Those Who Deny the Power of Godliness
The fundamental reason heresies can exert influence is because there are people who do not believe in the truth and love unrighteousness. They can imitate the gospel with powers, signs, and doctrines. They turn grace into indulgence, and holiness and justice into legalism. Ultimately, they are the targets of clear and solemn judgment of God. In Revelation 13, the beast rising from the earth—appearing like a lamb but speaking like a dragon—symbolizes heresies, false prophets, and the wicked or the Antichrist. That beast is not a real lamb. It is disguised as one but is actually a dragon. This is the hallmark of heresy. It looks like true faith, yet always carries contradictions.
It is clear that even if 99% matches the truth, if 1% is different, it is false. Many say, “What harm can 1% do?” However, even 1% is enough to destroy the church. Concerning the basis on which the wicked exist and work in the church, the Apostle Paul says: 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (2 Thessalonians 2:9–12).
The fundamental reason Satan’s activity can have influence in the church is that people do not believe in the truth but love unrighteousness. However, they do not completely reject the truth. They are so deceptive that discerning them is difficult. Sometimes they appear as angels of light and like to say, “God is love.” However, they never choose to die on the cross. They speak of God’s grace and holiness but dislike speaking about sin and lead others astray. They bring psychology, counseling, pedagogy, and marketing theories into the church to comfort members, make them feel good, and gain popularity. But regarding sin, judgment, and hell, they criticize for being too negative and harsh. They cover their actions under the guise of being realistic and situational, while remaining highly sensitive to profit and money.
On the other hand, they say that if you believe in God, you will prosper in everything and be blessed in the world. They replace essential truths such as salvation, faith, prayer, love, sin, blessing, and grace with worldly, humanistic, and fleshly concepts. Outwardly, they live religiously in the form of godliness but despise the fellowship of life united with the Lord and the suffering that comes with it. They focus more on miracles, gifts, healing, and visions than the life of the cross. They talk about the gospel, but there is no cross, which is the power of the gospel. They have turned grace into indulgence and holiness and justice into legalism. They are under God’s certain and dreadful judgment.
One of the dangers of heresies within the church is that because they meticulously imitate the Bible’s confession of faith, people are deceived into thinking they truly believe. This is not normal; it is the deception of the spirit that works among the sons of disobedience. It is not simply because their faith is weak, but because it is a fundamental spiritual problem. Satan has planted false miracles and all kinds of unrighteous deceptions within the church. They deceive people into thinking they can live a godly life while having a fleshly appearance. They mistakenly believe that they can live a holy life of faith in the church while loving the world. They are deceiving themselves and have opened every door for Satan to work freely within them.
This is the image of those who confess with their mouths but deny with their actions. They do not realize that they are ruled by Satan. They mistakenly believe that their problems are merely situational and due to their weakness. But the Church must know its true enemy and fight the war against the core problem with the truth.
》Prayer Point
1. Let us humbly acknowledge before God that we often used to live to gain what we wanted through signs, rather than holding to the truth of the gospel, easily falling into visible phenomena and miracles. Let us pray that we may be delivered from the deception and evil of following our own greed, becoming deliberately ignorant of God and the Scriptures, being misled by unrighteousness, and foolishly falling into vain heresies, false religions, and ideologies.
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
7 always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:5,7,NIV)
》Scripture Prayer
(Revelation 13:11–15,NIV) 11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.
12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.
13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people.
14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
(2 Peter 2:1–4,NIV) 1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. Let us praise the Lord who revealed our true state as sinners and the existence of Satan and his forces through the light of the gospel. Let us thank Him for rescuing sinners trapped under the power of darkness through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and making them citizens of the Kingdom of God. The Son, who is the gospel itself, is the Savior and Lord of our lives, and we must not hesitate to give Him our whole life. Let us repent for having feared to give Him everything and for harboring an evil, unbelieving heart.
2. Many Christian heresies have risen throughout the world and in Korea. They have deceived church members with displays of power and miracles, leading them into idolatry under the name of the church and dragging them toward destruction. Within the church, false teachers and heretics prevent the believers from uniting by faith with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, deceiving them so they cannot deny themselves and live the life of the cross following only Jesus. These heresies always make themselves idols, inciting immorality, and through covetousness, deceive and take everything from their followers. God does not forgive Satan, the father of lies, and his demons; He has cast them into hell to be kept there until the day of judgment. Even now, He does not delay judgment against false prophets and heretics. Let us pray that this judgment will come upon us, that we may stand on the death of the cross against covetousness that does not fully believe the truth of the gospel. Let us also pray that the greed and deception that misleads all churches and believers may be destroyed by the cross.
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