You Must Know The Truth - AND You Must Know The Lies

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made." John 1:1-3 The Lord has repeated the doctrines of the faith in several places throughout the Scriptures, to preserve the message and to confirm it. He has preserved the integrity of his Word - by repeating the key doctrines in several places throughout his Word so it won't be mistaken. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” 2 Corinthians 13:1 This passage in John declares Jesus Christ to be the creator. It says ALL THINGS were made through him. Now compare this to the very first words in the Bible: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1 It can't be any plainer than that. God created all. Jesus Christ created all. These two verses contain the foundation of the faith. They confirm the Creator, and they confirm the deity of Jesus Christ. Many believers, sadly, do not know or understand the enemy of both God and of mankind. God showed in the very beginning who Satan is and what his goals are, and these truths are repeated sufficiently throughout the Scriptures to establish them. God tells us the most important thing to know about Satan - is that he is first and foremost: A LIAR. Jesus said of Satan: "When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and THE FATHER OF IT." John 8:44 For every doctrine in the Bible, Satan has put forth a counterfeit, and if you don't understand this you will be deceived, because he makes the lies SEEM TRUE. For example, look at the first foundational truth quoted above – the fact that God created all that is. For this truth, Satan has introduced the following lie: Through "brilliant" men, the "experts" of our society, he has caused the world to embrace the "theory" of evolution as fact, while rejecting God as Creator. Some try to mitigate this by saying that God created through evolution. No, there is no species on earth that is the product of evolution, in fact, the very opposite is true. Mutations of DNA downgrade the organism's DNA. Mutations of DNA produce downgrades not upgrades in the organism. It's the death principle that came into the world when sin came into the world. All living things devolve, and all living things die. The Scriptures teach that it all began when sin entered the world. Satan is the god of this world (2nd Corinthians 4:4) and as such, Satan is behind the lies that foster the acceptance of all evil, such as perversion, the lies fostering the murder of children, the lies causing men to believe there are many ways to God... These are but examples of the MANY deceptions Satan has put upon a willing world. He makes things SOUND good, so that people will accept it. That's the nature of deception. IT ALWAYS SOUNDS GOOD. "And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel OF LIGHT. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." 2 Corinthians 14:15 Take a deeper look into the things which you believe. Put your belief system under a microscope and ASK the Lord to show you where you have fallen for things Satan has succeeded in making the world believe, things that sound good and make sense, but that are actually lies. Read God's Word from cover to cover, because knowing the Scriptures is the first necessary step to identifying deception. You might be very surprised.