One Direction

 It’s funny how the ungodly, perverse, and demonic only encourage people in one direction. You’ve never heard a false prophet encourage anyone to draw closer to Jesus, and you’ve never heard a false teacher encourage anyone to pursue righteousness, sanctification, and holiness. It’s as though their agenda isn’t to grow you spiritually, disciple you into maturity, and teach you to fish rather than give you a fish. It’s as though they want to keep you close, never let you go, always dependent on their words and guidance because only then can they exert power over you.

If a man’s goal is to honor himself rather than Christ, elevate himself above Christ, and point to himself in lieu of Christ, you’re not joining a church; you’re joining a cult. Cult of personality is a big draw in our day and age, and truthfully it has been since the time of the apostles. Even then, people quarreled among themselves, some insisting they were of Paul, others of Apollos, until Paul had to write a letter and set matters straight.

It is God who gives the increase, it is God who stirs the heart, and all glory is due Him. Those who plant and those who water will receive their reward, but they cannot claim the glory. We went from putting our hand to the plow and building the kingdom of God to building our own kingdoms and sabotaging anyone who would dare attempt to plow alongside us. Our arrogance became such that men came to believe they were the only ones who could wield the plow and who could sow the seed, and anyone else was just a hindrance. They just got in the way.

Schisms and divisions became commonplace, and everyone insisted that if you disagreed on the minutest of doctrinal detail, they had the power and authority to declare that you were heretofore and forevermore barred from entry into heaven. I’m still reading e-mails and Facebook posts that if I differ in my belief regarding the timing of the rapture, God is so petty and vindictive that He’ll just leave me here.  

Do you understand how dangerous a thing it is to project your pettiness and vindictiveness onto God and assume that He is as spiteful as you are? Do you know the danger of speaking on behalf of God, for Him, when He did not say what you say He said?

What sort of lunatic asylum did you escape from to insist that whether or not you get caught up will be determined by whether or not you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture? Show that to me in the Bible! Yes, I know, sister Janice, the patron saint of stray cats, said it was so, but I’m going to need a bit more than that.

Perhaps it’s a coincidence that the same individuals insisting that tomorrow’s the day we all fly away are insisting that the Bible never said we should stop sinning. It’s blasphemous, don’t you know, to urge people to repentance and sanctification. Selective amnesia is all well and good, but just because you forgot Jesus said to go and sin no more, it doesn’t mean the Bible changed to suit your blind spot.

Not only are these ungodly men of whom Jude spoke keeping believers from preparing to endure to the end, but they’re also ensuring that even if, as they say, true believers get caught up tomorrow, those who have bought into their lies will not be counted among those whom the groom will find in spotless garments.

You have to ignore a lot of scripture to conclude that sanctification is for the birds, and all you have to do is wave a hand in the air. You’d have to ignore the words of Jesus, and even God himself, then twist the things Paul said in such a way that if he stood before you and you shared your conclusion, he’d rebuke you like he did Elymas.

Jude is speaking to the church. Not just one church body, but the church as a whole, warning that there were, there are, and there will be, men who will attempt to abuse grace and turn it into lewdness or licentiousness, perverting both the intent and the nature of it to the point that they would be denying the Lord God. He was not talking about outsiders, the godless, the heathen, or the uninitiated. He was talking about pretend believers who had crept in unnoticed and were now turning men’s hearts back to the world and the lusts thereof by their contrivances.

These individuals aren’t confused or ignorant. They know precisely what they are doing and why, so giving them the benefit of the doubt is pointless. Jude tells us that they were long ago marked out for this condemnation. Like their father, the devil, these men are not ignorant of Scripture. They know scripture better than most casual Christians, but they twist it to their advantage and with the intent and purpose of deceiving the innocent and gullible.

False teachers and false prophets pose the greatest danger to the church, and every new testament writer saw the truth of it and warned against them. If they posed no danger, it would have been a waste of ink, and God’s not known for inspiring irrelevancies. We were warned to be watchful because they are effective and oftentimes sprinkle enough truth into their deception to cause division, confusion, and strife.

The Bible is the antidote to lies and deception. The truth of Scripture acts as a shield and a protective covering over your heart so that anything not of God will not be able to germinate and take root but be rejected outright.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.