Lookahead:  Years ago there was a popular teaching that Type A, proud, competitive behavior was part and parcel of having a Spirit of Dominion. The theory was that God gave Adam a Spirit of Dominion in the Garden (Gen 1:26 KJV)—hence all future-gen sons of Adam had that same spirit.  Therefore, if we found ourselves exhibiting dominating behavior, it was just part of being human/in accordance with God’s plan.  Hmmmmm

As a reminder,  I am referencing the scriptures which either cite the wrecking behavior itself, or represent God’s truth which helped me to recognize a Kingdom wrecking lie (e.g., “there is therefore now no condemnation” prompted—”we deserve to be punished.”)

Lie #14 There is no devil and/or demons. (Ephesians Chapter 6, Hebrews 2:14)

Kingdom Post #19 referred to Ephesians 6:12, in which Paul described the enemy that we are up against.  In that post, I recommended seeking the Holy Spirit for clarification on 6:12.  In the meantime, I have done three separate deep dives into Ephesians 6 over the years for teaching purposes—including the Whole Armour of God.  At one point, this is how I interpreted 6:12 (in an unpublished post from ~2014, I think):

For we are not in a wrestling match with flesh-and-blood human beings, but we are wrestling with judicial and executive demonic magistrates, authorities that police/patrol lower echelons (satan’s secret police),  demonic purveyors of spiritual darkness and blindness on earth, and against depraved spiritual entities in the lowest tier of the “on-heavenlies.”

In the subsequent verses, Ephesians 6:13-16, Paul reveals the battle plan for dealing with these (per KJV), “principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”—and the fear that they would cause.  The plan, in a nutshell, is: “Put on the Whole Armour of God.”  Probably few verses in the New Testament have been the subject of so many sermons/teachings.  So of course, if there were no devil or demons, this begs the question, “Why did Paul bother with a battle plan?”

In referring to the “Whole Armour of God” in an unpublished post from 2015, I made the following comments:

“And, in fact, each weapon that we’ve discussed so far is a fear-antidote.  The truth belt frees us from fear-inducing lies, the breastplate frees us from fear of mortal threats, and the shoes free us from fear of falling/retreating/losing the battle.  Then we went on to discuss how the shield of faith quenches the lies, so that we don’t even have to listen to them.  And one of our definitions of the helmet of salvation was:  ‘the protection of the soul which consists in (the hope of) salvation;’ also, that salvation means, among other things, everything we are and have in Christ. So the helmet is also a fear-stopper in the sense of being an assurance that victory is guaranteed. 

Now we see the sword as a rhema or the personal promise that can save a person’s life.

It appears to me that, when we go into the battle with God’s armor, we don’t go in like U.S. Marines would against Crossed Sword Jihadists—armed to the teeth with the latest technology, pumped up with vengeful adrenaline, shouting intimidating threats.  We go in with peace.” 

However, in terms of a would-be Kingdom Occupier (KO) who would embrace Lie #14, the biggest resulting deterrent to Kingdom entry would probably be…fear. 

Lie #15 It’s OK to commit a variety of sins including:  

•             It’s OK to be a busy body (2 Thessalonians 3:11)

•             It’s OK to be lazy (2 Thessalonians 3:11, Hebrews 6:12)

•             It’s OK to be wicked (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

•             It’s OK to be evil (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

•             It’s OK to doubt God’s message (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

•             It’s OK to believe myths and empty words of men (1 Timothy 1:4-6)

•             It’s OK to participate in endless debates contributing to disunity and strife (1 Timothy 1:4-6)

•             It’s OK to be a blasphemer or to allow them in one’s life (1 Timothy 1:19)

•             It’s OK to be a false teacher or to allow them in one’s life (1 Timothy 1:19)

•             It’s OK to lie (Hebrews 3:12)

At least half of these specific sins deal with falsehoods.  In working in multinational corporate settings for years, I have interfaced with people from many countries/cultures.  Sometimes I had formal cultural training, but in many cases, it was OJT and involved learning about cultural differences on-the-fly.  For example, I discovered that our counterparts from certain foreign countries almost take pride in their ability to tell convincing lies—having finely honed the “art.” They consider it to be a completely respectful—and indeed expected—practice.  Case in point, I recently watched a Mid-Eastern divorce court documentary, and basically observed a culture of “shall we say” exaggeration and embellishment on the part of the spouses who were seeking divorces/remuneration.  One woman made a heart-rending and effective appeal to the judge, and then cheerfully whispered to the film crew (while the camera was still rolling 😊) that she had just lied, but that (effectively) the end justified the means.

Another case:  I once conducted a week’s worth of training abroad on some specialized equipment, using an interpreter as requested.  As we neared the end of training, my trainees warmed up to me, and started speaking fluent English. 😊

Americans may not take pride in lying, but I’m sure the majority of people believe that lying is a fact of life.  In recent years, terms like spin masters, fake/negative news, de-platforming and censorship-resistance, etc. have become part of our everyday vocabularies.  As media consumers, we are infrequently, if ever, convinced that we are hearing the whole truth and nothing but the truth; ergo, someone’s gotta be lying. 

Those who make a  habit out of lying to people unfortunately aren’t good KO material.  It’s too easy for them to lie to themselves.  And believers know that trying to lie to God (seriously?) will never be acceptable or respected behavior.  However, a possible upside for them might be that most liars will be avoiding God—not trying to become KO’s. 

Lie #16 Pride and trusting in our own ability is OK in a would-be KO. (1 Timothy 6:3,17, Romans 15:13, Hebrews 6:7, Hebrews 12:16, 20)

Years ago there was a popular teaching that Type A, proud, competitive behavior was part and parcel of having a Spirit of Dominion. The theory was that God gave Adam a Spirit of Dominion in the Garden (Gen 1:26 KJV)—hence all future-gen sons of Adam had that same spirit.  Therefore, if we found ourselves exhibiting dominating behavior, it was just part of being human/in accordance with God’s plan.  Hmmmmm

God is not impressed with this type of prideful behavior.  Eons ago, pride caused a cavernous rift between Him and His creation.  If not for pride, there might have been a totally different storyline for humans.  And guaranteed, pride would not have continued to cause a separation in one-on-One relationships to this very day. 

Jesus demonstrated that being a (servant) leader means trying to break the most-humble-person-whoever-lived record every day. 

Also, anyone who isn’t fully aware of their inability to accomplish anything meaningful in this life without letting “Jesus take the wheel,” probably won’t be Kingdom-bound. 

And serious KO candidates will, of course, want to leave their Spirits of Dominion at the door.