Won and One

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2Cor. 11:3

cannot help but think that the same Satan that beguiled Eve in the garden to destroy paradise comes closer to us than we like to imagine. He is subtle, but not simple. He would corrupt the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. This evil one has his questions still. “Hath God said…?” sounded innocent enough. But by the time she was through with trying to answer it, she was entertaining a nest of doubts that writhed like a sea of serpents. The poison of these asps has fueled the flames of hell to this day and has razed the once green canopy of peace and left many a faith and fellowship a smoking ruin.

My mind and wit is no match for this dark angel who once walked among the stars of God. Any sword of reason I may wield shall prove too dull. Only the sword of the spirit will win the day. Knowing this, the evil beast will yet attempt to tamper with our only weapon. He will either try blunting its edge with foolish questions, send us off fighting phantoms, or worse; he will have us turn the blade on our own.

He would steal us away from the simplicity of Christ and beguile us with solving puzzles of the universe, sophistry, or prophecy. After trusting Christ and meeting with him in the garden, and worshipping at his nail-scarred feet, we are in danger of losing sight of him as we entertain some subtle question posed by Satan it becomes our quest. We must prove the Preterist an infidel, hang some hyper-Calvinist, or raise a standard of some determined doctrine like an ensign on the pinnacle of the temple. We spend our days searching for proof texts like so many poppies from which to make the opium of our opinions, and spend our nights smoking our water pipes in danger of addiction to some minor doctrine.

Half the church is off on some holy war and is in danger of dying on a wrong and ill-chosen battlefield, when all the while Christ has simply asked us to bring the news of a victory already “won,” and that we his followers be “one.” If the serpent has failed to keep us from being won, be assured he will spend the rest of evil days trying to keep us from being one. Once the disciples argued in his very presence about which one of them was the greatest. Now the church argues about his second coming, his gifts, or his grace, and like so many money changers in the temple, is in danger of missing the moment and the majesty of his presence.