Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God
This past Sunday I preached about putting on the whole armour of God. I believe there is a large segment of Christianity that falls into two extremes- seeing a devil under every rock, or ignoring spiritual warfare altogether. It would be perilous for us to ignore the fact that there are tremendously significant things going on in unseen realms. We certainly should not be ignorant of Satan's devices. When Christ was accused of casting out demons by Beelzebub (blasphemy of course!) He countered by saying that Satan's kingdom is not divided (i.e. satan does not cast out satan). Thus, we have a clear teaching at least by inference, that Satan indeed does have a Kingdom, and it is (at least in some sense) organized. Paul expands upon this theme in the sixth chapter of Ephesians, speaking of principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. I'm not sure Paul was trying to construct a detailed flowchart of satanic activity, but at the very least we can see that there is something to this whole spiritual warfare thing.
But as I was preparing to preach the message about the armour of God, it occurred to me that we blame quite a few things on the enemy that really have to do with our flesh. That list of sins (dirty deeds, vices, thoughts, attitudes, and all-around deviant behaviors) listed above sure looks and sounds like the workings of the devil. No doubt he is somehow involved in the tempting/yielding processes, and later in the condemnation and accusation of the saints when he is successful. The answer to this problem is found in the same chapter. Whenever we see that list of sins in action- whether it be in our own lives or the lives of others- we can know that the flesh is working overtime. I like the way the KJV says "the works of the flesh are manifest" . In other words, they are obvious!!! It's not a devil problem- it's a flesh problem!! Thankfully, the remedy to fleshly behavior is found in the same chapter:
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh
2 comments:
In Galatians, Paul uses the illustration of the conflict between Ishmael and Isaac, to the which Sarah said to Abraham, "That's your baby, get rid of it!" Neil's translation of course! How right you are, we like to blame the devil for our actions, and in doing so, I believe we open up the entrance for him to come in and actually do something.
Good word pastor!
Good post Henry. You are so right on. IMHO we empower satan by giving him credit for things he had nothing to do with. Flip Wilson made a lot of money saying, "The devil made me do it!" but I think people realize that he was actually making fun of how we use this as a copout. The truth is, the devil cannot make us do anything; but rather it is us giving in to our sensual desires. I often say this because I believe it is true: "All sin begins with selfishness." It is our unwillingness to deal with and discipline our flesh that leads us to sin. Now, does the devil throw temptations our way? You bet. He knows our weaknesses and this is why we need the armor of God.
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