1 John 2:26: Those Who Are Trying To Deceive You

1 John 2:26
[26] I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. (ESV)

The Apostle John could easily be referred to as the Apostle of Love.  I often refer to the Apostle Paul as the Apostle of Grace.  Certain authors of the Scripture had a more dominant theme that the Lord gave them to write about.  John loves the church.  He has referred to the recipients of this epistle as "little children," and "beloved."  John loves the church and because he loves, he protects.  He has been writing to protect them from those who were in the church and were false teachers trying to deceive.

As beloved children of God, John's message resonates with us as well.  First of all, we are dearly loved by our Heavenly Father.  Secondly, because our Heavenly Father loves us he wants us to be aware of those who would deceive us.  It is a sad reality that in every church there is likely someone who is willing to be used by the enemy of our souls to bring deception.  We must be aware.  John says that he is writing the things in this letter about those who are deceivers.

There is one thing to understand about deception.  Satan will never show what he is really about at first.  He offers something that is so close to being real that if one is not very careful they are deceived into thinking that they are possessing the real thing.  Satan offers something in place of what God offers.  It is always a lie, and it leads to death.

"As Christ has a Gospel, Satan has a gospel too; the latter being a clever counterfeit of the former. So closely does the gospel of Satan resemble that which it parades, multitudes of the unsaved are deceived by it."
- A.W. Pink

Our walk with Christ is so important.  There are so many in the church that have a lackadaisical approach to their faith.  Church attendance is infrequent.  Prayer is not a part of their daily lives.  They cannot seem to be bothered to read the Word of God.  As a result the church body suffers.  People fall into deception unnecessarily because they were unprepared for the deception of the enemy.

Are you aggressively pursuing the truth of Jesus Christ as revealed in His Word?  Or are you living a dangerous walk with deception.  Draw near to the Lord today.  He loves you so much.  He does not want you to be deceived.