Back to basics

I've been mulling over some things about apostasy. This is because in the course of my online and real life discernment and apologetics ministry, I have lately been shown by the grace of the Holy Spirit that the essential doctrines of our faith not only are being eroded "out there", but also "in here", in places and in people close to me. I am horrified at the depth and breadth of the erosion of what I believed were the obvious givens. I am grieving over the adherence to some of the more destructive heresies uncovered of late.

In my mind, the "obvious givens" start with the the Gospel. That Sovereign Jesus lived as fully man on earth, was sinless, died on the cross, bore the wrath of God for payment of our sins,was buried and resurrected by the power of God on the third day. That's the Gospel. One must believe those essentials in order to be saved. But even this basic tenet, the one that distinguishes us from ALL other philosophies, doctrines, faiths and assertions, is being corrupted daily. I had known it was bad in our faith. I had believed the prophesies about how bad it would get. I hadn't realized how bad the foundations had been eroded, or how many people are affected.

I worry strongly for the mature in the faith who are being drawn away by doctrines of devils, seducing spirits,  empty philosophies that are said to come. (1 Titus 4:1, Colossians 2:8). Worse, "For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible." (Matthew 24:24). This means that if you can be deceived, you will be.

I'm worried for the new believers in our faith who watch the way mature believers act and listen to what the mature believers say as they get carried away with seducing spirits and the new ones are being carried away too. I want to protect the vulnerable.

I had been mulling about writing on the Ten Kings from Daniel and Revelation, about Ezekiel 38, about whether the US is in prophecy, what is Babylon and metaphorical Egypt and Sodom, and I'll likely get to those, but I'm shifting my focus at the prompting of the Spirit to explain simply what the basics are. There are people out there who believe we can be saved if we dream of Jesus in a jungle or that God is so big He could justly accept people into heaven who have not been born again by faith in ALL the Gospel... Our brethren are at risk!

So for a while I'm going to go back to the basics in apologetics (defending and explaining the faith) rather than continue in increasingly complex eschatology. Not that I will go away from eschatology. This whole week has been about the Spirit focusing me on end time prophesies of deception and false teaching, false doctrines, false prophets and false church culture. We have to look at these things through an end time lens, well, because we are in the end time. As a matter of fact, the end time deceptions are simply exploding right now, at a pace that faints my heart. I want to do this because when we're gone, and it seems that we will be soon, the people who are left behind and need to convert will need milk.

Jesus is tantamount. His Word has got to be adhered to strictly. Jesus finished His Sermon on the Mount, a lengthy discourse on how to live as a follower of Him. "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall." (Matthew 7:26-27).

The Word of God is our rock. It will never fall. Let's begin...
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