Thursday, February 24, 2011

Do Not Be Deceived!

Our dog does not like to go outside when the weather is sketchy. Cold, wind, rain and especially thunder make him cower under a blanket. But because the world is his potty, he has to go out at times no matter what the weather may be doing. Like this morning. It was windy. Leaves were blowing and he did not want to go out the backdoor. So my husband tricked him. "Let's go get the mail, Copper!" Immediately Copper jumped off the couch and ran to the front door. He was excited to go outside now. Yes, we had to deceive our dog to get him outside, but it was for his own good.

Yet deception in real life is never a good thing. Merriam Webster defines 'deceive' as:

Ensnare; to be false to; cheat; to cause to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid

I hate it when someone tells me a lie! I canNOT stand it when I know someone is lying to me or trying to trick me into doing something. It makes me distrustful of them from that point on. And like I tell my kids, once trust is lost it is not easily gained back. But the truth is we get duped all too often in this world. Sometimes by people, businesses and governments. Sometimes, however, we get duped by someone far more sinister.

The very first reference in the Bible to deception comes in Genesis 3:13. God has created everything beautiful and perfect, including mankind. Adam and Eve are living in paradise in the Garden of Eden. They want for nothing. But, like most of us at one time or another, that isn't good enough. God's best was not enough for Adam and Eve. It didn't take long for The Enemy to figure that out. He slithered into the Garden, approached Eve and told her the first of many, many lies he would tell from that point on. And Eve, like most of us at one time or another, bought into his lie. When God confronts her about it, she says,

"The serpent deceived me."

Folks, the serpent is still deceiving people today.

"There is no God."

"The Bible is just an ancient book of fairy tales."

"Cheating isn't wrong as long as no one gets hurt."

"God made me gay."

"I fell in love with someone else so divorce is okay."

On and on. There isn't a human around that hasn't fallen for his lies. Paul knew this was true. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 he writes:

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? DO NOT BE DECEIVED! Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (Emphasis is mine.)

(For those like me who need to know what the original Greek text said, here is a link.)

Do not be deceived! Do not buy into the lies the Enemy is telling. In John 8:44 Jesus himself calls Satan "a liar and the father of lies." That tells me that 1) Satan is real! and 2) we need to beware of his lies. The Enemy tells us what is not true or valid. And when we accept it as truth we jeopardize our place in the Kingdom of God.

How do you know when you've been deceived? How do you know what is truth and what is a lie? Ask youself one simple question: Does what you're doing and/or believing align with the Bible? Are you on the same page as biblical teachings? If not, then you've been deceived, plain and simple. God will never, ever trick you. He is truth. Sometimes we don't want to hear the truth He offers and that's when the Enemy steps in.

DO NOT BE DECEIVED!

Your very life may depend on it!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It doesn't do you any good to link to a Greek text if you don't know anything about Greek grammar, syntax, or vocabulary. The English text you quote (in both your blog entry and the link) cannot possibly be a correct translation because it ignores grammar and vocabulary, and it is anachronistic because it uses a scientific word not coined until the 19th century to translate a word in 1st century common Greek. That sort of thing doesn't work even in Texas.

Michelle Shocklee said...

Dear Anonymous,

We both know you are the scholar. I can only go by what I find on the 'net and read. And we both know it is only that one word that you have real issue with. But we also both know that Paul was a highly educated Jew who followed the Law of Moses, including all of the Levitical laws. You and other contemporary scholars can argue what the Greek word he used here means, but there is no question what Paul would have believed about homosexual acts. For him to mean something here that does not line up with the teachings in Leviticus would be completely inconsistent with everything else he ever wrote.

In the end, only one of us will be right. Do not be deceived, dear brother.

Blessings,
Michelle

Michelle Shocklee said...

Here is a link to an interview with Dr. Maurice Robinson, who is responsible for the Greek translation I included in my post. Me thinks he knows a bit more about Greek than you do since he's been studying it, teaching about it and writing about it since the 1960's.

http://kjvonlydebate.com/2010/08/09/kjvodb-interviews-dr-maurice-robinson-pt-1/

~Michelle

Anonymous said...

(1) Are you not aware that Paul's theology abolishes the Mosaic law? You need to reread Galatians and Romans.

(2) I have no objection to what Paul wrote. I object to the demonstrably false pseudo-translation that replaces what Paul wrote with what fundamentalists want to believe. Your English version is not present in the Greek. Period.

(3) You cannot sensibly argue that you know what Paul believed if you cannot demonstrate that it appears in what Paul wrote (unless you're also claiming to be a medium who communicates with the spirits of the dead--are you?). You are not allowed to assume whatever you want whenever you want for whatever purpose you want.

(4) Instead of surfing the net why don't you go to a library and do some serious research?

Michelle Shocklee said...

1. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." ~Jesus in Matt. 5:17

Neither Jesus nor Paul abolished the Law. What Paul taught was that being religiously legalistic by following the Law would not and could not save you. Only Jesus, the fulfillment of the Law, can do that.

2. Sorry, you're gonna have to take your arguement on Greek to Dr. Robinson.

3. I don't have to assume what Paul believed. He was Jewish. Period.

4. Three points:

A) My blog is on the Internet. I can't link a book title found in some library to it and expect many folks to go track it down.

B) Some of us have jobs and families to take care of and don't have hours upon hours of free time to go to the library. The Internet is the next best thing.

C) Stop being a snob. You are not the only person who does "serious" research.

~Michelle