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Truth and Error - Eph 6:14-15
Truth and Error - Eph 6:14-15
This article can go with many scriptures: for today I will couple it with Ephesians 6:14-15: “Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace”.
Such armor includes the correct understanding of God’s revealed will (Eph. 3:3-5; 5:17). The need for such armor is that we are in a war for our souls. (Eph. 6:11-12). The great enemy of God’s people, Satan, uses deception and lies to turn people’s hearts from God, even as he did in the beginning with Eve (2 Cor. 11:3; 1Tim. 2:14). Thus we are warned:
1 John 4:1: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 Timothy 4:1-3: But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.
2 Peter 2:1-2: But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;
The problem is that MOST people think they are truthful, honest, and faithful to the Word. When someone challenges me with “you think you are right?”; the answer is just as blunt – of course I think I am right. To knowingly teach what is wrong is to most of us unthinkable. Thinking that we are right does NOT mean that everyone IS right!
YET, there are such people who purposefully pervert the truth. The danger of such false messages is that the really deceptive ones are the ones that sound most like the truth! They also often come from ‘trusted’ sources. They often have the promise of worldly ease. They are often the popular belief – the broad way wherein many travel. In short: they are of such a nature that people WANT to believe them.
Thus the challenge: Can you have an argument with yourself and lose? That is, are you honest enough to see when you are wrong? Do you have the integrity to admit when you are wrong? Do you have the strength of character to CHANGE when you are wrong?
Hugh DeLong
With the apostles and prophets came false apostles and prophets.
With good godly elders came those who would lead believers astray.
With the blessings of the printing press, came the printing of much error.
With the popularity of Facebook, came groups and pages dedicated to error.
With the availability of YouTube to post sermons came the posting of videos proclaiming error.
