Christians are judged more than any other group of people in the entire earth. There is no other faith that received judgment from our society more than the followers of Christ. It is easy to understand why, we are followers of the One true God (John 17:3) and this One and true God is totally oppositive to the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). 

Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12) while Satan is the darkness of this world (Acts 26:18). When God created Adam and Eve, he placed them in the Garden of Eden. This was a perfect place; however, darkness was introduced when the Serpent deceive Eve (2 Corinthians 11:3). From that moment on we have witness, all through the history of mankind, the darkness of our souls. Nobody, absolutely nobody can escape this darkness, is in all of us whether you are lost or a Born-Again believer.

After Adan and Eve sinned against God they were kicked out of Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23) They suffered severe consequences including the introduction of the death of our flesh. We are all destined to die because of the sin of Adam and Eve (Hebrews 9:27). Something else happen as the consequence of the introduction of sin into humanity; our souls became defected. Our way of thinking, our decision-making and our emotions need restoration. That is why David tells us, 

“He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.” Psalm 23:3 (NASB 1995)

The way to restore our souls is through learning God’s righteousness; later we will see this same pattern in the New Testament. The word restore here is the Hebrew Word, šûḇ meaning “To turn, to return, to go back, to do again, to change, to withdraw, to bring back.”^[1] To bring back and to go back where? To the Garden of Eden.

The Born-Again experiences did not take away the reality of our death in the flesh, neither were we born again in our souls. We were Born-Again in our Spirit. Our Spirit is willing to follow God, but not the flesh (Matthew 26:40-43). The flesh also fights our souls. Peter tells us, “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” First Peter 2:11 (NIV) 

Nobody is immune to the dark hour of our souls. Some, for whatever reason, were able to keep the dark hour of their souls in secret; others were not able to do so, and their shameful hour became public. This should not surprise us; it has been a pattern all through Scripture… Nobody is perfect! 

After Adam and Eve were remove from the Garden, tragedy hit their family. Think about this for a minute; imagine experiencing a murder amongst your own children as Cain killed Abel. All through the Scriptures you see the dark hour of the souls of Godly people manifest. Horrible examples such as David committing adultery and murder. Later we see one of his daughters raped by a sibling, we see Absalom, one of David’s sons, having sex with all of David’s wives publicly. King Salomon worship other gods and the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, ended up sacrificing their own children to other gods. 

I believe that the faster we learn how nothing we are without God and, how awful our souls really are, the faster we be able to experience restoration. Pride and arrogance get on the way of such restoration. Humility is the key! First Peter 5:5 tells us, “…God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (NKJV) Perhaps nobody explains the darkness of our souls better than the Apostle Paul when he states,

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. ¹⁷ So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.¹⁹ For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. ²⁰ But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

²¹ I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. ²² For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,²³ but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:14-25 (NASB 1995)

Our awfulness started in the Garden of Eden with the serpent deceiving Eve; it spreads like a highly contagious virus in Genesis 6 when the fallen angels took our women and had sex with them producing the Nephilim, spreading iniquity all through God’s creation. As the final blow, evil became organized as it deceived all the nations of the world into worshipping other gods with the iniquity of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). God then divorced the nations of the world (Deuteronomy 32) and created the nation of Israel through one man, Abraham (Genesis 12). The nations grew in their corruption. Psalm 82 tells us, 

God has taken his place in the divine council;
    in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
² “How long will you judge unjustly
    and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
³ Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
    maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
⁴ Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

⁵ They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
    they walk about in darkness;
    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

⁶ I said, “You are gods,
    sons of the Most High, all of you;
⁷ nevertheless, like men you shall die,
    and fall like any prince.”

⁸ Arise, O God, judge the earth;
    for you shall inherit all the nations! (ESV)

In Genesis 10 God establishes the nations of the world; these were the descendants of Noah and his three sons. God left other gods under Him in charge of the nations of the world. He did not forsake them, but he gave them up. In Genesis 12 we see God raising a new nation through Israel. God revealed himself through Israel. However, the Psalmist in Psalm 82 describes these gods and how they too oppressed the people. God declare the final judgment of these gods by stating, 

“You are gods,
    sons of the Most High, all of you;
⁷ nevertheless, like men you shall die,
    and fall like any prince.” (Verse 6)

We know that eventually, even God’s chosen people betrayed Him. Satan deceived God’s people into worshipping other gods also. So, what God is doing now? Two thousand years ago He sent his Son to die for the sins of the world and, with the 12 Apostles he started the church. Through the church God continues his rescue plan. The Great Commission is God’s final attempt to rescue the nations of the world with the Good News. 

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Mathew 28:18-20 (ESV)

Salvation is our deliverance from the kingdom of darkness to God’s Kingdom. However, just as David understood that the restoration of his soul took place by learning God’s righteousness; we as believers must also experience the restoration of our souls by learning and observe the commands of Jesus. That is why God calls us to make disciples of all nations. 

Many people believe in God; they know God is real. Some may even be Born-Again. However, if you have not position yourself in the place of a disciple and learn the ways of God, you will fall victim of the dark hour of your own soul. Our souls are already infected and affected by the three rebellions that took place inside of Genesis 11. 1) The rebellion of Adan and Eve, 2) The rebellion of the fallen angels having sex with women and 3) the Rebellion of the Tower of Babel. Beloved we must be Born-Again. God grants us that miracle all by himself according to Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (ESV) 

Our will is not involved in salvation; our confession according to Romans 10:8-10 is just a reflection of what God already did in our spirits. Nevertheless, from the moment of salvation our will does get on the way. Discipleship is affected by the degree and commitment of our will. That’s why you see folks who were born again for years and compare to others who are younger they seem immature. That is because of the level of commitment to truly follow God and be a disciple. 

Many never overcome the darkness of their souls because they are not willing to do so. To fix our souls, we must embrace discipleship we must submit ourselves to God. Ephesians 4:7 actually gives us the heart of the deliverance ministry, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (KJV) Beloved, we need the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15) and we need the Teaching of the whole council of God (Acts 20:27). That is discipleship, the only effective way to cure the darkness of our souls.

^[1] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 1108.