Fake?
Some well-intentioned but sadly mistaken teachers have misconstrued Paul’s words in 2 Thessalonians about the coming of the lawless one.
They desire to take verse 9 in that chapter and apply it to anyone who walks in the power of the Holy Spirit and sees miracles, healings, signs, or wonders in Jesus’ name. They teach that those doing such things are in error, and some even claim that they might be heretical.
They seem to ignore verses 10 -12, which speak of not believing the truth concerning righteousness and not being saved. It speaks of people given to the error of the lawless one because they had pleasure in unrighteousness. This kind of language was used in other places regarding merely religious people who trusted more in themselves and their ability to obtain righteousness rather than trusting in what Jesus died to provide.
The New Covenant Scriptures teach us clearly that our righteousness comes from being born again by grace through faith in Jesus. We are made righteous with God’s own righteousness by coming to Jesus. Many who walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and preach the gospel are leading men and women to faith in Jesus, yet they are being falsely accused of being in league with Antichrist.
I was raised as a young boy to think in such a way because of the denomination my parents were devoted to and the doctrines they taught that opposed the things of the Spirit while mainly focusing on a self-obtained morality instead.
Jesus said something that should not be ignored when He was accused of casting out demons by the power of the devil.
Matthew 12:26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How, then, will his kingdom stand?
When I was a kid, my aunt dabbled in witchcraft. She did some impressive things, too, so people would ask her for favors and such. But she was not promoting righteousness in Christ while she was doing these things. She was promoting herself and the self-interest of others. It was an exercise of pleasures in unrighteousness.
Those preaching Jesus and calling others to follow Him in faith as new creations by believing in the gospel and being born again while demonstrating the power of the Spirit to heal and for miracles to occur for the blessing and benefit of those in need are not promoting self-interests.
We should recall how Jesus also corrected His disciples when they targeted someone casting out devils in Jesus’ name who were not a part of their group.
Luke 9:49 Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.”
If someone is moving in supernatural power while promoting the gospel of Christ and people are coming to Jesus in faith to follow Him and being filled with the Holy Spirit this should cause rejoicing.
Unfortunately, some have dismissed the examples we find in Scripture, claiming that such things have passed away. As a result, they think that their ministry is to warn everyone against anyone who actually walks in the power of the Holy Spirit to promote Christ and His kingdom.
The fact that Satan masquerades himself as an angel of light does not make every supernatural work a fake. Those who teach in such a way as to cast doubt on everything supernatural are not helping others. For a fake to exist, a real must also exist. We would not dare say that all US currency is fake simply because counterfeiters have produced fake bills. The wholesale labeling taking place where anyone moving in the power of the Spirit is accused of being fake or heretical or in league with the antichrist is sad, and it is misleading many in the body of Christ, and it sows an unwarranted division in the church. The church we find in the Scriptures used the evidence of the working of the Holy Spirit to know that churches were legitimate and people were truly born again. Today all one has to do is pass a Bible trivia quiz and they are considered legitimate. This would imply that there is a greater trust in man’s ability to deduce things on his own based on his intellect from Scripture than it would the need to rely on the aid of the Holy Spirit, who was sent to help us and reveal all things pertaining to Jesus.
