“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1).

Basically, doctrine is teaching or giving instruction, and in certain cases it wholly conforms to a teacher’s accumulated knowledge. Whether or not that knowledge is correct and biblical is for the student to ascertain. (Acts 17:11) Some, in the latter times, will depart from the faith. Why? Keep reading.

When it comes to our Bibles there are basically two doctrines available to all humanity: God’s doctrines or precepts, and man’s interpretations of God’s doctrines and precepts. Throughout history, man in many cases has made it clear that he believes he is wiser than God.

Whenever this insanity occurs, he inevitably changes God’s doctrines to fit his own ideas. Then he goes a step further and he instructs others in the doctrine he has invented. Of course, Man’s truth, when derived from demons, will always be contradictory of God’s truth.

The men who intrude into God’s sphere of truth with the express desire to change God’s word are only following the lead of a demon. Since the beginning of time man has disparaged God’s word, usurped God’s authority, and supplanted God’s truth and God’s will for his own.

Man has been attempting to replace God for thousands of years. Man has relentlessly pursued teaching the simple minded how to think. There can be no doubt that behind every divergence from the truth is a demon orchestrating and choreographing man’s every step.

The list of doctrines of demons is long and, in the minds of those who follow such tripe, distinguished. Every misguided approach to God’s word, which ultimately leads people away from Jesus Christ, is a doctrine that can be laid in the lap of a demon.

“They even sacrificed their sons And their daughters to demons.” (Psalm 106:37)

Throughout the Bible we can read how man has been enthralled by demons (devils in the KJV). Even to the point that they were convinced sacrificing their children to a demon was a positive thing. That’s called abortion today.

What is it that gives rise to the doctrines of demons which are responsible for leading man astray?

“For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.” (1 Timothy 4:10)

God our Savior? Paul, in his writing to Timothy, is making the statement that Jesus Christ is the living God. But if you talk to some of the followers of the different Christian cults and false religions they will profess no belief in Jesus Christ as God, some believe Jesus is God’s son, yes, but not God Almighty.

This denial of the deity of Jesus Christ is a doctrine of demons which has been taught throughout the last two thousand years. Moreover, that teaching is growing and becoming quite the pervasive teaching today.

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8).

Here Jesus Himself is speaking. Jesus states quite emphatically that He is the Almighty. The Greek word used here is “pantokrator” and can also be translated Omnipotent. We know only God Almighty is Omnipotent.

Doctrines that teach Jesus is not God will have profound consequences on the people who follow and believe such teaching as truth. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are a good example of this demonic doctrine. Suffice it to say every doctrine that denies Christ as the Savior of the world, or that places Him in a subordinate position such as that of some kind of lesser god, is demonic.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses wrote a book that counters the Bible. Why? Because of the demonic influence that took up residence in that organization as anti-Christ. They flat out deny that Jesus Christ is God. “…even now are there many antichrists;…” 1 John 2:18.

There are many more anti-Christ and Christian cults’ fully established and operating openly professing to be true Christian believers, but in all actuality they are all condemned because they follow the doctrine of demons.

Then there are the doctrines that teach falsely that one can only be saved if one is baptized, or a member a particular church, or that one must speak in tongues, or worship only on Saturday, or pray for Mary’s intervention in their lives, or that one can lose their salvation.

This list goes on and on, men promoting their own erroneous Bible interpretations as the truth even though the Bible, God’s inerrant word, teaches quite the opposite. They are demonic doctrines instituted to add to or even take away from the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Anything that man does to add to the sufficiency of the work that Jesus Christ fully accomplished on the cross is a doctrine of demons. The Bible is clear on that point, and adding to or taking away from the propitiation of Christ for the sin of the world is evil and demonic to say the least. False teachers are teaching what a demon has taught them.

Be assured even the demons know the scriptures and those who follow false doctrines will never hear the whole truth. They will only be taught a portion of truth and a whole plethora of lies so that the demons can hold sway over the biblical illiterate. Many people simply refuse to search the scriptures to ascertain whether or not they are being lied to. This is a very dangerous path to take. It would be akin to crossing a ravine which drops a thousand feet to the bottom by walking across on a tightrope of knitting yarn. Foolish to say the least yet many are currently standing on that very yarn (pun intended).

I continually receive letters from folks who quote scripture and then proceed to give me the translation of a scripture verse or verses which are completely out of context and therefore quite wrong. The Bible does not contradict its self but it must be studied exegesis. Most of these folks will quote a person who has been their Bible teacher for years.

If a Bible teacher starts off with a wrong interpretation of scripture and after many years in the ministry hasn’t made a correcting adjustment to their erroneous teaching they’re still wrong. All those years of teaching doesn’t make them right, it only makes them followers of demonic doctrines. Simply put, they can’t see the truth because they are blinded by the lies they themselves have been taught. All attributed to demons.

People are being led down that primrose path that leads to their destruction all because they follow the teachings of an individual or cult/false religion that is ordained of demons. Today demonic doctrines are infiltrating and taking over our Christian churches like wild fire. The airwaves are full of doctrines of devils and even the most subtle of messages that seem so innocent and true can be doctrines designed by the enemy to corrupt and lead people astray.

A perfect example of doctrines of demons are the proponents of the “feel good” preaching techniques, and the prosperity gospel’s get rich schemes which come from those whose purpose is self gain. They are many and they are demonic as are the emergent movement and those who promote contemplative spirituality.

If a pastor stands before a congregation week in and week out and only speaks of God as love, never venturing into the realm of God’s judgment, then that pastor is thoroughly neglecting those tough, sometimes evil, churned up waters of sin where we find most people actually live. He would be a pastor who resides only within the boundaries of political correctness; his congregation isn’t being taught the whole council of God.

If lost folks only hear messages which peacefully tickle their ears sure they’re going to return for more tickling, but they will never become convicted of their sins. But let that pastor place them in the middle of their sin and he’ll be assured of a mass exodus.

The truth hurts; lost people don’t want to hear the truth. Think about it, they’ve been inundated with lies for so long they’ve grown accustomed to accepting lies as truth. An ear tickled congregation having been saturated with warm fuzzies might even revolt against a pastor who suddenly drops the doctrines of demons and reverts to God’s truth while delivering his weekly message. Then again some might just get saved.

Our enemy (Satan) doesn’t want his followers to hear the truth so he has devised a message that, if used by enough Bible teachers and pastors, will keep those who belong to him from ever becoming born again. Remember, Satan will lead you as close as possible to the truth without losing you to salvation. Once a person is born from God and they become a new creation “In Christ” and Satan loses. Satan doesn’t like losing and he will not go down without a fight.

“Christians aren’t perfect just forgiven.” But the crux of the matter is, to become a born again believer people must be convicted of their sin. That’s basically the first step. If that conviction is never forthcoming then repentance will also remain a nonevent. Doctrines of demons will see to that.

How do we stave off the influence of doctrines of demons? We must know God’s word. Did you get that? Let me reiterate, we must know God’s word. Not just a superficial knowledge of our Bible, but a solid understanding gained through Christ centered Bible teachings and much fervent prayer.

God will give the diligent Bible studier all the discernment necessary to obtain a firm foundation and to proceed through life with understanding on how to avoid the doctrines of demons. Without that God given foundation there’s no telling what doctrines one might follow, Mormon, JW’s, Islam, Catholicism and the rest – doctrines of demons the lot.

Erroneous teachings and doctrines spread like the plague and after a while people will begin to see and perceive truth in a bald-faced lie. This is very dangerous and a perfect example of how cults are started, as well as how they flourish. God tells us how to go about studying His word and even how to teach it to others.

“Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:9-10).

Go through the Bible line upon line and study God’s word like you’re eternal life depended on it. Why? Because it does. Use a concordance and look up any word that may be difficult for you to grasp. Look up the Greek words that stump you in a “Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament words.”

Search your concordance as the Old Testament brings forth words you may find confusing. Our God is not a God of confusion so there is always an answer. There are so many ways to learn God’s word today that a true believer is without excuse. Following the many doctrines of demons can be avoided with just a little due diligence and prayer.

If you follow demonic teaching it is to your own peril. A born again believer will do everything possible to find out if what they are being taught from the pulpit or from a Bible teacher is the truth as God has designated it, or if they are following doctrines of devils. Which is it with you?

God bless you all,
Ron Graham

“…The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour…” (2 Samuel 22:2b-3a).

David knew his God and he trusted God. God knew David; He knew David trusted Him in all things. How about you? Do you trust God and does God know you trust Him? Everyday God finds a new way to ask us, “Do you trust Me?”

Trusting in God means we’ve laid aside our feeble attempts at trying to run our own lives and have now turned all aspects of our lives over to Him. His abilities are far greater than we can imagine. God is fully capable of directing our paths but we, holding onto various portions of our own lives, might never realize the opportunities that God’s directions would provide simply because we are lacking sufficient trust in Him. With God it’s all or nothing. We fully trust God or we don’t. God knows if your trust is deficient, He knows you better than you know yourself.

Everyone remembers the story of how David faced down the giant Goliath, but there is a part of that story that many never pick up on. First, before we get into that very interesting yet little known fact, let’s get a little bit of background into this amazing feat of courage displayed by this youngster, David.

“David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine…” (1 Samuel 17:37).

Were David’s remarks based on his own courage or did he fully trust in the One and only living God? It was David’s trust in God which gave him the courage to face this giant. Now let’s discover the depth of David’s trust in God.

“And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:40)

Did David, even though fully trusting God to deliver him out of the hand of this Philistine, actually think he would need five stones to defeat Goliath? David slew the giant but used only one stone. So why did David, trusting fully in his God, need four extra stones? Not part of this story is that little tidbit of fact I mentioned earlier. Goliath had four brothers (1 Chronicles 20:4-8.)

David was ready for them all. Was David depending on his own courage, his own abilities? Not in any way. David completely and totally trusted in God that day? David trusted God to not only deliver him out of the hand of Goliath but also if need be out of the hands of Goliath’s four brothers, hence the four extra stones. David knew God, he had a personal relationship with God, and David was victorious only because he trusted in His God to be there at that battle with him.

We all go through battles; sometimes it seems they’re a daily occurrence. When we are fighting against supernatural foes we must always trust in our God to defeat those foes. No matter how much we’d like to fight our own battles, mere humans are no match for malevolent supernatural beings.

After all, we can’t even see them, but God can and does. When we trust God to fight those battles for us, His and our enemy’s stand no chance. If our trust in God is lacking, our ability to stand the test of those battles will also be lacking.

This life we’ve been given is as fleeting as a vapor of smoke, but as short as it can be there is a reason we were created and it isn’t to procure a wealth of treasures here on earth before we die. We’ve been given life so we and our Creator God can build a super relationship together, but we must place our trust and faith in Him for that relationship to fully develop.

Trust is the basis for the relationship, and God knows this truth better than we do. Not one day will pass in our life that God will neglect to ask us the question “Do you trust Me?”

In the human mind it just isn’t natural to place our full trust in someone we can’t even see. But the born again believer knows that this trust is built on faith, and is essential to our faith. As our faith in our Creator God grows so does our trust in Him. That’s what God wants from us. He’s asking each of us who have placed our faith, trust, and hope for our salvation in His only begotten Son and Him alone, “Now, do you really trust me?”

You and I must decide for ourselves if we truly trust God. If we are inclined to place our trust in our own abilities, in our own strengths, in picking ourselves up by own bootstraps, God knows those inclinations. But He wants us to trust in Him and His abilities and He’s showing us all the time how we can fully trust Him. We must see God’s works in our lives as His works not our own.

There is a lot more to trusting God as we live out our lives here on earth than we can even imagine. God is our Creator and as such He wants recognition for that aspect.

“In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1.

If you don’t believe God is the Creator of all things in this universe then it’s apparent that you do not trust Him because you don’t believe His word. Think about it. Is there any part of God’s word that you dismiss as myth or fable or even legend? God’s Word is truth, but if we can’t get our minds around His word as fully true then we’ll never fully trust Him to tell us the truth.

We trust God that there will always be air to breath, or do we? First we must have faith that God will always supply our needs, and air, water, and food are all essential to those needs. Take one of those three elements away from us and we die. Does God supply our needs or do we supply our own needs.

Do we believe air, water, and our food supply are just magically tossed before us? Do we trust in ourselves to supply food for our families, or is our trust in God as our needs are met every single day? Is it merely our self-effort that gives us our hope that tomorrow there will be food on the table, water to drink, air to breathe?

My family and I lived ten years on the coast of Oregon and many times we would take a trip to the south coast town of Brookings to shop at our favorite department store. On every trip we crossed a bridge, the Thomas Creek Bridge which is promoted as the tallest bridge in Oregon. The bridge was built at a height of 345 feet, and it spans a vast ravine.

Each time we crossed that bridge my thoughts went to the engineer who designed and built it. Each time I had to place my life and that of my family in the hands of someone I didn’t know, someone who might have been drunk or on drugs when he designed that bridge. Who was this guy? I know he’s an engineer but I also know he’s just a man – a fallible man and with problems of his own which could have affected his judgments and his math.

So, do those who cross that bridge everyday or once a week trust man who designed and built it, that it will remain in place? Or should those folks be trusting God that that bridge is safe? You see how God works? Every day He finds a new way to ask the question “Do you trust Me?” I can add to that question these words, “Or do you trust men?” Do you trust the Creator or the creation, the Potter or the clay, who do you trust?

Every aspect of our lives has God fully involved. Those who don’t acknowledge God or believe He even exists aren’t going to admit they trust Him. But whether they trust Him or not, He’s fully involved in supplying their needs just as He does with those who love Him and trust Him.

No one on planet Earth can survive without God. Those who are perishing wouldn’t agree with me as they, for the most part, believe we evolved from pond scum therefore there is no God and we are all responsible for our own existence. In their minds, everything we see, everything we can touch, smell, and enjoy with all our senses came from nothing. It all just happened one day billions of years ago.

There’s an old song I used to listen to when I was younger but I never really paid attention to the words. These words were a part of that song “Nothing from nothing leaves nothing” those words mean so much more to me now than they ever did when I was a young man.

Trusting in God means we don’t believe every theory man throws at us. Man will always attempt to usurp the authority and omnipotence of God. But God, everyday finds a new way to ask the same question, “Do you trust Me?”

When you give of yourself or your resources God is involved. He asks you to trust Him and He will return your efforts or your resources to you many times over. How can He do that? He can because He is God.

An old pastor I used to listen to on the radio once said, “You can’t out give God.” No matter what God places on your heart to do for others, when you follow through with God’s will it means you trust Him. God will bless your faithfulness. Don’t think so? Try Him.

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10)

What’s God saying? You got it. “Do you trust Me?” In other words, if you trust God enough to bless others with a portion of what He’s blessed you with He promises to pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Being a good steward with God’s property simply means you trust God.

“Do you trust Me?” These are God’s words spoken to believers in Christ. But God is asking a similar question of all those who reject Him, “Won’t you trust Me?” He’s not giving up on even one soul. When God gains their trust He gains another child.

When we say “Yes Lord, I trust You” we admit we are a child of God. We must trust God that His Word is true and that He did enter His creation and become a man, the man Jesus the Christ. That He did die on a cross to save His creation. Only a perfect God could have accomplished this for His rebellious creation, and all He asks of each rebellious child is: “Do you trust Me?”

“I trust You, God” is easy to say, but do you really trust Him? To trust in God fully we must turn our lives over to Him, completely. That means whether or not we are financially secure, whether we are in good health or not, whether we are being persecuted and mistreated for our faith. In all things we must trust God.

We might, as Christians, be living in a very comfortable environment where we’ve become very content in our surroundings and nothing seems to be able to penetrate our perfect peace. Nevertheless He still asks “Do you trust Me?” Why? Because tomorrow a tornado or flood might wipe away everything we hold dear.

So the question I’ve posed throughout this commentary is God’s question to each of you and it really takes some thought. Don’t say, “Yes God I trust You” if you still hold to some form of unbelief or you hold onto certain aspects of your life that God really wouldn’t want any part of (sin).

We can only answer that question truthfully if we study it and allow it permeate our souls. Do I trust You, God? I hope the answer is yes, but remember God knows the truth no matter how you answer that question.

God bless you all,
Ron Graham

Ron Graham