Victory Can Be Yours!
Article #22 – “Beware”
My
Old Testament teacher in college defined what religion is (in his mind);
whatever a person needs to make life have meaning. Now that is a teacher, who was also a pastor
of a local church, who was busy with leading students down the wide path. “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate
is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who
enter through it. For the gate is small
and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of the false prophets, who come in
sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matt. 7:13-15) That
professor was one of those described as one in sheep’s clothing but teaching a
false doctrine. He did not believe in
the inerrant word of God. He believed
that much of the Bible was stories rather than actual accounts of
happenings. How can he or those who
think like him find any truth in the Scriptures. How can you believe some of it, such as the
sacrificial death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, and see the rest of it as
just stories. We must beware of such as
these. We must be diligent to use our
Bible and check all that we hear and read.
You can occasionally come in contact with some who
believe that we are all going to be in Heaven together whether Christian, Mormon,
Atheist, Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or whatever else; as long as you
are dedicated to your belief. The Bible
tells us that there is only one way to get to Heaven and that is through the
one and only, Jesus Christ. “And
there is salvation in no one else: for there is no other name under heaven that
has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) There
is only one way to be reconciled to God and that is through Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians
about the resurrection. Without the
resurrection there is no hope. He put it
this way, “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and
if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your
sins.” (1 Cor. 15: 16, 17)
We
must understand the gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ. The gospel is, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He
was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15: 3b,
4) Once we have come to understand the
gospel, we must not let anyone move us away from that belief. “But I am afraid that, as the serpent
deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the
simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached,
or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different
gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.” (2 Cor.
11: 3, 4) The world is full of false
teachers, beware and test everything by your Bible.
You,
too, can have victory in Jesus! More to
follow.
Lowell Parrish
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