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What is Deception ? |
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And what are we to do about it? |
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by David A. DePra |
| The Body of Christ, for the last two thousand years, has been |
| attacked by heresy. In today's world, due to the greater ability to |
| communicate on a mass scale, the reality of religious deception is |
| everywhere. There has crept into the Body of Christ such great |
| error that nothing short of total upheaval will ever set it right again. |
| There has never been a greater need for discernment. Not only |
| on a corporate level, but on an individual level. Thankfully, God |
| has not left us without direction on this matter. He answers the |
| question, "What is deception?," and shows us why He allows it. And |
| He also tells us how to discern the Truth. |
| Defining Deception |
| We are, of course, dealing here with spiritual deception -- which |
| is deception of a religious nature. It is possible to be deceived |
| about the facts regarding any number of things in this life. But if we |
| are deceived spiritually, we are deceived, not about the facts, but |
| about the Truth. Indeed, we are deceived about God Himself. |
| Here we find the answer to the question, "What is deception?" |
| When all is said and done, "deception" is error about God. It is a |
| false "knowledge" of God. |
| This is important to understand. Deception is NOT merely |
| doctrinal error. No. It goes much deeper than that -- for doctrinal |
| error is the fruit of deception. Deception is a condition wherein I |
| have embraced a wrong concept of God, and am, to some degree, |
| being governed by it. |
| The key here is if I am GOVERNED by deception. If I am not |
| governed by deception, then it is not yet a destructive heresy to me. |
| In that case, my "faith" in the lie is merely a "said faith" in it -- not a |
| real faith. And simply saying I believe a wrong thing may not do me |
| any more harm than merely saying I believe the Truth does me |
| good. It is easier to get free of this kind of deception, for it has little |
| or no root in me. |
| Real deception is error I have embraced. I have accepted it -- |
| not just intellectuallly -- but morally and spiritually. I both believe it |
| and obey it. I am, in effect, serving the god my deception has told |
| me is the true God. |
| Belief always leads to actions. We always DO according to what |
| we believe. And then, as a result of believing and doing, we |
| eventually BECOME. Thus, we come to the real destructive power |
| of error about God: It affects what we BECOME. It effects our |
| eternal spiritual character. |
| When Jesus sets us free with the Truth, it gives us the power to |
| become the children of God. We believe the Truth and obey it. We |
| begin to become adjusted to it. Ultimately, we will bear the likeness |
| of the Truth Himself. But the same effect takes place regarding |
| error. In the final analysis, I am going to be conformed to an image |
| correspondent to the God I embrace -- even if it is a false god. |
| What we see in all of this is that deception is NOT doctrinal at it's |
| root. No. Doctrinal error is merely the outcome of the real root |
| growing to bear fruit. All deception is based in a false concept of |
| God. It is from this that false doctrine springs, as does as all |
| religious error. |
| Ignorance or Unbelief |
| If you have ever been deceived about God or His will in a way |
| which impacted your spiritual walk -- and you have -- you probably |
| didn't plan it. You didn't set out to be deceived. You may have even |
| been deceived by someone else. Your deception may have been |
| the result of your total ignorance and inexperience in the things of |
| God. |
| Much deception in the lives of Christians is the result of |
| ignorance. Many of us just haven't been taught the Truth. So when |
| a lie comes along we don't immediately recognize it as a lie. We |
| are ignorant. We just don't know. |
| Ignorance is not sin. Ignorance, of the legitimate kind, is simply |
| "an INABILITY to know." And God does not judge us for what we |
| cannot know. Our lack of knowledge, in that case, isn't our fault. |
| We haven't rejected knowledge or the Truth. We just haven't |
| gotten to the place where we are able to grasp it. |
| There is no Christian who is free of ignorance. All of us are |
| ignorant about a great many things, for it is a normal stage of |
| growth. Even the Truth which we have seen is but the beginning. |
| There is always much more to God than we could ever grasp. |
| Ignorance, then, is not unusual. It is normal. And if we are truly |
| ignorant, we are not to blame. God never expects us to know |
| more than we are able to know, or to be someone we cannot be. |
| He simply wants us to be open to Him for the Truth. |
| Now, having said that, it is nevertheless a fact that God DOES |
| expect us to know what we CAN know. There are many people in |
| this world who have known Truth and rejected it. But there are |
| many more who COULD know the Truth but refuse to know it. This |
| condition is much more subtle and much easier to dismiss. Yet it is |
| precisely the ABILITY to know -- but the refusal to know -- that God |
| defines as UNBELIEF. |
| Unbelief is a condition of being so set in my own will that I will not |
| open myself to other possibilities. Christians do this all the time. We |
| say we want the Truth and want God. But we want it on OUR terms. |
| Thus, despite the fact that we COULD know the Truth, we plung on |
| in self-will and deceit. Our unbelief is the reason we were able to be |
| led astray. |
| An Open Heart |
| Throughout the Bible, God tells us that there is one thing which |
| is required of us if we are going to see the Truth: An open heart. If |
| we are truly surrendered to God, and as much as we know, are |
| willing to see and do His will, then we are in a condition of spiritual |
| receptivity. God can then show us the Truth. We are not in the |
| condition of unbelief. |
| Rather, we have FAITH. Openness and surrender to God is |
| what faith is. Faith is not necessarily "knowing" anything. It is not |
| necessarily freedom from ignorance. But even if I am greatly |
| ignorant before God, I can at least put aside my demand to |
| understand. I can trust HIM -- for He does understand. |
| So we see that all of us are capable of some measure of faith. |
| We may not be capable of much else, but all Christians are able to |
| believe. We wouldn't BE Christians otherwise. |
| Thus, we can all be open to the Truth. We can all be open to |
| God's will. We can know what we are able to know -- not more and |
| not less. God expects nothing else from us. |
| God continually tells us in His Word that we must be open to the |
| Truth -- even before knowing it -- if we expect to be led INTO the |
| Truth. Jesus said it best in the gospel of John: |
| If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it |
| be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaks of himself |
| seeks his own glory, but he that seeks that glory of Him that sent |
| Him, the same is true. And no unrighteousness is in Him. (Jn 7:17) |
| The point is, if you are willing to DO the will of God, you shall |
| KNOW the will of God. Again, this is faith. It is surrender. And |
| there is simply no other formula for knowing the Truth which God |
| offers us. |
| What we are seeing is that it is the condition of a person's heart |
| which determines whether they see the Truth, or become deceived. |
| Not intellect. Not emotions. But the condition of the heart. |
| Of course, any discernment of the Holy Spirit is always going to |
| agree completely with the written Word of God. There is never an |
| exception. Indeed, one of the greatest protections against error and |
| deception is to know the Truth so well that deception cannot find a |
| place in us. Yet we must be cautious here. Even the way in which |
| Yet we must be cautious here. Even the way in which I interpret |
| the Bible is determined by the condition of my heart. There are lots |
| of people -- preachers included -- who can tell you what the Bible |
| says. But they are in error as to what it MEANS. Some of this is |
| innocent ignorance. But some of this error is the result of unbelief |
| and self-will. Again -- how I discern God is very much determined by |
| my attitude of heart towards Him. |
| The Appeal |
| There is no one among God's people who has not at some point |
| been deceived. All of us have believed lies about God. Some of us |
| have even greatly embraced these lies. Others of us have simply |
| held these lies at arm's length -- perhaps they did not really govern |
| us. Spiritual growth is a life-long process. And all of us are going to |
| make many mistakes of discernment along the way. |
| The question at hand, however, is as to WHY such mistakes of |
| discernment are possible to begin with? We have seen that all |
| deception finds it root in a lie about God. But WHY do I believe such |
| lies? How does deception gain a foothold in ME? |
| Today thousands of Christians are deceived by false teaching. |
| But these teachings did not come upon them and force them into |
| submission. Somewhere along the line, they have opened |
| themselves to the teaching and embraced it. They have chosen to |
| believe it. Why? Why do we choose to believe lies? |
| We can be sure that God has not deceived us. Jesus promised |
| that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all Truth. The Bible says, "All |
| Thy ways are Truth." Indeed, Jesus said, "I am the Truth." God |
| deceives no one. He sent Jesus to open the eyes of the blind. |
| The enemy is, of course, totally involved in all deception. But |
| the enemy cannot secretly attack us and cause us to believe a lie. |
| We do not wake up one morning only to find ourselves suddenly |
| believing lies about God. So yes, the enemy is the great liar. He is |
| behind all lies and deception. But the enemy cannot force anyone |
| to believe something they do not want to believe. |
| Ah. That's the clue. Let's say that again, "The enemy cannot |
| force anyone to believe something they do not WANT to believe." |
| WANT to believe. Motivation to believe. Willing to believe. Desire |
| to believe. Susceptibility to believe. Here we find the reason WHY |
| we end up believing something: We are OPEN to believing it. It has |
| an appeal to us. There is fertile ground in us for it. |
| The enemy cannot force us to believe anything. But he CAN |
| suggest we believe something. And he isn't going to waste his time |
| suggesting to us things he knows we will reject. Rather, he'll work |
| on those things which we might believe if they are "packaged" just |
| right. And the "package" in which deception most often comes is |
| one which suits us. It offers us something WE desire. That's why |
| we willingly embrace it. |
| The unwelcome fact is that if I choose to believe a lie about God, |
| or a lie about His will for me, it is because there is something in ME |
| which makes me susceptible to it. There is something about the lie |
| which appeals to me -- either in a positive way or a negative way. |
| A lie can appeal to me in a positive way by offering me what I want. |
| Or it can appeal to me in a negative way by stampeding me to take |
| refuge in ANOTHER lie. But there is an appeal -- even if it is one |
| which is "innocent" or in ignorance. |
| This may not be easy to accept, but realizing the Truth of it is |
| important. It will help us surrender ourselves to God, lest we fall into |
| greater deception. It will help bring us to repentance regarding past |
| mistakes of discernment which we may think were God's fault. |
| We believe what we believe for a REASON. There are reasons |
| why I believe something which another person may consider utter |
| nonsense. These reasons go beyond mere intellect. There is |
| something in a person which is able to embrace -- even if in a |
| negative way -- what he embraces. And those reasons are always |
| moral. Faith is not an intellectual issue. It is not an emotional issue. |
| It is a MORAL issue. What I believe is the result of my relationship |
| with the Personification of morality Himself -- Jesus Christ. |
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An Angel of Light |
| Obviously, if a lie appeals to something in me, I am not going to |
| define what is happening to me in those terms. I am not going to |
| say to myself, "Well, this teaching certainly appeals to me. So what |
| if it is a lie? The fact that it appeals to me is what is important." No. |
| That's nonsense. Rather, when a lie appeals to me, it comes |
| exactly like Paul the apostle describes in Galations. It comes as an |
| "angel," or "messenger of light." |
| For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming |
| themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan |
| himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no |
| great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of |
| righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. |
| (II Cor. 11:13-15) |
| Paul here speaks of "transformation." That means a CHANGE |
| occurs. The change is clearly OUTWARD. That which is a LIE is |
| transformed, or packaged, in a form which appears to be Truth. |
| Deception, by definition, is error presented AS Truth. |
| We have to understand that if a lie is "transformed" into light, and |
| ministered by "a messenger of light," it is not going to look like |
| darkness. It is not going to come up to us and say, "I am a lie. But I |
| am going to try to appeal to a weakness in you so that you will |
| believe me." No. That's silly. A lie "transformed" into an "angel of |
| light" will look like light, act like light, smell like light, and even, for |
| a time, appear to bear the fruit of light. It can be so totally |
| convincing that even "the elect" could be deceived. But it is still a |
| LIE. And the only reason we could possibly be deceived by it is if |
| it appeals to something in US which is susceptible to it. |
|
Positive and Negative |
| We have seen that all deception finds it root in a lie about God. |
| And we have seen that the reason these lies about God are able to |
| deceive us is always found in our hearts. We have also seen that |
| the lies of the enemy can appeal to us in both a positive or negative |
| way. An example of each will serve to illustrate. |
| First, the positive appeal. Suppose, in my heart, I desire to be |
| wealthy. No, I don't have a spoken confession of this desire. In fact, |
| because I know this desire isn't right for a Christian, I may even |
| deny it. But it is there. I have never surrendered it to God. So |
| along comes a teaching which gives me a formula for getting God |
| to make me wealthy. "Just plant a seed by giving money to this |
| ministry," the preacher says. "And God will give you back a harvest |
| which is ten-fold. It is God's will for His people to acquire the wealth |
| of the world." How difficult would it be for me to believe this lie? Not |
| too difficult because it agrees with my will. |
| Now note: This deception cannot make me cross over the line |
| and begin believing and embracing it. There is nothing that can |
| force me to believe anything against my will. No. But if there is |
| something in me which can be appealed to -- and thus convince me |
| to VOLUNTARILY choose to believe -- well, then that's another story. |
| Then I will believe. And I will be deceived. |
| Deception which comes as an angel of light will always appear to |
| be OF God. It will always seem to be God's voice, God's hand, or |
| God's guidance. How else would an angel of light appear to me? |
| It may, in fact, be exactly what I have been expecting God to do. |
| Again, the key is the condition of my heart. If I truly desire God's |
| will -- and am willing to pay the price of MY will -- then I will come to |
| see the lie for what it is. I'll know the Truth. But if I want my will so |
| bad that I insist it must be God's will as well, well then I'd better be |
| careful. I'm not in the condition where I can properly discern. |
| There are, of course, many negative appeals which the enemy |
| uses to deceive us. The most common are ones where he tries to |
| stampede us into embracing error by using fear, condemnation, and |
| guilt. If I do not believe that these things are always the lies of the |
| enemy, I may end up embracing most anything I think will rid me of |
| them. THAT is deception. |
| Many Christians, for instance, obey all kinds of unnecessary laws |
| and rules, simply because they feel guilty and condemned if they |
| don't obey them. They fear God might punish them if they stop |
| doing what they are doing. But this is a motivation based, not in the |
| Truth, but in a false knowledge of God. It keeps us in bondage. |
| Fruit Inspection |
| One of the most clever arguments of the enemy, and of those |
| who are deceived, is that their error is "bearing good fruit." And |
| since Jesus said, "You shall know them by their fruits," then if we are |
| seeing good fruit, doesn't this fruit validate what we believe? |
| The fact is, "fruit inspection" is a rather subjective science. Get |
| that. It is quite possible that the same vulnerability that has lead me |
| to embrace a false teaching also leads me to believe that the fruit it |
| is producing is good. And the Truth is, this is always the way |
| deception works. You are never going find deceived people |
| admitting that what they believe produces BAD fruit! Hardly. They |
| always believe the fruit produced is good. |
| Visit any Jehovah Witness church or Mormon church and they |
| will assure you that they have many good fruits. But they have the |
| WRONG Jesus! The fact is, if I have the wrong Jesus then the fruit |
| being produced by that wrong Jesus will agree with him -- and thus |
| seem to be good! |
| Again, we see that deception involves an angel of light. Part of |
| what an angel of light does is produce fruit which looks good. The |
| enemy knows all those verses about fruit, too! And wherever you |
| find false teaching, you are going to find people saying the fruit |
| produced is good. |
| God Proves, the Devil Tempts |
| When Christ was baptized, the first thing He did was go out into |
| the wilderness. He had come to realize who He was, and the |
| purpose to which He had been called. But all of that had to be |
| tested. The wilderness was where the test would occur. |
| Jesus WAS tempted in the wilderness. And we also are tempted. |
| But we are not tempted by God. No. The Bible says, |
| Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God |
| cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. (James |
| 1:13) |
| But if God tempts no man, then what does the Bible mean |
| when it talks about "a trial of faith?" Isn't God behind trials of faith? |
| Herein we need to see an important distinction: The Devil |
| TEMPTS us unto evil. But God PROVES us for the purpose of |
| conforming us to Christ. |
| There is a huge difference. The Devil tries to deceive us into |
| moving away from faith in God to something else. God allows us |
| to be tested in this way so that we can have the opportunity to stand |
| by faith and therefore grow. In other words, God is FOR us. The |
| Devil is AGAINST us. |
| Now, the amazing part about this is that both God and the Devil |
| are after their opposite goals in the SAME trials. The trial you are |
| in right now contains the potential for deception and evil -- if you |
| slowly choose. But it is also a great opportunity to surrender to |
| God and be set free by the Truth -- if you will believe. |
| There Must Be Heresies |
| For there must be heresies among you, that they which are |
| approved may be made manifest among you. (I Cor. 11:19) |
| Have you ever wondered why God allows heresy to exist among |
| His people? Today it seems as if there is more heresy than ever in |
| the churches. Some of these heresies are doing spiritual harm to |
| those who embrace them. Yet God lets them exist. He doesn't |
| seem all that concerned about getting rid of them. |
| Why? Why does God allow heresy and false teaching to exist? |
| The above scripture tells us why. It is so that we might be given the |
| opportunity to choose. Only by being faced with false teaching and |
| error are we motivated to seek out the Truth. Only if the Truth is |
| attached will we be motivated to prove it. |
| Here we see one way God proves US. He allows us to be |
| exposed to error -- even allows it to come an "play upon" our |
| weaknesses. Or upon our areas of spiritual ease. Then we can no |
| longer be at ease. We have to choose. And if we choose to |
| believe and obey God, we'll be set free. Not just from our errors, |
| but from any sin, or ignorance, which the error has exposed. |
| The nature of faith is that it must be tested. Otherwise it remains |
| passive and only intellectual. But if something happens to call into |
| question what I believe, or if something rouses me out of my comfort |
| zone, then the test is on. I must choose. I must seek God for Truth. |
| And in doing so, I'll find that God is interested, yes, in showing me |
| the Truth -- but more so in adjusting me TO the Truth. For every |
| Truth I discover there must come more than just a "new doctrine." |
| There must come a "new me." I must BECOME conformed to Jesus, |
| not just learn new facts about Him. |
| The scripture above says that heresies must exist so that THEY |
| which are "genuine" may be shown to be so. Note that. It doesn't |
| say that the purpose for heresy is to ultimately show which doctrine |
| is genuine. No -- although that is important in the overall purpose. |
| But the greater purpose is to show whether WE, as individuals, are |
| genuine -- really and truly belong to Jesus Christ. |
| God's Wisdom and Mercy |
| God wants to set us free from all of our ignorance. He wants to |
| expose all of those areas in us which could possibly provide a |
| home for heresy. So what does He do? Shield us from all error? |
| Prevent all temptation? See to it that nothing we hear could ever |
| lead us astray? No. He allows heresy to come into our lives. It |
| gives us the motivation we need to prove the Truth, stand in the |
| Truth, and in doing so, become adjusted to the Truth. |
| You see, God even has a purpose for deception in His church. |
| Not that He is pleased that it is there, mind you. But He allows |
| it because He allows free will. He isn't going to make it impossible |
| to be deceived, or to deceive others. No. Heresy and deception |
| are allowed so that those who are genuine might be proved, and |
| come forth as sons and daughters of the Living God. |
| This gives great hope to those of us who have realized that we |
| have been deceived. It makes us to realize that if our deception |
| was, in fact, based in ignorance, that God may have allowed it |
| in order to work a greater purpose in our lives -- later. He may |
| have allowed it so that it could be used in our lives to prove us |
| as genuine -- or, to put it another way -- to bring out in us that which |
| is genuine in Jesus Christ. |
| There have, for instance, been Christians who have prayed to |
| God for discernment against deception, only to move right on |
| ahead into it. The question then becomes, "How could God have |
| allowed this? I prayed for Truth. He has promised to lead us into |
| all Truth. And right in the middle of my prayers, I was deceived." |
| This is a fair question. How can such things happen? Some |
| Christians have departed from the faith altogether because they |
| have not been willing to accept the answer. |
| The answer lies in the infinite wisdom of God. When we pray |
| to know the Truth, God often sees that despite our sincerity in |
| wanting the Truth, that there is no capacity in us to grasp it. But He |
| also sees in us genuine faith. Thus, He says to us, "You have |
| prayed for Truth. I am going to answer your prayer. But in order |
| to answer, I must deal with those things in you which are blinding |
| you to the Truth. If you will hold fast in faith through all these things, |
| I will prove you to be genuine." |
| If we will BELIEVING God, those things which are allowed in our |
| lives for the purpose of proving us genuine cannot do us any real |
| harm. Rather, BECAUSE we believe God, they will be used BY |
| God, to DO the proving, and to bring out in us the genuine |
| person we are to become in Jesus Christ. |
| Again we see the essential of faith. I may pass through many |
| seasons of darkness in my life. But regardless of what I believe |
| doctrinally, and regardless of how confused I may be about things, |
| it is always possible to trust God. I can trust that He is faithful to me |
| to lead me into all Truth. |
| It is not possible for me to want the Truth more than God wants |
| me to have it. Therefore, if I trust God, and am willing to pay the |
| price for Truth, I cannot fail to find it. It may not happen in five |
| minutes, or even five years, but it will happen. This is as sure as |
| God in heaven. |
| Jesus' promise that He would "lead us into all Truth" is certain. |
| But never must we mandate HOW God will do this. That's |
| because we don't know what we are made of, and we don't know |
| what we need. These are matters best left to the wisdom of God. |
| The fact is, God is ALWAYS seeking to lead His people into |
| all Truth. And if our hearts are open to Him, unconditionally |
| surrendered to Him for His purposes, we ARE in that process. |
| Freedom |
| According to the Bible, it is the Truth which sets us free. (John |
| 8:32) That automatically means that deception and error are what |
| bind us. But why? |
| The sin nature which governs us carries with it a completely |
| wrong picture of God. It suggests a God who is angry, mean, and |
| eager to punish men. In turn, this incites in us fear, condemnation, |
| and a wrong kind of guilt. As a result, it makes us want to run and |
| hide from God. It motivates us to try to do for ourselves, and live |
| independent of our Creator. We don't have to try to create such |
| a concept of God for ourselves. To one degree or another, we |
| already have it. It is woven into the fabric of who we are in Adam, |
| and utterly and completely governs us. We are at it's mercy, as |
| we are to the mercy of the sin nature. |
| The Truth of God in Christ, however, exposes all of these things |
| as lies. And when we begin to see the Truth, we begin to gain |
| the freedom to develope a love relationship with Him. |
| Deception is a lie about God. Truth, however, is an unveiling |
| of how God really is -- a Redeemer, a Deliverer, a Seeker, and |
| One who uses all things for His purpose and our betterment. * |