Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | 2 Thessalonians 2:11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Thessalonians 2:11 Because of this God will send upon them a misleading influence, [an activity of error and deception] so they will believe the lie, |
Subject: Isn't delusion dangerous? |
Bible Note: Hi. It was so good to hear from you. I trust that the Lord will be near and strengthen you as you face those “troubling issues”. But now I am forced to think long and deep on your responses. You say you are “not sure that people can believe they are saved when they are not” and I am surprised because this is one, perhaps the more important one, of my concerns here. I am almost always impressed with your observations and I am quite interested to see how you will support this one. Surely you are not unaware of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 7 that there are many who will come to him in that day calling him “Lord, Lord”, and he will say to them, “I never knew you”, and the chilling “Depart from me”. Is that not a description of people going into judgment day thinking they are saved when they are not? I have known of many people who thought they were saved and then found they were not. I know of preachers that this has happened to. One man became saved in his own evangelistic crusade! Truth is, I was one of those though not that far gone, who found out I was not saved as I had thought. And what do all of the other statements mean: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith”, etc.? It is to me the most important matter in all of life, that a person make sure he is saved. It is also clear to me that a person can be deceived in to thinking they are saved, and I am really taken aback by the statement that you are “not sure that people can believe they are saved when they are not”. It is clearly true that the Holy Spirit gives us assurance of salvation. But, as you have also pointed out, Satan is the master counterfeiter. Does he not also give an “assurance” of “salvation” to the people under his control. That is to me the point, the most important point, in this discussion. I go back to the passage from 2 Thessalonians 2, and is that not the point? A person fails to obey the gospel and he is sent strong delusions that he will believe a lie? Yet how many people do we know who admit that they once rejected the gospel and later got saved. What do you then make of the fact they can’t even tell you what the gospel is. It is a fantastic thing to me that people would then say let’s not make an issue of it, let every man be persuaded I his own mind, etc. It is as though we believe that delusion is an illusion. I am deeply disturbed by these thoughts, not the least because at this point, here, I am alone in this. Makes me think that the powers that be are correct in restricting this thread from appearing on the homepage. And yet I think it is the most dastardly thing, for what is the harm in asking someone to consider whether he is really saved? Yet how unkind to fail to warn someone who is in danger? What if he is not saved? Is it better to shield him for the question, from considering the possibility? You say that a discussion such as this might prompt unnecessary doubt in the hearts and minds of some "babes in Christ”. I am not sure what “unnecessary doubt” is, but I have always found there is no harm in going back to double-check my salvation. In fact I can even appreciate the trial of my faith that proves it is really genuine. Yet at a time like this I really wonder why my thoughts would be so different from those of my brethren. In one breath we say we know that many in our midst are not saved, yet we think it is not good to ask them to check to see if they are really saved. I find this really strange. |