Originally posted on 4.24.20
False doctrine
The Gospel is the Christ-given means to save the world (James 1:21). Surely, if the devil could remove the Gospel from planet earth, he would. But since he can’t, he must rely on other means to keep its salvation message from people. One primary way is to alter its saving tenets, the result being what we often simply call, false salvation doctrine. False doctrine is teaching that the Bible doesn’t actually give and, therefore, it doesn’t save a soul (Matthew 15:9,13-14; Galatians 1:8-9). It is the devil’s substitute for the real saving message of Scripture. It may be a direct contradiction of Scripture. Or, it may be a subtle alteration of the Gospel by the following means.
1) False doctrine often occurs by misinterpretation of Scripture. Misinterpretation assumes a false meaning from Scripture. Like Jonathan Edwards pointed out, it, in effect, changes the Word of God. It replaces the true meaning for a false one. There are many ways misinterpretation occurs. Proper interpretation is important and, at a later time, we will delve into hermeneutics, the science of interpretation.
2) Sometimes, the devil’s strategy to alter salvation doctrine is to present partial truth as the whole truth. People easily get tripped up in this way. They don’t understand that partial truth, when it is presented as the whole truth, is a lie. In fact, sometimes it’s the worst kind of lie because it’s so subtle. Souls may feel confident about salvation because they are keeping a word of Jesus while disregarding another that is equally important or even more so (Matthew 23:23). Ministers and Christian witnesses are required to give people, who depend on them for truth, the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). This is especially true in the area of salvation doctrine. To tell someone how to be saved, or to tell someone he is saved, is a huge responsibility, not to be taken lightly (James 3:1). There is no room for error. Therefore, true souls place a premium on the whole truth. Johann Bengel (1687-1752) expressed this point well: “Truth, precise, unaccommodating, abandons nothing that belongs to itself, admits nothing that is inconsistent with it.”
The devil must take aim at the saving tenets of the Gospel.
To be effective against the saving power of Christianity, the devil must tamper with its message of salvation. It’s only logical. If you were the devil, you would do the same thing. This is actually his modus operandi. Notice him at the fall of the human race. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had one command from God (Genesis 2:17). You could say it was their “plan of salvation”. As long as they kept the commandment regarding the tree, they had eternal life. If they disobeyed, death would ensue. If the devil was to fulfill his evil mission against our race, there was only one place to focus his attention, namely, on that command. It was the only vulnerable point regarding Adam and Eve’s standing with God. The devil lied to Eve about the effects of eating the forbidden fruit and Adam and Eve fell into sin and condemnation. In like manner, if the devil is going to try to nullify Christianity, he must try to corrupt the terms of the New Covenant, while making it look appealing, as he did to Eve (Genesis 3:4-6).
The plan of salvation for the Christian era was announced on the first day of the Church at the occasion of the first souls to be saved since Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Acts 2:38-39 records the Christian plan of salvation and states it as the universal means for God to save all souls that He would call. Therefore, the devil, to be effective, must focus on those terms and, in every conceivable way, oppose them. He has to oppose Acts 2:38 just as he did Genesis 2:17. There is no away around it. It’s strategically necessary. And it’s only logical. If you had the devil’s job, you would do the very same thing.
We must remember that the devil is a liar. Jesus called him the father of lies (John 8:44). As he lied to Eve regarding the tenet of their covenant with God, he will also lie to souls in the Christian era about the tenets of salvation. And, since Adam and Eve fell to the devil’s lie, mankind is in a much more vulnerable position than they were. As their offspring, we have inherited a fallen nature, a natural alienation from, and hostility to, God, and are prone to be spiritually gullible. Is there any other way to account for all the religious beliefs in our race’s history, many of them extremely preposterous?
The devil is fine with people believing in Christ.
You may think that for the devil to be most effective, he would try to keep people from believing in Christ. Where that is possible and efficient, I’m sure he attempts it. But such a difficult move is not necessary. Recalling the devil’s temptation of Adam and Eve once again, it’s important to notice that the devil did not try to make Adam and Eve disbelieve in the existence of God. That would have been an insurmountable task. They knew God existed because they communed with Him. But not only that, it wasn’t necessary for them to disbelieve in God. It was only necessary for them to disobey God in the one vital area regarding the terms of their covenant with God (Genesis 2:17). To be out of covenant with God is to be lost (2Corinthians 4:3-4). That lost condition is apparently suitable to the devil. Therefore, if the devil can dupe people to accept a false means of salvation, he has accomplished all he needs to do. And their believing in Jesus and becoming ever more religious are the powerful props that promote the devil’s deception to others, similar to Eve’s unwitting agency to bring down Adam. (Consider how religious the Pharisees were, all the while being enemies to Christ.) Misguided faith in Jesus is a treacherous and powerful deception. It is a pernicious form of cunning because it is deadly and will be surprising to many people who, with significant faith, will still be lost in the end (Matthew 7:21-23). This is not easy to ponder. It is horribly sad. I’ll try not to stay in this vein of truth for long; I know it’s heavy. But it is the word of Jesus.
Obeying God must be emphasized more than believing in God. Intelligent beings are hard-wired to believe in God (Romans 1:18-20; James 2:19). It’s natural for us. (I don’t believe anyone is honestly an atheist.) But we’re not hard-wired to obey. The choices of free will regarding God are just like they are in every other area of life— the product of logic and emotion. And both logic and emotion should compel us to love and obey God!
I look forward to the next post. I hope you are well.