fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we, to this day, continue in the ways and manners that our ancestors did.

 

Satan was the tempter who deceived Eve into partaking from the elixir of death, Adam partook of it willingly not wanting to be separated forever from the wife that he loved.

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1 Timothy 2:14 “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”

 

Regardless of how they fell, all their descendants became heirs of the curse of death that their actions brought upon them.

 

John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

 

Now those of us who have received salvation through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, are passed from death into life, and from being cursed with lack and lost, into the blessings of life and abundant life that we have inherited in the new creation that we become in Jesus.

 

John 8:52 “...If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death (which is the penalty for eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil).”

 

The agent that brings us into the blessings of this new creation is the Holy Spirit, but in our flesh, the carnal/natural man, we have an inherited tendency to resist the Holy Spirit, that tendency is still in us.

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

 

So that when we walk after the Spirit we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, but when we walk after the flesh we are basically resisting the Holy
Spirit, and by doing so we hinder His work of filling us with life and the abundance of blessings that our Lord has already made available for us.

 

Believe it or not, the greatest thing that hinders us from walking after the Spirit, is the law! Religion cannot function without rules and regulations.

 

Galatians 3:2-3 “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”

 

In the chapters leading up to John chapter ten we can see the resistance that Jesus encountered from the Jews that were so entangled by the law, and how to practice it, that they failed to see the spiritual revelation that Jesus was trying to teach them.

 

Now the common people received the revelation that Jesus was teaching them, but for those full of legalism in their hearts, spirituality was nothing more than a curse.

 

John 7:46-49 “The officers answered, ‘No man ever spoke like this Man

(Jesus)!’ Then the Pharisees answered them, ‘Are you also deceived?’ Have any of the rulers of the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”

 

Here the Pharisees had sent the officers to arrest Jesus because He had healed a man on the Sabbath, in their religious thinking the keeping of the Sabbath (law) was more important than making a person whole.

 

John 7:23 “If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?”

 

The officers were so caught up with Jesus’ teachings, that they forgot why they were there in the first place. So that the people, the officers, and everyone that had an open mind, could hear and understand the teachings of Jesus that were being confirmed by the miracles that He was doing, except for the legalistic crowd, they were more concerned with the violations of their man-made rules that were based on their carnal understanding of Scripture, rather than the blessings that were being bestowed on the people that they ruled over.

 

When a leader, or a group of leaders, are more concerned with the well being of their ruling structure and governing power, than with the well being of those over whom they have rule over, is time for those who are under their rule to get out from under them.

 

John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

 

How do we judge with righteous judgment?

 

1 Corinthians 14:32 “ And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.”

 

In other words, Scripture interprets the Scriptures. Did not Jesus said that the devil is the one that kills, steals, and destroys? And that He, Jesus, came to give us life and abundant life? Then was Jesus in the process of restoring life on the Sabbath, or was He taking it away?

 

Jesus quoted to them the Scripture that said that an infant was to be circumcised on the eighth day, even if the eighth day fell on the Sabbath, now we know that a child’s immune system is the strongest on the eighth day, so that the spirit of the law is always in harmony with what is always best for the child, or the person, not what is best for the law itself.

 

Mark 2:27 “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.’”

 

Why are the religious rulers so much against the common people receiving the spiritual understanding from the Holy Scriptures themselves?

 

When we receive spiritual understanding from the Scriptures that governs us, the Holy Spirit is in control, for He is the Revealer of Scripture, when we follow man’s carnal interpretation of Scripture, then carnal men are in control, and carnal men do not like it when they are not in control.

 

If you read the chapters leading up to John chapter ten, you find that chaos reigned among them, when it came to what Scripture had to say about where the Messiah was supposed to originate from.

 

All the works that Jesus was doing in their midst confirmed to them that whoever did those kind of miracles among them had to be from God.

 

That was what Nicodemus, a Pharisee, acknowledged, and the miracles that Jesus did were the reason why he believed Jesus was the Messiah, but he too was confused about how spirituality worked, that is why Jesus told him that he had to be born again, born of the Spirit of God.

 

John 7:40-43 “Therefore many form the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, ‘Truly this is the Prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’ But some said, ‘Will the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?’ So there was a division among the people because of Him.”

 

Like wise in our present day, confusion reigns as to when, where, and how, Jesus will be returning to the earth, there is even doubt among many as to whether He will be even returning to the earth.

 

So how do we know? How do we prepare for His soon return? How do I make myself personally ready? There is only one way out of this confusing mess, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, so let us put our trust in Him and not on the wisdom of man.

 

John 7:39 “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

 

Well, guess what, Jesus has already being glorified, and we have the Holy Spirit within us to guide us and direct us into all truth. All we have to do is remain humble, for the Lord resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  

 

Let us rely on the simplicity of our faith; did not Jesus say that if He left to prepare a place for us, that He would return for us? Let us keep looking up, He is coming for us, that where He is we might be also.

 

Is our world falling apart as the bonds of morality that kept it together become unrestrained? That is exactly what Jesus said would happen before His return. In order for the judgments of God to be revealed there has to be a rebellion against His moral codes.

 

John 8:12 “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’”

 

Stay away from those who compromise Scripture for the sake of keeping a balance between them and the world.

 

What Jesus taught was offensive to many because He refused to compromise Scripture for the sake of being liked by the rulers of His day.

 

There is a great deal of pressure being applied right now on many of the religious leaders to compromise for the sake of been accepted by the world, if you think like them, you become part of them.

 

The spiritual thing to do is that which is best for you and your family in the long run, just remember that compromise is always a shortcut to nowhere.

 

The world is in darkness do not follow it, follow Jesus by all means, who is the light of the world, and who always has your best interest in mind, AND WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT RESIST THE HOLY SPIRIT.

 

You will not be disappointed!