Articles
The Dangers of Ignorance
When the apostle Paul penned the epistle to the Corinthians he was very forthright in his admonitions, even as he said, “I would not, brethren, have you ignorant.” The apostle Paul understood the dangers of ignorance, as it was recorded by Hosea, saying, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (4:6), and as a result the words of Isaiah teem with meaning, when he said, “Therefore my people are gone into captivity for lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude are parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol hath enlarged its desire, and opened its mouth without measure; and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth among them, descend into it” (Isaiah
The apostles were keen on the dangers that faced Christians in the first century and by extension the dangers that face Christians today. Paul told the Corinthians, “Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted (10:6)…Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (10:12). Peter also warned, “But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of” (2 Peter 2:1-2). As Peter described these false teachers, he identified the same dire condition as was set forth by Hosea and Isaiah, i.e., “for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage” (
As much as our surroundings appear to change, man’s spiritual needs are as they have always been and as such Peter’s remedy in his time is applicable to our own: “Ye therefore, beloved, knowing [these things] beforehand, beware lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him [be] the glory both now and for ever. Amen” (2 Peter
Remember the words of the apostle Paul, who said, “Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). Has your lack of knowledge brought you into captivity to the evil one?
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