Understanding Our Enemy

“How do you know you’re right?” said a voice seeming to come from inside me.

Stunned, I stood in shock wondering what on earth…???

The voice continued, “Picture a line of people. Each one in the line represents one of the world’s religions. There’s a Muslim, a Jew, a Hindu, a protestant, a Catholic, a Mormon, a Jehovah’s Witness, and on and on. You’re in the line and you represent the Catholics. They don’t all have truth, in fact they contradict each other on many points. There is only one truth. How do you know yours is that one?

I staggered for days in a state of incredible trauma, because I realized that the only reason I believed what I believed was because – as in every one of those representatives above – I was taught it from early childhood. Each of the above would say the same. Each taught that they are the only true religion. That’s what I was taught. That’s what they were taught.

I rambled around the house for three days in a state of trauma I’d never known before. My entire foundation was destroyed, because I realized having been taught from childhood is not a reliable foundation. All the above were taught from childhood too. As I reeled, my foundation crumbled and I staggered, empty and traumatized.

I lost everything – except …Jesus Christ. For some reason, I couldn’t deny him, nor did I understand why that was so. But I had to let go of all else I was taught, because I couldn’t justify any of it. Later, I so well remember the day when I said to God, after he answered me and showed me which is the truth, “from this day forward, I know nothing except what you will teach me. I reject every single thing I have believed, and only from you will I learn, because you ARE the foundation.

The rest of the story is in my testimony ^HERE

Satan lost his place in heaven when he led a rebellion against God, and now Satan has a horrendous hatred for God, and for all that God loves. God proceeded to create mankind, and believers will be in the very heaven Satan lost, and he is absolutely enraged about that. When you look at the history of religion, you’ll see Satan everywhere, because his chief aim is to divert all worship away from Jesus Christ, whom he hates with enormous passion.

Have you ever wondered why there are so many religions in the world? Have you ever wondered why there are so many denominations within Christianity? The answer is obvious. Jesus said of Satan that “he is a liar, and the father of it.” His greatest aim is to so deceive people that Jesus will be forgotten in the mix. Satan doesn’t care what one believes, as long as it isn’t the truth – hence, a myriad of religious people in a myriad of religions, a confusion that is the mainstay of all his efforts. He is determined to draw all worship away from Jesus Christ, and to foster religions of rules, regulations, and deceptions. Anything to draw people away from Christ.

One very obvious Satanic effort is to foster a “holy” book for each religion, all contradicting each other and all teaching that they are the only true religion. The Koran. The Talmuds. The Bhagavad Gita, the Book of Mormon, the writings of Ellen G. White, the Jehovah’s Witness Watch Tower, the Catholic Catechism, and these are only the better known ones, there are SO many more. Obviously, they all proclaim that they are the true teachings, the true religion, but they all contradict each other, so obviously they are all rooted in deception.

Jesus said:
“I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.” John 14:6

Well that’s fine for you, you might say. But how do you know you’re right?

Oh my friend, there are so many answers to that question. He has made himself real to me personally. He changed my whole life. I wouldn’t be alive today were it not for him. I’m not arguing here from a place of religion, I’m portraying a life totally changed by faith in him – faith that HE imparted to me more and more over time. It’s been more than 40 years now. He has kept me through some very trying times, and he has brought me through Satan’s efforts to destroy me. As for religion, one of the first things he taught me is that his Word, the Bible, is “the way, the truth, and the life.” It’s the only book of truth. All others are counterfeits.

So how do we know the Bible is the one and only truth? That’s a subject I will write on at length. But for now, the Lord showed it to me the first time I read the Bible. There is a story from beginning to end that shows Jesus Christ in the very detailed prophecies of him, and through the many “types” portraying him. For example, the story of Abraham bringing his son up Mount Moriah to sacrifice him, but was stopped by a substitutionary sacrifice. In that story we see the Father bringing his son Jesus up Mount Moriah where he was sacrificed, in substitution of everyone who would believe in him. From beginning to end the Bible is an incredibly vivid picture of what Christ did for all who belong to him. And that, my friends, is just the beginning. The Bible is full of this kind of thing.

The one thing that most religions have in common is that salvation is acquired by being good and doing good works. Most of them have laws, and their people are taught that their salvation will depend on the extent to which they kept those laws. Mankind must strive to be “good” to ensure their place in eternity. As a Catholic, I went to Mass every Sunday, attended Catholic school K-12, blessed myself with “holy” water, said the rosary, wore the miraculous medal, wore three scapulars, the black, the green, and the brown. I prayed to Mary and to the saints, and I made every effort to gain as many “indulgences” as I could. For those not Catholic, an indulgence is time off from purgatory, which is a place of suffering the Catholic church teaches that all go to – to suffer and be purified and made ready for heaven.

But if I had died then, I would not have gone to heaven, and I would not have gone to purgatory. BECAUSE …

Because of the elephant in the room. All religions ignore the subject of sin. Or if they do refer to it, they propose rites and rituals to tip the scales on behalf of escaping guilt. But I couldn’t. No matter what I did, I was always aware of my sinfulness, regardless how many Masses I attended or how many medals I wore.

This is the state I was in when the Lord approached me with, “how do you know you’re right?”