Did God Really Say?

2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

My irresponsibility started at a very young age. I can remember, while in 3rd grade, I left my math book at school and was unable to do my homework. When my mother picked me up from daycare that evening, I asked her if we could drive by the school and try to get my book. She told me that there was probably no one there, but that we would stop by and see. It was about 6:00 pm and my teacher Mrs. Underwood was still in the classroom. When I walked into the classroom I saw something that I didn’t quite understand. Mrs. Underwood was teaching a grown man how to read. After teaching kids all day, instead of going home, she stayed late to tutor an illiterate father.

Now that I am an adult and father of three, I see a different kind of illiteracy plaguing our nation. The greatest area of illiteracy in our nation today is Biblical illiteracy. The same way that Eve was deceived in the garden is the same way people are deceived today; People don’t know and don’t care “what God says”!! People watch television everyday, read the newspapers or books everyday, but for some reason people have no desire to read the word of God everyday. In this verse, Paul says that he is afraid that we will be led astray in the same way as Eve. He had good reason to be afraid because we ARE being led astray in the EXACT same way; WE DON'T KNOW WHAT GOD HAS SAID!

Gen 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Eve failed in the garden the same way we fail in our Spiritual lives. She wasn’t clear on what “God had really said”, and the majority of Christians in the world today aren’t either. Eve made the mistake of assuming what God said instead of absolutely knowing what God said. She failed and Satan succeeded because of her ignorance to the word of God. The omnipotence of God lies within every word of the book we call the Bible. When we place our faith in God’s word, that power is transferred into our life. The same power that resurrected Jesus Christ from the dead is available to anyone who places their faith in the word of God, but to place your faith in something that God did not say is powerless and foolish. That is why it is of the utmost importance to “know the Scriptures.”

Please understand that we are engaged in a Spiritual battle against the demonic forces of Satan everyday that we breathe air on this earth. To go into battle without a weapon is certain death, yet as Biblically illiterate Christians, we do it daily. The word of God (which is the sword of the Spirit) is our only weapon in this unseen warfare, and to not “know It” is to be defenseless. If we don’t take this battle serious by studying and applying God’s word, then we, like Eve, will be deceived and fall.

We need to be less like the Sadducees in Matthew 22:29, where Jesus tells them; “You are deceived because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God”, and become more like the Bereans in Acts 17:11; “But the people of Berea were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” The only way to know what “God has really said” is to search the Scriptures and find out. We need to cease being Biblically illiterate, ignorant, and ineffective, and become Christians who absolutely, without a doubt, “KNOW WHAT GOD HAS SAID”. Is Paul talking to you in this passage? Are you being led astray like Eve? Do you know “WHAT GOD HAS SAID”? Don’t be deceived like Eve!! Make it a point to know and understand the inerrant, infallible word of God. You never know when someone might ask you, “DID GOD REALLY SAY?”