In the Depth of Deceit, there is Hope.

        With all of the turmoil that has happened this past weekend, many folks have decided to 

give their input on what they believe the problem is.  Many have suggested that the issue lies

within gun control laws.  Many have suggested that the issue lies within the problem of radical

Islam.  Others have suggested that the issue lies within the hate crimes against the LGBT

community.


What this boils down to is people are looking for something or someone to blame it on.  What 

appalls me the most about this issue is that no one seems to be blaming the shooter himself.

Instead, citizens are trying to again pass the buck, looking for a "deeper root" of the problem.

This is a huge layer of deceit, brought on by the enemy himself, Satan.

Many people, even Christians have become afraid to even mention that we could be deceived by 

Satan and we would like to think that our train of thought is on the right track.  How quickly

though have we forgotten who the real battle is with.  Ephesian 6:12 states, 

"12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."

So, you may be asking, "What have we been deceived to think then?"

Society today has been deceived to try to pass the blame onto something else and not take

personal accountability nor hold anyone personally accountable.  We are foolish if we think 

that any of us are without sin.  In 1 John 1:7-9 it states,

7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We need to hold ourselves accountable as well as others.  "Passing the buck" does not work.

This has been an enemy tactic since the beginning of time.   In Genesis 3:11-13 it states,

11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

These Scriptures give us the sad tale of "passing the buck" since the beginning of time.  When

Adam was confronted with his sin, he blamed others.  In fact, he did not just put blame on the 

woman Eve but ultimately he passed blame onto God Himself stating, "The woman whom YOU 

gave."  

So, what am I saying that we are ignoring?  We are ignoring the true root of the problem.  Sin.

Sin resides in the hearts of all men and has since we fell in the garden.  The only solution for the 

sin problem is through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The solution to the sin problem is not restricting and banning guns.  Sinful people with a heart 

to do evil will still find guns to do evil with if that's what they choose.

The solution is not to ban certain people like the Muslims from living amongst us.  Muslims will 

still exist and people who believe in pagan gods will still exist.   Jesus Christ Himself walked 

among Roman's who believed in paganism.

What then is the solution?

We as the Church, the Bible believing, born again Christians, need to do what we were called to 

do.  We need to hold ourselves accountable and we need to finally get off our lazy butts and 

spread the message of Jesus Christ.

We live in a time where we can spread the true gospel of Jesus Christ in many ways and yet we 

don't take advantage of it.

We need to stop just talking about it as well and we finally need to step up and begin sharing 

the gospel.

If we share the gospel, lives will be transformed.

Sinners who once thought of using guns in an evil way would then use them in a responsible way.

Sinners who were once caught up in the lie of Islam, would turn to the true Savior in Jesus

Christ.

Sinners who were once caught up in the sin of homosexuality would be free from it's perverse 

thinking and would find love and acceptance in the arms of Jesus.

So, what is the gospel?

I find it appalling how many Christians don't know how to answer this.

Well, here is the Gospel.  Feel free to share this.  It's not a message I created.  It's a love letter, that God created.

1.  Understand that God loves you.

The Bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, [Jesus Christ], that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” — a complete life full of purpose (John 10:10).

2.  We need to realize, and that includes both you and I, that we are sinful, we have been disobedient to God and because of that, we are separated from Him.  It includes all sin from the "little white lies" to even our own unbelief.

We have all done, thought or said bad things, which the Bible calls “sin.” The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

The result of sin is death, spiritual separation from God (Romans 6:23).

So, what's this gospel, this "good news" then?

3. God sent His Son Jesus, to die in place of you, for your sins.

Jesus died in our place so we could live with Him in eternity.

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

But it didn’t end with His death on the cross. He rose again and still lives!

That's the simple message.  Would you like to receive salvation from the death penalty of sin?  I want you to understand something.

We can’t earn salvation; we are saved by God’s grace when we have faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. All you have to do is believe you are a sinner, that Christ died for your sins, and ask His forgiveness. Then turn from your sins—that’s called repentance. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

It is only through what Christ has done that will save you.  Jesus Christ knows you and loves you. What matters to Him is the attitude of your heart, your honesty. 

The majority of the time, you are given a sample prayer to pray through.  I'm not going to give you that.  There are no precise "magic words" that you say in prayer that will earn you salvation.  It is a gift of God.  If you feel the calling of the Lord today, simply open your heart up to Him in prayer.  Tell Him that you realize that you are a lost sinner without Him and are in desperate need of His salvation.  He'll hear you, and He'll save you.

If you reached to Christ for salvation today, I would love to hear from you.  I love to rejoice just as the angels do when a new brother or sister in Christ joins the family.

I will be here to love you, encourage you, and help you in anyway I can.  Email me at josiah@simplyscripture.org and let me know.

In awe of the Lord Jesus Christ.