We’re looking for things to get better, hoping, praying, and daydreaming about when things will turn around, but the Bible warns that evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. We’re headed in one direction, the trajectory is set, and we are seeing the things that the Bible warned coming to pass before our eyes, yet we remain insistent that it’s just a glitch, a momentary valley, and in no time at all we will be on the mountaintop anew bringing in the sheaves.
Both evil men and impostors will only grow worse. The godless
will become more godless still, giving into their lust and hedonism to the
point that it would make any decent person blush, and those who pretend to be
of the household of faith will get better at faking virtue while exploiting the
innocent to their heart’s content.
How do we know that impostors will infiltrate the household
of faith? The godless have no reason to pretend to be something they’re not.
It’s only within the church that an impostor would have any interest in
deceiving. Their primary purpose is to mislead for personal gain or to lead
people away from the truth of Christ. This deceit is their hallmark, and we
must be vigilant against it.
We’ve all seen the singer or actor who found Jesus long
enough to promote their latest project, then nevermore a peep out of them
regarding faith or a transformed life. Of all the impostors making their way
through the church, those are the least dangerous. The ones that pose the
greatest danger are the impostors who feign obedience to the Master while
attempting to undermine His words, commands, and edicts. As Peter put it, they
bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them.
2 Peter 2:1-3, “But there were also false prophets among the
people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring
in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on
themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways,
because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will
exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been
idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”
Although their judgment has not been idle, and their
destruction does not slumber, we cannot ignore the warning that until they are
judged, many will follow their destructive ways. Likewise, the reality that it
is due to such individuals who have crept in among God’s people that the way of
truth will be blasphemed cannot be ignored or swept aside. When the way of
truth is blasphemed, it means that the reputation and credibility of the
Christian faith are damaged in the eyes of the world and some within the church.
The liars, impostors, and false teachers among us will be the
excuse the godless need in order to unleash persecution upon the followers of
Christ, pointing to the worst among us and lumping us all into one basket. When
you want to make a point, you focus on the lowest common denominator and erroneously
theorize that everyone among the group of individuals you are attempting to vilify
is cut of the same cloth.
There is a nefarious purpose beyond deceiving when it comes
to the impostors, and that is to ally with the godless at the opportune moment
and attempt to make the hearts of the righteous sad and simultaneously
strengthen the hand of the wicked, insisting that those who cling to Christ are
in the wrong for standing on Biblical truth. When it suits the plans of the
godless, they can point to those because of whom the way will be blasphemed as
negative examples of Christianity as a whole or as luminaries who understand
the virtues of compromising and giving a little to get a little. It’s
situational. It always is, and as long as they get their way, the godless don’t
care who they temporarily align themselves with.
While much of the church is playing checkers, the devil is
playing chess, and he’s moved his pieces into position so subtly and over time
that it will be a shock to the system when the impostors are revealed for who
they are. Unfortunately, it will not be before they’ve wrought their damage and
undermined the foundations of the household of faith to the fullest extent
allowed them.
So how do we survive this gauntlet of deceivers, impostors,
false teachers, false christs, false prophets, and panderers? The answer is
simple, but its implications are far-reaching because if you are determined to
know Christ and Him crucified, if you’ve purposed in your heart to remain faithful
to the end no matter what that might entail, you will invariably be walking a
lonely road, and those you once considered friends, family, brothers, or
sisters will either turn on you or declare themselves your sworn enemy for not
following their destructive ways.
Once we’ve purposed in our hearts that we will follow after
Christ no matter the cost, that we will keep our eyes firmly affixed upon Him
and not waiver no matter the pressure brought to bear to follow the pack,
everything falls into place, and the journey becomes less perplexing. It
doesn’t become easy or trouble-free because there is bound to be pain and
heartache along the way due to the course to which we committed, but we’ll know
where we are in relation to Christ, where we’re going, and what our ultimate
destination will be.
As children of God, we do not deal in shades of gray; rather,
we deal in absolutes. Either we obey Him, or we don’t. Either we walk in His
ways or our own. Either we are light, or we’re not, and anyone that insists
there is a middle ground, a means of pleasing both God and Mammon, the flesh
and the spiritual man, is either speaking from ignorance or a veiled desire to
deceive as they are deceived.
Misery loves company and that is never more true than when
someone wanders from the truth and embraces some extra-biblical doctrine that
they then feel compelled to share, spread, and insist upon. Unless you’re
living in a hole in the ground, you’re likely to run across some abstract
doctrine or teaching that seems right until you compare it to what the Bible
says and see the truth of it. Whether or not something bears witness is not the
litmus test for what we should believe; whether or not it’s Biblical is.
Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way of death.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
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