📖 All sin is demonic

I. All sin, even small sin, is at its root, demonic.

We have no problem when we hear about some horrific crime or gruesome act, calling it demonic.

A mass murderer, a sex trafficker, someone who meticulously planned a kidnapping and torture. Those things can be chilling to read or hear. These things feel demonic (and rightly so).

But what about a white lie? What about envy? What about a small act of selfishness?

Regardless of how demonic something like that “feels,” it does not change what it is: demonic.

In James 3:14-15, James writes:

“But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.”

Envy and selfish ambition are inward inclinations that no one may ever see, and yet they are still sinful.

When we lower our view of the weightiness of sin, we lower our view of the incredible beauty of the Gospel.

Christ came to save and redeem you. So we fight against demonic actions and thoughts because our Father in heaven offers us peace and life instead.

———————-

II. Followers of Jesus are called to love all people. But they are called to prioritize their love for fellow believers, then for the world and those around them. In 1 John 3:16-18 we see:

“This is how we have come to know love: [Jesus] laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.”

In this passage, “brothers and sisters” is specifically referring to believers, not people in general. Additionally, we see this in Galatians 6:10:

“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith."

Again, Christians are to love and care for everyone! Other passages command us to love our neighbors and even our enemies (e.g., Matthew 5:43–48; Luke 10:25–37). Christians are called to do good to all people.

However, the New Testament teaches that Christians should give special attention to caring for fellow believers while continuing to love and care for everyone. And one of the best ways to ensure you are doing this is by committing to a local church where you can love and serve fellow believers in times of need.

Mark Dever on what makes a healthy church:

“A healthy church is not a church that's perfect and without sin. It has not figured everything out. Rather, it's a church that continually strives to take God's side in the battle against the ungodly desires and deceits of the world, our flesh, and the devil. It's a church that continually seeks to conform itself to God's Word.”

This week’s question: Should Christians use someone’s preferred pronouns?

Have a Bible question, or a situation in your life you want a biblical perspective on? Submit it here to be answered in a future Bible Made Simple Newsletter edition.

The Gales November by John U. Bacon

A book about the Edmund Fitzgerald, the great ore-shipping freighter, its history, and its sinking on November 10, 1975, on Lake Superior.

Knowing virtually nothing about the Great Lakes, their shipping history, and how foundational shipping on the Great Lakes has been for America, I enjoyed learning a lot about those subjects.

The book does a good job overall following different strands of the story while not straying too far away or giving a lot of needless details.

29 men died in the sinking of the Fitzgerald, and there was one part of the book where the author gives a backstory on many of them, so that was a bit much in the sense that it became difficult to keep up with all the personal histories. Also, there are times where it is simply hard to picture the description of the ship and what is happening, but you can’t fault the author for that.

The book spends very little time on what happened when the ship itself went down, which is a downside to the book since that is what the book is all about, but that is simply because we cannot know for certain what exactly those last few hours were like.

Overall though, the book is a good read, very informative, and the author does a good job giving a full view of the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

8/10

This week on Thinking Biblically, I discuss 5 Ways Our Culture Gets Love Wrong. I give a biblical definition of love, and share how to know if you are loving like Jesus.

APPLE PODCASTS // SPOTIFY // AMAZON

P.S. They have accepted you as one of them…