Have you ever heard
this teaching before? It is a popular one in Christianity.
It was also taught by early Church of God leaders, including
Russell R Byrum.
Some time ago, we
were witnessing to a young man whose life seemingly had
reached rock bottom. He had tattoos and piercings all over
his body. He was living in a homeless shelter. He was
attentively listening as we were explaining the simple plan
of salvation to him and others sitting by. He seemed to be
convicted by what we were telling him, more so than others.
The reality of his personal sin and rebellion against God
was sinking in and the Spirit of God was convicting his
heart. We told them that heaven is a holy place and that if
one does not repent and dies in his sin, he cannot enter
heaven. As we were explaining salvation to those precious
people, the enemy of souls was present and was offering up
excuses for sin.
During the
conversation, the young man walked away and laid down on a
nearby recliner. I noticed that he seemed bothered and he
looked like he wanted someone to come over to him. As I
approached him, I could see that he was crying. As I knelt
down beside him, he began to talk. He said something like
this: "You said that sin cannot enter heaven, but yet the
devil, Lucifer, was once an angel in heaven. He got lifted
up in pride and rebelled against God. God finally
kicked him out. Since the devil was in heaven, a perfect
place, and yet he committed sin, how do we know that there
will not be other sinners there? How can God expect us to
live free from sin on earth, an imperfect world, if people
can sin in heaven?"
Good question!!
Sadly, this is
where this teaching leads to. It takes away from God's
sovereignty and it offers sinners an excuse for sin.
What scriptural
basis exists for such teaching? The two articles linked
below discuss verses like:
|
Isaiah 14: 4-16; Daniel 4:19-22 |
Revelation
12:7-9 |
Luke 10:18 |
| Isaiah
45:7 |
Isaiah 54:16 |
Colossians 1:16-17 |
They also clearly
lay out scriptural evidence showing that the devil was
created by God (Colossians
1:16-17,
Isaiah 45:7,
Isaiah
54:16).
His name is not Lucifer and he was never an angel in heaven.
In fact, he was a murder from the beginning (1 John 3:8) and
he never abode in truth. He is a liar and the father of lies
(John 8:44). He is the enemy of our soul.
Traditions die
heard, but thankfully this teaching has been cleared up and
we see the devil for who he really is, as well as his
intended purpose.
