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(This page is still under minor contruction.) Page Updated 4/5/98.
Jesus said: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." -Jn. 8:31-32
"Let God be true, but every man a liar." -Rom. 3:4 "Nevertheless what saith the scripture?" -Gal. 4:30
"For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.:" -Psalm 119:89
Zephaniah 3:17 says "The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he WILL REJOICE OVER THEE WITH JOY; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing" (Emp. added). So, it's God that rejoices over us.
In Luke 15, the parable of the prodical son points out that it's the father that calls for a feast, a celebration for the return of his son. In the same way, Father God holds a celebration in heaven when someone turns to Him.
See, it had to be God rejoicing in heaven, not the angels, because the Bible tells us the angels can't comprehend the gift of salvation.
THE DECEPTION: "All Things Work Together For Good For Those Who Love God." -Rom 8:28
Christians have commonly quoted this verse of scripture out of context to justify bad circumstances happening. They suggest that God allows good and bad circumstances to happen and when bad things happen, God made it happen to bring good out of it.
THE TRUTH:
Paul wasn't talking about circumstances in this verse. The verse starts with "And we know all things work...". The word "And" means the verse is the conclusion of the previous verses. Let's read the previous verses, starting with verse 26:
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmites: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." -Rom. 8:26-28
So what things work together for our good? The things that we pray in the Spirit, in tongues about. When we pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit helps in our weakness (that is when we don't know how to pray for a situation) to pray out the perfect will of God. When we pray in the Spirit, it is not our mind, but our spirit (with the help of the Holy Spirit) that prays (1 Cor. 14:14). When the Holy Spirit leads us in prayer, He guides us into praying the truth, the will of God. So, when we pray the perfect will of God, then we can know that all things will work for good.
DECEPTION: "God Can Do Anything"
TRUTH:
He can't do anything that violates his Word. His Word is forever settled in heaven (Ps. 119:89) and He doesn't change (Heb. 13:8; Malachi 3:10, James 1:17). Once He says something, that's the way He operates. He can't violate His Word because He honors His Word, even above His name. He is an individual of His Word.
DECEPTION: "God Works In Mysterious Ways..."
When people say this, usually they quote 1 Cor. 2:9: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." When quoting this scripture, people imply that God's will is a mystery and that we can't know His will and what He's doing in our lives.
TRUTH:
Verse 9 starts out with "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen...". This is a quote from the Old Testament (Isaiah 64:4)
The next verse, verse 10, reads: "BUT God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."
What Paul was saying here was there was some things that people didn't see in the Old Testament that we believers now have revelation of by the Holy Spirit. Also, God is telling us there are many more things He has for us out there in the natural that we haven't seen the manifestation of yet, but it's revealed to us by the Spirit before we see it come to pass.
DECEPTION: "Thank God for Everything"
TRUTH:
It's IN everything that we are to give thanks, NOT FOR everything. 1 Thessalonians 1:18 reads: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
DECEPTION: "God Is In Control" People that say this assume that everything that happens, God is in control of the circumstances and everything will work out according to the will of God.
TRUTH:
According to Genesis 1:26, God gave man dominion (authority) in the earth. This a fallen world because of the fall of Adam. Because God gave man dominion in the earth, mankind is truly in control on the earth. If God was truly "in control" everything would go according to His will; the fall of Adam would've never happened and even if God was truly in control today, everyone would come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved because it is not His will for anyone to perish.
Because man has the God given authority in the earth, God can't do anything unless a man gives Him legal entrance, an invitation to come and do something. For example "you have not because you ask not" and "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:2,8).
I do not have the time and space here to go into an in-depth study on authority, because one can spend hours just studying this topic. I hope to someday have a teaching on this website on authority. In the meantime, to understand this subject futher, please do a Bible study on the Authority of The Believer. Two items I recommend are the 6 tape series The Authority of the Believer by Kenneth Copeland and the book, The Believer's Authority by Kenneth Hagin.
DECEPTION: "Bombarding the Gates of Heaven In Prayer"
When people say this, they are implying that we need to spiritually stand outside of the gates of heaven and beg and plead constantly in prayer until we get the answer to our petition.
TRUTH: We don't need to stand outside of the gates, we can "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb 4:16). God wants you to come to the throne. As a child, you don't have to stand outside the "Father's house" and beg and plead to come inside, as a child, you have a legal right to come in. Also, we don't need to constantly come and beg God over and over to bring the answer in a situation like the widow woman did with the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8). Jesus told us that Father God is not like the unjust judge. He said that those that cry out to God day and night, the Father will "avenge them speedily", or in other words, He will give them justice quickly (verses 7-8). God isn't like the unjust judge. The Bible tells us God is faithful and just.
TRUTH:
You are worth more than many sparrows You are worth the Blood of Jesus You are now worthy because Jesus made you the righteousness of God in Him
DECEPTION: "I'm an old sinner saved by grace"
TRUTH: You were an old sinner, but now that you are born again, you are saved by grace and now you are made a "new creature in Christ", "the righteousness of God in Christ" (Eph. 2:8; 2 Cor. 5:17,21)
DECEPTION: "God Said It. I Believe It. That Settles It!"
TRUTH: It's not settled because you believe it, but because God said it. Whether you believe it or not it's settled because God said it. Psalms 119:89 says "Forever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven."
I've heard it said that should be "God Said It. That Settles It. I Believe It." I like to say it this way: "God Said It. That Settles It. I Believe It and I Receive It." It's not enough just for us to believe the promises of God, we have to receive them in order to have them. For example, salvation is already for everyone but the problem is people need to receive it (Rom. 6:23).
DECEPTION: "God Save That Person"
TRUTH: God already saved that person, the person just needs to receive the gift of salvation (Rom. 6:23). Praying "God save that person" is trying to put Jesus back on the cross for salvation. This is contrary to the way the righteousness of God, which is of faith would speak (Rom. 10:6-10). Jesus didn't teach us to pray for God to save people, that is what He came to do. He taught us to pray for laborers to go out and bring the people to the knowlege of the truth so they can receive salvation.
DECEPTION: "God Come Down and Heal Me."
TRUTH: This is the same principle as above, "God Save That Person". God already healed you 2,000 years ago with the stripes of Jesus (Is. 53:5; Mat. 8:1617; 1 Pet. 2:24). All you need to do is receive Jesus' gift of healing through faith. Praying "God come down and heal me" is like putting Jesus back on the cross to pay for your healing when it is already paid for (Rom. 10:5-10).
DECEPTION: "God Has Dealt To Every Man A Measure of Faith"
TRUTH: Romans 12:3 reads: "...God hath dealt to every man THE measure of faith". It's NOT A MEASURE, BUT THE MEASURE of faith. What is THE measure of faith? THE measure of faith is the Word of God, the Bible. Romans 10:17 says "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God". The way we measure our faith is by how much of the Word we are putting into our lives. The Bible says the Word is like a mirror and it is sharper than any two-edged sword. How much Word we measure (we put into our lives) is how much is measured back to us (Luke 6:38, Mark 4:14; Gal. 6:6)
DECEPTION: "Ministers Are Out To Get Your Money" and "Big Ministries Are A Rip Off."
TRUTH: It's true that some have fallen in the past, but because there's one "Judas" in a crowd doesn't make all ministers theifs. Jesus had twelve disciples and only one turned out to be a thief (Judas).
A lot of the big, prosperous ministries I know are not in it for the money, but to minister to people, to fulfill the Great Commission to "go into all the world and preach the gospel" (Mark 16:15). They want you to give, not to get, but that you be blessed through the priciple of sowing and reaping, so that you can be a blessing (Gal. 6:6-10, Luke 6:38, Mal. 3:10-12; Gen. 12:2). When you give into ministries, you are not giving to the minister, but to God, to the work of the kingdom of God.
DECEPTION: "Man Was Made Lower Than The Angels" (Psalm 8:5 KJV)
TRUTH:
The Hebrew word for "angels" in this verse is "Elohim". The word "Elohim" is a Hebrew word for God and it should've been translated "God" in Psalm 8.
The Amplified translation of the Bible backs this up: "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for Him? Yet You have made him but a little lower than God [or heavenly beings], and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet." (Psalm 8:4-6)
Think about it. If angels were made higher, then man wouldn't have the legel right to cast out demons (fallen angels) and we would have no right to judge angels (Mark 16:17; 1 Cor. 6:3). If man was made lower than angels, then man or the Son of Man (Jesus) couldn't legally put the devil, who is a fallen angel, under our feet. If we were made lower than the angels, then Jesus had no right to give us power and authority over the enemy and all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19).
The Bible tells us that angels are ministering spirits that serve the heirs of salvation (Heb 1:14). It they are servants, then they must be below us. Jesus said that "The servant is not greater than his lord" (Jn. 13:16).
So, one can see that Psalm 8:5 should've been translated: "Thou [God] hast made him [man] a little lower than God".
DECEPTION: "Money Is The Root of All Evil"
TRUTH: Money is not the root of all evil. It's the LOVE OF money that is the root of all evil.
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