When Was Satan Cast Out Of Heaven?

Luke 10:17-18 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” [18] And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

         Jesus had sent 72 disciples to go ahead of him into all the towns he planned to preach in. He said, “Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’” (Luke 10:9). He described this victory as Satan falling from heaven. In a figurative sense, every time the kingdom of God comes near, Satan falls. But, in a literal sense, he had not yet been cast out of heaven.

         When was Satan thrown out? Jesus told when it would happen. A day or two before He went to the cross He said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31).

         The Book of Revelation describes it thus: “the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God’” (Revelation 12:9-10 ESV).

         Jesus described it as “the judgment of this world” and as casting out “the ruler of this world.” When did this “judgment” take place?  Daniel foresaw it in a vision hundreds of years previously. He described it as a court session in which the Ancient of Days took his seat and “a judgment was made” in favor of God’s people (Dan 7:22 NKJV). This judgment was made when he saw One like a Son of Man coming to the Ancient of Days with the clouds of heaven “And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Dan 7:13).

         Notice that the Son of Man is pictured as not coming down, but rather as ascending in the clouds to the Ancient of Days. This scene does not describe His second coming. It describes His ascension to the Father. As His disciples “were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). But the heavenly host above the clouds saw Him “coming to the Ancient of Days with the clouds of heaven.” And the Father said to Him, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool” (Psalm 110:1).

Matthew Henry agrees that “coming to the Ancient of Days” was the ascension when he says, “Our Savior seems plainly to refer to this vision when he says (Jn. 5:27) that the Father has therefore given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man, and because he is the person whom Daniel saw in vision, to whom a kingdom and dominion were to be given… here we are told, abundantly to our satisfaction, that he came to the Ancient of days; for he ascended to his Father and our Father, to his God and our God (Jn. 20:17); from him he came forth, and to him he returns, to be glorified with him, and to sit down at his right hand.” The Geneva and the Jamieson Faussett Brown commentaries agree.

         That is when “the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom” (Dan 7:22). As soon as the judgment was made and the ruler of this world was cast out, John heard a voice saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God” (Revelation 12:10 ESV).

         Does this mean our troubles are over because Satan is cast out? No. It means, “the devil has come down to [earth dwellers] in great wrath.” He now pursues the church that gave birth to the Son of God and makes war with her offspring (Rev 12:12-13). But the earth helps the church with such things as “Edicts of Toleration.”

         Every time the New Testament mentions the Son of Man coming with the clouds it is not talking about His second coming. It is referencing His coming to the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7:13. Three Gospels quote Jesus as saying, “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:29, Mat 24:30, and Mark 13:26). Jesus referenced it again when He told the high priest, “I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mat 26:64).

         The high priest died ten years later. When did he see this? Evidently he saw it when he died since after that is the judgment. Thus, every eye shall see Him coming on the clouds when they die. “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him” (Rev 1:7).

How Is The Old Testament Fulfilled? Mat. 5

Mat 5:17-20

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. [18] For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. [19] Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [but right now he is not called great by Christians, let alone on earth.] [20] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

2

Fulfilled Does Not Mean Abolished   

         Jesus makes it clear in verse 17 that He did not come to abolish the Old Testament but to fulfill it.  Then He says our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees or we will never enter the government of heaven.  Then, through the rest of this sermon, He explains how our righteousness must be accomplished in order to enter the government of God. He did not invent a brand new law; it’s the same law that proceeded out of God’s nature both in creation and on Mt. Sinai.

3

Teaching That The Law Of Christ Replaced The Law

Of Moses Is A Doctrine Of Demons.

God’s Law was always the Law of Christ. His going forth has been from of old, from everlasting. When God told Adam, “Don’t eat from that tree,” that was the Law of Christ. Centuries before Moses, the Christ said to Isaac, “Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Gen 26:4-5). That was the Law of Christ. When the Great I AM gave the Law to Moses that was the Law of Christ. The law of gravity and all natural laws are the law of Christ the Creator.

Look at the 3

4

Requirements For Entrance Into God’s Government

Jesus says in verse 17 that He did not come to abolish the Old Testament but to fulfill it. He says, “not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Verse 18). He says, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Verse 20).

 So, God’s Law must be accomplished in us, our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees, and God’s Law must be fulfilled in us before we can enter God’s government.

5

God’s Righteous Requirement

Paul says, “God sent His Son… in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Romans 8:4).

         God’s Law includes ceremonial laws, civil laws, and moral laws. All three parts are not abolished, but fulfilled.

6

Ceremonial Laws

… are things like circumcision, blood sacrifices, unclean foods, and new moon Sabbaths. They are not abolished. They are still required and must be fulfilled. Circumcision is fulfilled in baptism. Passover is fulfilled in The Lord’s Supper. Pentecost celebrated the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai and was fulfilled when God put His law in our hearts by baptizing His church in the Holy Spirit on the Day Of Pentecost. The Feast Of Tabernacles is fulfilled in the Great Commission as God sends His messengers with the sound of a trumpet to gather His elect from the four winds. Unclean foods are made clean by the conversion of Gentiles (Acts 10). These are just a few examples.

7

God’s The Civil Laws

…are fulfilled when nations establish Christ as their King. At that time the law shall go forth from Zion. It’s when there will be no more war and every man sits under his own vine and his own fig tree. That’s private property; and that means no socialism and no slavery. It means the death penalty for adultery.

8

The civil laws are actually

Moral Laws

Beginning with verse 21 of this chapter, Christ shows how The Ten Commandments Must Be Fulfilled in order to enter the kingdom of God. He contrasts the Pharisees’ wrong interpretation of Moses with the true meaning of Moses. The correct meaning exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Their interpretation of Moses, their traditions, made God’s word of no effect, but the true meaning gives life. Jesus was not contradicting Moses. He was contradicting their interpretation of Moses, their oral traditions.

         He says it’s not enough to not murder, we must also not hate. He says it’s not enough to not commit adultery, but we also must not lust. He says it’s not right to use the law as an excuse to divorce whenever you want to. An eye for an eye is for court justice, and not as a personal excuse to get even

9

6 times in this chapter Jesus says,

 “You Have Heard, But I Say”

He was blasting their oral traditions

You have heard…but I say… Mt 5:21-22 (About murder)

You have heard …but I say… Mt 5:27-28 (About adultery)

It was also said… But I say... Mt. 5:31-32 (About divorce)

You have heard… But I say… Mt 5:33-34 (About false witness)

You have heard… But I say… Mt 5:38-39 (About eye for eye)

You have heard… But I say… Mt 5:43-44 (About hating your enemy).

10

What had they heard? They had heard

The Oral Tradition of the Jews

He did not say, “Moses said.” He was not contradicting Moses, He was contradicting the oral traditions of the Jews. This oral tradition started in Babylon and later became known as the Talmud. Believers in the Talmud say that it supersedes the Law of Moses. This is why Revelation calls Jerusalem the Whore of Babylon, Sodom, Egypt, and False Prophet.

         But don’t blame the Jews. They’re not the only ones that go by what they hear instead of what is written in Scripture. For most people, what they hear is their Bible, not what God says.

11

Danger!

Doctrinal Systems Can Trump Scripture

Don’t let hearsay trump Scripture! Spurgeon said, “I would sooner a hundred times over appear to be inconsistent with myself than to be inconsistent with the word of God…”

J.C. Ryle points out the danger of this error of allowing a theological system to trump Scripture. He said, “I admire the scriptural wisdom of a man who, in a day of hard-and-fast systems could dare to be apparently inconsistent, in order to ‘declare all the counsel of God.’  I firmly believe that this is the test of theology, which does good in the Church of Christ.  The man who is not tied hand and foot by systems, and does not pretend to reconcile what our imperfect eyesight cannot reconcile in this dispensation, he is the man whom God will bless…”

12

Inward Righteousness Must Exceed Outward Righteousness

The substance must exceed the symbol; the spirit of the law must fulfill the letter of the law before the law can be accomplished. Heart faith must exceed head faith and all traditions and systems. God sent His Son in order that the righteous requirement of God’s Law might be fulfilled and accomplished in us.

13

The Difference Is The Motive

All of us are Pharisees and Arminians by nature, going about to establish our own righteousness. The natural man says, “All I have to do is say the ‘sinner’s prayer’ and kings X, I’m in.” The man that is just looking for fire insurance does not really serve God; he serves himself. He clings to formulas in order to justify himself. He prefers symbol over the substance of fulfilling the righteous requirement of the Law. All he has to do for a ticket to heaven is “name it and claim it.” Just say, “abracadabra.” Like the rich young ruler, he asks, “What thing must I do to inherit eternal life?”

14

A New Nature Is Required

         And only God can do that. That’s the only way to fulfill the righteousness required by Jesus. And that takes a miracle…a new creation.  We must be born again. When God makes new creatures, His method is to change their focus by opening their understanding.  This is what changes their motive, not a works-formula like the sinner’s prayer.  The new creature no longer serves God for fire insurance. He is no longer worried about hell. He now wants to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  That’s how the Law is fulfilled and that’s how we exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. We side with God against ourselves and find a new life.  God creates a new creature, a new motive, and a new heart.

15

How Does God Do This?

         God does this by working in us both to will and to do according to His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). How does He do that? How does He make us want Him? He does it by convincing us of His truth with His word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by God’s word. He opens our understanding with the truth.

God’s Immigration Laws Versus Statism

By Ron Smith

Our ancestors were not welcome when they came to this land. The Indians objected. My Scotch Irish ancestors settled beyond the mountains outlawed by England. Did they sin by disobeying the government? Did they not have a right to disobey such arbitrary statist laws that interfered with the God-given right of life, liberty, and property? Is that not tyranny? Did they not have a right to rebel against it? Is the declaration of Independence wrong when it says, “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, [i.e. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it”…?  

God says, “Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers” (Ex 23:9). “The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers… I am the LORD your God” (Lev 19:34).

Jesus commanded all men to “Seek first the government of God and His righteousness.” Is this your number one priority? Or, is your number one priority Caesar’s laws?  The government’s job is to protect its citizens from the plunder of life, liberty, and property. Thus, Caesar has a God-given duty to maintain civil order by protecting property from crime. But crime is a separate issue (though related to immigration). When Caesar says strangers cannot cross our borders unless they stand in line and pay a lot of money, they leave them no alternative but to do what my ancestors did. This bad statist policy causes some to plunder property. Bad statist policy causes U.S. citizens get plundered by having to pay for the education of non-citizens. Any support for education should be private, voluntary, and not forced. Socialism allows those who plunder the welfare system. There should be no statist welfare for anyone. Statist socialism is the problem not immigration. Does it not seem schizophrenic for conservatives to oppose statism and then turn around and appeal to statism for protection when it comes to immigration?

The Time To Disobey Caesar

We are to render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, but we should never render to Caesar what belongs to God. Caesar protected the apostles from the Jews in the book of Acts more than once. But when “Jerusalem” made a law commanding Peter and John to not preach in the name of Jesus they said, “We ought to obey God rather than man” (Acts 5:29). Rebellion is obedience to God when Caesar Commands Us To Sin or when Caesar makes laws that become destructive of life, liberty, and property. When the IRS says I cannot preach against the ungodly laws of Caesar, I must disobey in order to obey God.

Knowing that Caesar’s laws on taxing the Jews was a contradiction of God’s Law, why did Jesus and the apostles command Christians to pay taxes and obey every ordinance of man? It was not because Caesar was right. It was for the Lord’s sake. It was because God is the One who had sold them into captivity under the Roman the Beast. He did it because they had broken His covenant. We get the leaders we deserve. Therefore when Roman soldiers demanded someone’s coat, Jesus commanded, “Give them your shirt, too” (Luke 6:29). When he slaps you, turn the cheek and don’t demand your rights. This law of Christ trumps your right to resist.

God sold Judah to Babylon for breaking His covenant. He said, “I also spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, ‘Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live!’” (Jer 27:12). “For because of the anger of the LORD this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon” (2 Kings 24:20). “Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon” (2 Kings 25:7). “Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, because they had not obeyed my rules, …Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, and I defiled them…” (Ezekiel 20:23-26 ESV). The defiling rules God gave them were the laws of Babylon and Rome. Now He has given us statist socialism for the same reason.

“Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God…” (1 Peter 2:13-15).

The Trial Of Jesus

The trial of Jesus illustrates the current actors in today’s conflict. They were Pilate, Caesar, Barabbas, and Christ. First we have Rome’s representative, Pilate, saying, “I find no fault in this man” (Luke 23:4). Then we have the chief priests saying, “We have no king but Caesar,” “Crucify him,” and “Give us Barabbas.” The actors are 1.) the lesser magistrate, Pilate, 2.) the chief priests affirming the mark of the beast by placing Caesar above Christ, and 3.) the chief priests affirming Barabbas (who sought to overthrow Caesar in an insurrection). By placing Caesar’s laws higher than Christ, these same ones showed their schizophrenia in choosing to release an insurrectionist.

Who does Christ represent? “’I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’  Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:43-46 ESV).

The second beast in Revelation 13 illustrates both the chief priests and Barabbas. The function of this beast was to get the whole world to worship the Roman beast of statism. It looked like a lamb (a symbol of priestly sacrifice), had two horns (symbols of power), and spoke like a dragon (“crucify Him”). Barabbas types are those who disobey Caesar’s laws because his laws contradict God’s laws, and seek to replace Caesar for another form of statism. These types use the sword to set things right. They resist arrest and sass the authorities. Josephus was right when he said they were evil and deserved the punishment they got from Rome. This was the error of Peter in cutting off the ear of the policeman. They are anarchists. Anarchy is the father of statism. So, ironicly, they result in statism like the other horn on the same beast that says, “We have no king but Caesar.” Both horns (symbols of power) look to the state as the highest authority instead of Christ, Caesar’s King.

How About Violent Resistance?

Martin Luther King showed how non-violent resistance and freedom of speech can be very effective. But how about armed resistance? Calvinism teaches that violent resistance to protect from the plunder of life, liberty, and property is justified, but ONLY under the authority of lesser magistrates. Civil disobedience is godly as long as it is civil. Barabbas types are not civil. The American Revolution followed the Calvinist principal of armed resistance under the authority of the duly authorized representatives of the 13 colonies. Read “The Doctrine Of The Lesser Magistrate” at Amazon.com.

Jesus And The Good Samaritan

A certain lawyer, wanting to justify himself by parsing God’s command to love his neighbor as himself, asked, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) Evidently he wanted to narrow it down to just certain ones that he already loved. But Jesus chose a foreign Samaritan. “For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:9).  That would be comparable to telling Hitler to love Jews. It would also be comparable to commanding conservatives to love Democrats and vice versa. This is the real test as to who is saved and who is not. “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1John 4:8).

What It Really Means To Be Under Grace

I’m Not Under Law

Romans 6:14-15 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. [15] What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

         I would like to know how many people who say, “I’m not under law” can also call God’s law what the Apostle James called it.

“The Law of liberty”

“the perfect law.” He says the doer of it will be blessed. (James 1:25).

I wonder how many people agree that…

God’s Law Is Gracious

         When Moses saw God’s glory, he saw it with his ears in these words:

Exo 34:6  “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, [7] keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin....”

I wonder how many people know that

Israel Found God’s Grace

Jer 31:2 Thus says the LORD: “The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness—Israel...”

         What is grace?

Charis

 … is the New Testament Greek word for grace. It means unmerited favor, gift, thankfulness. To “say grace” or to “return grace” thanksgiving. Eucharist has the word charis in it. It means thanksgiving. A charismatic person is a gifted or graceful person. A graceful dancer is a gifted dancer. Grace is gifted ability. So if you say you’re under grace, you’re saying you have more ability.

More Grace Is More Power Over Sin

James 4:6 “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’”

         Some people have more grace than others. And some have more grace than they used to have. And some are going to get more grace… “grace for grace” (John 1:16).

The Bible Says

Giving Is A Grace

…in 2 Corinthians 8. God says, “see that you abound in this grace” (8:7). So grace can abound or be little.

Acts 4:33 says,

Great Grace Was Upon The Apostles

 “and with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.”

Acts 11:23 says

Grace Can Be Seen

 “When [Paul] came and had seen the grace of God [on the church], he was glad...”

Acts 13:43 says

Grace Makes People Follow The Apostles

 “…many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.”

Acts 18:27b says,

“Faith Comes Through Grace.”

Also, Eph 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Gal 5:4 says,

One Can Fall From Grace

 It says, “you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.”

         The reason they fell was because they only had common grace. The only reason anyone ever falls from grace is because they never had special grace. They only had common grace.

They Were Never Of Us

John says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19 ESV).

Grace Is Not License To Sin

Have you ever heard someone say, “Don’t put that guilt trip on me! I’m not under law, I’m under grace”? Jude says false teachers “change the grace of our God into a license…” (Jude 4 NIV). They say, “Well, since we are not under the law but under grace, we do not need to keep the Law any longer.” Is that really what grace means? They have changed grace into a license.

Grace Provides Dominion Over Sin

God says, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14-15) Being under grace is the very reason why we don’t have to sin.

The person under grace will never get defensive and say, “Don’t put that guilt trip on me.” David was under grace. When Shimei cursed and accused him, he said, “Leave him alone. The Lord sent him.”

Some seem to think that grace is the same as mercy.

Grace Is Not The Same As Mercy

         Mercy is the result of grace, but it is not the same. Suppose a murderer has been sentenced to death. While he waits for execution the man is under the guilt and condemnation of the law. But just before the execution date the governor decides to pardon him.  Now he is no longer under the law but under grace. The law no longer condemns him. He is considered totally justified as far as the charges of the law are concerned. He is free to walk out of the prison and no policeman can lay hands upon him because the governor’s grace resulted in mercy.

But

No Man Can Be Pardoned Until Public Justice Is Satisfied.

God told Moses He by no means clears the guilty without satisfaction. (Exodus 34:7) Grace cannot pardon without first satisfying the law. It’s called “atonement.”

The Law Is What Grants Grace

         The whole plan of redemption is according to God’s law. The blood sacrifices foreshadowed the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God’s law requires satisfaction, and God’s law also provides it with the blood of Christ. In that sense the law brings liberty. Paul said he was not “without law toward God, but under law toward Christ” (1Cor 9:21).

The “Law Work” Produces Grace

No one ever receives special grace who has not experienced the “law work” first. The law was our schoolmaster that brought us to Christ and it still is for those not under grace.

Here’s How The “Law-Work” Produces Grace.

1.) The sinner is first awakened by God and starts seeking salvation. 2.) The Holy Spirit applies more common grace by convincing him of sin, righteousness, and judgment. This pressure increases until he is brought to the end of himself. 3.) He sees no way out. At this point he can either defend himself, or yield to God’s judgment. 4.) To receive special grace and get power over sin, the convicted sinner surrenders unconditionally. He says, “Whatever you say, Lord. I’ll praise you even if you send me to hell.”  That is being under grace.

God’s Law Is

The Foundation Of That Experience

Without a firm foundation the house will fall. Without the Old Testament the New has no meaning. Everything Jesus and the apostles said and did was based on the Old Testamen. Even the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith apart from the works of the law is taken from the Old Testament. Old Testament people were saved the same way we are today… by grace through faith.

How Does Grace Respond To Law?

In gratitude and love the man under grace loves the law that brought him to grace. “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law” (Romans 3:31). The law is established and upheld in the life of grace. This truth is so simple and so obvious that it should require no repetition, but the devious reasoning of those who try to avoid obedience makes it necessary to repeat, repeat, repeat. True faith always results in obedience to God’s law.

What It Really Means To Be Under Law

         God rains on the just and on the unjust alike. Let me illustrate this with two kinds of alcoholics. One is under law and the other is under grace. The one under law made a decision for Christ and joined the church, but he still has a physical compulsion to drink. He constantly battles it and is miserable, but he’s a dry alcoholic. Eventually he falls off the wagon. The problem is that he never received special grace. He made a decision but he was never delivered. He was never a true convert. He only received common grace. False converts do not endure to the end.

What It Really Means To Be Under Grace

         This almost happened to Wally. He made a decision for Christ, joined the church, quit drinking and was miserable. Under law, he was constantly fighting the physical impulsion to drink. Finally he knew he could not resist any longer. He was still under law. But without giving in he came to the utter end. He was now clearly convinced that only God could make a camel go through the eye of a needle. He lay on his bed that night knowing his life was over unless God did a miracle. Suddenly, he heard an audible voice say, “Wallace! Now I’m going to do something for you.” The physical compulsion to drink disappeared and he never drank again.” He was now under special grace… a true convert.

            I only use the alcoholic as an example of what must happen to every one of us, not just alcoholics. That is what it means to be under grace instead of law.