Fighting The Wiles Of The Devil

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord,

 and in the power of His might. Put on the 

whole armor of God, that ye may be able 

to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,

 but against principalities, against powers,

against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 

against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Ephesians 6: 19-11 

     The need for the apostle Paul to write those words was that God inspired him to do so due to the influx of teachings that were not that which Jesus had taught. Gnosticism, Judaism, the Ebionites with their view as to ascetism, and more, all were having an effect on the new Christian faith. 

     This is why I am taking this time to reach back into history of the Church that we can have an understanding of those heresies that affect the Church and how that those heresies are affecting Authentic Christian Faith in our day. Those men and women who are teaching another gospel and not Authentic Christian Gospel need to submit themselves to our Lord Jesus Christ and follow what He admonished us and commanded. Clement of Rome one of the earliest of Christian writings, a fellow with the apostle Paul had this to say to the Church: "Ye therefore, who laid the foundation of this sedition, submit yourselves to the presbyters, and receive correction so as to repent, bending the knees of your hearts. Learn to be subject, laying aside the proud and arrogant self-confidence of your tongue. For it is better for you that ye should occupy (Literally, “to be found small and esteemed.”) a humble but honourable place in the flock of Christ, than that, being highly exalted, ye should be cast out from the hope of His people. (Literally, “His hope.”) [It has been conjectured that ἔλπιδος should be ἔπαύλιδος, and the reading, “out of the fold of his people.” See Chevallier.] For thus speaketh all-virtuous Wisdom: (Prov. i. 23–31.) [Often cited by this name in primitive writers.] “Behold, I will bring forth to you the words of My Spirit, and I will teach you My speech. Since I called, and ye did not hear; I held forth My words, and ye regarded not, but set at naught My counsels, and yielded not at My reproofs; therefore I too will laugh at your destruction; yea, I will rejoice when ruin cometh upon you, and when sudden confusion overtakes you, when overturning presents itself like a tempest, or when tribulation and oppression fall upon you. For it shall come to pass, that when ye call upon Me, I will not hear you; the wicked shall seek Me, and they shall not find Me. For they hated wisdom, and did not choose the fear of the Lord; nor would they listen to My counsels, but despised My reproofs. Wherefore they shall eat the fruits of their own way, and they shall be filled with their own ungodliness.” … (Junius (Pat. Young), who examined the ms. before it was bound into its present form, stated that a whole leaf was here lost. The next letters that occur are ιπον, which have been supposed to indicate εἶπον or ἔλιπον. Doubtless some passages quoted by the ancients from the Epistle of Clement, and not now found in it, occurred in the portion which has thus been lost.)"

     Do not those who teach another gospel say that they believe in Jesus as Savior? Yes! But the question is: Who is this Jesus? Is this Jesus they say they believe and serve the Jesus that was presented to us by those who walked and talked with Him, by Paul who was confronted by Jesus to become a servant of Him on the Damascus road? To be Authentic and have Authentic Christian Faith a person must have faith in the real, the true Jesus, not some man-made doctrine or theology. 

'The LORD thy God in the midst of thee

     is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice

over thee with joy; He will rest in His love,

     He will joy over thee with singing.

                   Zephaniah 3:17

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Richard L. Crumb