10 reasons 'Jesus Calling' is a dangerous book

By Warren B. Smith "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (Matthew 24:4-5) On Nov. 12, 2015, Religion News Service posted an article titled "Jesus Calling and the Policing of Theology." It was a…

The True Danger of Preaching False Conversion

Reblogged from www.blogos.org
By Gary Meredith

[NOTE: The following is not offered as a systematic refutation of "false conversion" teaching, nor an attack on its proponents, whose motives are surely sincere. My purpose is to show how this doctrine of questionable value can do serious harm to the Body of Christ.]

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. Acts 15:24

The young believer was apparently having his first serious crisis of faith. He wrote:

I've recently realized that I'm a so called 'false convert' and never really got saved. I've already called upon the name of the Lord for quite some time to save me from my sins with a heartfelt conviction of the gravity of my sin but nothing really happened. I repented from my sinful ways and did quite well in the beginning to abstain from sin but it didn't take long before I succumbed back to some of my sins. I continue to repent, and desire and value the Word of God more than ever, but my momentum and desire to read it starts to lessen. Should I continue to call upon his name to save and regenerate me, and only then follow Him?

Aside from his obvious Christian faith, I was struck by how closely his words paralleled Paul's:

Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Romans 7:21-24

This young man's misdiagnosis of his problem as false conversion — what some preachers call "Hell's best kept secret" — directed him away from the only cure, which Paul reveals in the next verse: "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25). Apparently no mature believer had explained to him that he already has been, is being, and will be delivered from sin by his continuously interceding Savior (Hebrews 7:25). His ignorance about the real Christian life, and the false explanation for his struggle with sin, disabled him from resting in and growing in that assurance (Matthew 11:28; Romans 8:35-39; Philippians 1:6).

Years before hearing the term "false conversion," a few young believers opened up to me about their private insecurities regarding their own salvation. It usually went something like this:

Maybe I'm not really saved, that I'm just another unsaved hypocrite. Everyone else at church seems to have a solid walk with the Lord, but I still struggle with sinful thoughts and emotions and failures. If they really knew me they probably wouldn't think I was saved. Our pastor probably wouldn't. He says Christ gives us daily victory over the world, the flesh and the devil — I'm losing all three battles! Maybe I should just leave the church and figure out what I really believe.

The correct response is: You wouldn't care if you weren't saved.

Distress about your sins is a healthy sign of a saved soul, not a symptom of false conversion. Sanctification isn't instant or easy, it's a lifelong, painful, humbling process. Real false converts don't care about their sins and don't know they aren't saved. Our warnings to them fall on deaf ears — ears which cannot hear (Jeremiah 6:10). That's because "the person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:14). False converts may call themselves Christians, attend church and use a lot of "God talk," but most are unaware and unconcerned that they are not reconciled with God and still destined for hell.

False conversion is presented as the reason for rampant immorality in many churches today — drug and alcohol abuse and addiction, sexual sin, divorce and more. That may be partly true (actually, the failure of church leaders to understand and counter the enormous power of modern culture is a fuller explanation).

But Scripture is far more concerned about false teachers than false converts (1 Timothy 1:3; 4:1-2; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1; Galatians 1:6-9). The most dangerous false converts by far are those who infiltrate the Church into positions of leadership in order to tear the flock apart and lead it astray (Matthew 7:15; Luke 21:8; Acts 20:29; Romans 16:17). While the sinful behavior of a few members may infect others, they are a small problem compared to our real enemies, false teachers, who have wiped out entire Christian denominations, leading millions of followers to tolerate and even celebrate, in the name of Christ, doctrines of demons (1 Timothy 4:1) and the evil behavior from which Christ came to set them free (Romans 6:11-18; Galatians 5:1).

Tragically, false conversion preachers re-aim the big guns of church condemnation from the primary target — false teachers — to our weak, stumbling brothers and sisters who desperately need God's love, and ours, starting with the reassurance of the forgiveness of sins (Luke 1:77). In extreme cases such preachers may actually serve Satan's disabling function as accusers of the brethren (Zechariah 3:1-2; Revelation 12:10), rather than the edifying role of the Church under the direction of the Holy Spirit for the fruitful conviction of sin (John 16:8; 1 Corinthians 14:24-25; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5).

Preachers of "false conversion," however sincere, exploit a potent reality: that all of us sin (1 John 1:8-10). So there is always plenty of "evidence" available for every believer that he or she was never saved. That is a lie, and a faith-damaging distortion of the Christian life. It also misses a fundamental reality — that we saints are capable of some very nasty behavior.

Mike Hoggard Private Interpretations

    
Note from this blog´s author: You might be interested in more posts on the New Age deception, discernment and the way to resist being sucked in and seduced by the wisdom of Satan. His modus operandi is always the same, it worked with Adam and Eve who knew their Creator, were taught by him, had a father child relationship with him and still disobeyed and were banished from their pristine home and garden. What then makes us think that we are smarter than them ?  Below you will find a few essays and studies I have written on false teachings as it becomes increasingly difficult to find solid, biblically based, sound teaching among some popular online pastors and teachers whose doctrines and teachings deviate from the Word of God, adding their own interpretations and wild extrapolations that are leading people astray especially young believers who are not yet really established and grounded in the Scriptures.  

• To What, to Whom, and How do we listen?
• Beware - Who is writing on the book of your life?
• Of Sheep and Goats 
•  Preach the Gospel and by all means use the Word
•  The New Age movement - Beginning in the Garden of Eden
• Rightly dividing the word of truth  By Jack Kelley

Can The Elect Be Deceived?

Reblogged from Grace Thru Faith  

A. Let’s clarify that Matt. 24:24 describes the time of the Great Tribulation after the Church is gone, so the”very elect” the Lord was referring to are Tribulation believers, not the Church.

But since you asked, I believe the history of the Church reveals a pretty dismal record of falling for the various false doctrines that come along.  Right from the beginning the heresy called Gnosticism threatened the Church’s very existence.  Then came the Roman Church with its post-millennial and a-millennial eschatology, its grace plus works plan of salvation, the sale of indulgences, purgatory, etc.  After that we had the mainline denominations who bought into the Documentary Hypothesis, the Theory of Evolution, and Modern Rationalism.  Now there’s Replacement Theology, Dominion Theology, the Prosperity Gospel, the Emerging Church and the heresy filled circuses we call revival. And don’t get me started on Christian TV.

I could go on and on but you get the idea. These were all introduced by the church’s leaders, the men entrusted with the care of the flock.  So I’d say large components of the Church have been and are being deceived on a pretty regular basis.

I think the Lord was saying that the purveyors of religion during Daniel’s 70th week will be so slick they’ll put all who came before them to shame, and if the Church was still on Earth, many of us would be deceived.  The reason it’s not possible is that we won’t be here.

It feels like there's no one left who is a true believer...

Reblogged from Elizabeth Prata: the-end-time.blogspot.com

Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

Paul reassured the Thessalonians that they had not missed the rapture and were not in the Day of the LORD. (another –pre-trib proof). He said that the Day will not come unless…certain events happened in order first

1. Rapture
2. Falling away (apostasy)
3. Antichrist revealed
4. Day of the Lord

The apostasy prepares the way for the advent of the Man of Sin.

Falling away AKA apostasy is a hard, hard thing, For anyone who is righteous, seeing loved ones succumb to the sway of a false doctrine, or follow a false teacher, it is a torture to the soul and a agony to the mind and a hardship on the soul. I see a Blackaby book on a pastor’s desk and I worry. I hear a woman refuse to acknowledge Joyce Meyer is false “because she preaches straight from the bible” and I mourn, I see a woman wear a “Walk to Emmaus” tee shirt and I fear. Encountering these things in my daily routine is like having a hot nail driven into my head. I am not exaggerating.

It’s not to say that these people or any person who reads a book, accepts a teacher or participates in a retreat once is an apostate. I participated in both the Experiencing God study by Henry Blackaby and a Beth Moore DVD retreat, but what doing so did was alert me to the falseness of their teachings. It gave me a close-up view of what it was that troubled my soul so much. That’s what false teaching does, it either grieves the soul and alerts one to its falsity or it entrenches one deeper into their lack of discernment. I worry because I know when someone doesn’t or won’t see the falseness of a particular doctrine or teacher, the false teacher or a false doctrine has successfully taken root into their mind. Satan won’t let that go. Unless they refute it and repent, it will grow like gangrene. That is the way of things. (2 Timothy 2:17; Acts 14:2)

It feels sometimes like there are hardly any people with discernment left. It feels like so many friends and family are falling away. I know from your emails and blog comments that many of you are in locations where there literally are no good churches or where false teaching abounds. Doesn’t it feel like were the only ones, sometimes!

Here is where we praise the gracious Lord for His examples for us in scripture. We are not alone! Elijah thought he was alone! Jeremiah was tortured by the apostasy around him and in his lifetime, judgment came! Noah preached 120 years and only had 7 converts! Isaiah was told to prophesy until there was literally no one left!

“And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”… God assured him, Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:9-10, 18)

My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. (Jeremiah 4:19)

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. …These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:5-6, 9)

“Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste,” (Isaiah 6:11)

In the New Testament, imagine there being no ‘church down the road’ you could switch to when apostasy is so rampant in your church you have to leave. The Corinthians were having chaotic services, drunken Lord’s Suppers, and immorality and sexual impurity were a problem. But that was the ONLY church. Can you imagine how the few pure and holy Corinthians felt?

Wikimedia commons

I’ve seen a massive defection from the faith since 2008. I’ve also seen a horrific decline in discernment since then too. The rise in apostasy to my mind and according to how I interpret 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is that the time is near when the rapture will occur. The defections of millions from the faith and the fast tsunami of apostasy in even evangelical denominations shows this, in my opinion. The curtain on this age is coming down, and fast.

Each of the prophets named above walked closely with God. Even in times of terrible apostasy when they were literally the only ones in their sphere left who were faithful. They were human, to be sure. Elijah suffered a bout of depression. Jeremiah was tearful and mourning much of the time. The key is, they clung to God.

Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)

Take encouragement! The Lord Jesus is near to us. At the time of His appearing, there were few faithful ones. His religion had been turned into a mockery. They rejected His words while clamoring for His miracles. They wanted His 'stuff' but not Him for Himself. He knew apostasy! He knows the pain we feel when people reject our precious Jesus and go astray! Don't give up the fight!

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)

He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. (Hebrews 5:2)

Pray for those who are ignorant and going astray. Pray for yourself in your weariness and sadness. Jesus is with us. It is good.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Warning - Danger Ahead - Who is writing on the book of your life?

Written and published by Jean-Louis. 04/2013

Going astray spiritually is as easy as not paying attention to the road sign on a freeway interchange, letting oneself get distracted and taking the wrong exit. I know from first hand experience because I did it and took a trip in the wrong direction that lasted 14 years.
 
We should be careful who we let write on the tablets of our hearts.

The Lord Jesus himself in the parable of the sower told his disciples: He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 13: 9).
Then in Marc 4:24, talking about His light in us, Jesus warned his disciples: CONSIDER CAREFULLY WHAT you hear (Mk.4:24).

In Matthew´s parable, Jesus also talks about the fourth person who receives the seed, hearing and understanding. This is HOW TO HEAR with the understanding that comes from God and his Word:

  My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;  from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:1-6.

In Luke 8:18,  again talking about the light, Jesus calls his disciples to "consider carefully HOW YOU LISTEN". Then, he adds something that should cause us to look at our hearts and let us be examined by the searchlight of the Spirit in those words: "whoever doesn´t have, EVEN WHAT HE THINKS HE HAS will be taken away from him.

Could Jesus be talking about the light that one thinks he has, maybe because somebody misled us into believing that they had the light and that if we followed them and their teachings, then we would partake of their special spiritual knowledge and revelations? Their light and teachings would spread throughout the world and bring the rule of the Kingdom of God through great revivals and theocratic government? Great boasts are being made these days! Who would not want to be part of such spiritual effort: conquering the world for Christ?

Remember there is one who is the enemy of our souls who disguises himself as an angel of light and so do his demons and false prophets who spread doctrines of demons. 

Here is what John 1: 6-9 says about Jesus and John the Baptist who was to bear witness to Jesus-Christ and whose ministry of preaching repentance and announcing the first coming of Christ our Lord and Savior:    
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. ⁹ That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 

If Jesus is the true light, then there is a false counterfeit light.

Have we been deceived or allowed ourselves to be deceived? Is it possible that we live in denial even when the truth and the reality of when the false seeds, that have been sown, and the false lights that have been allowed to grow within the church for more than a century are now bearing a rotten fruit causing spiritual blindness except for those who has eyes to see and ears to hear? 

The Book has already been written. The Bible is the Word of God, our only authority to judge everything we hear, see and experience, that is to say our reference, our map, our compass, our anchor. our plumb line, our supreme gold standard. The Holy Spirit who breathed the words written by the writers of the Bible and who now indwells us believers will never contradict himself. 

In John 16:1 Jesus warned his disciples: "All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. "

All this refers back to the teaching about the Holy Spirit in chapter 15 who is introduced to us as " the Counselor" who is to be with us forever, the Spirit of Truth.

Later on, in John 18:37, Jesus acknowledging that he was King made this remarkable statement: "In fact for this reason I was born and for this I came into the world: to TESTIFY TO THE TRUTH. Everyone who is on the side of the truth listens to me." 

Well, Pilate was not interested in knowing what love is? He asked what is truth" in verse 38. 

Jesus could have talked about love in these terms further condemning Pilate: my Father loves me because I lay down my life .. of my own accord. This command I received from my Father. John 10:17-18.

Everybody talks about "God is love" and then come the lies of not including the whole counsel of God as we are commanded to do.

Truth and love go together to provide balance in our walk with Jesus and when we proclaim the Good News.

Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. Psalm 40:11 KJV
Instead, speaking the truth in love... Ephesians 4:15 NASB

Other examples of the essential balance found in God´s word: 
John 1:17 the law was given through, grace and truth came through Jesus-Christ.

For the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth

The Lord Jesus himself who is our Savior, perfect love in his essence and nature, the Way, the Truth, the Life is described in these terms in John 1:14: And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Now this balance applied to worship:
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” NIV John 4:21-24

Truth is paramount and essential in these days of great delusion, deception and spiritual drought and death from thirst for the truth of the Word of  God. We simply cannot preach only love and grace at the detriment of truth because we want to be more gracious, compassionate, more generous, more merciful than He is. We have to represent Him faithfully as He has identified and revealed Himself to us throughout the pages of the Book He has given us. We have to speak the whole truth rightly dividing the Word of God entrusted to us.

How easy and convenient to rob the words of Jesus of their power and lessen the impact on the heart and the minds of weak and credulous believers! 

How many times have we heard the statement "you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free"? Free from what? Omitting the parts that we don´t like and keeping the ones that tickle our ears and send our heart palpitating, our head banging, our feet jumping and our bodies gyrating? No way!

Jesus was talking about keeping his teaching, thereby showing that they were true disciples, then the rest of the verse follows. 

A half truth is a lie in this case because it is used by people who misquote and distort the Word of God. I have even heard this verse used by New Agers, Western Hindu cultists. Combined with this other verse in 2 Timothy 3:16:
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" and the perfect trap is set to deceive the person who is not born again or rooted, established and a regular reader of the Word with Holy Spirit discernment. Of course in quoting the Scripture out of context, they make a case for unqualified worship and service to any deity and any scripture since the verse mentions "God" and "All scripture", to them meaning Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim or any in the smorgasbord of religions we are free to choose. 

In Amos 8: the Sovereign Lord declares: "the days are coming when I will send a famine through the land (Israel although I believe it applies to any individual and nation)....a famine OF HEARING THE WORDS OF THE LORD.   

If it is fireworks, supernatural manifestations, counterfeit signs and wonders, that you are looking for, searching the world over for the latest falling of gold dust, diamonds, fire moves of  the spirit, Kundalini Hindu yoga power impartation of supernatural power from an apostle or prophet practiced in some charismatic churches, then all you have to do is take your eyes of Jesus and the Bible and you will sure to find what you want.

But remember there is a price to pay at the end and also in this life. 

Is it not enough for us to be in the process of being made conformed to the image of Christ?

Here are the words of warning from Paul to the Corinthians:

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.

Finally, here is a scripture from Isaiah 50:10-11. that encapsulates what I have been writing. 

These are the words of the instructed, obedient servant our Lord Jesus-Christ through the lips and the pen of the prophet: a clear contrast between 2 groups, those who fear the Lord, obey His word, trust in His name and rely on Him and the other group who trust and walk in their own false lights, their own "strange fires" so to speak and the ones who spark movements for other people to follow. 

 Who among you fears the Lord
    and obeys the word of his servant?
Let the one who walks in the dark,
    who has no light,
trust in the name of the Lord
    and rely on their God.
¹¹ But now, all you who light fires
    and provide yourselves with flaming torches,
go, walk in the light of your fires
    and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:
    You will lie down in torment. Isaiah 50:10-11 (New International Version)

If I were in these peoples´s shoes, I would pay attention to the warning and tremble at those words. Fortunately, in his mercy, the Lord has provided the way of repentance and restoration even to the worst sinner among us (Psalm 51) and Isaiah 66 which reads:

Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. KJV

Who is writing on the book of your life?

Jean-Louis 

To read more about the New Age Teachings and how to combat its lies:The New Age Movement - Beginning in the Garden of Eden  To learn more about false teachings in the church, click Here
For a personal testimony and prayer: click Here  and Here

The Poison of False Teachings

Written and posted by Jean-Louis. 2/2012  
The ever pressing need for spiritual discernment in today´s church.

The scene: A greenhouse full of flowers and plants.

It´s time to fertilize the plants to help them grow and to become strong and beautiful.

Equipment needed: A tank for mixing, water, a pomp and a hose with a nozzle to carry the water and fertilizer mixture under pressure to spray the plants.

Worker´s gear: Water proof  protective suit, boots, gloves and a protective respirator mask.

 Fertilizer: ( Percentage not accurate, solely used for the illustration). Chemical contents in a paper bag in soluble powder form,

Inert  ingredients: 99.5 %
Active ingredients: 0.5 %
 
Instructions: Fill the tank, dilute the appropriate dose of fertilizer and start spraying the plants.

Expected results:Plant growth.

Now let´s look at a scenario in which instead of or adding to fertilizer somebody inadvertently, maybe without paying attention to the warning on the labels or perhaps intentionally would mix a wrong poisonous substance to the water.

Everything remains the same, the place, the worker, the plants and flowers, the water, the equipment, even the inert ingredients in equal measure, everything except the 0.5 percent (more or less) of the amount of poison lethal to the plants.

What would be the effect on the plants?  At least, they would wilt, become yellow, lose their vigor, their beauty or at worst even dies if the poison concentration was strong enough.

Change of scenery.
Let´s imagine any church building. We see the building, the people, the praise group or choir, the musical instruments, the pulpit and the pastor preaching from the word of God, the bible. 
Or it could be a Sunday school or a home group meeting in which the leader and participants share their testimonies, stories or illustrations aimed at helping the group understand the lesson.

So you see the parallel with the situation in the green house.

Every time someone (the worker spraying the plants) brings the Word of God and explains it simply, clearly and faithfully the Scriptures under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the listeners (represented by the plants) grow in wisdom, understanding, love, inner strength, etc. and are comforted, encouraged in all the aspects of  Christian living if they practice the lessons of the Scriptures with diligence and obedience to the Lord´s words and his commands.

The stories, illustrations, parables, poems and personal testimonies can be compared to the inert ingredients that help to carry the biblical message to the participants. They can be neutral depending on their source and intent  and serve as a framework for the spiritual content.  They can be interesting, fascinating, but what provides the growth in the Christian hearer is the powerful and penetrating Word of God (and its correct exposition and interpretation) that operates a work of conversion in the sinner, purifying the human heart and spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who through the Word illuminates, establishes and edifies by giving him or her light, strength, peace and consolation. The list of blessings and benefits of the Word of God in the life of the believers is inexhaustible.

The Word of God is so filled with life, power and so efficacious that just one verse of the Bible is enough to change a hard and impenetrable heart, to open the mind and change the life of a man and to draw him from death to eternal life, from darkness into the marvelous light by the power of the Holy Spirit who applies the Word of Life in the heart of the sinner and operates his invisible and yet manifest work. Jesus said: “my words, they are life and they are spirit”.
 
Let´s change the scenario
Here we have the same situation, the same building, the same congregation, the same praise group, instruments, pulpit, the same pastors, the same Bible, everything is similar.

It could happen that some illustrations, poems or stories accompanying the message or the biblical lesson contain doubtful and imperceptible doctrinal elements and false teaching, read from a book or watched and remembered from a radio or a TV program. Or even worse, a deliberate departure, addition to or subtraction, or distortion from the very meaning of the word, verse or context, an action forbidden by God himself  who made this very clear in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. 

Now let´s suppose that the person doing it lacks discernment and speaks with no knowledge  of the origin, nature or the impact of what he is relating. It does not matter, the effect can be devastating consequences in the life of the people who hear, absorb and assimilate the teaching because poison is poison even in small quantities, even coming from a well-intentioned person.  Depending on the vulnerability and lack of discernment of the believer, the influence and its effect will be more or less serious.

 
In the Church, our Lord God provided everything we need, the structures, equipment,  pastors, teachers, the brothers and sisters participating in the worship. He gave us the breath and the voice to praise him, to proclaim his message of love and pardon, our mind and heart to receive, believe and share the good news of the Gospel. His Word, and the practice of good works that the Father entrusts to our responsibility helps us to grow, mature and be conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus. His Word is pure and cannot  be mixed or diluted with anything  else that is impure. Proverbs 30:5.

A teaching that is contrary to the Word of God is poison to our soul. We cannot allow our mouth to transmit what is poisonous (venom coming from the  serpent´s mouth) to others´ears. For my post on the New Age Movement click: Here

For a companion studies on our spiritual weapons click on this link:

http://thelightseed.blogspot.com/2010/03/tempering-our-weapons.html

Pastors and teachers, of course, bear a greater measure of responsibility when it comes down to exercising wisdom  and prudence towards preaching and teaching the Word of God. Indeed, every Christian ought to use the Word (written) as a filtration system to judge what is good and true (see Acts 17:11 as Paul talks about the noble Bereans) when spiritual teaching is involved. The Scriptures along with the help of the Holy Spirit help us to discern and to protect our minds from error and we must handle them as offensive weapon to combat the lies and wiles of the adversary.

The best antidote if we inadvertently swallowed spiritual poison is the truth of Word of God that purifies us (Eph 5:26-27). Interestingly enough the hope of seeing our Lord and waiting expectantly for his soon return purifies us also. (I John 3:3).

The Word of God is compared to bread. Jesus warned us that our bread must be kept from any addition of the yeast of the Pharisees that is hypocrisy when we embrace the position and conduct of those who spread false teachings and add burdens that the Lord himself has not given us. It is interesting to note that the leavening that the baker uses to make the bread rise can only be effective in a lukewarm environment described perfectly in the spiritual condition of the church of Laodicea in the book of Revelation.  Yeast cannot survive or thrive in hot or cold temperatures which neutralize its active properties. It is enough to observe the effects to recognize the causes.

• Zeal without knowledge is unprofitable. Prov. 19:2; Romans 10:2.
• Knowledge without love puffs up like yeast. Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. ² Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. ³ But whoever loves God is known by God. I Corinthians 8:1. 
• For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision,  nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. ⁷ You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? ⁸ That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹ “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” ¹⁰ I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. Galatians 5: 6-10.
• ⁵Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Proverbs 30:5
• ¹²For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ¹³Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. ¹⁴Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. ¹⁵For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.¹⁶Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:12-16.

In conclusion, we are commanded to love and walk in the Spirit in order to be victorious over our flesh (sin nature) through the cross, reckoning ourselves dead and preserve the freedom to which we were called and for which Christ died for us.

¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. ¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[c] you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Galatians 5: 13-18.

Jean-Louis