Finding Grace After False-Religious Deception
VideoTranscript
This is the video’s transcript, lightly formatted. Tap a time to jump to that moment.
Hey everybody. It's been a couple of weeks since I posted a video. My work has kept me insanely busy. In that time, I've gotten some emails from people who've left false religion. Many of them the cult that I was raised in. But not just that. There have been others, too.
These poor people feel ashamed, embarrassed, unworthy. It breaks my heart. I got another one of those emails a few days ago, and it finally pushed me to take the time to make a video on the topic. So, here you go. Picture this scene with me. It's nighttime in ancient Israel and there's a battle raging. The Syrians have surrounded the city of Dotham because they're trying to capture the prophet Elisha.
They've sent horses and chariots and a massive army. And they've come under the cover of darkness to surround this one man and his servant. When the servant wakes up early in the morning and steps outside, his heart nearly stomps. Everywhere he looks, there are enemy soldiers, horses, chariots, weapons gleaming in the early morning sun. They're completely surrounded. There's no escape route, no way out, no hope of survival. The servant runs back to Elisha in absolute panic.
"Oh no, my lord, what shall we do?" he cries out. Can you hear the terror in his voice? He's not a prophet. He's not a mighty man of faith. He's just an ordinary guy who suddenly found himself in an impossible situation. But Elisha, calm as can be, says something that must have sounded absolutely insane to his terrified servant.
Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. 2 Kings 6:1 16 records those words. The servant must have thought Elisha had lost his mind. More with us. It's just two of them against an entire army. But then Elisha prays something beautiful.
He says, "Lord, open his eyes so he may see." And God does. Suddenly, the servant's eyes are opened and he sees what's really there. The hills around them are full of horses and chariots of fire. God's army has been there all along, surrounding the enemy, protecting Elisha and his servant. The servant couldn't see them before. He was looking at the situation with natural eyes, seeing only what seemed obvious, what seemed real.
But there was a greater reality he couldn't perceive until God opened his eyes. The servant wasn't condemned for not seeing the angels initially. He wasn't punished for his fear. He wasn't rejected for his panic. God understood that he could only see what his human eyes showed him. And when the time was right, God graciously opened his eyes to see the truth. That's exactly where so many of us find ourselves when we've been deceived by false religious systems.
We could only see what we were shown. We could only understand what we were taught. We were like that servant seeing the situation through limited human eyes, not realizing there was a greater truth we weren't perceiving.
And just like God didn't condemn that servant for his limited vision, he doesn't condemn you for believing what seemed true at the time. He understands the difference between those who deceive and those who are deceived. He knows the difference between the wolves and the sheep that prey on them. Jesus himself made this distinction crystal clear. In Matthew 7:15, he warned, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Notice who he's warning and who he's warning about.
He's warning the sheep about the wolves. He's not blaming the sheep for being vulnerable to wolves dressed up like sheep. He's acknowledging that wolves are deceptive, that they disguise themselves, that there are predators who deliberately trick the flock. You weren't a wolf. You were a sheep who encountered a wolf in sheep's clothing. And Jesus' anger, his judgment, his condemnation, that's reserved for the wolves, not for the sheep they deceive. Listen to how Jesus talks about a sheep in John 10:14 and 15.
I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me. Just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep. Jesus didn't say, "I lay down my life for the sheep unless they get tricked by a wolf." He doesn't say, "I know my sheep unless they temporarily follow the wrong voice." He lays down his life for the sheep. Period.
And here's something beautiful about sheep that applies directly to your situation. In John 10 27, Jesus says, "My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me." You know what that tells me? Even when you were in that false religious system, even when you were following teachings that weren't true, somewhere deep inside, you were still one of his sheep. That's why you eventually recognize that something was wrong. That's why you left.
His sheep hear his voice. And eventually, despite all false voices trying to drown him out, you heard him calling you home. Think about the story Jesus tells in Matthew chapter 13 about the wheat in the weeds. An enemy comes at night and sews weeds among the wheat. When the servants discover this, they ask the master, "Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?" The master says, "No, because in pulling up the weeds, they might uproot the wheat as well." He says to let both grow together until the harvest.
Now, here's what's important about this parable. The wheat isn't condemned for growing alongside the weeds. The wheat isn't blamed for being in the same field as the weeds. The wheat is still wheat even when it's surrounded by weeds. You are still God's child even when you are surrounded by lies.
Paul writes something profound in Romans 8:es 38 and 39 that speaks directly to this. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Did you catch that? Nothing in all creation can separate you from God's love. Not even being deceived. Not even believing lies about him for a season, not even being in a cult, nothing. I wanted to take a moment to tell you about my book, The Broken Mirror: Rediscovering Our True Nature in Christ.
Readers call it a fantastic book where you will feel yourself discovering your identity in Christ. One reviewer praised it as five-star material for the spiritual mystic or group Bible study. It's time to escape legalism and shame. Discover you're already God's beloved child with divine nature flowing through you with what reviewers describe as excellent writing style and elegant pros like a campfire discussion with a knowledgeable and gifted recon tour journey from Genesis to Revelation uncovering your true identity. This book shows how to access God's peace, wisdom, and strength from within. Your struggles become opportunities for divine light to shine through. available in hard coverver, paperback, Kindle, and audiobook.
The link to the book is in the video description. May God bless your journey along his path for you. Let me tell you about another group of ordinary people who were deceived through no fault of their own. In Acts chapter 8, there's a man named Simon who'd been practicing sorcery in Samaria. He amazed all the people and they followed him believing he had the power of God. Verse 9 tells us that he amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. These weren't stupid people.
They weren't evil people. They were ordinary folks who saw something that seemed supernatural and assumed it must be from God. They were deceived by someone who is deliberately deceiving them. When Philip comes preaching the true gospel, what happens? Verse 12 and 13 tell us, "But when they believed Philillip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized." Notice what doesn't happen.
Philip doesn't condemn them for following Simon. He doesn't tell them they should have known better. He doesn't make them go through some long process of penance for having been deceived. He simply presents the truth and they recognize it and embrace it and they're immediately welcomed into the kingdom. That's grace. That's understanding. That's God's heart for those who have been deceived.
You see, God understands something about human nature that we often forget. We're not omnisient. We don't know everything. We can only make decisions based on the information we have at the time. And when someone we trust, someone in spiritual authority, someone who claims to speak for God tells us something, it's natural to believe them. In fact, the Bible actually commends certain kinds of trust. 1 Corinthians 13:7 says that love always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Your trust, even when it was misplaced, came from a good place. It came from a heart that wanted to believe, that wanted to follow God, that wanted to do the right thing. The problem wasn't your trust. The problem was those who violated that trust. James 3:1 warns, "Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." Why are teachers judged more strictly? Well, because they hold a position of influence.
because people trust them. Because when they speak, vulnerable souls believe them. God holds them to a higher standard precisely because he knows the damage they can do when they abuse their position. Jesus reserved his harshest words not for sinners, not for people who made mistakes, not for those who were deceived, but for religious leaders who were misleading people. In Matthew 23:4, he says to the Pharisees, "They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them." That's what false religious systems do. They put heavy loads on people's shoulders.
They create rules and regulations that God never instituted. They demand things God never demanded. And then they condemn people for not being able to carry those unbearable loads. But listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 11 28-30.
Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
If the religious system you were in was exhausting, if it was crushing, if it was full of fear and condemnation, that wasn't from God. That was man-made religion masquerading as godliness. The real God, the true God, offers rest. He offers peace. He offers a burden that's light, not crushing. Now, you might be thinking, "But I should have read my Bible more carefully. I should have seen the contradictions."
Let me share something with you about the Ethiopian unic in Acts chapter 8. Here's a man who's reading the scriptures, specifically Isaiah, and he's trying to understand them. When Philip asks him if he understand what he's reading, he responds in verse 31, "How can I unless someone explains it to me?" This man wasn't condemned for needing help understanding scripture. He wasn't blamed for not getting it on his own. Sometimes we need teachers to help us understand. And when those teachers mislead us, that's on them, not on us.
Even the Apostle Peter acknowledges that scripture can be difficult to understand. In second Peter 3:1 16, speaking about Paul's letters, he wrote, "His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort as they do other scriptures to their own destruction. Notice he doesn't say the destruction of those who believe the distortions. He says the destruction of those who do the distorting. The judgment falls on those who twist scripture, not on those who believe the twisted interpretations are taught. God knows you're not a biblical scholar. He knows you're not a theologian.
He knows you're an ordinary person trying to live a faithful life, trying to follow him, trying to do what's right. and he has nothing but compassion for you when you're misled by those who should know better. Think about Jesus words in Luke 12:47 and 48. The servant who knows the master's will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten by many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.
Even in this passage about judgment, there's a clear distinction between those who know and those who don't. For the one who knew better, the many blows come both from God's judgment and from the natural consequences of their deliberate rebellion. But for the one who doesn't know, sometimes there are natural consequences to their actions, sure, but God doesn't pile on. He doesn't add divine punishment on top of the consequences you're already experiencing from having been deceived. God takes into account what you knew and what you didn't know. He's not unreasonable. He's not unfair.
He's just. And justice recognizes the difference between ignorance and willfulness. In 1 Timothy 1:13, Paul writes about his own past. Even though I was once a blaspher and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. Paul was shown mercy because he acted in ignorance. He sincerely thought he was serving God when he was persecuting Christians. He was wrong, terribly wrong, but he was sincerely wrong and God showed him mercy because of it.
If God could show mercy to Paul, who was actively persecuting the church, how much more will he show mercy to you, who were simply trying to serve him, but were given wrong information about how to do so? Here's something else to consider. When you were in that false religious system, God was still working in your life. He was still protecting you. He was still loving you. He was preparing the moment when your eyes would be open, when you would see the truth, when you'd be set free.
Think about Joseph, sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused, and thrown into prison. For years, it must have seemed like God had abandoned him. But in Genesis 50 20, Joseph told his brothers, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." God can take even the harmful intentions of others and work them for good in your life. Those years you spent deception weren't wasted. God was teaching you things, developing compassion in you, giving you understanding that will help others who are still trapped. You know what you have now that you didn't have before?
You have discernment. You know what false religion looks like. You know the warning signs. You see the red flags. That knowledge didn't come cheap, but it is very valuable. You can help others avoid the trap you fell into, or you can help them escape if they're currently caught. 2 Corinthians 1:3 and 4 says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
God comforted you in your trouble and now you can comfort others with that same comfort. Your experience, as painful as it was, has equipped you to minister to others in a way that someone who's never been deceived just can't. But let's talk about the shame you're feeling. That crushing sense of how could I have been so stupid? That's not from God. Romans 8:1 is absolutely clear. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
No condemnation. Not a little condemnation. Not condemnation for some things but not others. No condemnation. If you're feeling condemned, that's not God's voice you're hearing. You know whose voice condemns? Revelation 12:10 calls Satan the accuser of our brothers and sisters who accuses them before our God day and night.
The enemy wants you to feel ashamed. He wants you to feel disqualified. He wants you to feel like God could never really use you now. But God says something different. Joel chapter 2 25 contains a beautiful promise. I'll repay you for the years the locusts have eaten. God doesn't just forgive, he restores.
He doesn't just accept you back, he repays what was lost. Those years you spent in deception, God's going to restore them. The opportunities you missed, God's going to create new ones. The time you feel was wasted, God's going to redeem that and use it for his glory. Now, let's talk about the beautiful story of the prodigal son because it perfectly illustrates God's heart toward you. In Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells about a young man who takes his inheritance and squanders it on wild living. He ends up feeding pigs so desperate he'd gladly eat the pig's food.
When he finally comes to his senses and heads home, he's got a speech prepared. He's going to ask to be a hired servant because he knows he doesn't deserve to be a son anymore. But his father has other plans.
Verse 20 tells us, "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him." The father had been watching every single day. He was looking down that road, hoping to see his son coming home. And when he finally sees him, he doesn't wait for the son to get all the way to the house. He runs to meet him. That's important because in that culture, dignified older men didn't run.
It was considered undignified. But this father doesn't care about dignity. All he cares about is that his child is coming home. The son tries to give his prepared speech about not being worthy to be a son anymore, but the father's not having it. He's too busy calling for the best robe, the ring, the sandals. He's too busy planning a celebration because his son who was dead is alive, who was lost, had been found. That's how God responded when you left that false religious system and came to him.
He didn't stand there with his arms crossed demanding an explanation. He didn't make you gravel. He ran to meet you. He embraced you. He celebrated your return. And notice that the father never once asks the son, "How could you have been so foolish? Didn't you know you'd end up like this?
What were you thinking?" There's no condemnation, no shame, no I told you so. There's just joy that his son came home. That's God's heart toward you. Pure joy that you're free, that you're home, that you know the truth. Now, you might wonder, "But where was God when I was being deceived? Why didn't he stop it?"
That's a fair question, and the answer might surprise you because he was right there with you even in the midst of the deception. Psalm 139 verse 7 through10 declare, "Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you're there. If I make my bed in the depths, you're there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me. Your right hand will hold me fast.
Even when you were in the depths of deception, God was there. His hand was guiding you toward truth. Even when you couldn't see it, he was holding you fast. Even when you didn't know it. Think about it this way. During a solar eclipse, the moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. The sun doesn't disappear or stop shining.
It's still there. Still just as bright, still just as warm. It's just that something has temporarily gotten between you and the sun, blocking your view. The moment that obstacle moves away, you realize the sun never left. It was there all along, waiting for the obstacle to pass. That's what false teaching does. It eclipses God.
Makes it seem like he's gone or different than he really is. But the moment the lies move aside, there he is, same as always, having never left your side. God never stopped being your father while you were in that false religious system or that cult. He never stopped loving you. He never stopped working to bring you home. And now that you are home, he's not scolding you. He's relieved.
You're safe. Hebrews 13:5 quotes God as saying, "Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you." That promise doesn't come with conditions. It doesn't say, "Never will I leave you unless you join a cult or never will I forsake you unless you believe lies about me." It says, "Never." Period.
Even when the lies made it hard for you to see him clearly, he never left. Even when false teaching distorted your understanding of his character, he never forsook you. He was there all along, patiently waiting for the day your eyes would be open. And that day came, didn't it? Your eyes were opened. You saw the truth. You broke free.
Do you know what a miracle that is? Do you know how many people never escape false religious systems? Do you know how many people see the red flags but ignore them because leaving would cost too much? But you didn't ignore them. You had the courage to admit you'd been wrong. You had the strength to leave everything familiar behind. You had the faith to trust that the real God was better than the false god you'd been serving.
That's not weakness. That's incredible strength. That's not foolishness. That's wisdom. That's not something to be ashamed of. That's something to celebrate.
Philippians chapter 3:3 and 14 encourages, "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Jesus Christ." forgetting what is behind, not dwelling on it, not letting it define you, not carrying it as a weight, pressing forward toward what God has for you now. And what does he have for you? 2 Corinthians 5:1 17 tells us, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone. The new is here."
You're not the person who was deceived anymore. You're a new creation. The old has gone. All of it, including the shame and the regret and the sense of foolishness. The new has come and with it comes freedom, truth, and genuine relationship with the God who loves you beyond measure. Isaiah 43 18- 19 say, "Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. God's doing a new thing in your life. He's making a way where there seemed to be none. He's bringing life to areas that felt dead.
He's turning your wasteland into a garden. You know what grows really well in gardens? Plants that have been transplanted. They've been uprooted from where they were, and it's traumatic. For a while, they might look wilted and weak, but once their roots establish in the good soil, they flourish like never before. You've been transplanted from bad soil to good. The uprooting was painful, and you might still feel a bit wobbly, but your roots are going down into truth now, into grace, into love.
You're going to flourish in ways you never could have in that false religious system. 1 Peter 5:10 promises, "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. God himself will restore you, not partially, but completely. He'll make you strong, stronger than you were before, because now you know what real strength looks like. He'll make you firm, unable to be moved by false teaching because you know what it looks like now. He'll make you steadfast, solid in your faith because it's based on truth, not lies.
The very fact that you're concerned about having been deceived shows that God's spirit is working in your heart. People who don't care about truth don't grieve over having believed lies. People who don't love God don't worry about having misunderstood him. Your concern itself is evidence that you belong to God. You're one of his sheep and his sheep hear his voice. That's why you eventually recognize that something was wrong in that false system. That's why you left.
That's why you're seeking truth now. Jesus said in John 8:32, "Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." You know the truth now and you're free. free from lies, free from manipulation, free from fear, free from the crushing weight of trying to earn God's love through religious performance.
Galatians 5:1 says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." You've been set free for freedom, not for shame, not for regret, not for endless self-rrimation, but for freedom. Stand firm in that freedom. Don't let anyone, including yourself, put you back under a yoke of slavery to shame. Remember, God's not disappointed in you. He's proud of you.
Proud that you chose truth over comfort. Proud that you chose reality over familiarity. proud that you chose him over human approval. Zephaniah chapter 3:1 17 says, "The Lord your God is with you, the mighty warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you. In his love, he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing." God's not rebuking you.
He's rejoicing over you with singing. Can you imagine that? The creator of the universe is singing over you because you're free, because you're his, because you've come home to truth. You're not damaged goods. You're not a secondass Christian. You're not defined by the lies you once believed. You're defined by the truth you now embrace.
You are God's beloved child, purchased with the blood of Christ, sealed with the Holy Spirit, destined for glory. Romans 8:17 says, "Now if we are children, then we are hes of God and co-airs with Christ. You're not just forgiven, you're an heir. You're not just accepted, you're adopted. You're not just tolerated, you're treasured. So what do you do now? You walk forward in freedom.
You give yourself grace as you learn and grow. You find a healthy community of believers who will love you without trying to control you. You read God's word for yourself, asking the Holy Spirit to guide you into truth. Most importantly, you rest in God's love for you. A love that never left you, even when you couldn't see it clearly. A love that never gave up on you, even when you were following the wrong path. A love that celebrates your freedom and rejoices in your return.
The road ahead is bright with promise. Yes, there might be some healing that needs to happen. Yes, there might be some things to unlearn and relearn. But you're not walking that road alone. The God who opened your eyes, who led you out, who brought you to truth, he's walking with you every step of the way. Isaiah 42:16 promises, "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known along unfamiliar paths. I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do. I will not forsake them. He's turning your darkness into light. He's making your rough places smooth. He will not forsake you. Not now, not ever.
You are free. You are loved. You are home. And that's the truth that no lie can ever take away from you again.
Let this be our prayer. Aba Father, thank you for your endless patience with us when we couldn't see you clearly. Thank you for never leaving us even when we were following falsehood. Thank you for opening our eyes to truth and setting us free from deception. Help us to release the shame that was never ours to carry. Help us to see ourselves as you see us, not as foolish sheep who got lost, but as beloved children who found their way home. Give us wisdom to recognize truth, courage to walk in freedom, and grace to extend to others the same mercy you've shown to us.
Restore what the locusts have eaten. Redeem the years that felt wasted. And use our stories to help others find their way from darkness to light. We trust you with our past, our present, and our future, knowing that nothing can separate us from your love. Thank you for running to meet us while we were still a long way off. Thank you for the celebration instead of condemnation. Thank you for making all things new.
In Jesus' name, amen. [Music]
