Mk. 3:28-30 π Jn. 8:28-31 π Jn. 8:41 π Jn. 8:48 π 2 Cor. 4:3-4
Paul wrote,
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. ( 2 Cor. 4:3-4; top )
As we saw in John, chapter 8, though the Jews in that encounter had believed in Jesus as the Son of God ( Jn. 8:28-31 ), they also believed Him to be illegitimate ( Jn. 8:41 ) and of Samaritan descent and filled, not with the Holy Spirit of God but with a demon. ( Jn. 8:48 ; also see Mk. 3:28-30; top ) Since these Jews had falsely believed a lie for decades - the lie that merely being a descendant of Abraham made them righteous in God’s eyes - they had no difficulty believing evil of Jesus. Decades of interacting with the demonic combined with their contradictory beliefs about Jesus had produced a blindness that prevented the light of Christ’s glory from penetrating the blindness the rulers of darkness had built up in the souls of these Jews.
This is the rulers of darkness’ modus operandi, their usual method of operation. Wherever there is misbelief, faith misplaced onto a lie, the rulers of darkness build upon that misbelief using deception until that person dies in their sin. They don’t move into the soul and “possess” it, forcing their victim to do things against their will. Rather, using deception, they convince their victims that their actions are done in obedience to Christ and God when, in fact, they are not. And the more misbeliefs these dark lords can bring into existence within a person’s soul creates more hot pads - those secluded hiding spots and nests from which they and other demonic beings can launch further assaults and deceptions against their victim. Even when Christ brings light and truth and liberty from the demonic in a certain area, if that person persistently clings to some other misbelief, the dark lords may yet win the battle for that soul.
So, who are these lords of darkness?
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