Religious Facade Christianity

[GodsGrace]

de·lu·sion
/dəˈlo͞oZHən/
noun
noun: delusion; plural noun: delusions
an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.
"the delusion of being watched"
synonyms: misapprehension, mistaken impression, false impression, mistaken belief, misconception, misunderstanding, mistake, error, misinterpretation, misconstruction, misbelief; More
fallacy, illusion, figment of the imagination, fantasy, chimera;
fool's paradise, self-deception
"the male delusion that attractive young women are harboring romantic thoughts about them"

the action of deluding or the state of being deluded.
"what a capacity television has for delusion"
synonyms: deception, misleading, deluding, fooling, tricking, trickery, duping
"a web of delusion"


The wordings of the bible can be easily misinterpreted. That fact is amply illustrated by all the opinions and denominations that have arisen due to the different interpretations and applications that are possible by reading the biblical text in a certain way. We could say that we are experiencing a spiritual Babylon of confusion based on all the different possible human interpretations.

Now nothing is by chance or accident. There are no coincidences that God has not foreseen. These delusional interpretations are made possible by the way the biblical text is written. IOW, there are built in snares and traps for those who read the bible the wrong way.

Is. 8:13 Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

We tend to grossly underestimate how easy it is to be deceived into a lie or a half-truth that becomes a death dealing lie. To believe a lie comes naturally to the human mind. But worse still we tend to not pay attention to the warnings of the bible once we have swallowed the lie. The lie to us so often seems more real than the written text of the bible. But this way of ignoring the bible in favour of the lie or partial truth is to fall for a dishonest gain that we seek for ourselves, thinking there is a benefit to us for that lie we have received. The condemnation of these who receive the words of God with dishonesty is a righteous condemnation. We would be wise to consider that.

The beginning of error is to forsake the fear of the Lord. Only a lie would cause this. And can we see that Jesus is not only the cornerstone of God's building but also a stumblingstone...and not just to the Jews but to us as well. We are not better than the Jews? It is a vain pride to think that.


Isaiah 66:4
4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

God has indeed chosen our delusions...in the very wordings of the bile as we shall see.

Very good post E.

One question:

You said there are "built-in traps and snares".
This would mean that God PURPOSEFULLY put them there,,,since they are built-in.

Is this what you meant to say?
If so, WHY would these traps and snares be there?

 

[stunnedbygrace]

A song you might like Amadeus: I will be more vile, said David to Michal
I will be more vile on the 'morrow
Hold your peace all ye that despise the anointing
I will be more vile!
And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house. Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself! And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD. And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour. Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death. 2Sam6:22

Just wow...!

 

[faithfulness]

I am an old Pentecostal holy roller myself. I have loved to run the aisles and dance in the Spirit of the Lord like David danced. Now my flesh hinders me severely as my lungs won't furnish the necessary oxygen for long. I yield to the Spirit still in that respect, but my body is wearing out. God will still elevate me when I drop to the lowest room, but He knows as I know that that is more often for the younger folks now. Of course some people are offended by the running and the dancing, but me, I simply give God the glory dancing even those few steps In His Name.

I used to 'twirl' all the time when younger, especially in socks on my shiny waxed floors! ~ The Hebrew word for 'rejoice' means to twirl.

 

[stunnedbygrace]

Very good post E.

One question:

You said there are "built-in traps and snares".
This would mean that God PURPOSEFULLY put them there,,,since they are built-in.

Is this what you meant to say?
If so, WHY would these traps and snares be there?

To test men and to snare men in their own nets which they set for others.

 

[Episkopos]

Very good post E.

One question:

You said there are "built-in traps and snares".
This would mean that God PURPOSEFULLY put them there,,,since they are built-in.

Is this what you meant to say?
If so, WHY would these traps and snares be there?

Yes...God sees to the infinite detail. God wants to see what we will do with our freedom. With His words. Will we use them for ourselves...or will we seek Him about them? The kingdom of God must be a safe place for the innocent. If a person is self-seeking he will hurt the weak and defenseless to get his own way. So then the traps written into the bible are there to filter out the "riff-raff" out of the kingdom. The word exposes us as we try interpreting it. It discerns our hearts for intent and purity of thought.

It would be like have an expensive vase on a table....with a hammer beside it. Now the devil would want you to smash the vase with the hammer...by associating their proximity as the will of God to do so. That is how we see the gospel subverted into using grace to smash the law.

Those who do this will not be entrusted with anything precious.

 

[stunnedbygrace]

Very good post E.

One question:

You said there are "built-in traps and snares".
This would mean that God PURPOSEFULLY put them there,,,since they are built-in.

Is this what you meant to say?
If so, WHY would these traps and snares be there?

I think its in Isaiah 8, the verses that say He will be a sanctuary for some and a gin and a snare for others. Its that built in thing.

 

[Episkopos]

I think its in Isaiah 8, the verses that say He will be a sanctuary for some and a gin and a snare for others. Its that built in thing.

And if they who say they love the Lord would just pay more attention to His words of warning...they would depart from iniquity by the fear of the Lord...and move into glory.

But seeing that so few count themselves as worthy of such a high calling...claiming to not need to lift a finger for it...they allow themselves to be taken and snared and finally broken.

 

[GodsGrace]

Yes...God sees to the infinite detail. God wants to see what we will do with our freedom. With His words. Will we use them for ourselves...or will we seek Him about them? The kingdom of God must be a safe place for the innocent. If a person is self-seeking he will hurt the weak and defenseless to get his own way. So then the traps written into the bible are there to filter out the "riff-raff" out of the kingdom. The word exposes us as we try interpreting it. It discerns our hearts for intent and purity of thought.

It would be like have an expensive vase on a table....with a hammer beside it. Now the devil would want you to smash the vase with the hammer...by associating their proximity as the will of God to do so. That is how we see the gospel subverted into using grace to smash the law.

Those who do this will not be entrusted with anything precious.

There is a problem with what you state above.

You said:
God wants to see what we will do with our freedom. With His words. Will we use them for ourselves...or will we seek Him about them? The kingdom of God must be a safe place for the innocent. If a person is self-seeking he will hurt the weak and defenseless to get his own way.

1. I cannot think of any trap or snare that GOD has set for us.
Jesus explained Himself very clearly as to how we are to behave as persons born from above.

2. The Kingdom of God is indeed a safe place...
BECAUSE it is determined BEFORE one enters it whether or NOT he belongs there. Those who do not belong there are filtered out before they can enter.

And I AM speaking about the Kingdom of God here on earth.
His spiritual kingdom of which we are a part.

God does not purposefully test us to see what we will do with our freedom.
It happens naturally by accepting God or not accepting Him.
John 3:16

 

[marks]

Hi Marks,
I much prefer the small groups but, there is nothing like being in a large group during worship service. Per chance there are others there who DO worship in Spirit and Truth..."greater is He..." ♥ And the Church I attend on Sundays is very large, the pastors are very good, I love all of them but...I could, do and have gotten their message online just as easily. Other than the praise and worship within a large group, I will not stop attending right now as my little sister has been coming for a couple months now, regular and THAT is answer to prayer! She needs the milk right now and I do not want to discourage her from going, I do believe sound doctrine is practiced there and the teaching is wonderful and chock full of scripture. Okay, I'm rambling here, lol.

Ramble all you like, that's wonderful! And amen on the many many worshiping together!

Much love!

 

[marks]

I don't think you understand those verses and how they relate to us today.

These were sinful people who thought they had an in with God and so no evil would befall them. Even in their disobedience, they thought they were special and that no evil would befall them. They were under the delusion that God was pleased with them and would protect them. God said, what, are you more important to me than the Ethiopians and the Syrians? They thought they had some special status and that God was a respecter of persons (irrespective of their behavior/disobedience). And that is what we hear today too. We hear: it doesn't matter if a man does what is right, if he doesn't believe thus and thus, he's going to hell, the evil will overtake him. I, on the other hand, no matter if I DONT do what is right, but since I do believe thus and thus, will be going to heaven, the evil will not overtake me.

They did not HAVE a refuge in God that they claimed they had. no matter how many times they claimed it. It didn't matter that they said they were the seed of Abraham, or that they had the word from God and believed It but didn't do It. It didn't matter if they claimed or believed that verse in the psalms was about them. They could have claimed that verse in the psalms was about them and the verse in Amos was about others till they were blue in the face from repeating it, but it wouldn't have made it so.

As with everything, we are directly repeating the mistake of Israel and claiming we aren't.

Hi stunnedbygrace,

Thank you for your post. I think I do in fact understand the passages, they seem pretty clear. In the one case, God is telling His people they are safe. In the other case, the people, whom God has called sinners, and has announced their judgment, those people are claiming that they will be safe.

If We are making that mistake, to claim for ourselves that which is not ours, we should stop making that mistake, should we not? We need to walk in truth.

There is another error to be avoided as well, perhaps the opposite error, which is to deny what God has promised. If we reject the truth of His promises, how can we say we walk in truth?

We simply need to learn the truth of what God has done for us, and who we are in Him. And the abundant life follows.

Much love!

 

[CharismaticLady]

Yes...the "no way I could ever be wrong" syndrome.

Amos 9:10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, "The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us."

The irony is that they who believe in their eternal security are themselves in the most danger of judgment.

Amos says...the sinners of MY people...not the world. That's us!!! But the words of the Lord are seldom taken seriously...to the detriment of they who don't listen to God.

Hos. 7:13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, (communion or the Lord's supper) and they rebel against me.

The test for our assurance is answered prayer. That is the sign that your conscience is truly clear because you are keeping His commandments and are pleasing in His sight through the Holy Spirit, the seed. 1 John 3:18-23/ 1 John 3:9

 

[Executioner]

The test for our assurance is answered prayer. That is the sign that your conscience is truly clear because you are keeping His commandments and are pleasing in His sight through the Holy Spirit, the seed. 1 John 3:18-23/ 1 John 3:9

This is not true and the verses you apply to it
as your reference do not have anything to do with that to which you stated as truth.

Do you accept my challenge?

 

[CharismaticLady]

This is not true and the verses you apply to it
as your reference do not have anything to do with that to which you stated as truth.

Do you accept my challenge?

Sure. I don't know you, so don't know what you believe. Forgive me if my assumption is way off, but I hope you aren't lying in a ditch believing you can willfully sin and still go to heaven. That would be the absolute worst case scenario.

Scripture is truth. You must be abiding in Jesus and following Him.

John 8:34-36
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

John 15:10
10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

John 15:7
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

John 14:14-16
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, (the Holy Spirit empowers us to keep the commandments of Jesus) that He may abide with you forever—

1 John 5:14-15
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

 

[CharismaticLady]

I'll be back later, @Executioner

 

[Episkopos]

I'll be back later, @Executioner

Will you be needing a blindfold for the executioner? The racoon comes with a natural looking blindfold...so you should be ok!
'Executioner"...such an ominous sounding name!

 

[Executioner]

I'll be back later, @Executioner

I say you have never ever in all your life
obeyed the 1st commandment much less all the other ones.

Therefore I challenge you to just one commandment
the 1st one.

Do you accept it?

 

[stunnedbygrace]

Hi stunnedbygrace,

Thank you for your post. I think I do in fact understand the passages, they seem pretty clear. In the one case, God is telling His people they are safe. In the other case, the people, whom God has called sinners, and has announced their judgment, those people are claiming that they will be safe.

If We are making that mistake, to claim for ourselves that which is not ours, we should stop making that mistake, should we not? We need to walk in truth.

You say in the one case its about people God has said are sinners who are claiming they are safe. I hear this all the time. A boasting that because of what a man believes, he is safe. That wouldn't be so bad I don't think. Its when he ALSO hinders others from entering into the kingdom that He is truly doing a wicked thing.

But concerning sinners claiming they are safe because of what they think, that has become the whole of evangelicalism. In fact, it has become an evil thing to do what is right, or to even wonder at or attempt to do what is right. That would be evil works.

So someone who does what is right is judged to hell and someone who doesn't do what is right is judged to heaven. And this is based only on what each man thinks and is totally divorced from what either of them do. And this makes sad, men who God doesn't want to be sad and makes men cry peace for whom there is no peace.

Make no mistake about it, a righteous man DOES what is right. A man who then doesn't do what is right, who judges a man who does do what is right, will not fare well. He is claiming to be in a place of holiness EVEN if or when he is not in holiness. It's completely absurd to say you are righteous because of what you think and that a man who does right is unrighteous because of what he thinks. Its the complete opposite of humility. AND it's a total disconnect from reality. Its gnosticism.

 

[marks]

In fact, it has become an evil thing to do what is right, or to even wonder at or attempt to do what is right.

That's sure backwards!

But concerning sinners claiming they are safe because of what they think, that has become the whole of evangelicalism.

I'm not sure "what they think" best describes the view you oppose. If you want to make a good argument, I personally believe in coming to understand, and be able to restate correctly, without insult, the opposing view. That's just me.

So someone who does what is right is judged to hell and someone who doesn't do what is right is judged to heaven.

In whose eyes? Yours? God says no one measures up on their own. You've broken God's law so you are a lawbreaker. You can't change that fact. If you want to be judged by your works, those are your works. You hope that your good works will more than balance your lawless works? May it be so for you, though I don't believe that a million works of righteousness change one from being a thief, if they steal. Only the righteousness that is apart from works of law.

You would have your righteousness seen in your works, my righteousness is found in Christ alone. My faith is seen in my works, that is the way God teaches.

Make no mistake about it, a righteous man DOES what is right.

Yet doing righteousness in one's own eyes does not make one righteous.

Either you are righteous by works, or by faith. One precludes the other. At the end of the day, this is the choice each of us is making, either Jesus' righteousness on my behalf, which forms my life into righteousness like His, or, making myself righteous to become righteous like Jesus.

It's one, or it's the other, but it's not both. His righteousness, or your righteousness.

Much love!

 

[Enoch111]

It's completely absurd to say you are righteous because of what you think and that a man who does right is unrighteous because of what he thinks.

Where do you come up with such nonsense? Who preaches that one is righteous "because of what you think" and another is unrighteous "because of what he thinks". Can you provide credible evidence that preachers are preaching such nonsense? Or Christians believe such nonsense?

On the other hand the Bible is very clear about how sinners are saved: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Rom 10:9).

This is the Word of God. Do you believe it or not? And did you or did you not do exactly what it said?

 

[stunnedbygrace]

That's sure backwards!



I'm not sure "what they think" best describes the view you oppose. If you want to make a good argument, I personally believe in coming to understand, and be able to restate correctly, without insult, the opposing view. That's just me.



In whose eyes? Yours? God says no one measures up on their own. You've broken God's law so you are a lawbreaker. You can't change that fact. If you want to be judged by your works, those are your works. You hope that your good works will more than balance your lawless works? May it be so for you, though I don't believe that a million works of righteousness change one from being a thief, if they steal. Only the righteousness that is apart from works of law.

You would have your righteousness seen in your works, my righteousness is found in Christ alone. My faith is seen in my works, that is the way God teaches.



Yet doing righteousness in one's own eyes does not make one righteous.

Either you are righteous by works, or by faith. One precludes the other. At the end of the day, this is the choice each of us is making, either Jesus' righteousness on my behalf, which forms my life into righteousness like His, or, making myself righteous to become righteous like Jesus.

It's one, or it's the other, but it's not both. His righteousness, or your righteousness.

Much love!

What they think, I can say. They think that what you think saves you. If you think Jesus died you are saved, irrespective of what you do.

But God saved people in the past. They not only thought God saved them, they KNEW He did. They saw that water stand up and then saw it fall on the whole Egyptian army. They SAW Him save them. They had knowledge of Gods having saved them. But then what happened?