SIMILARITIES


"How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [How] you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: `I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most-High.'Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.” (Isaiah 14:12-15) In John 10:25-31 Jesus answered the Jews who followed Him, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me."But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. "My Father, who has given [them] to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of My Father's hand." Jesus also said, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matt. 24:13.) Nephi, “And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.” (2 Ne. 31:16.)  


What are the similarities between the two characters mentioned in Isaiah 14:12-15 and John 10:25-31?


Both believed that once they are saved they are saved forever. Lucifer thought that God had elevated his position in heaven so high that he can remain in that position for a long time - forever. He must have believed that his service in the Kingdom of God is irreplaceable. He knew that he has a great amount of influence on millions or billions of angels in heaven, and should he be terminated or evicted from heaven, he thought, he could take all the angels with him. And when he does that, heaven will be short of angels by millions or billions of workers who could not do the everyday work to help us. I have no doubt that every angel in heaven has an important job to do for each one of us that is assigned by our Lord. I also believe that these angels will be our witnesses when the Book of Life is opened as described in the Book of Revelation.


Was God intimidated by Satan's malicious intent? No, He was not. He took a great risk. He got rid of Lucifer and millions or billions of his angels and kicked them all out of heaven.


How about the characters described in John 10:25-31? They also believed that once saved they are always saved, similar to the story in Isaiah 14:12-15. I believe that both of them made major blunders, one in reading God's mind, and the other in reading God's words.


We know that the once saved forever saved scheme is false and not true. Jesus said, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13). What does it mean? That means that if we are saved yesterday we are not necessarily saved tomorrow. One Bible scholar wrote, if we believe in Jesus we will never perish. "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble!" (James 2:19). Are the demons saved? NO!

Salvation or eternal life is not guaranteed! It never is or was. The only guarantee is if we continue to walk with Him, hand-in-hand, until we reach the finish line. Look at Adam and Eve, they were once saved and had eternal life. But God took away eternal life from them. We can lose eternal life too of our own choice. Eternal life is conditional. Look at Lucifer and millions of his angels. They lost eternal life and God kicked them out from heaven to live with us on earth. Why live with us on earth? God could have thrown them to another planet or somewhere else, but He did not. He sent Satan to live with Adam and Eve. He sent Satan to live with us so we can learn. That means that we will never know who our neighbor is. Be careful!


The other similarity is that both are arrogant characters. They think that they know better than God. Isn’t that arrogant?  If Lucifer understands that salvation is conditional he would not be so arrogant. If Lucifer understands that God is not his mother he would not be so stupid. God created Lucifer with His words. He did not raise him like our mothers did. He did not carry him in His abdomen for nine months. He did not feed him. No, nothing like that. And we know that God created us from dust.


Why were we so arrogant I have little clue, but I think we believe that we know more than God, just like many of today’s Christians believe. Or we might think that God must love us a lot because God created us. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). John apparently forgot that God's love for us is CONDITIONAL, or otherwise He would not force the victims who perished in the big flood during Noah's time to inhale mud water.



If people tell us that God's love is UNCONDITIONAL, hold tight to our wallets and purses! Don't be stupid!


God's love is NOT UNCONDITIONAL. His love for Adam and Eve was conditional upon their obedience to the commandments of God the Father - follow what God had told them about staying away from eating the forbidden fruits. Don't eat them, period! BE OBEDIENT! His love for Lucifer was also conditional upon some conditions, or otherwise, He would not evict him and millions of his angels from heaven to live with us. What makes us think that His love for us is unconditional? Is it because our name is Larry, Bob, John, Coleen, or because the Preachers have been spitting nonsense from the pulpits?


There are important reasons for these similarities. One reason, I believe, is that these two characters think that God is their loving mother. Well, He is not! Read what Jesus said, "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast [it] from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” (Matthew 5:29). This is not hyperbole. He wasn’t kidding. God meant what He said!

Look at what He did to the millions or billions of people who asphyxiated from inhaling mud water during the big flood. Would our mother do something like that to us, make us breathe mud water? No, she would not.


Be absolutely clear that God’s love for us is CONDITIONAL and reciprocal. If we love Him, He will reciprocate our love. If we do not love Him, He will make us breathe mud water like what He did to the sinners during the big flood, or burn us until our bones turn into ashes.


Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments. (John 14:15). Do we keep His commandments? No, we do not. Obviously, we do not love Him. We are not obedient to Him. And we do not follow Him.


Do we think that God wants to live with anyone who doesn't love Him and is not obedient to Him?

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