The essence of the perfect trap is that you don’t see it coming. Avoid the devil’s top five lies with truth from God’s Word.
Lie Number Five: There is no hell.
Rationale: If God is love, he wouldn’t send people to a place of eternal torment. So there must not be a place called hell.
Truth: God is love. A loving God punishes sin. He can’t ignore sin and be fair at the same time. The consequences of sin is death. The eternal place for the soul that sins is Hell. If you accept Jesus’ sacrifice (his death on the cross) as payment for your sin, you will be pardoned from Hell.
- Ezekiel 18:20 – “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (King James Version)
- 2 Peter 2:4 – “For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.” (New Living Translation)
- Ezekiel 33:11 – “As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live.” (New Living Translation)
- Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (King James Version)
Lie Number Four: It doesn’t matter what you believe.
Rationale: There are many pathways to heaven. There are many good religions that can teach you how to get to heaven.
Truth: There is only one way to God, the Father–that way is through Jesus Christ, His Son, who died for your sins. Think about it: If what you believe doesn’t matter, then believing in Jesus and obeying God’s commandments won’t harm you. But if what Jesus says is true, then not accepting him as your Savior will land you in Hell. We should care about our souls enough to search for the truth. If you really want to know if Jesus is the Son of God, start searching, start seeking God. God will prove it to you.
- Hebrews 11:6 – “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (New International Version)
- John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.No one comes to the Father except through me.” (New International Version)
- Acts 4:12 – “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (King James Version)
- Romans 10:13 – “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (King James Version)
Lie Number Three: The Bible is not God’s Word.
Rationale: There are many ancient texts that predate the Bible that share some similar stories with different details.
Truth: The Bible is the inspired Word of God. (Read “Who Wrote the Bible?”) It is reliable and without error. The Bible proves itself to be true through its ability to transform lives and through prophecy—it records the future before it happens. According to Astronomer Dr. Hugh Ross, “Approximately 2500 prophecies appear in the pages of the Bible, about 2000 of which already have been fulfilled to the letter—no errors.” (Read Ross’ article “Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible”)
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 – “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (New King James Version)
- Matthew 5:17-18 – “Don’t ever think that I came to set aside Moses’ Teachings or the Prophets. I didn’t come to set them aside but to make them come true. I can guarantee this truth: Until the earth and the heavens disappear, neither a period nor a comma will disappear from the Scriptures before everything has come true. (GOD’s Word Translation)
Lie Number Two: There is no God.
Rationale: Because I cannot see or hear God, he must not exist.
Truth: Creation is the proof of God’s existence. We are proof of God’s existence. If you need more proof, then pray to God and ask Him to make Himself known to you. God will answer the prayers of a sincere person seeking to know the truth. Think about it: The best way to fail a test is to not know there is one.
- Psalm 53:1 – “Only a fool would say to himself, “There is no God.”And why does he say it? Because of his wicked heart, his dark and evil deeds. His life is corroded with sin.” (The Living Bible)
- Romans 1:19-21 – “For the truth about God is known to them instinctively; God has put this knowledge in their hearts. Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of his existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God at Judgment Day. Yes, they knew about him all right, but they wouldn’t admit it or worship him or even thank him for all his daily care. And after a while they began to think up silly ideas of what God was like and what he wanted them to do. The result was that their foolish minds became dark and confused.” (The Living Bible)
Lie Number One: When you die, if you have done more good than evil, you will go to heaven.
Rationale: I am a good person. I try to be nice to everyone and I haven’t done any really bad things, so I am going to heaven when I die.
Truth: Yes, it’s true. You can go to heaven by being good. Unfortunately, the only human to ever accomplish that was Jesus (He is perfect and without sin). The rest of us were born into sin. So no matter how many “good” deeds we do after we’re born, we still carry the propensity to sin within us. God’s standard is not just “being good”, it’s perfection. That’s why Jesus died to pay our sin-debt. He exchanged his sinless life for our sinful life.
- 1 Corinthians 15:22 – “Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, being members of his sinful race, and wherever there is sin, death results. But all who are related to Christ will rise again.” (The Living Bible)
- Isaiah 64:6 – “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” (New International Version)
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.” (New Living Translation)
John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (New International Version)
