A lot of people in the Christian circles these days don't really know the Bible. Many Christians seem to think that their heart is NOT evil and no matter what they do or how they live their lives they are fine with God. Such Biblical neophytes easily fall prey to false doctrines as they seek to craft a comfortable lifestyle religion for themselves. One of the essentials of a self-designed religion is to never mention or confront repentance or sin because such things upset people. No one wants to hear that God might be planning to pronounce judgement or level punishment on sinners and slackers.
Such self-styled false teachings only perpetuate carnal desires to the extent that some begin to believe “anything goes” behaviors are actually okay with God. Some even go so far as to convince themselves that God has no other purpose than to make them happy and fill their life with nothing but good things... on their terms. this thinking, becomes the theology by which so-called christians live their lives. the bible and its absolute truths are discounted, distorted and perverted into something that suits a life out of harmony with the commands of Christ and holy living.
Jesus used powerful words as rebuttal to the Pharisees as they tried to argue for a perverted interpretation of God’s truths. He said in Matthew15:18-20... “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person...”
What comes out of your mouth... what you say suggests what you think, what you believe and what you will do in life... and all of it comes from the heart. The heart can trick you into thinking something other than what you should be thinking which determines what you will be doing in life. The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
Here is the problem with the human heart: It is a poor student of the Word of God! It will take God's plain truth and twist it, change it and rearrange it to make it fit into a box that is pleasing to one’s lifestyle. All you have to do is find a version of the Bible that reads the right way, find you a preacher or teacher who explains it like you want to hear it, and you will condition your heart to an interpretation of God’s Word that lines up with your lifestyle.
In effect, this is nothing more than humanism with a “biblical varnish” applied to make it look and sound religious. It allows man to live as he pleases without regard for what God says about any matter. As long as you can justify it, then you are all set.
When you live with this kind of deceived heart, you are forfeiting God's best for your life. Until we can come to the place where we can silence our hearts carnal desires and take God's Word as our standard for living, retrain and discipline ourselves, we will never be all He wants us to be! We will always be trying to claim His promises by our own efforts in our own unholy ways. We will always be trying to live to our own standards. We will always be living lives that claim to please God, but that really only please self!
