Gal 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (20) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, (21) Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Good morning!
This word is hardly heard today. It is probably because “religion” has become an unpopular topic of discussion. Do you realize that as of 2022, only 22% of Americans attend church every week? This 22% covers all religions. I can’t even imagine what percentage of this 22% covers truly born-again Christians. (In 2017, 31% of Americans identified as born-again Christians.) It’s horrifying to me to see the spiritual decline of this nation. Going to church doesn’t make one a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car! True Christianity brings a change of heart through repentance and a desire to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Anything other than that is going against God’s Word.
So just what is heresy? Noah Webster defines it as:
A fundamental error in religion, or an error of opinion respecting some fundamental doctrine of religion. But in countries where there is an established church, an opinion is deemed heresy, when it differs from that of the church. The Scriptures being the standard of faith, any opinion that is repugnant to its doctrines, is heresy; but as men differ in the interpretation of Scripture, an opinion deemed heretical by one body of Christians, may be deemed orthodox by another.
Heresy, therefore, is the sin that has affected the Church in these past couple of centuries. Satan has managed to convince some to question God’s Word, even change God’s Word. His efforts began in the Garden of Eden when he questioned Eve:
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
From that point on, Satan’s efforts to corrupt God’s Word has been his main objective. The King James Version of the Bible was the only accepted English Bible. According to this article:
I am afraid no one can give you an exact number for the English translations and paraphrases of the Bible printed since Tyndale’s New Testament of 1526. In part this is due to the difficulty of determining what should be defined as a new translation as opposed to a correction or a revision of an existing translation. There is the additional question of how we should count translations that include not a complete Bible or Testament, but just a group of books or even a single book. And then, of course, there is the difficulty of sheer numbers. With all these caveats in mind, the number of printed English translations and paraphrases of the Bible, whether complete or not, is about 900.
https://news.americanbible.org/article/number-of-english-translations-of-the-bible
Do you think Satan has succeeded at causing doubt into God’s Word? I should say so! But the fundamental plan of salvation can still be found. The Church of England (Protestant in beliefs) is going to meet in the Spring to discuss a gender neutral reference to God. If they agree to this, the next step would be to change their Bible to reflect this belief. This is true heresy. Any time you change God’s Word to reflect the desires of man will accomplish the devil’s work! Any time you stray from God’s Word and change it, you are guilty of heresy.
Let’s look at a different form of heresy. I know of people who want to be considered Christian but they do not want to change the way they live; they do not want to repent of their sin. A good example of this is homosexuality. There are homosexual “Christians” who believe they can continue in their sin; in fact, they believe their sin is not a sin at all. They believe that Christ accepts everyone. But does He? If that is true, then God’s words in the Old Testament are a lie. The Bible says that God does not change! God’s Word is the same yesterday, today and forever! God’s Word is truth!
Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Since we know that God does not change and His Word does not change, then whatever was considered sin in the Old Testament is still sin in the New Testament. Let’s take a look at all the verses that deal with this:
Lev 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Lev 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
1Co 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, (10) Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (11) And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
“Abusers of themselves with mankind” in the Greek is ἀρσενοκοῖτοι arsenokoitoi. According to Strong’s Concordance:
arsenokoites: a male engaging in same-gender sexual activityOriginal Word: ἀρσενοκοίτης, ου, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: arsenokoites
Phonetic Spelling: (ar-sen-ok-oy’-tace)
Definition: a sodomite
Usage: a male engaging in same-gender sexual activity; a sodomite, pederast.
Just to give you an example of how the world’s views on homosexuality have changed, just try to do a Google search for Bible verses againist it. You are hard pressed to find anything biblically and fundamentally sound! I did the exact same search in DuckDuckGo and found what I was looking for.
So to wrap this up, anything that is contrary to God’s Word is heresy. God does not take this lightly. Satan has succeeded in turning the world’s views on sin. We see this more and more with the LGBTQ agenda. But, friend, God does not change. Sin is still sin. We are running out of time! The Rapture can happen at any moment and the time to be saved is now. (2 Cor. 6:2) You don’t want to enter the Tribulation period without Christ. If you think you will be saved during that time, you may be right. But you will experience the worst judgment known to mankind coming down on an unbelieving and God-hating world. You will be martyred for your faith! Why would you choose this over getting saved now? Now is the day of salvation, Reader! The time is coming when it will be too late for you to repent. You will remember each opportunity you were given by God to be saved; you will remember each time you laughed it off and ignored it. Please Reader, repent and accept Christ into your life. (Act 16:31, Rom 10:9) I want to be sure that anyone who reads the posts on this blog can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are going to Heaven. Have you received Christ as your Saviour? If no, your sins are not covered by His sacrificial offering of Himself. You have not been redeemed by His blood. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!
