WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO CHILDREN OF GOD?

  
At the Last Supper table were the Twelve. The Son of God was honest and straight-forward. He bared to them the baptism of fire that every new covenanter would have to go through.

³⁴ If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the Gospel will save it. MARK 8

Baptism of fire is the reason why bad things happen to the children of God. It is a refinement process, similar to the way precious metal is subjected to intense heat to melt away all its impurities.

The baptism is a series of LOVE-sacrifices, with the new covenanter needing to shed his old polluted self, donning a new self, striving hard to reach Christian maturity, and helping his neighbors to become new covenanters themselves. As he go through the process, difficulties, frustrations, hurts and sorrows will confront him. If he endures to the end, he will come out of it holy and pure.

⁷ I will refine [tsaw-raf, make pure, purge] them and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of My people. JEREMIAH 9

⁹ I will bring them into the fire. I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. ZECHARIAH 13

²⁵ I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. ISAIAH 1

It is common to hear nowadays of children of God complaining of the breaks of life going against them. They must be told that the demonic forces have become terribly sore at them for  several reasons. First, for enlisting as soldiers of God in the kingdom war. Second, for  the once reliable loyalists of the evil empire are now turning into traitorous renegades. Third, for the number of its enemies will increase and the number of its human agents will decrease. Fourth, for the demonic spirits will be ejected from the hearts of their human agents and that will mean loss of territory for the evil empire.

In his book Purpose-Driven Life, Rick Warren spoke of the children of God being given to “impossible problems, delayed promises, major changes, unanswered prayers, underserved criticism, and even senseless tragedies”. The demonic forces are the culprits. They are putting the children into the fire hoping they would get frustrated and angry with the testing, and quit on God. 

God is allowing it to determine who among the children will deny themselves. take up their crosses and endure to the end. 

¹⁶ If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 1 PETER 4

The Book of Job gives three insights on what the demonic forces can do.

First, the new covenanter would be isolated and stripped of covering and support (Job 1:11). He would be deprived of his talents, treasures and sources of income. People dear to him and supportive of him would be disabled and or separated from him through poverty, ailment, conflict, accident and death. In the case of the prophet Job, he lost his sons and daughters, his servants and great wealth, all in one day (Job 1:13-22).

Second, the flesh of the new covenanter would be afflicted. Job was afflicted with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head (Job 2:7).

Third, intrigues, conflicts, persecutions, anxiety, failures, frustrations, and disappointments would plague the new covenanter. To convince him that he is a loser, that what he is doing were an exercise in futility, and that it would better for him to kill himself or return to his old wicked ways than to endure.

There is a fourth insight which the Book of Job did not give. The new covenanter would be seeing demons—elemental spirits, mermaids, angels of death (“yamadutas”), demons of the air (“yandavas”), guardian spirits (“devas” and “devates”), demigods, and guardians of the flame (“abhodevendas,” cosmic teachers, ascended masters)—and would be attacked by them. (Occult Grand Master Now In Christ, Part 2: Seven Occult Kingdoms)

¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. EPHESIANS 6

In the beginning a demon or two would attack. The elemental spirits would disguise themselves in the form of insects, snakes, and strange-looking creatures—even in the form of persons, both dead and living, who are familiar to the new covenanter. Eventually the disguise would be dropped.

The attacks would come by sundown and end before sunrise. But later the attacks would come at any time of the day and appear endless.

The new covenanter would have to evade and parry the attacks for he could be killed, paralyzed or dismembered if hit. Should he win the battle, the number of his attackers would increase in the next battle. 

The attacks would intensify. If the lowly elemental spirits fail to overcome the new covenanter, Lucifer would send his “living grand masters” along with the rulers of the seven occult kingdoms—Seraphim Visel (earth kingdom), Lord Kaliya (water kingdom), Lord Naga (fire kingdom), Lord Sagna (astral kingdom), Lord Shohang (terrestrial kingdom), Sat Kumara (Azura) and Chitanam (Kalami)—to confront and gang him up. If still they fail to overcome him, Lucifer himself would attack.  

The new covenanter could be chained, taken prisoner and brought to an astral or terrestrial dungeon so dark and eerie, where the angels of God could not rescue him for they are forbidden to come near the place.

His family and neighbors might not be able to cope with his situation. They would likely presume that he has lost touch with reality. Medical doctors might diagnose him as schizophrenic, paranoid, psychotic, or simply mentally ill. His own churchmates might think he’s demon-possessed (not demonized which is the real case) and might not want to sit on the same pew with him. Instead of helping him, they might ostracize and ridicule him—even think of him as someone being punished by God.    

In the four insights above, the new covenanter would have to cling to his faith. Instead of being perplexed or panicky or losing hope, he should pray for help. Prayer is his only link to God. As soon as he prays, God will come to neutralize his enemies, free him if taken captive, restore his losses, and wake him up—alive and whole. The attack will all seem to be a “nightmare”.     

¹⁴ I will rescue those who love Me. I will protect those who trust in My name. ¹⁵ When they call on Me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. ¹⁶ I will reward them with a long life and give them My salvation. PSALM 91 nlt

Baptism of fire is a series of battles progressively intensifying and terribly exhausting. We speak from experience. Our first battles made us sleepless for almost nine months. Lucifer himself was our opponent mostly. Today the attacks have waned but still come—even in the middle of a sea trip or a business conference, while crossing the street or while sleeping.

The truth is, the demonic forces will not give up until the new covenanter quits on God. Thus, he must always be on battle station. Good for him to stay on prayer mode 24/7 and resist the attacks with the help of God and other God-worshipers.

And so at the Last Supper, Y’shua essentially told the Twelve: “Those of you who have the heart desire to be a new covenanter must prepare for testing. Prepare for a treacherous, protracted war, one to last the rest of your lives. Baptism of fire will not be easy for you. But just as I carry My cross, so you must carry yours. You will stumble but do not stay down. Stand firm to the end and your original blessed state will be restored.”

What was said to the Twelve is also said to us.

³³ In this world you will have trouble. JOHN 16

⁸ Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers [in faith] throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 PETER 5

Do Not Be Afraid

Baptism of fire means eating the bread of adversity and drinking the water of affliction. It sounds dreadful but fear not. Nebuchadnezzar ordered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to be thrown into the blazing furnace yet no harm came to them. The Son of God came to untie them and enabled them to “walk around in the fire unharmed” (Daniel 3:19-30).

¹⁰ Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. ISAIAH 41

¹⁵ Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s… ¹⁷ Go out and face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you. 2 CHRONICLES 20

¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you, and all you have to do is keep still. EXODUS 14 tev

¹⁰ Be still and know that I am God. PSALM 46

²⁹ The Lord Himself is your shield and your sword to defend you and give you victory. DEUTERONOMY 33 tev

² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. ³ For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Isra’el, your Savior. ISAIAH 43 

²⁰ Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. ²¹ Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” ISAIAH 30

⁵ No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. JOSHUA 1

²⁰ And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. MATTHEW 28

⁴ Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. ISAIAH 46

St. Paul gave a testimony of how God protected him:

⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 CORINTHIANS 4

You will take hits in the course of your baptism but not beyond your capacity to take.

¹³ God… will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, He will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you a way out. 1 CORINTHIANS 10 tev

You will face unpleasantries but how else should you be refined? 

¹³ Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 1 CORINTHIANS 16  

⁹ If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. ISAIAH 7

¹³ But he who stands firm to the end will be saved. MATTHEW 24

The demonic forces can kill (Hebrews 2:14), they are murderers (John 8:44), but do not fear them. Y’shua has given them the authority to test you but not to kill you (Job 2:6). They cannot kill you unless you permit them or unless you entertain a negativity (eg. anger or fear). You will eventually exit this world, as we all must, but not to satisfy the purpose of the enemy. God will see to it that your death will satisfy His kingdom purpose.

¹² Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. PSALM 2

¹⁸ The One who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. 1 JOHN 5 

St. Paul wrote of Lucifer’s unsuccessful attempts to kill him:     

²³ I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶ I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger at sea; in danger from false brothers. ²⁷ I have labored and toiled and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 2 CORINTHIANS 11

Fear not because whatever you lose in the course of your testing will be returned to you one hundred times (Matthew 19:29). Job received from God much more than what he lost in the beginning (Job 42:12).

Do not be afraid but rather embrace your baptism of fire with joy and gladness because the evil empire's opposition is your assurance that you are on the right track.

⁷ These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. 1 PETER 1 nlt

Embrace your baptism of fire with joy and gladness because God is fair and just. The suffering of the non-covenanters will be seven times worse.    

13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 1 CORINTHIANS 10

49 Everyone will be salted with fire. MARK 9

8 Here is what all creatures, both human and animal, must face (but it is seven times worse for sinners): 9 death, violence, conflict, murder, disaster, famine, sickness, epidemic. SIRACH 40

Take the Cup

¹⁴ When the hour came, Y’shua and His apostles reclined at the table… ¹⁷ After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸ For I tell you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹ He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁰ In the same way, after the supper, He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.” LUKE 22

²⁷ Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is My blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. MATTHEW 26

The Most Holy Body was about to be broken, the Most Holy Blood about to be spilled. The culmination of the Son of Man’s baptism of fire was about to come. Three times He prophesied it. Everyone at the table had an inkling of what He was talking about.

⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. ⁵⁰ But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. ⁵¹ I am the Living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world… ⁵³ I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. JOHN 6

God leads by example. He does not command anyone to do something that He Himself did not do. In giving the symbolic bread and wine for the apostles to eat and drink, He was virtually saying to the Church, “As your God, Master and Teacher, I will do it first. But do I have your commitment to follow in My footsteps?”

Earlier, He asked two of the apostles: “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” (Mark 10:38)

In effect God asked, “Will you be My coworkers?”

²³ And they all drank from it. MARK 14      

Yes! The Twelve partook of the bread and wine, hallelu-yah! It was a sacred affirmation of the Church’s commitment, and of the Twelve’s personal commitment, to become new covenanters and go through baptism of fire.

Trumpet Call. Now, whenever and wherever the Passover meal is commemorated (Catholics call it "holy communion"), our participation in it—eating the bread and drinking the wine—should be a sacred affirmation not only of our oneness with the Church but also of our personal commitment to go through our baptism of fire and to contribute our share of LOVE-sacrifices to the collective cause.  

Whenever and wherever the Passover Feast is celebrated, the baptism of fire of our ancestors in faith—especially that of Y’shua—should ring in our minds. For there would be no true spirituality for us to celebrate today if they shied away from it. Thank God for their LOVE and faithfulness. 

The Passover is about LOVE. The New Covenant is about LOVE. The Ten Commandments are about LOVE. Because of LOVE God bore the penalty meant for us. Now He is looking for new covenanters. People to work on your family… your friends… your schoolmates… your workmates… your churchmates… People to begin the work on their own selves.

God hopes you would be one of them. He is calling you to imitate His sacrifice, to offer your body and blood for LOVE.

¹⁵ And He said, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” LUKE 22

²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom. MATTHEW 26

An annual rite was proclaimed to commemorate His death and the commitment of the Church to follow suit.

¹⁹ Do this in memory of Me. LUKE 22

LUCIFER & HIS NEFARIOUS ACTIVITIES

God has given the Ten Commandments so that those who seek the way back to the kingdom may have a roadmap and guidance. But look, Lucifer has been corrupting the Ten-C. He has been contaminating, distorting and messing up our knowledge and understanding of God’s instructions. The motive was to frustrate obedience, to spite God.

Lucifer is the ruler of the evil empire in the spiritual realm. He is dedicated to frustrate God’s plans and make them fail.

Scripture refers to him as the enormous red dragon (Revelation 12:3), the ancient serpent who tempted Eve (verse 9), the devil meaning slanderer (verse 9), the prince of this world (John 14:30), and the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Ephesians 2:2). The descriptive nouns adversary, opposition, tempter and enemy of God’s people are an allusion to him.

The world popularly calls him Satan but it’s not his real name; his fellow demons call him “Chitanam.” Here is an occult secret: Lucifer does not really feel alluded to when called Satan. The evil empire has seven levels. Its fourth level (the astral kingdom) is governed by “Lord Naga” and his assistant “King Elam” whose other name is “Sat An.” Whenever the name Satan is invoked, Lucifer is not the demonic spirit who appears or manifests but Elam. (Occult Grand Master Now In Christ)

For the sake of truth and to clear the air of disinformation, we shall call him Lucifer whenever reference is made of the devil or the biblical Satan.    

He used to be the chief archangel, vice regent to God, second highest authority in all creation in pre-Adamic times.

¹² You were a model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. ¹³ You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. ¹⁴ You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. ¹⁵ You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. EZEKIEL 28

Lucifer was not contented to be with God. He wanted to supplant God and be worshiped as God.

¹³ I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the Mount of Assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. ¹⁴ I will ascend above the tops of the clouds. I will make myself like the Most High. ISAIAH 14

Five times Lucifer said “I will!” in his heart. The time came when he led a rebellion to dethrone God and usurp His sovereignty.

³ Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. ⁴ His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky [He enjoined a third of God’s angels, cherubims, seraphims, etc. to his cause]… ⁷ And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels [later called demons] fought back. ⁸ But as he was not strong enough, they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Lucifer—who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. REVELATION 12

¹² How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! ISAIAH 14

Lucifer has been “cast down to the earth”. Man (who chose to be with Lucifer) was banished to be with him.

Now, Lucifer knows about the great hope of God in man. He is opposed to restoration. He has stolen man away from God. He will not allow man to be reconciled with God.

⁸ As no man is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it. ECCLESIASTES 8 

The Three-Tiered Ploy

Lucifer’s ploy in keeping man under his wing is mind-centric: Condition the mind and get to control the person. The ploy is three-tiered: 

Tier No. 1:  Stop the man from learning God’s Instructions.

Stop him physically: this is the first satanic methodology. Exhaust him. Make him sleepy. Make him lazy. Make him feel lethargic or sick. Bar his movements. Make him surf the internet or watch TV. Bombard him with fact-knowledge and propaganda. Make him engrossed in reading tons of “untold secrets.” Give him a job promotion to keep him busy. Give him an out-of-town assignment. Invite him to an irresistible money-making opportunity or to a party or romantic date. Send someone to beg for his immediate attention. Prevent him from having fare money or available ride to get to Bible class. Cause the teacher to be absent. Let there be no light. 

Disturb the man mentally or emotionally: this is the second methodology. Wake him up on the wrong side of the bed. Feed him with bad news. Make him impatient and short-tempered. Upset him. Anger him. Haunt him with remorse. Make him feel unworthy of being a child of God. Make him find fault in the Bible teacher or the study venue or his classmates. Give him a book or white paper that says the Ten-C are passé (no longer relevant and fashionable) and that no one has to study or obey them anymore. Put him in a difficult and lonely situation where he would wallow in self-pity and doubt his relationship with God.

Tier No. 2:  Distort knowledge & understanding.

If the man cannot be stopped from learning God’s instructions, sow disinformation. Send him westward if the road to heaven goes east. Teach half-truths. Do not let him see the whole picture. This way he gets to obey some and disobey some. Introduce false teachings and practices. Use the people he trusts (his family, pastor, close friend, lover, school teacher, work supervisor) to do it. Make him taste sinful meals and keep him busy with being addicted to them. Make him believe that it doesn’t hurt to disobey God’s instructions.

So many churches are sowing disinformation. Lucifer loves it!

His evil empire is all over the place conditioning our minds. Pick up a newspaper and prove this to yourself. What’s in the news? Not the exception but the rule. That it pays to be corrupt, right? That lawlessness is a shortcut to success. That only a few lawbreakers (usually only the careless and the small pry) are jailed. What’s the editorial? Paid hacks turning the table on the righteous and the law-abiding, softening our resistance to wicked enterprises, diverting our attention away from the evil their clients do. What’s in the society page? That it pays to be rich and famous. What’s in fashion? What’s the ad? Sex and getting sexy… self-worship, vanity, worldly attachments… One ad says it all: “Stop being conservative. Indulge! Be sinful! Everybody else is doing it.”

Listen to music and you will be fed with subliminal messages. Read a paperback, watch TV, take a stroll, sit at the park, go to work or school or church—and the evil empire is there.

Look at the signs of the times:

We now have home theaters that allow us to watch horror films (to sow fear of Lucifer and his demons), violent films (to show easy ways to kill and maim a fellowman), and sex films (to arouse impure desires) at home comfort and leisure. Cocaine, shabu, marijuana and other mind-altering substances are now peddled openly. Its users find it harder and harder to get up and keep going in the direction they need to go. And they become susceptible to demon-possession and committing a crime (eg. rape, child abuse, wife-beating, homicide, suicide).

Rebecca Brown said, “Ancient demon gods are being dug up, carefully restored, and placed in positions of honor. Governments even put up museums for them. Cute figurines of Buddha, dragon gods, fertility gods and other gods are being displayed in homes and offices, and sold along with t-shirts, rugs, wall decors and paintings (even coffee mugs) that have demonic designs in them.” (Unbroken Curses, p. 13)

Though the United States claims to be a Christian nation, isn’t it really the sex idols of the magazines and movies, the sports heroes and music stars, and the industries promoting the consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, and food in gluttonous proportion that rule as gods over its society? (Truth That Matters, p. 3)

Charles Colson added, “School prayer is being banned. Cases have been sought to banish the Ten-C from children’s classrooms, crèches from town greens, and Bible studies from public schools and private homes. Values hostile to Christianity are perpetuated with impunity in a so-called “value-neutral” environment… High-school students in Decatur, Georgia, were informed that they could not wear their Fellowship of Christian Athletes t-shirts to school (although satanic t-shirts were ok).” (The God of Stones and Spiders, pp. xi-xii, 55)

And what has become of us? We have been so used to Lucifer blowing cigar-smoke at our faces that we think something is wrong whenever the smoke is not there.

Tier No. 3:  Teach disobedience.

This strategy of Lucifer is three-pronged:

Prong No. 1:  Teach that the Ten-C are passé and obeying them is empty legalism.

What can happen if the Ten-C are removed from us?

Where there is no moral law, there is no law of decency to break. People are free to function without restraints. (The Ten Commandments Twice Removed, p. 15)

The most notorious example occurred in the eighteenth-century French Revolution. France, by action of her legislature, rejected God’s existence, thereby rejecting His Law.  With no moral law to govern them by saying, “You shall not murder”, the people soon turned on each other. The end result was “The Reign of Terror” in which thousands of France’s sons and daughters, including the king himself, spilled their blood on the guillotine. And all this was due to the senseless decision of men and women to throw off the supposed binding restraints of God’s moral code. (Truth That Matters, p. 2)    

Prong No. 2:  Make the man believe that 100% obedience is not doable.

So many people, even among the clergy, subscribe to this belief. They commit sin and justify their action by saying, “Man is inherently weak in the flesh.” That is actually a confession that the demons dominate their spirits and they are not Spirit-capable to resist the demonic promptings. St. Paul observed this in him:

¹⁸ I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For what I do is not the good that I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. ROMANS 7

¹⁴ The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 CORINTHIANS 2

⁵ For those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires… ⁷ The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s Law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. ROMANS 8

Doability?

⁶ With man this is impossible. But with God all things are possible. MATTHEW 19

For the undoable to become doable, the man must desire to do the undoable, which in this instance is to obey God’s instructions 100%. He must submit to water baptism and receive its two gifts: Spirit-indwelling and empowerment.  

¹¹ [Come] to the Messiah [and] He [will] set you free from your evil desires, not by a bodily operation of circumcision but by a spiritual operation, the baptism of your souls. COLOSSIANS 2

⁷ Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. JAMES 4  

¹⁰ Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. EPHESIANS 6

Prong No. 3:  Teach the man to obey Nine or less.

In the Scripture Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:1-21 are marked “Ten Commandments” and yet only nine are listed. Lucifer loves it!

Anyone who does not know any better would likely accept the toned-down version as Gospel truth and live by it. He would believe he is obeying Ten when in fact he is obeying Nine. For all his strive, he is likely to dishonor an instruction of God that he is unaware of and stay barred from heaven.

                  ⁵ For of this you can be sure: No impure person… has any inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God. EPHESIANS 5

The churches spoon-feeding their members with different versions of the Ten-C or teaching that there is no more need to obey the Ten-C means Lucifer is succeeding in his disinformation campaign. Now isn’t it a tragic irony when the very people we trust for life are the very ones leading us to the Second Death?  

Previous Post: The Purpose of Man on Earth

Next Post: The Ten Commandments of God