0
%
of young believers believe all "good people" go to heaven
The Illness: In 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, we were told of a coming deception. And that God would send a strong delusion so that people who didn’t love the truth would believe the deception. And that God’s saints would not be deceived 7
[7] 2 Thes 2:13-14
The Diagnosis: It doesn’t take much discernment to look around our land and understand that something is terribly wrong. It feels like there are many who are deceived. If a doctor were to diagnose the root of our disease, we would be told, “Do not be deceived, evil company corrupts good habits.”1 It was true in the garden when man and woman took the advice of the enemy, and it is true today.
[1] 1 Cor 15:33
The Prescription: But in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, Paul gives a curious command, and connects the command back to whether or not people will be deceived.
In essence, here is what Paul says in verses 13-15: [Yes, there is a deception coming, but] You are chosen by God himself, so it only makes sense that you would not be deceived – because you are chosen, stay on course, making sure to maintain the traditions we gave you, either in writing or verbally.
In other words, maintaining the early traditions is an outward sign that one is not deceived.
Healthy Habits: Here is a pattern of tradition offered throughout the New Testament. Hover over each verse and see if you can’t discover the tradition:
Acts 2:46, Acts 2:47, Acts 5:42, Acts 6:1, Acts 16:5, Acts 17:11, Heb 3:13, Jas 2:15-16
Purging bad habits: The wellness of the church depends upon fathers and mothers guarding themselves and their own children against ungodly doctrine,2 against those who teach it,3 and guarding against ungodliness itself.4 It is in every one’s interest to guard, but many do not understand their own interest 5 and the investment needed to maintain it.6
[2] Psa 1:1;Jer 10:2 [3] 2 Cor 6:14 [4] 1 Pet 2:11;Rev 3:2 [5] Hos 4:6 [6] Luk 14:27-29
Our conviction can be summed up in one word, Community – “Stir up love and good works in one another. To do so, we must assemble together so we can exhort each other in the faith – and we must do so with even greater intensity as we see the Day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:23-25 [paraphrased]
In these United States, the enemy has successfully taken over the systems that educate the church’s most valuable resource: our children. Rather than children spending (literally) 98% of their formative years being taught by and socializing with “evil company”, we should return to early church traditions – meeting and intertwining our lives together far more often than once or twice per week. The church, the whole church, must function as a nation within a nation, and must express herself as such. “And we must do with even greater intensity because we see the Day approaching.” We see Christian community modeled after the earliest of church practice as being a powerful vehicle to help preserve us from the massive waves of ungodliness washing over our country – as well as a vehicle to build the loving relationships that are necessary for a true community.
This is done, in essence, through 3 tangible means: