POST #9 THE SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS AND APOSTASY
LAWLESSNESS CAUSES A DEPARTING FROM THE FAITH:
This is a continuation of POST #8 of how a lawless heart causes believers to depart from the faith. It is sad but there are those who teach doctrines of man and doctrines of demons within the body of Christ. Sadder still are those within the body of Christ who will listen to, follow, and fight for the doctrines of man and doctrines of demons over standing with the Word of God.
The earthly and eternal promises of God are only for those who remain IN THE FAITH! We are commanded to remain "in the faith." There are 1,050 commands in the New Testament. Why are we commanded to love one another? Because we are more prone not to love one another. We are prone to love only those who love us. So the Father gives in His Word the command that we are to love. Why are we commanded to stay in the faith? Because we can through lack of experience, negligence, sin, or many other reasons drift away from a heart of faith, until we are filled with a heart of doubt.
It does not mean that we necessarily drift away from religious activity. If fact, what I have seen is that those who drift away from a heart of faith, fill that void with religious activity. They do the things of God while having departed from God. Let's look at the warnings and commands about falling away from the faith.
Luke 22:31-32 ESV “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, (32) but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Acts 14:22 ESV strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Colossians 1:23 ESV if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Hebrews 10:38-39 ESV but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” (39) But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 ESV 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,
In 2 Thess.2:3 the word "rebellion" is the word apostasy (Greek ap-os-tas-ee'-ah) and means "a defection from truth, a falling away, to forsake."
LAWLESSNESS CAUSES A DEPARTING FROM THE FAITH:
This is a continuation of POST #8 of how a lawless heart causes believers to depart from the faith. It is sad but there are those who teach doctrines of man and doctrines of demons within the body of Christ. Sadder still are those within the body of Christ who will listen to, follow, and fight for the doctrines of man and doctrines of demons over standing with the Word of God.
The earthly and eternal promises of God are only for those who remain IN THE FAITH! We are commanded to remain "in the faith." There are 1,050 commands in the New Testament. Why are we commanded to love one another? Because we are more prone not to love one another. We are prone to love only those who love us. So the Father gives in His Word the command that we are to love. Why are we commanded to stay in the faith? Because we can through lack of experience, negligence, sin, or many other reasons drift away from a heart of faith, until we are filled with a heart of doubt.
It does not mean that we necessarily drift away from religious activity. If fact, what I have seen is that those who drift away from a heart of faith, fill that void with religious activity. They do the things of God while having departed from God. Let's look at the warnings and commands about falling away from the faith.
Luke 22:31-32 ESV “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, (32) but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Acts 14:22 ESV strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Colossians 1:23 ESV if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Hebrews 10:38-39 ESV but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” (39) But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 ESV 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,
In 2 Thess.2:3 the word "rebellion" is the word apostasy (Greek ap-os-tas-ee'-ah) and means "a defection from truth, a falling away, to forsake."
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