soul

Blog for Podcast #199 (Selling the Soul)


Intro

This is Dreamwalker1960. As a reminder you can read the transcripts of all my podcasts at dreamwalker1960.com. You can use most podcast platforms if you wish to listen. All you need to do is do a search for Dreamwalker1960.

Discussion

Selling the soul.

It is much easier than most want to say or accept. It is written about even though not clearly stated in the NT. First, we must accept these facts about salvation.

Romans 10:13 NKJV – For “WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.”

This is why these words appear in the second letter of Peter:

2 Peter 2:20-22 NKJV – For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A DOG RETURNS TO HIS OWN VOMIT,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

Christ makes it clear that most choose the wide path:

Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV – “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

They pick the wide path, thus selling their souls because of the comforts found within this world that do not belong to God.

1 John 2:15-16 NLT – Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

The fact that they sold their souls comes from those that receive worldly possessions, wealth and comforts. For all this is given to those that follow this one being who has control of this world.

2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT – Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

Luke 4:6 NKJV – And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

As was witnessed from the Word of God from Jesus Christ Himself. It says that to live for God through Christ as taught within and by the Bible is difficult. The Bible makes it clear that those that worship the world and themselves are not going to the kingdom of heaven. This means they have sold their souls to the world and he who controls it. Their sins become visible for all to see.

Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV – Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

If at any time they professed to being “Christian” they have sold their souls and now no longer welcome in heaven. For they allowed the flesh to win over following the Spirit as shown a few verses earlier:

Galatians 5:16-18 NKJV – I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Most believe they are going to heaven. However, the Bible makes it clear that they are not welcome there. Therefore, they have sold their souls and don’t wish to hear or accept this truth.

However, Christ makes it very clear that many that said they knew Him will not be known by Him.

Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV – “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

As I have taught in the past none can cast out demons unless they are born again. Nevertheless, they practice lawlessness because they have sold their souls. Their earthly comforts are more important to them than living an eternal life. Most can’t even grasp this concept. It is beyond their understanding mainly due to not knowing the Word of God.

Time and again it is shown and taught that we must know the Word of God. To know the Word is done through studying it not just reading it. Each person is responsible for learning it for themselves. It is a responsibility because if they don’t, they will sell their souls without realizing it.

Then we come to those that know without question that they are selling their souls. They know that if they make a certain choice they will not be welcomed before God but chose to live with the pain of the worm eating their flesh and the fire burning what is left of their skin. However, they still willingly chose damnation.

Many popes have chosen this path. Many pastor, ministers and priests have done the same. The higher demand to tell the truth of the Word of God the higher the temptation. The more it is they make it an open decision and choose to commit a sin. Knowing they are going to damnation yet still they make this willing decision.

Why do they turn from God? I can’t answer that. Only that person can answer that. Only you can answer that question for yourself if you willing know that you are entering into a sin that will lead to damnation.

What is known is this. The more earthly treasures in someone’s possession the more evidence shows they have sold their souls no matter what they may say and insist is opposite this Truth. This why Jesus Christ Himself insisted that we seek after no earthly treasures.

Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

This is why we are told and encouraged to live a needs only existence:

1 Timothy 6:6-10 NKJV – Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

These many sorrows include eternal damnation. They will also notice that even with all these earthly comforts something is missing. Their desire to be happy will never truly be met. Money. The lust for it has caused murder, wars and other sorrows. Sorrows that occurred for thousands of years.

As we come to the end of this era. We find more and more that have sold their souls so completely that they openly parade who they worship. Those people that call themselves “celebrities” openly dress and admit that they follow and worship the being in control of this temporal plain.

They try to have others join them. This has gone on since Peter wrote this in 2 Peter:

2 Peter 2:15-19 NKJV – They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.

Where does all this lead.

Isaiah 66:24 NKJV – “And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.

Then those that think they are saved yet do nothing for God. Jesus Christ said this:

Matthew 25:29-30 NKJV – ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

They will face the White Throne Judgment:

Revelation 20:11-15 NKJV – Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Time Is quickly coming to an end. Many will see that they are not heading to the kingdom of heaven. They will know this because they will find themselves left behind. They can redeem themselves and many will. However, others will be more interested in their earthly pleasures and comforts. This will lead them to taking the mark of the beast and undying worms and burning flames resulting in gnashing of teeth.

God Bless

God First


re-post
This is stated in the Bible, not actually directly, but when you think upon it does say that. In Matthew (22:37), Mark (12:30) and Luke (10:27), Jesus states that He is adding to the commandment. For He states two things that He calls the greatest commandments. It is also important to state that Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that He came to fully the law and the prophets not to replace them. This means that the rules that were established in the Old Testament still have power, just in some areas modified since Jesus Himself by dying upon the cross took the need for sacrifices away.
So what I am going to do in this article is define “first” and then I am going to break down the three verses in which Jesus states to place God first. I will then discuss the implication for follow this commandment.
First – Merriam-Webster – preceding all others in time, order, or importance.
Dictionary.com – being before all others with respect to time, order, rank, importance; before some other thing; in preference to something else; rather; sooner.
To be first is to precede and have more importance than anything else.
Matthew 22:37 – Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Love – agapao – to love – I love, wish well to, take pleasure in, long for; denotes the love of reason, esteem
Here is a quote from the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament:
“The possibility of love for God stands under a radical Either/Or:…… (Matthew 6:24). To love God is to exist for Him as a slave for his lord (cf. Luke 17:7). It is to listen faithfully and obediently to His orders, to place oneself under His lordship, to value above all else the realization of this lordship (cf. Matthew 6:33). It also means, however, to base one’s whole being on God, to cling to Him with unreserved confidence, to leave with Him all care and final responsibility, to live by His hand. It is to hate and despise all that does not serve God nor come from Him, to break with all other ties, to cut away all that hinders (Matthew 5:29), to snap all bonds except that which binds to God alone.” (p.45 vol. 1)
All – holos – “whole” or “all;” all, the whole, entire, complete. NTD – “whole,” “complete,” “undivided,”…. In the NT mostly with a noun, and to express its totality.
Heart – kardia – (Latin cor, “heart”); the heart; lit: the heart; mind, character, inner self, will, intention, center. NTD – The use of this word in the Greek agrees with the OT use and concentrates on the heart as the main organ of psychic and spiritual life, the place in man at which God bears witness to Himself…..
2. That the heart is the center of the inner life of man and the source or seat of all the forces and functions of soul and spirit is attested in many different ways in the NT.
Soul – psuche – life, mind, soul; the soul, life, self. (a) the vital breath, breath of life, (b) the human soul, (c) the soul as the seat of affections and will, (d) the self, (e) a human person, an individual. NTD – the “soul” is the part of the human trinity that was created by God to live beyond the body we now live within. In the Theological Dictionary fifty-two pages is spent discussing the various elements within the meaning in the word “psuche” and breaks it down to each usage within the NT, but this is the key element it boils down to.
Mind – dianoia – imagination, mind, understanding; intellect, insight. In the NTD the use of this word is used to signify the actual using of the mind to formulate a thought or decision.
These words are all used by all three gospels and so have the same meaning.
So Jesus is stating that we are to use our complete and undivided attention with our heart, our inner self; our soul that which is destine to stand in the presence of God; and our thoughts, our mind. To give anything, our complete and undivided attention means it is to be first and thus presiding anything else in our lives even in the exclusion of those things that would become more important than God.
This is what many do not wish to do. They wish to place themselves and their desires before God. They say we must change the teaching of Jesus to fit their definition of what they wish the Bible to say. They say if we do not do this we are the ones in the wrong and the problem.
Here is the problem with that mentality. These are the words of Jesus Christ Himself, and per them we are to place God above all and we are to do it completely. Those that follow this and insist it be followed for it is what Jesus Himself taught are the ones being honest to the Bible and following just as Jesus desired all willing to do so to do. So those trying to change the Bible to allow them to live in sin are the real problem and so we need to stay steadfast to the Bible and continue to follow its literal meanings. For to do otherwise would not place God first, but lower than first which is not where Jesus stated He is ever to be.
Placing God first prepares us for the eternal life that is to come. For God will be the center for all that choose to follow Him and His Son. They command we follow without question, even to the far side of the universe in His service. If you do not place God first you live in sin, for it is counter to the words of Jesus our Savior.

NTD = Theological Dictionary of the New Testament