Little Children Let No One Deceive you
At this moment, there could be someone sent by Satan, whispering in your ear, telling you everything you want to hear. They will tell you exactly what the serpent did in the garden: that it’s okay to sin and abuse the precious grace of our God by using it as a license to sin, that you don’t have to repent. Do not be deceived; that person is a deceiver and an antichrist. If you are hearing these things beware, for Satan has come upon you. This person would apostatize his own children, and you are next on their list. Remember that the full doctrine of sola fide ends with “but not by faith that is alone.” Remember that it is God’s work that you are brought to repentance and that you bear fruit. Christ warned that it would be better for a person to not only die but to suffer a dreadful fate if they cause these little children to stumble into sin:
Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea (New Living Translation, 2015, Matt. 18:3-6 NLT).
The deceiver will manipulate you with half-truths about righteousness. He will say to you that no one is righteous, no not one, but will fail to mention that Job was a righteous man even before the cross. He will fail to mention that whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, and whoever does is righteous as Christ is righteous. He will fail to teach you that the verse he quotes is only speaking about earning or meriting salvation and neglects the teachings on regeneration—the Holy Spirit’s work in you—not over time, but at the moment of faith. Remember that everyone has sin, but not everyone pursues lifestyles of indulgent habitual sin:
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of The Devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother (ESV Study Bible, 2008, 1 John 3:4-10 ESV).
The deceiver will teach you that we are no longer under the law, but fail to mention that it is our obligation to uphold the moral law as Christians. It is true that we are no longer under the law as a system of salvation, but it is also true that faith does not make void the law and that we are to uphold it:
Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead we uphold the law (NET Bible, 2019, Rom. 3:31 NET).
The deceiver will tell you repentance is only mental assent or a mind change, but fail to tell you that that definition is never applied in any authoritative Greek lexicon. The true applied meaning of repent (metanoéō) falls under the second meaning of “feel remorse, repent, be converted in a (religio-)ethical sense” and repentance (metánoia) also falls under the second meaning of “repentance, turning about, conversion” as taught by Christ & The Apostles:
When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways (New Living Translation, 2015, Acts 3:26 NLT; cf. Ac 3:19; 26:20; Mt 3:8 NLT; Rev 2:5).
Remember that the Apostle James was against mental assent equating it to the dead and fruitless faith of demons. The kind of belief that says, “I believe in God” is no different from that of the demons. True faith is trust and genuine faith always bears change. There’s a difference between believing that God exists and believing in God:
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror (New Living Translation, 2015, Jas. 2:19 NLT).
And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did (New Living Translation, 2015, 1 John 2:3-6 NLT).
These false teachers promise us freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. So, little children, do not be deceived. The devil will send his servants to stumble you and take you captive, but the truth will set you free. Repent and trust in Christ. Maintain the balance and the full council of God; it is your destiny:
For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths (NET Bible, 2019, 2Tim. 4:3-4 NET).
Although these false teachers promise such people freedom, they themselves are enslaved to immorality. For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved (NET Bible, 2019, 2Pet. 2:19 NET).Second Pet 2:1 describes “false prophets” who “secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Sovereign Lord who bought them.” These persons professed to be Christians and were influential teachers of the church. Peter’s elaboration of them as “brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed” (v. 12), “springs without water and mists driven by a storm” (v. 17), and “slaves of depravity” (v. 19) shows that the subjects were unregenerate professors of the faith. The end of their apostasy is described as “swift destruction” (cf. v. 12b, 17b) (Demarest, 2006, p. 457-8).
- Demarest, B. (2006). The cross and salvation. Crossway Books.
- ESV Study Bible (ESV Text Edition: 2016). (2008). Crossway.
- NET Bible: Full Notes Edition. (2019). Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
- New Living Translation. (2015). Tyndale House Publishers.
Ordo Luminis Fraternitatis Aeternae