Well, the purpose of this post is not one that is apologetic in
nature, but I will say that I have the Word of the Lord as my guide. And, the actual,
physical, verifiable evidence that that Word is truth continues to grow. That,
I believe, is the number one reason why I can be confident.
Now, this very morning, I was watching a video and the speaker
began to talk about deception and self-delusion, in particular. And, to us
Christians, she brings up this point. Deception is what will lead to our
downfall. Unbelievers are already there. But, to those of us that do desire to
follow God and live for Him, we must guard against deception. I must know what I believe, why I believe it, and if what I think I believe is actually what God’s Word says. Without that,
I open the door wide open to be deceived (Hosea 4:6 says – My people are
destroyed from lack of knowledge.).
But,
there is more to the story than knowledge when it comes to guarding against
deception. James 1:22 (Amplified version) states this – But be doers of the
Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves
[into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].
If I want to guard myself from being deceived, then there are two
things I must do…
1.
I must know what God’s Word says. I must have
read it multiple times, studied it, prayed for understanding, have it ingrained
in me. It must be a part of who I am.
2.
And then, I must do what His Word tells me to
do. I must obey the message that He has given for me to follow.
Then, I can trust that I
have done all I can do to avoid being deceived. But, and this is my own
personal opinion, I think that if I do not do these things, if I don’t make an
effort, but pray and ask God to protect me from deception – have I not already
deceived myself?
He
tells us, clearly, in His Word that there will be opportunity to be deceived,
and warns us repeatedly about deception, and then tells us how to protect
ourselves from being deceived. Let us, let me, study… Let us, let me, as a
Christian, know His Word and obey it.
“Study
and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by
trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and
accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of
Truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15
“Examine
and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your
faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves [not
Christ]. Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an
ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you – unless you are [counterfeits]
disapproved on trial and rejected?” 2 Corinthians 13:5
