Choose your friends and teachers wisely, it could cost you your salvation

Have you ever wondered how it would be possible for the elect to be deceived? When Y’shua explained about deception in the end times to His apostles, He said that even the elect could be deceived. You may also wonder what friends could possibly have to do with this and your salvation. Studying the book of 2 Peter sheds some more light onto this, but before we delve into it, we need to know who the elect are. Who is part of this group of people?

Who are the chosen ones?

Very early on in the Scripture, we see the chosen ones defined by YHVH. Israel is His chosen people.

Deuteronomy 7:6
⁶ “For you are a holy people to YHVH your Elohim; YHVH your Elohim has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

However, there is more to it. When you continue to read the next few verses in Deuteronomy, we see that these people, were chosen not on their own merit, but because of the covenant YHVH made with their forefathers, with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Deut 7:7-9).

Let us take one step back. In Genesis 18, we see it confirmed that Abraham and his descendants were originally chosen by YHVH. YHVH made a covenant with Abraham, and a covenant cannot be broken.

Genesis 18:19
¹⁹ “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of YHVH by doing righteousness and justice, so that YHVH may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”

YHVH in His great mercy, has made it possible, not only for Abraham’s physical descendants, but also those who share his faith in YHVH, to be part of these chosen people.

Galatians 3:6–9
⁶ Even so Abraham believed Elohim, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. ⁷ Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. ⁸ The Scripture, foreseeing that Elohim would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” ⁹ So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.

We, as believers in YHVH, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, partake of this privilege to be called His chosen, His elect through Y’shua our Messiah. We are part of Israel, His chosen people. I want to repeat for clarification, we did not replace Israel, we are part of Israel! We are grafted into the natural olive tree. You can read Romans 11 for better understanding of where and how we fit in.

Have you ever considered this?

Behold also the definition of elect in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. It explains this concept, of who the elect are, beautifully! The elect are the chosen ones, those chosen for salvation through divine mercy. They are also those selected for a position, but have not yet been installed and chosen for a marriage at some future time. We as believers in Y’shua, are the elect; we are a part of His chosen people, Israel, through faith. We were chosen for salvation through His great mercy. We will, at His second coming, become His bride, and we will then rule with Him.

So, being part of the elect also makes us vulnerable to a certain extend. We are the ones who could be deceived. Knowing this is a motivation for us to search the Scriptures to ensure that we are not part of those who would be deceived. This article is meant to offer some help with that and at the same time serve as a warning… “therefor let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

1 Corinthians 10:12
¹² Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

Please do not ignore this warning…

How could the elect be deceived?

There are different forms of deception. Satan has a deception tailor-made for everyone. Our relationship with YHVH and our knowledge of and obedience to His Word will be a determining factor. Studying and obeying His Word and having His Spirit guide us in all truth will give us the discernment we need to distinguish between truth and error.

It is very important to note that the overcomers, spoken of in the book of Revelation, keep the commandments and have faith in Y’shua!

Revelation 14:12
¹² Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of Elohim and their faith in Y’shua.

Consider this verse, we see that those who don’t overcome either do not keep the commandments of YHVH, or they do not have faith in Y’shua or both. Please continue reading to understand how denying Y’shua is how the elect could be deceived.

Y’shua, our Redeemer

We have learned from previous articles, what redemption is and how Y’shua, our Kinsman redeemer, redeemed us from the bondage of sin, thereby giving us the gift of salvation. When we believe in Him, we attain that salvation. However, if we deny Him, we will be denied before the angels of Elohim.

Luke 12:8–9
⁸ “And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of Elohim; ⁹ but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of Elohim.

This is also confirmed in the book of Matthew, Mark and in 2 Timothy.

Matthew 10:33
³³ “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

Mark 8:38
³⁸ “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

2 Timothy 2:12
¹²If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us;

We shall now see what Peter had to say about denying Y’shua. He made a very prominent statement about that…Peter had experience in this as he denied Y’shua three times. However, I do believe that he repented, because when he realized what he had done, he wept bitterly. We also see his relationship with Y’shua restored after Y’shua’s resurrection. Can Peter’s denial of Y’shua be seen as the same as denying your faith in Y’shua? Read further and see if you can find an answer to this question.

Choosing Y’shua and denying Him later on

Like a dog returning to His vomit, or a cleaned pig returning to his filth, is someone who chooses Y’shua only to deny Him later and go back to his or her former life. They will bring swift destruction upon themselves. Many people are being led away from their salvation in Y’shua, without them realizing it. Peter describes it well “there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies” The key, here is the word “secretly” this is why Y’shua said that even the elect could be deceived (Matt 24:24)

2 Peter 2:1–3
¹ But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. ² Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; ³ and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

There are false teachers among us who introduce lies. Lies about the interpretation of the Scriptures, lies about the truth and validity of the Apostolic writings and lies about Y’shua; these lies, when repeated enough will become truth to some.

These people built relationships with believers in Y’shua, they will mostly share truth about the Scriptures, but will every so often make a statement about the Apostolic Scriptures not being inspired or about Y’shua to sow doubt. That is how deception works, truth cleverly mixed with lies and one lie building on top of another. We have seen this destruction in people. We have seen how devoted followers of Y’shua gradually change, first doubting, later telling fellow believers that the Apostolic Scriptures are nonsense and advancing to a point of denying Y’shua.

2 Peter 2:20–21
²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Master and Savior Y’shua Messiah, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.

2 Peter 2:22
²² It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

Peter writes about those to whom Y’shua had been revealed, who attained salvation through Him. These people are led away by false teachers to the point of denying Y’shua.

We see this confirmed a few times in the book of Hebrews and 1 John.

Hebrews 6:4–6
⁴ For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and have tasted the good word of Elohim and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of Elohim and put Him to open shame.

Hebrews 10:26–29
²⁶ For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of Elohim, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

1 John 2:22–23
²² Who is the liar but the one who denies that Y’shua is the Messiah? This is the antimessiah, the one who denies the Father and the Son. ²³ Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

The one who denies the Messiah is against the Messiah and when you deny Y’shua you deny the Father.

Y’shua’s oneness with the Father

Y’shua’s oneness with the Father is incomprehensible to the human mind. It is like asking an ant to understand human behavior. How can two persons be one?  We do not have to understand everything; we are to believe what we read in the Word. We are not going to go into this in too much detail, but it is important to know, because if we deny Y’shua, we deny the Father also. We, furthermore, deny the gift of Salvation; He has given us. We are denying our own redemption, so to speak.

Deuteronomy 6:4
⁴ “Hear, O Israel! YHVH is our Elohim, is one!

John 10:30
³⁰ “I and My Father are one.”

John 8:19
¹⁹ So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Y’shua answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

John 14:7–11
⁷ “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” ⁸ Philip said to Him, “Master, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” ⁹Y’shua said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. ¹¹ “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

Choose your teachers and friends wisely

We don’t always realize how easily we become influenced by people. We are therefor to choose our teachers and our friends wisely. We still are at this point all teachers of one another (Jer 31:34). It is even said in secular circles that you will become like those you choose to associate with.

Proverbs 13:20
²⁰ He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Luke 6:39–40
³⁹ And He also spoke a parable to them: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰ “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.

Do not deny Y’shua, do not compromise, but grow in your knowledge of Him. Some good advice from Peter again:

2 Peter 3:17–18
¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, ¹⁸ but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Master and Savior Y’shua Messiah. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

References

1. Merriam-Webster, I. (2003). Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary. (Eleventh ed.). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.