Building on the Foundation

  Both Old and New Testaments warn us again and again about false teachers and false doctrines. As we’ve observed before, it is so easy to be deceived if we don’t continually stand guard against it. In one of these many warnings, the apostle Paul wrote, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3). What is this simplicity Paul spoke of? “Simplicity” is Strong’s # G572, haplotēs . Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines it as, “singleness, simplicity, sincerity, mental honesty; the virtue of one who is free from pretence and dissimulation; openness of heart manifesting itself by benefactions, liberality.” Elsewhere in the New Testament, this word is translated as “liberality” (generosity) or “sincerity.” For example, “he who gives, with liberality [ haplotēs ]” (Rom. 12:8). The Septuagint employs this same Greek word to describe integrity, innocence, or uprightness (2 Sam. 15:11...

  Some time back, there was a post on here entitled, “ How Easy It Is to Be Deceived .” Today’s post may be considered a companion piece to that one, albeit from a rather different perspective: how NOT to be deceived. This world today is flooded with information as never before in recorded history. Well do we see the prophecy in Daniel fulfilled before our eyes: “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase” (Dan. 12:4). You can find information of all kinds, about every topic imaginable. Some of it’s true and some of it isn’t, some of it’s helpful and much of it isn’t. This ocean of information is littered with icebergs of deceit and fraud. Governments lie to us, the news media lie to us, scientists lie to us, and churches lie to us. And to top it all off, every village idiot and his brother now have microphones to broadcast their opinions far and wide. You’ll find endless rabbit holes of conspiracy theories, some of which turn out to be true and many of which don’t. An...