Satan’s great design and desire is to have us see nothing but a twisted version of reality. From the person and work of God down to the most mundane task in this life, the great accuser, deceiver, and Father of all lies delights in every form of deception that he can muster.[1] One of the greatest inventions created by the Devil is man-made religion, and I should add: this world is filled with such an invention. One of the reasons why man-made religion is such a tool of Satan is because it creates the false impression that there are many ways which lead to Heaven. Satan delights in this because it contradicts Christ quite directly, who said – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” John 14:6 (NASB). When one sees the world in its reality, through the clear lenses of Scripture, a very stark reality is discovered: the path that leads to heaven is not broad, nor multi-faceted; instead, it is remarkably narrow as defined by the Savior Himself.[2] I mention this in view of our nation’s fascinating hunger for religious-speak during our great American tradition: the presidential election. How intriguing it was that the arbiters of the DNC convention sought an awkward reversal of their platform language to include references to “God” and “Jerusalem.” This strange shift followed the media’s analysis of the GOP’s convention, which was filled with more references to religion and God than one could possible count. For myself, I wouldn’t miss a minute of sleep if both parties would simply cease and desist from using God in their political venues, particularly when one considers the deities represented. Taking the representative candidates of each party, let us consider the religious views represented:
1. President Barak Obama: Barak Obama’s religion advocates the murder of the unborn, homosexual “marriage,” and a broad form of syncretism which sees no significance difference between Islam and Christianity. If the contradiction of this latter issue is not be apparent to the reader, I would refer you to the following articles already posted here at The Armoury: An Open Response to an Open Letter [Read this first]; The West’s Dangerous Ignorance of Islam; Scientology, Islam, and the Religious Messengers of Hatred; Obama, Islam, and the Munich Accord 2.0; Weak Leaders-Endangered Nation. All of this yields a deity that is alien to the Bible – though not alien to this world.
2. Governor Mitt Romney: The god whom Mr. Romney believes in and serves is just one deity amidst a system of what we might call progressive-polytheism – an invented idea from Joseph Smith – the creator of Mormonism. Without republishing the details of this matter here, let me supply the reader with some crucial facts about the false religion of the “Latter Day Saints,” already published here at The Armoury: Absolutely no Apologies; Hallowed be Thy Name; No Mr. Scarborough. If the reader wishes to see further evidence of the non-Christian nature of the cult of Mormonism, then please read their own document, Gospel Principles, and see, within the first few pages, that their religious system of thought is heretical to the core (highlighted portions on pages 13, 17 & 18).
Point: The religious-speak from both sides is fraught with deception, lies, and false claims – whether by ignorance, or by intentional deception. Thus, wrangling over who is using the name God, or not, is somewhat of an absurdity. Ultimately, it is all a part of a broader deception – one which engulfs the multitudes into mere religion, rather than Christ.
It is for this reason that the presidential election cycle is a bit of a cringe-creating moment for my own soul – especially when religion is injected into the race. Satan disdains Christians who are spiritually engaged in the things which matter most – i.e. the Gospel – and so his agenda is to engage us in debates about mere moralism, money, power, and national security. It is not that these issues are unimportant, but they can never take the place of the primacy of the Christ and the Gospel. Moreover, the souls of the men and women around us are of greater value than the material concerns of our nation – at least, this would be the genuine attitude of a Christian who understands what Christ taught: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” Matt. 16:26.
But Satan does not want the Christian to be concerned about the souls of men. His desire is to obfuscate the reality that there are only two classes of humanity, spiritually speaking: the living and the dead.[3] Those who are without Christ are called, by Scripture, dead in their trespasses and sins. Those who are in Christ are made alive in Christ, and in the end, there are no other classes of humanity:
By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:10 (NASB)
All of the shades of grey that are created by Satan’s many religions are whisked away by the black-and-white reality of Holy Writ: truth vs. error; life vs. death. As Christians, we must remember to look at our politicians and political leaders through the reality of God’s Word, rather than the manufactured deceptions of Satan. When we do this, we should remember that our prayers for the souls of men are prayers that are rendered for those who are spiritually dead and face the condemnation of the Lord Jesus Christ unless they repent and believe in Him (Revelation 21:6-8). In all of our interest in politics, the souls of these men should govern our greatest concern. It is for this reason that Mike Huckabee’s comments on religion over the years have been particularly striking. As you might recall, Huckabee had queried about the religion of Mormonism and had asked a reporter (in 2007): “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?” He received much backlash for simply asking a perfectly good question, but sadly, no-one answered him. In the end, Huckabee sheepishly “apologized” for his question and retracted it entirely. Had he done some very simple reading of their own documents, he would have discovered that the answer to his question is yes. But now Mr. Huckabee has a different perspective on Mr. Romney’s spiritual standing, as he mentioned in the 2012 GOP convention:
“I care far less as to where Mitt Romney takes his family to church, than I do about where he takes this country.”[4]
This is a sad and disturbing admission from a man who claims Christ. Some of the greatest rebukes given to the nations of Israel and Judah came at a time when each kingdom was filled with an abundance of material wealth, power, mere morality, and national security. God, who is not satisfied with such external matters, often calls those religionists who herald such things “whores.”[5] Alternately, if a person is a Christian at all, he will be concerned about the spiritual condition of the souls of others – whether the person is a candidate for the presidency, or a homeless man on a street-corner. If a person is a Christian at all, he prays for the welfare his nation;[6] for the wisdom, well-being, and salvation its leaders;[7] and this he does with the chief desire that the name of God would be exalted among men.[8]
Satan’s deception is the lie of Lady Julian – “that all will be well, and all will be well.”[9] Satan whispers such things in the ears of men who believe that, by their own means and merit, all will be well. However, the believer must refute such deception and remember that when we pray for those who know not Christ, we are praying for dead men and women – that they would receive the gift of eternal life and be spared from the second death [Revelation 20:14]. We also pray remembering that we also once were dead, deceived, and enslaved by this world [Eph. 2:1-3, Titus 3:1-7], and therefore we are no better than those for whom we pray. In this, our hope and prayer is that Christ would grant them, by His mercy and grace, life eternal and the experience of everlasting joy in Him.
[1] John 8:44 (NASB) — 44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
[2] Matthew 7:13
[3] 1 John 3:10 (NASB) — 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. See also Ephesians 2:1-10.
[4] Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/29/transcript-former-arkansas-gov-mike-huckabee-speech-at-rnc/#ixzz26b6a4F00
[5] Hosea 5:3.
[6] Jeremiah 29:7
[7] 1 Timothy 2:1-4.
[8] 1 Peter 2:11-15.
[9] Chapter 27, 13th Revelation of Lady Julian.