WHERE DOES YOUR LOYALTY LIE (TO GOD OR TO MEN)?
“And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” Luke 16:15 (KJV).
“He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition” Mark 7:6-9 (KJV).
All men are born of flesh - a slave to Satan – Romans 7:23,24; Ephesians 2:2, due to the fall of Adam; and are naturally the enemies of God – Romans 8:7,8.?“Because the carnal mind?is?enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” Romans 8:7.?The generality of men are not aware of the above truth because from when they were born into this world, what they naturally know have been taught them by flesh (men) and the world which are both controlled by Satan, the god of this world, who ensures that no man sees any way of escape from his slavery.?“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (KJV).
“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and?of?the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.?That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” John 3:5,6 (KJV).?Only after getting genuinely born-again (second birth) through the gospel of Christ can a man become free from slavery to Satan. Even after getting born-again, a man still has the choice to either be loyal to the flesh (old man) or to the Spirit of God through his new spirit man now born of the Spirit. The loyalty is seen in the witness he is inclined to believe, whether the witness of God or the witness of men. It is usually natural for men to believe the witness of men because that is what they are surrounded with from their fleshly birth. Generality of men see nothing wrong with fleshly ideas coming from the witness of men. The great problem is that fleshly ideas can never overcome Satan - the unseen chief diabolical enemy of humans. Therefore, any man who submits to the ideas of men will always remain in bondage to Satan. When a man begins to hear from God through His witness, he will begin to see that most of men’s ideas are opposed to the ideas from God’s words?“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” Galatians 5:17 (KJV).
As God is the only power (by His word – Romans 1:16) to overcome Satan, we will need to be loyal to God’s words rather than to the powerless words of men.?“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the?power of God?unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” Romans 1:16 (KJV). Therefore, to overcome this world of Satan and all its threats, there must be a conscious effort to always check every idea with the word of God for alignment; to then reject any idea opposed to the word of God and only accept ideas that align with His witness. Any man who does not do this thing will naturally be loyal to the flesh and the world (servants of Satan) and therefore continue as a voluntary slave to Satan, unconsciously, being defeated in the battle of life, until it will be too late. The figure above illustrates the two available options for every man to choose. God has presented these two options for each man with power to choose for himself. "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you,?that?I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore?choose?life, that both thou and thy seed may live" Deuteronomy 30:19 (KJV). You can either be a believer of the witness of God or an unbeliever. A believer is the one who will be loyal to the Spirit of God and His witness and has chosen life and blessing. The unbeliever, on the other hand will be loyal to the witness of men (flesh) and will continue in darkness with no hope. There is no middle ground. “And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” 1 John 5:8-12 (KJV).
Most men who are loyal to flesh will never fail in ensuring that they follow the traditions of men to comply at all costs but will never give such due diligence to complying with the word of God. As an example, these men will ensure that they wash their hands before they eat. They make sure they do not fail in this tradition to wash their hands before meal though it is not a commandment of God. But these men will not give any diligence at all to ensure they do not commit fornication and thereby breach the commandment of God with impunity. They will frown at men who do not wash their hands before eating but will praise men who commit fornication. Many men will do something and justify it to be the will of God whereas their action does not in any way align with the word of God as shown in His witness. For instance, some men kill innocent people in the name of God. No man can claim ignorance of His witness before God on the day of judgment because His witness has been established in the world with overwhelming evidence of undeniable proofs. Read the message titled “Credibility of the Bible” in the link below to see the overwhelming supernatural evidence that will make any man who rejects His witness to be speechless before Him on the very certain day of judgment. ??
Therefore, if you are yet to be born again, you have a choice to get genuinely born again now before it is too late. Get born-again by believing the word of God in 2 Corinthians 5:21; 6:17,18; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4; and John 1:12,13 and take the words to God in prayer of repentance from sin to declare that you believe in what Jesus Christ has done for you personally as stated in Romans 10:8-11, to accept God's offer of adoption and believe that He has answered your prayers as in Mark 11:24,25. Any man who says that God cannot have a son is also saying that men have more rights than God. This is a ridiculous saying because we know that every man has a right to adopt children as they wish. If a man has such right to adopt children, then God has more rights than men and He is indeed offering to adopt as many men as are willing to become His children as I quote from His word. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 (KJV). “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” John 1:12-13 (KJV).
If you are already born-again, then go for the sanctification experience, to get matured in the faith, so that you will find the word of God to be a delight and become loyal to it, to overcome the world of Satan and all its threats. To obtain sanctification, study the message in the link below and pray in the word to get instantly sanctified.
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God help you to overcome in Jesus name. Amen.
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References and suggested further reading:
1.??????Credibility of the Bible
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2.??????Obtaining sanctification by faith
3. Prayer that overcomes the world easily, copyright (c) 2023 by A.G. Turnah, available at Amazon.com: Prayer that overcomes the world easily: 9798378609321: Turnah, Apumarode Godwin: Books.