deceitfulness of sin

God’s sovereignty

God is sovereign and yet human beings are responsible and held accountable for what they do. Paul discussed this in Romans chapter 9 and concluded his discussion with a statement about faith that suggests the intersection between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility is the act of placing one’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul stated about Israel’s unbelief:

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 9:30-33)

The Scripture that Paul quoted is from Isaiah 28:16 and was also quoted by Peter in his first letter, which was addressed “To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion” (1 Peter 1:1). This Scripture is also referenced in Psalm 118:22, which is about God’s steadfast love enduring forever. Peter talked about believers being living stones, a holy people that belong to God, “who were called out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Peter said:

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:1-5)

Speaking of the Dispersion of the Jews, the LORD told Jeremiah that he would restore Israel. He said, “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their land that I gave to their fathers” (Jeremiah 16:14-15). The purpose of the Dispersion was to put an end to Israel’s idolatry (Jeremiah 16:19-20). God said, “Therefore, behold, I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD” (Jeremiah 16:21).

God’s power is signified by an open hand which represents his authority or right of possession (H3027). Speaking of the children of Abraham and of Jacob whom he would redeem, God said they were “the work of my hands” (Isaiah 29:23). God used the demonstration of a potter reworking clay to illustrate his sovereignty to the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 18:1-11 states:

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’”

The people of Judah did not listen to God and were taken into captivity (Jeremiah 39:1-10). Jeremiah prophesied their response to God’s warning when he stated, “But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart’” (Jeremiah 18:12).

God’s sovereignty counteracts the stubbornness of an evil heart by placing the person into a position of submission. The Babylonians ruthless treatment of the Jews made them realize that they needed God’s protection and could not prevail against their enemies without his help. The book of Hebrews contains several warnings about trying to circumvent God’s sovereignty. Hebrews 2:1-3 states, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” A second warning deals directly with the problem of the stubbornness of an evil heart. It states, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end” (Hebrews 3:12-14).

Paul tells us in Romans 14:11-12 that we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and that each one of us will give an account of himself to God. God’s sovereignty makes it necessary for us to conform our will to his because eventually, every knee will have to bow to his authority and have to accept his rulership over our lives. Isaiah 46:8-13 states:

“Remember this and stand firm,
    recall it to mind, you transgressors,
    remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
    and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
    and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
calling a bird of prey from the east,
    the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
    I have purposed, and I will do it.

“Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
    you who are far from righteousness:
I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
    and my salvation will not delay;
I will put salvation in Zion,
    for Israel my glory.”

God is able to declare the end from the beginning and when he says he will do something, we can be certain that it will happen. That is why salvation is not a gamble or something that we have to worry about. God said, “my salvation will not delay” (Isaiah 46:13). What that means for unbelievers and for those who are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin is that today salvation is available to them, but God’s gift of salvation may not be available tomorrow because ample warning has already been given to everyone. Hebrews 3:15-19 states, “As it is said, ‘Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” God is not turning people away or trying to keep certain people out of heaven. People are not getting saved because they have stubborn hearts and don’t want to submit themselves to God’s sovereignty.

An ungodly lifestyle

Paul’s ministry to the Thessalonians was focused on grounding these Gentile believers in the gospel and giving them the appropriate doctrine to live in a manner that was worthy of God (1 Thessalonians 2:12). Paul told the Thessalonians that the word of God was at work in them (1 Thessalonians 2:13) enabling them to live a life that is pleasing to God. Paul said, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8). Paul differentiated the born again Thessalonians from their Gentile past and indicated that God had not called them for impurity, but in holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:7). The Greek word that is translated holiness, hagiasmos (hag-ee-as-mosˊ) is also translated as sanctification in verse 3 of this passage. Holiness is the resultant state produced by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Hagiasmos refers not only to the activity of the Holy Spirit in setting man apart unto salvation and transferring him into the ranks of the redeemed, but also enabling him to be holy even as God is holy (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

The Israelites, who were delivered from slavery in Egypt and given possession of the land that God promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:7), were sanctified or made holy by being set apart to God. The Israelites devotion to God was the basis of this sanctification. When Jeremiah began his ministry, he brought God’s charges against the Israelites. Though they had enjoyed a special relationship with God, the people failed to acknowledge what he had done in the past and had turned instead to idols (note on Jeremiah 2:1-19). Jeremiah 2:1-3 states, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD and the firstfruits of his harvest.”’” The Israelites were devoted to God initially, but as time went on, they became more and more corrupt like the people around them and eventually, forsook the LORD altogether. The extreme sinfulness of God’s people is emphasized in Jeremiah 3:1-4:4 as “both Israel and Judah are characterized as unfaithful wives (Jeremiah 3:1-13) and are urged to return to the Lord (Jeremiah 3:14-4:4)” (note on Jeremiah 3:1-4:4). Jeremiah 3:6-10 states:

The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”

Israel’s ungodly lifestyle was a result of their unbelief. Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that Israel was broken off because of their unbelief and said, if they do not continue in their unbelief they will be grafted in, “for God has the power to graft them in again” (Romans 11:23). It was also explained in the letter to the Hebrews that the people of Israel had become hardened in their sin (Hebrews 3:13). Hebrews 3:12-19 states, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”

Unbelief leads to an ungodly lifestyle because the unbeliever’s heart is attracted to evil rather than that which is pleasing to God. Paul associated sanctification with abstaining from sexual immorality and knowing how to control your own body in holiness and honor (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4). Paul elaborated on the process of sanctification in his letter to the Colossians and described it in terms of putting off the old self and putting on the new self. Paul said believers are to, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful” (Colossians 3:5-15).

God encouraged the unbelieving Israelites to return to him, stating, “Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 3:12-13). Josiah, the king of Judah, who was reigning at the time that this message was delivered to Israel, did turn back to the LORD with all his heart, soul, and strength (2 Kings 23:25; Jeremiah 34:15), but God’s judgment against the Israelites had already been set in motion and shortly after Josiah’s death, Jerusalem was captured by Nebuchadnezzar and the people of Judah taken into captivity (2 Kings 24-25). Jeremiah prophesied about this disaster, stating, “Behold, he comes up like clouds; his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles—woe to us, for we are ruined! O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim. Warn the nations that he is coming; announce to Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah. Like keepers of a field are they against her all around, because she rebelled against me, declares the LORD. Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart’” (Jeremiah 4:13-18).

An ungodly lifestyle originates in the individual’s heart. Jesus explained to his disciples that it was not what they ate that defiled them, “but what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person” (Matthew 15:11). When Peter asked him to explain the meaning of the parable he was using to illustrate his point, Jesus asked, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone” (Matthew 15:16-20).

“The word repent means to ‘turn or to change.’ It is best illustrated by the picture of someone who is walking one way (towards sin) and out of conviction turns 180 degrees in their spiritual heart attitude and heads in the opposite direction of that sinful thought, word, or deed” (Fundamentals, Guilt and Repentance, p. 78). When God encouraged the people of Israel to return to him, he was expecting them to repent or turn from their sin and head in the opposite direction toward him. God said he would not look on them with anger because he is merciful (Jeremiah 3:12). God’s mercy makes it possible for a person to change their ungodly lifestyle into a godly one because it provides a pattern, model, and the strength for the godly person’s life to be directed toward God (H2623). Many of the people that Jesus encountered during his ministry on earth cried out to him for mercy (Matthew 9:27, 15:22, 17:15, 20:30). In his parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus illustrated the difference between an ungodly lifestyle and a godly one. Jesus said:

 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10-14)

Jesus said the tax collector went down to his house justified. The Greek word that is translated justified, dikaioo (dik-ah-yoˊ-o) is spoken of character and means “to declare to be just as one should be, to pronounce right” and is “spoken especially of the justification bestowed by God on men through Christ, in which he is said to regard and treat them as righteous, i.e. to absolve from the consequences of sin and admit to the enjoyment of the divine favor (Romans 3:26, 30; 4:5; 8:30, 33; Galatians 3:8). The tax collector’s statement, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13), is what the LORD was referring to when he told the Israelites, “Only acknowledge your guilt” (Jeremiah 3:13), and then promised, “I will give you shepherds after my own heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding…At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart” (Jeremiah 3:17).

The rebellion

Rebellion against God is a common theme throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Beginning with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:2-7) and concluding with the Antichrist’s battle at Armageddon (Revelation (16:14-16), mankind has continually chosen to rebel against God’s authority. The Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians was dedicated to explaining certain events that must take place before Christ’s return. After discussing the judgment at Christ’s coming, Paul talked about a man of lawlessness that would lead the world in rebellion against God. Paul said:

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)

The rebellion that Paul was referring to was described in detail in Paul’s first letter to Timothy. Paul told Timothy, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth” (1 Timothy 4:1-3). The root cause of rebellion against God is identified as an evil, unbelieving heart in Hebrews 3:12. Hebrews 3:12-14 was a warning to believers about falling away from God. It states, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

The writer of Hebrews pointed to the rebellion of the Israelites after they were delivered from slavery in Egypt as an example of what not to do if you have a relationship with the Lord. Quoting from Psalm 95:7-11, the writer of Hebrews states:

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
    on the day of testing in the wilderness,
where your fathers put me to the test
    and saw my works for forty years.
Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
    they have not known my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath,
    ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” (Hebrews 3:7-11)

The writer of Hebrews indicated that the remedy for a hardened heart was listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. When we ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we go astray in our hearts. The Greek word that is translated go astray, planao (plan-ahˊ-o) is a derivative of the word planos (planˊ-os) which refers to “roving (as a tramp), i.e. (by implication) an imposter or misleader” (G4108). Planos is used in 1 Timothy 4:1 to describe the type of spirits that cause people to depart from their faith. The King James Version translates planos as “seducing spirits.” It states, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1). The implication of this passage is that there is a competition between God and Satan to influence the minds of individuals who have accepted Christ as their Savior. Believers who go astray in their hearts are those who chose to believe Satan’s lies rather than the truth of God’s word. The first instance of this happening was in the Garden of Eden when Eve believed what the serpent told her and ate some of the fruit that God had told Adam would result in death (Genesis 2:17, 3:1-6).

Paul told the believers in Thessalonica that the man of lawlessness who is also known as Antichrist, was being restrained by the Holy Spirit. Paul said, “And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8). “The Holy Spirit is the restraining force in this world, holding back the power of lawlessness and the many ‘antichrists’ existing today (1 John 2:18). Verse 7 does not refer to a departure of the Holy Spirit but to the removal of his restraining power. This will allow Satan and the Antichrist to exercise dominion on the earth, but God will use whatever happens to further his plan in accordance with his own timetable” (note on 2 Thessalonians 2:6, 7). Paul went on to say, “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). Believing the truth of the gospel is what makes it possible for a person to be saved. Not believing the truth, opens the door for Satan to deceive you with a lie.

Jesus said in his parable of the sower that believers fall away because they “have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away” (Luke 8:13). A time of testing is “a state of trial in which God brings His people through adversity and affliction in order to encourage and prove their faith and confidence in Him (1 Corinthians 10:13; James 1:2, 12; 1 Peter 1:6; 2 Peter 2:9)…In the opposite way, man ‘tempts’ God by distrusting Him and complaining to Him (Hebrews 3:8)” (G3986). It is this latter way of falling away, when man tempts God, that the writer of Hebrews was referring to when he said that we should not harden our hearts “as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test, and saw my works for forty years” (Hebrews 3:8-9). The rebellion is about mankind’s unified effort to dethrone God and Satan’s attempt to take his place. John depicted the rebellion as a final showdown in which all hell would break loose (Revelation 16:13-14) and every believer would be tempted to abandon God in order to survive (Revelation 13:16-17). Jesus encouraged his followers to stay awake so that they wouldn’t be tempted to give up. Jesus said, “Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!” (Revelation 16:15).

Jesus often used the phrases stay awake or wake up when he was teaching his disciples to emphasize their need for spiritual help. The Greek term gregoreuo (gray-gor-yooˊ-o) has to do with consciousness or awareness of things going on in a particular realm. Jesus used gregoreuo in his message to the church in Sardis to emphasize their ongoing need for sanctification. Jesus said, “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you” (Revelation 3:1-3). The Greek word that is translated complete in Revelation 3:2, pleroo (play-roˊ-o) means “to make replete” (G4137) and was used by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians in reference to the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19) and of being filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Being complete or your works being complete as a Christian means that you are fully aware of the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in and through you and you are completely conformed to God’s will for your life. This will be especially important in the time of the rebellion because Satan will be doing everything he can to confuse believers and to negate the influence of the Holy Spirit on their minds and hearts.