1.
Spiritual
blindness
The fourth reason why we are alienated
from the life of God and unable to bear spiritual fruits it is because of being
spiritually blinded which is caused by refusing
to retain God in our knowledge, and for this reason, God gave those who does not retain Him in their knowledge over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.
Those who do not like to retain
God in their knowledge their minds degenerates from first being knowledgeable
to becoming ignorant and from being ignorant to becoming debased which is a state
of being lowered in dignity, character, or importance which manifest itself in being
filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are
whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of
evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving,
unforgiving, unmerciful.
Satan also takes advantage of
those who do not like to retain God in their knowledge as illustrated by the
apostle Paul who wrote; “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to
those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do
not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
And so, without being judgmental
it is not a difficult task to differentiate a spiritually minded individual
from one who is carnally minded and spiritually blinded because it is clearly
manifested in our lifestyle and the danger is, who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that
those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but
also approve of those who practice them. Therefore, even though we personally
may not be practicing these things but approve of those who practice them are
subject to the righteous judgment of God.
But the sad reality is, when the
Lord has poured out on an individual the spirit of deep sleep, closed their
eyes and covered their heads the whole vision becomes to them like the words of
a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying,
"Read this, please." And he says, "I cannot, for it is
sealed."
Then the book is delivered to one
who is illiterate, saying, "Read this, please." And he says, "I
am not literate." Therefore the Lord said: "Inasmuch as these people
draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed
their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment
of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, A
marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and
the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden" (Isaiah
29:9-14).
Again, without being judgmental
it is not a difficult task differentiating a carnally minded individual from
one who is spiritually minded as exemplified by the apostle Paul who wrote; “And
I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as
to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now
you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you
are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you,
are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Corinthians
3:1-3).
A carnally minded individual is one who is antagonistic to the law of God and whose mind is set on the things of the earth as explained by the apostle Paul who wrote: “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for
it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are
in the flesh cannot please God.” And, "
So the crux of the matter is,
“Are we only looking at things according to the outward appearance? Or are we
also looking at things inwardly? The reality is, “For though we walk in the
flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are
not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down
arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,
bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being
ready to punish all disobedience when our obedience is fulfilled” (2
Corinthians 10:3-6).
What is essentially taking place around
us in connection with this mandatory vaccination is a spiritual warfare with
the intention to defile and ultimately destroy the temple of the Holy Spirit and so the admonition
is; “Put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,
against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places: Therefore, let us
take up the whole armor of God, that we may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all, to stand.
.Nevertheless, let us not be
ignorant of the fact that, having accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior does
not necessarily means that the individual is spiritually minded and can
understand and distinguish spiritual things and the sad reality is, perceiving
things only in a physical perspective and being merely human will not permit us
to understand the spiritual things that
are taking shape around us because, the natural man does not receive the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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