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The Works of the Flesh ~ Heresies
This week we look at the thirteenth "work of the flesh" as listed in Galatians 5:19-21 which is called "HERESIES". And just as with the other works of the flesh, God through Paul tells us that if we embrace this fleshly work it will keep us from entering the Kingdom of God.
The definition of heresy is simply any teaching or belief system that deviates in any way from God's Word. A heresy is a lie or a fable that takes men away from the pure unadulterated truth of God as taught in the Bible. All religions and all teachings about God and how we are to live our lives are false except for ONE. That one way is called the WAY in several passages and it is the truth of how we are to have faith in God and to live according His teachings as laid out in the whole Word of God (Acts 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14.) That ONE WAY [of the Lord] is true and valid for ALL mankind as the WAY to live. Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Savior is our way to the Father and only by Him can we know the truth.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
1st Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Because all the major religions of the world deviate from what God plainly teaches in the Bible they are all characteristic of this work of the flesh [religions of men] and that includes Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Hinduism, Taoism, New Age Movement, Purpose Driven churches, Masons, Satanism etc. These are all heretical philosophical systems that do not teach the pure and unadulterated truth of the Bible but rather embrace falsehoods and doctrines of demons. There are many, perhaps thousands of different belief systems; this is just a short list of the main organizations that contain heresies. But there is only ONE God and only ONE WAY that is TRUE. God tells us in Isaiah that there is no other true God other than Him.
Isaiah 45:5 I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me....
And the WAY of God has been hidden from most of humanity throughout mankind's history and is still hidden even in our modern so-called "enlightened" times. What I mean by hidden is that the truth of God is in plain view but men are so conditioned to believe in lies that they just cannot recognize TRUTH when they see it, or when they hear it. The truth of God is available to many people in the modern western nations through the Bible, which is readily available to most. Also, all nations have the evidence of God staring them in the face by way of God's creation in the heavens and the earth and all that surrounds us. The fact that we live in the midst of an intelligent design with perfect order speaks of the existence of an intelligent CREATOR that designed it all. But just as Romans 1 tells us, mankind for the most part refuses to acknowledge the existence of a good and just God that is sovereign over all and is to be obeyed.
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
The Greek Word for heresy is hairesis (Strong's #139) and means: heresy, sect. From haireomai; properly, a choice, i.e. (specially) a party or (abstractly) disunion -- heresy (which is the Greek word itself), sect. (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance)
Here is the English definition of heresy from the on-line Free Dictionary:
1. An opinion or doctrine contrary to the orthodox tenets of a religious body or church
2. The act of maintaining such an opinion or doctrine
3. Any opinion or belief that is or is thought to be contrary to official or established theory
4. Belief in or adherence to unorthodox opinion
Almost from the very beginning of the Christian church, heresies were a cause of much trouble and grief. Paul warned about a certain heresy when he wrote to the Galatians. He described it as perverting the gospel of Christ.
Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Peter addressed the issue of heresy when he wrote his Epistle to the Ekklesia and he too warn them to be aware of those who would bring in damnable heresies and not to follow their pernicious [seductive and insidious] ways.
2nd Peter 2:1 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. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
As we read in many of the books of the New Testament, the apostles had to fight against heretical philosophies that were coming into the church from all angles. The Book of Acts and the Epistles are full of warnings of what was happening in the assemblies, warning the brethren to be aware of wolves in sheep's clothing that were sneaking into the church and catching the people off guard and indoctrinating them with false ideas. Jude exhorted the Ekklesia about how important it is for God's people to contend for the truth always. Those warnings and instructions are just as applicable to the people of God in our modern day as they were for the people 2000 years ago. (Please see the whole book of Jude.)
The heresies took many forms; some of the names were Adoptionism, Docetism, Nicolaitanism (two of the seven churches of Revelation 2-3 receive stern warnings from Christ to beware of the Nicloaitans), and Gnosticism. All of these heresies were condemned by the true apostles and teachers of God's Word, but their basic tenets still infiltrate many other heresies to our present day and have even infiltrated the Church of God. The various heresies can get into very complex definitions and meanings which is beyond the scope of this article but they all can be found on the Internet for further study.
The Doctrine of the Nicolaitans is described in length in James' very thorough article on this false doctrine under the name "The Primacy of Peter" posted on the God is Our Light Website. The link to that article is The Primacy of Peter.
But I will attempt to explain one of them, however, which has the basic components of all heresies and that heresy is Gnosticism and it still effects those of us in the Ekklesia to this day. It was a very predominant heresy in the early church and had several variations, one of which stated that good and evil are equally powerful and that material things are evil. This was mainly the heresy that the apostles had to contend with in their day.
"Gnosticism" was and still is a very complex philosophy which warrants a whole study of its own but briefly it means "knowledge" or "good at knowing" alluding to coming to a knowledge about our world and how to attain "divine" spirituality by mystical means. The complete definition of Gnosticism is very hard to explain as it involves a lot of varied complex meanings and is fundamentally confusing; which is very indicative of what this philosophy is.
Here are several definitions in an attempt to give you an idea of what the apostles were dealing with as a major heresy of their day. This heresy was very popular in the first century and its proponents were very persistent in trying to make inroads into the Ekklesia and instill its false doctrines. God's people need to be educated in what constitutes Gnosticism and to be aware that the major components of this philosophy continue to be re-packaged under new names and they too pose the dangers of promoting deceptive false doctrine to the members of the Ekklesia throughout all ages right up to our day. It behooves us to look into this subject so we are able to detect it's fingerprints on many of the falsehoods that attempt to beguile true Christians from the pure milk of the Word; and can lure one to turn their back on God's truth, thereby forfeiting their calling and opportunity to be a part of God's Kingdom.
2nd Peter 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
From Wiki: "Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: gnostikos, "learned", from gnōsis, knowledge) describes a collection of ancient religions whose adherents shunned the material world created by the demiurge and embraced the spiritual world. [1] Gnostic ideas influenced many ancient religions [2] that teach that gnosis (variously interpreted as knowledge, enlightenment, salvation, emancipation or 'oneness with God') may be reached by practicing philanthropy to the point of personal poverty, sexual abstinence (as far as possible for hearers, completely for initiates) and diligently searching for wisdom by helping others. [3] However, practices varied among those who were Gnostic." (Wikipedia, The free Encyclopedia)
This is from the Catholic Encyclopedia: "The doctrine of salvation by knowledge. This definition, based on the etymology of the word (gnosis "knowledge", gnostikos, "good at knowing"), is correct as far as it goes, but it gives only one, though perhaps the predominant, characteristic of Gnostic systems of thought. Whereas Judaism and Christianity, and almost all pagan systems, hold that the soul attains its proper end by obedience of mind and will to the Supreme Power, i.e. by faith and works, it is markedly peculiar to Gnosticism that it places the salvation of the soul merely in the possession of a quasi-intuitive knowledge of the mysteries of the universe and of magic formulae indicative of that knowledge. Gnostics were "people who knew", and their knowledge at once constituted them a superior class of beings, whose present and future status was essentially different from that of those who, for whatever reason, did not know. A more complete and historical definition of Gnosticism would be: A collective name for a large number of greatly-varying and pantheistic-idealistic sects, which flourished from some time before the Christian Era down to the fifth century, and which, while borrowing the phraseology and some of the tenets of the chief religions of the day, and especially of Christianity, held matter to be a deterioration of spirit, and the whole universe a deprivation of the Deity, and taught the ultimate end of all being to be the overcoming of the grossness of matter and the return to the Parent-Spirit, which return they held to be inaugurated and facilitated by the appearance of some God-sent Saviour."
We still see these kinds of elements in the false religions of our day including in the Catholic Church from which this detailed insightful definition of Gnosticism is given.
It is not known exactly how the philosophy of Gnosticism got started; scholars have come up with a number of speculations as to where it came from and it is generally known, but those who are being called and believe the Bible do know who the originator of this heresy really is. Just as we have been studying about the other works of the flesh, this one too originated with Satan. He is the one that is responsible for perpetuating all false philosophies which are all lies, are anti-God and are nothing but fables.
When Jesus was rebuking the Jews for their lack of belief, He knew who they were OF and who was influencing them. He tried to explain to them that because they were following after the devil, that the devil was their real father, meaning that children are usually born with a striking resemblance to their fathers in looks and tend to think and behave like their fathers (and mothers) and it is the same spiritually. We take on the attributes, mindsets and behavior of those that we follow after. In verse 47, Jesus told them that if they were truly of God, they would listen to His word and would understand what He was speaking; and then believe and obey His words rather than follow after their own false traditions.
John 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
Since it is Satan that abides not in the truth and is the father of lies, he is the father of all heresies and that "work of the flesh" began with him at an unspecified time in the past when he rebelled against God as we talked about last week.
God gave His truth to Adam and Eve just after He created them, but Satan approached Eve and lied against her Creator and was able to turn Eve and then her husband against God's truth as well. Paul saw false teachers in his day, and he warned there would be many more right up to the very end times (Acts 20:29-30; 2nd Corinthians 2:17). The apostle John also warned the church members with his letters to the church congregations of heresies and apostasies (1st John, 2nd John, 3rd John,) and to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. Faithful teachers expose false doctrine and warn the brethren to stay faithful to God's true doctrines (1st Timothy 4:1-6, Titus 1:9-11). The whole world has been deceived and deception also comes into the church of God by any means it can.
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
One of the fundamental beliefs of Gnosticism is that a person can "know" certain things that are hidden from others. It is "knowing" but it's knowledge (while it may contain some elements of God's Word) that does not have God's Word as its FOUNDATION. Gnostics put emphasizes on what the ancients teach, i.e. those above them who are in the "know"; these include ancient philosophical scholars, prestigious educators, elders, religious icons; all of which are highly esteemed in their minds just because they are highly esteemed. (I know that is circular thinking but this philosophy appears to be exactly what this is). Its like we think of people in our day who are considered important just because others think of them as important and/or they have made themselves important. They then somehow convince others that their opinions and teachings are the only things that matter because of their "importance".
Added to that, their teachings may include such "knowledge" that they have learned from angels, and other mystical means. We see hints of Gnosticism in the congregation in Galatia where Paul talks about their certain days to which were ascribed spiritual meaning (Galatians 4:9). These were things that the Galatians had held to prior to their conversions. In Galatians 2 Paul addresses their believing that justification could come by works of the law (doing righteous charitable deeds would bring them salvation and that they did not need a Savior if their works were good enough).
Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
Galatians 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, where unto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years [the pagan times like Christmas, and not what God has commanded].
We know that Satan lied to a third of the angels to convince them to rebel against God but we do not know what he told them; but we do have the record of what he said to Eve in the Garden of Eden. What he told her is very similar to the lies that are propagated by Gnostic reasoning.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle [cunning] 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. 4 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 this first message to the first woman, and therefore it was his first message to mankind, Satan introduces three lies that are incorporated into heresies that he has used repeatedly throughout history. These three lies are:
1. "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" By saying this Satan implied that God cannot be trusted; he sowed seeds of doubt [and therefore a lie] thereby he prepared Eve's mind to accept his other lies.
2. "Ye shall not surely die".
3. "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".
Satan's First Lie - "God cannot be trusted"
By saying this directly or by subtle implication, this idea that God is untrustworthy and that His Word is not really true has been the rudimentary basis of man's relationship with God ever since Adam and Eve came to this conclusion for themselves in the Garden. It has become the foundational rational in all the false religions of the world and then branches out from this foundation to form their creeds.
This distrust of God's Word is very apparent in modern day Catholicism and Protestantism teachings, the religions that most of us are most familiar with. The Catholic use other sources than the Bible for which they derive its doctrines. They do use the Bible to a certain extent, mostly in name only, but then they add to or change the intent or the meanings of the Scriptures by looking to other sources. Their three other sources for their church doctrines and teachings come from (purported) divine revelation, the writings of their saints, and decrees or edicts given by their theologians, namely the Pope.
Catholicism claims that its religion is based on the words of Bible, but in reality its teachings are clearly NOT Biblical, and that becomes evident when one compares the things they teach with the things that are plainly taught in the Word of God. Whatever the Bible says, be it God's laws, the Sabbath, God's festivals and Holy Days, prophecy, the Kingdom of God and many other of God's truths, can be easily nullified by the decree of a Pope or by other esteemed Catholic scholars. The adherents to the Catholic faith base their faith, beliefs and practices on the words of humans and traditions and these things are considered more trustworthy than what God teaches in His Word.
We know that the Protestant religion was formed as a result of men who could see through the Biblical falsehoods of the Catholic traditions and that they were not backed up by the words of Scripture. Protestantism does seem to be somewhat more congruent to Scripture and makes more of an appearance of being more grounded in God's Word than does the Catholic church. However, Satan uses the deception: "that since the Protestant religion rejects some of the glaring inconsistencies of the Bible taught by Catholicism, it must surely have the truth of God". Nonetheless, the Protestant church "founders" brought many of the "traditions of men" taught in the Catholic church out with them and kept many of the same teachings intact as to their basic doctrines. Such beliefs that are nowhere taught in the Bible include such teachings as the trinity, the immortality of the soul, going to heaven or to hell at death, eternal punishment in hell fire, observing pagan holidays such as Christmas, Easter and Halloween, the doctrine of "once saved, always saved", "the laws of God are done away because of what Christ did for us", and honoring the first day of the week as the day of worship rather than the seventh day weekly Sabbath. The Catholic church readily admits to the fact that they changed the day of worship from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week which is Sunday. They then justify the change by saying that they have the authority to change God's laws; and the Protestants do not see the need to prove for themselves which day is the Christian Sabbath even after coming out of Catholicism. The Protestant adherents still accept the authority of the Roman Catholic church in regard to God's Sabbaths, rather than obeying God's clear mandate that we are to keep holy His seventh day Sabbath as He has decreed in His Word, including the High Holy days. (Genesis 2:2-3, Exodus 20:8-11, Leviticus 23:1-44, Deuteronomy 5:12-15 )
The modern day Gnosticism movement also believes in progressive revelation which is another ploy of Satan that instills doubts in the human mind by teaching that God reveals new things to them, albeit by dubious means. God does reveal things to his faithful children by opening their eyes to understanding of His commandments and His truths in the Bible. He never reveals "truth" through angels, astrology, pagan sources, Tara cards, or false religious leaders. And when He does reveal truth to men, He will never contradict what He has already revealed in His Word, the Bible, which contains the inspired teachings of His holy prophets, Jesus Christ and the apostles.
God does not lie and He will never contradict Himself. The people who advocate progressive revelation by other means teach that their OWN unique revelations are more authoritative than God's Word and they go right back to Satan's lie: "Yea, hath God said?" and then proceed to override what God has said by their own "revelations".
True revelations, dreams, visions will always, always complement, harmonize and most definitely confirm what God already teaches in His Scriptures. The people who claim divine revelation from these other things play right into Satan's hand to be used by his satanic influence to propagate their false teachings [heresy], under the pretence of God revealing something new to them which is in reality at variance with God's truth.
Brethren, we see this all the time and it is more flagrant in some arenas than others but this has been happening even in the COG's and we must look to God's Word for the truth of whatever we believe in and practice.
We see this in the Church of God looking to a man-made Rabbinic calendar that certain church leaders adopted many years ago, and the ministers taught by these leaders still insist that the members of God's Ekklesia adhere to something they say was supposedly "revealed" to pagans [contrary to God's Word]. Sound familiar?
These leading ministers claim that the calendar subject is just too difficult for the average church member to "understand" and that it takes special "knowledge" that only certain "scholars" can figure out; and that they are the only ones that can decipher it. They insist that we must just trust them to tell us what days we are to keep based on their special knowledge. This mindset very much smacks of Gnosticism! So here we see that Gnosticism is alive and well and has flourished well in the modern day Church of God.
This is why this Bible study on this particular subject is so very important. These leaders mislead us into disobeying God with their Gnostic reasoning to observe holy days that are not really holy and then to profane the correct days that God has determined to be holy by His Biblical calendar. "Yea, hath God said?" is their silent, and sometimes not so silent mantra, putting distrust into the minds of the people, that God does not really mean what He says. Isaiah prophesied that this would be the case in physical Israel and we see this happening in the Spiritual Israel of God in our modern times.
Isaiah 3:12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
We must trust God's inspired Word more than we do the words of those who try to lead us to mistrust God, believe what He tells us in His Word, and follow Him and His revelations instead. Those who teach heresy based on their revelations or based on what ministers have taught them may sincerely believe that they are right, yet they show by their illogical way of thinking that they simultaneously mistrust what God has already said in His inspired Word. It appears that these people do not even do Bible study to see if what others have taught them is congruent to what God teaches. Instead it seems that they just conclude that they do not really need to study God's Word since they are relying on the teachings that they say God has spoken to the elders instead of what is clearly shown in the Bible. Their reasoning is that if they need to understand something more fully, that God will show it to them through the recognized authoritative church leadership. But it is God's Word that is truth, God does not lie and He is completely trustworthy.
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Following, is what Paul wrote to Timothy, what would happen in the last days; the "last days" meaning all time since the time of the apostles. Apostasy from the truth of God began in the days of the apostles as we can see from all their epistles and has continued right up to our day just before the return of Christ. From the time of the early apostles, the church has accumulated false doctrines and traditions of men, and they have been handed down to the end time generation. Most of God's people are not even aware that we have strayed so far.
1st Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Satan was created as a very intelligent being, but he now uses his intelligence to beguile and to twist words and meanings and he knows how to undermine the trustworthiness of God and the validity of the Bible. He uses the same tactics to deceive mankind that he used in the Garden to deceive Eve. He seeks to destroy the faith of God's people with dubious means. There are other heresies that have made their rounds in the Church of God that teach that we must pronounce God's name in a certain way in order to have salvation, which again, undermines the fact that nowhere does God teach such things. The Word of God is under attack probably more now than at any other time in history with the same kind of implanting of Satan's first lie to Eve that God cannot be trusted.
Following is what the apostle Peter had to say about skepticism that would abound in the last days and he warns us to be aware of those who mislead and to keep our mind focused on God's Word given to us through the holy prophets, Jesus Christ and through the apostles.
2nd Peter 3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Why do the people of the world NOT tremble at God's word? Because they do not believe that God's Word has any validity. Satan has planted the seeds of doubt in their minds so they do not fear enough to seek out what God has to say about what is truth and how we are to live.
Isaiah 66:22 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
They then have no fear of God and think that they can sin with impunity and it does not even seem to sear their conscience. They do what they want because they do not fear those things that God has to say in His Word. Because they do not love the TRUTH, God has sent a strong delusion that they should believe a lie. (2nd Thessalonians 2:10)
Romans 1 sums up the attitude of the people of the world. They think that they are already wise so they refuse to even acknowledge that there is a God. They live by their OWN human wisdom and their OWN sense of what is right or wrong, so therefore do need for anyone to "tell them what to do".
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
Modern distrust of God is very much propagated into all of the false religions in these last days; it is ingrained into the hubris of our society. This distrust is something we need to guard our minds against on every front as Christians who need to contend for the faith as was given to us by the prophets, Jesus Christ and the apostles.
Satan's Second Lie - "Ye shall not surely die"
After Satan planted doubt in Eve's mind that perhaps God had not really told her the truth and she began to doubt God, the next lie that Satan told Eve was "Ye shall not surely die." (Genesis 3:4) This was a bold-face lie to Eve, as earlier we read in Genesis 2:16-17 that God told Adam that he WOULD die if he ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Satan lied to Eve that she was immortal and that she would not die as God had said. This heresy has been embraced ever since the time of Adam and Eve by all of humanity down through the ages. The lie that man cannot die is still very much a tenet in most of the world's religions. Most people of the world believe in some kind of immortality of the soul in spite of the fact that the Bible clearly says that "the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20) and that "the wages of sin is death", not eternal life somewhere beyond the grave.
On the other hand, eternal life is a gift from God for those who believe in His Word and seek to obey Him with all their hearts.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Nearly every religion throughout mankind's history believe that man's conscious spirit leaves the body at death even though they can see that the physical body dies. They believe the spirit then lives on with many various ideas as to where it goes. There are many who claim to have died and to have had "near-death" experiences; they believe their souls left their bodies and entered into an utopian bright light tunnel (others, experienced a hellish type place) which seems to them evidence of this belief that men do not really die when they die. Certain movies, TV shows, cartoons, and books propagate this belief further by portraying examples of ghostly spirits of the dead and haunted houses where their spirits reside.
Another thing that trips humans up is that if we buy into Satan's lie that we will never die, we delude ourselves into thinking that the ultimate penalty for sin is done away. Think about what this does to our world view and our attitude toward how we should be living our lives. With the idea implanted that there is no death penalty for disobedience to God, coinciding with distrust in the Word of God; it tends to remove the motivation to even try to live a life of obeying God. If there is no punishment then our carnal human nature convinces us "why try to resist our inner desires to sin and live a life seeking good things and pleasure that we think we can have in this life".
One of the major components to self-preservation is to do whatever it takes to stay alive, but if we believe we already have immortality this tends to take away all incentive to strive to do what it takes to survive. Normal people do not want to die and they will generally do whatever it takes to ensure that their lives do not end. When we come to the realization that we are going to die, and we will cease to exist in any form if we reject God and His commandments; that can be a great motivating source to seek to know God and do what He tells us to do. If we believe that we will never die, we may feel we can live our lives any way we want and it really makes no difference.
It is like giving a man or woman a job to do and telling them that no matter how well or how poorly they do the job, they will receive a paycheck and that all the job related benefits will always be there for them. For most people the motivation to apply themselves wholeheartedly to doing the job well is impaired. Human nature takes over and the person thinks "well I don't have to really work that hard, I can slack off, take all the days off that I want; what difference will it make? I'll still get my paycheck, and I'll still have my health insurance and retirement benefits so I really don't have to worry that much about giving my employer a full day's work." The same motivation force works with children in school. The grading system rewards those who work hard at their studies and apply themselves to learning their subjects, while it flunks those who are lazy and don't want to even bother to read their lessons, do the homework, get to bed early so that they are alert and clear minded when its time to go to class.
For those who hold to the heresy of the immortal soul they believe that they are already saved and their eternity is assured no matter what they do. What motivation is there to keep all of God's commandments, to take time in their lives to "study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2nd Timothy 2:15)
There is then no urgency to devote one's life to growing and overcoming sin. We settle with the idea "well I'm a pretty good person, I do not really need to expend myself too much to live according to what others teach from the Bible". In their minds, breaking God's commandments really does not matter that much".
It is hard work to resist the pulls of our human nature and it is grueling at times to live to please God. As carnal human beings we tend to want a soft easy life that does not put many demands on us. We want to be accepted by our peers and family members. If we live in obedience to God's will that will invariably bring persecution and hardships. We can readily see the effect of this lie that Satan presented to the first humans and how this kind of heresy removes incentive to seek out God and find out what He wants us to do to become like Him, to be in His will and to "qualify" to go on to live with Him in His Kingdom forever more. This lie has generally infiltrated other heresies as well in some form or another.
God tells us in His Word that the wages of sin is death but the good news is that we can have eternal life after we die through the resurrection from the dead to spirit. It is only possible if God GIVES us eternal life. He is the one who has to supernaturally remove the death penalty and make it possible for us to enter His Kingdom as a resurrected spirit being capable of living forever more. The heresy of the immortal soul wants to steal that inheritance from us and to keep us in sin, for Satan knows that if he can get us to believe that we will never die, he can keep us blind to the need to seek God and to live righteously according to God's purpose.
Romans 2:7 promises eternal life to those who patiently continue throughout their lives in doing good, [which is the keeping of the commandments] it is they who seek for glory, honor, and immortality! This verse reiterates that eternal life is a gift, not a right, and that immortality must be sought after by becoming one of God's own children and then by continuing to do good, enduring until the end, rather than assuming that we have immortality innately built into us.
Romans 2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Proverbs 12:28 In the way of righteousness is life: and in the pathway thereof there is no death.
Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
In 1st Timothy 6:16 Paul writes that God alone has immortality; no human has it which includes all persons even true Christians. Only after they have qualified in this life and if they are chosen after death by God to be a member of His firstfruits will they then receive eternal life.
1st Timothy 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
The Scriptures teaches that there will be a resurrection from the dead to immortal spirit beings for those who are called and who respond positively to God's call during their lifetimes. Eternal life is a marvelous GIFT from God; we do not have it as a possession from birth as Satan would have us to believe. God gives it as the reward of being faithful to Him after we have received forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ and then spend the rest of our lives overcoming and committing ourselves "to go and sin no more."
In 1st Corinthians 15 Paul explains that Christians receive immortality at the resurrection to spirit just before the Millennium at the end of this present evil age and when Jesus returns.
1st Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
If we are one of the chosen to be resurrected from the dead to be part of the firstfruits; it is only then that we, the saints, will be changed and will be given new spiritual bodies. We are told in 1st John 3:2 that we be like Jesus in His spiritual state.
It is God's prerogative as to who will be resurrected and be granted the privilege of living forever more. That means that God holds total sovereignty over His creation. He can let die those who show during their lifetimes that they are NOT willing to be subject to His way of life, who will NOT keep all of His commandments and refuse to allow God to have the rule in their lives.
God is not obligated to give eternal life to anyone but does promise to give it to His own beloved children who prove themselves faithful by believing the truth and following it until the end of their lives.
However, by negating the truth about how one does attain to eternal life through the resurrection of the just, by believing Satan's lie that people already have immortality, he can deflect them from the truth and instill reasons for NOT listening to God, NOT wanting to obey what He says; so that they may be resurrected and continue living forever more by attaining to it in a legitimate fashion, by God's way, not by Satan's falsehoods!
Satan's Third Lie: "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."
The third lie in Satan's encounter with Eve was that by partaking of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, that her eyes would be opened and that she would then be able to see certain things. He implied to Eve that she could become wise and enlightened and it would allow her to know good and evil, that she would have the same powers as God has.
So we see that Satan's main deceptions that he presents in his heresies is the ability of "knowing" combined with living forever. What he proposed to Eve was that if she took of the forbidden fruit, that she could be like God and would be given the RIGHT to define for herself what is good and what is evil. Satan tempted her with the idea that to have the twin powers of knowledge and immortality is a very desirable thing to have.
This is twisting God's purpose of KNOWLEDGE for mankind. The Tree of Life on the other hand represents a way of conducting one's life according to the standards that are already established for us by our loving and just God. It is God that decides what is good and what is evil and that eternal life is a gift that one can attain only if that person submits to God's ways; to the laws of God that He has already determined that are right and lawful.
Combined with "ye shall not die" with having the right to make up our own rules, doing what we want, makes it look like we don't have to obey God and yet there will not be any repercussions for not doing so. Mankind has bought into this heresy ever since Adam and Eve rebelled and therefore men do not fear God and they don't think that they need to keep His commandments and ordinances.
To tell Eve that she "shall not surely die" was to assure her of freedom from the death sentence that God had promised for disobedience and to exchange it with the "wonderful" promise of receiving great benefits from partaking of the forbidden fruit; that her eyes would be opened and she would be like God. Instead of looking to the Sovereign God as their source of knowledge, now Adam and Eve would look to Satan as to the source for their knowledge deciding for themselves what they could or could not do.
Those who embrace Gnosticism, which means "those who know", pursue mystical knowledge from all kinds of sources except God's source, in seeking to become wise. They believe the knowledge that they seek will give them an enhanced spiritual experience through a series of spiritual advancements beyond mere physical that brings them into higher levels of "consciousness" in ascending into the spiritual realm. It is very confusing as they make up their own rules and regulations especially in the area of ascetic living as we read in Colossians.
Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Colossians 2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not; [after the traditions of men and not according to the scriptures]; 22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men.
But for those who overcome and keep all of God's true commandments, the Book of Revelation gives us God's promise of the right to the Tree of Life.
Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
None of the world's religions teach that one must strive to keep all of God's commandments. Every last one of them teach things contrary to the need to have the righteousness of God and exchange it for other worldly requirements instead.
It is through Jesus' atoning death applied to our past sins and then committing to go and sin no more, is what meets God's standard of righteousness. If we are chosen at the resurrection to spirit, it is at that time that God grants eternal life to us which is His gift. That life will not only be eternal but it will be a glorious life that is full of virtue and goodness, the kind of life that God has and the kind that brings everlasting joy and peace.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents deciding for oneself the right way to live and gives the false hope that one can still live forever (not die) yet do what one wants to do, namely living according to the "works of the flesh" On the other hand the Tree of Life represents the way of life that requires overcoming the works of the flesh and growing in all the things that God says is His standard of righteousness; keeping God's commandments and walking in the fruits of the Spirit.
The only persons who are allowed to partake of the Tree of Life are those who have changed their carnal natures through the power of God's Holy Spirit and who set it in their minds that they want to live in the same manner as God lives and to walk the way Jesus walked when He was living on earth in the flesh. They are the saints who have internalized the divine nature of God to replace their carnal human nature, who love God and want to be like Him in every way. These are the people who have rejected all heresy and they will be the only ones that will be able to enter God's Kingdom. Those who embrace any part of the heresies of this world will not be in God's Kingdom.
Effects of Satan's Three Lies
First Eve, then Adam succumbed to Satan's temptation, ate of the forbidden fruit and ever since, man has rejected God's standard of righteousness but instead follow the dictates of his own heart. Therefore we have the miserable conditions that we have had all thorough the history of mankind and continues to our day in our modern world. All because mankind believes in Satan's lies.
The Gnostics cherry pick what they want to keep and throw out huge sections of God's Word. Their ascetic ideas of "do not touch, do not taste, do not handle" repudiated God's commands to live joyfully, to rejoice at the Feasts which God commands to do so with plenty of good food and drink. The Gnostic believes in a mix of keeping and not keeping certain laws which adds to the confusion. Some of the religions that have incorporated Gnostic creeds are not against every law that is in the Bible but they make up their own requirements for their standards of righteousness and do away with whatever they deem to be infringing upon their rules and regulations.
Similarly, mainstream Christianity will quote parts of Leviticus and Deuteronomy to justify their stance on abortion and homosexuality, but then say that we do not have to keep the laws pertaining to the Sabbath and the Feasts, or clean and unclean meats. They say that we do not have to keep the laws of God because Christ kept them for us thus they are "done away" yet if you ask them if murder and adultery are okay, they will vehemently say that those things are NOT lawful to do.
Where is the logic? If we break one of God's law it is the same as breaking all the laws yet they make the laws of God of no effect by their own made up laws. Thus just as was done in the Garden of Eden they have taken to themselves the knowledge of what is good and evil and they determine for themselves what constitutes the way of righteousness.
James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
A main tenet of the Bible is whether we will submit to God's rule over our lives or try to form systems based on our own ideas of what is good for ourselves or what we believe will work for humanity. Mankind has done this throughout history and is still doing it every way except the right way. Almost 6000 years of man's trying to rule himself and others have proven to be disastrous, thus we are learning the hard way that taking this knowledge does not work and only leads to misery, pain and death, the very opposite of what Satan promises.
Satan and what he proposed to our first parents has proven himself to be a liar and not to be trusted. Soon God will set up His Kingdom that will be based on what God first taught Adam and Even and what He has tried to teach all their children, that Satan's ways are wrong and only God's ways will bring true lasting peace and happiness if men will only follow God's commands and not listen to Satan.
Soon mankind will come to know that only God's way results in receiving eternal life, but it comes with the obligation to submit oneself to God's truth and to His laws. It requires doing all of His commandments, statutes, ordinances, and overcoming our human nature; the works of the flesh.
Satan, who is the sum total of all heresy conversely seeks to persuade us to seek our own self-righteousness and to usurp God's sovereignty and His prerogative in defining what is right and good living. Satan has ever since his successful attempt to trick Adam and Eve, tempts and beguiles all men to seek human knowledge, (i.e. to be enlightened) to have our eyes opened, rejecting the ways of God at the same time doubting God's wisdom in showing us the way to eternal life.
Conclusion
Each of the three lies or heresies contained in the conversation that Satan had in the Garden of Eden with Eve on that fateful day, all work together to subtly undermine God's truth and plan for humanity. These heresies have been recycled ever since that time and have been effective in the continued separation of mankind from God. All we have to do is look at history and at our current situation in the world to know that there is something horribly wrong. Mankind is separated from God and wants no part of Him or His say in our schools, our politics, our marriages, child rearing and most certainly in our religion and on and on.
As we can see, Gnosticism that was so prevalent in the apostles' day incorporates these three fundamental heresies, and these same lies also exist in every worldly religion and every anti-God system of belief, whether it is a huge organized religion that encompasses billions or a small sect that teaches esoteric things that deny God's truths contained in the Bible.
The apostles taught that true Christianity was to put God first and then to love their neighbors as themselves. It was the Gnostic approach to look inward, to have disdain for those who did not have their brand of "enlightenment" or to be at their "level" of spirituality. The Gnostic's highest priority is to be filled with this kind of knowledge and understanding, and they set their value system on those things based on what they know, rather than obedience to God first, and then having outward concern for others. Or if they do believe in charitable works they believe it is those things that count toward enlightenment rather that having an intimate relationship with God and obeying his every Word. It is common to hear someone say at funerals that the one who died is surely in heaven for they were basically a good person.
Paul in addressing this very thing taught that knowledge (the wrong kind of knowledge) tends to cause people to be puffed up (to be prideful) but that true godly love edifies; meaning that to edify we build up the church by exhortation, encouragement, rebuking, expounding the Word of God
1st Corinthians 8:1 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. [Worldly] Knowledge puffeth up, but charity [Godly knowledge and godly love to teach God's truth; destroys idols!] edifieth.
1st Corinthians 12:77 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
Sumpheró: (Strong's #4851) to bring together, to be profitable bring together, be expedient, be profitable for. (Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament)
The phrase "common good," means "to bear or bring together, to carry with others, to collect or contribute in order to help, to help, to be profitable, to be expedient." (Word Study Helps)
One way we can do that is to turn people to God's truth and away from so-called knowledge that leads away from the whole Word of God.
The apostle John wrote in his letters about God's love toward us and he emphasized our responsibility to love our brethren. Paul also defines what godly love is like in 1st Corinthians 13.
1st Corinthians 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
On the other hand, the whole Gnostic philosophy is based on selfishness and self-centeredness without real concern or godly love for others. We can usually discern someone with a Gnostic bent because they tend to be self-serving and show little concern for God's people.
Gnosticism is a heresy and we must guard against this kind of mindset being instilled in our minds. As the people of God we must seek the right kind of knowledge which is gained in a life long learning process by studying God's Word, meditating upon it and applying what we learn to our lives. In fact the more we do keep God's ways, the more correct knowledge and Godly wisdom He will give to us. God says through David:
Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
If we fear God and tremble at His Word; that will safeguard us from believing in the lies of Satan. RIGHT knowledge is extremely important and if we find it, it will never contradict anything that God says in His Word. Ultimately Jesus is going to banish all false knowledge and heresies from the earth; in the meantime we are to buy the truth and sell it not and guard the truth with all our being. The Father gave His only begotten Son so that we could be redeemed from the deception of this world, be forgiven for our sins and then use our lives to seek the true way to life. Reject Satan's lie that comes to you in any form of heresy for its intent is take away your chance to really have eternal life.
Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Hebrews 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Don't exchange God's precious truth and the golden opportunity to be with him in His Kingdom for any kind of cheap imitation heresy. Just as it says in Hebrews about Esau; he sold his blessing for a temporal bowl of pottage because he did not treasure what was going to be given to him as his right as the firstborn son. If we listen to heresy, if we tolerate it even in small amounts it could very well steal our birthright from us; I speak to myself as well.
The exhortation in Galatians 5:20 is a very serious warning that those who are infiltrated with the work of the flesh that is called "heresy", WILL NOT be in God's Kingdom.
It just is not worth the risk of losing our lives (potential future eternal lives) for the sake of titillating our senses for some new thing or some other teaching that is at variance to God's Word.
Eve stayed around and continued to listen to Satan even after he proposed the idea that God cannot be trusted. We can learn from her poor example; to avoid buying into Satan's lies, which is heresy, we must flee immediately when someone begins to attempt to put doubts in our mind about who God is and what He teaches us. The more we hang around heretics and their teachings, the easier it will be to succumb to their beguilements.
James 1:13 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: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
One way to avoid being ensnared by heresies is to be vigilant, to know the truth so completely that we recognize heresy when it is presented to us and then flee from it.
1st Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
If God's faithful people are alert and awake they will recognize the voice of their Lord, though, and follow Him wheresoever He should go. They will look to their Shepherd to keep them safe from heresy if they are only listening to His voice and refuse to listen to the voice of strangers who tempt them to depart from God's truth.
John 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
Constance
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