I open with this warning: As you read God’s Word, you are going to learn God’s truth. However, the truths you will discover from the Bible will do you absolutely no good. Yes, you are hearing me correctly. The truths that God reveals to you within His Word are totally worthless IF they are not immediately put into practice.
Welcome to the Point of Purity Podcast! I’m your host Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #175 . This week’s Episode asks the question “Have You Been Deceived?”
Focus with me for just a moment upon these next few verses. Listen closely as I read them to you.
(1 Thessalonians 2:13 NLT) “Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God – which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.”
(2 Timothy 2:15 ESV) “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
And (2 Samuel 7:28a NASB’95) “Now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth.”
Now, let me repeat the warning I issued at the onset of this episode: As you read God’s Word, you are going to learn God’s truth – that’s a fact. However, (watch this now) the truths you discover from the Bible will do you absolutely no good. Yes, you are hearing me correctly. The truths that God reveals to you within His Word are totally worthless IF they are not immediately put into practice. (if you’d like to dig deeper into this principle, let me encourage you to read Chapter Two of my book “Extreme Mind Makeover: How to Transform Sinful Thoughts and Habits”)
In a previous episode we discovered from Scripture that God admonishes us to build our life upon a solid foundation. We are to be like the man of Luke 6:48 “who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” (compare with 1 Corinthians 3:11). Jesus said in Matthew 7:24 that the person who is considered by God to be truly wise is the one who chooses not only to listen to God’s Word, but immediately apply it – daily doing what it says. Here's my point: Living a godly life that glorifies The Lord is realized only when you daily (moment-by-moment) choose to do the truth, not just hear it.
(James 1:22 NLT) “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”
(Romans 2:13 ESV) “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.”
(Luke 6:46 NLT) Jesus asks, “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?”
(Luke 11:28 NLT) “Jesus replied, ‘But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”
Watch this now: Reading or hearing God’s Word is good, but it is not enough. God requires more. He expects us to correctly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). When you choose to read Scripture; when you choose to listen to what God is saying and you then adapt and adjust your life according to what God says, then you are correctly handling the word of truth and you are being genuinely godly. This is when God considers you to be a wise builder.
(James 1:22-25 NASB’95) “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”
I want you to seriously consider James’ warning in verse 22; “prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” In this verse, James is referring to letting God’s Word go in one ear and out the other, “hearing” what God is saying but not allowing the truth of Scripture sink in to the point where you are actually moved to DO something about what the Sprit is revealing to you. The term James uses for “Merely hearers” means you are hearing the words, considering them for a brief moment, and then promptly dismissing them as unimportant in the moment or not pertaining to you specifically. In Matthew 7, Jesus called that kind of person a “foolish man” (a moron – Matthew 7:26).
James is telling us that if you merely listen to God’s Word you will be deceived. Let me be quick to point out here that James is not saying that Scripture itself is what will deceive you. To deceive means to lie to; to cause to believe something that is untrue. As we have already established in previous episodes, God is Truth (John 14:6; Numbers 23:19) therefore God’s Word is absolute Truth absolutely (John 17:17; 1 John 2:21). Just hearing the Word of God, taking a brief moment to consider what God is saying, then choosing to dismiss it as unimportant or not pertinent, causes the deception.
“Oh, I would never do that!” exclaims the well-intentioned Christian. “I love going to church and hearing the pastor preach from the Word. I truly enjoy opening my devotional book every morning at breakfast and having a little quiet time with the Lord.” OK. Good! I hear you loud and clear. But let me ask you this: When you hear the verses of Scripture being read and expounded upon in the sermon, or you open your Bible to the verses associated with the devotional for the day, are God’s words going in one proverbial ear and out the other?
Sometimes, as the Scripture is read, your heart may ache with conviction. Other times it may pound with excitement. Or you may find at times that you are indifferent. No matter what your response, it is vital that you realize God is speaking directly to your heart about your life and how you should be living it 100% for Him. You need to take those words and choose right then and there to immediately apply them to your moment-by-moment living. If you do not, James is stressing that you are merely listening to God’s Word and thus you are being deceived.
The verb “to deceive,” as James uses it here, literally means to think wrongly. Sure, you take the time to contemplate something, yet you draw a false assumption about it. When we choose to just listen to the Word of God, we are taking mental note of what God is saying and yet we are coming to wrong conclusions about it because we are believing something to be true that is not.
Let me explain it this way: The deception happens when you hear what God is saying and yet mistakenly determine it does not apply to you, or that you don’t need to do anything about it at this moment in time. You are being deceived. You are believing something to be true that is not. It’s like a builder that looks at the blueprints and then decides he doesn’t need them – his house will stand just fine on its own. Yes, it very well might stand – for a while, which simply adds to the deception that all is well. Until the storms of life arrive – then WHAM! Down it goes (Matthew 7:24-27).
To prevent this deception from happening, we must choose to actively and immediately put into action the things we hear from and see in God’s Word. We must choose to live it out daily. When you say you believe the Scripture to be true, but your actions prove otherwise, you are that moron (the foolish man of Matthew 7) choosing to build his house on the sand – deceived into believing his home will stand even in the fiercest storm.
You cannot, you must not merely listen to God’s Word and then go merrily on your deceived little way. You must choose daily to do what God says. Note James’ use of the words “do” and “doer” in verses 22 and 23. They carry the idea that you are putting in the required effort. You are actually making something happen. You are not merely listening to God’s Word; you are taking what it says, applying it to your life, and making it happen. You are the wise builder of Matthew 7.
As we conclude this week’s episode, I’d like to take just a moment and give you a glimpse into our ministry. You see, we do a whole lot more here at The Pure Man Ministry than just producing a weekly podcast. We have a free APP entitled “My Purity Coach.” This app is chocked full of powerful tools to help you in your walk of purity. You’ll find tons of Scripture. Audio and video lessons from the Bible. You listen to this podcast from the app. You can even watch the globally acclaimed video series called “The Chosen” from this app!
If you’re a subscriber to this podcast, then you’ve heard me talk about our “Point of Purity Program” – a 12 week, 1-on-1, Bible-Centered coaching program taking you deep into Scripture to teach you how to develop a lifelong strategic plan for sexual purity. I’ve also talked on this podcast about the various books I have written which are all available both on my website (ThePurityCoach.com) and on Amazon.
The Pure Man Ministry is a faith-based, donor-supported ministry. Every aspect of our ministry from the website, to the podcasts, to the conferences, to the free APP, to the books I’ve written, and especially our 12-week Point of Purity Program (all of it) is only made possible by our team of ministry partners who faithfully support this ministry financially.
Without compromise The Pure Man Ministry shows men and women across the globe how to have a continuous relationship with Jesus that is real and personal. To that end we need ongoing financial assistance from partners like you who are committed to helping provide the hope and help men and women across the globe desperately need in order to win their personal battle against the beast of sexual impurity.
To that end I am personally inviting you to join us as we continue to impact our world by equipping and training men and women how-to live-in purity, godliness, and integrity. To give your tax deductible gift to this ministry today, simply go to ThePurityCoach.com and click on the Donate button in the upper right corner. And thank you for partnering with us!
And if you haven’t subscribed to this podcast yet, let me encourage you to do so today so you won’t miss any of our upcoming episodes!
So, until next time this is Author, Speaker, Certified Professional MentorTM and Purity Coach Steve Etner reminding you that if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living, He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking.
