Satan succeeded in deceiving God's people so that they were the ones responsible for the murder of Jesus. They were so deceived that they screamed "His blood be on us and our children." "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but [that] rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed [his] hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood [be] on us, and on our children." Matthew 27:24,25.
Two thousand years later Satan has further developed his ploys to deceive God's church, sending false teachers so that "if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Matthew 24:24. How have false teachers succeeded in some of these deceptions? The most successful deceptions I can see follow Satan's success in how he deceived the vast majority of the Jews, by making them think they were saved when in fact they were in a lost condition. Through their teachers he had perverted the gospel message. He perverted the meaning of the sanctuary and its services so that the Jews believed they were saved by their good works. They sacrificed believing it merited His favor.
Jesus corrected the theology, but soon afterward Judaizers had come into the church and we read of Paul having to once again point out the need to be born of His Spirit in order to be saved. Our good works merit nothing. It is true that without good works which testify to our converted state we cannot be saved since if there are no good works, there is no full surrender of self so that Jesus can possess the heart. Unless the heart is renewed we remain dead in our sins.
Sadly, the understanding of what it means to have a new heart has been lost sight of. Many now teach that one can be saved while having an evil heart. In this topic we will study the promise made through the prophet Ezekiel found in chapter 36 and verses 26 and 27.
