The Gospel According to Satan
...the urgent need for discernment in the body of Christ
Satan doesn't want to fight the church; he wants to join it!
He will always scheme in the amphitheater of the crucial, never in the arena of the trivial. His number one priority is to attack truth, promote error, subterfuge the gospel, and try to discredit the divine work of God among His creatures. His first deception in the garden was not only to add to God's word, but also to wrest God's word through subtle and clever trickery. "Hath not God said…" was his ploy with our first parents—Eve was deceived and Adam sinned (Gen. 3:1-16; Roms. 5:12-18). He first plants doubt, then deceives, he distorts truth, advances disobedience and fosters distrust against the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. He loiters as the "accuser of the brethren" night and day before the throne of God (Rev. 12:1-12) and revels in the disobedience of God’s people.
His strategery is simple: to find his way into the church through error masquerading as truth and then to subtlety and seductively corrupt the gospel of Jesus Christ and His followers with the leaven of "the doctrine of demons" (1 Tim. 4:1-4). All the while blinding the unregenerate to their lost condition through the goodness and moral rightness of philanthropic giving, humanitarian selflessness, political efficacy, family values, ascetic religious flagellation, personal self-worth and altruistic acts of kindness to ones fellowman. He’ll even use biblical language or quote Scritpure (cp, Luke 4:1-12) if it furthers his sardonic deception. He does not come with the horror of his hellish nature; but approaches with the greatest of alacrity and in the most "undevilish" ways. Because he is the father of lies from the beginning and there is no truth in him, all that he represents is a perverted imitation—a counterfeit of the genuine. After all… he is an "angel of light" (2 Cor. 12:1-5). He will gradually replace the call for true repentance (to turn from sin and turn to God, forsaking all our idols for His glory) with self-love; his addition to the canon of the Word with a “third great commandment.” He will not demand a cross, but will only speak of a better way to successful living. His “gospel” focuses on man and his needs; not with God and His glory. Obey your thirst; satisfy your lust; drink the cup of unbridled passion to the dregs; greed is good; do what you want as long as it doesn't hurt someone else; surrender to unguarded pleasure and strengthen unbroken pride.
The Pope of Reilgious Postmodernism
He is the Pope of Romanism the postmodern church. He is the author of the Pomo-Study Bible. He’ll convince you there is no truth—for truth is whatever I want it to be. Every man today can write his own bible, create his own creed, and determine his own orthodoxy. If you dare challenge him, his unwitting followers will cry fowl that you don’t reduce Jesus Christ to one of many lords and saviors in the multi-cultural arena of Marcus Aralias’s Pantheon of gods. Therefore remember that in the gospel according to Satan, the audience is always sovereign. Appeal to people's sense of belonging and becoming. Don't bore them with theology or confuse them doctrine—for doctrine only divides, but a compassionate faith unites. It calls Islam a peaceful religion, abortion alternative family planning, gay marriage the new family, and planetary environmental concerns the new redemption. This compassionate faith empathizes with felt needs and never calls anything sin—but unhealthy choices. His gospel demands no cross, requires no faith, affirms no absolutes, believes in no judgment or wrath, and carries no sword. His god has only one attribute—love, is watching us from a distance, and promises inner peace, self-fulfillment, and planetary oneness.
He reassures us we're all human; we all make mistakes. God simply tolerates and understands all our unhealthy choices. Holiness is too offensive; but happiness is satisfying. Commitment, vows, covenants are so pedestrian; live for what completes you and makes you happy. And that is why sin is called sickness, disobedience is called disease, and adultery is nothing more than addiction. If you trapped by sensuality, you don’t need repentance but sexaholic therapy to understand your inner child longing for appreciation and intimacy.
Deception... His Main Tactic
This Satanic gospel focuses not on the depravity of man, but on the pain of my adult-child within; my woundedness; my hurts; my longings; my dreams. He convinces us we're promise keepers, when in reality; we're nothing but promise breakers. My good works can win me enough brownie points with the Almighty to earn me eternal life, and worship is simply a state of mind. The measure of your character is not Christ-likeness, but the depth of your wallet.
Can you see that deception is among the chief characteristics of Satan and his followers? Paul warns that in the end times the antichrist will come "in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved" (2 Thess. 2:9-10).
Even when confronting the false teachers of his time, Paul does not invite them to a seminar, a retreat, or an afterglow meeting to pamper their bogus presumptions. "But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze upon him, and said, 'You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?'" (Acts 13:7-10). As John MacArthur so poignantly says, "…Paul unmasks four characteristics of false teachers: they are deceitful, children of the devil, enemies of righteousness, and perverters of the gospel." Nothing was more of a great concern for Paul than churches being plagued with error. (Acts 20:28-30.)
How do we recognize this gospel according to Satan and the emissaries that promote its message? There are always three marks of the false teacher in the Word of God and though they may not always manifest the triumvirate of evil in each teacher, at least one of these. (Tragically, these things are tolerated and condoned in much of evangelicalism today--especially of those on TBN and in the Word/Faith movements.)
The first one is greed. They propagate a gospel only for what financial rewards they can bleed from the unsuspecting masses. "We are not like many who peddle the Word of God for profit" Paul says. (2 Cor. 2:17, emphasis added). Peddle, GK kapaleuo, means to make retail of something, to sell as inexpensive merchandise, to pawn. In Isaiah 1:22 in the LXX it is used for those who mix water with wine in order to cheat the buyer. Those who peddle the Word of God for profit are selling a cheap substitute gospel in order to huckster an inferior product while claiming it is the genuine article for financial gain. Seeking profit at the expense of people's souls is true spiritual treason.
The second is immorality. In addition to being motivated by bulging pockets the false prophet is marked by a life of sexual gratification. Their desire was to make converts for fornication. This is what marked the lifestyle of those at Philippi and Corinth. Temple prostitution, religious belief speckled with adulterous behavior. This is what Jeremiah Burroughs calls, "the sinfulness of sin." This is the seared conscience given over to the full extent of one's depravity. Peter describes these teachers as "following their sensuality"; "and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority." (2 Peter 2:2,10)
The third is heresy. Corrupting messengers propagating false doctrine which does not agree with the sound doctrine of Scripture, yet is represented as truth. It is truth mixed with error—a different gospel—which is no gospel at all.
William Hendrickson in his excellent commentary on Galatians poignantly says, "Even if we or a holy angel must be the object of God's righteous curse, were any of us to preach a gospel contrary to the one we humans previously preached to you, then all the more divine wrath must be poured out on those self-appointed nobodies who are now making themselves guilty of this crime."
When Jesus Christ redeemed us from our sins and the wrath to come (Titus 3:1-8, Colossians 1:12-14) here is how thoroughly He has made us new creations in Him.
He has brought us from:
Error to truth
Darkness to light
Death to life
Sin to righteousness
Wrath to peace
Alienation to reconciliation
Enemies to brethren
Judgment to mercy
Disobedience to discipleship
Uncleanness to repentance
Lust of the flesh to walking in the Spirit
Futility of the mind to the mind of Christ
The old man to the new man
From fools to wise
From works to grace
Soli Deo Gloria,
Campi
...the urgent need for discernment in the body of Christ
Satan doesn't want to fight the church; he wants to join it!
He will always scheme in the amphitheater of the crucial, never in the arena of the trivial. His number one priority is to attack truth, promote error, subterfuge the gospel, and try to discredit the divine work of God among His creatures. His first deception in the garden was not only to add to God's word, but also to wrest God's word through subtle and clever trickery. "Hath not God said…" was his ploy with our first parents—Eve was deceived and Adam sinned (Gen. 3:1-16; Roms. 5:12-18). He first plants doubt, then deceives, he distorts truth, advances disobedience and fosters distrust against the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. He loiters as the "accuser of the brethren" night and day before the throne of God (Rev. 12:1-12) and revels in the disobedience of God’s people.
His strategery is simple: to find his way into the church through error masquerading as truth and then to subtlety and seductively corrupt the gospel of Jesus Christ and His followers with the leaven of "the doctrine of demons" (1 Tim. 4:1-4). All the while blinding the unregenerate to their lost condition through the goodness and moral rightness of philanthropic giving, humanitarian selflessness, political efficacy, family values, ascetic religious flagellation, personal self-worth and altruistic acts of kindness to ones fellowman. He’ll even use biblical language or quote Scritpure (cp, Luke 4:1-12) if it furthers his sardonic deception. He does not come with the horror of his hellish nature; but approaches with the greatest of alacrity and in the most "undevilish" ways. Because he is the father of lies from the beginning and there is no truth in him, all that he represents is a perverted imitation—a counterfeit of the genuine. After all… he is an "angel of light" (2 Cor. 12:1-5). He will gradually replace the call for true repentance (to turn from sin and turn to God, forsaking all our idols for His glory) with self-love; his addition to the canon of the Word with a “third great commandment.” He will not demand a cross, but will only speak of a better way to successful living. His “gospel” focuses on man and his needs; not with God and His glory. Obey your thirst; satisfy your lust; drink the cup of unbridled passion to the dregs; greed is good; do what you want as long as it doesn't hurt someone else; surrender to unguarded pleasure and strengthen unbroken pride.
The Pope of Reilgious Postmodernism
He is the Pope of Romanism the postmodern church. He is the author of the Pomo-Study Bible. He’ll convince you there is no truth—for truth is whatever I want it to be. Every man today can write his own bible, create his own creed, and determine his own orthodoxy. If you dare challenge him, his unwitting followers will cry fowl that you don’t reduce Jesus Christ to one of many lords and saviors in the multi-cultural arena of Marcus Aralias’s Pantheon of gods. Therefore remember that in the gospel according to Satan, the audience is always sovereign. Appeal to people's sense of belonging and becoming. Don't bore them with theology or confuse them doctrine—for doctrine only divides, but a compassionate faith unites. It calls Islam a peaceful religion, abortion alternative family planning, gay marriage the new family, and planetary environmental concerns the new redemption. This compassionate faith empathizes with felt needs and never calls anything sin—but unhealthy choices. His gospel demands no cross, requires no faith, affirms no absolutes, believes in no judgment or wrath, and carries no sword. His god has only one attribute—love, is watching us from a distance, and promises inner peace, self-fulfillment, and planetary oneness.
He reassures us we're all human; we all make mistakes. God simply tolerates and understands all our unhealthy choices. Holiness is too offensive; but happiness is satisfying. Commitment, vows, covenants are so pedestrian; live for what completes you and makes you happy. And that is why sin is called sickness, disobedience is called disease, and adultery is nothing more than addiction. If you trapped by sensuality, you don’t need repentance but sexaholic therapy to understand your inner child longing for appreciation and intimacy.
Deception... His Main Tactic
This Satanic gospel focuses not on the depravity of man, but on the pain of my adult-child within; my woundedness; my hurts; my longings; my dreams. He convinces us we're promise keepers, when in reality; we're nothing but promise breakers. My good works can win me enough brownie points with the Almighty to earn me eternal life, and worship is simply a state of mind. The measure of your character is not Christ-likeness, but the depth of your wallet.
Can you see that deception is among the chief characteristics of Satan and his followers? Paul warns that in the end times the antichrist will come "in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved" (2 Thess. 2:9-10).
Even when confronting the false teachers of his time, Paul does not invite them to a seminar, a retreat, or an afterglow meeting to pamper their bogus presumptions. "But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze upon him, and said, 'You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?'" (Acts 13:7-10). As John MacArthur so poignantly says, "…Paul unmasks four characteristics of false teachers: they are deceitful, children of the devil, enemies of righteousness, and perverters of the gospel." Nothing was more of a great concern for Paul than churches being plagued with error. (Acts 20:28-30.)
How do we recognize this gospel according to Satan and the emissaries that promote its message? There are always three marks of the false teacher in the Word of God and though they may not always manifest the triumvirate of evil in each teacher, at least one of these. (Tragically, these things are tolerated and condoned in much of evangelicalism today--especially of those on TBN and in the Word/Faith movements.)
The first one is greed. They propagate a gospel only for what financial rewards they can bleed from the unsuspecting masses. "We are not like many who peddle the Word of God for profit" Paul says. (2 Cor. 2:17, emphasis added). Peddle, GK kapaleuo, means to make retail of something, to sell as inexpensive merchandise, to pawn. In Isaiah 1:22 in the LXX it is used for those who mix water with wine in order to cheat the buyer. Those who peddle the Word of God for profit are selling a cheap substitute gospel in order to huckster an inferior product while claiming it is the genuine article for financial gain. Seeking profit at the expense of people's souls is true spiritual treason.
The second is immorality. In addition to being motivated by bulging pockets the false prophet is marked by a life of sexual gratification. Their desire was to make converts for fornication. This is what marked the lifestyle of those at Philippi and Corinth. Temple prostitution, religious belief speckled with adulterous behavior. This is what Jeremiah Burroughs calls, "the sinfulness of sin." This is the seared conscience given over to the full extent of one's depravity. Peter describes these teachers as "following their sensuality"; "and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority." (2 Peter 2:2,10)
The third is heresy. Corrupting messengers propagating false doctrine which does not agree with the sound doctrine of Scripture, yet is represented as truth. It is truth mixed with error—a different gospel—which is no gospel at all.
William Hendrickson in his excellent commentary on Galatians poignantly says, "Even if we or a holy angel must be the object of God's righteous curse, were any of us to preach a gospel contrary to the one we humans previously preached to you, then all the more divine wrath must be poured out on those self-appointed nobodies who are now making themselves guilty of this crime."
When Jesus Christ redeemed us from our sins and the wrath to come (Titus 3:1-8, Colossians 1:12-14) here is how thoroughly He has made us new creations in Him.
He has brought us from:
Error to truth
Darkness to light
Death to life
Sin to righteousness
Wrath to peace
Alienation to reconciliation
Enemies to brethren
Judgment to mercy
Disobedience to discipleship
Uncleanness to repentance
Lust of the flesh to walking in the Spirit
Futility of the mind to the mind of Christ
The old man to the new man
From fools to wise
From works to grace
Soli Deo Gloria,
Campi
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