Beware of the unholy trinity

[makeupgirl]

Matt 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Matt 24:11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

Matt 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible.

Luke 6:26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.

Romans 16:17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.

1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world

Rev 16:13 Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

Rev 19:20 But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

Rev 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Notice the repetition of the false prophet and the warnings about the false prophet. When I think of doctrines like the purpose driven movement but also anything from the charismatic movement, it boggles me how low Satan has gotten. The movements I've named are all about making the people feel good, not about sharing the gospel. Let me tell you, Satan copies everything that God does. Just like God is a trinity, Satan copies and it's the unholy trinity (Satan - the dragon, Antichrist- the Beast, and the false prophet)

Satan is a fraudster, counterfeit, deceiver, that bad dude. Here is what the scriptures have named him Apolyon, Beelzebub, the dragon, Semihazah, Azazel, Belial, Sammael, the old serpent, devil, Tempter, Evil One, God of This World, Father of Lies, and Prince of Darkness.

Satan - The Dragon ... just like is called by many names, so is Satan (dude is a copy cat) . Satan knows he's destined for hell, so he dispatches his demons to make sure that we who are now believers in Christ fail and probably is anxious to let God know when sin. However, he knows once we're in Christ we are not condemned to hell, so he tries to distract us, especially since he knows we still have the sinful nature in us. Remember the flesh is weak but the Spirit is willing. This is why Gal 5:16 tells us to "be filled with the Holy Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh"

The antichrist aka the beast .... The antichrist is suppose to copy Christ. Those who will be deceive will think that Christ has come back and they will believe the lie and accept the counterfeit. This will be during the tribulation period.

2 Thes 2: 3- 12 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

The false prophet - will be a man of great authority of religion (remember religion is man's attempt to reach God). He will be the best speaker, motivator, have anyone that can be deceive that what he teaches is the best thing since slice bread. The false prophet will also head the one world religion. He is about compromise because he wants to make sure that what he teaches lead people away from the teachings of Christ and also go against the word of God. It will appear from his speech and charismatic energy that he's a Christian as well, but what he will teach will not align what is in the bible. What he teaches will be with great mistakes because it's not true. They will also deny that Christ is the only way to heaven.

Have you ever heard this:

-Those you must be good to get to heaven
-God wouldn't let man go to hell..what type of loving God is that?
-Well God is going to forgive me anyway, so I'm going to do whatever I want.
-He's not going to send me hell because I don't believe.

Ever heard of people that say that "God told me to tell you this or that"? and you find out the hard way that it wasn't true, especially if it wasn't aligned with the scriptures? Satan can speak to us as well. Remember that he copies everything that God does. Why? because Satan comes to steal, kill, and to destroy. But Jesus came so that we can have life and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10). Sometimes, what I think is God speaking is really Satan because I want something so bad that I'm willing to listen to anything at that moment to get my way. Then it's too late because the damage is done and why the damage is done because it wasn't God speak to beginning with. God is not going to go against his word but Satan will glady go against it.

In closing, we must be on our guard as children of God. Always allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into all truths. Pray without ceasing. Studying to show thyself approve. Meditating on the word. But also, going out into the world and teach others the gospel of Christ.

Satan is always working and his army is always on stand by waiting for the final battle.

Watch ye therefore, and pray alwayes, that ye may be accompted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to passe, and to stand before the sonne of man. (Luke 21:36)

 

[Rainbow Dash]

Good Word, so necessary in this time. I have ran into christians that are not reading their bibles, so they are falling into some of this false doctrine going around such as "Once saved always saved" and so forth. With this doctrine once you accept Christ your sin cannot separate you from Christ. That is a lie from the pit of Hell. Sin is what separates us from God.

 

[makeupgirl]

Good Word, so necessary in this time. I have ran into christians that are not reading their bibles, so they are falling into some of this false doctrine going around such as "Once saved always saved" and so forth. With this doctrine once you accept Christ your sin cannot separate you from Christ. That is a lie from the pit of Hell. Sin is what separates us from God.

Amen sister. Before the first of the year I was slacking in reading/studying my bible and I felt a conviction and I was vulernable to anything Satan threw at me because I grieve the Holy Spirit so much by not feeding the Spirit. I'm learning now why 2 Tim 2:15 tells us to "study to show thyself approve unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." False doctrines is out in big and bold highlights now and we have to know the word for ourselves, so that we can discern what is of God and what is not.

 

[lovely008]

Good Word, so necessary in this time. I have ran into christians that are not reading their bibles, so they are falling into some of this false doctrine going around such as "Once saved always saved" and so forth. With this doctrine once you accept Christ your sin cannot separate you from Christ. That is a lie from the pit of Hell. Sin is what separates us from God.

Wow! I had no clue this was a false doctrine. I've been hearing it all my life

 

[makeupgirl]

 

[LilMissSunshine5]

Wow! I had no clue this was a false doctrine. I've been hearing it all my life

I don't believe that is a false doctrine. I don't believe people can "lose" their salvation. The only requirement I see in the Bible is believing in the saving blood of Christ Jesus as atonement of our sins. It wouldn't be very powerful salvation if there was a limit on what it covered IMO. When I accepted the gift of salvation, I naturally wanted to turn away from my sin. But whenever I fell away from God bc of my sin nature, I didn't need to get re-saved, I just asked for forgiveness and committed to living more like Jesus. I think it is dangerous to think salvation can be lost bc it implies we can do things to "earn" it back, which is antithetical to the concept of salvation. It isn't about what we do or say because our good works/attempts to sin less aren't and have never been enough. Salvation is a gift, which means we can't earn it and don't deserve it, but God gives it to us anyway. He is that loving and merciful...we are living under grace, not the law. That also doesn't mean we should abuse that grace and use it as a license to sin though. Although God is the only one who truly knows people's hearts, it does make me question whether those people have truly accepted the gift of salvation if they engage in that behavior. I have never felt I could do whatever I wanted bc God would forgive me anyway, it has always been an inner struggle between my desire to please God and my flesh woman. Abusing God's grace is no small thing and I definitely don't want to fall into that behavior, but I also think you can't lose what you don't have...I feel it is likely ppl who feel they can use salvation as a license to sin weren't ever really saved to begin with

 

[Laela]

I believe it's known as the doctrine of eternal security and oftentimes, this Scripture is used:

Hebrews 7:25, "Hence, also, he is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

To always be and abide in Christ is to reject sin; Salvation/God's righteousness is a gift and not something we earn. From reading on different faiths' perspective, "saved" itself has different meaning for some. That is, whether or not being saved involves Sanctification (the process of becoming holy by rejecting sin and obeying God's commandments). I believe it does.

Wow! I had no clue this was a false doctrine. I've been hearing it all my life

 

[Rainbow Dash]

I don't believe that is a false doctrine. I don't believe people can "lose" their salvation. The only requirement I see in the Bible is believing in the saving blood of Christ Jesus as atonement of our sins. It wouldn't be very powerful salvation if there was a limit on what it covered IMO. When I accepted the gift of salvation, I naturally wanted to turn away from my sin. But whenever I fell away from God bc of my sin nature, I didn't need to get re-saved, I just asked for forgiveness and committed to living more like Jesus. I think it is dangerous to think salvation can be lost bc it implies we can do things to "earn" it back, which is antithetical to the concept of salvation. It isn't about what we do or say because our good works/attempts to sin less aren't and have never been enough. Salvation is a gift, which means we can't earn it and don't deserve it, but God gives it to us anyway. He is that loving and merciful...we are living under grace, not the law. That also doesn't mean we should abuse that grace and use it as a license to sin though. Although God is the only one who truly knows people's hearts, it does make me question whether those people have truly accepted the gift of salvation if they engage in that behavior. I have never felt I could do whatever I wanted bc God would forgive me anyway, it has always been an inner struggle between my desire to please God and my flesh woman. Abusing God's grace is no small thing and I definitely don't want to fall into that behavior, but I also think you can't lose what you don't have...I feel it is likely ppl who feel they can use salvation as a license to sin weren't ever really saved to begin with

I agree with you but I have seen people use this doctrine and it has caused a whole church of people to be torn and back in the world.

A church that taught this doctrine started to go to the clubs and husbands and wives began to have extramarital affairs because they said " The seed of Christ in them cannot be corrupted. Christ can't be corrupted but we sure can if we allow ourselves to be entangled. Therefore marriages ended in divorce and people fell away. This is dangerous.

If we remain in Christ we are saved but when we walk contrary to His word that is dangerous.

These are scriptures of Paul speaking to believers.

The Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 1 Cor 15:2

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor 6:9-10

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 1 Tim 4:1-2

An unsaved person cannot depart from something they were never apart of .

 

[Laela]

Some helpful Scriptures. Once Saved, Always Saved, comes with accountability automatically built in. It grieves the Holy Spirit when we don't make the right choices, because it's His Will that none should perish. I don't believe the doctrine Once Saved, Always Saved, should be taught or seen as an "excuse" to sin or to abuse God's grace. What it means is that God keeps His promise and won't renounce His Children (never leave, nor forsake). It is us (man) who does the leaving and forsaking. Covenant breaking, so to speak.

That means, the onus is on me, as a Believer, to keep my end of the Covenant with God by abiding IN Christ. The judgment is already built in, if I fail to do so by outright rejecting Christ. That's why I believe it's best to know the Bible and God for oneself, so we're not led astray by false doctrines or man's interpretation. We all operate on our own level of understanding of Scripture, being careful to acknowledge that error may not always come from bad intent but from misinterpretation or misunderstanding.


Great thread OP...

John 15:6
If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

2 Timothy 2:12
If we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;

2 Peter 2:21
For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

James 4:17
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Hebrews 10:26-29
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?


Hebrews 6:4-8
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

 

[Laela]

I remember posting an article on OSAS a while back.... If you don't mind, Makeupgirl, I'll post it here instead of bumping the thread, since this topic came back up in your thread.

Whatever relevancy it has for anyone reading, just thought I'd post it:

====================
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“Once Saved Always Saved”
a dangerous delusion?
by Graham Pockett​

The following information relates to the belief that once saved, a Christian cannot ‘lose’ his salvation. This is often called “Eternal Security”, the opposite to which is sometimes called “Conditional Security”. Scripture quoted is from the NIV Bible, not because it is ‘best’ but because it states these points clearly while still agreeing with the KJV and other universally accepted translations. You might like to read Why I Quote The NIV Bible.

Can you lose your salvation?

Many people fervently believe that once saved, they can never lose their salvation. I pray that those who do believe it will read the following with an open heart and an open mind. Above all, I urge every reader to check each Scripture presented – and then check the context that the Scriptures are quoted in by reading at least ten verses before and ten verses after.

I sincerely believe the ‘once saved always saved’ concept to be wrong. The implication that once someone becomes a ‘real’ Christian (a definition would be handy) they are saved and that they can’t backslide or commit a sin which would rob them of that inheritance.

From my experience, Christians can sin and they often do sin but to believe that a Christian can live any way he or she likes, and still be saved, is dangerous. Some argue that a ‘real’ Christian wouldn’t commit these sins and it is the ‘almost Christians’ who fall foul of this type of entrapment from the enemy. I believe that would be wrong too. Committed Christians sin for all sorts of reasons and we are only saved by God’s amazing Grace, not our level of commitment. God knows our true heart!

If a Christian sins maliciously (deliberately breaks laws for his or her own advantage – say purchasing goods known, or strongly suspected, of being stolen) that is quite different from accidentally sinning – something we all do constantly.

God knows our true intention. We might be able to fool a police officer that we sinned accidentally, but God knows the real truth. I believe that if we deliberately go against the direction given by Jesus (who, you will remember, said to obey the laws of the land) then we must suffer the consequences – and that might mean the loss of eternal life. At least our Judge, while tough, is fair and understanding!

Let’s look at this Scripturally
Jesus understood that when people heard the Word of God they would react in different ways – from total rejection to total acceptance. He explained it in ‘The Parable Of The Sower’. I have quoted the Matthew 13:3-23 Scripture here, but the same parable can also be found in Mark 4:1-20 and Luke 8:4-15.

Matthew 13:3-9:
3 Then [Jesus] told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
9 He who has ears, let him hear.” [NIV]

The Disciples wanted to know what this parable meant and Jesus explained.

Matthew 13:18-23
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:
19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” [NIV]

For people who believe that “once saved, always saved” I rhetorically ask: how do you relate your beliefs to Matthew 13: 20-21? If a man cannot lose his salvation then why would Jesus say: “When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away”?

The key to how we are saved is in John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” [NIV]

I understand that the word ‘believes’ in the Greek is an on-going verb (this is not so easy to determine because Greek is a contextual language). It really says that unless we keep on believing in Him we will perish and not have everlasting life. We are saved by Grace as long as we keep on believing in Him. Let’s check another Scripture.

Mark 13:13 says:
[Jesus said] “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” [NIV]

Look again at the second half of that sentence. Jesus is saying that to be saved you must stand firm (for Him) until you die. Conversely He is therefore saying that those who do not stand firm will not be saved! Notice that I am not quoting Paul or any other Apostle or Disciple, but the Son of God Himself.

Was I saved when I was cursing God?

When I was quite young I gave myself to the Lord. I then drifted away from the church – and from Jesus – and ended up walking in a wilderness for 25 years. For 25 years I cursed Jesus and fought against Christianity. I ‘studied’ the Bible looking for ‘wrongness’ in it and read as many anti-Christian writings as I could. I became an intellectually strong anti-Christian and could debate, and win, with committed Christians in many areas, specially on early church history. Guess you could say that I was like Saul, a zealot against the Christians.

One day, in the fit of despair after being separated from my wife of 19 years, I asked “the Creator” (my concept at that time) how I could get her back. I heard an audible voice (which I instantly knew to be Jesus) say: “Believe in Me”. It was mind blowing to say the least. I can understand the confusion Saul must have felt when he was slam-dunked to the ground by the very Person he was persecuting. It was the same with me.

Was I ‘saved’ during those 25 years of anti-Christian ‘preaching’? From my own heart I can say a resounding NO. If I had died and gone to Heaven during that period I would have screamed to be taken to Hell! Yet I had accepted Jesus at a Youth For Christ rally when I was about 14. Saved forever, or not saved forever?

To the people who would say that I really wasn’t saved when I was young I just point them back to John 3:16. I did believe in the salvation of Jesus in those early days – I witnessed at school, I was very much involved with my local church, I even wanted to become a minister of religion when I grew up!

But, after five years, I backslid – and not just a little way either! I fell all the way into the pit and Satan had me fully in his grasp. Saved? No way. The Lord gave us the power of freewill, and I had exercised mine to be a servant of Satan.

The final proof...
“We have nothing of our own but our will. It is the only thing which God has so placed in our own power that we can make an offering of it to Him.” St John Vianney (The Curé d’Ars – 1786-1859)


If God didn’t want us to be able to choose He would not have given us the gift of freewill. It is this gift which places us above the animals. It is this gift which allows us to choose to either worship God or not worship God. It is this gift, and only this gift, which allows us to truly love Him like a son. It is this gift which proves that ‘once saved, always saved’ must be wrong.

If we are saved in spite of ourselves then there is no freewill. If there is no freewill then the Bible is wrong!

I don’t believe that the Bible is wrong...

Before you write to tell me that we are saved by Grace and not by works you should know that I agree with you (however, in James 2:14-26 it says that faith without deeds is useless).

Before you write to say that God does not take back a gift He has so freely offered you should know that I agree with you (however, I believe that God allows us to give back that gift).

Before you write to say that we are all sinners and will therefore continue to sin throughout our lives you should know that I agree with you (but it is the attitude we have towards our sinning – what is really in our hearts – that is more important).

Before you write to tell me how wrong I am you should know that I agree with you (only Jesus had perfect doctrine, the rest of us must rely on God not to judge us on our imperfect doctrine – see Do you know what really annoys me about God? by Dr Barry Chant).

 

[makeupgirl]

I don't mind at all Laela and I thank you sister for posting the article.

 

[disgtgyal]

How does one test a spirit to know whether it is of God, in essence how do you know whether someone is a prophet of God or a soothsayer or sorcer operating by the devil?


Sent from my iPod touch using LHCF

 

[Laela]

^^^ There was a nice discussion a while back on attestation

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=376629&highlight=triple+attestation

I hope someone else can share ... but I'll say that outside of knowing things that God reveals to me personally through the Holy Spirit (knower), confirmation can come through other sources, ie. a sermon, another Christian, a testimony, a Scripture, etc. Not that that is required! So being prayful and asking the Holy Spirit to enable discernment (which is a spiritual gift) helps.

Here's a tidbit on how to test a spirit:

How to Test a Spirit
You can discern or test whether or not a spirit is of God by the following three ways:

1 Observing what a person does. In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus explains that false prophets are known by their fruit - by their conduct and actions.
2 Observing whether or not a person exalts Jesus Christ as the Son of God and as Lord and Saviour (I Corinthians 12:3).
3 By listening to what a person says (I John 4:1-3). Does their confession line up with the truth of God's Word?

HTH!