Bible Truth FAQs
THE EFFECT OF BELIEVING A LIE
It should be obvious to each of us that when a lie is believed, the effect upon the person who believes it is the same as if he were believing the truth.
The Bible provides a classic example. Gen. 37 reveals that Joseph's wicked brothers, envious of their father's affection for Joseph, sold him into slavery. They took his coat of many colors, dipped it in goat's blood, then took it to show their father Jacob to convince him that Joseph had been killed by a wild beast. Jacob mourned over the apparent death of his son Joseph for about twenty years while Joseph was actually very much alive down in Egypt. What was the effect of the lie upon Jacob? It almost brought him to his grave because it seemed to be the truth.
What is the effect upon believers of false religious doctrines? The same as truth. But false doctrines will cause many souls to be lost eternally. The Apostle John admonished (I John 4:1), "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." Know the truth of the Bible so that you will be able to try the spirits.
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