Aesop was a Greek slave who lived lived around 600BC. He is renowned for telling pretty awesome fables, some of which are known and retold all over the world to this day. You might recognize some of his fables actually. Ever heard of ‘The Tortoise And The Hare’ or ‘The Ants And The Grasshopper’ or ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’? If you haven’t, what is it like living under that rock? Just kidding. I recently started reading his collection of fables again. The very first one was enough to get me thinking for a few days. It’s called, “The Wolf And The Lamb”

“A Wolf, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea to justify to the Lamb the Wolf’s right to eat him. He thus addressed him: ‘Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me.’ ‘Indeed,’ bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice, ‘I was not then born.’ Then said the Wolf, ‘You feed in my pasture.’ ‘No, good sir,’ replied the Lamb, ‘I have not yet tasted grass.’ Again said the Wolf, ‘You drink of my well.’ ‘No,’ exclaimed the Lamb, ‘I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother’s milk is both food and drink to me.’ Upon which the Wolf seized him and ate him up, saying, ‘Well! I won’t remain supperless, even though you refute every one of my imputations.” – The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.”

The devil is exactly like this wolf. He will try to justify his tyranny with a pretext. He will throw every excuse at you to justify his attack. Here are his most common pretexts:

1.  ”Because you have sinned, I have a right to do this to you.” You probably did sin, but that is no justification for the enemy taking anything from you. If my car is locked in my garage with a satellite tracking and steering lock on, a thief could break in and steal it. If on the other hand I leave my car in a shady part of town at night with the windows rolled down and the keys in the ignition, a thief can still come and steal it. In both scenarios my car was stolen. My careless actions made it much easier for the thief in the second case, but it in no ways justified the theft. Similarly, a rape is not justified because the clothes the woman did or didn’t wear. (John 10:10)

2.  ”It’s not me, it’s God punishing you.” Some people are smart enough to not fall for the first pretext above. Obviously the thief has no right. ‘But God has a right to punish sin, so maybe He has something to do with this.’ Yes, God does have a right to punish sin, but what the devil wants you to not realize is that God already punished sin on the cross, even the very sin you just committed minutes ago. God already judged and punished Jesus in your place. If not, what was the point of Jesus’ death? (John 5:22, John 5:24, John 12:47)

3.  ”Of course Jesus died for your sins, BUT…” Your internal alarm bells should sound whenever anybody tries to add a ‘but’ to the Gospel. The ‘but’ is usually followed by some sort of measure you have to live up to in order to make the benefits of Jesus’ death applicable to you. … BUT you need to fast. BUT you need to tithe. BUT you need to belong to our church. BUT you need to live in this manner. BUT you you you have to do do do this this and that. Basically forget about Jesus and all He did, look at what you still have to do, not to mention what you are not doing. Excuse me, but does Scripture not say we are saved by grace through faith AND IT IS NOT OF OURSELVES? (Eph 2:8-9) Does it not also say we received the Spirit by Faith and not by law? That miracles and power work amongst us through faith and not our self-righteousness? (Gal 3:1-3)

Preaching a but-gospel? Look at what Paul had to say about that:

2Cr 11:4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or [if] you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted–you may well put up with it!

If you preach a but-gospel, you will have to put up with a it. If you preach bondage, you will have to put up with bondage.

Gal 1:6-9 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

I think Paul said it clearly enough. Don’t fall for the enemies pretexts. Understand what Jesus did for you. Understand the covenant you live under.

Cornel

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