To Con a Con
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Chapter: 1.09
(Section 1: A life that's refreshing and Victorious)
Copyright © Michael Bronson 1997, 1999, and 2000
BibleHelp.org

Summary
The bad news is you can't con God into thinking you are someone you are not. The good news is we do not have to. As Christians, we are already fully accepted through Jesus Christ.

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In the previous chapter, Downing a Duck, we saw how the demonic forces slowly and patently try to entangle us in some crippling sin. Satan and his forces are very clever with their deceptions. One thing I have always wondered about is if any demon has ever tried to trick Satan? Has any demon ever tried to overthrow Satan by running a con-game on him? Of course, the Bible doesn’t say, but I do know of one person who thinks he can con Satan.

There is a prisoner where I work who is a Satan worshiper. One day he was talking about what’s going to happen to him when he dies, and he astonished everyone by saying he was not going to go to Hell. When he was asked about the contradiction, he said, "Yes, it is true I sold my soul to Satan in order to get some special favors from him. I have obtained power and possessions from being a Satanist. I am, however, going to play a trick on him. Shortly before I die, I’m going to renege on my deal with Satan and terminate my contract with him."

What ignorance and arrogance! Lucifer is considered to be the most powerful being ever created. How naïve can a person be to put himself on the same playing field as this powerful being. We usually think of Satan as a powerful person, such as a large, dominating human. However, I believe he is probably far more powerful than a million, or even a trillion suns. It is hard enough for a mobster to leave the Mafia and live to talk about it. What chance does a puny human have against the most powerful being ever created?

Although I don’t think Satan would allow someone to cheat him on a contract, I think it is even more ridiculous to think a human could outwit the greatest deceiver? Satan has been practicing deception for thousands of years and has perfected it down to a science.

We look at this prisoner and shake our heads in amazement. We wonder how could his thinking have become so warped. Yet, amazingly, we do the same thing with God. We often try to fool God. We see how our spiritual life is lacking, so we try to impress God with outward Christian service. We assume He would see all of these great things we are doing and won’t realize these activities are only superficial.

At one time or another, we all have tried to obtain the favor of God with our actions. We sometimes think if we can convince others of our spirituality, God may follow their opinion. Think about the times that we try to impress others by the amount of scripture we have memorized or the great words of wisdom we have learned. Often we display these attributes to show others the depth of our faith.

God knows our heart and He is not fooled by our diversions. The good news is we don’t need to impress God. God’s acceptance of us is not based on our actions and Christian service. God has accepted us (Christians) because of the blood of Jesus.

We sometimes confuse "earning God’s favor" with gaining eternal rewards. It is true God will reward us in Heaven because we were obedient to him on Earth. It is not true, however, that we can make God happier with us by doing good works. God will not "like" you any more than what He does right now. He loved us before we were repentant and He fully accepts us because of Jesus’ atonement. Perform your good works because you love God, not because you are trying to win His favor.

Other Chapters in this Section

Home
Up
A Rose Standing Amongst the Rubble
The Victorious Life
Learn to Walk before You Run
The Same Sun that Melts Wax, Hardens Clay
The Longest Day
What's Important to You?
A Slice of Humble Pie
Downing a Duck
To Con a Con
Life in the Fast Lane


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