The world suggests that the truth puts men in bondage, but a man enlightened by the truth knows nothing could be further from the truth.
Most men would rather accept lies than to believe the truth. This bias against the truth has been present as far back as the garden of Eden.
The God of the Bible is a God of truth. On the other hand, the Devil is the great enemy of truth. The Bible says of him, “there is no truth in him.”
To steal is to wrongfully and selfishly take something that belongs to someone else and place it amongst one’s own possessions.
The world is full of religion, but this religion bears little to no resemblance to the truth of the scriptures. Why? Because man-made religion is vain.
Trials, afflictions, and heartaches may presently abound, but those who know the Lord rejoice, knowing that those things only exist for a season.
God calls people into different works. In the midst of this diversity, a common thread unites all the work—men ought to do all they do to the glory of God.
The world contains far too many wicked people possessing no concern for God, the Bible, and eternity. Sometimes those who know the Lord as Saviour lose hope concerning others coming to a saving knowledge of Christ. Bible-believing Christians must always keep in mind that as long as a man remains breathing there is hope for his redemption. Isaiah told the Lord, “For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth” (Isaiah 38:18). Once death occurs, all hope ceases. The individual’s destination and/or his reward are settled. Yet, up until that point in time, there is hope for salvation, hope for growth, and hope for spiritual change.
Far too few believers consider the extent that God cares about what they do in, to, and through their bodies. The reality is that the believer is to glorify God in his body. Today’s passage instructs the saint of God to present his body to God as a living sacrifice. Amazingly, the Bible describes this spiritual sacrifice not as some great spiritual achievement but as a mere reasonable service (Romans 12:1). All true fellowship, consecration, and sanctification originate within one’s heart; however, it eventually works its way out to be visibly seen. A believer deceives himself if he claims to walk with God in sweet communion yet experiences no outward changes visible to mankind. A yielded Christian ensures that no part of his life is off limits to the Lord. He strives to ensure his life, including his body, is a testimony bringing glory to His Saviour.
Tradition robs men of the blessings only derived from one’s obedience to the truth. The word spoil is a term used during wartime meaning that one side in a battle breaks forth into the territory of the other side and takes their valuable possessions. According to scripture, philosophies and deceit based upon the traditions of men rob the saint of God of the benefits offered by merely accepting the truths of the word of God. The price of spoiling is high. For the lost, they can be spoiled of their eternal life by accepting the traditions (false gospels) and philosophies (evolution) of men. For the saved, they can lose some eternal rewards by the acceptance of traditions contrary to the plain truths of scripture.
