Amanda BethSharing the Truths Behind the TRUTH

Nov 18th List of Lies (adding to Monday’s Blog)

I wanted to share with you a few lies that I believe the enemy frequently uses on believers. These are lies that I had believed at one time. I thought this would be helpful to add to go along with this week’s blog (Tearing Down the Lies). See if you can recognize any of these lies that you may have unknowingly accepted.

LIE: I have to clean up my act before I can fully commit myself to being a true follower of Christ.

TRUTH: We can’t change ourselves. We have to commit our hearts to Christ first, in order for HIM to change us, not the other way around. Galatians 5:4-5 says, You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. I also love how the Amplified Bible explains Galatians 3:3, Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun [your new life spiritually] with the [Holy] Spirit, are you now reaching perfection [by dependence] on the flesh?

LIE: I think I am saved but what if I am wrong? What if I didn’t say the right prayer or what if I didn’t say it the right way?

TRUTH: Romans 10:9-10 says, That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. I accepted Jesus into my heart probably about fifty times in the last ten years. I felt like God finally told me one day…Enough already! I’m living in you and have been since the day you first accepted me.

LIE:  I have to constantly ask for forgiveness.

TRUTH: Hebrews 10:17 says,“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” Furthermore, Romans 4:7-8 says, “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.” We have already been forgiven ONCE and for all through Jesus. Therefore, we don’t have to constantly ask for His forgiveness. When His Spirit convicts of sin in our lives, we confess it to Him and repent (turn to Him and asking Him to help us turn away from the sin), and we receive His forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

I never knew the difference between conviction (God making me aware of my sin) and condemnation (keeping me guilty in my sin). I used to ask God to forgive me all day long because I constantly felt guilty. Half the time, I had no idea what I was even saying sorry about. I just figured in case I missed something and sinned unknowingly. I used to think that if I died right then, what would happen if I missed confessing a sin? Thinking back to that now, how tormenting that was for me, constantly living in condemnation and fear. I wasn’t living in freedom and enjoying following Christ and growing in Him. I was constantly worried that God was always mad at me. Now looking back, I know that it was Satan accusing me (see Revelation 12:10). Christ has already set us free from all accusation and guilt. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:22).

LIE: Now that I know I have been forgiven, I can live however I want because my sins are covered.

TRUTH: Just because Jesus paid the penalty for us sins, doesn’t mean that we now take sin lightly and deliberately continue in it. We would be foolish to do that and we’d only be opening the door to the enemy and hinder the power of God in us. Hebrews 10:26 -29 says, If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? If we deliberately refuse to turn from our sins, then we stand with the enemy and make ourselves an enemy of God. I have been there and I can tell you that it was not fun. During that time, I felt like I was literally dying inside. It was horrible for me to know God and fight against Him by doing what I knew was wrong. Galatians 5:13 says, You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

LIE: I didn’t turn from my sins and I deliberately refused God, now He will never truly accept me back.

TRUTH: God always accepts us back. Look at how many times Israel turned away from God in the Old Testament, and how many times they cried out to Him and turned back to Him, and He delivered them. They still suffered great consequences from rebelling, but God still welcomed them back. Also, look at the parable of the lost son in Luke 15:11-32. Verses 17-24 read, “When he came to his senses, he said…I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

LIE: I know that God accepts me back, but I mess up so often that there is no way God will ever be able to use me for anything.

TRUTH: God takes all of our mistakes that He already foreknew we would make, and He works them all together and uses them for our good and for His glory (see Romans 8:28). Actually, we should rejoice in our weaknesses just as the Apostle Paul did in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. I wouldn’t have anything to share with you if I didn’t fall so many times. Actually, the times where I had fallen the hardest is my greatest testimony of God’s grace and power. The fact that God brought me out of those things, instead of leaving me in my messes, is just absolutely amazing to me.

So, how about you? Have you ever believed any of these lies for yourself? Are there any lies that you have believed that you want to share to help others? Please, feel to share your thoughts and comments.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17