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By Daniel Botkin Daniel
also publishes Gates of Eden. For a sample, send $3 to: PO
Box 2257, E
Peoria IL 61611 |
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When discussing how to determine the truth and error of spiritual matters, people often make statements like the following: "I just follow my heart; I feel in my heart that this is right; I go with what my heart tells me; I trust my heart." Such statements sound fine to most people, but the Bible plainly states that "he who trusts in his own heart is a fool." [1]
Why is it foolish to trust one's own heart? Won't our heart tell us what is right? On the contrary, Jeremiah (17:9) tells us: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
If the Bible only said that our heart is
deceitful, that would be bad enough. But it says more: the heart is deceitful
"above all things." If "all things" truly includes all
things, then our heart is more deceitful than the devil himself, which is a
frightening thought.
Likewise, if the Bible only said that our
heart is wicked, that would be bad enough. But it says more: the heart is
"desperately wicked." Our wicked heart is so desperate to
continue ruling our thoughts and our life that it will go to any and all
lengths to keep from being exposed for what it is, "full of madness and
folly (Eccl. 9:3)." In its desperation to survive, our heart is willing to
masquerade as anything, even as a blood-washed, born-again Believer, heart in
love with the Savior. Thus Jeremiah ends this verse
with the question, "Who can know it?"
This diagnosis of the heart should also put
the fear of God into anyone who takes the Bible seriously. Another sobering passage
is 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12, where we read about what happens to those who refuse
the truth: "God sends them a powerful delusion so that they
will believe the lie." If we are deluded by the devil, or even by our own
heart, we might hope for pity from God. But if God Himself is the one
who sends the delusion, as a judgment for our refusal to love truth, what hope
is there for deliverance from deception? Who can deliver us from a strong delusion
that God has sent?
The problem with deception is that the
deceived person has absolutely no idea that he is deceived. If he knows
that he is deceived, then he is not deceived! Deception, by its very nature, is
impossible to detect in one's self. Until the deceived person begins to see
that he is deceived, he does not suspect that he is under strong delusion.
In Matthew 7:21-23, Yeshua describes a multitude of people who will not see their deception until it is too late for them:
"Not
everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he
who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that
day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in Your name, and in Your name cast out
demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to
them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice Lawlessness."
Two
things about this passage should motivate Bible-believing Christians to
examine their faith. The first thing is the fact that the people described here
are not atheists or Hindus or Moslems. These are church people, involved in
church activities, doing what appear to be good works in the name of Jesus.
They even call Him "Lord," and fully expect to inherit eternal life
through their relationship with Him. This is why they are stunned to find
themselves excluded from the Kingdom. The second sobering thing in this message
is the word "many." This is not some small group of cult leaders and false prophets; it is a multitude that
the Lord describes as "many."
This should raise some frightening
questions for a Believer: How do I know that I am not among this
multitude of deceived people? Am I truly blood-bought and born from above, or
is it only my own deceitful heart, in an act of desperation, pretending to be
in love with the Lord? How do I know that my salvation experience was not just
an imaginary experience, a strong delusion sent by God as judgment for my
refusal to love the truth?
We know from the Scriptures that our heart cannot be trusted to tell us whether or not we are deceived. If we are deceived, and look to our heart to tell us, our heart will simply continue to lie to us and give us false assurance of our salvation and our doctrines, complete with warm, emotional, religious feelings to soothe any doubts we may have. And the longer we remain rooted in our deception, the stronger these feelings will be.
If we cannot trust our own heart to tell us
whether or not we are deceived, who can we trust? A pastor or a prophet? A
pastor or prophet might give us the words of assurance and comfort, but how do
we know the pastor or prophet is not deceived? The Bible is full of warnings
about false pastors and prophets. God told Ezekiel (14:9) that “if the prophet
be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet.” So even a
prophet may be among those to whom the Lord sends powerful delusion!
Fortunately, we need not despair. The same
Bible that warns us of deception and false teachings also tells us how to
discern the true from the false. In Isaiah's day deception was rampant in
Israel, and the Lord gave a simple formula for discerning truth from error: “To the Law and the testimony: if they speak
not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." [2] All true beliefs
and teachings will be in agreement with Torah
(the Law God gave to Moses); any belief or teaching that opposes or contradicts
these commandments is not of the Light, but of the
darkness.
If we look at the context of the passages
discussed earlier in this paper, we will see that deception is, in these cases
also, related to our attitude to God's Law. When the Messiah tells the
multitude of deceived church people to depart, he addresses them as “you who
practice Lawlessness.” Likewise, Paul's warning of the God-sent delusion
in 2 Thessalonians is also presented in the context of our attitude to God's
Law. The passage speaks of “the secret power of lawlessness ('separating
from Torah,' Jewish New Testament),”
which was "already at work" in Paul's time. Two times in this passage,
Paul mentions "the lawless one ('man who avoids Torah,' Jewish NT)." Even Jeremiah's statements
about the heart are soon followed by a lengthy plea to honor God by keeping
the Sabbath.
Of course most
Christians consider the Sabbath and many other commands to be, for the most
part, irrelevant to those living under the New Covenant. Ironically, the Bible
tells us that one important mark of true New Covenant believers is the
keeping of God's Torah! In Jeremiah's well-known prophecy of the New Covenant
(31:31-34), the Lord describes his intended outcome in the lives of all those
who accept the terms of the New Covenant: "I will put My Law
(Torah) in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts."
This new heart with God's Torah written
upon it was also prophesied in Ezekiel 11:19f. Here the Lord describes the
results of receiving a new heart: “Then they will follow my decrees and
be careful to obey my laws." Ezekiel later writes about the
promise of the Holy Spirit: "I will put My Spirit in you and MOVE YOU to follow
My decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” [3]
Torah observance is not learned and developed overnight, but if a believer is
not being MOVED
in a Torah-obedient direction, he should find out why not. According to
Ezekiel, being moved to obey God's Torah is evidence of having received the
Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues (cited by Pentecostals as the evidence of the
Spirit) is great, but tongues can be counterfeited. Obedience to Torah cannot.
Either a person does it or he doesn't.
There are also many NT verses that point to
Torah observance as a mark of true New Covenant believers:
"We know that we have come to know Him
if we obey his commands. The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what
He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him." [4]
"This is love for God: to obey His commands.” [5]
"Keeping God's commandments is what counts." [6]
In Rev. 12:17, God's faithful remnant is described as those "who obey
God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Yeshua."
In Rev. 14:12, "saints" are defined as "those who obey God's
commandments and remain faithful to Yeshua."
A love for Torah is not proof that a person is not deceived in other areas, of course. But in these passages about deception, it is clear that deception is closely linked to our attitude to the Law. We must not turn a deaf ear to the Torah. Proverbs 28:9 says, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer shall be abomination."
Any believer who
feels any hostility toward God's Law should seriously consider the possibility
that he may be under strong delusion, and ask God to forgive his lack of love
for the truth. He should ask God to release him from the secret power of
lawlessness. If God has sent strong delusion to someone for refusing to love
the truth, God can "undeceive" the repentant heart that agrees to
embrace the Torah that he formerly ignored or despised. "A broken and
contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." [7]