Mankind’s first sin was idolatry–exercising the power of self-determination.  Satan tempted Adam and Eve with a thought (“a little leaven”).  All was going well in Eden until Eve paused for a chat with the “Serpent” who convinced her that she and Adam had the power of choice, which was true.  Man always has the power to choose his God.  The choice is and always has been either God or Satan.  We choose whether to obey God and live, or to obey Satan and die.  God is honest; He tells us that if we obey Satan we die.  Satan is a liar; he tells us that if we obey him we live, just as if we had obeyed God.  Churchites hear that lie every Sunday.  Either way, man chooses which god he will obey.  If we embrace God as God we take the focus of our lives off ourselves and direct it solely on the Him.  To embrace Satan as god is to take the focus off of God and direct it onto ourselves because we don’t realize that we are serving Satan.  SATAN WANTS MAN TO WORSHIP HIMSELF AS GOD.  He doesn’t mind ruling from behind the scenes.  Though the puppet master is never seen, his control over the puppet is total.  Satan plants the leaven of self-determination in the mind of churchman, then retires to the shadows, allowing man to assume the leadership role in his life, make his own decisions, etc., all the while believing that he is serving the Biblical God.  His false prophets confirm this “truth” each sun god day (Sunday).

In the case of Adam and Eve, he (Satan) told Eve that she and Adam could defy God and: “You shall not surely die.”  He promised them eternal life as a reward for their rebellion against the One Who created them.  Then he slithered into the shadows while our original parents made the decision to partake of the forbidden tree.  Satan knew that he had only the power of suggestion with which to control them.  “The devil made me do it” is church-wide wishful thinking–the dream of Law-haters everywhere.  The problem is, the devil has convinced them that their dream is in fact reality, that the Law was “nailed to the cross.”

As I have stated and the Scriptures confirm, the devil cannot force his will on anyone.  Nor has he arranged for Adam’s sin gene (“natural leaven”) to be transferred into man’s spiritual dna.  This is a well-worn church “truth” relentlessly proclaimed by sin-addicted churchites (Lawbreakers–“workers of iniquity”–Mat. 7:23).  Their hirelings (Jn. 10:12,13) proclaim this Satanic lie (2 Thes. 2:11) from pulpit and podium, television, radio, movies, books, streets, handouts, the internet 24/7/365.

The temptations to sin is Biblically known as his “fiery darts” (Eph. 6:16) which the prayed-up, studied-up, faithed-up, fasted up and obeyed-up saint of God deflects using the “whole armor of God” which his Master provides for him (Eph. 6:11,13) and which remains in place due to his WORKS listed earlier in this sentence.  Note the word “whole” relative to God’s “armor.”  Satan is constantly looking for a chink in our armor–a weakness which he can exploit.  With man, sexual lust is one of the most powerful “chinks.”  A study revealed that the typical male thinks of sex on average every five minutes.  That is why the internet sex business is a $3,000,000,000 per year industry.  Man is also addicted to entertainment.  Note how many offerings feature sex.

As I stated in the previous posting: THE HUMAN MIND IS MORE POWERFUL THAN SATAN AND HIS DEVILS COMBINED.  Jesus said so through the Apostle James: ” (You) resist the devil and he will flee from YOU” (4:7).  If man did not have more power than Satan, man would do the fleeing.  However, man must fight against Satan and his devils with all his God-supplied might in order to defeat them, just as did Jesus of Nazareth.  As Jesus tells us in Ephesians 6:10-18: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of HIS might.  Put on the whole armor of God so that you will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Therefore, take to yourself (our choice) the whole armor of God so that you will be able to withstand Satan in the evil day, and having done all you can do, to stand.  Stand therefore, having your loins girted with Truth (God’s Word–Jn. 17:17), wear the breastplate of righteousness, shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.  And above all, take the shield of faith so that you can quench all of Satan’s fiery darts.  And put on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Holy Spirit, which is the Word of God.  Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watch with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”  Note that the command is for man to take to himself the armaments of spiritual warfare and to put them on himself.  Man decides whether he will win or lose the war.

You and I have been told from early on that nothing Paul said in the above passage is necessary in order to be saved, that Jesus took care of all of that on the cross so that we would not have to.  We have been told that we could not follow Paul’s commands even if we wanted to, that Adam’s sin transferal miracle makes us all permanent sinners from conception, that all we need to do is believe that Jesus arranged it so that we would not have to actually obey God–do the works of righteous.  We are told not to even try, that we will just get frustrated if we did.  As one local false prophet proclaimed to his t.v. audience, “Don’t even try to be righteous; you’ll just make yourself sick.  After all, you are nothing but a society of sinners.”  That is a quote that God miraculously arranged for me to hear.

If what is spoken in church is true, then why are we commanded to “walk as He (Jesus) walked” while on earth? (1 Jn. 2:6); to “purify ourselves even as He is pure?” (1 Jn. 3:3);  and to “… overcome even as I (Jesus) overcame (Satan’s temptations)” in order to join Him in God’s Kingdom?  Why did Jesus tell us to “count the cost” of following Him if He was going to pay OUR part of the cost? (Lk. 14:28).  Why did He say that we must give up our self-desires in order to be His disciples? (Lk. 14:33).  Why did He say we must relegate our loved ones, as well as ourselves, to a lesser status than Him in order to be His disciples? “Lk. 14:26).  If faith is all we need in order to be saved, why did the Lord, through the Apostle James, tell us that faith without WORKS is dead faith? (Jam. 2: 10,14,17,18,20,24,26).  If there is not a cost that WE must pay, why did Jesus warn those who would be His disciples that their own relatives would give them up to death, and that they would be hated by all men, and that only those who endured such treatment until the end of their lives with their holiness intact would inherit salvation? (Mat. 10:21,22).  Read the series titled Persecution using that word as the key.  God is no respecter of persons; what is true for one disciple is true for all disciples.

When contemplating the above, remember that Jesus of Nazareth was a man like any other man, and that He was tempted by Satan like any other man, and that He prevailed over Satan and sin just as can any other man who uses the Holy Spirit of God as his power source.  Only those who are led by God’s Spirit are His true sons (Rom. 8:14).  Jesus did not die so that we could sin and get away with it.  He died in order to make the Holy Spirit (God’s power–Lk. 1:35) available to true believers (Acts 1:8).  Using that power, the true saint can overcome the temptations of the devil and stand before God in a state of holiness now and at judgment (Eph. 6:13).  As the Apostle Peter said, judgment is on-going for God’s people now (1 Pet. 4:17,17).  Contrary to popular opinion, the end result of faith is not eternal life.  As the Apostle Paul stated: THE END RESULT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS IS ETERNAL LIFE.  As James declared, faith without works (of righteousness and holiness) is dead faith.  We live by faith.  If our faith is dead (lacking the works of righteousness and holiness), then we are dead.  Church doctrine refutes this by assuring its practitioners that righteousness and holiness are impossible to acquire due to Adam’s miracle sin gene transferal.

The Apostle John proclaimed: “Let no man deceive you: HE WHO DOES RIGHTEOUSNESS IS RIGHTEOUS, EVEN AS HE (JESUS) IS RIGHTEOUS” (1 Jn. 3:7).  He added: “This is the way God’s children and Satan’s children are identified: HE WHO DOES NOT DO RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NOT OF GOD” (vs 10) and “HE WHO SINS IS OF THE DEVIL” (vs 8).  Note that John is writing to the church.  Read All That Glitters.  Key word–Glitters.  Remember Christ’s warning (Matthew 24:4,5,11,24) to not be deceived by Satan’s false prophets who tell you what you want to hear.  For example, one famous t.v. preacher said to his congregation: “You’re saved.  That’s already settled.”  False prophets do not come with a sign telling us who they are.  Jesus said that they would proclaim that He–Jesus–is the Christ, then would deceive us (into becoming part of Satan’s Catholic/Protestant Church System).  You will know Satan’s messengers by their fruits–obedience to God’s Word.  They will be cut down and burned, along with all who follow them (Mat. 7:15-27).   L.J.