Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
An ancient Greek philosopher once said, "Whatever deceives bewitches." This is a true statement. All lies originally sprang from an evil spirit named Lucifer, and whenever we believe a lie, we are brought under the power of the evil spirit from which that lie came. Receiving a lie into your heart is tantamount to having a "spell" cast over your life. Some lies are greater than others, of course, and so, they will have a greater influence on those who believe them, but all lies have at least some power to influence thoughts and direct choices. Lies bring into bondage those who believe them.
This is why Jesus promised that the truth, not the new birth, would set us free. People are born of the Spirit of God because they believe in Jesus and repent, not because they know God or know the truth of the gospel. People from many Christian doctrinal persuasions may be washed from their sins by receiving the holy Ghost. People in all kinds of Christian sects have received the holy Ghost baptism when they repented of their sins in the name of Jesus. In spite of that fact, many of these same precious children of God somehow assume that they received the holy Ghost because of the particular sect to which they belong. That can't possibly be case. If that were true, only the people of that sect would receive the Spirit.
Some Baptists have received the holy Ghost baptism, as well as some Lutherans, some Catholics, and some others, besides traditional Pentecostal sects. Isn't it obvious, then, that those humble Baptists did not receive the holy Ghost because they believed Baptist doctrine, and that those humble Catholics did not receive the holy Ghost because they believed Catholic doctrines? No, they received the holy Ghost because they sought and obeyed Jesus, and if they continue to obey him, Jesus will guide them into truth that will lead them out of both those sects as well as out of the religion of Christianity itself. We receive the holy Ghost through faith, my dear friend, not through knowledge.
Most of God's children on earth are not free today because they do not yet know the truth, and they will never know it if they demand that whatever God shows them must fit into the confines of what they already believe is true. He does not want to be, but our heavenly Father is a mystery to most of His own children. He wants to be close to us and wants us to be close to one another. Neither of these two things will ever come to pass, however, unless we all abandon Christianity so that we can know Christ. We are divided because of the doctrines of Christianity that we have received. We will be united only when we escape the white-washed walls of the Christian religion and learn to be taught by the Spirit.
"Whatever deceives bewitches", yes. But "the truth shall make you free." Which way will you go today? The divisive way of Christianity or the healing, uniting way of the Spirit of Christ?