Purchased or Pilfered?

Pilfer – steal; especially : to steal stealthily in small amounts and often again and again. (Thank you to Merriam-Webster.)

I was doing dishes yesterday around midnight, and an interesting thought suddenly occurred to me. In 1 Cor. 6:11, Paul writes,

 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

The key point I am getting at here, is that we were bought with a price. It was with Christ’s own blood that we have redemption, and the eternal inheritance with Him. His blood forgives us from our sins and demolishes the shackles sin binds around us. He paid for our freedom, for our salvation, and all we must do is “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and [we] will be saved.”

What dinged the lightbulb in my head last night, however, was when I was contemplating the significance of being purchased by Christ. I realized that Satan pays nothing to try to claim our souls. If we are in bondage to sin, it is because Satan is our lord and master. I love the word “pilfer” here…”to steal, to steal stealthily in small amounts, often again and again.” As children of God, we cannot be pilfered by Satan.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
– Romans 8:38-39

 

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
– John 10:28-30

So we have the assurance that we cannot be pilfered away by the devil. What I find interesting, too, is that Satan is not concerned about all of us. He wants our souls to be cast into hell when he himself is flung there for eternity, but that’s all. He tries to pick up for free what Christ died to pay for. Satan doesn’t care about our well-being, our happiness, our comfort, our satisfaction. He doesn’t lavish blessings upon us out of his genuine love, but rather dangles the carrot (or karat) in front of us, until we try to snatch it and fall. Then he tells us we’re losers, and that God could never forgive us, or be able to use us.

Liar, liar, his pants will be on fire. But mine won’t be.

How ’bout you? Are you purchased…or are you being pilfered?