I have some close ties to a religious cult (a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious, and its adherents). When I believed the things they believed, I didn’t consider it to be cultic, and I am sure they don’t, either. It doesn’t change the fact that the gospel they preach and the Jesus they know is “another gospel” and “another Jesus”, like the apostle Paul talks about in his letters to the churches in Corinth and Galatia.

“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. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4)

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-7)

Not knowing who did it (but vaguely suspicious who it was), I was subscribed to a magazine published by, what I think, is an offshoot of a denomination that I left because of the inaccuracy of their handling of scripture. I don’t want to pursue that thought other than to say that the enemy is making sure that deception is abundant everywhere we turn, and the doctrines of demons are prolific! Everywhere!

We are told in Paul’s letter to Timothy, “Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, through the hy0ocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared…” (1 Timothy 4:1-2)

“Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived…” (2 Timothy 3:13)

It is very difficult to see people I love and respect follow down a rabbit trail of lies and deception. And how do I know that I’m not the one being deceived? It is crucial to know that!  –It’s a matter of truth, and being set apart or sanctified by the truth, as Jesus prayed to His Father: “Sanctify them by the truth; your Word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify myself for them. So that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” (John 17:17-19)

 I am reminded of the story of Moses and the introduction of the ten plagues to the Egyptians—three of the signs the Lord performed through Moses and Aaron, the magicians in Egypt were also able to perform. However, there was a limit to what they could do through their sorcery and occult practices. The enemy is limited in his power to deceive, and when we are saturated with the truth of God’s Word and are empowered by the Holy Spirit, the enemy reaches the end of his tether.

There are seven specific (I am sure there are more, but these come to mind as I’m writing) vulnerabilities whereby the enemy can get a foothold of deception in minds:

1. Inadequate or incomplete knowledge of the scriptures. I thought I’d read an article in the magazine I received, and one their “proof” texts, one that was used to substantiate a point they were making, had nothing to do with what they were saying. They just gave the reference and I had to look it up to find out what the verses said—they were trying to get to a place where the scripture wasn’t going! We become vulnerable when people present as facts things that cannot be backed up by the whole of scripture.

• Misuse of Scripture. Currently, with the rampant spread of perversion, many attempt to justify their sin with scripture—a way of doing that is to discredit or deny the relevancy of the Bible today. Although the blatant, obvious sin is offensive to God, so is religious idolatry—which is the basis of legalism. The insidiousness of the misuse of scripture is an attempt by the enemy to bully and intimidate those who sincerely seek to serve Jesus.

• Giving the teaching of others—books, “prophesies”, teachings, sermons, etc.—a significant place in our lives, to the point of becoming as much or more reliant on them, so that, subtly, the Bible takes a lesser place. We often are prone to forget that the Holy Spirit who spoke the Word to faithful men, lives in us today. I’ve seen people giving so much heed to a “prophet” that they cannot see how far they’ve strayed from the Word.

• Mixing truth with lies. It doesn’t take much at all to miss the trajectory of the stars when you are just one degree off in your calculations. When I browsed through the magazine that was sent to me, there were some things printed there that I strongly agree with. The problem was with everything else.

• Deferring to the opinions of others in contrast to having firsthand knowledge. Because of my background, I put a lot of time into Bible study; however, I know that I need to stay current in the Word, reading it, listening to it, spending time with Jesus. I know some very intelligent people, well-educated people who I disagree with. But when it comes right down to it, my confidence is in Jesus, not degrees. I have the Holy Spirit living in me and I have this promise, “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. …The LORD will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life.” Psalm 121:2-3, 7)

• Pride and self-righteousness vs. humility and Christ’s righteousness. My confidence is in Jesus, not in my ability to win an argument. This is tricky, because these qualities cannot be seen, though they do make themselves evident over time. A clue for identifying spiritual pride or self-righteousness is by the words spoken—whether they emphasize what a person can or must do for God in contrast to what Jesus has done for us. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

• Veering away from the simplicity of the gospel. “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV)  It is easy to add to the gospel—Jesus + ….. = salvation, and to get trapped by the idea we need to clean up our lives to come to Jesus. Remember, if we could be sinless by ourselves, we wouldn’t need a Savior. The apostle John reminds us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9)

I’ve noticed that cultic beliefs and “doctrines of demons” come riding in on the backs of fear and condemnation—that is why I keep several verses handy for when they show up:

“…For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

“Now this is His command: that we believe in the Name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commands remains in Him, and He in him. And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He has given us.” (1 John 3:23-24)

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:18-19)

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)