Fighting the Four Evils

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,   speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,  forbidding to marry,  and commanding  to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.  For every creature of God  is  good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;   for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 1 Timothy 4:1-5 People often look at cults and heretical sects and regard them as laughable fanatics and lunatics who they could not possibly end up following. They look at them pitifully and condescendingly at the same time, thinking they are so wise. Yet, most people are themselves under their own heresies, be it oneness pentacostalism, atheism, Islam or Judaism. Most, if not all her...

Heresy is often defined as simply 'error' and classified more or less as 'theological heresy' and 'moral heresy'. However, heresy is more than that. It is rebellion. That is the heart of all heresy. All rebellion leads to illegitimate authority and a lust for power. For heretics not only seek to justify themselves, but also want to have the power to do so. They seek to use the Law of God which has a spiritual power, and manipulate and twist it, to justify their evil. Show me a heresiarch, and I will show you a person full of rebellion, and all kinds of lust, not least, the lust of power.   Rebellion is not simply about going against God, though that is certainly what it is. It is driven by lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, combined together with the desire to justify one's theology.  This attempt to justify one's own theology is precisely the problem - one seeks to define the truth, and not only that, manipulate God when o...

Many Christians think that degeneracy is simply about sexual immorality. They love to target the unsaved who practise sexual sins such as fornication, adultery and homosexuality as the degenerates, all while having fornicated before marriage themselves and excusing their own sin on the basis of 'grace'.  However, such gross sins are only the symptoms of degeneracy, rather than constituting its essence. Romans 1:26-32 lists these sins as only a few sins among many others that are symptoms of degeneracy. Many professing Christians, many of whom are false converts, are themselves filled with all manner of unrighteousness (Romans 1:29) in being full of maliciousness, double-mindedness, gossiping, backbiters, unloving, unforgiving and unmerciful. Such are those who curse and threaten the true converts, the true prophets of God who speak truth and rebuke these false converts!  The essence of degeneracy is the deliberate rejection of God and His ways, in pursuit of pleasure and t...

The "protest"-ant reformation not only bought about many heresies, but legitimised heresy, because of the idea that every person has authority to interpret the Scripture as he sees fit, and not as inspired by the Holy Spirit. For anyone can say that his interpretation is inspired by the Spirit. Even cults say that they are inspired by the Spirit!  While some heresies are more obvious, such as the doctrines that God is not Triune, that Jesus did not become man, Jesus is not God, or that the God of the Old and New Testament are two different Gods, other heresies are far more subtle. Some of these far more subtle heresies are so generally accepted and have infiltrated into much of the Church that hardly anyone thinks of them as heresy.  One such heresy is that false doctrine that faith by which Salvation comes mean that one only needs to "just believe". All one needs to do is to believe in and affirm the doctrines of Salvation to be saved. A person need not take an...