By this point, I likely have raised more questions than I've answered but laying somewhat of a basic foundation, when considering this topic, is absolutely necessary.  The concept of hunting for lies is different than I was raised as a child in the Baptist church.  There, as I quoted from one of my Bible college professors, "Leave Satan alone and he will leave you alone," says it all when it comes down to facing demonic activity in a Christian's life.  Yet, over 50 plus years, I have heard hard shelled Baptists, so called, tell some amazing stories concerning demonic activity in a Christians life that it is impossible to ignore.
 
When unusual and unexplainable situations arose, as a Baptist, we believed that everything is sin based.  This is, of course, true but only until you are born again.  Sin, following salvation, is easy to deal with because we are no longer condemned but are made righteous:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (First John 1:9 AV).  If you do not understand the theology in this passage, you will be trapped into living a legalistic life as a sin hunter; always conscious of committing sin and having to confess you are a sinner, that is, almost like getting born again and again and again.  That is not what First John 1:9 is talking about.  Yes, as a Christian we can, and do, commit sin but the sin we commit as a born again Believer does not condemn us to hell.  As we can easily see in the verse, it is an act of unrighteousness; not the commitment of unregenerate sin.  What do we, therefore, do if, as a Christian, we commit sin?  Do we get saved, or born again, all over like the first time we confessed are sins and ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of our lives and to forgive us of all our sins?  No, because, as Christians, eternal children of God, we are no longer seen by God as sinners but as saints.  Look it up if you doubt what I just said.  This isn't a Bible study so I'm not going to document everything I say because, as I have said, I have done so when teaching on this topic and those articles are found on my website.

 

Now don't get ahead of me because I've already stated we still commit sin as Believers.  Before and after salvation are two different types of sin.  In fact, if you read First John 1:9 again very carefully, Christians are instructed to confess their sins but nothing is said about asking God's forgiveness; that's a given, you see, and due to our regenerated life, forgiveness is something that is always ours.  A lost person, not yet born again, can ask for God's forgiveness of sin a thousand times a day and no such forgiveness is initiated by the Lord simply because He is not yet Lord of their life.  We, as Believers, born again, are viewed as sons and daughters of God.  The lost person is not a member of the body of Christ, hence, they are not a part of the family of God.  Of course, this does not mean God is disinterested in them coming to know His Son but I'm assuming you already not only believe that but live what you believe, too.

 

Without quoting Scripture, I'm sure you all are aware of the body, soul, and spirit of our human existence on earth.  The body, or what Scripture often calls our flesh, is not able to be born again in this lifetime.  This is likewise true of the soul which most agree is our mind, will, and emotions.  Frankly, I personally don't believe including a person's will in the Biblical definition of the human soul but I suppose some include it because our will, even as a born again Christian, can be changed, even warped, by living a carnal life of sin or by believing hidden lies the Enemy has implanted in our minds.  Yes, as I have already mentioned, we can even be unawares of those lies due to how deceitful the Enemy can be.  The human spirit is what currently goes to Heaven when we die because it is where the Holy Spirit dwells the moment of salvation, (See Ephesians 1:13).  The human awareness of our existence goes with the body but the physical body, or the flesh, comes later at the resurrection.  Otherwise, if you view it any other way, you'd have to say the mind doesn't go to Heaven until the body is raised.  My point of bringing this up is to indicate that it is the body, our flesh, and the soul, our mind and emotions, which can be influenced by the Enemy.  As the physical body is to be disciplined, so it is with the mind, according to Scripture.  The problem is that we just haven't been taught too much about the mind and the thoughts and the emotions we possess as Believers.  Unfortunately, I live the majority of my life, 50 years, before I fully understood, and believed, my mind could be influenced demonically.  I was taught that meant you were likely demon possessed.  Look it up for yourself.  The word "Demon possession" or other such terms referring to being possessed of demons or possessing evil spirits in New Testament Greek is always translated demonized and not possession.  If you are not born again, all bets are off when it comes to actual demonic possession but I would not try finding out, if I were you; just get born again and forget it.  The theological truth, on the other hand, is When a 3-part person, body, soul and spirit, are born again, all 3 parts are saved, redeemed, by the True Lord Jesus Christ but as I said, only the spirit goes to Heaven at the moment of death.  At the resurrection, the body is raised from the dead and glorified by the union of all 3 parts in Heaven with Christ.  So, again, we on earth are dealing with demonic influence based upon lies, not sin, unless it is unconfessed sin as a born again Believer, and in the area of the physical body and our minds and emotions.  If you still want to separate your human will from your mind and emotions, go ahead and toss it back in with the mind and emotions because it isn't generic to our discussion other than the Enemy can bruise and bend and warp personal will in the process of deceiving us.

 

To be continued.

 


Phil.
Living His Name
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