Only He Can Save

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.” ‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:4-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When the Holy Spirit lives inside someone, they are marked and identified as a child of God! This distinguishes them from those who are children of the devil. When we are born again we are transformed from children of the dark into children of the light. “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.” ‭‭1 John‬ ‭1:5-6 NLT‬‬ The spirit of the Antichrist (false Christ) is at work in the world. This spirit has been at work since the garden of Eden in Genesis 3. In, and through, Jesus Christ we are made an over comer. Jesus breaks the shackles of slavery to sin and darkness and sets the captive free. Isaiah, the prophet, said it like this: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭61:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Fast forward to the New Testament where we see Jesus reading from this scripture in the synagogue (the Jewish place of worship). “Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come. ” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭4:14-21‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Jesus had just returned from His 40 days of fasting and prayer when He entered the synagogue and was handed the scroll of Isaiah. Following this reading, Jesus was mobbed by the religious crowd and they tried to throw Him off a cliff (read Luke 4:22-30). However, because Jesus time had not yet come, He simply turned around and walked right through the midst of the mob. Jesus was absolutely correct in equating Himself with this prophecy. He, indeed, was the One Isaiah had spoken about. Only Jesus is the One True Messiah (Christ - Greek equivalent). The real Christ is none other than Jesus!!! When we know Him, we know the Lord! When we know Him, we know the Savior! When we know Him, we are His disciples. This sets us apart as His. When we are His, we are able to discern the false spirit(s) of this world. We sure do need this discernment. Now more than ever! Brethren, let's preach Jesus Christ to the world! Only He can save! Every other spirit is of the wicked one. Today, we who are God's children, let us shout for joy that we are His and that we have overcoming power within us - The Holy Spirit of Christ our Lord! “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:9‬ KJV