There are several other accounts in God’s Word showing how Satan
operated:
Job (the whole book of Job): Satan
even used Job’s friends and his wife to tempt him into turning against God.
David (I and II Samuel): David was
betrayed by those he loved and should have been able to trust. Satan enticed them to turn on David and they
didn’t resist … even one of his sons.
The 12 Apostles (the book of Acts): Satan used so many people to hinder the
apostle’s message that Jesus Christ was the long-awaited Messiah and the
establishing of His church.
Paul (beginning in Acts 13): Paul
continued the message of the earlier apostles while the Jews, early Christians,
Sanhedrin, chief priests and scribes all took their turn at trying to go after
him. Satan was the instigator and source
behind their actions.
Early Christians: the New
Testament is full of accounts of everyday Christians attacked by Satan …
through others.
Satan wouldn’t be successful in his efforts if we were not
willing to be used by him. Satan doesn’t
make us choose him in our actions and deeds, he just dresses the temptations up
in such a way that makes it hard to resist.
James 3:14 – 16 … But if you have bitter jealousy
and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the
truth. This wisdom is not that which
comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition
exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
Galatians 5:20 … idolatry and sorcery; hatred,
discord, jealousy, and rage, rivalries, divisions, factions …
The lesson for us is to beware and work hard not to allow
Satan to use us to tempt or influence others against God. Make no mistake, he’s all about pitting Christian
against Christian too!
With all Satan's potential for influence, do we stand a chance against his wiles? Are we defenseless pawns in the hands of the
prince of this world? Do we really have
a choice? Are the temptations just too
strong?
Yes, we have a choice!
Let me say that again, we have a choice!
Let me shout that from the rooftop:
WE HAVE A CHOICE!
God gave us the ability to have that choice when He gave us
His Son!
John 3:16 … For God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but
have everlasting life. (NKJV)
Let’s break this verse down …
For God so loved … a great love
The world … you and me
That He gave … sacrificed
His only begotten Son … the one most precious to Him
That whoever believes … we’ll take a closer look at this below
In Him … Jesus
Should not perish … spiritually speaking
But have eternal life …. A home in heaven
The phrase ‘that whoever believes’ needs a closer look. What does it mean? Does it mean that all one has to do is
believe that Jesus is the Son of God?
It is my belief that while this certainly does indicate that
belief in Jesus Christ in God’s son is essential, I also believe that it means
more and here’s why …
When we look at Acts 2, at the account of the day of Pentecost
when the Church was first created and established, we see the following:
In Peter’s sermon, starting in verse 14, he was really letting
his audience have it in trying to make them understand that their choices had
just crucified the Son of God.
Upon realizing what they had done deep remorse set in and
repentance began in their hearts (verse 37).
They next asked, “what are we to do?” Peter’s answer was ‘repent’ and each of you
be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and
you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
According to Peter, what were the requirements:
(1) Belief had to
be first, they had to believe, be convinced that Jesus was the Son of God
(2) They had to be
convicted of what they had done; they had to feel remorse, they had to wish
with all their heart that they had never done it. This in essence was the beginning of true
repentance.
(3) They had to
turn from their sins, ‘what must we do?’
(4) Be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sin. Did you notice the reason they were told to
be baptized? Wasn’t it for the
forgiveness of their sins?
(5) Then you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. In
other words, then you will be saved.
This is how people were added to the Church on the day the
Church was established according to Acts 2:41: So then, those who had
received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three
thousand souls.
Notice what verse 42 says they did after they were added to
the Church: They were continually
devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the
breaking of break and to prayer.
In other words, they dedicated their lives to living for God
and growing the Church.
The phrase, ‘whoever believes’ means so much more than just
saying, “I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God,” but it is absolutely where
we all have to start … and yes, we do have a choice!
(For further study on when our sins are washed away, and examples of baptism look at Paul in Acts 22:16; the Philippian jailer
in Acts 16:26-34 and Cornelius in Acts 10. Then look at what Jesus said in Mark
16:15-16 … And He said to them, “Go into
all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. The one who has believed and has been
baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. NASB)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This series of lessons was researched, written and taught by Patsy Norwood in a ladies' Bible class in 2022.
It is my prayer that it is beneficial to you in your walk with God.
In part 5, we're going to wrap up this study by looking at some take-a-ways and the Solution. I hope you'll come back for that. Part 5 can be found HERE!
May God be gloried in all that we do,
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