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Lent Day 23: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 21-30

...“if the devil is so weak, how come Job was overcome with calamity?”, to which he responds by reminding us that despite the devil bringing lots of suffering, illness and sometimes death, to Job or his family and livestock, none of it was possible without permission from God. “The devil was not the strong man”, he points out, because it was God who let Job be tried to test his faith; “certainly he had no power to do anything” other than what was permitted. This, he says, is exactly what proves that the devil is weak because although Satan was willing, “he could not prevail against one just man” and if it were possible, “he would not have asked p...

Slavery in the Bible – Does God Condone Slavery?

...owing the devil to do evil to those rebellious people. The devil means these things for evil, but God uses these things for good (Genesis 50:20) to show people their wickedness and the results of going the wrong way. He also allows wicked things to happen in order to bring people to the point where they realize they need Him, that they may come to Christ to be saved, by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). In summary,  there are at least two types of slavery in the Bible: a forced slavery that God condemns and a willful slavery which, to a certain extend, God does not condemn, and in fact gives guidelines commanding that those servants should be treated right....

Lent Day 25: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 41-50

...even the devil himself confesses that he is weak and defeated, then we should no longer despair at the demons for we know their weakness now, and can now despise them. Let us consider in our soul that the Lord is with us, who put the evil spirits to flight and broke their power. Let us consider and lay to heart that while the Lord is with us, our foes can do us no hurt. Coming to a close on his teaching about evil spirits, Anthony gives us the simplest way in which we can test the spirits: If a vision or apparition appears before you, don't lie down in fear, all you need do is ask, “who are you and from where do you come?”. If the vision is a holy...

An Examination of Conditional Immortality (Part Two)

...15And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to...

How was Jesus a sacrifice?

...h and the devil/powers of evil, though the former has varying ideas about who the ransom was paid to. One of the popular theories was that the payment was to the devil, tricking him into freeing people from his power in exchange for Jesus – but death couldn’t hold him and so God wins, and the devil loses. Others say the debt was paid to God himself to free us from his wrath. Personally, I think Revelation 5:9 gives us a hint because it says that the “four living creatures and the twenty-four elders” who are around the throne of God sing a new song in which they say: “by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe”. In a ransom situation...

Is there salvation for fallen angels?

...d for the devil and his angels; #2 They have been imprisoned for judgement by the saints. Not only has God set a judgement, but we who are in Christ will have the role of actually judging the angels as well. How's that for a hefty responsibly! 1 Corinthians 6:3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels—to say nothing of ordinary matters? #3 Judgement is final We can also see from Revelation some more details about what this judgement entails for the devil and those who followed him: Revelation 19:20And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who […] were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. Revelation 20...