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How Satan Uses Faith to Deceive

How Satan Uses Faith to Deceive

When you hear the word faith, what do you understand it to mean?

Dictionary.com offers multiple meanings for this word; here are a few:

  1. confidence or trust in a person or thing
  2. belief that is not based on proof
  3. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion
  4. belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.
  5. a system of religious belief

Does your understanding of faith incorporate all of these definitions? Do you understand faith to be confidence and trust in God, the doctrines and teachings of the Bible, God’s law, His code of conduct that results in certain religious beliefs and duties, all of which are to be believed in without proof—taken “on faith,” without evidence, because God in the Bible said so?

Sadly, this way of understanding faith is exactly how Satan deceives people with faith. Faith, many think, is believing what is contrary to evidence, what one’s better judgment says shouldn’t be believed, what we do not have evidence or proof of—often called blind faith, believing with a mind closed to evidence, facts, and truth.

I remember reading in a Bible study guide many years ago a description of faith that went like this: “We don’t need faith to believe the sky is over our head because we can look up and see the sky; we need faith to believe in the God who lives beyond the sky because we can’t see Him.”

I immediately thought, “Well, if that is an accurate description of faith, then does that mean when Jesus comes again and we meet Him face to face, we will say to Him, ‘Jesus, before you came back, I used to have faith in you, but now that I have seen you with my own eyes, I no longer have faith in you’?” Of course not! When we meet Jesus in person, our faith will explode exponentially as we get to know Him even better than we do now.

Genuine faith is based upon reality, upon truth, upon evidence, upon facts, and upon experience. It is the only way to have actual confidence, trust, faith. Any concepts of faith that are not based in reality are tricks that deceive.

Recently, I read the following in another Bible study guide:

An unusual characteristic of the opening scene of the Gospel of Mark is that Jesus is presented as a character with both divinity and humanity. On the side of divinity: He is the Christ, the Messiah (Mark 1:1), the Lord announced by a messenger (Mark 1:2, 3), mightier than John (Mark 1:7), the beloved Son on whom the Spirit descends (Mark 1:10, 11). But on the side of humanity, we see the following: He is baptized by John (not the other way around, Mark 1:9), He is driven by the Spirit (Mark 1:12), tempted by Satan (Mark 1:13), with wild animals (Mark 1:13), and ministered to by angels (Mark 1:13).

Why these contrasts? This points to the amazing reality of Christ, our Lord and Savior, our God, and yet also a human being, our brother and our example. How do we fully wrap our minds around this idea? We can’t. But we accept it on faith and marvel at what this truth reveals to us about God’s love for humanity (SDA Adult SS Guide, 3rd Q 2024, The Book of Mark p. 10, emphasis mine).

What do you understand this to be saying? What is the message? Is it, “While God is infinite and we can never fully comprehend Him, we are still expected to think, reason, and understand to the fullest extent possible, and our comprehension of and appreciation for God will grow through all eternity”? Or did you hear, “God’s ways are beyond our ability to comprehend, so we don’t think about them—we just accept them on faith without seeking to understand”?

I really dislike the merger of a truth with an action that is against God’s desire for us, against God’s methods and principles, as is done in the quoted paragraphs above.

The truth is that we cannot fully wrap our minds around Jesus’ incarnation—we cannot fully comprehend God. That is true. But that does not mean we cannot comprehend and understand many things about God, His character, methods, nature, motives, design laws, and aspects of His sacrifice, and grow in our understanding through time.

In fact, Jesus said He wants us to understand, that He wants us to be His friends who do understand and not be unthinking servants who simply obey because the master said so (John 15:15).

This argument that faith is belief without thinking, without understanding, without evidence, really bothers me because it presents itself as virtuous, as righteous, as a good thing, as pious, holy, saintly, meek, and humble—but it is actually none of those things. It is a deception that keeps people from knowing the truth for themselves; it prevents people from understanding and being set free by the truth.

Satan has no truth on his side, so he must get people to accept and believe things based on “faith” without understanding, without comprehension, to believe things that are not supported by evidence, things that are irrational and unreasonable—which is why they cannot be thought about—because if thought about, one would see the lie. So people are taught, “Don’t question, don’t think; that would be a lack of faith—just believe.”

But while we cannot fully comprehend the things of God, we can understand much about why this contrast between Jesus’ humanity and divinity is recorded in Scripture. This contrast is there, inspired by God and written by Mark, because our salvation requires both to be true. Our salvation requires that Jesus be fully human in order to save the species God created in Eden. (See Salvation and the Cleansing of Our Spirits Part 1 and Part 2.) But Jesus also had to be fully God in order to address the lies Satan told about God that started the war in heaven, deceived angels, and then deceived Adam and Eve. Both must be fully true in order to save humanity and also bring an end to the cosmic war over God’s trustworthiness.

So, it is quite understandable why both are presented and necessary. Jesus is God who became fully human. In His humanity was the merger of two lives, or life-forces, or spirits—the breath of life, or spirit, breathed into Adam, which Adam corrupted with sin, and the Holy Spirit, who was the Father of Jesus’ humanity. In Jesus, the spirit of fear inherited from Adam was opposed, overcome, eradicated, and replaced with the spirit of love, truth, and holiness, becoming the new life source for humanity—connecting humanity back to God, the source of all life. And when we are converted, won to trust, we surrender our old life, our old spirit of fear and selfishness, and receive the indwelling Holy Spirit, who imparts in us a new spirit of love and trust that comes from Jesus (2 Timothy 1:7). We are reborn with new motives and desires and become part of the family of heaven (John 1:12, 13; Romans 8:14–17; Galatians 3:26).

But we are able to grow in the knowledge of God only when we have a living faith, a faith that is built upon the truth, a faith that requires us to think, reason, comprehend, a faith that is evidence-based—a reality-based, enlightened faith—and we reject the lie that faith is believing blindly, believing without evidence, suspending our thinking and believing based on claims, proclamations, and statements from voices of authority.

I invite you to a life of genuine faith, trust, confidence in God, which is based upon the truth, the evidence, the reality of who God is as revealed in Christ—the God who calls you to come and reason with Him and to be cleansed of sin (Isaiah 1:18), who wants every person to be fully persuaded in their own mind (Romans 14:5), which requires we think and reason and choose the truth for ourselves. Then we can grow up to be mature friends of Jesus (John 15:15) who are able to discern the right from the wrong (Hebrews 5:14) because we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).

Don’t be fooled! Genuine faith enlightens the mind; it never shuts down thinking.

 

 

 

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Testimony 62

I would like to express my thanks to the C&R team for creating a platform from which people can learn to trust in God and grow. My life is a witness to the effectiveness of this ministry. Without believing the truth about God as you have shown, I don’t know what my life would be like. I had given up on God helping me with certain sins – it was all useless. Given that the scripture is clear and God is so good, how could I have betrayed him so many times? I was a yo-yo christian; spinning up and down. My faith and enthusiasm was driven by discoveries/threats that prophecy is about to be fulfilled. But when I watched your “Healing the Mind” seminar, it was like a light finally went on. I could see God had no plan to hurt me, the danger came from sin, and that He is working to protect me and strengthen me. Thank you for allowing God to use you. The message God gave C&R saved my life!

Antony N. – Hobart, Australia

 

Testimony 23

I would just like to add my voice to the many people who, I believe, must have contacted you to express their appreciation for the “Healing the Mind” DVDs. I’ve been listening to your Bible study class discussions for many years and I’ve been personally blessed by your research and teaching about the character of God.

L. G., Oakland, MI, USA

 

Testimony 43

Two years ago I stumbled upon your book, “Could It Be This Simple,” and then found “The God-Shaped Brain” videos on YouTube, your bible study class, and the ‘Come And Reason’ mobile app. I shared your book with a friend and after nine months of showing love, patience, and kindness this person has been changed by the love of God, too. The same love that healed me, I now express to other women in tangible ways, such as to a Baptist woman with high anxiety and childhood trauma. She was extremely happy and relieved when I shared about the so-called “judgment of God” and burning in hell. She had no desire to serve a God that was so harsh. I have repeated the phrase dozens of times to her. “What we believe has power over us, but we have power over what we believe…”

This message that you are sharing has changed my life. I will continue to serve other women and bring this message of God’s healing love to their lives by sharing your books, YouTube videos, and The Remedy Bible app. Keep up the good work. Don’t be discouraged. God is doing a mighty work in and through this ministry!

Jill L., Midwest, USA

 

Testimony 8

Thank you for the ministry you are sharing with us, it is a real blessing to us and especially to my husband and myself! You are encouraging us to think for ourselves and not just to except everything, without thinking it through, with God’s word!

M.K., USA

 

Testimony 46

Over the past couple of years God has been expanding my view of Himself and His character. Along my approximately 40-year journey, I have often had questions, but was hesitant to voice these and step outside the traditionally accepted thinking, for fear of admitting that I may in fact be eternally lost. In the recesses of my thinking has been the thought – if one blindly accepts (which is widely regarded as “real faith”) and does not question, is this really ‘truth?’ I often find it challenging to grapple with very theological ‘speak,’ but Dr. Jennings has a real gift of explaining spiritual concepts with clear practical examples. The weekly discussions are growing my Christian experience and slowly changing my view of how to live as a child of God in today’s complex world. Finally the whole Old Testament sanctuary teaching moved in my mind from fantasy to reality!

Beverly S., South Africa

 

Testimony 19

I truly believe that to know who God really is the first step to understand ourselves in a balanced and kind way, so the healing can take place. Your approach really makes sense – Thank you for your ministry!

A.M., Pittsburg, PA, USA

Testimony 42

I am just writing to say that I have been so blessed by the teachings of Come And Reason Minitries recently. I watched last week’s bible study lesson on Youtube and am thankful that the error in the printed lesson guide you use was pointed out and this week’s study was of equal benefit, if not more so. My understanding of God’s nature has been very confused of late and I am so grateful for clarity in this matter. I have never really fully understood previously how a good God can cause bad things to happen and now I realise that He doesn’t, it’s a natural consequence of sin. May the almighty Father and His Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, continue to bless your ministry.

Laura P., United Kingdom

 

Testimony 7

Ok, so last night I listened to “The Law of Liberty” and “How to Achieve Victory: Freedom, Truth and Spirtual Warfare.” These are both MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITES so far! The logic is just soooooo beautiful. I had to re-listen to them a couple of times. I just want to EXPLODE! (<< we assume with joy and happiness)

N. B., Canada

 

Testimony 37

Hearing Dr. Jennings’ presentations in person came at a pivotal moment in my spiritual journey that began about nine months ago, when the fault lines inherent in my belief system began to crack under questions that most reasonable people end up asking about God and His nature. These were questions I couldn’t find answers to, and they shook my faith. I was unable let it go any longer and be satisfied. My Christian experience became distant. I was afraid; the fear in me rose like thorns, pushing me away from Jesus. And then someone heard my questions and introduced me to this ministry, and my life has totally changed.

I can tell you that this new, “present truth” message is far grander and life-changing than when I shifted from being an agnostic and then a nominal Christian. It has radically altered my worldview, because it reveals a God that makes sense. It is a revolution. I believe that Dr. Jennings’ message is the final message that must go to the world. If any message could be called “righteousness by faith,” as abused as that term is by the right and the left, this is that message, because Jennings’ biblical message identifies a God who is different, whose character isn’t an impossible contradiction.

I walk this path now without fear. I see people differently, and the Holy Spirit burns in my heart. Many call Dr. Jennings’ message false and compromising, but it isn’t false, because I’ve seen the fruits within my mind and body. It is not compromising, because in this message is the only road to holiness that makes any sense. No longer do I behold a pagan god who is always angry and suspicious. Instead, I behold a God who is freeing and loving, always working for our good, and giving me every reason to love my enemy even to my own death, just as Jesus pleads with us. God is good.

Anthony L., CA, USA

 

Testimony 52

Your unique way in spreading the truth is what we all need today. Most of us don’t recognize the contamination coming from all the lies and selfishness in the world. Because of our fear of death, we forgot how to live. Lies left and right. I was losing hope and faith, because of so many ideas that are always contradicting each other – so many questions answered by other, more complicated, questions – until I found your channel on YouTube.

You did not just give me answers, you also taught me how to answer new questions that arise in my mind. Now I see things differently. I see God’s mercy, grace, and Love everywhere, in spite of all the chaos that we all have done as humans. I don’t fear death anymore. Accepting the Truth and Love about God is truly a genuine Freedom from all the confusions, sufferings, selfishness, pain, and death.

I just wanted to say, thank you, sooooo much for revealing the real Remedy for our infected life. I have a new hope and now see the world in a different perspective!

Wheinny P., University Place, WA, USA

 

Testimony 51

I Love This Ministry!!!!!!! I see first hand how this message is desperately needed, how erroneous beliefs about God and His Character negatively affect humanity at every level. I thank God for your ministry, as I was searching on my own and was discovering some of your same beliefs and was blown away when I found your ministry. I know you hear it all the time, but it is truly life changing. May God continue to reveal His Will to you and Bless you!

Eric S., Sanford, FL, USA

 

Testimony 45

I have been confused for years about what [christianity] calls [its] most disgusting teaching. It has never made much sense to me and for that reason has been evermore empty. I have listened to your class off and on and have struggled determining what is truth, because of the resistance design law encounters in the church. So, I thank God for your ministry. What you teach makes sense. It’s logical and backed up by the power of love. I have never seen that in Christ until now. I am astounded by the insight that is found when we look at God’s ministry through design law. All strength to this message, as I believe it to be the power of God.

Brendon S.

 

Testimony 26

Your teachings about our heavenly Father have changed my life. Thank you sooooooo very very much! I know He’s doing some serious healing in my heart and life and I look forward to each new day to learn something new about Him and to just hear you speak about Him. Thank you, forever.

Nancy S.

 

Testimony 41

I have been blessed by your ministry. I have experienced personally, and deeply resonate with, the God of love and the beautiful picture of God’s character that you present. I have seen your seminar series on YouTube, read ‘The Journal of the Watcher’ book, used your mobile app, and also listen/study the bible study lesson with you each week. I concur with many of the thoughts and perspectives that you share. I understand your conclusions on natural laws vs imposed law and the legal/penal substitution (incorrect diagnosis). This makes perfect sense to me.

Bless you for all you do.

Melissa L.

 

Testimony 53

I was so blessed by a friend who gave me your book, “The God Shaped Brain,” while I was sitting in church asking God to please help me learn more about Him and help me not to be so confused and scared. That was about 2 years ago. Your books have helped me to love God even more. I’m not confused or scared anymore! I have listened to all of your bible study classes and feel like I know the wonderful people that attend every week. Thank you for all that you’re doing in spreading the true message about God and His law of love. God bless you and your whole class.

Elssy P., Modesto, CA, USA