Category: 1 Corinthians

Paulos I know, Apollos I know; But who is Jesus?

Fr Dr Saji K Mathew6 Comments

This blog is based on 1 Corinthians 3:4 where St Paul sadly comments on the worldly nature of the church in Corinth that he founded, quarreling in the name of human leaders creating a kind of cultic personalities out of God’s servants. And we see in this chapter, Paul struggling to put the church back on the foundation of Jesus Christ. Hence, the sarcastic question in the second part of the title.

Corinth was evangelized during the latter half of St. Paul’s second missionary journey. As usual, Paul first preached to the Jews in Corinth, but upon being rejected, turned to the Gentiles. Apollos was an Alexandrian Jew who was well versed in the scripture and testified Jesus Christ as the Messiah. However, he knew only the baptism of John the Baptist (Acts 18:25), of that of repentance (Acts 19:4). Apollos first came to know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit when Priscilla and Aquila instructed him (Acts 18:26). After supposedly receiving the baptism of Holy Spirit, he was further charged spiritually and went to Corinth to preach Jesus Christ (Acts 18:27).

Corinth had the double blessing of hearing about and knowing Jesus Christ, first from Paul, followed by Apollos. The division or rather fragmentation in the Church of Corinth reflects that the teaching and preaching of two spiritual giants (Paul and Apollos) yet had not made inroads into the spirit of the people of Corinth. This suggests that they received Jesus Christ only superficially, but still were unmoved in their heart and spirit.

A doubt arise as to what actually the Corinthians were hearing when Saints Paul and Apollos spoke to them. It could be assumed that the people of Corinth were more attracted to the personalities of Saints Paul and Apollos over the gospel and its essence, the salvation. They might have been impressed on St. Paul as a learned and rich man, as well as a former Jewish authority who had close connections with the hierarchy in Jerusalem (see Acts 22:3-5). Moreover, his wisdom and knowledge were up to a level of high intellect that the common mass often failed to understand (1 Peter 3:16). St. Apollos too was a learned man, well versed in the scripture, and more importantly eloquent (Acts 18:24). Being from Alexandria, historians are also of the view that he followed the Philo style of allegoric interpretation in his teachings. In short, the people of Corinth were more blessed to have two great personalities from the Christian world, when compared to other disciples who were mostly uneducated and ordinary men (Acts 4:13). But the primary and sole focus on the physical qualities proved miserable as the Corinthian church missed the key message that there is salvation in none but only in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). St. Paul himself did not consider any of his worldly qualifications as worthy but counted them as rubbish (Philippians 3:8 &11).

Poor believers of Corinth were in a situation as quoted by Jesus Christ, ‘……hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand’ (Matthew 13:13). The primary reason for this cognitive disability is due to the unwillingness to detach from the comfort zone of worldly glories. The word of God will only enter a person when s/he is separated from this worldly thoughts and deeds. As we read in Numbers 8:6, Moses was instructed by God to separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, so that they could serve Him. In order to hear God and serve Him, we need to detach from worldly things. Unfortunately, it appears that the believers of Corinth were not detached but continued in the worldly comfort even after becoming the followers of Christ, a trend that we see existing even today.

The two factors that St. Paul identified as the cause of division in the Church are jealousy and quarreling (1 Corinthians 3:3). Diagnosing jealousy, the root cause could be attributed to the absence of self-confidence and feeling of insecurity due to the lack of contentment. Jesus said, Do not let your heart be troubled (John 14:1); and ……….take courage, I have conquered the world (John 16:34). St. Paul said that God has not given us a spirit of cowardice but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline (1Timothy 1:7). The absence of the discernment of gospel leaves us devoid of power, love, and self-discipline, leading to a sense of insecurity.

God has given us His power (Acts 1:8), but we do not recognize it nor do we try to exercise that power. God is love (1 John 4:16) and Jesus gave us a new commandment, to love one another (John 13:34). The uniqueness of God’s love is that it is patient, kind, not envious or arrogant or boastful or rude (1 Corinthians 13:4). These qualities only make us self-confident and secure, and not otherwise.

The Corinthian church boasted more on its human leaders than the true leader, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:21). Thus, the eternal Lord, the author and perfecter of faith (Hebrew 12:2), Jesus Christ is sidelined or even forgotten in most instances. Jesus said you can do nothing without me (John 15:5). Yet, people boast and rely on human leaders hoping that flesh can feed and make them content. It is similar to what happened when the prophets of Baal prayed at the top of their voice O Baal answer us (1 Kings 18: 26) and Elijah taunting them Cry aloud…….he is either meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep….. (1 Kings 18: 27). In the following verses, we read that Baal never answered. Any image made by or statuses attributed to human beings according to human designs and skills (Acts 17:29) is idol worship. And God said you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol (Exodus 20:3-4).

As a result of idolizing their human leaders, Paul and Apollos, there erupted quarrel among them. The focus of the people drifted away from Jesus Christ, to the question of who is more powerful, Paul or Apollos. As one group pitched for Paul another set claim on Appolos. It is to be noted here that the Galatians were also affected by a similar kind of distraction, and St Paul rebukes them saying I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ (Galatians 1:6). In both the churches, the deception of Satan is evident that they had not completely thrown out the gospel but kept it as a pretext to win human arguments. St. Paul calls the Galatians ‘fools’ and asked them who has bewitched you? (Galatians 3:1).

Contentment is the key to success in Christian life. This is achieved when we have confidence in Christ which in turn provides us with a sense of security. St. Paul said, I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). The extreme sense of confidence is testified by St. Paul when he said, Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (Romans 8:35); and he goes on to answer, For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38). St. John said, this is the confidence that we have in him…..(1 John 5:14). The Word of God tells us to be content (Hebrew 13:5), and say with confidence that the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid (Hebrews 13:6).

Our confidence in Christ will help us to love each other rather than quarreling with our brethren. A human question comes, what shall we do when somebody tries to snatch what is genuinely ours? Well, the answer is, show to them who you are in Christ. Jesus said, Do not resist an evildoer…..if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well (Matthew 5:39-40). The assurance is blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely (Matthew 5:11). Are these impractical and ornamental words? Not at all, because Jesus would not have said this if he himself could not practice it, as he himself was tested by what he suffered (Hebrews 2:18), and succeeded. Therefore, to weed out such evils of the flesh, jealousy, and quarreling is possible with the help of Christ, and Christ only (Acts 4:12).     

In order to achieve this status, we need to transform ourselves from flesh to the spirit (Romans 12:2). In order to achieve this, one needs to submit his/her flesh/body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1). By doing this, we are able to align our body and spirit so that both could glorify God (1 Corinthians 6:20). If we fail to achieve this alignment, we are then hypocrites, as our body does one thing which may be contrary to our spirit. We may pray, but our prayers may not be answered, we may be churchgoers, and physical followers, but as long as we are not aligned within ourselves, Jesus will say, I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers (Matthew 7:23). The underlying reason for jealousy and quarreling among the people of Corinth was that they were still in flesh and were not completely transformed in Spirit. Our relationship with God is established only when we identify with Him. God is Spirit (John 4:24) and those who want to identify with Him must transform themselves into the status that God is. This is testified by St. Paul, and it is no longer I who live but it is Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20); because if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

In conclusion, it is none of the human leaders but God that matters (1 Corinthians 3:6). It is not by human might and power that the Church is sustained but by the Spirit of the Lord (Zechariah 4:6). We read in Psalms (118:8), it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals. David prayed, what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? (Psalms 8:4). Indeed we have no identity outside Christ, for we are what He has given us.

Therefore, let us testify:

I was a sinner but by His blood, my sins are cleansed off (1 John 1:7&9); I was deformed and my sins resulted in all kind of diseases in my body, but Jesus took all my infirmities and bore my diseases (Matthew 8:17). And, by His stripes, I am healed (Isaiah 53:4). Therefore, I do not want myself to be identified outside and above Christ because He is my identity. As St. Paul quoted Jeremiah 9:24 Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:17).

Jesus was never jealous, how could I be?

Jesus never quarreled? How can I?

Jesus never boasted about Himself, but always glorified His Father, and gave thanks to Him. How could I then claim a worldly status for myself?

Amen.

 

Jesus and the fox: declaration of an all-out war (Luke 13:31-33).

Fr Dr Saji K Mathew4 Comments

This blog is based on Jesus’ reply to the Pharisees who brought seemingly important information- ‘Herod wants to kill you’. A second reading of verse 31 reveals that it is not only the plain information that they brought to Jesus, but an advice coated with friendly overtures-‘get away from here’.

It does not require a great deal of intelligence to discern the intention of Pharisees. Before getting into this, let us have a quick look at Herod. Setting aside historical facts, from the very own words of Jesus, he is a ‘fox’. The first thing that comes to our mind about a fox is its cunning nature. Foxes are a nightmare for farmers for they steal their livestock and causes severe environmental damages. It is reported that foxes inflict an economic loss of around 100 million dollars to Australian economy each year.

It is interesting to see the way Jesus exposes the Pharisees that pretended good will to Him. It is like killing two birds with a stone when Jesus replied ‘go and tell that fox’ (Luke 13:32), for it implies that Herod is a fox, and hence is primarily unclean; and secondly, that they though being Pharisees are in league with the unclean. Let us have a look at these two points in detail:

  1. Herod equated to fox

Leviticus 11:27 says, ‘All that walk on their paws, among the animals that walk on all fours, are unclean’. Accordingly, fox is an unclean animal. The uncleanness of Herod is clearly visible from his life history. For instance, Herod built a city to honour his Roman overlords, named Tiberius. This city was built on top an old Jewish cemetery, and hence was unclean for a pious Jew to enter. Only the gentiles lived in the city of Tiberius. The sly nature of Herod is also evident from the above act when he pretended to be a friend of the Jews.

Herod was dirty with his personal life as well, as is evident from the immoral life he lead. His relationship with Herodias, wife of his brother Philip (Matthew 14:3-4)was against the social norms. Moreover, the dance which culminated in the martyrdom of John the Baptist was performed by none other than his own step-daughter, before the company (Matthew 13:6). No noble family would allow their daughters to dance in public in those days, as it was a shameful thing. The dirt of Herod and more of Herodias is visible here when their daughter is not only allowed to dance in public but also offered a reward (Matthew 13:7).

  1. Pharisees in league with the unclean (Herod)

The word Pharisee means one who is set apart (for God). Being the strict custodians of Lord’s law, the Pharisees are meant to keep themselves immaculately pure, with no physical contact or association with impure and unclean. For instance, in Luke 11:38 we read that the Pharisees were amazed at to see that Jesus did not wash before dinner. At another instance, they questioned Jesus about His disciples not washing their hands before eating, and thereby breaking the tradition of elders (Mark 7:5).

The corruption and degradation of ‘the separated’ (Pharisees) is exposed by Jesus when they brought the news about the (so called) plan of an unclean person, Herod(Luke 13:31). Without having close proximity to Herod it would have been impossible for the Pharisees to spy out such a sensitive information, more importantly because Herod always feared political unrest as is evident from the case of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:5).

Further, we read that Jesus asks the Pharisees who brought the news of his destruction to go back to Herod and convey His message (Luke 13:32). Thus, Jesus returns the unclean (Pharisees) to the unclean (Herod). This act of Jesus could be linked to Deuteronomy (23:14) where it says, ‘Because the Lord your God travels along with your camp, to save you and hand over your enemies to you, therefore, your camp must be holy…’. Jesus as God our saviour came to rescue the mankind from its enemy, Satan, the lord of impurities. Thus the act of Jesus is to keep His camp clean and safe from all impurities. This is further evident from Jesus’ swift action inside the Jerusalem temple where He drove out the sheep, cattle and dove sellers, and the money changers (John 2:14-16), and thereby reasserting that ‘my house shall be called a house of prayer’ (Matthew 21:13 cited from Isiah 56:7c).

In league with the fox, the Pharisees themselves have turned into the ways of the fox. The Pharisees, instead of leading and guiding Lord’s people have turned into exploiting and killing God’s children as is evident from the following:

  • They tied up heavy burdens on the shoulder of others but they themselves did not lift a finger to move them (Matthew 23:4),
  • They locked people out of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 23:13,
  • The manipulated the Law of Moses (Matthew 23:16, 23, 25 & 27),
  • They were the killers of prophets, sages, and scribes (Matthew 23:30-35).

Binding the two actors, Herod and Pharisees, we see a league of foxes, as enemies out to destroy Jesus’ ministry. Unveiling the foxes brings forth Satan and his army; with Satan in place of Herod as the lead, and the demons in place of the Pharisees that follows Herod instead of Lord God. Let us again have a look at these two actors bit more in detail, this time with Satan in place of Herod the fox, and demons in place of the Pharisees:

Satan’s work through Herod-

The justification for drawing the parallel between Herodand his fox-ways could be linked to Jesus’ statement exposing the nature of Satan as ‘a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him……..for he is a liar and the father of lies’ (John 8:44). Further, in Genesis (3:1) Satan (appeared in the form of serpent) is identified as ‘crafty’. The crafty nature of Satan could further be discerned from his way of using Pharisees to convey the information instead of going directly to Jesus. Remember, Satan was defeated thrice attempting to fail Jesus with temptations (Luke 4:1-13); and he won’t dare to go directly as Jesus had already exposed and defeated him in the tests.

The Pharisees in league with Satan

The Pharisees are in violation of the first commandment (Exodus 20:2-3), as they are following Satan instead of Lord the God. This violation is exposed by Jesus in his statement to the Jews, ‘You are from your father the devil’ (John 8:44).Thus, the Pharisees, instead of supporting Lord’s ministry are seen throughout as spoilers of the kingdom of God. Neither do they enter nor they allow anyone to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 23:13-14). The information coated in kindness was actually to dissuade Jesus from doing Lord’s work (see John 9:7 & 10:37).Satan was trying to destroy the vineyard that Jesus was planting, or rather re-planting (see Luke 20:9), using the Pharisees, as could be linked toSong of Songs (2:15) and Ezekiel (13:4)- foxes ruining the vineyard and false prophets as jackals.

The distractive and destructive forces of Satan and his allies are ever active in this world. Hence, Saint Peter cautions that Satan is like a prowling lion always looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Let us have a brief look at this with reference to Lord’s ministry during the early churchdays:

  1. Thessalonians 2:18: ‘For we wanted to come to you……but Satan blocked our way’. We could see even today so many people wanting to do Lord’s work but are blocked by many worldly forces.
  2. 2 Thessalonians 2:9– Satan will use all power signs, lying wonders, and every kind of deception. This is evident from many pseudo ministries commercialising the gift of Holy Spirit, so as to fulfil selfish motives rather than the will of God.
  3. 1 Timothy 1:19– It is also not uncommon to see many enthusiastically stepping into Lord’s ministry but eventually failing to keep the true faith intact and work in good conscience. This especially happens when the ministry start prospering with money and fame. 1 Peter 5:9 advises to resist Satan and remain steadfast in faith. We should always be aware of the schemes of Satan (2 Corinthians 2:11).
  4. 1 Timothy 5:15: ‘For some have already turned away to follow Satan’. These are the kind of people that jumps into the ministry without adequate preparation and entrenchment in the word of God, and gets carried away by Satan. Hence the advice of Saint Peter for self-discipline and remaining alert is very important (1 Peter 5:8). Jesus said, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9:62).

Now, let us place ourselves in the situation Jesus was when the Pharisees brought the distractive information. Let us ask ourselves as to how we would react and respond to such a situation if it happens today. The distraction from Satan comes in various different ways in our lives. It could be through family pressures, time constraints, social standing and reputation, adverse societal conditions, risk of losing friendship and relationships, fear of creating disharmony, and all that we can think of. This is where the challenge of living in comfort overcomes true life in Christ. Unfortunately many or most prefer a gospel of worldly comfort and are averse to sufferings which entails Lord’s ministry in this world. Jesus said, ‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth’ (Matthew 10:34). He also said, ‘those who want to follow me must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me’ (Mark 8:34). The spiritual attitude and determination of Saint Paul is articulated in his declaration, ‘neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:38-39).

Coming back to the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees:

Jesus’s response is extremely audacious amidst a politically volatile context, as it involved direct confrontation with the rulers. Jesus said, ‘go and tell that fox…., and detailed what He planned to do- two days of ministry in this world and one final blow on the third day.

The two days of ministry is Jesus’ war with the demonic forces in this world. On the third day He will be captured and killed. But, after His death, as we read, Jesus went straight into the Sheol, the core dwelling place of Satan and handed him the final deadly blow by liberating the souls through the proclamation of gospel to them(1 Peter 3:19).

In short, Jesus’ response to Pharisees should not be viewed as just a human interaction but a spiritual communication. He is in-fact talking to the demons hidden within the Pharisees, who would take the report back to their boss, Satan. This style of communication is seen in another instance, in the case of the Gerasene demoniac. There, we can see that Jesus is not talking to the man but directly to the demons (Mark 5:1-13).

I wish to conclude here with a note that foxes are everywhere around a committed Christian. Those who are in league with Satan won’t have much trouble and their ministries and Christian lives are smooth, popular in the worldly sense, andmaterially prosperous. This is because the lovers of this world are loved in return (John 15:19).Every word, deed and act of commitment (to Jesus) is provocative to Satan and his army, upon which he will initiate attacks. This is the reason why Jesus said, ‘In the world you face persecution, but take courage; I have conquered the world” (John 16:33).Genuine followers of Christ are hated by this world because they do not belong to this world (see John 15:18).

When we make all kind of excuses (no matter whether it is for missing family prayers, fellowships or Sunday worships, or for not being proactive with Lord’s ministry), we should, for a moment, think about the lives of Jesus’s disciples. Most of them had family, parents, siblings, wife and children. But we do not know who took care of them or what happened to them as the disciples travelled around the world and were martyred in foreign countries. The Bible is silent about this subject. But we know that the ‘crown of righteousness’(2 Timothy 4:7) is on their heads, and they are sitting on their thrones (Matthew 19:28).

We must not make excuses because it is not by our might or power, but by the spirit of the Lord (Zechariah 4:6)that we work for Jesus Christ.

Lord be kind and have mercy upon us. Amen.

Possessions and Eternal Life: A study of the conversation between Jesus Christ and the rich man (Part 2)

Fr Dr Saji K Mathew1 Comment

Matthew 19:16-21; Mark 10:17-22; and Luke 18:18-23.

In Part-1 we analysed about inherited possessions. Part 2 is about shared possession. As discussed in Part-1 we are looking into demonic possessions and the origin and continuity of demonic possessions which down the generations becomes strongholds.

Part-2 is about shared possessions. Shared possessions, as the phrase suggests, are the sharing of demons among the living. For example, in Genesis 3:1-6 we read that Satan entered into Eve through the fruit which she ate. Eve is now possessed with Satan or demon (demons are the subordinates, Satan being the head). Eve then reaches out to Adam and shares this possession, and makes Adam too to commit the same disobedience which she committed a moment back. In this way, the demonic possession is shared between Adam and Eve.

Another sharing of possession is seen in Genesis 6:2. Here the sons of God (another group of angels that later joined Lucifer) took wives for themselves from human beings. Thus God’s angels become fallen angels who then enter human beings. Here both the angels and the ‘daughters of men’ are equally the culprits, rebelling against God, thereby sharing evil possessions.

Again, as mentioned in Part-1, Ham saw the nakedness of his father and committed sin thereby being possessed. In Genesis 9:22 it is written than Ham went and told his two brothers what he saw. This act of Ham was demon prompted so as to share the evil by passing on to his two brothers, Shem and Japheth. Apparently, the other two brothers resisted as we read in the following verse.

Esau, son of Isaac and brother of Jacob, is seen entering into unholy alliances, and offcourse demonic, when he took wives from the Hittite (also called Hethite) tribe who were the descendants of Canaan (Genesis 10:15). Thus the demons which descended down the generational line among the Canaanites now found a new family line to share, through Esau. In this way, the promises made to his grandfather Abraham and father Isaac are now being deprived of Esau due to his unholy alliance.

The demons are further seen invading God’s chosen (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) generation’s line by using the tactic of sharing, this time through one of the sons of Jacob. It is written that Judah separated from his brothers and settled independently- obvious that when we leave our fellowship we are prone to demonic attack. Judah was not an exception, as he married a Canaanite and settled in an alien land (Genesis 38:2). The demon/s thus shared by this Canaanite daughter with Judah is/are seen articulating into the worst of actions as detailed later in this chapter (see Genesis 38:13-19).

The above examples suggest the need for alliances and combinations to be holy in Lord’s sight, corruption of which is a sure sign of demonic interference. Saint Paul appeals in Romans (12:1) ‘to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God’. In Leviticus 10:1-2 Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aron offered unholy fire before the Lord. As a result fire came from God and consumed them. The act of these two was in violation to the instruction of Lord regarding incense as detailed in Exodus 30:34-38. In this case, we see an unholy combination of items, where holy items were mixed with impure/unholy items. Any such foreign interference should be treated as demonic, and is corruption. For example, the life of Adam and Eve with God was holy until Satan interfered and corrupted the atmosphere in the Garden of Eden. In Malachi (2:8), the priests are blamed for corrupting the covenant of Levy and weakening laws instructed by Lord. Corruption and weakening happens when sharing occurs between impure and pure. Now, whether it is regarding human relations or the materials handled by humans, it needs to be holy as acceptable to Lord. Saint Peter exhorts to long for the pure spiritual milks so as to receive salvation (1 Peter 2:2). Further, he says that we are called to a holy priesthood, and offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). Hence it could be concluded undoubtedly that those who are holy of God must not handle or interact with unholy things, and similarly, unholy people must not handle holy things. In short, we should be clear about what others are sharing with us- is it demonic or holy.

God’s people are holy, and hence their interactions and mixings must be careful, failing to which there will always be a chance of sharing corruption and impurity- which is demonic. As mentioned above, Judah left the house of Jacob for a gentile wife and hence is cut off from Lord’s favour (Malachi 2:11). Later in his own tribe we see the great King Solomon attracted to many gentile women and marrying them, and eventually falling into the disaster that his gentile wives turned his heart away from God towards other gods (1 Kings 11:3-4). In both these cases, we can see the fall of Lord’s chosen through the sharing of their precious possessions with demonic possessions; for the foreign wives are ‘daughters of foreign gods’ (Malachi 2:11), and hence demonic.

It is important for the true followers of Christ to be cautious about the possessions they share either by giving or by accepting. Jesus said, ‘Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearl before swine’ (Matthew 7:6). A person holy to God cannot unite with un-holiness or else fall is certain. Our body, soul and spirit are united with the body of Christ, hence Saint Paul said, ‘……it’s no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20). Being transformed into the body of Christ, we must not allow demonic possessions to be shared into our lives. Paul cautions in 1 Corinthians 6:15-16 if we commit adultery (adultery in Bible also means worshipping idols) a sharing of possessions takes place as holy body and demonic body unites to become one. In such a situation our holiness will be corrupted and destroyed by demonic possessions, for ‘bad company ruins good morals’ (1 Corinthians 15:33). Please also read 1 Corinthians 5:9-11. Our spiritual joy is kept intact when we ‘do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of the scoffers’ (Psalms 1:1). In this way, we won’t be sharing any demonic possessions.

It’s obvious to think, how then a true Christian can survive in this world. In a world full of demonic activities we will then have to leave the world (1 Corinthians 5:10).  However, Romans 12:2 assures that when we are transformed in Christ, we also receive renewal of our minds so as to ‘discern what is good, and acceptable, and perfect’. The gift of discernment of spirits (holy and demonic) (1 Corinthians 12:10) is important for a believer to avoid fall. Saint Paul is strict to instruct ‘Do not even eat with’ the demonic (1 Corinthians 5:11).

It may be worth mentioning here about the demonic possessions waiting to be shared through some sporting and entertainment activities, as an example. For instance, cruel sports involving animals such as bull fighting, cock fighting and dog fighting are demonic in the sense that people who cheers and watches are either demon possessed already or are lured by the demons to share their possessions through bloodsheds as a result of such fights. Similarly, boxing and fighting in rings are demonic as they are controlled by demonic forces to destroy the bodies- again through spilling blood. In the case of Gerasene demoniac it is mentioned that he bruised himself with stones (Mark 5:5). This was a demonic custom, as part of the practice of initiation among idol worshippers and occultists as stated in 1 Kings 18:28. We have around us many such traps with demons waiting to share their possessions. Once entered into a person, the demons start their job of multiplying by inviting other demons into the person’s lives- thus sharing possessions (see Matthew 12:45). A legion (could be between 1000-6000) was present in the poor Gerasene guy (Mark 5:9). This is a bad effect of generational sin as well, that unless delivered a demonic possession may keep multiplying down the genealogical line by means of shared possessions.

One of the bad effects of technological advances is the levelling of breeding ground for sharing evil possession. For instance, mobile and internet technology have accelerated the spread of pornography, abuses, rape and other demonic activities. A person once caught in this web is certain to further indulge in perversions and thereby collecting more demonic possessions through sharing.

A lot more can be written about shared possessions, but let me conclude here, it is better to exercise precaution so as not to fall. However, if fallen, make sure to immediately repent and cleansed in the blood of Christ, for His blood cleanses us from all the sins (1 John 1:9), no matter, how grave our sins are (Isiah 1:18).

                                                                                                                                       to be continued……