Q6. Self-Deceit

[guro]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

It is very easy to believe that we are righteous because we are listening to God's Word. But listening to the Word of God is not enough to make us righteous. God wants us to be practicing Christians.

[CathyLovesJesus]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

We are fooled because we get "comfortable" when we feel we "know" God's Word. The 'god' of this world has blinded us into thinking we are righteous when God clearly tells us: "no there's NONE righteous, no not ONE."

The nature of self-deception, I believe is PRIDE. We think we are "good," despite God telling us NONE of us are. We all have egos and it is a difficult truth to know that we are NOT good.

Also, I would add, hypocrasy is the root of self deception. That's what Jesus said in the 23rd chapter of Matthew...

[RodR]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

Satan is a master of half-truths. I remember a sign in the library of a college I once attended that read... "Blessed is the one who reads..." While it was intended to encourage reading it illustrates how satan lures us into half-truths. Some Christians read a little further and finish the phrase, "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy..." However those who intend to follow Christ and grow in Him, finish the entire thought: "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near." (Rev 1:3 NIV)

[Charles Sanger]

Allot op people in the world tend to talk-the-talk, but not walk-the-walk as they should (as I have been so guilty of many times) and this is what James is trying to warn us about here. It is easy to say you are a Christian, but to live like a Christian is much more difficult and challenging. People react more on what they see people do rather than to what people say. How can we as children of God lead people to Christ if we don

[Ramon]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

Answer;

1. Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives?

Because we are taught,like that since we are young..That going to church and listening to sermon,decrease to such extent our sinsulness

[Cindy L W]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

self righteousness and pride can make us feel like we are able to do things alone. We have to be a doer of the word or we cannot walk out what the word has made us.

[Cindy L W]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

We are born into the fallen world of sin and we are used to getting things through our own works. We are used to deserving what we get in this world. When we are born again we get the provision of salvation through grace and truth. We don't do any good works to deserve salvation. Instead we read the word of God and pray and we are changed into who we are in the eyes of God by doing the word of God. Pride will make us think we are deserving of salvation, humble hearts let us obtain and walk in the gifts the the Lord has freely given to us.

[saskheather]

We want everything to be easy. But we must realize that listening is not enough. Action and faith are required...maybe in the other order.

[Kaliyl72]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

I would say that we are so easily fooled to believing that by listening to the Bible, or reading the Bible as if we have done good and that that is enough. It's as if to say that even though I haven't demostrated any ability to perform a surgical preceedure and yet have a license to do so, that I am an exellent surgeon.I must SHOW what I have learned, SHOW my work before being classified as such. We too must show what we have learned, live the Word. What we do describes what we believe. We must breath the Word, you know?... Inhale and Exhale. Breath in the Word, "Inhale", and breath out the Word, "Exhale". Breathing in the Word is to consume it, take it in for ourselves. To breath out the Word is to show-forth the Word which brings about life. The Word of God must be lived through believers. In doing so, the Word of God will bring about life through the believers. It will bring about change. It will not be in vain for us to live our lives according to the Word of God. Isaiah 55:11 states, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." This is valid being that He(the Lord)speaks through us. Thy kingdom come, Oh Lord. "...as he is, so are we be in this world." (kjv, 1John 4:17). Believing we can achieve righteousness by knowledge of the Word, we deceive ourselves.

[Susan Renier]

We are easily fooled because 'there is none righteous' and we have a tendency toward pride. There is a big difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. Studying the Word can become like a mere practice in discipline rather than it being the disciplining of our practices. And as Dr. Wilson stated, "Unless you practice God's commands, you kid yourself."

[Jolly Bean]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

Listening to Bible teaching does not means or equal to righteous lives. It is the practising and application part that is living out the righteous lives. To illustrate when we learn maths in school, the knowledge we gain are just head knowledge not unless if we apply it. So how do we apply it? For example if we go to a departmental stores and there is a discount promotion, by applying the simple maths that we learn we'll know how much we need to pay for the item.

Self deception means lying to oneself, if we claim that we know something but in actual fact we don't know, this is self deception.

[ljmnkscart]

Listening and gaining knowledge can be determined by us that that is all we need to be deemed righteous. Hearing only can make us feel good, make us feel like we are doing right because we agree with what we hear. We may be like what Paul talked about in Roman 6:1 that because we are living under grace therefore we have no need to do anything else, which is not correct. If we do not examine ourselves on a continual basis we may get complacent and do not realize that we are only hearing and not doing what we hear. Quote---knowing without practicing is self-deception.

[ServantOfGod]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

The Bible teaches us that we will be known by our love. It also teaches we will be known by our fruit. Fruit rots if it stays on the tree. If we do not give our fruit to others (love, kindness, gentleness, patience, faith, peace, joy); if all we are doing is listening; eventually we will become too full to hear what the pastor is saying. Maybe, we will even become so full, we will throw up on the person next to us (become angry, selfish, envious...)

I like what the late Rich Mullins wrote in one of his songs. "Faith without works is like a song you can't sing, its about as useless as a screen door on a submarine." Yes, we are saved by grace and not by works; however, that grace we were saved by should cause a change in our lives of wanting to work and please the One that saved us. My Savior saved me from an eternal fire; worse yet, from being separated from Him for an eternity. Shouldn't I have a heart that wants to serve Him? Shouldn't I have a heart that when I hear His words I am ready to respond and do as He asks?

Satan deceives us into believing if you go to church on Sunday's and listen to a sermon and don't do anything particularly bad during the week, you are doing okay. Christians need to read their Bibles and they will clearly see that that is not okay. We need to follow the examples of Christ and live the Word not just hear it.

James is merely telling us to live as Jesus' did, reaching out to others.

[Old Jerry]

I think that we are so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living our righteous lives because we know what the bible says. The same thing is true in going to church. We go to church and listen to the word but it is hard to go out into a godless world and put into action the things that we heard.

The nature of self-deception is to compare ourselves with others and say that we are not as bad as that other guy so then I am doing what is right.

[ragnew]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

From a legalistic point of view, I may feel satisfied that I've done my duty to spend time in God's Word and then forget that it does little good until it is applied in my life. We may also feel great pride in knowledge on certain deeper truths of the Bible. I'd say the basis of the deception is pride. Spending time in the Bible is not a duty, it is what gives me life. Knowledge without application is of no value. It is all vanity.

[Guitar Jim]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives?

 

It's hearing without doing. We mentally agree with the sermon or Bible study passage we receive, but don't put into practical application what the teaching says we should or shouldn't do. No wonder outsiders always say the church is full of hypocrites. That is a convenient parroted phrase to excuse themselves from not participating and they maybe don't even know what a hypocrite really is, but nonetheless it's become a catch cry for unbelievers.

We need to be frequently questioning our motives for doing even the everyday things in our lives to see if we're really living out righteous lives. We can only really be righteous by God's Grace and forgiveness but we have our part to play. We need to always submit to the Word of God.

 

 

 

What is the nature of the self-deception?

 

We hear or read the Word and don't let it sink deep into us. James covered this in the passage about the person who looks into the mirror then walks away and immediately forgets what he looks like. We receive teaching gladly and have the best intentions of putting it into practice, then the worries and busy-ness of life makes us forget all about it. Like the parable of the sower and the seed.

[Craig]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?       

 

We tend to confuse listening with doing.  We listen rather than act and think we are acting by listening.  That truly is self-deception.  The nature of the self-deception is not submitting our will to the will of God.  God's Word challenges us, even commands us to act.  Most Christians don't want to act.  They are lazy and complacent.  That is the problem with many of our churches.  So they listen and pretend they are living out God's Word. James said "do it" and stop deceiving yourselves.

 

An additional thought:  this is a problem within many Christian homes.  Parents take their children to church.  They hear and are taught the Word of God, but the parents don't live it out at home. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GoRaysXD]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

 

 

We tend to confuse listening with doing.  We listen rather than act and think we are acting by listening.  That truly is self-deception.  The nature of the self-deception is not submitting our will to the will of God.  God's Word challenges us, even commands us to act.  Most Christians don't want to act.  They are lazy and complacent.  That is the problem with many of our churches.  So they listen and pretend they are living out God's Word. James said "do it" and stop deceiving yourselves.

 

An additional thought:  this is a problem within many Christian homes.  Parents take their children to church.  They hear and are taught the Word of God, but the parents don't live it out at home. 

 

[Frangena]

It is very easy to deceive ourselves by thinking that we know it all. We go to church regularly, we pay our dues, we are members of church organisations and sometimes we even run Bible studies or Sunday School classes. Knowing the Bible and how to interpret its texts does not mean we are righteous. Doing what the Word of God says we should do is what matters. But even there, we need to be careful that we do not behave like the Pharisees by doing good deeds with ulterior motives of showing off.  

[lighthouse2014]

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

Most of the time we sit in church and listen to the word of God, which sounds true to our ears at the time, but as soon as we exit the church the word is forgotten and worldly cares rush in. We may convince ourselves we are living the true word, but in reality we are deceiving ourselves, because we are not practicing what we hear or learn.

Because of self pride we believe we are practicing the word of God we have learned. In reality we are self deceiving, thinking we are doing good which is in our own eyes. People around us know better because they live with us or our neighbors and family.    

[Tyreek]

The righteousness that leads to godliness helps us to pass trials and keeps us from falling away from God but, human pride has always blinded us to truth. Many Christians have bought into the lie that we should expect the blessing of the next life in this life, that the Christian life should be all gain and no pain; all victories and no losses; all joy and no sorrow. You can appear to have your act together with the Lord, but God knows the true condition of each man’s heart. I believe the self-deception that James has in mind here relates to an inappropriate response to truth. Self-deception is common in our fallen world; our hearts are deceitful. We read John 5:24, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life, and become fooled into thinking that these are just words and not a true, righteous, statement that should be taken literal.

[Krissi]

Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception?

I'm not so sure that a Christian who is listening to the Bible, studying it intently and praying over it's meaning isn't becoming more righteous. What a Christian imbibes becomes who he or she is.  If he spends a lot of time in the word, then the word will seep into him and change who he is  ... he will become more righteous. Not less. 

The problem may be when he confuses the relationships he has in church with the one he has with God. Church relationships won't make him righteous. He can rub up against righteous people in church, but that is qualitatively different than spending time in the word or inviting the Holy Spirit to change him inside.

I still think that studying the Bible is a transformative experience, almost necessarily. I have known scholars of the bible who studied it as literature or philosophy and who were not Christian and therefore not transformed or righteous, but for a Christian to study the bible and hear it in church, isn't the Holy Spirit involved in those words AND in that Christian's heart, so that the words feed the heart and change his character and love of the lord?

[hanks]

Q6. (1:22) 
Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? 
What is the nature of the self-deception?
Perhaps we have become too complacent. We must be very careful that we don’t think we are Christians just because we go to church, we read the Bible, and we pray. 
I think it is this danger that James is anxious to warn us about. We must guard against ‘merely listening’. Mere listening is of little benefit. Of course, listening is good but it should not stop there. We can go from sermon to sermon, always listening but never able to acknowledge the truth (2 Tim 3:7). We must not only hear or read the Word, but we should be striving that the Word is not only understood but that it is also being written on our hearts (Jer 31:33). There should be visible spiritual growth in us, as we no longer seek to serve only ourselves, but we are bearing fruit for our Lord (Col 1:6). We can so easily deceive ourselves unless our increasing knowledge of the Word produces a corresponding increasing likeness to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We should cultivate a hunger for the Word and allow it to change our lives for the better. Someone said, ‘there is a difference between reading or hearing the Bible and growing in grace’. 
 

[Katy]

Q6. Satan is called the “the Father of lies”, and he can persuade and fool us into thinking we are doing well because we go to church and read our bibles. He never mentions anything about putting it into practise, because he will try all kinds of distractions to ensure we don’t put anything we have read into practice. We can become overfamiliar with the Scriptures and not give our full attention to them and even less attention to putting them into action. We can confuse knowing the truth and actually doing the right things in everyday life. We can display an exemplary exterior and inside or at home we can be sinful and not doing the things we pretend we are doing. 

[blezed]

(James 1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives?

We are easily fooled because we can become self-righteous.  We feel that knowing God's word is enough.

What is the nature of the self-deception?

Self-deception is knowing the word without practicing it.