We Christians well know that there are many humans on earth who scorn our beliefs. We also know that the words of John in the Bible verse above are also true. Satan, the evil one, was thrown down to earth when he was banned from heaven above and given the freedom on earth to influence, deceive and gain control over those who he could fool. And while he has been successful in accomplishing his destructive work against mankind in so many instances, there are those of us who have refused his bidding and have stood steadfastly by our Savior despite being tempted by so many weaknesses that we hold.
God gave us free will and He knows that we are often weak and foolish, but He also showed his abounding love for us when He gave us the Savior, who came to earth as a man to be a sacrifice for us. By dying on the Cross as an innocent man, the only man who will ever be fully innocent on this earth, our forgiveness was given to us by Him at the moment He died on the Cross. And the only thing required of us is to receive that forgiveness was to accept His most generous offer by believing in Him by faith and making the commitment to put Him first in our lives and live for Him. Now He knows we will sometimes falter, but for those of us who do the utmost we can not to falter and continue to keep our hearts open to His love and forgiveness, Salvation will be ours and we will escape the clutches of the evil one. The evil one hates that, for he works hard at his trade in sinfulness, knowing what will ultimately happen to him and wanting to take as many of us as he can with him. Why? Because he is, indeed, the evil one.
So, that leaves us with the question of what if Jesus never came to forgive us for our sins? In such case, there would be nothing that could be done for us as we would surely falter by worshiping someone or something other than God and Our Savior. And there would be no Holy Spirit living within us working to put us on the right path. No, we would have no power to withstand the temptations and if you think this world is bad today, try to imagine it with nothing but evil running loose. It's a scary thought but thankfully we don't have to worry. We don't have to worry because God did give us His Son as the ultimate sacrifice for our lives and with Him later came the Holy Spirit. So, why would anyone want to refuse the gift of Salvation and choose to live under Satan's evil edicts and his already determined fate? Sorry, but I can't answer that question and I ask it as do you everyday. I guess it's the wonderful disguises that he puts on himself to make him people believe whatever they see it to be: money, power, lust for things and/or the flesh and so many others. Don't be fooled, my friends, for it leads to permanent and everlasting suffering and death.
Choose well and live on for eternity in such grandeur and splendor that you'll never want anything else forever. It's your choice and your decision so choose well. Once life on this earth ends for us or upon the return of Christ for the second coming, it will be too late to change your choice.