The great battle of our time is not between atheism and religion. It’s between false religion and true faith in the God of the Bible. Face it. Demons know that God exists. They just don’t want to be on His team. And neither do their followers.
Scripture warns us, “There will be terrifying times in the last days. People will … make a pretense of religion, but deny its power.” 2 Timothy 3:1ff NABRE. Many Protestant translations render this line “having (or holding to) a form (or appearance) of godliness, but denying its power.”
I get the pretense of religion, but was struggling with what “denying its power” meant until I saw the GOD’S WORD® Translation which says, “They will appear to have a godly life, but they will not let its power change them.”
Truly living for God changes a person for the better. Faking it … not so much. This ties in nicely with what Jesus told us about how to identify false religious leaders.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. So by their fruits you will know them.” Matthew 7:15ff
Looking for the FRUIT in a person’s life is a great way to avoid being caught up in the snare of an attractive, smooth-talking, charismatic leader.
“Even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. So it is not strange that his ministers also masquerade as ministers of righteousness.” 2 Corinthians 11:14-15
In 2008, Obama was hailed as an elevated being, a form of the divine, blahdiblahdiblah. The most nauseating expression was this one:
“Many spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious, mind you, but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker, that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot, but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet, of relating and connecting and engaging with this bizarre earthly experiment. These kinds of people actually help us evolve. They are philosophers and peacemakers of a very high order, and they speak not just to reason or emotion, but to the soul.” From “Is Obama an enlightened being?” @ http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/morford/article/Is-Obama-an-enlightened-being-Spiritual-wise-2544395.php
Did you catch the “coweringly religious” who are not “deeply spiritual”? That’s Satan all over. God demands humility. Satan offers a pretense of self-aggrandizement. It’s “I AM the only God” vs. “You too can achieve divinity.”
Then there are the “We’re Christians! Really!” churches that really aren’t. For example, I read today about a congregation in Charlotte that bears a creepy resemblance to the early Jimmy Jones church. At Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church, the focus is on Furtick, not on Jesus. Adults are taught that Furtick hears from God, then “pours into” his congregation “spiritually and professionally.” Ick.
In Sunday School, the children of Elevation Church were given a page to color with a quotation from Romans 13:1 – “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Underneath was a line drawing of Furtick preaching from the pulpit. Mega ick.
“There is no authority except from God” has often been used and abused to cow believers into submitting to an evil authority via this false syllogism:
- All authority is ordained by God.
- So-and-so has authority.
- So-and-so is ordained by God.
- Therefore, we must submit to him.
But according to the source I googled, the Greek word commonly translated as “from” actually means “under.”
The proper translation – “There is no authority except under God” – means any authority which is not under God is illegitimate. This produces the correct interpretation:
- All legitimate authority is from God.
- So-and-so is hostile to God.
- His authority is illegitimate.
- Therefore, we are not bound to submit to him.
Good to know.
Sources:
polination.blog 