Who Controls Our Lives?
Our God and Savior or the Enemy of our Souls?
“Praise be to our God and Savior we are free; however, this freedom is not a license to go back into our sinful nature and the love of this world””
Satan, the anti messiah spirit, wars against the Messiah in us. He and his demons are very aware that it is Yahshua [Jesus] who lives in and through the righteous redeemed. Before our salvation we were deceived “prisoners of war”, captives of Satan the “ruler of this world”. “Yahshua (Jesus) is the truth” and “the truth will set you free” (John 14:6, 8:32). Praise be to our God and Savior we are free; however, this freedom is not a license to go back into our sinful nature and the love of this world. Yahveh God forbid! We have been redeemed as soldiers to “fight the good fight of faith” and to diligently “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (1Timothy 6:12, Philippians 2:12).
Apostle Paul is a wonderful example of a courageous spiritual soldier on the front line of battle. He said, “… I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus [Yahshua] has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace” (Acts 20:24). As spiritual soldiers we receive great wisdom from his words, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). Satan is a spirit being, the ruling spirit of all the demonic entities, this is why he is called the “ruler of this world” and “the prince of the power of the air” (John 14:30, Ephesians 2:2). He and his demonic legions are the ones controlling unredeemed humanity. Apostle Paul explained, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places [the demonic spirit realm]” (Ephesians 6:12).
“Every individual is either under the control of Satan’s spirit or under the control of Messiah’s Holy Spirit through faith in His atoning blood””
Although this may seem like an extreme statement, we can understand it more easily through these sharp pointed words of our Savior to the religious masses. Our Messiah blatantly proclaimed, “you are of your father the devil”, to those who did not love Him (John 8:44). Yahshua (Jesus) was magnifying the reality that Satan, is “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), the ruling father of humanity until we are “born again” and have the Savior’s indwelling Holy Spirit ruling over, in, and through our spiritually redeemed lives. Those who are “born again” are no longer natural human beings (in the spiritual realm), they have become supernatural spiritual beings; offspring of Yahveh God their eternal Heavenly Father. (John 3:3) Our Father is the author of truth and eternal life, as His born again children we are to grow up and become fluent in speaking the language of truth. It is written, “Therefore if anyone is in Messiah [Christ], he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). They are now spiritual new creations, beloved heirs of the “riches of His glory” (Philippians 4:19), and “citizens of His Heavenly Kingdom”. (Philippians 3:20) As the word says, “flesh and blood [the natural man] cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50). Only those who are supernatural “born again” spiritual beings can enter the Kingdom of Heaven! (John 3:3)
“In gratitude for the price our Savior paid to redeem us, we are to humbly, willingly, and obediently yield to His righteous merciful rule over us””
Yahshua [Jesus] purchased us with the infinite price of His poured out sacrificial blood. Through this divine transaction we were freed from Satan’s captivity and evil rule. In gratitude for the price our Savior paid to redeem us, we are to humbly, willingly, and obediently yield to His righteous merciful rule over us. “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Romans 12:1). We owe our Savior much; we owe Him our lives.
We are continually “insulting the Spirit of grace” and are enemies of Yahshua (Jesus) if we do not want Him to rule over us. Living in the flesh is the open door for Satan to gain rule over us because we are living out of the Spirit and in the world, which is his domain. If you take matters into your own hands and think you are in control of your life, in reality you are giving control back to Satan. Our righteous King and Savior has this to say, “[as for] these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence” (Luke 19:27). May the Spirit of truth help us all to take an honest assessment as we “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). A prayerful heart searching assessment of our lives will inevitably lead to repentance, which produces obedient righteousness, manifesting in the fruits of the Spirit that glorify our God and Savior.
Choose you this day and every day, whom you are going to serve, the One who in unfailing love and mercy redeemed your wretched soul and deserves wholehearted allegiance and obedience, or are you going to go back to the slavery of a merciless wicked master who indulges your flesh for the price of your eternal soul?
