Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. (James 1:16)
I can't count the times I watched a commercial on television, only to think I needed the product just advertised. I see and then I want and then I will go to great lengths to obtain. Even if it means going into debt to get it, I will do it. My mind dictates to my heart what is necessary to be happy, and now I will go after that happiness.
It doesn't matter if it is the triple decker, extra creamy ice cream waffle cone with every topping imaginable, it is worth it in my mind. This action destroys my attempts at healthy eating and sabotages my new eating plan. The picture on the screen convinced me and my will was weak. I was deceived!
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)
Too often I am disappointed after diving in and purchasing the latest enticement I drooled after. The object didn't deliver or there was a bait-and-switch going on. Satan often dangles a 'bargain' in front of our eyes, with the intention of substituting something inferior; his goal is to disenchant and disillusion us.
God is not in the habit of fooling His people. He is the one constant in our lives. He is the one who can be counted on to tell it like it is and stick to His promises.
If we stick close to God, cultivating a close relationship by reading His Word and by prayer, we can be sure that God always wants the best for us.
James 1:16-27
“I am afraid that just
as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led
astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a
Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit
from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you
put up with it easily enough.”
2 Corinthians 11:3-4
“She was deceived by the serpent's cunning.”
If Eve had a tombstone, this could well be its epitaph. For this is how she has been remembered; it
is her tragic legacy.
I don’t think Satan uses serpents much anymore, other than to scare the
bejeebers out of us, perhaps. Oh, he’s
still hell-bent on leading us astray, but he's deceived plenty of people
by now and he is more than pleased to use them to dupe more
dupes! Including you and me if we’re not
careful.
So let’s sign the guest register at the First Church of Corinth, settle into a
comfortable pew and consider Paul’s warning against three false promises: a
different Jesus, a different spirit, and a different gospel.
We don’t often hear reports of a “different Jesus,” per se. Our “different Jesus” is the one we create in
our image by bending, stretching and twisting the Biblical Son of God like a
toy-box Gumby until he looks the way we think he should look. But God intends that we be conformed into the
image of his Son (Romans 8:29), not the other way around. And his complete Word is the complete
authority on his Son.
Jesus is God, come in the flesh; any assertion to the contrary arises from a “different
spirit.” In one of the Bible's great “trinity”
passages, Jesus instructed his disciples: “... I will ask the Father, and he
will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.
(John 14:16-17)” And it is so crucial we
follow this Holy Spirit of truth, that John warned against “different spirits,”
even giving us this litmus test by which to discern among them: “This is how you can
recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge
Jesus is not from God. (1 John 4:2)”
As Paul told the Galatians, “a different gospel ... is really no gospel at all.
(Galatians 1:6)” Only Jesus fulfilled
the gospel announced in advance to Abraham (Galatians 3:6-9) and to the
prophets (Romans 1:1-4). Only God
himself in human flesh could fulfill the rigid demands of the Law. Only Jesus’ blood could remove our sin; only
God's life could atone for our life.
This being true, there is, as Paul said, no other gospel; indeed, perfection
needs no other “good news.”
Winding its way throughout eternity is the Word of God. God displayed its authority upon speaking it. Satan acknowledged its authority by twisting
it. Eve recognized its authority in misquoting it. Moses and the prophets
submitted to its authority when writing it.
Jesus attested to its authority by declaring it,
living it and fulfilling it – everything “that is written about me in the Law
of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. (Luke 24:44)” And when we trust in its authority, it proves to be our rock, our safe place amid the tempest of deception.
As our wacky world turns wackier, let us not be as deceived as Eve. Rather, let us hold onto these unchanging
truths: there is no other Jesus; there is no other Holy Spirit of truth; there
is no other gospel.
Our God is true to his Word. We have it on good
authority. We can trust it with our lives.
[Today’s reading is 2 Corinthians 11:1-15.
For NIV, click here. For The
Message, click here.]
