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by Charlie Wolcott

And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
~2 Timothy 2:24-26

Last week, I wrote about truth and how lies will literally make someone insane. I want to emphasize on the “come to their senses” statement, because this is a key feature that I really didn’t see until I started writing this series. A big lightbulb when on when I began to unpack this passage, so I want to really dig into this.

A false teaching is a lie. Let’s call it what it is: it’s a lie. It came from the father of lies. It usually looks like the truth, but it isn’t. It’s a deception, a snare, a trap, and when people believe the lie, they are hooked to it. A fog comes over their heads and they no longer can think straight. When someone joins the Mormon church the elders come and “lay hands” on that person for the “Holy Spirit” to come upon them. But we know that Mormonism is a false religion, a cult. So what “spirit” is coming upon them? I have family members who are Mormon, and we’ve tried to witness to them, and they simply cannot process the truth unless it goes through the filters that the Mormons have instilled into them.

I have had many debates on origins (yes, I keep bringing that up), and the more I engage and the more I discuss it, the clearer it is to me that it’s a spiritual issue. Russ Miller describes how he can go on to college campuses and refute Evolution without too much of a problem. But if he starts to question the age of the earth, then he says he needs bodyguards. And that’s on college campuses, or in many modern churches. Deep Time is a spiritual problem. Little has convinced me of this more than just listening to the testimonies of those who come out of it. Those who are convinced by Deep Time tend to talk in terms of education, enlightenment, and/or “listening to other opinions.” But those who come out of Deep Time tend to describe their conversion in terms of being rescued, being delivered, freedom, or a fog being lifted. Deep Time is part of the “spirit of the age.” If you dare question Deep Time in academia or many churches, there is an instant reaction of “Woah, don’t go there!” Many pastors refuse to discuss it or let it be discussed because of how “controversial” it is. But the more discussions I have with those who believe in any form of Deep Time, the more I feel like we are talking different languages with different dictionaries. We can agree on nearly every core doctrine of Christianity, but there’s that fog that prevents them from using the very same tools they use to make their conclusions about Christ when it comes to Genesis. It makes no logical sense until I realize this is not an intellectual issue, but a spiritual one.

Those under a false teaching cannot think straight, at the very least regarding that teaching. They cannot think clearly, nor can they see the issues. Logic that refutes their position doesn’t compute. They cannot see it, and in some cases they won’t see it intentionally. This is why Paul told the Corinthian church that the things of God are foolishness to those who are perishing and that they cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned. I know this theoretically, but I still struggle to put this to practice. I keep trying to argue with them through that fog. It is not working because the fog of false teachings is ultimately a spiritual issue. They are blinded and they cannot see. That’s why Scripture tells us we need to pray away the blinders so that they may see. But take notice that just seeing the light and truth alone may not save someone. Unless God is working on them and preparing them for regeneration, the sinful person will see the light and only hate God even more. But we aren’t responsible for that. I’d rather have someone reject God knowing what he is rejecting than to try to get someone to embrace something that isn’t true. The end result of the latter is the same as the former.

The technique for how this happens is called brainwashing. See this post I wrote last summer to get some details about it. It is psychological warfare, and it is VERY effective. The saying goes, “Teach a lie enough times and it becomes truth.” That’s the one-sentence version of what brainwashing is. You tell a lie early enough and long enough and without a deep-rooted knowledge of truth, you will believe it. No one is immune to this. This is why the government systems of Communism, Nazism, Fascism, the Liberal Left, Evolution, and now the sexual perverts are all going after the children at young ages. A parent lashed out at Hitler saying, “I’ll never submit to you.” Hitler laughed and said, “So what? You’ll be gone. I already have your kids.” I heard a Catholic priest say: “Give us your kids until they are five and they will be Catholic for life.” Evolution is taught at the earliest of ages to get the idea of millions of years rooted before they can begin to process truth. In the last couple years, we are having drag queen library readings, exotic dancers performing before kindergarteners, and child drag queens are being celebrated by the media. If we don’t train our children, the world will teach them THAT, and they will do whatever it takes to get them submitted “to the system.” Now our nation’s children are thoroughly confused about gender, politics, economics, science, and religion, and they can’t process truth. And the church in general with few exceptions is doing nothing about it.

As I am writing this, I am getting a whole new understanding of what Jesus said on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Paul stated that if the enemies of Jesus knew what they were doing, they would not have crucified Christ. The enemies of Jesus fulfilled prophecy, all the while trying to deny Him that title, showcase the sovereignty of God. But here is the thing that we should be wary of: God told Moses He made the tongue for speaking or holding it back. God also made the mind. He can let it operate and He can shut it down. He shut down Nebuchadnezzar’s mind for seven years, turning him into insanity to eat and live like a wild animal. God has allowed all these false teachings to turn so many people insane. He can also free the mind in an instant.

When we truly understand and learn the about the sovereignty of God and apply that to this issue, it is God who determines who is sane or insane. He still holds us responsible for our actions and our choices, however light received yields more light, and light rejected yields darkness. God does not make anyone “insane.” He lets their sin simply run its course because the person chooses insanity over truth. God won’t give us more light unless we obey that which we have. If we regularly and continually reject light, God will hand us over to a depraved mind. But when dealing with someone who has gone insane into error, if we take this passage to heart, through gentle rebuke, seeking that they might repent, God may grant them repentance, letting them receive the truth, and they may return to their senses. But if we just focus on “being right,” we miss the point. While God can still save them in His sovereignty, He may not. We are still responsible for how we witness. We’ll get into that in a couple weeks. But first, we need to look at these snares and how the devil entraps us.

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