Fun Illusions vs Deadly Illusions
Optical Illusions “work” because the area surrounding the illusion distorts our sense of reality. Some Illusions are fun and harmless. Some illusions are deadly. Satan specializes in deadly illusions, and in John 8;44, he's called "the father of lies.”
3 of Satan’s Deadly Illusions are…
One of the lies that I used to believe was that all religions lead to heaven as long as a person is sincere. I respect people who are sincere, but God doesn’t judge us based on whether or not we’re sincere.
God judges us based on His revealed truth, and Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; and no person can get to heaven except through Me.” (John 14:6).
In other words being religious and doing good works won’t get us to Heaven. The only way we can get to Heaven is by putting our faith in Jesus.
#1 - Being Sincere is What Matters
#3 - You're Too Bad to Be Forgiven
#2 - You're Better than Most People
From a human viewpoint, you might be better that most people, but God isn’t going to judge you based on how you compare with others. He’s going to judge you based on His Holy and Righteous Standard.
If you’ve ever sinned (and we all have), then God says that the penalty for sinning is eternity in Hell. This doesn’t sound fair to me, but I’m not God and I don’t understand how much He hates sin.
(And just to make sure we’re all on the same page, the definition of “sin” is any action or attitude that falls short of God’s Holy and Righteous Standard.)
The Good news is that God has given us a choice. We can either pay the penalty (for sinning) by ourselves, or we can allow someone else to pay it. That “someone else” is Jesus, and God is willing to accept Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for our sins.
In other words, we can either pay for our sins by choosing to spend eternity in hell, or we can pay for our sins by choosing to let Jesus pay the penalty for us.
The Bible tells us that God loved the world so much, that He sent Jesus to die on the cross, and anyone who believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.
I find it ironic that the answer to this lie is the same as the answer to “I’m better than most people.” You see, nobody except Jesus has ever been able to live up to God’s Holy and Righteous Standard.
Based on God’s Laws, everybody deserves to spend eternity in Hell. But Jesus paid this penalty when he died on the cross… and God is willing to accept the death of Jesus as payment for our sins.
This means that no matter how bad you’ve been, you can be 100% forgiven by simply telling God that you want to accept Jesus’ offer to pay the penalty that you owe for your sins.
The Bible says that if you’ll put your trust in Jesus, then you’ll be saved from the penalty of sin.
If you’ve never put your trust in Jesus, then you can do so right now. Tell God that you’re sorry you’ve fallen short of His Holy and Righteous Standard, and that you want Jesus to pay for your sins.
God promises that if you’ll do this, then He will forgive you for your sins.