Those Who Misrepresent God

Sue Love Christian Devotional

[This devotion will be based off Jeremiah 29:15-32, but as applied to us today. It will be too much to quote the whole passage, so I encourage you to read it on your own.]

False Prophets in Jeremiah’s Day

There were false prophets in Jeremiah’s day who were not listening to God, who were sexually immoral, adulterous, and perjurious. They were preaching lies to the people in God’s name, but the messages were not authorized by God. In these messages they were misrepresenting God.

Not only were they preaching messages of rebellion against the Lord, but they also called Jeremiah, who was the Lord’s true prophet, a false prophet and a maniac, and they called for him to be put into the stocks and neck-irons, for they wanted him to be reprimanded for telling the people that they would be in exile for a long time.

False Teachers of Today

We have false teachers among us today who are adulterous and idolatrous, who live by the flesh, and who are self-indulgent. With regard to the Holy Spirit, they are Spiritless and thus fruitless, too. They revel in self-pleasure and therefore they teach a gospel which appeals to human flesh.

They are not all preachers, though, but they are ordinary people, as well, who are teaching (sharing) a false gospel of cheapened grace, which is not of God, is not authorized by God, and which does not submit to God (to Jesus Christ) as Lord (master).

And they are posting these messages on the internet in various places such as Christian discussion sites, Facebook, Twitter, and the like. They are also texting them to their friends or to their church members, or they are writing them in blog posts, or they are preaching them in church gatherings.

These messages which are being given out today, in the name of the Lord Jesus, but which are not of God, are literally opposed to God and to His Word, for they are teaching (instructing) the people who profess the name of Jesus to live in open rebellion against the Lord.

Thus, what they are teaching are willful lies which skillfully misrepresent the Lord and His Word, and which teach the people to not listen to God. For, they are teaching them that they don’t have to leave their sins behind them, that they don’t have to obey the Lord, and that they don’t have to surrender their lives to Jesus or submit to his Lordship over their lives.

Attacks on the True Gospel

And then they attack the true gospel with more lies by calling it “works-based salvation,” and they call its messengers those who are teaching that we are saved by our works of the flesh. So, they end up calling lies the truth and truth the lies.

Thus, they accuse those of us who are teaching the truth of being false teachers, or they call us “legalists,” or “hyper-religious,” or “self-righteous,” or even “crazy,” and all because we are telling people the truth that they don’t want to hear, for they prefer the lies.

For, we are telling them that they must repent (forsake their sins), that they must walk in obedience to the Lord’s commands, and that they must submit to Christ as Lord. And we are warning of divine judgment for those who refuse to bow the knee to God in humble submission to his will.

And since the vast majority of people who are professing faith in Jesus Christ are listening to the lies, and are preferring the lies, they are literally rejecting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior although they verbally confess to have faith in him.

For they are not welcoming him, in truth, into their lives to be Lord (owner-master), nor are they accepting the truth of his gospel of salvation as taught in the holy Scriptures. But they are receiving and embracing the lies which tickle their itching ears, which give them permission to live on in their sin.

The Sin Problem

Many of the people of God in Jeremiah’s day were living in open rebellion against the Lord. They would not listen to the Lord or heed his commands. Even though the Lord had sent them his messages through his prophets again and again, the people still refused to listen and to obey.

And this parallels over to today, to those who profess the name of Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Many of them are also not listening to the Lord and they are not obeying his commands, because they have been persuaded that, under God’s grace, they don’t have to obey the Lord.

Even though the Lord has been sending them messages, again and again, through his servants and messengers, they have been refusing to listen, they have been attacking the messengers, and they have hardened their hearts against the truth in favor of the lies.

So, the Lord sent them many warnings, too, of divine judgment, which were written in his Word, and which were taught by his servants and witnesses, who are sharing the gospel of Christ. But they also refused those warnings, and they continued on in their stubborn hearts to live as they want.

And now, I believe, we are seeing the hand of God in judgment against those who profess his name but who refuse to honor him as God, who refuse to bow the knee to him, and who refuse to die to their sins and live to God and to his righteousness.

But I believe God will bring good out of it all, and that, as things get much worse, more people’s eyes are going to be opened to the truth, and some people will begin to repent of their sins and turn their hearts to Jesus Christ to follow him in obedience to his will for their lives.

But for those who still rebel, and who will not submit to Christ as Lord, heaven is not their eternal destiny, but the fires of hell is where they will spend eternity. They will die in their sins because they refused to die with Christ to their sin (Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8).

So, we need to be those who listen to the Lord, who study the Scriptures in context, and who test everything we hear against the word of truth. For, indeed, our faith in Jesus Christ includes us dying with Christ to sin and living to Christ and to his righteousness, and this is the message we need to be giving out so that many will know the truth which will set them free.

[Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-17; Acts 26:18; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 19-20; 1 Corinthians 15:2; 2 Corinthians 5:10, 15, 21; Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1:5-9; 1 John 2:3-6]

He Touched My Mouth

An Original Work / June 13, 2012
Based off Isaiah 6:1-8; Jeremiah 1:4-9

Oh, I saw the Lord seated on His throne,
High and lifted up; Holy is the Lord!
The earth is full of His glory.
“Woe to me,” I cried,
“I’m of unclean lips.”

My Lord touched my mouth
With His cleansing pow’r;
Removed all my guilt, paid for by His blood.
He asked, “Whom shall I send;
Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Before I was born, God set me apart;
He appointed me to His servant be.
I said, “I don’t know how to speak.
I am but a child.” Then, the Lord replied:

“Do not say to me, ‘I am but a child.’
You must go to all, and do what I say.
Do not fear them, for I’m with you.”
My Lord touched my mouth;
Gave me words to say.

17 thoughts on “Those Who Misrepresent God”

  1. GOD knows our story and in the end we all will stand before HIM to give an account. Yes, let’s be very careful and discerning on what we read…….cheap grace is everywhere. Let us live according to BIBLICAL principles. So many are putting it aside today so they can live however they want. But the beautiful thing is that the BIBLE has all the answers on how to live a life full of HIS blessings for us. Let us stand upon HIS word daily!

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  3. I agree Aunt Susan. It’s not by our works but our works and submission and fruit show if we are truly saved. Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. I believe also as things get uglier and uglier a lot of people will repent and turn to the Lord with their whole heart. We can only do any of this by the power of the Holy Spirit inside us. Someone who has not been born again cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Then through the process of sanctification with the Spirit working in and through us we are able to submit, we even delight to submit to Jesus as Lord. The ones who are thirsty for truth, thirsty for righteousness, will be filled. How else can we have fountains inside us springing up into eternal life? Only when we are drinking from living water. All the other stuff out there,the false grace gospel for example is a broken cystern that doesn’t satisfy. I have Jeremiah 29 a couple times recently. I literally said this is going on now. For sure. The bride of Christ is to be pure and have made herself ready. That requires action on her part. It’s not just sitting around watching sermons saying praise God and living like the world. That’s not”set apart” living. We are required to live holy lives, pleasing to God. I love what Paul says to the Corinthians. He says” For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
    2 Corinthians 11:2‭-‬3
    Sincere devotion and pure virgin doesn’t sound like living in sin and presuming upon the grace of God to me. It sounds like having a heart that is devoted to the Lord and His Word. The enemy is subtle in these false grace gospels because there’s some truth in them, just like what he said in the garden. Then Paul goes on to say you happily put up with whatever anyone says, even if they preach a different Jesus, have a different spirit, or a different gospel. We should not put up with it any longer. I thank the Lord He has saved me fr deception and false grace and other gospels over and over. The Lord has given us discernment and His ultimate authority, the Word of God(in context) and His Holy Spirit. This road is much narrower than I thought, but we have that precious grace that enables us to triumph over sin, the flesh, and the enemy. Thank you Jesus.

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    • Yes, Jamie, we are not saved by our own good deeds done in the flesh, but we are saved to good works do done in the Spirit, planned for us by God, that we should walk in them (Eph 2:8-10).

      Yes, it is only by God’s grace through God-given faith that any of us are saved and have eternal life with God, but that faith, because it is from God and it is not human faith, it submits to Christ as Lord, and the believer dies with Christ to sin and is raised with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24).

      And the Scriptures make it clear that we must walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh if we want to have eternal life with God and be saved from our sins. But yes, we can only do this in the power of the Holy Spirit for we can’t walk according to the Spirit in human flesh. It is impossible (Lu 9:23-26; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9).

      The Scriptures teach, too, that we will reap what we sow. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction, but if we sow to please the Spirit, by the Spirit, then from the Spirit we will reap eternal life (Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6, etc.).

      It gets confusing when people view their salvation as a one-time event which guarantees them heaven no matter how they live on this earth. The Scriptures are real clear that our salvation is ongoing, and our faith must be continuous, and our salvation won’t be complete until Jesus returns, so that is why our walk matters for it is what determines if our destiny is hell or heaven.

      Not done in the flesh – impossible. Only in the Spirit, but yes what we do is what reveals whether our faith is genuine or not. Many are going to hear “Depart from me, I never knew you,” because they didn’t believe the Scriptures but they believed what man told them, and they thought they could live in sin and still go to heaven when they die.

      So, we must die with Christ to sin and live with Christ to righteousness, by the Spirit, in the power of God’s Spirit, in surrender to our Lord, in walks of obedience, if we are going to be saved from our sins and have eternal life with God. And, yes, we do have that precious grace of God which enables us to resist the devil and to flee temptation and to draw near to God so that we can triumph over the enemy of our souls. Amen!

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      • Hallelujah! I read your comment out loud Matthew and it was so beautiful. It’s the perfect depiction of human responsibility. Thank you so much for sharing, for your obedience, your light and allowing the truth of God’s word to shine through you. God bless you so much. We just got done praying for you. Love you so much!

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      • Jamie, glory to God! Thank you so much! And thank you for the prayers. They are most appreciated. Please tell Matthew “thank you,” as well. Miss you both! Love you both!! Aunt Susan

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    • It has been a really long time, unless I go back and listen to old sermons by old preachers. There are a few who are still teaching on holiness and against sin, but the majority are saying what tickles itching ears.

      Yes, I agree, I am seeing hearts changing slowly. I am seeing eyes being opened to the truth who are now rejecting the lies. I think the big “C” is getting the attention of some people. I am praying for revival.

      Thank you, PK, for your insights. Most appreciated. God bless you!

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    • Jude verse 4: “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

      Yes! Absolutely!! This is what this is all about. Thank you, PK.

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