"And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."
In today's quote, when challenged as to what authority Jesus applied to cast out devils, Jesus demonstrated the logic that one cannot obey two masters and assured His doubters that it was by His faith in the hand of God that the miracles He performed were accomplished.
Jesus also left an example for us in today's quote by relating that we too are to serve only one Master. The words of the quote, in essence, tell us that we cannot put a part of our faith in earthly rituals such as water baptisms or communion suppers while putting another part of our faith in the soul cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. We must either believe that it is water baptism that saves us, or believe that it is the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ that saves us. We must either believe that it is our ability to live perfect lives that saves us, or , we must believe the it is the supreme sacrifice of the only perfect man to have ever lived that saves us. We cannot serve "two masters". We cannot put part of our faith in one thing and another part in something else.
"Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Romans 4:4-5)
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)~
No comments:
Post a Comment