Temptation and Scripture

"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil" (Eph. 4:27). If we find ourselves angry about something, we need to let it go before the grass grows under our feet. Why? Because as the scripture states, we will be giving place to the devil in our life if we do not. The truth of the matter is that we cannot hold onto ANY kind of sin without giving space to the devil to come in and wreak havoc in our lives. Jesus, in speaking of Satan, said, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy" (Jn. 10:10). Satan has no agenda other than the one that Jesus stated in that passage, but he needs our help in order to implement that agenda in our lives. As long as we "keep [our] heart with all diligence," and "purify [ourselves] even as he is pure," the devil has no choice but to be on the outside looking in, wishing there was something he could do about it (Prov. 4:23; I Jn. 3:3). That is why the apostle Paul gave us the following admonition: "And the very God of peace sanctify you WHOLLY; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thess. 5:23). The baptism of the holy Ghost is what sanctifies us, and as long as we keep ourselves "wholly" sanctified, we are in the process of being saved (I Cor. 6:11; I Pet. 1:3-5). But if we allow any kind of sin to remain with us, then we give space to demonic forces to invade our lives with their motives to "steal, and to kill, and to destroy." And in that case our "whole spirit and soul and body" is NOT being "preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I really don't know what people are thinking with these sin-friendly traditions and doctrines of today's Christian world, but I do know that the apostle Paul warned of these things to come: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (II Tim. 4:3,4). Friend, you can defend sin and the Christian salvation doctrines that allow for sin all you want, but if you keep it till the end you will find that Satan has been successful in stealing, killing, and destroying your hope of eternal life (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 5:3-6). Today's traditions and doctrines of Christianity would have you in effect believe that you can get to the end of your life and be saved with the devil piggy-backing you. There is no such thing as holding onto sin and not having Satan come in and stealing and destroying at least part of your life. That is why Paul exhorted us with the following: "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1). And to add to that he said, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain" (I Cor. 9:24). And the only way we can win this race is if we DO "lay aside every weight [sin], and THE sin which doth so easily beset us." And that my friend, is not doctrine for "itching ears," but rather for those who "have an ear to hear what the Spirit saith..." (Rev. 2:7). Amen.