If the devil could have his way in the churches across a nation, it may not be the case that he would totally do away with them. Instead he would use them to deceive the people in differing ways. His work is given to us in the New Testament when this is said: “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist” (II John 7). The devil is also described in Revelation 12 as “the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (v. 9). Without question, then, the devil is one that deceives. Some of his work is in disguising himself as an angel of light (II Co 11:14). Another aspect of his work, as god of this world, is to blind “the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (II Cor 4:4).
So as the deceiver who disguises himself as an angel of light and who blinds people to the glory of Christ, we can see that it is not necessarily his work to deny the truth of Christianity but it is his work to hide the glory of it and to distort it. This is the massive problem in an age that does not like to think closely about issues and has enough pride to blind a billion worlds. We are also bound with the problem of thinking that we know something if we have heard of it with the ears and can memorize it. So because people have heard something about Pelagianism and they know that it is heresy, and assuredly they know they have the truth, they think that they are not guilty of it. The devil has the professing Church in his clutches as he is devouring it by deceiving it and hiding the true glory of the Gospel from the people. He is busily snatching the Word from the hearts of a sleepy and unsuspecting people while they go on their busy ways deceived and enslaved to the devil. The road to hell is without bumps for them as they go smoothly along fast asleep to eternal flames with their unregenerate hearts while ministers who are externally orthodox croon them to sleep with words of ease.
We can speak of revival and even desire it to some degree, but we must also realize that a desire for revival in name can also simply deceive our own wicked hearts from us. Our own zeal for evangelism can hide our unregenerate hearts from us. We think that surely a person that has zeal in evangelism must be a believer, but if we are shot through with a Pelagian way of thinking we are not proclaiming the Gospel. We can have all sorts of people pray prayers with us and make commitments, but if they have not been delivered from Pelagianism they are not converted. We can even get people in the churches and get them busy doing “ministry” in all sorts of activities, but unless they are delivered from Pelagianism they have not been delivered from their sin. Religion is being used in their case to hide their eyes from the true Gospel. As they sink deeper and deeper into their religious activities they are actually sinking deeper and deeper into their own sinful hearts and the ways set out for them by the devil.
A major thought today in Christendom is that we are not to worry about our feelings but do what needs to be done. How is that any different from the first point of Pelagianism? “Moral character can be predicated only of volitions.” On the other hand, people focus on their feelings greatly and told to let them go. We also use music and fiery sermons to fire up the feelings as if true religious affections could be fired up by external influences. This is no different than believing the last point of Pelagianism as listed by Hodge: “the only divine influence needed by man or consistent with his character as a self-determined agent is an external, providential, and educational one.”
Pelagianism is very much alive and the devil is fighting to deceive and blind. He is using hyper-evangelism to blind those who are using it to evangelize as well as blind those hearing it to the truth of the Gospel. Finney’s methods were used and so the areas that he held his evangelical services were referred to as “the burned out district” because of his practices that actually hardened people to the truth. It may be the case that the United States of America is one large burned out district today because of Finney’s methods being used by so many. Hyper-evangelism has held the day and has been preaching at the very best a very diluted gospel. On the other hand, some have confused Calvinism as hyper-Calvinism and the Gospel itself was thrown out. Finney’s errors have grown and have been reproduced over and over again. Hyper-evangelism and confusing true Calvinism with hyper-Calvinism are massive errors that spring from Pelagianism. These are both the ways of the devil who wants to hide the true glory of the Gospel from sinners. Not only does He hide the glory of Christ from the eyes of many, but he does so to many by hiding the true glory behind a false glory. So many think of the glory of the Gospel as being what it does for them only. The true glory of the Gospel is the glory of God shining in the face of Christ. It is when God shines forth His true grace in Christ that His glory is seen. But Pelagianism also attacks the nature of true grace. Oh the wiles of the devil!
God Loves... Himself 
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