Beware of "doctrines of demons"

Believer, believe right. Romans 5:9 says of our heavenly Father in Christ: "And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

God's word says we who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ "are now righteous in My sight" and will never experience God's wrath, not because we obeyed the law, paid tithe religiously or did any good thing but because:

"26...for He Himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law." Romans 3.

But in many places of worship, believers in Christ are being told: "now that you are born-again, you have to obey the law and do "good things" like pay tithes religiously and give to the poor so that you will be godly,  remain in right-standing with God and escape His wrath;" everything THAT CHRIST DIED THAT WE MIGHT FREELY HAVE!

Churchgoers are being taught to depend on their  ability to obey the Ten Commandments and doing works of the law like paying tithe and sowing seed to be godly/righteous in God's sight and earn eternal life. Notice Christ and His finished work of our salvation is absent from this equation? Paul calls such doctrines "doctrines of demons" in 1 Timothy 4:

4 "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."

Notice that the "doctrines of demons" preachers have their "conscience seared with a hot iron?" Satan is deceiving many into thinking that a "conscience seared with a hot iron" is one that can viciously murder innocent infants without batting an eyelid. Not so. "Conscience seared with a hot iron" is from one Greek word: "kausteriazo" and it means "whose souls are branded with the marks of sin" or "who carry about with them a perpetual consciousness of sin." Hebrews 9:14 says of Christ: 

"Yet how much more will the sacred blood of the Messiah thoroughly cleanse our consciences!"

Christ bore the punishment for all of our sins- past, present and future- in His own body and it was a one time payment, good for all time- 

"But our High Priest offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then He sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand." Hebrews 10:12.

Jesus is not going to come and die again for our future sins. His single sacrifice sacrifice for sins is effective forever; good for all time. Verse of the same Hebrews 10 tells us the result of His sacrifice for all who believe:

19 Therefore, believers, since we have confidence and full freedom to enter the Holy Place [the place where God dwells] by [means of] the blood of Jesus, 20 by this new and living way which He initiated and opened for us through the veil [as in the Holy of Holies], that is, through His flesh, 21 and since we have a great and wonderful Priest [Who rules] over the house of God, 22 let us approach [God] with a true and sincere heart in unqualified assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."

But the one with with a "conscience seared with hot iron" or "evil conscience" toils under the burden of guilt of sins that Christ has taken away from all who believe in Him; this one has been led by false preachers to believe that he cannot draw near to God unless he first "qualifies" or "purifies" himself with fasts/seasonal law-keeping/seeds. His qualification is not Jesus. He is always anticipating some kind of punishment for his sins. He does not believe what Romans 5:9 says of all believers:

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

 A "conscience seared with a hot iron" is an accusing conscience, one whose owner is constantly toiling under the guilt of sins that Christ has taken away for all who believe and feels the need to do things to “get right with God” again. This one believes that sinning is what causes a believer to fall from grace so he is constantly trying his best to not "fall from grace" by obeying the law. But Galatians 5:4 tells us:

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace."

Due to the teaching of "doctrines of demons" in many places of worship today, this is what many believers are doing- trying to obey the law in a bid to get right with God - after Christ sacrificed Himself to thoroughly cleanse our conscience. Hebrews 9:14 says of Christ: 

"Yet how much more will the sacred blood of the Messiah thoroughly cleanse our consciences!"

Believer, beware of preachers of "doctrines of demons" who keep you focused on trying to be godly/attain perfection before God by human effort at obeying the law. This is an effort in futility that brings the curse: 

"But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under His curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” Galatians 3:10.

In Christ, we cannot sin our salvation away. He came to save us from our sins- "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21.

Let's take our blessed brains to church. How can a Saviour who came to save us from our sins use those very sins that He came to save us from as an excuse for not saving us and even punish us for the sins that He came to save us from? This is akin to an oncologist dad refusing to treat his own beloved child who has cancer and even punishing his child...because because his child has cancer.

Christ came to save us from the cancer of sin, not condemn us for our sins. John 3: 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

In Christ, our salvation from sins, earthly ills, physical death and the second death-  our perfection before God- is FREE and EVERLASTING, and not because we did anything to deserve it. God Himself made us godly/righteous (like God) through Christ. This is Grace- underserved, unearned, unmerited favour. The letter (law) kills, but many religious leaders are actively preaching "doctrines of demons" that say it is when you obey the law and do good things that you can be godly and get into God's good books. 

These preachers of "doctrines of demons" follow after the example of Satan who lied to Eve that she could be godly (be like God) by human effort at doing something. But this is the result of trying:

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace." Galatians 5:4.

Trying to be godly (be like God) by human effort is how to get cut off from Jesus Christ who is the Tree of Life. Adam and Eve tried to be godly (be like God) by human effort because they believed and acted on a doctrine of the chief demon: Satan. The result: Sin had dominion and their lot (and that of their descendants) became death. See the forbidden fruit as a picture of the law that many are trying to obey in order to be godly today in Romans 7 (MSG)-

8-12 "Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me..."

Satan is still seducing people through his ministers behind church pulpits with the same kind of demonic doctrine- deceiving many into thinking that they can be godly by human effort at keeping the law which is a picture of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seemed good to Eve to do something to make herself godly, as it seems good to many in the church today to obey the law in a bid to be godly. But the end is death. Proverbs 14:12 counsels us:

"There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death."

Yet many argue: "a person should at least not sin." Such think that they can overcome temptation by their own human effort. Such do not understand that the reason why we are not committing particular sins is because we have not been tempted beyond what we can bear in those areas. No sin is beneath anybody but like Peter who ended up denying Christ three times, favourable circumstances can make some people think that some sins are beneath them or that they can obey the law. 

We can do nothing without Christ, least of all be godly by obeying the law or overcome trials and temptations by human effort; No matter how hard a weightlifter trains or the level of his experience, he cannot carry a weight that is designed to crush him 10 times over. And life does not consider weight, circumstances or level of preparedness before throwing weights at anybody. But many are deceived into thinking they are strong because circumstances are favourable. Believer, no sin is beneath anybody. This is why we who believe overcome trials, tests and temptations: 1 Corinthians 10:13-

"We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."

But many false doctrine teachers deny God's power in making the sinner who believes righteous through Christ and tell you to rely on the arm of flesh that will fail to overcome sin and attain right-standing with God. Philippians 3:2 counsels us concerning such preachers: “Beware of dogs...”

This is the fate of all who profess Christ (who say they are born-again) but depend on their ability to obey the law to get right with God:

"But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under His curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” Galatians 3:10.

No one can do all. One is either righteous by faith (through the blood of Jesus) or not righteous at all, "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." Romans 3:20.  Law and Grace cannot mix. Galatians 5:4 says:

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace." 

This was not written to unbelievers. It was written to  Christians in Galatia who were deceived into believing that they had to obey the law in order to remain godly and perfected before God. Paul called them "foolish" and "bewitched":

"Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of His death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?"

Believer, this is the crux of the gospel of Christ: Righteousness by faith. In Christ, we are righteous in the sight of God not because we obeyed the law but by Christ's obedience: "By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous." Romans 5:19. 

God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ is freely given to all who believe, no matter who we are and no matter how vile our sins. Our sins or lack of it cannot undo or do it. We remain righteous in God's sight, EVEN WHEN WE SIN; Romans 5:16 tells us: 

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins."

Many church goers find the Good News about Christ hard to believe and see God's grace as a license to sin. Such try to obey the law and do good things to get right with God AFTER Christ died to make us godly/righteous in His sight and so are cut off from Christ (Gal. 5:4.) 

Sin has dominion over those who are trying to obey the law in order to be godly (be like God,) "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." Romans 6:14. This is smack where Satan wants everyone to be: trying to get right with God by keeping the law strengthens the grip of sin over the one who is trying. 

Believer, only when we receive God's abundance of Grace and His gift  of righteousness to us in Christ do we get to live in triumph over sin and death- Romans 5:19-

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

This "death" that Adam caused and Christ saves from is not just physical death. Sickness, lack, stress, poverty, depression and all earthly ills are "death begun." Remember Adam did not drop dead physically on the day his death sentence came into effect. Death is a process that is as a result of Adam's sin. We get to have life and have it more abundantly when we receive God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ.

Believer, beware of "doctrines of demons." This doctrine is being taught widely in many places of worship today. Its preachers preach that human effort at obeying the law, doing good things, paying tithes, etc is what makes you godly (be like God) and makes God have a good opinion of you. Wonderful as these "human effort- arm of flesh" accomplished things are, doing them cannot make anybody righteous even the tiniest bit. Isaiah describes them as "a menstrual rag" in God's sight -  "We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."

But Romans 5:16 tells us: "And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins."

And not so that we should go on sinning sprees but that we should "go and sin no more":

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:17.

Believe Right and you will Live Right