11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
Restoration of a repentant believer is necessary for OUR continued walk in Jesus. If we can not acknowledge the work of grace in another, then we are not living in the grace and certainly don’t understand it ourselves. Satan wants to take advantage of any and every inconsistency in our walking the walk. He will exploit these weaknesses to bring us under condemnation and bondage. We can see that in the holier-than-thou we put on around ‘sinners.’ He is a great user of other people’s power. When we accepted Christ, the chains that held us captive to sin were broken. They no longer hold us. We can walk in freedom. But Satan wants us to think that sin still has sway over our lives. He will watch for every opportunity and try to take advantage of it. Much of the problem today is that, unlike the early church or even much of the world today, we are so hell-bent on trying to put God in a test tube that we think reality can’t be beyond what we can test. But there is a realm, unseen and untestable, that is nonetheless real. And some in that realm are actively involved in this realm for good and for evil. Today we are so often unaware of those plans. They can be operating right in front of our eyes, and we can’t see them, because we claim they don’t exist. Do you remember the game Peek-a-boo? The reason kids get such a kick out of that game is that they have not come to realize that we do not cease to exist when we are out of their presence. Infants don’t understand that the world extends beyond what they experience. When mom or dad walk out of the room, the infant thinks they don’t exist. Thus the tears. We are often like that infant, only able to acknowledge those things that exist as defined by our perceptions of the world. But there are things beyond our perceptions. We need to wake up and become aware of that other reality and modify our behavior accordingly. We need to be aware.
The Arnold Journey 