Excerpt from the upcoming book, "Full Disclosure"

     There is a somewhat prominent UFO cult, which uses the first passages of the Bible to begin its indoctrination to new members. The claim of the Raelian religion (boasting 80,000 members in 40 countries), is that the word used for God in the Hebrew in these passages, (Elohim - Strong's 430), is the plural form of the singular word for God. They then bend this to imply that the Hebrew word "Elohim" (Elohim said let there be light; Elohim said let us make man in our own image), actually refers to an entire race of Elohim, which came from another planet, and began creating mankind on this earth as a scientific experiment. While they are correct in pointing out that the word Elohim is used in its plural form in Genesis, they are both deceived and continue deceiving by not understanding or accepting the triune nature of God - the "Us," who is also "I AM" - who became flesh and dwelt among us.

      Amazing that this one little point of error could lay the cornerstone for an entirely new organized religion. This is the type of deceptive doctrines the church finds herself up against these days, and one can only hope that we will rise to minister in truth to those being led astray by them - including our own! The one Raelian I have personally met (they had a "recruiting booth" set up at a UFO conference) told me she used to belong to a church.

      Many within the church seem to take a perhaps misguided liberty of over-confidence, when we assume that we cannot be led astray by false signs or doctrines. We remember Jesus said that false christs and prophets would appear "to deceive the elect - if that were possible" and thus consider ourselves immune from deception, as if we just somehow automatically inherit an "anointing" to not be deceived. 

      This is not the whole case however; the church has always had to zealously guard against deception. In both recorded instances of that statement (Mt 24:24, Mk 13:22), Jesus followed it by emphasizing, "So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time." There is the implication that teaching is what guards the believer from deception, not some supernatural immunity. Much of Paul's writing is dedicated to refuting false doctrines that were creeping into the early church, and leading many astray, so it is apparent that the false teaching of "wolves" can and does deceive those called to eternal life. 

     We cannot assume that everyone we see in our church building this Sunday is among the elect. Without pondering eternal security, we must remember that Jesus said that "many are called, but few are chosen." (chosen is the definition for "elect" given in Strong's Concordance). Jesus' Parable about the seed sown on rocky ground expresses this reality also - "But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time" (Mt 13:21).

     Specifically, we are flat out told in 1 Timothy 4 "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." Timothy is then urged that part of the process of saving himself and his hearers from this fate, is through the public reading of Scripture, preaching and teaching (1 Tim 4:13-16). Ephesians 4 affirms that the office of teaching is part of what is intended to equip and mature the saints, to prevent them from being blown around by the cunning and deceitfulness of false doctrine. 

     UFO propaganda is among the chief false teachings of our age. As the church, if we have no Biblical ground for what we believe about any topic, then we remain infants, and prone to deception ourselves. One has only to look at the rise of Mormonism or Scientology in years past, to see the threat here. These cults took from the church those multitudes who were not fully grounded in the Word of God, nor had a Biblical understanding of how to refute the deceptive philosophies being introduced to them. 

     We heartily encourage those "true shepherds" to make a Biblical inquiry into the nature of this phenomenon, and to do all that can be done to equip those under your charge to not be misled by these teachings, which they are encountering almost every day.
 
 

Copyright 1999 Guy Malone