Test The Spirits

 Try The Spirits

A Lesson on Detecting the Demonic.

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."---1 John 4:1-3

Gods Word gives us several ways to try the spirits.

But first we must define "spirits."

When I say spirits I'm referring to literal spirits. Either any kind of spirit that is behind a person, speaking into their mind or having twisted them over the years and have influence over them. Or an organization that is controlled by people controlled by these sorts of spirits. Which ultimately are and are controlled by the spirit of anti-christ.

Remember, we do not war against flesh and blood. Our battle is with the spiritual forces that are behind things. What is pushing, motivating, or giving ideas to you, another person or group. (Eph 6:12)

Jesus warned the disciples, "ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of" (Luke 9:54-55)

Be aware that even born again believers can be tempted, harassed, or led into doing things the enemy desires. The worst thing you can do is to think you are immune. The scriptures warn us about our enemy for a reason. Be vigilant, for the devil goes about as a roaring lion.(1 Peter 5:8)

Here's where people will say, "Yeah but whatever happens must go through God's hands."

Have you really read Job?

Gods Word warns us for a reason. Learn from it.

So we are called to test the spirits and there are several tests.

I hate to disappoint the pharisees out there but, committing sin is not one of them. You sin too. James said, that if you try to keep the law and fail on one point, you've broken the whole law.  So, when you commit that little sin you allow yourself. That makes you equal to a murderer and child molester according to the Word. That's why we need Jesus. (James 2:10)

But, lets get to the tests.

1. Confess Him as Lord.

In 1 Corinthians 12:3  Paul says that no one can confess Jesus is the Lord, unless the Holy Spirit guides them.

An unsaved person without the Holy Spirit will not say that Jesus is the Lord. 

The demons believe He is God, but are in rebellion and refuse to submit. So, they will not confess Him as Lord. (James 2:19)

Paul also says that a saved person cannot call Jesus accursed. They won't use His name as a cuss word or say bad things or untrue things about Him.

This is not an act of will. This is Love. If you've ever met Jesus and accepted Him and seen Him working in your life, there is no way you can say anything bad about Him. You know Him. The love is greater than what you have for your own child. If you know, then you know.

2. Confess that He came in the flesh.

In 1 John, the Word says to test the spirits. Then it gives the test. (1 John 4:1-3)

Some pharisees love to quote 'Test the Spirits", then go off falsely accusing people and attacking them over sin.

But, the verse plainly states that the test is whether they will confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh.

This is in the same vein as confess Him as Lord. Because the spirit must confess that Jesus is God, because God is the only One to come from heaven and become real flesh. That means He is Lord, because the Gospel is true.

See?

Demonic spirits, and those under their control, will not confess these things. They believe, but are in rebellion.

Now, comes the "Yeah but..." Yeah but I know a guy..... Who can confess Jesus is Lord...and blah blah blah...

Let me tell you, if a person can confess Jesus is the Lord, or confess that He came in the flesh, then that person at some point in their life got saved and has the Holy Spirit.

I don't care how much they sin or what they do or don't do. At some point they were accepted by God and got saved.

Jesus said "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

These people are affirming that He is God. They are not confessing Him as their Lord. 

They do not do the will of the father in heaven. They rely upon their works of righteousness for salvation.

They never knew Him. 

Jesus said that the works of the father is to "believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6:28-29)

3. By their fruits

Jesus said, "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matt. 7:15-20)

He is referring to the Fruit of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22-23)  

Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance:

Do they express or work in this? These are fruit of the SPIRIT. It's something the Holy Spirit does through us and to change us. It is not by our works. A person can obey rules. But, to express this fruit for real must come from the Holy Spirit.

We will sin. We will say mean things. We will do bad stuff and justify it. We will do things in the flesh and fail. But, It's not our fruit. It's the fruit of the SPIRIT. That's why it's a test. It shows the Spirit working through us and in us. It cannot be faked.

Knowing them by their fruits is not a one time snap judgement. It takes some time to make an honest assessment and righteous judgement.

4. The works of the devil.

I am not talking about normal fleshly sin here. We all sin. We are called to confess it.

I'm referring to the specific works of Satan. He is the father of lies. He has come for nothing but to steal, kill, and destroy. He is the accuser of the brethren. He tempts people. He keeps them in bandage.

These are all sins, but they are specific actions that help Satan's kingdom.

Does the individual or group work in and support the work of Satan's kingdom with total disregard for the work of God's kingdom?

5. The Holy Spirit warns.

Have you ever felt that something isn't right?  

Well, we are not called to lean unto our own understanding. But lean to God and His Word. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Sometimes, that feeling is the Holy Spirit speaking in that still small voice. (1 Kings 19:1-15)

I've heard things or seen things that I felt was wrong, but couldn't place why, at the time.  That was the Spirit. He saw or knew something I didn't.

This testing of spirits can apply to organizations as well as people. Are they operating in Jesus name?

I'm not saying we should only associate with groups that promote Christ. If we did that we couldn't go shopping or buy cars or anything.

 

What I'm saying is that you should be aware that a group is not operating in Jesus name. You will not be deceived when you can see what spirit they are operating in.

No matter how good. No matter what they do. If it's not in Jesus name. Be aware.

Just because your gas station doesn't sell gas in Jesus name doesn't make them bad. They are just focused on gas. They might be owned by Christians or support the Lord's Work.

Remember, even churches can be dead. They can be run by people who do not really know the Lord, or have been led away.

 

Judge rightly.

 

In these last days deception is going to get worse, and false teachers will be every where. 

You see technology growing. We have deep fakes now. They can literally create pictures and videos, that show a person committing the most heinous acts, and it is totally fake.

 Human Teachers who are spreading all kinds of information and it all seems good. But, its propaganda for money. We have corporations who will pay scientists to come up with results from experiments that are slanted or flawed, in order to sell or protect a product.

We have AI who is not even human pretending to be human and sounding very wise. Even using the Bible, to teach things. Remember Satan quoted scripture. 

 

Knowing the Bible is not an indication of truth. You must know the Lord. And these tests show that.

All of this will be and is being used to deceive and draw people away from the truth and into the Anti-Christ Kingdom,

 

But, these tests given in the scriptures can help us determine what spirit is behind the teacher or doctrine.

Learn to discern truth.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photos by the author.

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The Relationship

 The Relationship

A Word on What Matters Most

The scriptures say that on Judgement Day, anyone who does not know Christ will be told,

"Depart from Me. I never knew you." (Matthew 7:23, Mathew 25:41 , Matthew 10:32, Romans 10:9-10, John 5:24)

Now, we know that God is all powerful, and therefore knows everyone. So, what He is saying here is that He never had a relationship with you.

That's the most important thing in life. To have a relationship with The Lord. To know your creator. And to be known by Him. To be friends with God. Like Adam, who walked with God in the Garden .( Romans 4:3, James 2:23)

Am I talking about Salvation?

Yes and no.

I am not talking about saying some magic words. Or even trying to be a better person because God wants you to.

You have to understand the reality of things. 

First, humans are utterly depraved. We have a corrupted nature and commit sins because of our fallen sinful nature.

Humans do not seek God. We do not realize how wicked we are. We do not understand our need for Him. This is why God gave us the law. So we can see we are sinners and need Him.

He calls us and we can choose to turn to Him or reject Him.

If you want to know God, then it's a sure sign that He is calling you.

If you turn to Him (repent) and ask Him to save you and help you, confessing that Jesus is The Lord. 

He saves you. He washes you. His Spirit comes to dwell in you. And He starts to grow you, sanctify you, and work in your life.

He removes sin from our lives. And starts making changes. But, He doesn't remove everything.

This is where the relationship comes into play. As you confess your sins to Him, He works over time to help you overcome and to grow. He does the work. You just move in an occupy what has been accomplished. (1 John 1:5-10)

It is not our work. All our works of righteousness are as filthy rags (Isa 64:6). Remember, we are sinners. We are saved. But. We do not know everything or understand everything. He has to do the work, while we confess, pray, thank him and grow. This is the relationship. We are trusting Him to save us and grow us. We hear His voice and we respond.

The scriptures indicate that there are people who think they are saved but never were. They find out on Judgement Day. (Matthew 25, Matthew 22:12-14, Luke 19:12-27)

How can this happen?

They were called, but instead of responding with faith and relationship. They responded with religion, Self-righteousness and works.  Like the pharisees. They never knew Him and refused to be broken and grown by Him. They preferred rules, and rituals. They prayed like the pharisee, instead of the sinner. (Luke 18:9-14)

There are people who heard the call and believed it. But, never really confessed Him as Lord or turned to Him. Yes, they believe, like the demons of hell believe but they never really knew him. Trouble, Life, Satan and the Love of Money, drew them away before they really accepted Him. (James 2:19, Matthew 13,)

The relationship matters. Some people hear the call and reject immediately. Whether they understand or not. They were called.

Understand that the relationship is simple. It's not a struggle it's about letting Him work.

Think about it. We are totally wicked. How can we know what needs fixed and how to do it?

He gave us His Word so we know what to confess to Him. Not for us to fix. We cannot. Only He can. The law shows us we need a savior. Then after salvation, it shows us what we need to confess and have Him work on so we can grow.

You are a sinner. You cannot fix yourself. Even after being saved. You must let the Spirit work. This is the relationship.

If you do it yourself, then you will never really know Him.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photos by the author.

Global Unity

 Global Unity

A Word on Satan's Global Plan.

Global Unity is a goal of Satan. He needs everyone together so he can rule them, and they will worship him.

He mimics God's plans, because he wants to be as the most high God. (Isa. 14:12-15)

God wants to save people and unite them in Christ. Satan wants to get followers and unite them under his messiah the Anti-Christ.

We see before the Flood, Satan and the Fallen angels corrupted humanity. They twisted the bloodline of Cain. Then deceived the Sethites to fall as well, till only one man was found who followed God and resisted the corruption. (Gen. 6)  This is a picture of our current times. The world is twisted and enslaved by the enemy and even the Church is being pulled in, so the wheat can be revealed. All preparing for the fire to come. But, there are those who have been made righteous.

After The Flood, Satan again brought humans together at the Tower of Babel and God came down to separate the people groups, by language. Then, caused the continents to separate, to divide the people even further. (Gen. 11:1-9, Gen. 10:25)

Why would God divide the nations?

Because a divided people is harder to rule. So, Satan cannot rule a divided world. This division has slowed the efforts of Satan to unite the world, under his messiah. He rules and enslaves humans in the spirit, but not openly in the flesh yet. But, that day is coming. Things start in the spirit, then in the fullness of time come into the world.

Ever since the Tower of Babel, Satan has worked to unite the people of the world under himself, to prepare for his messiah to come. He has led world conquests. We see in Daniel, the image of some of the world conquerors. Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and the empire of these latter days.  Each seem separate. But, they are all one image. Ruled by the wicked one. (Daniel 2: 31-45)

Satan has used the religions, and false religions to conquer the world and unite them under his messiah.

In today's world, he is using democracy. Strong as iron but weak as clay. He twists minds to get them to vote as he wills. He is using technology and the internet, as today's Tower of Babel. Getting the world to believe and say the same things. 

All for his messiah, His Superman, to come and save the world from the destruction he has caused.

Which is the Anti-Christ, or the "instead of" Christ.

So when you see the effort to create unity and destroy divisions, know that the spirit of antichrist is working. Real unity only comes in Christ.

He seeks to destroy divisions in genders, races, countries, cultures, religions, history, heritage, and blood. he seeks to destroy God's creation and His image in everything.

He causes destruction so he can come and be the savior. He causes hatred and wars so he can claim to unite of the people. The Prince of Peace. 

 

God's division is not hatred, it's protection. It's to create more time for more people to come to know Him.

God sets us free and calls us to join Him in Christ. He does not force us. He does not steal, kill, destroy or cancel.

He just asks.

Read more posts on prophecy:

 
The Spirit of Anti-Christ

The New World Order Anti-Christ Kingdom

The Great Falling Away

The Holy Spirit vs. The Anti-Christ Spirit

The Princes of This World

 

False Teachers 

 

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture 

 

The Lord's Delay

 

 

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 Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the author.

I Sin A Little

 I Sin A Little

A Word on not being a Pharisee.

Pharisees are one of the biggest problems in the church.

What is a pharisee? 

Well a pharisee is a person who practices religion and acts just like the pharisees in the Bible.

They think they are saved by Works. Even if they won't admit it. They think they are better than others. They believe they do not sin. And they try to force others to follow the same rules they obey. They usually try to control churches, families and people.

They crucified Jesus, because He didn't obey their rules, and they didn't want to lose control. They were envious of his growing ministry.

These same people would crucify Him again if He came into your church today.

I'm sure someone is coming to your mind as I describe a pharisee.

These people need saved. They are in a tough place. They practice self-righteousness but we are not saved by our own righteousness.

They are the Elder Brother. God wants them saved also. But, Jesus warned us to not be like them. Their works based doctrine will spread throughout, and ruin you. It's like leaven. It only takes a little to puff us up. That's pride. Pride comes because you think you are saving yourself. (Matt 23, Matt. 16:5-12)

So, I ask these people. "Do you sin?"

Which if they know the Bible, they have to admit they do. 1 John 1:8 says, ."If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth (Jesus) is not in us."

So, they say. "Yes, but I try to only sin a little"

To which I say, "James says, that if you try to keep the law and fail on one point you've broken the whole law." ( James 2:10)

Then, they usually try to say, that they love God.

But Jesus said, "If you love me keep my commandments."(John 14:15)

And this leads into a conversation on whether humans can truly love God. 

We can't.  We have a corrupted nature. it's only through the Holy Spirit that we can love God and others to the level God desires.

I don't say these things to be a jerk or make things hard. It's really quite simple. We can't do it, and need Jesus, even after we are saved.

This brings me to the point.

We are saved BY grace THROUGH faith, not by Works, lest any man should boast (pride) Eph. Chapter 2.

The works we do are done by the Holy Spirit, in us and through us. Our own works are as filthy rags.(Isa 64:6)

Understand that we do nothing to save ourselves. Even thinking we do, is a sin. Pride.

The best we can do is turn to God (repent) and fall on our faces praying "have mercy on me a sinner" as Jesus said. (Luke 18:9-14)

We ask Him to save us and we confess Him as Lord, then through faith we trust Him and let Him build our faith, and grow our relationship with Him.

Our "works" change. We no longer worry about sin. Our sin was washed in His blood and cleansed when we confess. We confess our sins to Him and He washes our feet.

Our works become abiding in Him, letting Him grow us, serving and loving Him and others, building the Kingdom and getting people saved.

Again, all of this is done by HIM, through us.

We are vessels.  

Do not be a pharisee. You are no better than the worst sinner. You are just saved. Remember this. 

We are just like the Thief on the Cross. One step above death.

Beware the leaven of the Pharisees. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the author.

Spiritual Warfare

 Spiritual Warfare

A Word on Real Spiritual Warfare.

This is an overview of spiritual warfare. It is not all inclusive. It's just a bit of truth so you can fight the enemy.

Spiritual warfare is what we do as believers. There's no way around it. If you are saved, then the Holy Spirit is leading you to do things that will engage the forces of darkness.

Light drives out darkness. Salt purifies and prevents decay. Love drives out fear. 

If you serve Christ, then you are engaging in spiritual warfare. Satan seeks to kill, steal and destroy. If you feed the poor in Jesus name, you are opposing this, and bringing light.

It starts with prayer. Learn what God's will is, then pray for people according to His will.

God is not willing that any should perish. So, you can confidently pray for people to be saved. (2 Peter 3:9)

The Lord came to set people free, to heal them, to restore them, to reconcile them. This is God's will. (Isa 61:1-3, 2 Cor. 5:18)

We can see in Genesis, that God provided everything we need. That is His will. That we have what we need.

Stand on the Word. 

 

You must know the Word to stand on it. You must be saved and have the Holy Spirit to have authority in Jesus name. Know the promises. Ask God to teach you and help you.

Speak God's promises into the world. Remind yourself, remind the demons, and remind the entire creation of what God has promised. These are facts. They will happen, and are so determined that they actually have already happened. Who can stop it? Who can stop God?

This builds faith, as we see Him working and fulfilling His promises in our lives, the lives of others and the world. This drives out darkness. Trust God.

 

So, when you feel or think that you can't do something you say out loud. "No Satan! Begone in Jesus name. The Word says I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me." or whatever verses come to mind. There are tons of them. "The Word says, Whatsoever you ask in my name I will do. and I trust Him in Jesus name!"  Stand on the Word. Build faith.

Cast out demons.

If you are saved, then you have authority over the enemy. Do not play games with this. Stand on God's promises, and tell the spiritual enemies to be gone in Jesus name. Not by your power, but by His. You are like a police officer. Your power and authority comes from the King.

Learn what you are doing. All humans, are tempted, harassed, and attacked by the enemy in various ways. Even saved humans. (I did not say possessed)

James says, that if we are tempted it's because the enemy is playing on something in our flesh. So, temptation is an attack of the enemy and something we can wage spiritual warfare against. Cast out the demon when temptation comes. 

Listen to what I'm going to say because some preachers will have you spending your life trying to stop sinning. Demons will have you spending your time and mind trying to stop sinning, instead of serving the Lord. 

 

You learn to overcome by serving. The devil loves for Christians to keep struggling with sin. Because it keeps them from waging real war. YOU ARE FORGIVEN AND WASHED. If you are saved. Confess your sins to the Lord, believe he has saved you and get busy doing what He called us to do.

In the world, we wait till we are trained and ready to go out and work. But, in spiritual terms we learn by stepping out. Because it's not us doing it, it;s Him doing it through us. Then we grow and learn and see God working as we step out and serve. When we see God working it grows our faith and our relationship with Him and this helps drive out the flesh. This is the battle between the flesh and spirit. We are over comers through Him. And that happens as we go and serve, in HIS name.

Satan doesn't really care if you sin. He tempts you to sin, in order to keep you from serving God. If he can get you to focus on not sinning, then you are not out there getting people saved. Understand? The battle is to grow in Christ, be in relationship with him, driving back darkness and getting people saved. It's not in quitting sinning. Jesus already overcame sin on the cross. Get it?

 

Take fear as an example. Paul says that God has not given us a spirit of fear.  So, fear is an attack of the enemy. It's a demon. Fear is doubting God's power and love. Anxiety is a spiritual attack. Cast it out. Fear keeps us from doing God's will and serving Him. We overcome fear through spiritual power of prayer and casting out demons, through loving God and others enough to push through and do the work we are called to do, and through our sound mind in what God's Word says, and what is right and good and wise. (2 Tim 1:7)

There are tons of demonic entities who tempt and torment us. When the Holy Spirit reveals it to you, Cast it out in Jesus name.

We don't war against flesh and blood. Our true enemies are spiritual demons who attack us and other humans. They use us to serve their goal of building the Kingdom of the Anti-Christ, and keeping us in bandage. The enemy seeks to hurt God, by hurting the humans God loves, and getting us to reject God.

Overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

We often think that spiritual warfare is all spooky casting out demons, and weird stuff.

But it's not. It's spreading the Gospel. It's using the fruit of the Spirit in the world. love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. The fruit is the Spirit's. not ours. Understand this. He does this through us. Yes, we grow in these things. But, the actual fruit is of the Spirit. Not our works. We develop fruit by serving, and the Spirit grows these things in us and puts them out to the world. We are saved sinners, we cannot develop fruit. The Spirit does it. But, none of it happens if we won't even cross the road to help someone in Jesus name. (Gal 5:22-23, Mark 16:15-20)

It's visiting the sick and imprisoned, it's clothing the naked. It's feeding the hungry and helping the poor, in Jesus name. (Matthew 25:31-46)

It's giving a cool drink of water, it's helping the broken and encouraging the fallen. It's working to change lives and save souls, in Jesus name.

And that's the foundation of spiritual warfare. Building the kingdom in Jesus name. Not our own. Not someone else's. But His. His name. His Kingdom.

Find your gifts, find your ministry, find your place and serve. Do battle, in Jesus name. You do this by going forth and doing. Then, he moves and reveals. Faith grows and more is revealed. Our battle between flesh and spirit, is helped by going forth and serving.

No more games. No more wasting time. The King is coming.

 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the author.

Faith And Works

 Faith And Works

A Word on Real Faith and Real Works.

James 2:14-26

In this passage. The apostle James, speaks of works being an aspect of our faith. It ends with the famous phrase "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

In the verses James shows that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and he went to obey.(James 2:21)

We also see that Abraham was made righteous when he first believed. And in another verse we see that he had faith that God could raise Isaac from the dead.(Rom. 4:3, Gal 3:6, James 2:23, Hebrews 11:17-19)

The point is to show that we are not saved by Works. Our works are a reflection of our faith. That is what James is saying. Faith must come first. That is when we are saved. Works come after, because we cannot do righteous works without the Holy Spirit. We receive the Holy Spirit at salvation.

Understand that lots of preachers will use these verses as a means to create guilt, shame and fear in people's hearts.

But, that is not the real purpose. It's not for me to use it to condemn you. But, for me to use it to look at myself.

Am I saved? Do I have the Holy Spirit? How do I know?

I know because of the things the Spirit leads me to do. I confess that Jesus is the Lord. I confess that He came in the flesh. I let the Fruit of the Spirit flow in me and through me, so I can love God and my neighbor as myself. These are works.

James said, "The demons also believe and tremble" (James 2:19)

This explains it. The Demons will not confess that Jesus is Lord, because they are in rebellion. Paul says no one can confess Jesus is Lord but by the Spirit of God. John says they cannot confess that Jesus came in the Flesh. (1 Cor. 12:3, 1 John 4:1-3)

These are the works, Confessing, Communion, Baptism, Abiding and being Spirit led, letting the Spirit work through us and grow us, Helping and serving others, Building the kingdom, Leading people to Christ. Ok? Satan is not going to preach the Gospel.

Demons can create religions and get humans to avoid sin and do great things to help people and claim to know God. They can lead humans into being a good person, avoiding sin, and being religious. Demons are able to get people to come to church, sitting in pews and singing songs.

But, it's all fake.

So James is not talking about this stuff.

He is talking about turning to God in faith. Confessing Jesus is the Lord, then serving God in love by following the Spirit.

It's simple. James says these things for YOU to look at YOURSELF. Be honest between you and God.

But some preachers want to make it about your sins. They keep people beat down, trying to stop sinning, instead of lifting them up and leading them to know Christ and serve.

James said ,"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.." John said "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (James 2:10, 1 John 1:8-10)

So understand that you sin. Confess it to God and move forward. Love God and others.

We are saved. If you gave yourself to Christ. But, we still have a corrupted nature. The Holy Spirit works on that as long as we are trapped in this body. We will sin. God does not see our sin or hold it against us because we are IN Christ. But, we still commit sins. Its a fact.

Realize that James is not talking about sin when he speaks of works. We are dead to sin. He is talking about love and service. Faith brings love and service.

Notice in Matthew 25, When Jesus returns and separates the sheep and the goats.(Matthew 25:31-46)

He does not mention obeying the law. He speaks of how we treat others.

Jesus in Matthew 25 talks about loving others, even the least of these. Even the poor and lowly. 

That's what James is saying. That's the sort of works James is speaking of.

If you know Jesus. Then you do what Jesus would do.

And if we fail, we confess it. If we fail on one point, we are guilty of all. You do not sin a little. Your sins are equal to murder.

That's why we need Jesus.

 

Understand that we are dead to Sin. If you are saved. You are washed. You are clean. Confess your sins and move on. We are not called by God to focus on our sins and spend our life trying to overcome them.. He already did it. But we were saved and made right, so we can serve without fear.

 

When James says Faith without works is dead, he is saying that when we get saved we listen to the Holy Spirit and follow Him in our works and service to God and others.  He is not beating us down with our sins and fears, like some preachers do.

 

You are saved. Now go help and save others.

 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

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False Teachers

 False Teachers

A Lesson on False Teachers in the Last Days

"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not" ---2 Peter 2

Paul also tells us that there will be false teachers in these last days. (1 Tim. 1: 1-15, 2 Tim 4:2-4, 2 Timothy 3:1-9)

Jesus says the deception will be so bad that even the elect would be deceived if it was possible. (Matt. 24:24)

So, it's important for us to have tools in our pocket to help us.

1. The Holy Spirit will teach us and lead us into all truth. If you are saved and listen to the Holy Spirit. He will impress upon you that something isn't right. (John 16:13)

This doesn't mean the teacher who speaks false things is not saved. A person can be saved and be in error on a subject. Just because we are saved doesn't mean we have it all straight in our minds. 

Pray and ask the Lord to show us what's up. (1 John 2:27, James 1:5) We want to judge rightly and respond rightly. We want to be Spirit led, but we need to learn what that means. It takes time and a relationship with God to hear His voice. "My sheep know my voice" Do you know Him? (John 10:1-19)

2. What does the teacher do with Jesus? We are talking about spiritual teachers here. Not the guy teaching you math.

The scriptures give us an easy way to determine false teachers.

They will not say that Jesus is THE Lord. They might admit he is God, but not confess Him as Lord.

It says that "No one  can say Jesus is the Lord without the Holy Spirit and no believer will say anything bad about Jesus. (1 Cor 12:3)

If they do not have the Holy Spirit, then they are not saved.

It also says to test the spirits to see if they are of God. The test is whether they claim that Jesus came in the flesh. Basically, do they teach that Jesus is God, became human and died to save us rising from the dead.

This is a major clue. If they can't say that Jesus is the Lord, they probably aren't saved. So, you should pray to the Lord to lead you to a teacher He wants you to hear from. (1 John 4:1-6)

Realize that the demons of hell know who Jesus is. But, they will not confess Him as Lord. They are in rebellion.

Realize that there are false teachers who aren't saved, and false teachings or doctrines that can come from saved people.

They might teach 90% truth. But in this one area. They are a little off. Is it a salvation issue?

Rejecting Jesus as Lord is major. Believing in infant baptism, or a pre-trib rapture or some other doctrines is not. Understand the difference between salvation issues, and doctrinal differences. Rejecting Christ, is a salvation issue. Going trick or treating is not.

3. A works based doctrine.

Every religion on earth teaches some kind of works based doctrine. That humans need to do this or that in order to reach God and be saved.

But, in Christianity God Himself came down and did it all for us. It is finished  all we have to do is accept it, then have a relationship with the Lord, which He also does through sanctification and His Spirit.

Paul fought the works based doctrine his whole ministry. People want to add some work to salvation. To either obtain it or maintain it.

The demons of hell will gladly keep us struggling with worrying about our sin. Trying to do better while attacking others who disobey. They love nothing more than a bunch of pharisees who burn people at the stake of judgment.

You are saved by grace through faith. Let the Holy Spirit guide and work on you. Give others love, grace and mercy as well. 

We are not saved by Works. (Eph. 2:8-10)

4.  No tough times.

This one is difficult. Jesus said that in this world we will have tribulation. We will have times of trouble. 

He promises to be with us through it. And there are things we can do to make those times better like prayer, faith, spiritual warfare, praise, thanks, abiding, dying to self, giving and serving.

There are things we can do to make it worse, like running from God, turning to fleshly remedies like booze, drugs and sex, turning to false beliefs, bitterness and anger, among other things.

In Jeremiah, God told Jeremiah that He was going to judge Israel His people.

Now let's not focus on what they did. Let's focus on the fact that God let tribulation fall on His people, and that it worked to cleanse the body and drive out those who did not know God.

Jeremiah taught that God was going to let the King of Babylon take over Israel. And if the people trusted Him, God would be with them.

The false teachers taught that God would not let them suffer tribulation. They taught that they were not going to face wrath. That God would deliver them, OUT OF TROUBLE. They stood in the pulpit and taught that God would deliver them from Great Tribulation.

 

Now, understand that this is a picture of the Last days. The king of Babylon is the Anti-Christ and Satan who will make war with the saints and overcome them. (Rev. 13:7, Daniel 7:25)

This is done to weed out the saved and unsaved. To cleanse the temple or body. He allows tribulation to come on His people. Even if it's great tribulation, to weed out the tares.

Realize, that yes God delivers us from trouble. But, sometimes He allows trouble for a higher purpose.

Our response to both, is the same. Realize He is with us, trust Him, and draw closer to Him.

Realize that Tribulation, even great tribulation is not God's Wrath.  God's wrath is Hell and the Lake of Fire. God's wrath is poured out in one day.

Understand that I am not saying that God kills babies or gives us cancer to teach us a lesson. Those things exist because of death, the fall, a corrupted world, and Satan. The enemy wants us to blame God for these things. That gets us to be angry at God and turn away from Him. It keeps us from praying and drawing close to God if we think he did it to us. That is Satan's plan. To keep us away from God.

The solution is always the same, turn to God and draw closer to Him. We will learn from the trouble, and we can use it to help others.

5. Not building the kingdom.

 

Satan won't build God's Kingdom. A teacher of the Lord, should be teaching, preparing and sending the saints out to preach the Gospel, serve others and God, building the Kingdom. That's our purpose as believers. To build the kingdom.

False teachers, will keep you in your pew singing pretty songs and scratching your itching ears with some new teaching.  For what? 

A true teacher teaches what the Holy Spirit leads them to teach. He readies the saints for the battle and growing the kingdom. We all have our part, in different ways, but we will be led to go and build the kingdom.

A church sitting in pews doing nothing is not a threat to the enemy.

Pray the Lord will help you to escape this deadness. And show you what to do and where to go.

Always, turn to the Lord and He will direct you. When you notice a problem ask Him and be willing to step out in faith, to make changes or do things He calls us to do.

With technology we are surrounded by false teachings and teachers. It can travel the world. Fake pictures and videos edited. Media services telling us propaganda. Governments lying, corporations lying, preachers lying, and its everywhere.

Turn to God, and listen to Him. He is Truth. He is the way.

 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public