"But thanks be
to God, that though you were slaves of
sin, you became obedient from the heart
to that form of teaching to which you
were committed, and having been freed
from sin, you became slaves of
righteousness." Romans 6:17-18
The devil is a master of deception - he
doesn’t come to you with a sign around
his neck saying, -"Hello, I’m the devil
and I am here to deceive you." The Bible
says that Satan appears as a messenger
of light and that his ministers come as
ministers of light, though they are
really minions of the kingdom of
darkness, of lies and destruction.
The Apostle Paul taught that Satan and
his demons are lying spirits who speak
lies into our conscientiousness and
exhorted the Church to capture every
thought and subject it to the obedience
of Christ Jesus who is the Living Word
of God, -"We
are destroying speculations and every
lofty thought raised up against the
knowledge of God, and we are taking
every thought captive to the obedience
of Christ, and we are ready to punish
all disobedience, whenever your
obedience is complete." (2 Cor.10)
Thoughts received turn into
beliefs which we eventually hold as
truth and put into practice.Oftentimes
demonic thoughts come into our minds
through the words of others and always
sound good at first hearing. But if a
thought will not hold up to Bible
evaluation it is from the devil and is
designed to destroy you.
Recently I noticed that when a person I
am acquainted with was asked to describe
their religious views they answered,
"Jesus Saves." Now the statement itself
is absolutely true, however it did not
answer the question. "Religion"
by definition means "way of life" so the
answer must explain what standard you
live your life to. Some
religions are founded in belief in God
or gods, while others are founded in the
teachings of men such as Buddhism. Since
every person has a way of life, everyone
practices a religion of some sort - even
atheists live according to some standard
which they believe is right.
The devil and his demons know and
believe that Jesus saves. -"You
believe that God is one. You do well;
the demons also believe and shudder. But
are you willing to recognize, you
foolish fellow, that faith without works
is useless?" (Ja.2) If
my friend was motivated by not wanting
to be associated with a particular
Christian denomination, a better answer
would have been, "Jesus is Lord." To
offer this description would be a
recognition that Jesus is not only their
Savior, but also the Lord of their life.
But it is much easier to say
"Jesus Saves" than "Jesus is Lord"
because the latter means that you
understand that you must obey Him and
examine your life to see if you are.
As today’s text says, Christians were
once sinners who were slaves of sin but
repented from practicing sin and became
slaves of righteousness who are
committed to that form of teaching from
the heart.
We cannot leave such a subject without
first understanding who Jesus saves. All
Christians know that Jesus came to save
sinners - but are all sinners saved? And
if not all sinners are going to be
saved, then who are and why?
The Apostle Peter asks this question
himself, -"For
it is time for Judgment to begin with
the household of God; and if it begins
with us first, what will be the outcome
for those who do not obey the Gospel of
God? And if it is with difficulty that
the righteous are saved, what will
become of the godless man and the
sinner?" (1 Pet.4)
The times of ignorance have passed,-"Therefore
having overlooked the times of
ignorance, God is now declaring to men
that all people everywhere should
repent." (Act.17)
Anyone who wants to be saved must first
repent from their sins and follow Jesus
according to His Word. Jesus
said, -"I tell you. . .unless you
repent, you will all likewise perish."
(Luke 13)
There is no salvation without repentance
- be not deceived.
