Who hinders you from obeying the truth?

(Galatians 5:7-8)

These two verses pose an important question, probably more important today than it was when the Apostle Paul wrote it.

The doctrine of the early church was being polluted by false teaching. The church had been infiltrated by teachers and preachers who were leading the people astray by teaching things that had no bearing on the truth of the gospel.

So let me pose another question to you: Do you believe it is any different or any better today than it was back then? No. It is not and indeed it is much, much worse. How do I know this? Because the Bible tells us that it will be much worse in these latter days.

What hinders you from obeying the truth?

It is harder today to find and know the truth than it was in the early church because the doctrines of the church have become polluted over the last two millenia. In some churches the teaching is so far removed from the truth of Christianity it is almost impossible to recognise them as a Christian church

And I am not saying this just to be dramatic. This is what the Bible tells us it will be like in the latter days through the effects of false teachers and false teaching.

1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving… (1 Timothy 4:1-4)

Many teachings across many churches today suffer from the lies that have infiltrated the church through these “doctrines of demons” and “deceitful spirits.”

Because this is so, and we have been pre-warned about this problem, it is critical that we all test what we are learning to find out what is truth and what is error. We need to find out for ourselves rather than just absorb blindly the teachings of ANY church or person, because we need to be taught by God, not man, as the scripture says we shall under the New Covenant.

”It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.” (John 6:45)

And;

10 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest. (Hebrews 8:10-11)

When it comes to WHAT hinders any person from obeying the truth, there are many answers.

Sin is probably the big one, and the desires of the flesh that lead to sin and sinfulness drive people towards disobedience. We know from scripture that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23). So it is a no-brainer that sin is the primary reason why people are hindered from obeying the truth.

But there are many more reasons as well. The passions of the flesh are many and various and the list of those can lead us to disobey the truth. Anger, wrath, malice, envy, jealousy, lust, addiction, and so many others can lead us to disobey and to fall into sinful ways if they are allowed to take hold of us.

But there is a way to overcome these things, as I will discuss shortly.

Another set of issues that cause people to be hindered from following and obeying the truth, are described in the parable of the sower.

3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:3-9)

We see in this parable of Jesus, there are four distinct groups of people. Three of them do not follow and obey the truth and they are hindered from doing so by a series of circumstances.

Of the first group it is written that, “…some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.” When we read the explanation of this parable later in this chapter, we find that the seed is the word of God and the birds who snatch it away is the devil. I refer to these people as lacking the POTENTIAL to receive. They cannot even begin to know the truth because the potential to do so is taken away before they get a chance to hear and learn and grow in Jesus, and the word cannot even take root.

Many people hear the word in this way. They come across the teachings of Jesus, but someone else gets in their ear and influences them to reject it. This is the direct work of the devil to discredit and disallow people from coming to a decision of their own about the matters of the Lord.

The second group receive the word, but they don’t stick with it. I refer to these people as those who lack PERSEVERANCE to go the distance. Jesus explains that these people have no depth in themselves and they do not persevere when troubles or persecution arises for the sake of the word.

They are hindered from obeying the truth because they don’t stick to it.

The third group are those who hear the word of God and it begins to take root, but they are pulled away from it by all of the other things they have going on in their life. I refer this group to those who lack PRIORITIES. They are not prepared to make the Lord their first priority in life, and it always seems that something else pops up whenever they might want to do something in the Lord. For example, they get offers to go to parties or places when a church meeting is scheduled, they want to watch a TV show when they have chosen to study, or they may be too tired or stressed to spend time in prayer.

Priorities are the key and this group has not made Jesus the priority, and so the word of God is slowly strangled in their lives. As a consequence these conflicting priorities hinder them from following and obeying the truth.

The final group are those who hear the word of God and it takes root in their lives. These are those who have NOT been hindered from hearing and obeying the word of God and they flourish in the word.

So we see a snapshot of what hinders people from obeying the truth in this parable, and it can be seen also that there are a multitude of issues for the first three groups identified that sit beneath these broad classifications.

Who hinders you from obeying the truth?

The verses in Galatians 5:7-8 ask “who” it is that hindered the Galatians from obeying the truth. Now while Paul may have been specifically speaking about the false preachers and teachers that were attempting to lead the people astray, there is also a deeper “who” issue we can see in this as well. It is seen in the parable of the sower above, and it is his mission in life to destroy and tear every Christian away from Christ if he is able.

I am of course referring to the devil himself.

Satan is the one ultimately who is trying to hinder ALL Christians from obeying the truth. And he is the source of all of the lies, half-truths and the flood of false teaching that has taken hold on the earth AND in the church as well.

It was prophesied that this flood of false teaching would spread onto the earth to try to drown out the truth, and we see it’s impact only too well in the anti-Christian ways of the world today. Consider the prophecy:

15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. (Revelation 12:15-17)

The woman in this prophecy was the early church and the devil attempted to sweep her away with a flood from his mouth, which is a flood of false teaching. And we see that the devil continues to make war on those who seek to obey the truth of Jesus. The flood was swallowed up by the peoples of the earth as false religions arose and false teachings were brought into the church in the devil’s attempt at destroying the word of God.

He is the great opposer and accuser of the people of God, as we see in the way he opposed and accused Job. But we must stand against the wiles of the devil by seeking diligently to find, learn and understand the truth. And when we do, the Lord God will show us the truth and help us to grow stronger to stand against the devil.

How do we ensure we are not hindered from obeying the truth?

The key to ensuring we are not hindered in obeying the truth is first, to find it, and then to follow it.

Where will you find the truth? The only source of truth is Jesus Christ Himself. And He has given us the word in the Bible to be able to seek and find the truth.

So the first place we need to look and seek the truth is in the words of the Bible. We need to study the words for ourselves and not just listen to what others may say about it.

Some time ago I was horrified to learn from several surveys of Christians that approximately 50% of all people who call themselves Christian read the Bible less than once a month. And 12% of Christians have NEVER read the Bible at all. (Source: Barna Group and The Pew Research organisations).

If any person does not seek the truth for themselves, how can they ever find and know the truth? And if they are not seeking for themselves they are open to believe any teaching that is spoon fed to them in the name of Christianity, even what is false. And there is a LOT of false teaching in the modern church because the devil is sly and cunning and deceptive and has implanted his people into the church for the express purpose of leading people astray. As the Bible says:

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

Think for a moment about some of the false teachings in the church. You will certainly know of some, but if not here is just one to consider.

The prosperity gospel is a false teaching, where those preachers claim that if you are not prospering financially then you are not receiving the blessings of God. The blessings of God are not about money. Look at the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Where does it say that money, financial prosperity or wealth is a fruit of the Spirit?

And consider the MANY places where we are told to seek the kingdom of God rather than money, and the folly and dangers of seeking wealth as it does not lead to the kingdom of God

”…he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.” (Luke 1:53)

And,

1 He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury; 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins. 3 And he said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; 4 for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had.” (Luke 21:1-4)

And,

“But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation.” (Luke 6:24)

And,

24 Jesus looking at him said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:24-25)

And,

“For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith…” (1 Timothy 6:10)

These are just a few scriptures that immediately come to mind about the error of this “prosperity gospel” teaching that show how false and dangerous it is. Do not be fooled, this doctrine will lead you astray to focus on the things of the world (money) rather than the things of God.

And there are many other false doctrines in the modern church, some so effectively put in place by the devil that to speak against them today is to be accused of heresy. YOU need to seek the truth about ALL that you have been taught to find the truth.

And part of the truth that will allow you to overcome is to learn the fullness of the truth of walking in the spirit. Learn how to do this and you can have the victory over many of the satanic attacks that will come against you. It enables you to conquer the passions and desires of the flesh that lead to sinfulness, not through your own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit working in you and on you. I have written about walking in the Spirit many times in recent posts, so I will not go over it again. If you want to know more check out some of the linked posts below, or do a search on walking in the Spirit in the search box near the top right hand side of this page.

So by seeking and understanding all of these things, we can all learn how to ensure we do not allow the devil or our own flesh to hinder us from obeying the truth. But we must each seek for ourselves and not rely on someone else. It is the personal responsibility of every Christian to learn for himself or herself.

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