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...

Many think that heresies refers to only those professing Christian groups who call themselves Christians but who deviate from fundamental truths about Jesus, such as, Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons. However, the definition of heresy in the true sense is much broader and all-encompassing than that. It refers to any error whatsoever. The question then is, what is error? Error has tragically and infuriatingly being defined by different people in different ways, its definition complicated by people for their own purposes. But with the Word, Jesus Christ, who is the Truth :    Jesus said to him,  “I am   the way,   the truth, and   the life.   No one comes to the Father   except through Me (John 14:6) . All error is to be measured by whether it deviates from the Word ( logos ) who is Jesus Christ. The Word of God is Jesus Christ, not the Scripture, for as Scriptures testify: In the beginning  was the Word, and the  Word was  wi...

When speaking of dangerous doctrines, the average Christian today will point to the obviously erroneous doctrines of cults, such as that Jesus was a spirit brother of satan, that there are two 'gods' in the Bible, a cruel God in the Old Testament, and a kind God in the New Testament, or that Jesus had only a divine, but no human nature, and therefore did not die for the sins of the world.  However, little do these Christians think about why these heresies are able to arise in the first place. They simply dismiss them as the doctrines of crazy, psycho heretics - all without realising that they themselves are just as susceptible to heresy as those who are blatant heretics. One should never assume that because one attends a 'normal' church that one cannot fall into the trap of heresy. All most Christians to do is target such heretics for criticism, and lift no finger in helping them understanding why it is heresy, and why have they turned to such heresy as Jude 1:22-23 i...