Tuesday, February 16, 2010

God Means What He Says-I

(Note to the reader:  There are three articles in this series and I have placed them sequentially on the blog to make for easier access.  So numbers 2 and 3 are below.  I've also put the Scripture quotations in blue type so that they will stand out.  If that is confusing or difficult to adjust to, please let me know and I'll return to the former ways.)


There are few people on this earth more dastardly and villainous than false teachers, those who would lead the innocent and unwary down the pathway to eternal destruction. Instructors of error are legion, and the Bible, both Old Testament and New, warn us repeatedly about this. Here are just a few references from Jesus and His apostles: Matthew 7:15-20, Acts 20:30-31, Romans 16:17-18, Galatians 1:8-9, I Timothy 6:3-5, Titus 3:10-11, I John 4:1. There are others, but that is sufficient to make the point. Except I want to provide one further passage, II Peter 2:1-2: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.” Note very carefully, they “privily” (secretly) bring in “damnable heresies.” What they teach will destroy souls. And then the tragic finale: “many shall follow their pernicious ways.” The Scriptures caution us continually about false teachers. If we succumb to erroneous doctrine, it will not be God’s fault.

The point, of course, is that false teachers teach things that are not what God said. And one of the great lies and successes of Satan is to convince man that God does not really mean what He said, that we can take liberties with His word, that He can be presumed upon because He is so loving and gracious, that we simply can set aside Jehovah’s message with little or no penalty. There can be no greater, or sadder, or maddening, deception than this. And in this series of articles I want to emphasize as strongly as I can and with every ounce of my being that God said exactly what He meant and He meant exactly what He said and all the demons in hell and preachers on earth can’t change one single word of it. If we are not aware of and committed to this principle, then we need to give it serious consideration and thought.

The problem is not with God and His Word. The Lord has no problem expressing Himself clearly and letting His will be known to man. No, the problem is that man has never believed that God meant what He said or that He wasn’t really serious, or something. But from the very first chapters of the Bible we learn, conclusively and unequivocally, that God said what He meant and meant what He said. Beginning in the next article in the series, I will give several examples of this and how destruction came upon men (and women) who refused to believe this most important of Biblical truths.

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