Satan is a lot smarter than any human.
Satan understands the power of identification.
When a person identifies as something evil, Satan encourages that person.
When a person identifies as something good, Satan undermines that person.
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. |
In the above verses we get a glimpse into the powerful world of identification.
Our heart is the intersection of our soul and spirit. Put another way, it is the result of how we negotiate between what we feel and what we experience.
Our heart determines everything about us.
When we are born we have a corrupt spirit as a result of the Sin Nature that we inherited from Adam.
Our soul experiences our environment which includes what we hear, what we see, our parents, our place, our culture, our education, etc.
Together the Sin Nature and our experiences define us. In spiritual terms, we are lost because of our separation from the Lord and the influences of the fallen world in which we live.
Every person identifies as human. We hear the term "I'm only human". There was actually a popular 'Christian' song that used that phrase.
If a person identifies as a human who is separated from the Lord and a product of their environment they are, by default, going to be a loser in life.
You may point out that some people actually achieve great things in terms of wealth, power and notoriety.
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? |
So, even the winners by this world's measures are losers.
Now we are seeing Satan's powwers of suggestion warp people's identification as human. No longer are people male or female, they identify as something else. Some even identify as animals.
Their choice of identification defines them as the scriptures above point out.
Identification choices are an aspect of our Lord's gift of Free Will to mankind. But there are unavoidable consequences to our choices.
Those who choose to remain identified as only human or some variation of human will remain lost, will face the judgment and will be cast into the Lake Of Fire.
Those who choose to identify with the Lord Jesus Christ are transformed from human into a New Creature which has Eternal Life. Such never experience the judgment or the wrath of their Creator.
So far we have not talked specifically about the 'power' of identification except in general terms.
→ the purely human goes to the Lake Of Fire while
→ the New Creature goes to heaven
As mentioned above, the purely human may be a total loser in life or they may appear to be a winner based on worldly standards.
But what about the Christian, the New Creature?
Most believers do not identify themselves as New Creatures. They see themselves as humans who will just end up in a better place than the humans who rejected Christ Jesus.
This small-minded view of Salvation was injected into Christianity by Satan, who hates humanity - those that follow him and those that follow Christ.
How many believers do you know who actually believe and act like this verse is true?
Do you believe and act like this verse is true?
Most Christians do not.
They have believed the lie from Satan that they are merely 'sinners saved by Grace'. There is actually a Gospel song that uses that statement of Satanic doctrine.
So what does the New Creature look like?
→ Jesus
→ His Holy Spirit
→ Superhuman
→ More than a Conqueror
→ An instrument of power
→ A voice of authority
→ the Head - not the tail
→ Above - not beneath
→ Healthy
→ Prosperous
Unbelievably, many preachers of the 'Gospel' have preached contrary to the Word under the influence of Satan.
How did that happen?
→ they ignored the Word Of The Lord
→ they looked at circumstance and experience
→ they were deceived
Now, we can not go back and change anything that we did wrong in the past. But we can repent. We can recognize that we were wrong and change our thinking, our talking and our actions.
Our First Love is not just the person of Christ, but it is also His Words, His will, His expection and His commands.
There are those who are referred to as cessationists, meaning they do not believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is to be manifested today.
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. |
There are millions of Christians around the world. As mentioned above, most of them identify as sinners saved by Grace. This is a disappointed to our Lord.
Jesus expects us to manifest as New Creatures to the fullest extent of the term. To continue identifying as human with a smattering of Grace added represents failure.
If you want to self-identify as a New Creature you can but it will require serious commitment.
→ deny yourself
→ fill yourself with the Word
→ be filled with the Holy Spirit
→ speak the Word
→ rebuke Satan
Jesus has made it possible for us to experience Abundant Life. But unlike His Eternal Life, which is a gift, Abundant Life is experienced as a result of our commitment to Him.
Our commitment to Christ plays out according to our identification as New Creatures In Christ.