1 John 5:19 "We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." The apostle John said the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, so our enemy has a great influence in our world. We see this evil one has been influencing mankind for a long time. In 1 John 3:12 "We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous." Cain acted like the evil one and murdered his brother. It is clear who this evil one is, in the book of John 8:44 Jesus said "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Even after many centuries, this murderer and liar's influence can still been seen daily in our local news.
The people of the world seems to think sinning is o.k. Blinded they are by the evil one. 1 John 3:8 "Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil" The children of God are different from the children of the devil. 1 John 3:10 "By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother."
The apostle Paul tells us what we need to do and who we are really fighting against. Eph 6:11,12 "11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the comic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
We see that our fight is not against our brothers and sisters. It is against the evil force that is influencing them to sin. We must find a way to open their eyes and their ears to the truth of God's word. We must continue to love them and to forgive them because they have lost their way. We know the truth but they have become blind to it. A blind man stumbles around in the dark and they who live in spiritual darkness are stumbling around all over the place. We see this but they do not. True freedom is freedom from evil. Our own example can be a guiding light to them.
(ESV)
No comments:
Post a Comment