Friday, May 3, 2013

Deceptive Persuasion

"For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts." (1 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

The only eternally affective sharing of the good news of salvation is the simple straight forward truth. Any other attempt to share may be temporarily successful, but when people discover they have been manipulated, they quickly turn away.

God tests our hearts. Not because he wants to know who we are, he already knows that, but to break through our self-deception.

Paul may also be warning believers that God will expose any of our attempts to manipulate others.