Satan and His Kingdom 63 counterfeit the true freedom in Christ by inciting rebellion to those in authority, and fleshly zeal under the name of the liberty of the Spirit. But the Word of God shows that the liberty wherewith Christ makes us free is really freedom from slavery to sin, and to the evil one. The freed soul passes under law to Christ, under the perfect law of liberty, which is liberty to do right, instead of seeing what is right, and doing what is wrong. Liberty to obey God intsead of disobeying Him. The law of Christ comes in here, and shows that there is a limitation placed to liberty by the conscience of the weak brother. The freed one is not only to be subject to others in authority for the Lord’s sake, but is to take heed lest his liberty of action become a “stumbling block to the weak’’ (1 Cor. 8 :9 ) . The Apostle Paul sets the example to the believer, and he wrote, “I have not used my right, but forego every claim, lest I should by any means hinder the course of Christ’s glad-tidings” (1 Cor. 9:12, C. H. and note). The meaning of the word “claim” is “to hold out against.” He would not “hold out” for his rights, but forego everything for himself rather than hinder the Gospel. CONCLUSION These wiles of the devil are those which will meet every believer who enters the sphere of the Spirit, and they are wiles which cease to a great extent as he progresses in the knowl edge of God, and learns to know his foe. The preaching of the Cross is therefore the supreme need in this day of contact with the supernatural forces of the unseen world, and conformity to the death of Christ (Phil. 3:10), rather than the craving for signs and wonders, is the safest objective for all who desire to press on in the fullest knowledge of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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