According to Ephesians 1:12, the Father singled out some to be “the first” to grasp the enormous importance of his Son. Eventually, “all things in heaven and earth” will be brought “together under Christ,” verse 10, but for now it’s just a few.

It’s not because the “few” are anything special. Nor were the Israelites special when God singled them out either. In Deuteronomy 7:7, “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.” God’s tendency, then, is to go for the little guys when choosing, not the best players on the team. 

And the same goes for the ones he chooses to be “the first to hope in Christ” too, as Paul rather embarrassingly points out in 1 Corinthians 1:26-28 when he writes, “Consider your calling, how so few of you were clever and talented by worldly standards, and how so few of you were among the powerful or elite. That’s because God chose the foolish, weak and despised, and even things that are not.”  

A noticeable characteristic of the few the Father singles out, therefore, would be humility. They know they’re not the biggest personalities or the life of the party, so it doesn’t surprise them if they’re not eagerly sought out for friendship and advice. “Things that are not,” as Paul wrote, is a fitting description.

But there’s one great advantage to being “a thing that isn’t,” because God loves to show what he can do in “things that are not,” not only to the clever and powerful in society (1 Corinthians 1:27-28), but also to “the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 3:10). 

And what he’s showing all these powerful beings is what happens to people who put their hope in Christ, and what happens to those who don’t. Which becomes more real by the day today, as the ‘powers that be’ give the impression they know what they’re doing, but it’s obvious they haven’t got a clue.    

Some of their solutions offered are bizarre too, like fighting climate change by blocking out the sun with a Brazil-sized raft of bubbles created in space by robots. And yet the chap who suggested this is held in high regard by many world leaders who worship his every word.  

How fortunate we are, then, realizing Jesus is in charge of this planet, not him. And Jesus not only has authority and command over every nation (Daniel 7:14), he also has authority and command over the malevolent forces infecting the global influencers too (Colossians 2:15). And how comforting is that when so many of these global influencers are arrogant control freaks, who sacrifice anything and anyone for power and money? Think of the stresses awaiting us with these people remaining in charge. 

It’s frightening what they might do. Look what they already did in the pandemic. There is no hope in them. But there is in Jesus, because he made an amazing promise in John 14:27: he told the few whom his Father had given him, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

And our Father chose some to believe that, as witness to what happens to those who put their hope in Christ.   

The title above is compared to the previous two verses in Philippians 3:18-19 that speak of those who are “enemies of the cross of Christ,” whose “destiny is destruction, whose god is their stomach and whose glory is in their shame. Their minds are on earthly things.” And that brought Paul to tears (verse 18), because these were professing Christians he was talking about. 

You can almost hear Paul spluttering, “But, but, but,” verse 20, “our citizenship is in heaven, remember?” It’s by heaven’s rules we live by now, pictured by what Jesus said in Matthew 16:24, that “if you want to follow me and be my disciple, then set aside your selfish interests and take up a cross too.” 

Not popular among the Greeks of Paul’s day, though, if the Greek tragedy Cyclops by Euripides is anything to go by, because Cyclops talks of his “belly being the greatest of the gods; for to eat and drink each day….this is the god of wise men.” Imagine having that stuffed into your little Greek head growing up. It was such a sadness to Paul, then, that as adults and Christians their “god was (still) their stomach.” 

It goes to show how much the prevailing culture can mess up a Christian’s head. To Paul the real Greek tragedy, therefore, was having to watch Greek Christians “turning their freedom into an opportunity for the flesh,” Galatians 5:13 (or serving their own appetites, Romans 16:18). 

And how sad was that, when these Greeks had taken the time, and probably taken some heavy flak too, to learn about Christ and practice the self-denial pictured by the cross. They’d made the cross their profession, in other words, which had officially stamped them as citizens of heaven, or as Jesus phrased it, it gave them “a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me,” Acts 26:18.  

How sad, then, that these Christians had allowed the peer pressure and narratives of their culture to make them betray their profession. But how sad is that in our culture too, when all around us politicians, medical advisers, scientists, teachers, professors, lawyers, judges, police chiefs, journalists and mainstream media have also betrayed their professional ethics by ditching the basic tenets of their profession because of peer pressure and money. How sad, when being a doctor, for instance, was such a noble profession, and doctors were held in high regard. But their “glory is now in their shame,” as Paul phrased it, because they’re now regarded – by so many who trusted them – as shameful puppets of their political and corporate paymasters. 

And watching Christians go the same way was what really saddened Paul. 

Because they too had ditched the basic tenets of their profession for the same old “earthly things” (verse 19), the self-centred narratives and ideologies of their culture. How sad, when as citizens of heaven their glory was in sticking to the ethics of their heavenly profession – because, Philippians 3:20-21, it is Jesus, not any human utopian theorist, who has “the power to bring everything under his control,” and “transform our lowly bodies to become like his glorious body.”   

How sad to lose sight of that. 

A silver bullet is a magical solution to a complicated problem, like getting everyone vaccinated to make everyone safe, or “net zero emissions” to save the planet, or pumping printed money by the multiple trillions into the global system to stimulate the economy.  

But when it comes to solving all our problems, is there a silver bullet for them too? Oh yes, some say, it’s getting rid of capitalism and giving communism another go. Or stopping all this individual freedoms nonsense and concentrating on collective responsibility. Or putting an end to independence and going back to feudalism. And each view has its ardent supporters too, who become petulant and warlike when their version of utopia is met with resistance. Clearly, then, there’s still a problem holding things up, so what might it be?

Well, according to Scripture it isn’t a new world order or a new (or regurgitated) ideology we need for a magical solution, it’s a new human. Which makes sense when the humanity we’ve got has a real issue with wanting control over others, rather than control over oneself. Imagine, then, a world where people did “nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility considered others better than themselves,” Philippians 2:3. 

Would that work, though? Well, there’s only one way to find out: try it. Do one’s own clinical trial to prove it. That’s how vaccines are tested for their effectiveness and efficacy. Starting with myself, then, what would not being selfishly ambitious, not being vainly conceited, and viewing others as better than me, do exactly?

Well, I cannot help thinking I’d be a rather nice person, and certainly a benefit to the planet. Because I wouldn’t be exploiting people for my own ends or advantage, I wouldn’t be obsessed with making money or fearful of losing it. It wouldn’t worry me if people were better off than me, or were much brainier than me. I’d be happy with who I am and what I’ve got, and not desperately seeking more in possessions, prestige, and popularity. I could happily be “the little guy,” and happy being a humble servant. And not only would I be happy, I bet other people would be happier because of me too. 

Sounds like a silver bullet to me, because expanded on a global scale think of the impact it would have. Well, one day, happily, we’re going to find out, because according to Revelation 21:4, God is going to get rid of “the old order of things” and replace it with a world that will “wipe every tear from people’s eyes.” All problems solved.    

Both scary and comforting are Jesus’ words in Luke 12:2-3, when he said “There is nothing covered up that won’t be exposed and nothing secret that won’t be made known. And whatever you’ve said in secret in the dark will be brought out into the open (Luke 8:17), and whatever you’ve whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear.” 

In other words, the truth will out. Scary words for those who think they’re too secure in their power and riches to bother about what God thinks. But thoroughly comforting for those who’ve taken Paul’s words to the Athenians seriously, that “In the past God overlooked ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he set a day when he’ll judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. And he’s given proof of this by raising him from the dead,” Acts 17:30-31. 

Comforting words indeed for those who feel so frustratingly helpless as the rich and powerful treat the planet like their playground, gobbling up resources for their own pleasure, and lying through their teeth that they’re doing it all for us. And what can any of us do? To even question their motives risks being blacklisted, jailed and having everything you’ve worked for stripped away. 

It’s always been this way, of course, the feudalistic few living in luxury, viewing all others as mere playthings and slaves. But amazingly, they can even get people to idolize them and worship their every word too. To challenge the arrogant elite, therefore, risks civil war between their ardent supporters and equally ardent haters. And what on earth can we do about that too, as the world spirals into the age old rise and fall of sociopathic leaders and their pompous delusions of grandeur, soaked in the blood of the powerless?

But the truth will out, because “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given” is the resurrected Christ  “seated at his Father’s right hand in the heavenly realms,” Ephesians 1:20-21, and “God has placed all things under his feet,” verse 22. 

And Jesus has a way of proving that to be true, because there hasn’t been an empire yet that hasn’t disintegrated into tatters and disappeared forever. And it’s about time that those aspiring for rulership of this planet by craft and cunning realize they’re up against a power far greater than theirs. 

To be told that will, of course, make them angry. It did in David’s day too, stirring him to ask in Psalm 2:1, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?” Why do the rich and elite act like they’re gods, lashing out at all who dare challenge their loftiness, when “the One enthroned in heaven laughs and scoffs at them,” verse 4. To God, they’re just cartoon villains.

But God does more than scoff; he makes sure the truth will out about them too, because, verse 5, “he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in this wrath when they say, ‘I have installed my King.’” 

Scary words for those plotting a new world order in their image (not God’s), but comforting for those who believe God will “bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ,” Ephesians 1:10.  

I doubt Adam actually said those words, because he wouldn’t have known what a con trick was. But when the creepy serpent lied, Adam wasn’t fooled (1 Timothy 2:14). He knew the serpent was lying. He was the first human to recognize a scam. 

And it’s telling what the scam was, because the serpent told Adam and Eve that eating the fruit of the forbidden tree would not kill them. In other words, the fruit was “perfectly safe.”  

And that was all it took for Eve to eat it, just the word of a serpent saying it was safe. No actual evidence offered that it wouldn’t kill them; no analysis given on the possible side effects of eating the fruit; and certainly no mention of any long term consequences of eating it either. Just eat the fruit, dear, and you’ll be fine. And not just fine, Eve, it’s going to make you feel very wise and god-like eating it as well (Genesis 3:5-6). 

It was quite the claim. Outrageous some might call it, because the serpent was offering no proof that what he was saying was true. So it was a huge risk accepting what he said. But all he had to do was make a claim without any liability on his part for possible adverse effects and injuries – and Eve fell for it. And so did Adam, even when he knew they were being conned. 

And this really concerned Paul, because he recalls this story when talking to a group of Christians. “I’m afraid,” he writes in 2 Corinthians 11:3, “that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray” as well. You mean, Christians can be just as gullible as Eve was?

In Paul’s experience the answer to that was “Yes,” because he’d seen to his dismay that if an obviously questionable message was preached in Corinth “you put up with it easily enough,” verse 4. And that disturbed Paul, because they did nothing about it. They just sat quietly taking it all in, and like Eve they accepted it. It may even have made them feel proud accepting it too (as in 1 Corinthians 5:2). 

And that was worrying for Paul, because if anyone should be sharp and on their toes and have red flags popping up on hearing disinformation (false information deliberately meant to deceive), it would be Christians. Paul was jolly pleased with the Berean church, therefore, because whenever he spoke there “they searched the Scriptures day after day to see if what Paul said was true,” Acts 17:11.

No lazy learners there. They did their homework, and they weren’t influenced by peer pressure either. They stood their ground – unlike the Thessalonians in verses 5-9.

It wasn’t only Paul who was worried, though, because the author of Hebrews had also noticed a connection between Christians drifting away (Hebrews 2:1) and their lack of interest in learning (Hebrews 5:11-13). He then contrasted that in Hebrews 5:14 to Christians who’d made it their practice to ferret out what was true and what was fake. These were Christians, in other words, who knew their stuff, because like the Bereans they were checking everything out, not just blindly accepting it.     

“Checking things out,” then, sounds like a great antidote to being conned. And especially in a world like ours with its present brood of serpents peddling their utopian fantasies. 

As Christians we live in two realities, the reality of living in this crazy world, and the reality of living in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6). But now that we’re Christians, does our heavenly reality override the reality we’re living in here? 

In other words, can we just ignore what’s happening in this crazy world because we’re already living in our heavenly world? I mean, why get all depressed, worried and frustrated by the craziness in this world when Jesus has already lifted us into his world? 

He also keeps us safe too, so “the evil one does not touch us,” 1 John 5:18 – so what craziness in this world needs to stress us out? We also “know that we are children of God,” verse 19, so we have our heavenly Father looking after us too. That’s the reality we live in every day, summarized by Paul in Colossians 3:1, that “Since you’ve been raised with Christ, set your hearts (and minds) on things above….not on earthly things,” verse 2.

So, Paul’s saying, concentrate our attention on our heavenly reality, where we are with Jesus, who told his disciples in John 15:7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” I imagine Paul would ask us, then, “Do you realize you live in the reality of that verse all the time? And if you don’t – and you wish you could – then Jesus is ready and waiting to answer your wish.” 

No wonder Paul was so adamant about getting our minds off “earthly things,” when this other reality of what our Father made possible in Jesus is dangling in front of us as well. So why not concentrate on that and let the craziness of this world go by? 

We could, but John also wrote in 1 John 5, that “We know that the whole world is under the control of the evil one,” verse 19. So, as Christians, we’re fully aware of that reality too. We’re not blind to the obvious fact that malevolent forces are at work all over the globe, and we’re living right in the thick of them. 

Do we need to know how these malevolent forces work, then, so we’re not caught out by them, or drawn in by them, or buried in despair by them?  Yes, John says in 1 John 4:1, when he writes, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 

So there are spirit forces at work which come up with all sorts of ideologies being promoted as truth, which look and sound really good. And it’s amazing how we fall for them. Even when scary demagogues demand compliance or else, we still go along with them. It doesn’t seem to matter how much they lie or wreck the very fabric of our society, they get away with it. And that, according to John, is not something we Christians can casually dismiss. 

That’s because, as he continues in 1 John 5:20, we also “know that the Son of God has come and given us understanding, so that we know him who is true.” According to John, Jesus came to help us “understand” what is true and what is false, so we come to know why HE is so true. And that comes from testing the spirits, or in our terms, grasping the comparison between the false ideas of this crazy world and what Jesus taught, so we see why Jesus’ version of truth is so much the better one. 

We could, of course, ignore the craziness because we live in another reality. But Jesus left us down here in this reality for a reason. It’s to get some exercise in testing while we’re here, so that we’ve “trained ourselves to distinguish good from evil,” Hebrews 5:14.

Or as Peter put it in Acts 4:19, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.” That was Peter’s response to being commanded by the local government officials “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” in verse 18.

It was bold on Peter’s part, standing up against government and refusing to comply, but Peter had heard Jesus say that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus was the ultimate authority, and he was given that authority by God too, which makes it obviously “right in God’s sight” to obey Jesus first. And sometimes leaders need to be told that, like the reminder Jesus gave to Pontius Pilate, that “You’d have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” (John 19:11). 

I wonder how many leaders actually realize that their hold on power and authority is only as good as what God allows them to have according to his plan and purpose. He can remove them from their position of authority at any time too – and if King Herod is anything to go by, their removal might not be that pretty. 

Herod’s demise was recorded by Luke in Acts 12. In verse 21 Herod is at the height of his egotistical glory when he strides in to speak to a crowd in “his royal robes,” and he sits grandly “on his throne to deliver a public address to the people.” I imagine he milked the moment for all it was worth, basking in the adoration of the cheering crowd, and especially when they started yelling at the end of his address, “This is the voice of a god, not a man,” verse 22. 

And Herod loved it. He could look out on that huge throng of adoring citizens and almost legitimately believe he was a god. But his “maybe I am a god” delusion didn’t last long, because in accepting “the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God,” verse 23, “an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.” 

That tells me it’s dangerous ground when government officials and other leaders overreach their authority and act like they’re God. But it doesn’t help when people, like the crowd in Herod’s day, treat their leaders like gods too. How many leaders today, for instance, survive scandals, lies, hypocrisy and bully boy tactics, because they’re allowed to? No wonder they think they’re invincible and above the law, and they can stomp on anything they don’t agree with. 

Well, Peter was faced with such leaders too, who had the egotistical cheek to try and censor all mention of Jesus. To which Peter replied, “Is it you we obey, or God?” – a highly appropriate reminder that we all, including those in the highest authority in the land, have a boss above we all answer to, and what is right in the eyes of our boss above is what we live by down here. 

And if what we live by in obedience to our boss above clashes with the demands of lesser authorities down here, we can say to them what Peter said: “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.”

It sounds grand, right? That you’re sacrificing “for the greater good” by putting aside your own interests, rights, preferences, and even your life for the sake of others. And isn’t that what Jesus did too? – he gave up his life for the salvation of all humanity. 

So “for the greater good” has a nice Christian ring to it. Which must be very gratifying for Christians when seeing non-Christians picking up on it too, as we saw during the pandemic when people accepted the call to sacrifice for the sake of the vulnerable. There really is something noble about thinking beyond oneself for the welfare of others.

It can put Christians in a tricky spot, though, when “for the greater good” is used to justify non-Christian actions, or actions that clash with other Christian principles, like going to war for the greater good, which meant Christians having to kill, and even kill and maim fellow Christians too. It also meant killing those not involved in war, like children.

“For the greater good” has justified such actions, however, because “that’s the price we have to pay for the security and freedom of the majority. Some people have to die; that’s just how it is, chum.” 

And that same reasoning was used during the pandemic to put children at risk “for the sake of Grandma.” For many people, however, that was not good at all. To inject a child with a drug with unknown long term effects amounted to child abuse subject to criminal charges. There was a problem, then, defining what was “good.” What was good to one person wasn’t good to another. Which really confused the issue, and perhaps for Christians too. 

But a similar situation arose in Romans 14:2. Some people, for instance, believed it was “good” before God to eat only vegetables, while others thought it was just fine eating “everything.” So whose “good” was the right good? Who held the higher moral ground? And did anyone have the right to virtue signal and gaslight the other? 

Well, according to verse 3, no one had such a right, because the person “who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the person who does not eat everything must not condemn the person who does, for God has accepted him.” If God can accept differing views, then who are we to take shots at each other (verse 4)?    

But what about Christians during the pandemic having differing views on vaccinations? Some Christians, for instance, thought it good to be vaccinated because it would enable them to keep their job and support their family – which God would want them to do, right? To them, therefore, that was “the greater good.” Other Christians, however, believed it was good in God’s sight to not be vaccinated to prevent increasing tyranny taking root. And that to them was just as much “the greater good” too. Same motives, but two very different views.  

So it’s interesting to see what happened in Romans 14 where similar motives but very different views also existed. And one point becomes encouragingly clear, that if a person’s focus in whatever he or she does (or doesn’t do) is on being acceptable to God – then “the Lord is able to make him stand,” verse 4.

And that’s good to know because one day “we will all stand before God’s judgment seat” (verse 10), and “each of us will give an account of himself before God” (verse 12).

That could sound scary, but there’s no fear of God’s judgement if what we thought was “for the greater good” was based on what we believed was good and acceptable in God’s sight. Actually, it’s very encouraging, because “Blessed is the person who does not condemn himself by what he approves,” verse 22. If a person’s conscience is clear he has no fear or worries before God – and therefore no reason to feel belittled or guilty before other people either.  

Asked that question rather bluntly (as above), what would you say? My immediate thought was what I’m going through right now. That’s my reality; it’s having to deal with family, job and health needs, and the reality of living in a world that’s getting crazier by the minute pressing in on me mentally, emotionally and financially. 

But what’s a Christian’s answer to that question? 

Scripture tells us we’re living in two realities: the reality of living in this “present evil age” (Galatians 1:4), but also the reality of being “hidden with Christ” now too (Colossians 3:3). As Christians, then, we’re living in two worlds at the same time. On the one hand, we’ve “been raised with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 2:6), but on the other hand, Jesus prayed that we not be taken “out of the world” (John 17:15). So, we’re stuck here in this world still, but we’ve also been raised into the world where Jesus is. 

But why would God do that to us? Why leave us in this world when Jesus’ resurrection lifted us into his world? Surely, it would be better to get us out of this world into the eternal security of Jesus’ world, so this world doesn’t overwhelm us. 

It’s a dilemma, echoed by Paul in Philippians 1:23-24 when he wrote, “I am torn between the two; I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” – and stay in this reality here. 

So Paul would agree that, yes, it would be “better by far” to “be with Christ” forever in his world – but – he also realized there was a purpose in him staying in this world, and a reason why Jesus prayed for us to remain here physically too. And Paul gives us the reason too, in verse 20, “that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body.” 

This was the reality Paul “always” lived in, that while he was still in his physical body Christ would be honoured and magnified – or “more accurately known,” as one translation phrases it. And who would Paul be doing this for? “For you,” he said in verse 24. Paul lived to see people grasp the greatness of Jesus. And it worked in Ephesus, because “the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honour” (Acts 19:17). 

This was why it was “necessary” for Paul to “remain in the body,” as he phrased it, so that in how he spoke and acted he could be a visible reflection of Jesus to people. If Paul, then, had been asked just as bluntly, “So what reality are you living in?” he would likely have replied, “The reality of reflecting Jesus in my life, so people get to see and understand just how great he is.”  

But if asked, “How is that possible? How can you accurately reflect Jesus when you aren’t Jesus?” Paul could handily reply, “Ah, but I live in another reality too, that of being raised with Jesus where he fills me with himself (Colossians 2:10).” 

This explains why we live in two realities at the same time. We remain in this reality so people get to see how great Jesus is in us, but we also experience the reality of Jesus filling us with himself so people CAN see Jesus in us. And that second reality becomes more real as Jesus does fill us with himself, and we sense we really are reflecting him more accurately in how we speak and act.

And to think that God set it up this way, that while we remain in these physical bodies of ours, Jesus is being made real in us. And that’s the reality we Christians are living in. 

It never ceases to amaze me how a leader can pretty well say and do anything he likes, including blatant hypocrisy and lies – and be rocked by numerous scandals too – and yet people still fawn all over him.

It doesn’t matter if he’s a fat slob living in luxury, or if he presents himself as a caring person while making it obvious he cares for nothing but his own quest for power and control. It’s as if he’s cast a spell on people, bewitching them into sycophantic flattery and total submission.  

There are many such leaders littered through history, but they’re just as real today. So how is it that these abhorrent and tyrannical leaders are able to command such power and devotion, and make people so fearful that they daren’t say a word against them? 

Two clues from Scripture came to mind to explain how. The first was Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8 who “amazed (mesmerized) the nation of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great,” verse 9. What drove Simon was wanting god-like status, and he was given the power of magic to make it happen, which very much fits the definition of sorcery as “the use of power gained from the assistance or control of evil spirits.” Well, with that kind of power behind him it’s no wonder that Simon could hypnotize people into total adoration (verses 10-11).  

The second clue is Elymas the sorcerer in Acts 13, a deliberate deceiver and liar, who knew what was right and true, but twisted it into making it seem evil instead (verse 10). And that, to Paul, made Elymas “a child of the devil.” Elymas’ ability to so convincingly deceive and lie clearly revealed that he too had the “assistance of evil spirits.”

But Paul did warn us that such devilish people would exist, even “masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light,” and “his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness,” 2 Corinthians 11:13-14. Which can feel very frightening, having people wielding such power over us, but Paul did add in verse 15, that “Their end will be what their actions deserve.” Rest assured, there’s a power far greater than the most cunning deceivers, who won’t let their evil go on forever.    

Peter advised Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8:22, therefore, to “Repent of this wickedness” and “Perhaps God will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.” Drop the facade, Simon, in other words, and admit who and what you really are, because the power that’s so much greater than you does forgive, so that you won’t have to receive what your actions deserve. But be advised to get that repentance done soon, so there’s no need to worry when the axe will inevitably fall (Matthew 3:10).