradicts the Word of God directly. He doesn’t mince any words as his attack is open and to the point. Satan even goes so far as to promise Eve that she will become as a god, complete with her own divine ability to discern the difference between good and evil. In other words, Satan was convincing her that nothing would change because she would know the difference between good and evil, and will be able to act accordingly. Eve was being offered the most desirous lie that man could swallow, which was the desire for divinity.

 

Adam and Eve had denied God’s word because God gave them a simple command to avoid the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden. Eve’s biggest mistake was that she chose to ponder Satan’s statements in light of her knowledge of God commanding her not to eat of the forbidden tree.

 

Here is the key to the disobedience of the believer. We know something is wrong yet we choose to listen to the arguments which defend a certain wrong action. For example, today we know that cigarettes are a killer but any Christian who smokes will give you 1001 excuses for their habit. The Bible states, "Thou shalt not kill," which is better translated "Thou shalt do no murder." Smoking causes a slow death as medical science has proven. So you see, we know that smoking can kill you, and also ruin your testimony for Christ but yet there are Christians who will still smoke. This is a total denial of God’s Word.

 

Satan has cultivated some beliefs which are prevalent today and are believed by many. Allow me to share four of them with you:

 

1) DOCTRINE OF ANNIHILATION - This teaches there will be no punishment for sin. It is a belief that there will be total annihilation from a conscious existence. This refutes the doctrine of Hell.

 

2) NEW AGE THOUGHT - They engender a belief that man is divine and that he is god. They claim oneness with the ascended masters like Buddha, Ramtha, etc. They make Jesus as one of the ascended masters. They believe that man can achieve anything because of the divinity that lies within him. This type of thought refutes all major biblical doctrines.

 

3) MAN IS GOOD - This psychological school of thought tries to make man a good, moral creature and needing no type of salvation or spiritual regeneration. This thought refutes the doctrines of sin, redemption, and salvation.

 

4) EVOLUTION - This school of thought states we have evolved from a lower life form and that everything we have become is by chance and not design. This refutes the doctrines of God, creation, and man.

 

These are four ways which Satan has led man to deny the Word of God and will have a disastrous effect upon those who choose to follow them.

 

(Gen 3:6 KJV) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

 

In this verse we see a disregarding of God’s Word, treating it as profane or common. Adam and Eve had totally disregarded God’s command to refrain from eating the fruit of the tree but now they will be unable to disregard the consequences. This is also a modern problem as we disregard the Word of God but when we begin to reap the consequences of our actions, God will not let us disregard them. Eve was blinded in three areas: First, she looked and lusted; secondly, she lusted to satisfy her flesh; and thirdly, she lusted after prideful gain.

 

(1 John 2:16 KJV) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

 

Is this formula any different for us? Let’s look at two common modern scenarios.

 

 

These two analogies should suffice to warn us that all sinful acts have the same formula. I see, I want, I do, which is the battle cry of the perpetual sinner. We expect these kinds of attitudes to be prevalent among the unsaved but when Christians begin to follow this formula, we ask for trouble. So, you ask, what type of disregard for the Word of God can the Christian partake of? Here is a typical example.

Materialism

Despite the warnings on materialism God gives in the Scriptures, many are still building their kingdom here on earth. So many believers are putting their money into every worldly investment that comes along to the point of disregarding the Great Commission. Many Christians are thousands of dollars in debt simply because they just have to possess everything they see. God expects us to be frugal and save but we should only put money into savings that is left over. Modern attitude is giving God what is left over after taking care of the BIG I.

 

We rob God’s money and use it only on our own lusts, and have the guts to say that we can’t tithe because we cannot afford it. One of the most deceitful things a Christian can do to themselves is to hoard money owing to their own fearful greed and then tell others it all belongs to the Lord, but when the plate is passed or a mission needs money, none of "the Lord’s money" is ever released for the Lord’s purposes. This Christian will cover his self-deceit in religiously satisfying statements, which sound good but are clearly seen through by God.

 

If you fall into the materialistic or better yet, the possessive mindset toward material goods, you need to have God free you from it because the results may be disastrous. Fearful greed is a child of mistrusting the promise of God to care for us. Just because we do not possess every major convenience the neighbor does, has no effect upon God’s love for the Christian. I know this for a fact, the less you have, the happier you will be. This whole section boils down to one word, "lust." If the believer can control his or her lusts, they will experience a freedom the world knows nothing about. If we give in to them, we won’t care what God’s Word says because we will only care about ourselves.

(Gen 3:7 KJV) And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

 

Satan also attacks God’s Word by draping it in religion and philosophy. This has worked effectively and can be borne out by counting the number of different religions and church denominations there are. We have liturgies coming out of our ears. There is nothing inherently wrong with a worship liturgy but we must never take it as the only way to conduct a worship service. What I am speaking of in this section goes a lot deeper than the liturgy, it is the church teaching that ritual equals the authority of Scripture. When churches or organizations begin to drape the Bible in their own religious opinions, the Word of God becomes shrouded and it then becomes hard to discern between what God says and what man says. Let me give an analogy of a great drape, which is the social gospel.

 

What Christian likes to see anyone go hungry or be homeless? The answer is obvious, none of us do! But the problem exists within the modern church of focusing only upon social ills. Satan has taken the gospel of salvation and added an emotional dimension to it, thus draping Christianity in emotionalism. For some reason many in the church believe it is the church’s responsibility to right every wrong in society. This is a departure from true biblical Christianity. The Lord commanded us to send forth the gospel and make disciples, not to be an agency of social justice, regardless of what Billy Graham, Ron Sider and Tony Campolo say. By doing all these works in the name of Christ, people believe that this is what the church is to do. The saving of souls now becomes the secondary function of the church instead of its primary mission.

 

The social gospel is a good drape of the real gospel because it puts on the front that this is what Christianity is all about. Those who have their stomachs filled, and die with that full stomach unsaved, the church has failed miserably and has not helped them but partook in their destruction. The real result of the social gospel becomes evident after death. (He who has ears to hear.) If we feed people physically and not spiritually, we have perpetuated Satan’s big lie and have deceived the people we are supposed to be helping. This is where the peace and safety verse may be applied when the social gospel gets everyone thinking that all is well, when it really isn’t.

 

(1 Th 5:3 KJV) For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

 

Then when they die and wake up on the last day, they will realize that their church was not really their friend but a deceiver.

(Gen 3:8-10 KJV) And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. {9} And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? {10} And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

 

The second thing Adam and Eve did after they sinned was to run away from God. Satan had caused them to sin and as a result, they were now afraid to hear and speak with God. Man dreads the Word of God and as a result has attempted to replace His Word with other so-called inspired writings. Lately many of these false writings made their way into the churches. Some of the ancient false writings are categorized under the heading of the Lost Books of the Bible which contain: The Book of Nicodemus; The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp; The First and Second book of Adam and Eve; The Pseudepigrapha; The Nag Hammadi library; The Early Kabbalah, etc. These were some of the ancient false writings which were intended to steer people away from God’s Word.

 

Is modern man any different? Does he have the same dread of God’s Word the ancient people had? The answer to the first question is, no. The answer to the second question is, yes. Let’s pose another question. Does man have any modern writings which steer people away from the truth and reality of God’s Word? The answer to that question is also yes. Let me name some: The Book of Mormon; The Divine Principle (Moon); Power of Positive Thinking; I’m Okay, You’re Okay; The Aquarian Conspiracy; Christian Psychology and Sociology books, etc. Man innately knows that a judgment is coming and does his best to whitewash it, because he believes that his whitewashing would somehow delete the inevitable.

 

Ever since man’s first sin in Eden, he has been trying to escape the coming judgment of God by creating diversions which attempt to make us feel good. One of these false gospels is known as the health and wealth gospel. Their basic premise is that God will grant them good health and a lot of wealth. the only ones who financially prosper from this teaching are the ones who proclaim it. Show me a health and wealth preacher who doesn’t live in a big house or drive an expensive car.

 

The next category of a false gospel is the "God is Love" teaching. To the Christian God is love:

(1 John 4:8 KJV) He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

 

To the unbeliever he is a judge:

(Rev 6:10 KJV) And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

 

The God is love theory teaches that His love will overlook the sins of everyone whether they are born again or not. Many people are counting on God’s love to cover their sins rather than the blood of Christ. Man knows he lives in opposition to the holiness of God and will do everything in his power to cover this fear with as many Band-Aid philosophies as possible. Man must face the fact that just because he avoids God’s Word does not negate the fact of God’s timetable of events which will continue to progress right up to the last day. Satan will do his best to get men to avoid God’s Word at any cost but the bottom line result is that deception is eternal Hell for those who place their trust in alternative philosophies.

(Gen 3:11 KJV) And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

 

Satan will attempt to twist the Scripture to the point that he will get you to act opposite the Word of God and make you believe that you are in total obedience to the Scriptures. He does this by dressing up disobedience with a spiritual overtone. A representation of this method is Liberation Theology. This system is replete with revolution and murder and is supported by the World Council of Churches and some branches of Roman Catholicism. The basic premise is to free oppressed people and any method is acceptable. This theology is satanic because it is so diametrically opposed to the true gospel of Christ. Christ taught that a person is free who is freed from the bondage of sin, regardless of social standing. On the surface Liberation theology sounds good but when it is contrasted with the Word of God, we see it is a false gospel right to the core.

 

What about closer to home, do we go diametrically opposed to God’s Word? The answer is yes! How? Where do we read in the Bible that the churches should sponsor gambling, like bingo, Chinese auctions, or Las Vegas Night, to raise money? God has given us a program for giving to support the church and it begins with the tithe. The Bible says that we are to trust in God for everything.

(Psa 56:11 KJV) In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

Consequences of following Perverted Truth

If a person chooses to follow perverted doctrine, will there be any consequences? Let me answer that question with a series of questions: How many Mormons are there? How many Hindus are there? How many Muslims are there? How many Roman Catholics are there? How many died with Jim Jones in Guyana? You see, there are always dire consequences when anyone chooses to follow perverted doctrine. The greatest calamity for those who follow false doctrine will be eternal separation from God under eternal damnation in Hell. God will not allow anyone to rewrite His principles without paying the ultimate price. Christ paid a great price for the salvation of the elect and no one will escape judgment who believes and teaches that Christ’s death is of no or little value.

 

The following section deals with five consequences which we will face on earth for following perverted doctrine and one ultra-consequence that all non-Christians must face.

(Gen 3:12-13 KJV) And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. {13} And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

 

One characteristic about false doctrine is that it causes you to blame others for your actions. Talk to anyone in a cult and they will tell you that it is the church’s fault they are there. They are always blaming others for their problems. In the above two verses we see that Adam blamed Eve and Eve blames the Serpent for their sin. In fact Adam was trying to put some of the blame on God when he said, "...the woman whom thou gavest..." In other words, Adam was really saying that if God didn’t give him Eve, he wouldn’t have sinned. Children cannot blame their parents for their own sinful behavior because God has declared that every human being on earth is accountable to Him and every unsaved person will be judged for their own sin. Deuteronomy 24:16 states this openly and Revelation 20:15 confirms it.

 

(Deu 24:16 KJV) The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

 

(Rev 20:15 KJV) And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

There is a dangerous and unbiblical thought which has become a doctrine in Christianity but is nowhere found in Scripture. It is one of those unscriptural emotional doctrines like "The Age of Accountability" and it is "God loves the sinner but hates the sin." If God loves the sinner then why is He casting them into hell on the last day? This doesn’t sound like love to me, it sounds more like the vengeful wrath spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10.

 

(2 Th 1:6-10 KJV) Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; {7} And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, {8} In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: {9} Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; {10} When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

 

God will hold every sinner accountable for their actions, and it will not matter how many good works you have done, because you will stand in judgment for your sins.

 

God does not separate the sin from the sinner, that is, the unsaved. The only time sin is separated from the sinner is when a person gets saved because God forgets their sins and views them as a holy and blameless person.

 

(Heb 8:12 KJV) For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

 

(Heb 10:17 KJV) And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

 

So as we have discovered in this short study, when someone blames someone else for their sins, it holds no weight with God. Think about it for a minute, when Adam and Eve sinned, who received the penalty for their actions? Adam and Eve did!!!! If God held Adam and Eve culpable for their actions, what makes us believe that God will not hold us accountable for ours? Even Christians are held accountable for their sins, this was the reason for Calvary. Our sin penalty was paid for by Christ and every believer’s accountability to God was transferred to Christ by means of His vicarious atonement. This is why God can forgive the Christian. Salvation wasn’t free, it cost God dearly but as a result He views the Christian as sinless and the unbeliever as sinful. So avoid the blame shifting philosophies of the psychological gurus, because you will still be held accountable for your sins, no matter what the "professionals" tell you. They too will stand in the judgment and give an account of their life unto God. It is better to face your sins here and cry out to God for mercy, than to take your chances at the Judgment Throne.

 

(Gen 3:13 KJV) And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

 

Satan’s playground is the mind and he thrives on deceit, as he so eloquently deceived Eve into believing she will be a god. Probably Eve did not know what she was getting herself into, as all who are deceived. The whole nature of deceit is to cover the true intentions of the issue or plan at hand. A good biblical analogy of deceit is to be found in a character named Jonadab. We find this epic of deceit in 2 Samuel 13. I will summarize it here for you but read the entire chapter.

 

Absalom, the son of David, had a sister named Tamar, who was very attractive and Amnon lusted after her to the point of sickness. Amnon was not sure if he should pursue her. Absalom was borne by Maacah and Amnon was borne by Ahinoam, so these two sons of David were borne of different women. Amnon and Tamar were not full brother and sister. Nevertheless, Amnon wanted Tamar and as usual whenever we find ourselves with a sinful desire, Satan will always send someone or something to help us fulfill our lusts.

This someone was Jonadab who was Amnon’s cousin. He concocted a devious plan whereby Amnon could rape his half-sister. Amnon feigned sickness according to Jonadab’s plan, then Amnon sent for Tamar to nurse him. He than commanded all the servants to leave the chamber and he then proceeded to rape her. Was the reward of this sin as gratifying as Amnon thought it would be? The answer lies in 2 Samuel 13:15:

 

(2 Sam 13:15 KJV) Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone.

 

The Scripture revealed to us that Amnon no longer loved Tamar but hated her. So the result of the sin was as not as great as expected. At this time, let us look at how sin progresses, and I guess you could say this progression is standard as Satan need not change his tactics because we fall for the same strategies again and again, they just carry different name tags.

 

1) THOUGHT - This is the point at which the sinful concept should be checked. If you stop it at this point, you will have consistent victory over sin.

 

2) ANTICIPATION OF RESULTS - If the concept goes beyond the thought stage, we begin to ponder how great the results will be if I achieve this goal. It is at this stage Satan intensifies the desire and drive to strive ahead and reach that goal. There will also be much justification on our part about our actions.

 

3) PLAN OF ACTION - Then you must put together a plan of action which will help you achieve that sinful act or goal.

 

4) PERFORMANCE OF THE SIN - It is at this time a person believes they are in control and on top of the world because they are in a state of total deceit. When the sin is completed, Satan usually steps back and allows reality to surface and that brings us to our next and last point.

 

5) THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN - Once Satan releases his hold on the mind, the reality of what took place begins to set in. Some of the consequences that people may face after sinning are: regret, remorse, suicide, anxiety, depression, physical sickness, physical death, spiritual death for unbelievers. etc.

 

Sin has a high price tag attached to it and this why Peter warned us to be sober and vigilant against the devouring nature of sin and Satan. No sin will ever be rewarding, no matter how Hollywood dresses it up. Let’s take a look at a sinful act and see if the five principles we explored may be applied.

 

1) THOUGHT - Let’s rob a bank

2) ANTICIPATION OF RESULTS - We will get the money we need and we will be set.

3) PLAN OF ACTION - A time is set to rob the bank and an escape route is planned.

4) PERFORMANCE - Breaking in and getting the money

5) CONSEQUENCES - Prison sentence for deed plus before they are caught, they must keep looking over their shoulders. Fear and

     anxiety result.

 

Let’s look at another sin closer to home.

1) THOUGHT - I need to be married, I am 41 years old.

2) ANTICIPATION - Marriage will be joyous and an ideal situation and he will be a wonderful husband even though he is unsaved.

    (Anticipation requires much justification in our minds. Satan will always help us justify our sins)

3) PLAN OF ACTION - We will marry in Las Vegas

4) PERFORMANCE - Married him today in Las Vegas in the cutest little marriage chapel. (No regard for God’s warnings about

     believers being unequally yoked.)

5) CONSEQUENCES - We have been married six months and now he wants nothing to do with the things of God. He is always working

     late and I never see him except at 2 in the morning, he drinks and drives, and calls me a religious fanatic. You will be despondent

     because your dreams of grandeur was a satanic deception and you fell for it because you disregarded God’s warnings. You now

     realize you made a horrible mistake and life is now miserable.

(Gen 3:15 KJV) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

 

One of the most poisonous results of following perverted truth is that it causes dissension in the mind. It causes a person to be void of clear thinking. In this verse we see that God had caused enmity to be placed between His people and the people of Satan. Since God has placed into every human His laws, there will be a war raging in the unbeliever also, concerning what is right and wrong. The war of ideologies is more prevalent in the Christian. God comforts the Christian by giving us Romans 7 and then topping it off by Romans 8:1. Here Paul tells us what a struggle he had with the indwelling sin principle, which caused him to do what he did not want to do. Just because a person gets saved does not mean that Satan will not plant confusing thoughts.

 

Usually the dissension in the mind may be traced back to two adversaries which are truth and feelings. In the last section I used the analogy of the believer wanting to marry the unbeliever, yet being emotional creatures we allow ourselves to be carried away by our feelings. There is a great amount of emotional doctrine which has crept into the modern church which has no basis in Scripture. Two of these emotional doctrines are:

 

1) THE AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY - This is a false teaching that states all children are under the blood of Christ until they reach a certain age when they begin to understand and then must accept the Lord to remain under that grace or else lose that protection and be classified as a sinner. This doctrine is also a great deception to parents.

 

2) REMARRIAGE WHILE A SPOUSE STILL LIVES - This sinful leave and cleave doctrine was engineered by clergy and theologians who couldn’t keep their drives under control. So they have rewritten the clear biblical rules concerning marriage and remarriage. Matthew 5:32 & Matthew 19:9 are their basis for the leave and cleave philosophy. They know their wife swapping ideals are wrong, so they had to mutilate the biblical truth and overlay it with heavy emotion to be acceptable to the masses. Lo and behold, it worked because we have acceptance without question.

 

Again we see church leaders deceiving the Christians. If Matthew 5:32 & 19:9 were carefully analyzed, their leave and cleave philosophy would go right out the window. Why don’t they preach on the following three verses:

 

(Mark 10:11-12 KJV) And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. {12} And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

 

(Luke 16:18 KJV) Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

 

(Rom 7:2-3 KJV) For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. {3} So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

 

The Bible straitly states that if you remarry while your spouse lives, you are committing adultery. The last time I looked adultery was a sin in both the Old and New Testament. A question must be posed, if Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 advocate divorce for fornication and permissible remarriage, then why does Mark 10:11-12; Luke 16:18; and Romans 7:2-3 state that if you remarry someone else while your spouse is still living it is an adulterous marriage?

 

You see their leave and cleave philosophy does not have a biblical basis which means that it is a false teaching which is deceiving many. In 1 Corinthians 7:39:

 

(1 Cor 7:39 KJV) The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.

 

Here we find God telling us that there is only one way that a previously married person may remarry, and that is if the spouse has physically died. I have heard preachers say that if a person gets divorced in an unsaved state and then becomes saved, they may remarry because all their sins have been forgiven. The truth is that all their sins have been forgiven but God still recognizes the first marriage as valid, whether unsaved or not. If I got married in a remote tribe in a distant land, the marriage would be acceptable to God because it was performed in front of witnesses and it was an official joining of two lives, no matter what the tribal customs are.

Marriage symbolizes the relationship between Christ and the church. If you believe in eternal security, then it is incompatible to believe in divorce. Let me explain. In John 6:44, we read:

 

(John 6:44 KJV) No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

 

This verse tells us that God draws the believer to Christ and as a result we are sealed with the Holy Ghost until the day of redemption

 

(Eph 4:30 KJV - And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.) which means we are eternally secure which is confirmed by Romans 8:38-39: (Rom 8:38-39 KJV) For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, {39} Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Now take the verse Matthew 19:6 and let us analyze it to see if we are on the right path to truth:

 

(Mat 19:6 KJV) Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

We see that the two are one flesh "joined together" may be translated and understood as "united together." "Asunder" may also be translated "separate or put a space between." This is how God describes the earthly marriage but let us see if these principles may be applied to the relationship between Christ and the believer.

 

1) The church or the Christian is called the bride of Christ in three places in the book of Revelation, they are 19:7; 21:2; and 22:17. If we are the bride or wife, then Christ is the husband.

 

2) When we become saved, the Holy Spirit came to indwell us, which means we have the most intimate relationship with Christ by means of Him indwelling us. God also sees us in the heavenlies already, reigning with Christ as Ephesians 2:6 reveals. It says we have been "raised" up. So here is the parallel to the one flesh, we are one spirit with Christ.  Eph 2:6 KJV) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

 

3) In John 6:44, we saw that God drew us to the Lord Jesus Christ and John 6:37 states we were given to Christ by God Himself. So here is the parallel of "joined together," as were united with Christ on the day of our salvation, which spiritually speaking was our wedding day. Doesn’t the Father of the bride give her to the husband to be? Watch the next wedding you go to and notice the heavenly parallel.

 

4) Romans 8:38-39 declares that there is nothing that will separate us from Christ because we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit for all eternity (Eph. 4:30). There is no power on earth which could ever separate the Christian from Christ. Here is the parallel to "let not man put asunder."

 

The bottom line is that even though you are divorced, and the state and church consider you separated from your spouse, God still views the first marriage as valid. We can use all the rationale and religious philosophies we choose, but the bottom line is that they are all unacceptable to God. You see if we analyze divorce carefully according to the relationship between Christ and the church, we would conclude that divorce represents the false doctrine of loss of salvation. If our marriage to Christ can be broken, that means it is a salvation doctrine of works, which is a false doctrine. No one can ever do good works to gain salvation.

 

God views the first marriage as a life long commitment and a remarriage, while the divorced spouse is still living, as adultery. Let me give an example: If a person is a Christian (married to Christ) and then goes off to seek a false religion, this believer is committing spiritual adultery:

 

(James 4:4 KJV) Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

 

The bottom line with the leave and cleave philosophy of today, is that it is unacceptable to God and this can be proven because it has no biblical basis. They had to build this philosophize with a religious cloak. the progenitors of this type of philosophy know that Christians don’t question anything, and they are correct.

 

This philosophy focuses only upon the flesh and disregards the Scriptures. This is why emotional doctrine is dangerous and can lead Christians into a sin-filled life. If Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for them, where do we get off believing that if our spouse commits fornication that we are not to forgive but rather kick them out of our lives? Does Jesus forsake you when you sin?

(2 Tim 2:13 KJV) If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

 

The answer is no, so we have no right and no biblical basis for divorcing a spouse for fornication or any other sin they commit. If Christ has forgiven us all our sins, who are we to hold a sin against anyone else? Don’t you think it is the height of religious bigotry to preach love your enemies but divorce your spouse? These are the kinds of questions that those who rewrite God’s laws never ask because they are blinded by sinful desires. We must stop giving Satan a foothold in our churches. It is imperative that we check everything we hear or read out in the Bible.

 

(Gen 3:16-17 KJV) Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. {17} And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

 

Another child of perverted truth is that a person’s life begins to deteriorate. In the above verses we saw the result of willful deliberate sin against God. Anyone who believes and acts upon perverted truth is in the same category. It is no secret that families have broken up because of the invasion of cultic ideas into it. Probably one of the most well known examples of deterioration is when 900 people took their lives on the order of Jim Jones in Guyana. There are many reports of rampant sodomy at the headquarters of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. What about families that belong to cults like Christian Science which believe that sickness is in the mind. In 1990 a Christian Science couple was found guilty in a court of law for allowing their child to die from a treatable illness.

 

What about Satanism where children and animals are sacrificed in rituals? Our government is permitting every vestige of Biblical Christianity to be ejected from the schools, courts, and public places. So what has been the result of man’s wisdom? Let me name some: We have a bunch of dummies graduating from schools, illiterate teachers, judges who prostitute themselves to special interest groups, rampant drug and alcohol use, drug and alcohol deaths, murders, prostitution, etc. My when I look at this list, it makes me wish I was a modern educator because of all their wonderful achievements and the legacy they will leave for posterity.

 

On October 4, 1982, Public Law 97-280 was enacted in which Congress declared the Bible to be the Word of God. It amazes me they would consider this with all their ethics violations. They vote on something they don’t read, just like most of their legislation. But let us not just accuse them of this, how many times do we Christians accept something without any question? Many churches which used to be bastions of biblical truth have now become havens for socialism and anti-Christian activism. This has come about by the acceptance of the social gospel. We have come to the conclusion that it is more important that all the world’s wealth be re-distributed than to see people become saved.

 

All one has to do is just look around and see the lifestyle deterioration wherever the Bible has been rejected. Look at the business world with all its illegal ways of conducting business. New Age seminars are being held by many major corporations to help increase employee productivity and aggressiveness. Ever since the business world has begun to turn to Satan for help, something has become very apparent: heart attacks are on the rise, their has been an exponential growth in the tranquilizer business, workaholism is on the rise, etc. There are so many areas which could be mentioned that have suffered because of embracing perverted truth.

(Gen 3:18-19 KJV) Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; {19} In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

 

Here is a major result of Adam and Eve’s sin which must be experienced by every living thing on this earth and that is physical death. Every human must face their physical demise, it is something which brings equality to every human. No amount of money will buy life for one day past the appointed day of our death. However, some who are presently living may not taste death as the signs point to the imminent return of Christ. I am not setting a date but all the signs that the Lord gave us have all come to pass already and there is nothing left to be fulfilled. Let us look at some characteristics of physical death.

DEATH IS A THIEF

Death steals from us those we love and because we will never hear their voice again or see their face, we grieve because death attacks and steals a great part of our life. Let me give you a tombstone epitaph that states it plainly:

 

This was taken from the grave of Benjamin Wilson who departed this life October 17, 1814 at the age of two years, two months, and eleven days. He is buried at the Woodbridge Presbyterian Church in Woodbridge, NJ. Have you visited an old cemetery and put yourself in the position of those who stood around the grave as their loved ones were lowered? You can almost feel the grief of our American pioneer ancestors as they buried their loved ones but they had a vision of the resurrection and they put it upon their stones for us to see. I wonder if some of them did that to strengthen us when things look bleak.

 

DEATH IS MERCIFUL

When Adam and Eve bit into the forbidden fruit, it was taken from the tree of life which meant that they would live eternally in a state of sin on earth. But for the mercy of God, he didn’t want His creation in a perpetual state of sin, so He instituted physical death so physical sufferings would have an established end. Would we like to live eternally in a body which is riddled with disease and full of pain? God in His mercy knew the effect of sin and immediately did something about it. To the Christian, death is the crowning glory, to the unbeliever, their troubles have just begun. Let us look at another tombstone epitaph which speaks of the mercy of death from the Christian view:

 

Taken from the Ebenezer (1 Sam. 7:12) of Laeilia Alnor Baldwin who departed this life on April 5, 1805. She is interred in the cemetery of the Connecticut Farms Presbyterian Church in Union, NJ. Death ends the time of suffering and trials for all believers, although we dread it, we do look forward to the day we too shall fly to the bosom of Christ for all eternity.

(Gen 3:24 KJV) So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

 

Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, the whole human race was now subject to eternal damnation, which is known in Scripture as the second death. But God in His mercy chose to save millions from hell and bring them to glory with Him. I would like to look at the above verse in a spiritual manner as we analyze the meaning of this verse. The garden represents heaven; The cherub is a type of Christ and the flaming sword is the Word of God. The meaning we have is that no one will get to heaven unless it is through the cross of Christ and according to the Word of God. God never saves apart from His Word. So those who follow any type of perverted truth, no matter how religious it looks, will be subject to judgment and eternal damnation. Who we classify as good, God classifies as sinner. There is only one way for the unbeliever to do good works and that is summed up in John 6:28-29:

 

(John 6:28-29 KJV) Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? {29} Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

 

I would like to sum up this study with a Latin Phrase: