TRUTH VS ERROR

 

THERE IS A CLEAR WARNING IN THE BIBLE in 1 John 4:1-5 NOT ADDRESSED TO THE WORLD OR TO OTHER RELIGIONS, BUT TO EVERY CHRISTIAN BELIEVER which reads:  "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." There is a simple, straight forward message in this one verse. It is saying, the disciples WERE OF GOD (the spirit of truth) and those that heard them and followed their leading WERE OF GOD as well, but those who would not hear and follow what the disciples were teaching could be identified as (the spirit of error) those people adhering to any belief system outside of the one true God. Anything, therefore, outside of biblical instruction then and including now, is a false belief system led by a false prophet, false teacher, false advisor, or a false minister. 

As Christians, we believe that there is One Truth -GODS TRUTH- and that God has revealed His Truth to us THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD, the Bible, the same Word the disciples spoke and WERE OF GOD. Non-Christians, particularly those of today involved in New Age thought, find this truth deeply offensive. I have encountered this on a few occasions over the years. Believers are often accused of arrogance for claiming they have the Truth as taught by Jesus' disciples. Those outside the Christian faith often present their truth as silent and passive, waiting to be yet discovered. The Bible is in sharp opposition to this concept! The first and central thing which we know about God is that He speaks and that His speech is truth (John 6:63). Period! As believers in God's Word, when we are empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) it leads us to Truth, written on our hearts as a testament of the resurrected Christ, the living Word of God. People all over the world have very similar experiences. Everyone is aware of his or her own existence, as well as of a reality outside themselves. Most people in the world – in the whole history of the world – have believed that originally reality was perfect, and that something has gone terribly wrong so that it is not perfect as it was once enjoyed. I hold that belief. We are thus in need of an accurate picture which encompasses both what went wrong in the world and how the problem is to be remedied.

I want to look at the 'New Age' movement in particular (spirit of error) that includes a range of beliefs and practices based on Buddhism and Taoism, and why it is gaining popularity among a decaying, decadent, society. According to 1John 4:1-5 Christians are suppose to "try the spirits to see if they are of  God." So okay, let's do that. Let's look at the spirit behind Buddhism. First of all, Buddhists hold to the belief everything is one according to their philosophy. This idea is very powerful and attractive, because if everything is one, then everyone is god. To enjoy a state of peace, according to these new age thinkers they must meditate. They need to empty their thoughts, examine their thinking, and find their true self. This is a main function of psychiatry by the way! Buddhists are not to think in terms of what is right and what is wrong. There are no absolutes in this philosophy. Followers examine their thoughts and their minds and embark on a journey of self discovery that they might be at one with nature and with themselves. This practice is very similar to transcendental meditation practiced by the Eastern Religions. One finds peace with the Universe by making peace with oneself and then become tuned into the spirit of the universe around them. For many, within this worldview seems to be perfect peace and perfect unity. There is no conflict or disagreement ... I cannot hate you when I am a part of you, right? Hinduism and Buddhism’s doctrines of karma and reincarnation are necessary to support this basic doctrine of unity. In Christianity, it isn't Buddhist "karma" rather it is our God that exacts judgement for wrongs done as His Word tells us GOD states, "Revenge is mine," saith the Lord, "I will repay." And the Buddhist belief in Reincarnation doesn't exist in Christianity either for Hebrews 9:27 says, "It is APPOINTED unto man to die once, then after that comes the judgment." So the spirit of truth testifies, God is the "shofet" (judge in Hebrew) not karma, and the spirit of truth also testifies WE DIE ONCE, not many times to return as a god, demi-god, human, animal, ghost, or creature from hell as the Buddhist adhere to.

New Age thought is a religious belief system that doesn’t see man as a being in need of redemption but is a god unto himself because the religion does not even believe in God or a higher deity! They reject the disciples witness and refuse to hear... "he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." According to them man is his own god. Hmm. I wonder then, who set the stars, sun, moon, and planets in place? Buddha?? Without the spirit of truth, one can see the attraction a person might have to a self-righteous belief centered around ones goodness, kindness, and peacefulness. The truth is, that is not true peace. Jesus, the living Word, is the prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6) and without Jesus one has yet to discover true peace. But who will hear? Who will believe it? 

Unfortunately, we live in such a frantic world. There is an epidemic of poor mental health. Anything which encourages peace and reflection is deemed to be good. But this is an unchristian approach to finding peace. Did you know Buddhism is considered the religion of the mentally ill? Before I continue, I'm not referring to this mental illness as meaning lunatic, rather a illness of mind like our bodies can fall ill and need healing.  Buddhism provides a framework for behavior modification, stress coping, and reduction of depression. Given that Buddhism offers pathways to a perceived temporary happiness, being a Buddhist might help improve an individual's mental health according to psychiatrists but it certainly offers no salvation for the eternal soul. I retired as an office manager for both a psychiatrist and two psychologists. I can affirm the above statement as true. At least 20% of our patient charts showed "Buddhist" under the heading of religious affiliation. There is a reason why so many Buddhist are in psychiatric offices. Their religious philosophy mistakenly teaches that we can find peace within ourselves but according to scripture, is a false, temporary soothing of the mind in order to cope with something we cannot tackle, face, address, or deal with. So I suppose as experts claim, people who are struggling mentally to either cope with depression, stress, pressure, delusion, instability, etc. naturally grasp at any solution they believe will give what they sense as peace of mind. I cannot blame them for seeking a cure for a troubled spirit. It is, however, ironic that despite the fact they cannot manage their own internal problems will yet believe a philosophy that convinces those who cannot manage are their own cure! If you cannot manage yourself, how can you be your own cure? "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8)

The Word of God has a different view of the heart of man. We are told the heart is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" says Jeremiah 17:9. We all know deep within ourselves our biggest fault is sin: big sin, small sin, perverted sin, hidden sin, deviant sin, etc. One can also see the attraction for a humanistic secular society fashioned around the promise of self-effort. Man believes that he is as god, that humanity is in charge of its own destiny. Therefore a philosophy which encourages us to look inward to find the secrets of life and happiness is very attractive to some. That thinking does not condemn, it does not judge, because it won't allow any negative thought into its space though negativity is a day to day reality on this planet. It's a part of life as proven in nature by paired opposites: positive/negative, right/left, up/down, hot/cold/, good/bad, short/tall, light/darkness on and on. This same philosophy rather affirms and confirms without disturbing truthful ideas like sin and repentance. This sounds more attractive than admitting we all have sinned  and fall short of that perfection and peace in God's glory (Romans 3: 23-24), that we all want and hope to find, doesn't it?  After all, no one wants to admit or face the deep, dark, recesses of sins we have committed hoping they remain obscure from others. Buddhism teaches in order to be enlightened, one has to stop hating – but he or she also has to stop loving, as well. That's right. You have to stop relating. Buddhists will never speak of the love of the Buddha. They will rather speak of the compassion of the Buddha. “Compassion” is a desire, a sympathy to help you toward oneness. But love is a recognition of who you are as an individual, thus it is not tolerated. The spirit of truth says, "GOD IS LOVE" (1John 4:8) but then, Buddhists do not believe in God, do they?

I cannot fathom a philosophy that requires me to deny the experience of myself to be able to transcend. That isn't even logical and again makes one a god unto themselves. The Bible, however, says that I can come to Jesus just as I am! Totally: I bring my body, my mind, my emotions, my work, my creativity, my uniqueness, my weaknesses, my failures and my sins ... everything just as I am. I begin with the whole of who I am, and every aspect of my being is saved in Christ Jesus in a moment of repentance and acceptance without having to spend a lifetime to earn acceptance, gradual elevation, or transcendence to Nirvana. Again, these self-effort religions (and that's what they are, self-effort) makes one a god unto themselves. Without GOD, without the spirit of truth, we can never reach true peace or true perfection. The scriptures say, "There is only one God and you shall have no other gods before me"- INCLUDING YOURSELF- (the 1st of 10 commandments). In the "do it yourself religions" you are required to abandon your body, your mind, your individuality, and your relationships. It takes more faith to believe in this worldview than in the Bible. Why? Because the Bible gives a true absolute. New Age philosophies do not.

So, you are left with two choices: one is truth and one is a lie: One believes you are accepted just as you are and one that says you must earn your way and if you don't you'll be sent back again and again until you figure it out which could in all probability take eons since you have to overcome your karma and destructive emotions. AGAIN, this is a description of a religion/belief/philosophy requiring YOU to be a god unto yourself where you must EARN "heaven. What "god" would actually have to achieve or earn anything if they are a god? If you are god to begin with, why are you working to be a god?

In the faith of Christianity as revealed in Scripture, God Himself enters into the creation and becomes a part of it because He is both fully God and fully man (Jesus), He has the power to perform an act that is so totally and completely other-centered that it provides the basis and power for anyone who hears, accepts, and believes in this act to become a new person, to be born again with another-centered identity. And that is salvation. Why? Because of the Crucifixion. This totally other-centered act of Jesus , death is swallowed up in victory and we have the power to become sons of God and to be completely reoriented from our sinful, self-centered death to other-centered life. For Christians, our first and primary response to eastern mysticism in all its forms is to preach the Gospel clearly (the spirit of truth), without compromise. The exclusive Gospel of salvation through Christ alone remains the only hope for the world (John 16:13). We also respond by attributing every problem in the world to our sin, to the curse which was inflicted by God because of our sin. This is not a world of heavy rainfall, of obscene heat, of freezing climates, of forest fires, of severe hurricanes because we have it within our gift to change it. The world is the way it is because it is cursed. We live in a fallen world and we are fallen creatures, but not without hope! We were given a way out because of the sacrifice Jesus made for you.

Finally, I remind the followers of Christ, we ought to disengage from every activity that is pagan in its origin. The scriptures are clear on this; astrology, fortune telling, yoga, these mindfulness therapies commit us to a worldview that is not biblical. The children of Israel were solemnly taught not to be like other nations (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). That remains the same for us today, the church body. He that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." 

Until He Comes

-Pat-