By Connie Giordano
Do you know of a person who has fallen away from the truth?
Which lies of Satan had this individual grabbed a hold of?
What about you? Are you eating the “fruit of lies?” (Hosea 10:13)
James 1:16 exhorts us as believers: “Do not err, my beloved brethren.”
After discussing sin and its source in James 1:13-5, the Apostle then warns the brethren against all error.
What possible error were they facing?
They were tempted to believe that God was the author of sin.
Sin has its source in the heart of man. A man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts. To attribute the temptation to sin to God is total error. He can never tempt anyone to do evil.
It is so important that we believe correctly. If we should lay hold of just one lie of the devil, it will cause us to go astray. That is exactly what the word “err” means.
James warns: “Do not err …” In other words, do not fall away from the truth, be led aside from the path of virtue or the right way, or wander.
Notice the definition includes both going astray from the Truth and from the path of virtue. Both go hand-in-hand.
The Apostle James was saying so much in this one simple statement. If we should believe the lie of the devil that God, at times, temps people to sin, then we will automatically drift from the Truth of His Word. In fact, if we should believe any lie of the devil, the same effect results.
Why do people backslide in the first place?
If we would trace a person’s life to where he or she began to stray, we would see that that individual laid hold of some lie of the devil. The adulterer believes that he deserves someone better than his wife – or maybe that he and his wife were never meant for each other. The homosexual believes that he was born with such deviate tendencies. The drunkard believes that a few drinks won’t hurt anyone. In fact, he needs a drink to take away stress. The gambler says the gambling is no big deal. What’s wrong with playing the lotto? After all if he wins big, he can tithe big! The list of lies goes on and on.
How important is it that we stay in the Truth?
We must study God‘s word for ourselves and never accept any man’s word without first lining it up with the Scriptures. If we do, we will never err …
This article was printed in Issue No. 20 of Overcoming Life. Limited quantities of back issues are available for $5 each. Click here to order a back issue.
