# 295: The Worldwide Hoax of Epic Proportion, Part 2

2nd Corinthians 2:11. “. . . in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.” 2:17. “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit.” [For modern church leaders, “profit” is the name of the game]. 4:2. “we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, we set forth the truth plainly.” [That is exactly what this blog has been attempting to do for almost five years]. 4:4. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” [Make sure your belief is coated with Christ-like action; otherwise it might be unbelief]. 5:15. “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” 5:20. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” [Are we living as ambassadors of God?] 6:10. “poor, yet making many rich [spiritually]; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” [of real value]. 8:9. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” [Spiritually]. 9:7. “for God loves a cheerful giver.” [This verse is quoted by the clergy more than any other verse in the complete NT. And any fool can see why]. 10:6. “And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.” [The reason I repeat this verse is because if punishment were administered in modern Christianity for infringements to Scripture, our religion would be a whole new ballgame]. 11:13-15. “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is no surprise, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” [Expert con men/women find it easy to play the confidence game with gullible religious people and make it their lifetime career. Don’t let this shock you. The ones that seem the most lovable and considerate, especially those who are handsome/beautiful like Joel Osteen and his wife, are the best in their field. All they want is your money so that they can continue with their easy and respected life. They are not fools; they will continue to tell you exactly what you desire to hear. The only way you can find out what their true colors are is to ask why they don’t teach the verses that this post is bringing to the surface]. 13:2. “On my return I will not spare those who have sinned earlier or any of the others, since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me.” 13:8. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” [The criteria for that test must be all the instructions in the complete NT]. 13:11. “Aim for perfection.” [Sure; who is perfect?]

Galatians is a troubling church for the Apostle Paul. 1:8 “But if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.” 1:10. “Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” [Pastors who are trying to please people are not servants of God.] 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” [Can you and I say the same thing?] 4:19-20. “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you.” [Is Christ formed in you yet? If not, why not?] 5:6. “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” [If there is no obedience, there is no love. If there is no love, there is no faith]. 5:16. “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” 6:9. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Ephesians is Paul’s most optimistic letter. 1:19. “. . . and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” 2:1-2. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” 2:10. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do.” [Are church-going Christians doing what is commanded in this verse?] 2:22. “And in him [Christ Jesus] you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” [Are we a dwelling in which God can live?] 4:23: “to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” 5:1. “Be imitators of God.” [I can hear some saying, “You must be kidding”]. 5:6-7. “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.,”

Philippians 1:6 is a very popular verse with slackers, who thinking this verse can override their lack of obedience to these unpopular verses. 1:6. “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” 2:3-5. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” 2:12. “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” [How many are trembling with fear while they continue to work out their salvation?] 3:15. “And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.”

Colossians 1:10. “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work.” 1:23. “if you continue in your faith. . .” 3:5. “. . . and greed, which is idolatry.” 3:24. “. . . since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.” [Our reward is the promised inheritance].

1st Thessalonians 2: 4. “We are not trying to please men but God who tests our heart.” [We can’t hide anything from God]. 4:9. “Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourself have been taught by God.” [God is the Teacher]. 5:16. “Be joyful always; pray continually [How can anyone pray continually?]; give thanks in all circumstances [especially when bad things happen to you], for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

2nd Thessalonians 1:8. “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord. They will be punished with everlasting destruction.” 2:9. “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.” [Do you love the truth or try to ignore it?] 3:6. “In the name of the Lord Jesus, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.” 3:14. “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” [Is this the way it goes in your church?]

1st Timothy 2:12. “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.” [Is this true in your church?] 4:1. “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” [And still call themselves Christians]. 5:15. “Some [widows] have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.” [Do they know they are following Satan or are they following their own sensual desires?] 5:20. “Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that others may take warning.” [This will never happen as our modern churches are set up. They don’t want to scare other sinners away from their churches.] 6:8. “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” [My, how far have we strayed from how the Christian life should be]. 6:10. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” [It is not that they love money, but what money can buy and what it can do for them]. 6:20. “Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith.”

2nd Timothy 2:3-4. “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.” [This verse says that real Christians must not get involved in civil or even government affairs because they are contrary and infringe into Godly affairs]. 3:7. “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” 3:12. “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 4:3. “Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

Titus 1:16. “They claim to know God but by their actions they deny him.” [Boy, if that isn’t true nowadays]. 3:10. “Warn a divisive person once, and warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.”

Philemon 1:6. “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you may have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” [No sharing, no understanding].

Hebrews was written to a Jewish audience, and still we can get some vital instruction from it. 2:1. “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we heard, so that we will not drift away.” 3:6. “But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.” 3:14. “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first.” 3:18-19. “And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.” [This verse clearly teaches that disobedience and unbelief are one and the same thing]. 5:9. “He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” [Disobedience is the most grievous action that separates us from God’s promises]. 5:14. “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” [Are you a mature Christian? If not, chances are great that you cannot distinguish good from evil]. 6:12. “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.” [This next verse could be one of the most used and abused verses in the NT; anyone can see why]. 10:25. “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit if doing.” 10:26. “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” [If anyone thinks they can deliberately sin and then somehow believe they will be forgiven, you better think again]. 11:6. “And without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who EARNESTLY seek him.” [emphasis added]. 12:14. “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” [Are you and I making every effort to be holy?].

[James is one of the toughest books on genuine faith when it is not combined with Christian works/deeds]. James 1:12. “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” 2:5. “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eye of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?” [It sounds like this verse excludes all other classes of people from being rich in faith. The poor have good reason to love him, and from that love springs a rich amount of faith]. 2:18. “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” 4:4. “Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” [The word “world” refers to the activities, etc. that unbelievers engage in].

1st Peter 1:16. “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1:22. “Now that you have purified yourself by obedience to the truth.” [Continued obedience to the gospel allows us live up to the purity we by grace received from God]. 2:16. “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil.” [Evil in God’s sight is doing things that the people of the world engage in]. 2:21. “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” 3:9. “Do not repay evil for evil or insult for insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” 4:18. “And, ‘if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and sinner?’”

2nd Peter 1:5. [Paraphrased] “For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. They will keep you from being effective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1:10. “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things you will never fall.” [Some say, “Why do we have to be concerned about verses like this if we have eternal security?” This is an ongoing disaster; some people who think they are “christians” really believe they can never lose their salvation, even if they deliberately disobey NT commands]. 2:14. “they are experts in greed.” [Read the paragraph that precedes this short verse in 2nd Peter]. 3:14. “Make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” [With at least half a dozen “make every effort” verses in the NT, living the Christian life is not going to be a “walk in the park” as some church leaders who preach a sugar-coated gospel insist]. 3:17-18. “Be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.” [Even though genuine Christians have a secure position, we still can fall into the arms of Satan].

[The book of 1st John repeats over and over again the deadly harm from being a friend of the world and disobedient to Christ’s commands]. 2:3. “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.” 2:6. “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” 2:15. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 2:27. “You don’t need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing [The Holy Spirit] teaches you about all things. . .” 3:6. “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.” 3:8-9. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin.” 3:24. “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them.” 4:16. “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” 5:3. “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.” [The apostle John makes his point, even though he is very repetitive].

2nd John 1:6. “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.”

3rd John: Nothing of interest.

Jude 1:16. “They follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.”

Revelation: [Regarding the seven churches, those who overcome all the evil in the world will be rewarded with eternal life.] 14:12. “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commands and remain faithful to Jesus.” 20:12. “The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” [To verify that their faith and love were genuine]. 22:12. “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.”

Now that you know the whole truth, it will set you free, but only if you put into practice this new found truth. If not, you will continue to be a slave to your sins of omission. John 8:32. Paraphrased.