Out From Deception
Frank
Scripture tells us the devil has deceived the whole world.
Seven billion people are on earth and almost all deceived.
The delusion that holds these people is so strong that
unless Christ breaks the delusion off, they will at best
only go from one of thousands of delusions into another.
Some people are very distant from the truth, but others
are much closer and must not draw back but have faith.
That faith must be in Christ alone for salvation just as
the gospel, not the ever popular false "gospels", says:
The moment Christ gives us faith to stop trusting in our
"righteousness" and start trusting him to be our Righteous
Substitute so he regards his righteousness and victory ours,
we have eternal life.
(Romans 4, John 6, 1 Peter 1,
Preface to Luther Latin Works)
That is the Scriptural gospel that Christ showed to Luther
to break the deception of the counterfeit church off from
the elect of God and to begin the Protestant Reformation.
The world has attacked that gospel for centuries now, so
that today it is hardly cherished, loved, or even heard.
That gospel is still found on Christian newsgroups, but even
here it is ignored, repressed, suppressed, mocked, opposed.
The world is in the dark of deception and does not know it.
People who are deceived do not know they are, otherwise
they would not be, so they do not look for the way out.
But the only Way out is Christ, and all trust for salvation must
be on him alone, and that means no trust whatsoever on
our own supposed "righteousness", including such things
as repentance, surrender, commitment, baptism, church,
sacrament, giving, service, endurance, all to definitely be
done but never to be trusted in for salvation because all
trust must be on Christ.
The righteousness required for salvation is not us at all,
but rather Christ, and his is the righteousness of God himself
because Christ is God. That righteousness is imputed by Christ
to those who trust him to be their Righteous Substitution.
We will never in this world or eternity be as righteous as God
who can never be deceived, because we are not God nor
ever will be, but Christ imputes his own righteousness to us
as though it were ours, so that we have eternal life.