Satan is very clever: He knows exactly which bait to use for every place in which he fishes. (Arthur W. Pink, Studies on Saving Faith)
God knows people's hearts, and He confirmed that He accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts through faith. (Acts 15:8-9 NLT)
The more I ponder salvation, the more magnificent it becomes. To cleanse a heart estranged from God that is described by Jeremiah as "most deceitful" and "desperately wicked" is an impossible task! Considering that it is with the heart that we believe this is a most important organ to protect! The other fisherman will titillate the heart in any manner necessary to:
- Make an unbeliever think that he has been saved, or
- Make a believer think that he is in the light when standing in darkness
"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? (Jeremiah 17:9 NLT)
For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. (Romans 10:10 NLT)
Purifying the heart by faith consists of, first the purifying of the understanding, by the shining in of Divine light, so as to cleanse it from error. Second, in the purifying the conscience, so as to cleanse it from guilt. Third, the purifying of the will, so as to cleanse it from self-will and self-seeking. Fourth, the purifying of the affections, so as to cleanse them from the love of all that is evil. In Scripture the “heart” includes all these four faculties. A deliberate purpose to continue in any one sin cannot consist with a pure heart. (Arthur W. Pink, Studies on Saving Faith)
We have before us a dilemma! On the one hand, we must walk in the light, yet on the other, we are faced with the probability that we see darkness and think it is light! This is why we suffer so! In our American culture what we see as Christianity today is "self-will and self-seeking!" It is rather simple to examine the heart! All one must consider is whether or not the Holy Spirit is convicting us of sin. If we live our lives as though we have nothing to confess, then we have called God a liar and have demonstrated that His Word has no place in our heart! This is the Word that became flesh whose name is Jesus Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. Examine yourself today! Did you take the bait?
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts. (1 John 1:5-10 NLT)
Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. (Luke 11:35 NLT)