“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8)
I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but you should know, people lie. They lie to others, they lie to themselves, perhaps not as often as some might think, but definitely not rarely, it is a common occurrence. Lies serve, in the most generalized terminology, to cover the truth, they are meant to be seen by those who do not want the truth to be known, and they happen in the dark, in fact, it is the only place where they live. Not specifically when the sun sets below the horizon, but in the darkness of the heart of man.
I contemplate in part here the time that Lucifer stood on his soapbox, so to speak, as he spoke to the angels in heaven, his brothers. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44) Two thirds of them could see through the lies he was speaking, one third fell with him, believing the lies.
I do not know how far above us the cognitive, deductive reasoning skills of an angel are compared to that of mankind, but I do know this for a fact, God was right over there when he was speaking. They were in heaven, they were angelic beings, and it was still possible to deceive them. Do you really suppose that any man could stand against the words of such a one as Satan?
The question could be considered at great length, does Satan believe his own lies? But that knowledge would not do us any good, it would not assist us in growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord but understanding the truth from a lie will. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) Do you?
As mentioned in previous letters to you, there are tens of thousands, perhaps more religious organizations on this planet, and this fact proves this statement, somebody is lying. Somebody is either deceived or being deceived. The inverse of that verse shows us another truth, if you do not know the truth, you are believing a lie, and therefore you will not be free, but in bondage.
I firmly believe and pray on a constant level for myself to be shown truth, the correct Spiritual discernment from the Holy Spirit concerning the Word of God. Without it, I will be living a lie. Those who study the Word of God and do not beg Him to reveal Himself to them in truth will be easily led astray, they will be double minded, unstable, and thereby not trustworthy. Every single word that anyone claims to be the truth from the Word of God, this poor writer of letters as well, needs to not only be double-checked by the Word of God, but prayed over earnestly, there are a lot of cults out there led by men with silver tongues, who understand how to deceive, many, if not all of them, are deceived themselves.
If anyone attempts to persuade you that what Christ accomplished on the cross was not enough for the atoning of the sins of all men everywhere, that we must perform some work along with His sacrifice, you should be able to show them from the Word of God where they are incorrect. If any say you must be baptized or you will suffer eternal damnation, that the laws of the Old Testament must still be applied in our lives, that Jesus Christ is not God, you must be able to refute those lies with the truth.
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17) “Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)
Your opinions, your thoughts, your ideas will avail you nothing, and will give our adversary an opportunity to deceive you as well. The Word of God is our sword, it sets us free, it reveals truth to us, there is no other way to defeat our enemies, and no other words will silence those who are being deceived. You must pray to be shown the truth, and even after you believe it has been given to you, it must be unequivocally validated by the Word of God.
