Spiritual and Scriptural Contrasts

Important truths revealed by contrasting Scriptures.

Who is your F(f)ather?

The Devil?
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and THE LUSTS OF YOUR FATHER YE WILL DO...

Or God the Father?
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

John 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, AND HATH NOTHING IN ME. (The nature of Christ is the Spirit of God. God is a Spirit - John 4:24)

Saved by His Life/Spirit
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE.

Doomed by the Devil's spirit
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, THE SPIRIT THAT NOW WORKETH IN the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and WERE BY NATURE THE CHILDREN OF WRATH, even as others. (The spirit of Satan is the nature of Satan. He is a spiritual being - Eph 3:10)

The flesh battles the Spirit
Gal 5:17a For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit...

The Spirit battles the flesh
Gal 5:17b ...and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

After a Christian is saved, he still retains and lives in the same fleshly body. His body has not yet been "raised as a spiritual body" (1Co 15:44). Only his spirit has been made alive and a "new heart" (Christ in you) has been given. The body's members are yielded to righteousness or unrighteousness by the will of the the one living in the flesh and the one living in the flesh is either a child of God or a child of wrath. What determines if one is a child of God is that they are "joined to the Spirit of God". What determines if one is a child of wrath is that they are not joined to the Spirit of God and the "spirit of the world", is working IN THEM. And what is the spirit of this world?

The Bible says, whether we yield our members to righteousness or unrighteousness, is our free choice. We are servants to God or Satan. We cannot stand alone. Men derive their spirituality from another source. There is no way of getting around that. We are either servants of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness.

Rom_6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Rom_6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Rom_6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

Natural Body
1 Cor 15:44 It is sown a natural body...

Spiritual Body
1 Cor 15:44 ...it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Next: More Scriptural Contrasts: How Christians are supposed to deal with the "lusts of the flesh".

In Adam
- Rom. 5:12 - "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world"
- Rom. 5:19 - "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners"
- I Cor. 15:22 - "For as in Adam all die"

In wickedness
- I John 5:19 - "and the whole world lieth in wickedness"

In the children of disobedience
- Eph 2:2 - "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience"
- Eph 5:6 - "the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience" (Col 3:6)

In Christ
- Rom. 8:1 - "to them which are in Christ Jesus"
- I Cor. 1:30 - "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus"
- I Cor. 15:22 - "in Christ shall all be made alive."
- II Cor. 5:17 - "if any man be in Christ..."
- Gal. 3:28 - "ye are all one in Christ Jesus"
(numerous others)

In Him
- Eph. 1:13 - "IN WHOM also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise"
- I John 2:5 - "hereby know we that we are in him"
(numerous others)

In the Father
- I John 2:24 - "ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father"

In the Spirit
- Rom. 8:9 - "ye are...in the Spirit"
- Gal. 3:3 - "having begun in the Spirit"

1John 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

You wrote:

"The Bible says, whether we yield our members to righteousness or unrighteousness, is our free choice. We are servants to God or Satan. We cannot stand alone. Men derive their spirituality from another source. There is no way of getting around that. We are either servants of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness."

Yes and amen

That sounds like something I just posted.

We can never be an independent self.

Added this.

The biggest lie of the devil is to get us to believe that we can be independent. This is IMPOSSIBLE.

There is no such thing as an independent self. Before you embraced Christ you were servant and slave of sin and the devil but now you HAVE BEEN MADE a servant and slave of RIGHTEOUSNESS.

There is no 3rd option available.

Hi tuc,

It may sound like something you posted because we believe the same thing about the impossibility of man being an independent self apart from God or Satan. There are only two choices of everything in this world. God or Satan, good or evil, blessing or cursing, life or death, etc, etc.

Man is a dependent creature (not independent) and derives his spiritual identity from another source. And he chooses which source to derive his identity (character) from.

When we believe we are an independent self, there is no end to striving and proving ourselves to God. It always ends in failure and frustration and desperation. That is a good thing for many people and the faster it happens the sooner they realize it is a road not worth travelling. And then they begin to question and search out what spiritual reality truly is; what resting in Christ, truly is; The faster we can get to this phase the better.

Old Man
- Rom. 6:6 - "that our old man is crucified with him"
- Eph. 4:22 - "ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man"
- Col. 3:9 - "ye have put off the old man"\t
New Man
- Eph. 4:24 - "ye put on the new man"
Col. 3:10 - "have put on the new man"

New creature
- II Cor. 5:17 - "he is a new creature"
- Gal. 6:15 - "a new creature"

Natural man
- I Cor. 2:14 - "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God"
- Jude 19 - "sensual, having not the Spirit"\t
Spiritual man
- I Cor. 2:15 - "he that is spiritual"
- I Cor. 3:1 - "as unto spiritual"
- Gal. 6:1 - "ye which are spiritual"

Christian
- Acts 11:26 - "disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
"
- I Peter 4:16 - "if any man suffer as a Christian"

Children of the devil
- I John 3:10 - "children of the devil (are manifest)"
- John 8:44 - "ye are of your father, the devil"

sons of God
- John 1:12 - "power to become the sons of God"
- Rom. 8:16 - "we are the children of God"
- Rom. 8:21 - "the glorious liberty of the children of God"
- Phil. 2:15 - "the sons of God without rebuke"
- I John 3:1 - "we should be called the sons of God"
- I John 3:2 - "now are we the sons of God"
- I John 3:10 - "the children of God are manifest"

children of the wicked one
- Matt. 13:38 - "the children of the wicked one;"

child of the devil
- Acts 13:10 - "thou child of the devil"

children of disobedience
- Eph. 2:2 - "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:"
- Eph. 5:6 - "he wrath of God upon the children of disobedience."

Sons of God, Children of God
- Matt. 5:45 - "children of your Father which is in heaven"
- Lk. 6:35 - "ye shall be the children of the Highest"
- Rom. 8:14 - "led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God"
- Rom. 8:17 - "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God"
- Rom. 9:26 - "the children of the living God"
- II Cor. 6:18 - "ye shall be my sons and daughters,"
- Gal. 3:26 - "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."

- Gal. 4:6,7 - "thou art no more a servant, but a son"
- Heb. 2:10 - "bringing many sons unto glory"

Enemies of God
- Matt. 12:30 - "He that is not with me is against me"
- Acts 13:10 - "thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness"
- Rom. 5:10 - "when we were enemies"
- Phil. 3:18 - "they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
"
- James 4:4 - "he friendship of the world is enmity with God"\t

People of God
- Rom. 9:25 - "I will call them My people, which were not my people"
- Titus 2:14 - "purify unto himself a peculiar people"
- Heb. 4:9 - "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God"
- I Peter 2:10 - "but are now the people of God"

Strangers
- Eph. 2:12 - "strangers from the covenants of promise"
- Eph. 2:19 - "strangers and foreigners"

Of this world
- Gal. 4:3 - "in bondage under the elements of the world"
- Eph. 2:12 - "without God, in the world"
- I John 2:15 - "love the world...love of the Father not in him"
- I John 4:5 - "They are of the world"

Citizens of heaven
- Eph. 2:19 - "fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God"
- Phil. 3:20 - "For our conversation is in heaven"

Not of this world
- John 15:19 - "ye are not of this world"
- John 17:14,16 - "they are not of the world"
- Gal. 6:14 - " the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world"
- II Peter 2:20 - "escaped the pollutions of the world"
- I John 5:5 - "he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"

No inheritance
- I Cor. 6:9 - "unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
- Gal. 5:21 - "they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God"

Heirs
- Rom. 8:17 - "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ"
- Gal. 3:29 - "heirs according to promise"
- Gal. 4:7 - "an heir of God through Christ"
- Titus 3:7 - "heirs...of eternal life"
- Heb. 6:17 - "heirs of promise"
- James 2:5 - "heirs of the kingdom"

Kings and Priests
- I Peter 2:5 - "holy priesthood"
- I Peter 2:9 - "chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation"
- Rev. 1:6 - "made us kings and priests unto God and his Father"

Sinners
- Matt. 9:13 - "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mk.2:17; Lk. 5:32)
- Rom. 5:8 - "while we were yet sinners"
- Rom. 5:19 - "many were made sinners"
- I Tim. 1:9 - "ungodly and for sinners"
- I Tim. 1:15 - "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners"
- I Peter 4:18 - "where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear"
- Jude 15 - "ungodly sinners"

Saints
- Rom. 1:7 - "called saints"
- Rom. 8:27 - "He maketh intercession for the saints"
- Eph. 1:18 - "His inheritance in the saints"
- Eph. 4:12 - "For the perfecting of the saints"
(I Cor. 1:2; II Cor. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; etc.)