Foundations of Faith: The Nature of Liars

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. After making some rather provocative statements, Jesus asked his disciples if they would turn away from him.

After all, many in the crowd did turn that day. It was Peter who answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. You know, decades after that moment, Peter writes his second letter to believers, warning them about the dangers of listening to false teachers, teachers leading men and women away from the one with the words of eternal life, Jesus of Nazareth. What motivates false teachers to push people from Christ?

And why are so many enticed by their teachings? From our text, 2 Peter 2, 17 through 22, Pastor Rich shares a message titled The Nature of Liars. Let's listen in. This is part four of the message. It was first preached on September 17, 2023 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. I want to talk for a moment about what we have in verse 21.

Probably people have lots of questions about that. You can look with me at verse 21, for it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. To turn back from the holy commandment that was delivered. What is that holy commandment? I take it from Acts chapter 17 in verse 30. This is what Paul says, speaking to the Athenians, God commands all men everywhere to do what? To repent.

That's the command. Paul uses the term when he's writing to the Thessalonians, they are disobedient to the gospel. Those who are under the wrath of God are disobedient to the gospel. The gospel of grace in Jesus Christ is absolutely good news, but it requires your surrender to it.

It requires your surrender. And so you could have someone today, for example, who is associated with Christ and with his church. So going to church, doing church things, being around church people.

You could have someone even practicing spiritual disciplines. In other words, doing all the things a Christian is supposed to do. There's a phrase I love to hate. It's like trying to live the Christian life.

I hate that phrase. You could have someone trying to live the Christian life, doing all the things a Christian is supposed to do. Spending a lot of time around church people, spending a lot of time in church, but all of that can be done without repentance and surrender. And if that state continues, that person will eventually turn back from being associated with Christ and from being with it.

Why? Because it's a difficult way to live. It's keeping up appearances.

It's a very difficult way to live. And it says that they turned back, and he says, It would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. Why would it have been better for them to never know? Because now, having turned back, having tasted of Christ and his church, never surrendered to it, but tasted of it, now they're more firmly seated in unbelief and condemnation. With greater responsibility, because they have rejected the truth. And truth has a name. I'm not talking about concepts. I'm talking about the truth, capital T. This is hard, and this is a polemic against false teachers, but you know, false teachers wouldn't have a job if people weren't following them.

That's what grinds me. False teachers wouldn't have a job if people weren't actually listening to them and following them and making them rich. So I want to leave you today with a question with four possible answers. Why am I a Christian? You call yourself a Christian. I assume if you're in this room, you probably do call yourself a Christian. Why am I a Christian?

Number one, am I a Christian because it's what I've always done or it's what I've always known? It's family. It's heritage.

It's been my culture. I'm not a Christian because I'm not a Muslim. I'm not a Hindu. I'm not a Buddhist. I've always been a Christian. It's just who I am. It's your cultural identity. But the problem is you don't really know what you believe, let alone why you believe it.

And false teachers will lure you into just simply blending in with a culture, albeit with a Christian label. Or number two, am I a Christian because it's what has brought me the most happiness? It's what has brought me the most happiness. I have cleaned my life up. Now I have something to follow.

I've not found any better options yet. So I'm pretty happy being a Christian. It's a pretty good way of life. There's morality.

There's community. It's a good way of life. I've found a lot of happiness in it.

And this is what's brought me the most happiness. And false teachers will entice you into a self-exalting theology where you become a better you. And you can do it with a Christian label. Is that why I'm a Christian? Thirdly, am I a Christian because of the minimal expectations under grace?

Isn't grace wonderful? No rules. We're not under the law.

There are so few. You become a Christian. All these other religions, you have to do this and you have to do that. You have to eat this. You can't eat that. You have to dress this way.

You can't do this on certain days. And all these rules and under the grace of God, we're just free. We can do whatever we want to. And I like being a Christian because there's so few expectations. And what that has turned into is what some have called moralistic therapeutic deism. Where God is just simply a God who's up there and He just wants me to be happy and nice. And as long as I'm happy and nice, things are good.

I'm a good Christian. False teachers will entice you into believing that it doesn't matter what you do with your body. That's not so important. What's important is what you know. This is what false teachers capitalize on.

Or, lastly, today, we'll end with this. Am I a Christian because Jesus alone has the words of eternal life and I have surrendered to Him? It's recorded in John chapter 2 where people were really attracted to Jesus because He was doing some wonderful things. He was making life better for some people. And it was attracting the crowds. He was healing people and casting out demons and people were just drawn to Him.

And the crowd rose up and said, we need to make this man king over us. And it says many people wanted to follow Him. It uses the word believed in Him. But then what does it say in verse 24?

It says Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them because He knew all men. Have I surrendered to the one who alone is truth, the one who is my Creator, my Redeemer? Have I surrendered to Him?

Or do I just want His stuff? This has not been an easy message to preach, but I think it's a very necessary one. And I thank you for your attention.

There may be some here this morning who say, Rich, I have some questions about what you're saying. Happy, I'm happy to engage. I want to. And so I invite your questions. But I want you to know one thing for sure. We will be faithful to the word of God.

There's no turning from that. Because if we do, we might as well just close our doors because we're wasting our time. So these questions that I've, this question that I have presented you with this morning, I ask you to take it seriously. Why do I call myself a Christian? Because if your answer is numbers one, two, or three, you are very vulnerable to being carried away by false teachers.

Because something's going to come along that will look more fulfilling or more attractive or nicer even. So my challenge to you this morning is, is number four your answer? Has there been a surrender in faith to the one who made you and died for you and rose again so that you could live? Father, these are true words. They are difficult words. And particularly in our context today where these words are deemed hateful.

They're deemed condemning. But, Father, these are the words of eternal life. And we know, Father, that in the end, truth is the kindest thing to say to others. So, Father, I pray that you would find us to be people of truth, find us to be people of grace. I pray that you would find in our hearts a surrender to you, Father. That we will not be seeking to be comforted or affirmed in our sin, but that we would surrender ourselves to Jesus Christ and pursue his character and his purpose. Work in our hearts, I pray this morning, Father, that Christ would be magnified, that you would be glorified. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in him. The one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on Weekdays at 10 a.m.