This journey of finding a local church has been very difficult. Churches are consumed with Elevation, Hill Song and Bethel Church music. I can’t worship God with the sound of music that comes out of churches with outrageous doctrines. How can anybody be delivered of anything when the Devil is entertaining us? How can we rebuke the devil on our front door, but let him come in through the back door as an angel of light?

To add to the lie, worship teams playing with track music on the background. Everything so perfect, so timely, so precise! The Holy Spirit is only mentioned in name, but definitely nowhere to be found. A form of Godliness, while denying the power of God. 

Preachers preaching out of books and commentaries while quoting Scripture as a side note. They sound like motivational speakers more than ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Preachers talking about trusting God while everybody is wearing a mask and half of the congregation is staying at home terrified of COVID-19. 

This is a show, some good shows and some horrible ones. Nevertheless, a show that repeats itself over and over. From the skinny jean pastors, concert type worship leaders, women with seductive clothing and… the coffee shop. You can’t say you have arrived without the coffee shop.

Many looked at masturbation and pornography as open doors for these seductive demons such as Lilith, Succubus and Incubus. I want to propose to you that by the time you engage in pornography and masturbation those doors are already open. In a world with so many sensual images, seductive clothing and open embrace of sexual immorality, it is a tough world to live a sexually pure life. 

Job stated, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.” Job 31:1 (NIV) I am sure that during the times of Job, women did not wear leggings and short dresses. During the times of Job there was no internet, no TV and no pornographic magazines. Nevertheless, Job was already making a covenant with his eyes. That should be an everlasting covenant for all of us. 

The Word of God is clear, unless we have the gift of self-control as the Apostle Paul did, we are weak when it comes down to sexual immorality. Many of us can go back and look at some of the decisions we made, money and time we wasted, all for a seductive spirit that came upon us without us even realizing it. We engaged in bad relationships, one after the other in search for fulfilment. Everything starts good and beautiful, but soon turns into a nightmare of lust, jealousy and dark passion. A trap and a yoke that we run to and not away from. If is not because of the grace of God, we will all be right back in that lifestyle. There is no wonder the Apostle Paul tells us to flee from sexual immorality (First Corinthians 6:18).

But this is the good news, God has given us a precious gift in marriage. Marriage is the union that is approved by God. That is where we can fulfill our duties to one another and, have all the sex we want to. In marriage we can successfully protect ourselves from these demons. Couples who are depriving each other of sex are playing with a very dangerous fire; they are giving out free demonic invitations that will destroy, not only your marriage, but your very lives.   

Many, as you can see through the statistics I showed you, are Godly people, ministers who pray and study God’s Word. However, the devil has given sex a perverted twist as he always does. 

Wives are finding a million excuses not to have sex with their husbands. They want roses, they want the yard clean, they want the husband to finish this project or this other project, to wash the dishes to buy them this or buy them that and, when the husband can’t fulfil these demands, he is deprived of sex by his wife. Then the husband turns around and find a million excuses to submerge himself into pornography. 

The wife shames the husband because he is not approaching her right; not following the right protocol, not giving her enough, accusing him that he only cares about sex; that he is not touching her right, etc. The man ends up frustrated, insecure and ashamed of approaching his own wife sexually. In the process, he goes deeper and deeper in his affair with the images online. It gets to a point where he prefers the images over his wife. Jesus told us, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:28 (NIV)

A man should never feel ashamed for desiring his wife and, vice versa. There should never be any hesitation in expressing and fulfilling his desire to make love to his wife and, vice versa. The conviction of sin should be overwhelming when allowing our eyes to wonder and when engaging in any form of pornography, masturbation or any other way to satisfy our sexual desires outside of the sanctity of marriage. This vicious and evil circle, that many husbands and wives find themselves in, most be broken by the power of the Spirit of God and by implementing the righteousness of God… His way of doing things and what he established as righteous. 

You must understand that praying, studying God’s Word, be a part of a local church, Godly fellowship, etc. are amazing and much needed spiritual exercises. However, if as a husband and, as a wife, you are not taking care of one of the most important duties we have in marriage, get ready for Succubus and Incubus to pay you a visit and, worse of all, get ready to be a slave of the monster of the night and, just as Edom in Isaiah 34, get ready for your own destruction.

The mother of all sexual perversion is not Jezebel. Jezebel seems to be the more recognizable in the Body of Christ. However, the mother of all perversion is a demon by the name of Lilith. Lilith is a powerful demon that is literally lost and hidden in translation. Isaiah 34:14 tells us, 

The desert creatures will meet with the wolves,
The hairy goat also will cry to its kind;
Yes, the night monster will settle there
And will find herself a resting place. (NASB 1995)

Do you see Lilith anywhere? Of course not! Lilith is the “Night Monster”; the Hebrew Word, liyliyṯ: referring to “A night creature or monster. A creature of the night that will settle among the ruins of the nations whom God judges.^[1] The destruction of every great nation always involves moral decay.  Before the destruction of every nation… there is Lilith! Watch out America! Let’s learn some more about this demon and how she has become primetime,

Her dark origins lie in Babylonian demonology, where amulets and incantations were used to counter the sinister powers of this winged spirit who preyed on pregnant women and infants. Lilith next migrated to the world of the ancient Hittites, Egyptians, Israelites and Greeks… Irish novelist James Joyce cast her as the “patron of abortions…”² Her name appears as the title of a Jewish women’s magazine and a national literacy program. An annual music festival that donates its profits to battered women’s shelters and breast cancer research institutes is called the Lilith Fair… This demon dwells in desert lands and open country spaces and is especially dangerous to pregnant women and infants. Her breasts are filled with poison, not milk.^[2]

There is a lot of information about Lilith. What we need to understand is that just as God gives us his written Word; the devil, who loves to imitate God, has his own written words also. So, do not take these mythologist writings as none-truth, they are describing, in great details what these demons are all about. 

Now let’s talk about two more demons whose focus is also on sexual perversion. I was hesitant to speak about these two demons because they do not appear in the Bible. However, we must remember that there are many demons and, perhaps, the Bible only addresses the leaders. 

The fascination with humans having sex with the supernatural is indeed biblical. We see it in Genesis 6 with the fallen angels’ sexual attraction for the daughters of men and, in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah where the roles were reverse. This time we see the men wanting to have sex with the angels that visited Lot, Abraham’s Nephew, in Genesis 19. 

Succubus and Incubus are two very recognizable demons in demonology. The testimonies of people being harassed by them is well documented. Furthermore, in any situation we find ourselves in, that is hurting us in any way and, we feel the inability to stop, there is, for sure, a demon or demons involved. Succubus and Incubus are as real as it gets. 

It is said that these demons are related to Lilith; but it requires more research on my part to make the connection. Incubus and Succubus are also well defined in the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary. Succubus is defined as “a demon assuming female form to have sexual intercourse with men in their sleep.”^[3] The same dictionary defines Incubus as “An evil spirit that lies on persons in their sleep, especially,one that has sexual intercourse with women while they are sleeping.”^[4]

These are the demons that will occupy your home. With so much money involved in pornography there is no doubt that sexual appetite has not really decrease at all through the centuries; but it has gotten more perverted. At first glance, it makes no sense that marriages are increasingly having less sex; but as you look deeper, it is easy to figure this out. That is because, they are fulfilling their fantasies with these demons.

The doors of invitation for Succubus and Incubus are wide open in our society; not only in marriages who deprive each other of sex, but also all through our culture. These demons are having a field day. Our kids are playing video games with these characters in it (https://www.giantbomb.com/succubus/3015-374/characters/) Those are legal invitations for these demons to harass us. Eventually these demons are going to do what they do best; destroy us. 

The relationship with these demons seems to start beautiful and pleasant; that is to get us addicted, but later is disgusting and painful. Eventually it will confuse our boys and make them reject their natural desire for the opposite sex and, the same for our young girls. Let us all remember that the central job description of the devil’s work is to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). The fact is that even men who consider themselves religious and, some ministers themselves, are not immune from such addiction. 

A recent survey conducted by the Barna Group found that approximately two-thirds (64%) of U.S. men view pornography at least monthly. Moreover, the study revealed:

·         The number of Christian men viewing pornography virtually mirrors the national average.

·         Broken down by age: 79% of men between the ages of 18-30 view pornography monthly; 67% of men between the ages of 31-49 view pornography monthly; and 49% of men between the ages of 50 and 68 view pornography monthly.

·         Christian men are watching pornography at work at the same rate as the national average.

·         One-third (33%) of men between the ages of 18 and 30 either think that they are addicted or are unsure if they are addicted to pornography.

·         Combined, 18% of all men either think that they are addicted or are unsure if they are addicted to pornography, which equates to 21 million men.

Patrick Means, author of Men’s Secret Wars,revealed that 63% of pastors confirmed that they struggle with sexual addiction or sexual compulsion.^[5]

To be continued…

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^[1] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 550.

^[2] https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/lilith/

^[3] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/succubus

^[4] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incubus

^[5] https://diverseeducation.com/article/67310/

The Apostle Paul was very clear in his wish that everybody be like him in terms of not having sexual desires. Obviously, the Apostle Paul was not homosexual; he had the gift of self-control.^[1] A man without sexual desires is a man who is, either like the Apostle Paul or, a man with very low testosterone. Outside of that, a man is highly sexual and highly visual. 

The Bible is filled with sexual scandals; it has been a powerful weapon used by the devil since the beginning of time. The woman has always been Satan’s target to get to the man. In Genesis 19:30-38 Lots daughters got him drunk and had sex with him. They were concerned that they were not going to find husbands and, having sex with their own dad, was the idea they came up with. Out of that union came the Moabites and Ammonites; they were never looked at with honor. 

Abraham’s wife Sarah felt that God was taken too long in giving her children, so she told her husband to sleep with her servant Hagar. That was the idea Sarah came up with. Much pain came out of that union. 

What can we say about the strongest man in the history of the world, Samson? What brought him down? What can we say about the wisest man in the history of the world, Salomon? What brough him down? What can we say about the nation of Israel? Balaam was hired to curse Israel, he was stopped by God from doing so, but what did he use to bring Israel down? You got it… Fornication! We can bring these examples all the way to our day.

Believe me when I tell you, we as men are not superheroes. We do not have superpowers no matter how strong and spiritual we look. We all struggle, and it does not even take much for us to fall below the standard of sexual purity that God demands from us. 

“According to various reports, currently, the porn industry’s net worth is about $97 billion. This money is enough to feed at-least 4.8 billion people a day. Every year, Hollywood releases roughly 600 movies and makes $10 billion in profit. And how much porn industry makes? 13,000 films and close to $15 billion in profit. The porn industry makes more money than Major League Baseball, The NFL and The NBA combined.”^[2]

Pornography is the easiest way for a man to satisfy his sexual desires and he does not have to worry about satisfying a woman. Some feel they are not cheating on their wives. It used to be difficult to find porn, but in today’s culture, pornography is everywhere. It is easy, it is convenient and relatively cheap. Pornography is affecting men more than women but is indeed affecting both. Now, take the statistics that I just showed you concerning pornography and, compare those numbers with the following: 

Newsweek magazine estimates that 15 to 20 percent of couples are in a sexless relationship. Studies show that 10% of the married population below age 50 have not had sex in the past year. In addition, less than 20% report having sex a few times per year, or even monthly, under the age 40.”^[3]

Now, think about this for a minute, why pornography is such a lucrative business, but sexless marriages are becoming more and more common? Perhaps there is a considerable number of husbands and wives who prefer pornography over making love to each other. We will talk about this in more detail later; but first let’s look at First Corinthians 7:1-9. Everything you need to know about marriage and sex is there.

Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. 3 The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband.4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 But this I say by way of concession, not of command. 7 Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that. 8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I. 9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. (NASB 1995)

I hate to break it down to you; I know that there are some romantic ideas about marriage and, that is good; however, part of the reason we get married is to satisfy our natural sexual desires. 

The Apostle Paul is not a big fan of marriages; he prefers that folks be like him as he is able to focus 100 percent on the things of God. However, he knows that because of sexual immorality it is better for each man to have his own wife.  He said, “it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” Have you ever felt that kind of burn; I mean, I don’t want to be vulgar, but I am sure if you are an adult you can understand what Paul is talking about. It is actually painful to burn with passion and have no righteous way of satisfying that passion. The only righteous way to satisfy that burn is in marriage. 

Paul speaks about husbands and wives fulfilling their duties to each other (V. 3). The word duty here is the Greek word opheilḗ; meaning “To owe. A debt which must be paid, an obligation, a service which one owes someone.^[4] In Verse 4 Paul made it clear that we do not have authority over our bodies, our spouses do. Tell that to the “Me Too Movement.” Then Paul in verse 5 Paul encourages husbands and wives not to deprive each other from sex. The word Deprive is the Greek word aposteréō; meaning, “To defraud another of what belongs to him.”^[5] You are actually committing fraud when as a husband you do not follow through with your duty to make love to your wife whenever she wants and, vice versa. Lord have mercy!  These is the kind of information we need before we get married. 

This thing gets more and more dramatic and serious. First Corinthians 7:5 tells us, “Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” (NASB 1995) 

Marriage is supposed to be the ultimate love fest. The only time we stop getting it on is by mutual agreement for prayer. But right after we say that last amen, Paul tells us to come together again. He tells us that because of our lack of self-control, Satan will tempt us. Therefore, depraving each other is an open window for demonic activity. Now, let’s get into this demonic activity.

To be continued…

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^[1] First Corinthians 7:9 

^[2] https://medium.com/@TheSBT/how-big-is-the-porn-industry-fbc1ac78091b

^[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexless_marriage

^[4] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

^[5] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

“Sons of Perdition, Suppressors of Truth and The Condemned”

Is God going to destroy a portion of his creation? Was the devil’s plan partially successful in causing many to be condemned with him to the Lake of Fire? Did God partially lose this battle? 

Before our time was established God had a plan; a majestic, complicated and beautiful plan that involved a new creation, the human race. Before there was trouble on earth, there was trouble in the Garden and, before there was trouble in the Garden there was trouble in Heaven. This plan of God was brutally attacked from the very beginning and it continues to be brutally attacked today.

The root of this trouble was in heaven when Lucifer rebelled against God and convinced one third of the angels in heaven to follow him. The devil and his fallen angels were thrown into earth (Revelation 12:4) and from that moment on the devil has been at war against God’s chosen people. Revelation 12:17 tells us,

Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. (NIV)

The devil has been messing with God’s people since the beginning starting with Adam and Eve and then, Genesis 6 where the devil took his attack against mankind to a whole new level. It was there that the devil started messing with our genetics and corrupted God’s creation. Genesis 6:1-4 tells us

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

In these verses we see that the fallen angels had sex with the women. Out of that union came the Nephilim or giants. In the Old Testaments those demonic beings were easy to identify because they were giants. The Flood of Noah was God’s judgment for such corruption; it was a divine purging. Noah and his family were the only non-genetically impure human being on earth; so, God started the human race again with Noah and his family. However, the Bible tells us in Genesis 6:4 “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward…” (NIV)

This union between women and the fallen angels gave us the first clone in the history of humanity. These clones are never good, they are always evil because they are not God’s creation. In Genesis 6:11 the Bible tells us, 

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence (NIV)

The word corrupt here is the word šāḥaṯ: “A verb meaning to spoil, to ruin, to destroy, to pervert.^[1] The perversion of these fallen angels brough forth violence; a violence that the world has never seen, a violence that will only be greater during the great tribulation (Matthew 24:15-21). In Numbers 13 Moses sent out 12 spices and, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb the report was awful. Numbers 13:31-33 tells us, 

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” ³² And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devoursthose living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (NIV)

The Nephilim ate humans! Enoch goes in greater detail stating concerning the Nephilim “And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beast, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drinking the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.”^[2] The fallen angels infected all of God’s creation. That is why Romans 8:19 tells us, “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” (NIV) In Genesis 6:5-7 the Bible tells us,

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.⁶ The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷ The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” (NASB1995

God’s Word is a story of Good vs Evil, is a story of God’s redemptive plan to save his creation that He loves. In the Old Testament God used the Israelites, His chosen people, to fight and purge the earth from these clones of evil. Today, God uses the church to do so. Those genetically altered monsters still exist, but they are not as obvious as the giants in the Old Testament. Those clones are the ones who are irredeemable; they carry the hate and pride of Satan and the iniquity of Azazel, the fallen angel who taught mankind all of the iniquity of the world.

Examples of these clones are 

• Sons or Perdition: 

While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. John 17:12 (NASB 1995)

• Suppressors of God’s Truth: 

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, Romans 1:18 (NASB 1995)

• The Condemned:

For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Jude 1:4 (NASB 1995)

The end of these clones of evil is describe in Revelation as they are receiving the wrath of God and their refusal to repent. Revelation 16:10-11 tells us,

Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, ¹¹ and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. (NASB 1995)

Conclusion

Can Jesus fail at anything? Absolutely no! Paul gives us clues of the assurance we have in Jesus. 

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

“…Neither angels nor demons…” Can this be a reference to the fallen angels in Genesis chapter 6? I believe so. The devil’s plan continues to cause a lot of corruption, violence, pain and confusion on the earth even today; however, at the end of the day, at the end of this story… neither the devil nor his demons will be able to separate us from the love of God. That powerful love will never… ever fail. 

In a portion of his prayer in John 17:12 Jesus established, very clearly, that none of the disciples given to Him by the Father were lost. I believe that to be true then, to be true today and, to be true all the way to the very last disciple that is called to enter the family of God. In Romans 5:8 Paul tells us, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (NIV) Oh right now folks without discernment can’t tell who these clones of evil are, even the earth is waiting for the children of God to be revealed (Romans 8:19), but they will be revealed, all the way the very last one us.

Jesus himself tells us in John 10:16 “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” (NIV) Can you sense the assurance of these words? Jesus stated that they “WILL LISTEN TO HIS VOICE…” There is no doubt about that! Beloved, Christ was without sin. He was, He is and forever will be perfect, a perfect sacrifice who will bring perfect results. He will bring ALL whom the Father gave HIM to the Kingdom. Beloved, love never fails (First Corinthians 13:8).

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^[1] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 1124.

^[2] The Complete Book of Enoch, Dr. Jay Winter. P. 11

This is a time of humility; pray with fear and trembling as you seek God’s will. It is better to ask in humility than to declare in arrogance things that are outside of God’s will. Many have taken the “thou saith the Lord” very lightly and are confusing many. There is no fear of God! 

Prophets fix your theology before you start prophesying, for no prophecy and no prophet has God’s blessing outside of God’s Word. The prophets are making a full out of themselves, not God. Even the world recognizes that you are speaking on your own behalf and not the Lord’s. 

Just as Saul was not good in following divine instructions, Trump was not either. In First Samuel 13:13 Prophet Samuel tells Saul, “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.” (NIV) I heard a prophet stating that Trump was given instructions and that he only followed through with one. Any similarities? 

Many prophets are drunk with the desire for fame and power and are holding on to Trump as if Trump is God. God rejected Trump as God rejected Soul. In First Samuel 16:1 God tells Samuel, “…How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” (NIV) God is telling you prophets the same thing. Now pray, fill your horn with oil and let the Lord guide into who to anoint as President. We pray for God’s mercy and grace over America! 

In a related story, please watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuehhgrD4iA&t=17s

“The Irresistible Love of God”

-In our previous article we established very clearly that salvation is all God’s work… 100%, in accordance with Ephesians 8:9-10, Romans 9:14-16 and John 1:12-13. Please read my first article on this series to connect the dots-

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 2:1-4 (NASB 1995)

If it is God’s will for all to be saved and not everyone gets saved, we can conclude that 1) Salvation is a human choice. 2) A human choice can be more powerful than God’s will. 3) God is simply not all powerful. Neither one of these answers are true. 

I want to establish today that my confidence in God’s power to save a life is higher than it has ever been. I trust that God will save every elect person in the world. I have that confidence because God’s number one evangelistic tool is love and, love never fails according to First Corinthians 13:8. Simply put, God’s love is irresistible. The Bible tells us in Romans 8:33-39, 

33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)

The salvation of the Elect is solid; nobody can successfully bring a charge against the elect or Chosen. (V.33) That is because we are justified by God himself; in other words, we are made right by God. (V.33) Nobody can successfully condemn us; that is, nobody can declare us guilty. (V.34) We know that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), but we also know that we are made righteous through Christ (Romans 3:22). Furthermore, we have the assurance of Christ intercession for us. (Romans 8:34). Do you think that Jesus’ prayers will go unanswered? Paul tells us that neither angels nor demons (V. 38) “…nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

That is why Paul can say with confidence that we are more than conquerors. (V. 37) The idea that there are people who are chosen but, for some reason, God failed to save them, is not biblical. Beloved, every elect person will be saved with absolutely no exception and don’t think for minute that God has forgotten about his Covenant People Israel. In Romans 11:25-26 the Bible tells us,

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion;
    he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. (NIV)

Please don’t confuse what I am saying with the doctrine of inclusion and, don’t think for a minute that I am making the cross of Jesus vain. God is saving his creation through Christ. Elect or not, we all have one thing in common… SIN! First Corinthians 15 gives the true Apostle Creed and the answer for the sin problem,

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. First Corinthians 15:1-8 (NIV)

Now, it is clear and easy to accept the fact that we are the elect of God. As we dwell in his love, is inspiring and deeply touching to know that God loves us in such way. However, lets deal with those who are not elected. Where is God’s love for them? How does God determine who to save and who to send to the Lake of Fire? We know that God’s judgments are truth and righteous, but can there be a logical reason why God make such drastic determination to condemn some for all eternity? That is what we are going to deal with in our next and final article on this series.

To be continued…

Absolutely nobody volunteers for repentance (Romans 3:10-11); we as humans hold on tight to our sin. If anything, we all find ways to justify and get even deeper in our sins. As we witness the deterioration of our morals, we see things that were appalled just a few years ago, today not only acceptable, but also made right and, even celebrated in our culture. Without the light of God’s righteousness, we are left in darkness of sin, transgressions and iniquities. That is why salvation is a supernatural work on God. Ephesian 2:8-9 tells us, 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.” (NIV) 

Romans 9:14-16 also tells us, 

“What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” (NIV)

Furthermore, Jesus tells us in John 15:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you…” (NIV) We are chosen by the grace of God. We stand saved today because of God’s will and not ours. Second Peter 3:9 tells us, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (NIV) 

If salvation is the work of God and, scripturally speaking, clearly is, why do we keep asking folks to make decisions for Christ? There was a time I did not think this was a big deal, but today I realize that it is. We are asking folks to, not only make a decision they are incapable of making, but what’s even worse, making them feel that they are making it and, that they are now right with God. 

By making folks think they have a choice in receiving Christ for their own salvation we partnership with the devil in deceiving them. I am afraid our churches are filled with folks who think they are saved when they are not. Without a born-again spirit there is no wonder our preaching omits sin all together and focused on a motivational style of speaking that is attracted to the soul. This motivational style of teaching is self-centered, but never God’s centered. We are left with a form of godliness that omits the power of God. Beloved, if you are a Born-Again Christian is not because anything special you did; it is strictly because of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9 / Romans 9:14-16). John also tells us, 

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12-13 (NIV)

God gave us freewill and, that freewill will affect our lives significantly, but salvation is not a matter of freewill, salvation is a divine miracle… Period! 

To be continued…