Salvation: God alone makes Christians (Part 3)
We continue from Part 2:
Job 33:20-22 "So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat. 21 His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out. 22 Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers."
In chastening a man, God will cause a man's soul to lose appetite for lying and corrupt words, and turn to the word of God. In fact, this was also what happened to king Nebuchadnezzar. Where he used to take counsel in the lying and corrupt words of the wise men of Babylon, notice a change of attitude in him:
Daniel 2:9 "But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof."
Notice also that King Nebuchadnezzar, though he had not known the God of Israel at that time, he began to know the difference between the truth and the "lying and corrupt words". King Nebuchadnezzar began to develop a "love of the truth":
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
The reason why a person would not be saved is because he received not the love of the truth, even as a natural man who receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 2:14 "But 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."
The opposite of receive is reject. The reason why a natural man reject the things of the Spirit of God is because they are foolishness unto him. Likewise, the reason why a person reject the truth is because the truth (Holy Bible) is foolishness unto him. He cannot love the very thing which he has already deemed as foolishness in his heart. Spiritual things must be spiritually discerned, and "discerning of spirits" (1 Corinthians 12:10) is a gift of God. Therefore, one of the differences between a spiritual man and a natural man is in their ability to discern spiritual things.
Matthew 25:29 "For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath."
Because the natural man have not the love of the truth, God will even send them strong delusion so that they should believe in a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
John 5:42 "But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you."
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
The phrase “love of God” is found exactly 13 times in the 1611 King James Bible. The Word of God (Jesus Christ) is God, and so the love of God is the love of the truth (the word of God). One cannot be decoupled from the other.
Judges 6:32 "Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar."
"Jerubbaal" was a name given to Gideon when he destroyed the altar of Baal which his father worshipped. The name "Jerubbaal" is found in exactly 13 verses in the King James Bible, and it means "let Baal plead against". This was a man who had received the love of the truth, and the love of the truth made him an enemy of Baal. There is an enemy which plead against men before God. We know from Job 1:9-11 and Job 2:4-5 that Satan pleaded against Job for God to destroy him without a cause. Revelation 12:10 calls him "accuser of our brethren" who accuse born again believers day and night before God, for to find an occasion against them.
Daniel 6:4 "¶ Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him."
The god of this world will use the lost and reprobate of this world to destroy the men (the Jerubbaals) that he hates.
Daniel 6:5 "Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God."
The same old serpent which beguiled Eve in the garden of Eden will always resort to the same old tactic which he has used against mankind. The attack is always concerning the word of God. The tactic used is always in lying against the truth. Lying and corrupt words will do damage to the soul, even as the poison of a serpent to the flesh. One of the effects of snake venom is in dissolving the muscle tissues of its victim. It is no coincidence, and I quote from this article: "Mortal poison: the story of how venom works"
“A more insidious effect, particularly of snake venoms, is muscle destruction known as myotoxicity. While not as quick as the effect on blood clotting, heart function or nerve signalling, myotoxicity can also be lethal. Typically, snake venom toxins dissolve the membrane of muscle cells...”
Snake's venom will dissolve the flesh. This is where we find a connection to:
Job 33:21 "His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out."
From another article "Flesh-eating spider with poisonous venom discovered in Mexico":
“What has eight legs, venom that dissolves human flesh and a habit of hiding in clothes? It sounds like a malarial fever dream, but scientists have discovered a spider in Mexico with venom so potent, it rots human flesh. AKA a traveller's worst nightmare. While a bite is not necessarily fatal, they can leave 40cm lesions of dead tissue around the puncture…”
Like snake venom, the spider's venom will also dissolve flesh.
Proverbs 30:28 "The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces."
She is the strange women in the book of Proverbs whose heart is snares and nets. Read Proverbs 7:6-23.
Romans 6:6 "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."
The "old man" is the opposite of the "new man" (Ephesians 4:24). While the congregation of the new man is the "body of Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:27), the opposite of the body of Christ is the "body of sin" in this verse. It is with the old man and the body of sin that the lost and the reprobate of this world serve the "man of sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Romans is the 6th book of the New Testament, and so Romans 6:6 bears the pattern of the number '666', which is the number of the beast (Revelation 13:18). It is no coincidence!!
Job 33:22 "Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers."
Psalms 58:3-4 "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;"
The effect of the venom is to destroy the soul, slowly but surely. The psalmist compares lies to the poison of a serpent, and the effect of the poison is to stop the ear from hearing the truth. When the soul is constantly cut off from the words of eternal life, it will eventually die. That’s why the fight is always against the things that we cannot see with our eyes. In fact, the Devil got it covered both ways. On one hand, he corrupts the truth with lying words. On the other hand, he persecutes Bible-believing churches and born again believers that are faithfully preaching from the real word of God.
To continue in Part 4.