"Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices."
2 Corinthians 2:10, 11 (NKJV)
It has been said that knowledge is power. This saying originally comes from the English philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon and it has been used by many people since then. What we know and understand is the basis for what we do. A person cannot act on what they do not know and often a lack of knowledge is what defeats people. The more we know and understand about spiritual things the more effective we will be as Christians and the more we will be able to do for God. It is good to know what we should do but it is also good to know what we should not do.
In 2 Corinthians 2 Paul talks about forgiving someone and in the next verse he mentions not being ignorant of Satan's devices, literally Satan's plans or purposes. Paul is showing us the importance of forgiving others and how by not forgiving someone Satan could take advantage of us. Paul also tells us that our enemy has a plan and a purpose. Many people get into trouble because they do not understand this. The devil is constantly trying to cause problems in our life and hinder us from doing what God wants us to do. We need to be aware of this and on guard because of it.
The devil will try to use things against us like unforgiveness, bitterness, disappointment, discouragement, and similar things. If we realize that these things can be opportunities for the devil to attack us we will be on guard against them. If we are unaware and even ignorant of that then the devil will try to use situations and circumstances against us and we may fall prey to some scheme of the enemy; we need to be on guard against the plans and purposes of the devil. We have God's Word and the Holy Spirit to help us with this. No matter what the devil may try to do we can always triumph in Christ!
2 Corinthians 2:10, 11 (NKJV)
It has been said that knowledge is power. This saying originally comes from the English philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon and it has been used by many people since then. What we know and understand is the basis for what we do. A person cannot act on what they do not know and often a lack of knowledge is what defeats people. The more we know and understand about spiritual things the more effective we will be as Christians and the more we will be able to do for God. It is good to know what we should do but it is also good to know what we should not do.
In 2 Corinthians 2 Paul talks about forgiving someone and in the next verse he mentions not being ignorant of Satan's devices, literally Satan's plans or purposes. Paul is showing us the importance of forgiving others and how by not forgiving someone Satan could take advantage of us. Paul also tells us that our enemy has a plan and a purpose. Many people get into trouble because they do not understand this. The devil is constantly trying to cause problems in our life and hinder us from doing what God wants us to do. We need to be aware of this and on guard because of it.
The devil will try to use things against us like unforgiveness, bitterness, disappointment, discouragement, and similar things. If we realize that these things can be opportunities for the devil to attack us we will be on guard against them. If we are unaware and even ignorant of that then the devil will try to use situations and circumstances against us and we may fall prey to some scheme of the enemy; we need to be on guard against the plans and purposes of the devil. We have God's Word and the Holy Spirit to help us with this. No matter what the devil may try to do we can always triumph in Christ!
No comments:
Post a Comment