“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” – Jesus (Matt. 7:21)

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified (put to death) the flesh with its passions and desires.” – Paul (Gal. 5:24)

Try as you may (and many have)…you just can’t conveniently toss those statements aside as if they ‘don’t apply to us today’. They were written down in our Bibles for a purpose; and if for no other reason…hopefully to get our attention and prompt us to dive deeper into God’s word to gain more clarification and understanding.

Do you know what I have come to learn over the years? When people are taught to believe a false doctrine… it has this eerie effect on sincere believers where they can be quick to dismiss other scriptures that don’t ‘fit’ with what they have been taught to believe. Remember - most deception will have a thread of truth interwoven through it…which is what makes false teachings so deceptive. And what did Jesus caution His disciples to be on guard against in the days leading up to His return, in Matt. 24:3-5?

False or deceptive doctrines can become a ‘stronghold’ within us, because there is usually a ‘spirit’ attached to it that works as a buffer, or force of resistance where when we are presented with truth from God’s word, it just ‘bounces off us’ (for a lack of a better phrase) and never reaches our heart where it can take root and ‘work in us’ to bring forth the fruit God desires to see in us. (1 Thess. 2:13; John 15:7,3-6)

Jesus tried pointing out this very thing to a group of Pharisees, telling them that despite them believing they ‘belonged to God’…the fact that they were not able to ‘receive or understand His word was evidence that they were NOT… God’s children, but rather were children of the devil’. (John 8:39-44). Yeah…that is a tough accusation there to read.

Take for example, a new convert who ‘walks an aisle’ or ‘raises their hand to accept Jesus as personal Savior’ in some meeting. I’m not questioning their hearts now, because that’s not my job; God knows all and sees all. But in those early days of ‘conversion’…if they are then told, promised, and reassured that since they have now made that first step in coming to Jesus…that they are now ‘saved’ and ‘eternally secure’…meaning nothing can ever happen to them where they would ‘lose their salvation’ or their ‘place with God’, the table has now been set for them to begin resisting other Bible scriptures that might not ‘fit’ with that line of thinking. (I will be addressing this ‘once saved, always saved’ teaching in the near future)

What has actually taken place now, in such a situation as described above…is instead of Jesus taking His rightful place in their hearts to be true ‘Lord and Savior’…a ‘doctrine’ has captured their hearts, and in effect nullifies or makes of no effect…the commandments of God. Jesus addressed this common problem in Mark 7:6-16. Paul also warned how prevalent this would eventually become with a plethora of ‘other gospels’ that would deceive people, in his warning found in 2 Cor. 11:3-4.

Think about it- maybe you ‘came to Christ’ at some earlier time in your life, taking those first sincere steps to ‘become a Christian’ and follow Jesus. But you were also assured that your ‘salvation was secure’ and ‘nothing could ever change that’, with verses like John 10:28 and Romans 8:37-38 thrown in for ‘good measure’. So then, when the Holy Spirit begins to lead you to confront and deal with putting to death this ‘old flesh nature’ of ours, you begin to waiver, stumble, or even have second doubts, like that rich young ruler did in Matt. 19. That is in fact, what the Holy Spirit begins to lead us to do, according to Rom. 8:13-14; and that is what it means to ‘take up one’s cross and follow Jesus’ …in order to become a true disciple of His (Luke 9:23; 14:33; Col. 3:5-9).

But if you were taught something else contrary, like a ‘guarantee’ that your ‘salvation was eternally secure’…then when you come across other passages in your Bible, like the first two I quoted at the beginning of this lesson…those passages don’t seem to ‘make sense’ or resonate with your ‘spirit’. That certainly cannot apply to you because ‘all is well with your soul’; or so you’ve been told.

So now there is ‘conflict’ because you have the Holy Spirit trying to lead you in one direction, but other ‘well-meaning’ but misguided ‘saints’ are telling you something different…and you have a choice to make. This is when other ‘deceiving spirits’ enter the mix, and trust me…they are good! (2 Cor. 11:14-15; 1 Tim. 4:1). Do you remember what happened to Eve, back in the garden? (Gen. 2:17; 3:1-13)

Before you know it, you’re being taught that ‘everybody sins’ and ‘nobody is perfect’ and even ‘old Paul remained the chief of sinners’, so you shouldn’t expect to be any different, when it comes to dealing with this old flesh nature. Now mind you, nobody is going to tell you that it’s okay to continue murdering people, or raping children, or any of those other ‘big sins’….but hey…you got some racism and hate working in your heart? No worries…’God understands’. Or that pride and unforgiveness you’ve been holding on to all these years… it’s just ‘part of life’ and ‘we all have our issues, but fear not because it’s all under the blood’.

Sound familiar? So now what we have…are churches full of ‘double-minded’ people, who James talks about in his letter in several places. And he has some harsh words for folks who live that way. What does it mean to be ‘double-minded’? Take a look at Romans 8:5-11 where the picture should become quite clear; and take your time with that passage. But be sure to then underline or highlight vs. 13 and see how that ‘fits’ with what you’ve been taught to believe.

Oh, one more passage to consider: Galatians 5:19-21. You will probably be able to identify with some of those ‘evident deeds of the flesh that are listed there. As you read through those, ask yourself this question: Which of these ‘fleshly deeds’ do you think God will ‘turn a blind eye’ to and say it’s okay to still enter His kingdom with…since He knows you ‘tried hard to do your best’? And what are we to make of Paul’s summary of all those deeds that he expresses in vs. 21?

I know…kind of makes you stop and think, right? That would be a good thing! See you tomorrow?