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The devil is a personification of sin

      as embodied in "sinful flesh"

 

 But pagan mythology was substituted for Biblical

 teaching,& "the devil" is claimed by "the church"

         to  be "a fallen angel",  God’s  enemy.

 

  It  was not long before "grievous wolves" from without,   and

  perverse-speaking  members from within,     corrupted the orig-

  inal truth  of  the Gospel,  Acts  20v28-31.       The Apostle Paul

  taught  also  that  the  only  thing         which could keep disciples

  from this apostacy is the word of God, see v27,32.

 

  One  of  these  pagan heresies has become what is today a

  pillar of orthodox "church" teaching, "a fallen-angel devil".

  The  Bible  does not teach  such things,   but  it  does teach that the

  devil is a personification  of  sin as embodied in "sinful flesh". To

  verify that this is indeed true Bible teaching, let us compare the

  following four verses:

 

  Hebrews 2v14 - "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of

  flesh and blood,  he  also  himself  likewise  took part  of the same;

  that  through  death  he  might  destroy  him that had the power of

  death, that is, the devil". (See also page 2 for further explanation).

 

  Hebrews 9v25- "but now once in the end of the world hath he app-

  eared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself".

 

  Romans 6v23 - "For the wages of sin is death".

 

  Romans 8v3 - "For what the law  could not do,  in that it was weak

  through  the flesh,  God  sending  his  own  Son  in  the  likeness of

  sinful flesh, and for sin(mg."by a sacrifice for sin"), condemned sin

  in the flesh".

 

  So we are told that God in Christ has  “destroy(ed)  the devil” and

  "put away sin" and “condemned sin”.  The “power of death”  was 

  held by "the devil" and also "sin" - Romans 5v12,21; 6v23; Heb.2

  v14. Is it not evident that "the devil" is equal to "sin"?

 

  The pagan beliefs in evil beings which tempted mankind gave rise

  to the apostate "church" teaching of "a fallen-angel devil". This

  teaching has been a source of vast income,especially to the Roman

  "mother", but also to her Protestant daughters (Revelation 17v5).

 

  Vast amounts of money have been extracted over centuries from

  their ignorant followers, in exchange for a promised absolution

  from their sins. The "grievous wolves" prophesied by Paul (see

  above) and Jesus ('signs' - the 6th) have certainly "not spar(ed)

  the flock".     How this came about is explained in 'departure' and

  'proverbs' - page 2.   It reminds us of Hosea 4v8RV, where "they

  feed on the sin of my people"  -  i.e. they made the sins of the

  people a source of personal profit.

 

  Personification is a graphic way of teaching us important lessons.

  It is used throughout the Bible, e.g. of wisdom in Proverbs 9v1-3.

  The word translated "devil" signifies in the original Greek, "false

  accuser", & it is this meaning that is being brought to our notice.

 

  Why should this  be so? To answer this, we must go back to the be-

  ginning, when sin entered the world  through man’s  disobedience.

  “The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty”,2nd Corinth.11v3

  “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field”  Gen.

  3v1.     The “subtilty”  consisted of mixing truth and error,    & also

  in the process, the serpent  falsely accused God - cp Genesis 3v4,5.

 

  This is where the aspect of  'devil'='false accuser' originated,   &  it

  is calculated  to  force upon our minds the  enormity  and  sinfulness

  of  falsely accusing God.  Jesus contrasts  “the truth” which He had

  “heard”  of  “the  Father” with  the  “lie”    which the Jews had heard

  of their “father the devil”, John 8v26,27,31,32,44,45,47.      This shows

  the  two types of  mind - the spiritual mind,     which accepts the Truth,

  and  the  carnal  or  fleshly  mind, which  rejects  it  -     see Romans 8.

  Link  to  'promises'  concerning the 2 "principles" & the 2 "seeds".

 

  The  lie  which  the  Jews  believed  was that Jesus had been born of

  “fornication”,thus rejecting that God was His Father, John 8v41,42.

  Notice that Jesus refers to “the devil”as “a liar,and the father of it”

  in  John 8v44.     Also “He was  a  murderer from the beginning,  and

  abode  not  in  the  truth, because there is no truth  in him.    When he

  speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own”. These words are a commen-

  tary upon  the  events  of  Genesis 3,       where the lie of the serpent

  resulted in sin and death, cp Romans 5v12.

 

  This  is  all  very  easily  understood,   but  superimposing pagan/"church"

  beliefs upon the Divine record results in total confusion  -i.e."MYSTERY,

  BABYLON  THE  GREAT"#  see  the following links to  'God', 'spirit',

  'mortal',  'satan',  'baptism'.   The  process  of  apostacy  is  traced out  in

  'departure'.    It  is significant,    when 'diabolos'  cannot be made to appear

  as "a fallen angel", this word is translated correctly!*-  1st  Timothy 3v11,

  2nd Timothy 3v3,  Titus 2v3.  The Apostle Paul  testified that   it really was

  a “serpent”,  as also stated in the Genesis record - 2nd  Corinthians 11v3

  cp Genesis 3v1-5,14,15. No imaginary being  masqueraded as  a serpent!

  #Revelation 17v5            (*see similar inconsistency with 'satan')

 

  We read  “the serpent beguiled Eve through his  subtilty", &  "the  serp-

  ent  was  more  subtil  than any beast  of the  field". It was capable itself! 

  God stated to  the serpent “Because THOU hast done this..”-  Gen.3v14.

  Being only a  serpent,  “there (was) no truth in him”,John 8v44. He tried

  to mix truth  (Genesis 3v5)  with a  lie (v4). With the adoption of the ser-

  pent  mind,  “the  devil”  became  "sinful flesh"  (Grk.="flesh of sin").

  This is how "God...condemned sin in the flesh" in the Sacrifice of Christ.                                        

          By accepting the Gospel call, we can be freed from sin forever.

 

  In the same way as "the devil" is a personification of sin as embodied in

  "sinful flesh", "the satan" is a personification of all those who falsely

  claim to represent the Truth - link to 'satan' and 'proverbs' - p.2

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