When I was in my preteen years I had a horse–a tall, 2000-pound filly composed of pure muscle. Being small for my age, and not having a saddle, I had to lead her to a gate, climb the gate and, from that perch, jump onto her back. The strange thing about all of that was that as long as I had a bridle on her she was as docile as a kitten. But without the bridle, she could be, and was at times, vicious. As most people know, horses are controlled by the REINS of the bridle. With the bridle on I WAS HER MASTER. I weighed maybe 100 pounds, which made her 20 times my size. And I was not composed of pure muscle. Physically, I was no match for the monster I controlled, AS LONG AS SHE WAS WEARING THE BRIDLE. THE REINS gave me control over her. But when the bridle came off, she BECAME a totally different, uncontrollable beast.

There is a spiritual application to the reins-control situation that I learned over the years when dealing with human beings on the spiritual level. I learned that everyone wears a spiritual bridle, and that everyone obeys the one holding the spiritual reins, and that WHOSOEVER HOLDS THE SPIRITUAL REINS, “REIGNS” OVER/C ONTROLS/ RULES/ IS THE MASTER OF THE ONE WEARING THE SPIRITUAL BRIDLE. The primary difference between the animal-controlling and human-controlling situations is that the roles are reversed–the one holding the reins is much more powerful than the one wearing the bridle. The RULER/MASTER is either God or Satan. The one being controlled is the individual. Nevertheless, IT IS THE INDIVIDUAL WHO DECIDES WHICH GOD HOLDS THE “REINS” GOVERNING HIS/HER “WALK” THROUGH THIS LIFE.

This is proclaimed often as we are told to “let not” sin reign over our lives and to “choose” the right over the wrong. Unfortunately, the church masses believe that, because of Adam, sin must reign over them. But not to fear, Jesus stands ready to forgive them for what they MUST DO–SIN. In their spiritual world, GOD AND SATAN SHARE REIN-CONTROLING DUTIES. Each has his defined duties: SATAN MAKES THEM SIN AND GOD FORGIVES THEIR SIN. It is a system supposedly made in both heaven and hell.

Contrary to the church’s “sin and grin for the fix is in” mind-set, God does not share his rulership with Satan. If one serves Satan by sinning, one is “separated from God” (Isa. 59:3), does not “walk in agreement with Him” (Amos 3:3), does not “walk as He (Jesus) walked” (1 Jn. 2:6) and cannot “overcome (Satan) as He (Jesus) overcame” his temptations to sin (Rev 3:21). Christ died in order to make the above possible for the true believer. We can do the above only by making Jesus our LORD/ MASTER/ RULER. He is not our Savior in this life. He must be our LORD/ MASTER/ RULER for the remainder of our lives in order to become our Savior upon His return to earth. Proof of this is found by doing a word count. In the entire New Testament the Word “Savior” is used relative to Jesus 26 times while the Word “Lord” is used approximately 630 times. Read The Message of the Cross. Key word–Message. Be prepared; the message is not what you have heard from your false prophets.

Relative to whom one is controlled by, there are several differences between the two gods in the controlling process. 1) The Biblical God allows NO OPTIONS–it is His way or the highway. 2) His reign is TOTAL–no allowances for circumstance, situation, etc. 3) He RULES BY HIS LAW–SPECIFICALLY THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. To the contrary, Satan, “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), offers unlimited options as to what man can do in the spiritual realm. He wants man to make all of the decisions, allows him to have as many options as he wants, and allows him to make laws that please himself. Only one belief is not on Satan’s can-do list for those in his religious system–ANYTHING WRITTEN IN THE HOLY BIBLE. Jesus spoke to this Truth in Matthew 16:23 where we find Him talking to Satan about his (Satan’s) relationship with his followers. Jesus is saying to him: “Get behind me, Satan, for you love not the ways of God, but rather the ways of man.” In other words, the devil gives man what man wants–SELF-DETERMINATION, SELF-DIRECTION, SELF-CONTROL.

God uses His Law to RULE His people, Satan allows man to create his own beliefs and behaviors so that different groups can GOVERN THEMSELVES according to their own wishes. This was the reason for and the outcome of Adam and Eve’s partaking of the forbidden fruit. God Himself spoke to this fact in Genesis 3:22 where, following their sin, He said: “The man has become like one of Us–“ABLE TO DETERMINE GOOD AND EVIL.” Except for a minutely few true believers, man is still charting his own spiritual course in this life. Determining good and evil are still the domain of Satan-controlled churchman and those involved in all other religions.

For this reason the human community has dozens of religions. One of them–Christianity–has two divisions, one of which has hundreds of mini-divisions called denominations, faiths, churches, etc. Each of the groups has its own god, its own savior, its own truths and its own customs and rituals which are, according to each group’s human founder, dictated by their self-created god. Not surprisingly, each group “knows” that it is the world’s only true religion. And Satan smiles, knowing that he–the secret god of each and every one of them–has them exactly where he wants them.

Except one–the smallest, least known and most rejected of all religions–God’s true church. These are the “few” that have entered the Lord’s strait (difficult) gate and are walking his narrow (restrictive) way to His Kingdom. The other 99.9% of the world’s religionists have entered the devil’s wide (come as you are) gate and are walking his broad (stay as you are) way to death (Mat. 7:13,14; 22:14).

The Apostle Paul has much to say about the reins-control situation that we all must deal with throughout our post-justified lives. The Biblical God holds and applies the spiritual “reins” in the lives of His true saints. Again–the one who holds our reins is the one WE CHOOSE to do so. God commands that we choose Him. His Very Elect saints obey that command. Satan holds the controlling reins in the lives of all others as a result of their individual choices. He who holds the spiritual reins over human beings determines which spiritual direction each individual is “walking”–living his/her life. The Apostle Paul, having fought that battle himself following his meeting with Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road, failed repeatedly early on in his Christian walk. Yet he became the Lord’s premiere writer of the New Testament. For these reasons, Paul is the perfect teacher for the rest of us. Paul’s early struggles are explained in the series titled The Apostle Paul’s Sin Problem. Key word–Paul’s.

We must continually check the rule book (Holy Bible) to make sure that we are walking with (obeying) the Author of that Book. If we are not, then we are walking with Satan by following one of the hundreds of different church doctrines which is proclaimed to be “God’s Word.” It is true that each of their doctrines is composed of the words and will of a god. The question is: WHICH GOD? Jesus spoke to this Truth in Matthew 7:21-23 where He warns us about the dialogue that will take place on Judgement Day between Himself and church people, specifically church leaders. Read that passage carefully. Bear in mind that each person standing before the Lord will call Him “LORD,” will tell Him how religious he/she had been and will expect to be handed the key to his/her heavenly mansions. To them Jesus will say: “I NEVER KNEW YOU. DEPART FROM ME YOU LAW-BREAKERS.” The Word “iniquity” means “lawlessness.” What happened to these people? Why did they begin right but ended wrong? The Apostle Paul began right, walked wrong in the beginning, then found the right. We will explore that situation in part 2. L.J.