Discernment Beyond Quoting Scripture

When the Devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he made sure to throw in some scripture to try to confuse him, but Jesus knew the difference between God's Spirit using scripture, and the erroneous spirit of the adversary using them (Mat. 4:5-7). Demons are very well acquainted with the Bible and its content. In fact they know God far better than most of God's people do, and it has been that way throughout history. When Jesus came here, it was the demons who knew him, and God's people that he came to that did not (Mat. 8:28,29; Jn. 1:10,11). The Devil has never abandoned his practice of quoting scripture, and in fact he has successfully influenced most of God's people today to see scripture through his distorted lens, and thereby use scripture erroneously. His version of the faith of Christ, which has come to be known as Christianity, is indeed the other gospel that the apostle Paul both warned the early believers about, and also scolded them for entertaining it (II Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:6,7). But the apostle's warning was not heeded and the congregations that he had established in Christ did indeed turn to the other Jesus and the other gospel that he spoke of, because they listened to supposed ministers who used the scriptures through that distorted lens of Satan (II Tim. 1:15; II Cor. 11:13-15; II Pet. 3:15,16). Friend, that distorted gospel that quickly replaced "the faith that was once delivered to the saints," has only snowballed for the past 1940 years or so, and it is up to you and I to be able to "try them which say they are [ministers], and are not, and [find] them [to be] liars" (Jd. 1:3,4; Rev. 2:2). That is the only way that the body of Christ is going to find its way out of the prison of confusion where it has resided all these centuries, and go back to the only homeland it has ever truly had - the simplicity and pureness of "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17). Amen.