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The only reason Satan ever had any right to become a prince or rule over us was because we yielded ourselves to him through sin (Rom. 6:16). Since Jesus "bore our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Pet. 2:24), Satan no longer has power or authority over those who accept Jesus' gift of salvation. Satan has been "cast out" -- stripped of any power he had. Now he can only deceive, and if we fall for his lies, we stop God's blessings from flowing in our lives.
The reason why a believer must live a holy life, is to avoid Satan's bondage. When we obey sin, we yield ourselves to Satan, the author of that sin.Yielding to sin is yielding to a person, Satan. God doesn't impute the sin to us but the devil does. Our actions either release the power of Satan or the power of God in us.
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Jesus suffered the punishment for our sins, so there is no reason why we should suffer for them too. The price for sin has already been paid by the only one who could fully pay it and that is Jesus. All Jesus asks of us to make His redemption ours, is faith in Him as our Lord.
Sin has a wage it must pay and no one can avoid payday without faith in Jesus. Anyone who does not receive the new birth will be held liable for all the wrong they committed as a result of their sinful nature. However, those who receive...
This is the third time recorded in the gospels that the Father spoke in an audible voice to or about Jesus (First, at Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River and second, at the transfiguration of Jesus).
This verse makes it clear that it was a voice that the Father spoke in; however, there were different reports of the same event. Some people heard a voice and thought it was an angel who spoke. Others thought it was thunder.
This illustrates "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14). A carnal man with a hardened heart will always find some natural explanation for the supernatural even if he...
Philip and Andrew had just brought word to Jesus that certain Greeks or Gentiles were seeking Him at the feast. He had ministered to other Gentiles, but this is the first time that the Gentiles came specifically to seek Him instead of what He could do. Apparently, this was an added signal to Jesus that His time had come and that He could no longer confine His ministry to only the Jews. Therefore, He made statements about His death and glorification, that would break down the middle wall of partition between the Jew and the Gentile.
There was a physical wall of partition that symbolized this division in the Jerusalem temple. The Gentiles could come into a designated area of the temple known as the court of the Gentiles, but a stone wall, about five feet high,...
There is nothing wrong with praising God. It is encouraged and commanded thousands of times in the scriptures. The reason the Pharisees were so upset was because they didn't accept Jesus as God. Indeed, it would be blasphemy for Jesus to accept worship if He wasn't God. This is another confirmation of the deity of Christ.
Only Luke records this instance of the Pharisees' objection and Jesus' answer. This was the triumphant entry of Israel's King that was prophesied and anticipated for centuries. The excitement could not be contained. If people refused to praise Him, the creation would have broken out in spontaneous praise. No rock...
