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When our excitement and contentment can primarily be traced to what we are doing for the Lord or around His name, rather than to God’s promise of eternal life; then, there is already a heart issue that iniquity will exploit with time. God and the devil can clearly see how iniquity can work through our human strengths; how it can inspire us to do many things before men and come short of living before God’s eyes.
Iniquity remains a hidden infirmity until it is awoken by the prospects of exaltation or of honour and glory around things that can impact our person, name, or image before men (Gen. 4:17/11:1-4; Jn. 12:43). Being faithful with another man’s business by serving until we are saved from ourselves is one of the Father’s prescriptions to deal with iniquity within our members (Lk. 16:10-13).
Excelling in the act and art of submission to spiritual authority should someday help us get it right where the devil once got it wrong, so we can overcome an angelic problem called iniquity that the everlasting gospel is presently healing many from (Ezek. 28:15-16, Isa. 14:13-14, Rev. 22:2b).
A believer, who will overcome iniquity, is one who has to excel in judging himself daily like Paul did; one who will acknowledge that he still has unknown tendencies to respond to his own lust (iniquity), because he is yet to totally disown corruption or become incorruptible, even by fully partaking of the divine nature (Acts 24:16, Jas. 1:14, 2Pet. 1:4)