While many of us seek to focus on the beauty of the Lord (and we should), it seems that there are few who care to consider the terror of the Lord. According to 2 Corinthians 5:11, it is this very terror which lead Paul to “persuade men”. Although the God of the Bible is a God of love and beauty, He is also a God of truth and justice. So a “love” without truth and justice is not really love at all. That is what I hope this article will reveal.
As I have explained in my article titled Philosophy vs. Christ, those who take such an approach as Paul took are often considered to be too negative. That raises an important question: what exactly do we mean by “positive”?
I bet the scribes and Pharisees did not consider Jesus to be “positive” when He called them “hypocrites” and told them that they would receive “greater condemnation” (See Matthew 23:14), but He was just simply telling the truth. From that verse, (and from simple logic) I hope it is becoming clear that the truth needs to be told whether it's negative or not, because it is the truth that sets one free when that truth is believed. For example, Proverbs 15:31 says “the ear that hears the rebukes of life will abide among the wise.”
When we say that something is “positive”, we may mean that it makes us feel good, and that it appeals to our desires. But let us beware of falling into such a mindset, because 2 Timothy 4:3-4 makes it abundantly clear that there is a contrast between sound doctrine and a doctrine which is according to our own desires!
What we consider to be “positive” may make us feel good temporarily, but it may not lead us into the soundness of mind that God hopes to give us. After our natural desires (Which may include what we naturally consider to be “positive”) have truly been changed by the Holy Spirit, it is only then that we will truly be able to discern the deep things of God (See 1 Corinthians 2:9-14). I am challenging people to examine whether they have truly ever had that transformation.
If we truly realize that we have much to be forgiven for, it is then that we are more likely to show much love…but those who feel that they have little to be forgiven for will most likely fall into pride, resulting in a lack of love (Read Luke 7:36-50 to get a good idea of what I am talking about).
In fact, Jesus stated that “because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). I believe that this is exactly what has been happening today as the result of teachings that many of us find to be more “positive”: Because lawlessness abounds (e.g., people are being encouraged to feel good about themselves rather than being encouraged to deny themselves as Jesus taught in Matthew 16:24-26), the love of many has indeed grown cold! This is one of the reasons that I felt the need to write my article titled Self-love vs. Selfless Love.
Many of us stubbornly insist on clinging to what we consider to be more “positive” than God’s truth, and then we wonder why we don’t have any peace! I have done the same thing, so I am not claiming to be any better than anyone else, but I want people to understand that true peace can only be experienced by accepting God as He truly is and letting Him have His way in our heart. As for those who continue to insist on having their own way, God will give it to them, but it will result in a strong delusion.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 reveals that a strong delusion will be sent on all those who will not receive the love of the truth. God is not being unfair by sending this delusion, He is just letting those who resist the truth believe the lie that they insist on believing. This delusion will come only on those who refuse to receive the love of the truth, so they will have no one to blame but themselves. This delusion will come on those who, deep inside, wanted to believe that something else was the truth (perhaps something which they considered to be more “positive”).
Jesus warned that one of the signs of the end times would be religious deception: “take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many…For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” (Matthew 24:4-5 and Matthew 24:24).
Peter also talked about religious deception (See 2 Peter 2:1-3) and so did Paul (See 1 Timothy 4:1-2, 2 Timothy 4:3-4 and 2 Corinthians 11:13-15) and so did Jude (See Jude 1:3-4).
We are to speak in love, but Ephesians 4:14-15 also makes it clear that we are to speak the truth in love. And since Jesus Himself said "as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten" (Revelation 3:19), I can only conclude that it is not loving to speak "positively" about the religious deception that is currently spreading through the church like a cancer...to do so would be to deny the truth and lead people astray. In that case, such a "positive" mindset is not really so positive after all, because it can only have negative results! I hope that fact will become all the more clear as you read what I am about to share next...
Since the Bible talks so much about religious deception, I think it is safe to say that this delusion which Paul warned about in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 will be a religious delusion. So this is not going to be atheism taking over the world (Satan is far more subtle than that, and he himself is not an atheist) but it is going to be a great deception within professing Christianity!
In part of my article titled Philosophy vs. Christ, I have explained that the coming one-world religion of the antichrist foretold in Revelation 13 is already being established throughout much of professing Christianity today, and ecumenism is a major part of this reality. In Dave Hunt’s book titled “A Woman Rides the Beast”, he explains how this is happening:
“The prefix “anti” comes from the Greek language and has two meanings: 1) opposed to, and 2) in the place of or a substitute for [See Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, p. 12; Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, p. 2035.]. Antichrist will embody both of these meanings. He will indeed oppose Christ, but in the most diabolically clever way it could be done: by pretending to be Christ and thus perverting “Christianity” from within. Indeed, Antichrist will “sit in the temple of God showing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).If Antichrist pretends to be Christ and is worshiped by the world (Revelation 13:8), then his followers are of course “Christians”. Not Communism but Christianity will take over the world, and not the real Christianity but an Antichrist counterfeit therof. Thus the great apostasy precedes the revelation of Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Part of the apostasy is the ecumenical movement, which is literally setting the stage for a union between all religions and even influences evangelicals as well. An Antichrist “Christianity” must be created which embraces all religions and which all religions will embrace – precisely what is occurring today with astonishing speed" (Dave Hunt, A Women Rides the Beast, Pages 44-45).
One of the reasons I feel the need to write this article is because I believe that God’s judgment is coming upon this earth very soon, and I want people to be ready to escape it before it’s too late. For the true Christian, 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says “God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” But those who have not received the love of the truth will have no one to blame but themselves for falling into God’s judgment.
I am writing this article to get people to examine whether they truly have a love for the truth, or if they simply want to believe that something else is the truth. Why do you believe what you believe? Do you believe it simply because it has been taught to you by someone you admire? Do you believe it merely because it makes you feel good? Or are your beliefs based on conviction?
Are you absolutely sure that you truly believe in the Jesus of the Bible and the gospel of Christ, or do you believe in “another Jesus” and “another gospel” (2 Corinthians 11:4)? Since we are all going to give an account to God one day, let us be absolutely certain that we know exactly what we believe and why we believe it!
As I have shown here, sometimes the truth is negative. So we need to understand that the issue is not whether we are being "positive" or "negative", but the issue is whether or not we are being realistic. The issue is whether or not we believe the truth.
In John 8:31-32, Jesus said “If you abide in My word you are My disciples indeed. And You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” So let us desire the absolute truth of His word... it is the only way to stay free from the increasing religious deception in the world today.
For more info, the following are some links that I hope you will find helpful. It is my hope that these links will help you to better understand the apostasy today, and how this increasingly deluded world is being prepared for the coming one-world religion which was foretold in the Bible. It is my hope that some of these links will also reveal the need for correction, which was the very reason that the entire Bible was written in the first place (See 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
I am not asking you to take my word for it and I am not asking you to take anyone else's word for it other than God Himself. If I did, then I would be doing you much more harm than good. Since God's word is the final word, everything that I or anyone else shares with you must be tested, using the discernment of His word. So I hope to encourage people to think for themself and follow the Lord alone. That is the purpose of this article as well as the following links. Here are the links....
A New Christianity? By Dave Hunt - Click here for the audio version.
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