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Those who have experienced life-threatening situations understand the meaning of peril. None would be so foolish as to subject himself unnecessarily to such. Few ever consider the fact that spiritual perils are far more consequential than physical ones. Jesus put these perils in perspective:
And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Mat. 10:28).
Consider some things that imperil the soul:
- Doctrines of men—Worthless, unacceptable worship results from the doctrines of men (Mat. 15:9). Human doctrines are the wrong “seed” and produce a “plant” that God will “uproot” (v. 13). Teachers of human doctrines are “blind” leaders of “blind” followers, both of whom will be lost (v. 14). To deliver or receive a different “gospel” (besides that of Jesus and His inspired spokesmen of the first century) brings the anathema of God (Gal. 1:6–9).
- Biblical ignorance—As in Hosea’s day concerning God’s Word, so today; people are “destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). Ignorance prevents the ability to “discern good and evil” (Heb. 5:12–14). Ignorance of the Truth keeps one enslaved to error: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Ignorance was partly to blame for the death of the Savior (Acts 3:17).
- Prejudice—Prejudice causes one to pre-judge matters and reach conclusions before consideration of all of the evidence. It is the enemy of fair, unbiased, rational analysis. A biased Jewish court had determined Jesus must die well before His trials (John 11:49–51; 18:14, 24). As Paul preached about the resurrection of Christ in Athens, the philosophers ridiculed him, having already decided such was impossible (Acts. 17:32). Prejudice keeps one from seeing that such doctrines as salvation by faith alone, the impossibility of apostasy, and the denominational concept of the church are error. It also keeps one from accepting the essentiality of baptism for salvation (Mark 16:16) and the fact that all that we do in religion must be by the authority of Christ (Col. 3:17).
- Procrastination—Spiritual intentions, good and right though they may be, leave the soul imperiled as long as they are unfulfilled. Procrastination caused a governor and a king to lose their souls (Acts 24:25; 26:28). We will not give account of our intentions, but of what we have done (2 Cor. 5:10).
The great preventive/remedy for all spiritual perils is the “honest and good heart” that obeys what it hears (Luke 8:15).
[Note: I wrote this article for and it appeared in the Denton Record-Chronicle, Denton, TX, September 21, 2012.]
Attribution: From TheScripturecache.com, owned and administered by Dub McClish.
