Remain Steadfast In The Faith



1 Peter 5:8–9
8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9Resist him, steadfast in the faith…

When I was a teenager, I was taught that if I wanted to resist the devil, I had to rebuke him. So whenever an evil thought came to my mind or I was tempted, I found myself saying, “I resist you, devil, in Jesus’ name! I bind you, devil! Go away from me, devil! I rebuke you in Jesus’ name!”

This went on until God showed me one day that though I had “resisted” the devil, I had spent more time talking to him than to God! I was more conscious of the devil than of God throughout the day.

I checked the Word of God and realized that we resist the devil not by focusing on resisting him, but by being established in the faith that we are made right with God through Jesus’ blood, that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Yes, the devil will continue to remind you of your mistakes, failures and sins. And he will tell you that because of these things, you cannot receive your healing, that you will have to pay for your mistakes or that something bad will happen to your family. He will accuse you, condemn you and try to persuade your heart to believe that he can do bad things to you.

But the truth is that the devil cannot enforce anything in your life if he cannot persuade your heart. And your heart cannot be persuaded if it is “steadfast in the faith”, if it is established in righteousness. God says that once you are established in righteousness, “You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you”. (Isaiah 54:14)

So now that my heart is established in righteousness, I can boldly declare, “Yes, I may have these problems in my life, but I am not guilty in God’s eyes. I am justified in God’s eyes by faith because of what Christ has done. I am righteous by Jesus’ blood!” My friend, that is how you resist the devil and become undevourable!

Comments

Steve Finnell said…
CAN MEN BE SAVED BECAUSE THEY DID NOT HAVE TIME?

One of primary reasons given by men to prove that water baptism is not essential for salvation is, what if someone believed but died before they were baptized?

Does God give men a pass on meeting the requirements of salvation if they simply do not have time to comply?

1. If a man believes but dies before he can be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of his, will he still be saved? I cannot find that exception in Scripture. (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, 1 Peter 3:21)

2. If a man was thinking about believing, but died before he had time to believe, would he still be saved? I cannot find that exception in Scripture. (Mark 16:16, John 8:24, John 3:16, Acts 16:30-34, Romans 10:9)

3. If a man was thinking about repenting , but died before he stopped, murdering, getting drunk, stealing, or before he stopped his homosexual relationship, or before he discontinued his lifestyle of fornication, would that person still be saved? I cannot find that exception in Scripture. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Galatians 5:20-21)


There is no record of men being saved because of their future good intentions.

I DID NOT HAVE TIME TO BE SAVED, BUT GOD WILL SAVED ME ANYWAY IS NOT A SCRIPTURAL CONCEPT.


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3:35 PM
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