Can One of God's Elect Be Deceived?
1) Direct Answer
No. The very elect cannot be deceived from the Word. God keeps His own.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Matthew 24:24: “False Christs and false prophets… shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” That “if it were possible” shows it isn’t possible.
- John 10:4-5, 27-28: “My sheep hear my voice… a stranger will they not follow… I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
- 1 John 2:20, 27: “You have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things… the anointing… is truth, and is no lie.” The Spirit in them guards them from error.
- Romans 11:7: “The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” The elect obtain the truth; the rest are the ones blinded.
- Ephesians 1:13; 4:30: They are “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise… unto the day of redemption.”
- 1 Peter 1:5: They are “kept by the power of God.”
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- If the elect could be deceived, then Christ’s promise would fail and the sealing of the Holy Spirit would not hold. But the Bible says they are kept.
- The elect may be tested, momentarily puzzled, or pulled at by error, but the Seed in them won’t swallow a lie. The Shepherd’s Voice draws them back to the Word.
- Many are called, but few are chosen; deception catches the called-but-not-chosen. The chosen stand with the revealed Word.
- The Bride—seen overcoming and faithful—cannot be deceived from her Husband-Word.
Short Reinforcement
You see, it’s not that deception won’t be strong; it’s that God’s keeping is stronger. The elect hear the Voice of the Word and will not follow a stranger.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
God keeps His Word, part 1
57-0306 §26
The Bible said that in the last days the antichrist would deceive the very elect if possible. If you would have stood with me in the jungles of Africa, and watched those heathens produce blood in their hands, pour it into a skull and drink it, you'd know better. Certainly. You see, I believe in signs and wonders, but they got to be God's signs and wonders. At the junction of every time that I am going to speak on in a few nights... Listen to this, brother: When all heaven opens up, all hell opens up with it. The Bi...
Adoption, part 4: Adoption
60-0522E §59
In the last days, the Bible said (now watch) in the last days there's going to be two classes of people. One of them's going to have the seal of God; the other one the mark of the beast. Is that right? How many knows that? Well, if the seal of God is the Holy Ghost, then without the Holy Ghost is the mark of the beast. And the Bible said that the two spirits would be so close together it would deceive the very elected if it was possible. It'll never do it, because they were elected to eternal life, see. Church goin...
The anointed ones at the end time
65-0725M §165
Jesus said---to prove this---"If I cast out devils by the finger of God, by who does your children cast them out?" Now, they were casting out devils. They were prophesying. Is that right? But did not recognize Him being the Word of the hour. Why? Because He wasn't associated with them. Now take Matthew 24:24: "False christs, anointed ones, will rise. And they'll be false prophets, prophesying (see), and will deceive the very elected if it was possible." You got it now?
Church Ages, part 9: The ten virgins, and the 144,000
60-1211M §121
Eve was deceived. She just took part of the Word. Moab was deceived. The sleeping virgin was deceived. The church is deceived. The denominations are deceived, see. Stay with the Word. That's the only way. Stay right with it. Don't move from any of it. Stay right with it. Go right on what God said do. No matter what anybody else says, keep God's line.
God is identified by His characteristics
64-0311 §10
I might drop a little something here. Jesus said, in Matthew, twenty-fourth chapter, that "In the last days, the two spirits would be so close together till it would deceive the very elected if it was possible." Now, that's just like looking at a right hand and a left hand. They both got thumbs, fingers, nails, small fingers, middle fingers, so forth, index, all are different fingers. They, both the thumbprints, only one's just turned one way and one the other, both the same print, made the same way, the thumbprint...