God’s Perfect Reminder

When we seek His righteousness within His Holy Word, He is kind to lay before us the reminder of His truth.

Each of us who seek to follow the Lord Jesus is engaged daily in spiritual warfare. In any war ground is taken and ground is given.

Guilt is the Holy ground we have lost to the enemy through our own disobedience in sin.

This ground is only regained through confession, with a humble heart holding only contrition and repentance. These are the weapons of victory given to His Holy warrior in the war of the spirit.

If we listen to what scripture tells us about Satan and his powers of darkness, we will not look for his work only where there is obvious filth, obscenity, and godlessness in the world around us; we will look at ourselves, and at the Christian community.

It was not the prostitutes, social outcasts, dishonest business people, and political subversives, but God-fearing, law abiding Pharisees that Jesus called “sons of Satan” (John 8:44). It was not His enemies, but one of His closest friends, Peter, whom he called “Satan” (Mark 8:33).

Satan is most dangerous when he “disguises himself as an angel of light” and when his servants “disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness” 

(2nd Cor 11:14-15).

We must take warning when we talk about a personal devil and his work. It is not only in those “godless and unchristian people” who we like to think of as “out there” where Satan works so well. He is also hard at work especially where pious people try to use God to maintain their own personal security, prosperity, and power, instead of serving God alone.

Satan is at his best where morality and law abiding piety become more important than the needs of others and are used to ignore or neglect those needs.

The problem of evil among us is whether and how the death grip of this lie has on all of us can be broken. Only when we accept that God desires nothing from us except a broken spirit and a contrite heart (Psalm 51:17) that we may then perceive the road sign to the narrow way.

Seekers of the beloved Messiah will come to understand that the New Birth which brings life eternal at the very moment of faith is not a prize for being good. It is not a reward for those who try harder. It is not heaven’s payment for those who live sacrificially of goats and bulls. It is not a wage that can be earned by being pious and legalistic. You do not obtain it by forsaking vices or praying prayers. You cannot acquire it by paying tithes or performing religious ceremonies.

It is not gained by birthright of human blood nor is it gained by the meticulous keeping of rules (John 1:13).

Those who embrace by faith the glory revealed in the Gospel of Christ are united to Him forever, and are given the gift of eternal life, and all the rights and privileges pertaining to it, including righteousness (His), holiness (His), redemption (ours) (1st Cor 1:30), adoption (ours) (Romans 8:17), belovedness (Col 3:12), an imperishable inheritance (1st Peter 1:4), and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Gal 4:6).

MAY WE NEVER BE TOO WEARY TO LISTEN.