[Truth & Love] the ProtectionÖrnek

### Beware of Deceivers When we read some verses further into 2 John, we are warned of a tremendous danger—many deceivers have gone out into the world. Who are these deceivers and how can we spot them? They are people who lead others astray. The worst part is that they come from within the church. They say that the “Christ Spirit” came on Jesus at the baptism and left Him on the cross. They teach that only Jesus’ spirit was divine. Others even say that Jesus’ body wasn’t real. How do they explain the piercing by the thorns or the fact that He ate and bled? To know who a deceiver is, ask them who Jesus is. If that person does not confess that Jesus is the Messiah, fully God, and fully human, or if they deny that Jesus came in the flesh, that person is a deceiver and an Antichrist. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah, is born of God. The liar denies that Jesus is the Christ. The deceivers attack the truth that we stand on, completely denying the Lord who bought them. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they, in God. The Scripture says that in the body of Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. It adds that Jesus did not consider being equal to God as something to be grasped, but took on the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. He is fully God and fully human. This is the very heart of who Jesus Christ is. The incarnation wasn’t incidental nor temporary. It was the permanent guarantee of the possibility of fellowship with God. Because Jesus was fully God and fully human, His sacrifice covers our sins completely. He opened the throne room through it, and He showed the love of God for us. If we take this out, Christianity fails. Jesus, I believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, fully God and fully human. I believe that Your sacrifice rescued me and that You are the Lord. Please, don’t let me ever be led astray.