https://youtu.be/1G0nsFZRVEE
Phil 1:29-30; For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,
30 experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
2Cor 12:7-10; Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me-to keep me from exalting myself!
v8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
v9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
v10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
We are engaged in a study of satan's cosmic system, a system of arrogant demonic thinking that is comprised of lies and deceit from demonic viewpoint that since the fall in the Garden of Eden, separated from God in the darkness of spiritual death has become the viewpoint and basis for all conflict in the human race.
At this point in our study we are looking at satan's cosmic 2 system where irrationality, disillusionment and discontent from cosmic 1 arrogance metastasizes into hatred, hostility, antagonism and opposition to God, God's people, God's policy and God's plan. 1Cor 2:14; Rev 12:9;
Last time we noted immoral degeneracy that is the reason our nation has not decisively won a war since WW2 and apart from a moral reformation 2Chron 7:14; it will eventually be our undoing. "Prov 28:1; Hosea 4:6; because God uses client nations to maintain a beachhead for freedom in the devil's world.
The opposite pole of cosmic 2 degeneracy is moral degeneracy that is more subtle than immoral degeneracy because it often passes for spirituality among believers who are ignorant of Bible doctrine. Moral degeneracy can be classified as uncontrolled and unrestrained legalism.
Prolonged residence in the cosmic system results in some people using their volition to function in self-righteous arrogance to the point of violence, destruction of property, and murder such as occurred in Europe during the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and the protestant reformation.
Before becoming the apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus was guilty of moral degeneracy, persecution, and the murder of Christians, Acts 8:3; "But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house (church) after house (church). He would drag off both men and women and put them in prison."
This is why our Lord asked Saul the question in Acts 9:4; "Saul, Saul, why do you keep on persecuting Me?" Saul responded by asking when he had persecuted the Lord. The Lord said that because Saul had persecuted believers in Jesus Christ, he was persecuting Him, because every one who believes in Jesus Christ is in union with Christ.
This is why Paul describes himself as formerly being a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor." 1Tim 1:13;
Because of the function of moral degeneracy in his pre-salvation life, the apostle Paul, the greatest Christian of all, says in retrospective exposition, "It is a trustworthy statement (a true deposition) deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am the worst." 1Tim 1:15;
We see from this that Paul ranked himself as the worst sinner who ever lived and it wasn't because of moral degeneracy not immorality. His self-righteous crusader arrogance resulted in violence and murder. So one of the worst sinners who ever lived, Saul of Tarsus, was a very moral, self-righteous person who was a strong adherent to the Jews' legalistic distortion of the Mosaic Law.
Saul was the worst of sinners because of moral degeneracy and its evil deeds done in the name of self-righteousness and crusader arrogance. Because of the trends of their OSN prolonged residence in the cosmic system causes self-righteous arrogant people to become involved in moral degeneracy.
This is what the fascist leftist democrat communists are presently doing in our country using the rhetorical veil lies of social justice, equality, and global climate change.
An example of Peter's moral degeneracy is noted in Gal 2:11-13; "But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I (Paul) opposed him face to face because he stood condemned (of moral degeneracy).
v12 Before certain men (legalistic believers) came from James (Jerusalem where legalism was endemic), Peter used to eat with the Gentiles. But when these legalists came, he began to withdraw and to separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of the circumcision party (the Jewish legalists).
v13 Consequently, the rest of the Jews joined Peter in his hypocrisy with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy."
The Galatian believers were guilty of moral degeneracy from the commonly accepted false doctrine of keeping the Mosaic Law for spirituality. The problem is described in Gal 3:1-3;
Moral degeneracy often leads to false doctrines, such as having sinless perfection. 1John 1:8; "If we allege that we have no sin (post-salvation), we are deceiving ourselves and the truth (Bible doctrine) is not in us."
Moral degeneracy is characterized by self-deception combined with arrogance of ignorance or preconceived ideas from the rejection of accurate teaching of God's Word of Truth. 2Tim 2:15; KJV
Moral degeneracy had become an evil influence in the Colossian church. Col 2:16-18;. "Therefore, let no one act as your judge in regard to the food that you eat or what you drink or with regard to any religious day or the observance of the new moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
v17 These were shadows of what was to come. The reality is Christ. (Rom 10:4;)
v18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility, even the worship of angels, defraud you or disqualify you from your prize ( your escrow blessings). Such a person (believer in moral degeneracy) takes his stand on alleged visions that his non-spiritual mind has blown out of proportion because his thinking is derived from the cosmic viewpoint of the OSN."
This is an excellent description of self-righteousness arrogance that includes the arrogance of legalism, personality arrogance, authority arrogance, crusader arrogance, and the arrogance of the works of Christian service.
All of Rom 14 deals with moral degeneracy. Its conclusion is stated in Rom 14:22; "The doctrine which you have according to yourself before God. Happy is the believer who does not condemn himself in what he approves."