How Can We Avoid Satan’s Deceptions?

2Tim 2:15; Phil 4:8

Christ our Atonement... Cross must be central… 1^st importance. (1Cor 15:3-4)

· The cross must be central, or the church will become deceived. (Lk 9:23-24)

· God desires & He is honored when the church is unified. (Jn 17:21)

· True unity can only be achieved as the church keeps it focus on atonement of Christ.

Paradoxes in Bible can confuse us…

· Three schools of theology in USA: Calvinism (Reformed); Arminianism; & Universalism.

· Bible, God’s Word, is foundational to Christianity… true Christians believe & adhere to it.

· Calvinists & Arminianists both hold beliefs that align with biblical Christianity.

· Where do we fit? By God’s grace we are biblical Christians who base our faith & doctrine on the balanced truth of the whole counsel of God’s Word.

· We can & do enjoy fellowship & unity with Calvinists & Arminianists…

Universalism believes Bible contains truth, but so does Book of Mormons, etc. Don’t believe in miracles, in Christ’s atonement, or God’s judgment… Universalists are not Christian.

Calvinism’s position on doctrine of sovereignty of God is foundational. God is supreme & has absolute authority over all creation… nothing can lie outside of, or be viewed as not being subject to sovereignty of His will. History will be worked IAW the predetermined will of God.

Calvinism: Key points that they believe…TULIP. (Total depravity; Unconditional election; Limited atonement; Irresistible grace; Perseverance of the saints.)

Arminian’s position on doctrine of sovereignty of God affirms He is supreme & has absolute authority over all creation, but they believe that God limits His sovereign control in accordance with man’s freedom & response… thru foreknowledge He knows what man’s response will be.

Paradoxes… how can we know the balanced truth of God?

· Hermeneutics: We must know & follow basic rules of interpreting Scripture.

· God’s sovereignty does not necessarily mean that everything which occurs in the world is God’s will. His permissive will provides for human freedom & the laws of nature. God has in His sovereignty chosen to give man freedom to choose between good & evil. When man chooses to do evil, he fulfills the sovereign will of God inasmuch as the sovereign decree decided not which choice man should make, but that he should be free to make it.

· How do you reconcile warnings of apostasy & promises of eternal security?

· He who has the Son, has life… written so you may know you have eternal life. (1Jn 5:11)

· Yet NT contains numerous warnings (e.g. 1Cor 10:1-12; Heb 2:1-3; 3:12-19; 6:1-8; 10:26-31; Ja 5:19-20) of apostasy. Considering God’s everlasting arms that shield & hold us, such apostasy seems impossible. But God has never violated our free will… warnings regarding apostasy are real, & believers maintain freedom to reject God’s salvation.

· Many will turn away from the faith… false prophets will appear & deceive many… he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Mt 24:10-13; Rev 2&3; 1Jn 2:19)

· Every true Believer (authentic Christian living is part of true belief) can be secure in their salvation based on wonderful promises of a faithful & all-powerful God who saves us.

· Being confident (secure) in this… He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:6)

The battle is in your head. (Rm 12:1-2; 2Cor 10:3-5)

· Spiritual warfare is a battle for the mind… remember this important truth. (Eph 4:27)

· We can only live day by day in victory if we replace Satan’s strongholds of lies with towers of truth to which we can flee when enemy attacks.

· Once you have taken back ground surrendered to Satan (Eph 4:27), you must take action to ensure he cannot take back that ground. (Lk 11:24-26)

· Nothing passive about spiritual warfare… roll up your sleeves & get to work. (1Pet 1:13)

· Our thoughts can come from one of three sources: ourselves; God; or Satan.

· As a person thinks in his heart, so is he. (Pr 23:7)

· We all have a belief system (worldview) that is a product of family, education, media, peers, music, etc. that contains lies, false assumptions. Challenge is to reprogram minds to replace wrong thoughts with right & God-honoring thoughts. (Phil 4:8; 2Cor 10:5)

· Thoughts from Satan come w/strong coercive force… not gentle peace of Spirit. (Col 3:15)

· If living w/o inner joy or peace, ask H Spirit to examine your thoughts. (Ps 139:23-24)

Renewing our minds. (Rom 12:1-2)

· Start by making a complete surrender of self to the Lord. (v.1)

o This must be a daily surrender… problem with living sacrifices is they get off altar.

· Mere presence of thought in your mind does not mean you must obey it…

· Simply having a wrong thought doesn’t make you sinful or guilty… thinking about it does.

6 steps to renew your mind & bring it under control of H Spirit.

1. Test your thoughts. (1Jn 4:1) Develop habit of examining your thoughts.

2. Refuse wrong thoughts… you have power in Christ to say no to wrong thoughts.

o Enemy can plant thoughts in your head, but he cannot force to you think about them.

o Lust has to conceive to produce sin. (Ja 1:14-15) “I give no consent to that”

3. Resist the devil… you have power & authority to command enemy to leave.

4. Share every thought with the Lord immediately. If an accusing thought, you can give it to Christ & thank Him that He died to cleanse you.

5. Memorize God’s Word… there is great importance & value in this. To replace wrong thoughts with right ones… the only infallible source of right thoughts is God’s Word.

6. Set your mind on things above… whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely… (Phil 4:8)

o Right thoughts won’t just float in, & you must war against those that are not right.

· To take back ground & be set free from sin’s bondage is easy… to stay free is hard work.

· Make the renewal of your mind a daily discipline… remember that a walk of spiritual victory is a matter of one choice at a time.

· Keep your eyes on Jesus… who endured the cross. (Heb 12:1-2)