The first thing we need to cover with this letter is once someone is saved (becomes a believer, is a Christian according to scripture) that person cannot loose their salvation. The purpose of this blog is not to unpack that truth but to make sure we understand that is what the Bible teaches. Now, I am not sure what C.S. Lewis believed on the subject but in the Screwtape letters he presents the demons believing things about God that aren’t true. I think this is one of those things. In this fictitious world Lewis has created the demons really believe they can take the gift of salvation from a believer. Yes, in this story they are presented as being narcissistic enough to believe they are powerful enough to take it from someone and return them back to a child of theirs. This is an impossibility though in this fictitious tale these characters believe it to be possible.
We need to keep that in mind as we continue reading the book.
A few take aways from the reading today…
Disappointment is used by the enemy to get believers to get discombobulated with the Church which leads to them living less of a Christian life. Satan and his forces are good at capitalizing on the moment excitement wains and the anticlimax occurs. So the enemy weaves disappointment into the hearts of believers so they will keep their eyes on the physical church instead of the invisible one. The fact of the matter is – it’s in the physical fallen world where disappointment has its day…
where it thrives…
If a believer stays focused on the invisible church the disappointments of the physical word fade away to being things that not only are being fixed by Jesus Christ, but they see the grace, mercy and power He has to do so…
thus they see His work happening…
they see the redemptive plan unfolding and they are excited about that. It’s hard to be disappointed in the physical world when your eyes are set on the immaterial one.
The last thought I want to mention today is the idea that the longer you spend in the presence of God the more human you become – the more one becomes transformed into the humanity we all were intended to live. Wormwood would call this “the real humanity”. In reality, if they can keep you from spending time with God they will succeed in getting you to live a life that is less than the one Jesus died for you to have. The deception is they make you think you are really living it up while you are missing out on the real life God has for you.
So there it is – just a few take aways from the many we could have talked about from Letter 2. Be aware my friends – the war is still going on.
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