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“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8 NKJV)
The Bible presents a fascinating account of a certain woman in a desperate situation in 2 Kings Chapter 4 verses 1-7. Her husband had died, leaving her and her two sons in debt and at the mercy of a cruel creditor.
When the woman saw that the creditor was coming to take her two sons to be his slaves, she became very desperate and thus cried out to Elisha, the prophet of God, for urgent divine help and intervention.
In response to the desperate cries of this poor widow, who was at the mercy of a cruel creditor, Elisha, the prophet of God, helped her to discover and appropriate the provision which God had already made available and placed at her disposal (in her house) to settle her debt and be free from the harassment of the creditor.
Like Elisha, the primary responsibility of God’s servants today is to help the people who run to them seeking divine intervention to discover, understand and appropriate the provision (grace) that God has made available for the salvation of all humanity through Jesus Christ (John 1:17, Tit. 2:11).
Sadly, unlike Elisha, many servants of God today manipulate, defraud, or exploit those who run to them in desperation for divine help, deliverance, or intervention.
Rather than helping believers grow in God’s grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and thus increasingly enjoy their inheritance in Christ, many servants of God today are subjecting believers to bondage to Mosaic laws and burdensome religious rites.
It is good to note that although neck-deep in debt, the woman and her sons were at ease until they heard that the creditor was coming for them. They were calm, undisturbed, and felt no need to cry to God for mercy and help until someone alerted them that the creditor was coming for them.
Even though the woman and her two sons had already been sold to the creditor, they continued their normal daily activities until they saw or heard that the creditor was coming. The reality of their terrible condition only dawned upon them when they heard the news that their creditor was coming for them. They were utterly lost in their world of deception and delusion until they were woken back to reality by the news that the creditor was coming for them.
Just as the woman’s husband left her family in debt and at the mercy of the creditor, so did the first man (Adam) leave the entire human race in debt and slavery to sin and the devil. By birth and practice, we all are sinners, lawful captives, or enslaved people to Satan.
Regardless of their status, positions, qualifications, or possessions, all sinners are debtors or enslaved to the devil. The Scripture amply reveals this truth.
Romans 5:12 – NKJV
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.
John 8:34 – NKJV
34 Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
1 John 3:8 – NKJV
8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
Romans 6:16 – NKJV
16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
Like the woman and her two sons, many today who are slaves to Satan live securely and luxuriously in sins. Though they are in bondage to sin and at Satan’s mercy, they are at ease.
Sinners live on the verge of eternal damnation and destruction but are not disturbed. Though they are gradually slipping into hell fire, they feel nothing. Though they are under condemnation and awaiting God’s fiery judgment, they still feel very comfortable.
Many sinners are utterly oblivious to their spiritual condition and what lies ahead. They are sleeping in a fool’s paradise and need someone to wake them into reality.
Whether in the church or the street, all sinners are on the verge of eternal damnation and destruction. Still, sadly, many of them are entirely unaware of their spiritual condition and are in imminent danger of hell fire.
They need the help of concerned and compassionate neighbors and friends (believers) to wake them up from their spiritual sleep to the reality of the certainty and severity of God’s judgment awaiting sinners after death.
But more importantly, sinners or debtors to the devil need to know that their debt has been paid in full by the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Scripture states that Christ “bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness–by whose stripes you were healed.” (1 Pet. 2:24 NKJV).
Through His sacrificial or substitutionary death on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ has “wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Col. 2:14 NKJV).
John further states this truth.
1 John 2:1-2 – NKJV
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
1 John 4:10 – NKJV
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
The Gospel (the Good News) must be preached to all spiritual debtors (sinners)!
It is reasonable and necessary to let sinners be aware of their spiritual condition and warn them about the certainty and severity of God’s judgment awaiting them at the end of their ungodly life. But if that is all we preach to sinners, we have not preached any good news to them.
It is not good news to proclaim to sinners that they are debtors to the devil and can never repay their debt. However, it is good news to let sinners know that Jesus Christ has paid the debt they owe in full by His sacrificial death on the cross.
Beloved, you are called to proclaim to sinners the good news that the Lord Jesus Christ has borne their sins and all the consequences in His own body on the cross, thereby wiping out their debt entirely and permanently.
Sinners or debtors must believe and confess Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour.
Acts 16:30-32 – NKJV
30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
Romans 10:6-10 – NKJV
6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?'” (that is, to bring Christ down from above)
7 or,” ‘Who will descend into the abyss?'” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Find out more about the Good News to all Spiritual Debtors in the second part of this piece!
Prayer:
My Dear Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for paying in full my debt through Your death on the cross. Today, I believe wholeheartedly that my debt has been paid in full, and I receive and confess You as my personal Lord and Saviour, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Our mandate is to preserve the faith of the Apostolic Generation.
Eniyekpemi Fidelis Oyinpreyebi.
AWH, Blogs.
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