To some extent it has been necessary to anticipate the subject of this chapter in dealing with those counterfeits which are predicted for the last days, when there will be found a “form of godliness, denying the power thereof,” and also the deep “doctrines of devils” which are “lies in hypocrisy.”  This chapter deals with that which is so vital in the true faith, and which is to be so carefully omitted in the false; that which makes the true so potent, and without which the false becomes an immeasurable deception.  Everything depends upon this one point of distinction; for, according to prophecy, it is the only difference that is finally to exist between the false and the true.  The issue is, therefore, as important as life itself.

It has already been seen that the method of counterfeiting, if successful, will require Satan to appropriate and incorporate in his false systems every available principle of the true; for the deception of the counterfeit depends wholly upon its likeness to the real.  Herein is revealed the reason for calling that a lie or deception which is externally so like the truth.  Certainly there could be no greater pitfall for souls than a system which seems to be the truth of God, and yet robs its followers of any basis for a true hope, and it will be found that the most terrible condemnation of Scripture is uttered against such systems and their promoters.

In seeking to discover the actual point of difference between the false and the true, it will be well, first, to consider the present perverted relation which exists between the Creator and the fallen human creature; for herein is revealed the necessity of that which God proposes to accomplish by redemption.

Two important points in Satan’s doctrine were announced by him in the Garden of Eden when he first approached the woman, and these two declarations kave been an important part of the world’s creeds throughout the history of man.  The first was a bold denial of a positive statement of God, when Satan said:  “Ye shall not surely die.”  Whether Satan intended here simply to deny the truth of God’s statement, or whether he overestimated his own resources and proposed to shield them from their God-appointed doom, is not clear.  Certainly the latter view is in keeping with Satan’s original purpose, as well as with his evident sincerity.  It is quite reasonable to conclude that, if he could be so misguided as to attempt to be like the Most High, he would willingly have undertaken to protect man from judgment which followed as a result of loyalty to himself.  Satan is striving, at any rate, to direct the lives of those who are under his power into a degree of self development that will be a substitute for the revealed purpose of God for men.