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To: Alamo-Girl
I fail to see where believing God, trusting Him, counting on Him has anything to do with spiritual pride

The pride comes from the self-rghteousness inherent in the Protestant OSAS doctrine. We may believe, but we are still subject to deceit by the devil and his temptation, and we are still capable of evil.

If satan went after Christ (not knowing He is God), trying to tempt Him, what makes you think we are immune?

13,046 posted on 04/18/2007 8:52:38 PM PDT by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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To: kosta50
The pride comes from the self-rghteousness inherent in the Protestant OSAS doctrine

That is irrelevant to me. I eschew all the doctrines and traditions of mortal men.

If satan went after Christ (not knowing He is God), trying to tempt Him, what makes you think we are immune?

Satan tried to tempt Christ (and I believe he knew who He was at the time) – and failed (Matt 4 and Mark 1) – some believe he tried again at the Garden of Gethsemane. At any rate, Satan has lost and he knows it. His fate is written.

And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. – Luke 10:17-18

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. – James 2:19

Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. – Rev 12:12

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom [is] as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. – Rev 20:7-10

On the other point, we do indeed all face temptation – again what matters is how we face it, not what it is or even where it came from. There is no reason to fear and especially there is no reason to disbelieve God or fail to trust Him.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing [this], that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways. – James 1:2-8

Blessed [is] the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. – James 1:12-16


13,049 posted on 04/18/2007 9:37:21 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: kosta50; Alamo-Girl; hosepipe; .30Carbine; Kitty Mittens; Kolokotronis; marron; Quix; T'wit; ...
If satan went after Christ (not knowing He is God), trying to tempt Him, what makes you think we are immune?

What if satan knew very well that Christ is God, and that is precisely the reason he "went after" Him in the first place, the primary motivating factor?

At any rate, that would be my expectation. Satan's entire mission in everlasting death is to "trash God." He already knows he "can't win." So he is determined to take down into eternal perdition with him as many of God's beloved creatures as possible, just for sheer ungrateful, ungodly, and unregenerate spite.

And if satan finds that God lives in the soul of any particular man by His Spirit and Grace, then that particular person would present an interesting target from his point of view.

And so you raised the issue of: How do we know, when in our devotions, that the Presence we experience isn't satan himself, deceiving us?

It is a very good question to bear in mind. Let us for the sake of argument allow that there are spirits effective in the ordinary world of human experience, many if not most of which bear ill will towards human beings.

That granted, still the human being has to give them a niche to slink in through before they can do any real damage. From satan's point of view, he gets the best traction out of the perpetrators of the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust....

Add to that list: Spiritual pride (your recommendation); arrogance; narcissism; inordinate desire for anything that is not God....

In God alone is the Logos, Truth -- thus final authority in this world and the next.

All praise and glory be to His Holy Names!

God bless you for writing, dear kosta50!

13,093 posted on 04/19/2007 5:22:07 PM PDT by betty boop ("Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." -- A. Einstein.)
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