Identity theft

In the past few years identity theft has be come a rapidly growing crime. People take your information and use it for their advantage, leaving you with a mess to deal with. There are many forms of identity theft occurring with many more being discovered, yet there is one that is most dangerous. We read in Isa 14:12-14 “…For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…I will be like the Most High” From the beginning of time Satan has attempted to take God’s place and he uses the Word of God deceitfully, as illustrated in Gen 3:4-5. Satan caused Adam and Eve to commit sin by lying to them about what God’s commandment meant and what the punishment for disobedience would be. Satan continues to deceive many people for his own benefit and does not care about the damage done to others. You don’t have to go very far to see Satan’s handiwork, simply open your local phone book to the ‘churches’ section.

The Holy Spirit taught in 1Cor 1:10 “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you ; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” In a perfect world, everyone would believe and obey God and belong to only one church: His church. Unfortunately this is not the case and as in the Garden, God’s commandment has been subtly changed. It’s not really THAT bad if people go to the church of their choosing and practice however they want, right? Many people are comfortable with this idea and believe that as long as they are serving under the banner of Christianity they are safe. But Christ says in Mat 7:21-23 “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” The stipulation to being a true Christian is “he that doeth the will of my Father”, otherwise we will be considered as “ye that work iniquity”. Sadly though, instead of relying on the Bible, many people rely on feelings of spirituality as a standard. That is one reason Christ says in Mat 7:13 “..for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat..”.

Thousands of “Christian” books have been published with the intention of helping others and the reality is that these books may be hurting others. I’m not saying that all books are bad, only that we need to be careful about what we are reading because it could be filled with subtle error. Don’t be fooled by something that ‘feels’ right or ‘seems’ good. Remember that Satan has even tried to make Christ fall (Mat 4:1-11) by twisting the scriptures.

Ben Soto