Salvation Summaries

Most people who read the title of this post would likely scoff at the idea of them living under the power of Satan, for who does that? Satan worshipers? Well, according to the Bible, far more people do this than you think. Hopefully it does not include you.

The Bible talks about two sources of power that govern how we live. One is from God, and the other is from Satan. Christians live under the power of God, or the Holy Spirit. Non-Christians live under the power of Satan, or sin (1 Jn 5:19). All people live under one of these sources.

The book of Galatians describes the life of a person who is living under the power of sin. It is one of impure thoughts, lustful pleasure, sexual immorality, selfish ambition, jealousy, outbursts of anger and drunkenness, among other sins. The sinful lifestyle of such person – who only seeks to please self – does not please God (Rom 8:8); in fact, it is “hostile” to God. A person who lives like this – under the power of sin – will not go to heaven.

The books of Galatians and Romans describe the life of a person who is living under the power of God. They have the Holy Spirit living inside them that controls their mind so that they seek to please God rather than self. They exhibit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Do they still sin? Of course, but sin does not control how they live. They have the power and ability to sin less and less.

The only way a person can live under the power of the Holy Spirit is for Jesus to redeem them from the power of sin. This cannot take place until a person puts their faith – genuine, saving faith – in Him. When a person does this, Jesus saves them not only from the penalty of sin, which is death, but also from the power of their sinful nature. Once redeemed, such person is free to live under the control of the Holy Spirit.

My friend, a better determinant of whether you are a Christian is not who you claim to believe in, but how you live your life. If you claim to be a Christian, but your lifestyle is the same now as it was before, you are likely living under the power of Satan and not saved. That makes you a professing Christian, not a genuine one.