Satan’s Evil Minion- The Unredeemable Reprobate
SATAN’S EVIL MINION- THE UNREDEEMABLE REPROBATE
By Reverend Renee Pittelli
REPROBATE: Condemned and foreordained to damnation; morally abandoned, depraved; condemned strongly as unworthy, unacceptable, or evil; rejected as worthless or not standing a test (Webster’s Ninth Collegiate Dictionary); an immoral or unprincipled person (Oxford American Dictionary); condemned; base; given over to sin; depraved; vile; an abandoned or profligate person; without virtue or
decency (The American Dictionary of the English Language); Abandoned to wickedness or to eternal destruction; lost to virtue or grace; without hope or pardon, disapproved with abhorrence, in apostasy, rejected, disapproved with extreme dislike. (Webster’s An American Dictionary of the English Language)
“It is used of persons and character, and so, reflexively, of life and conduct. It denotes a voluntary surrender of self to a life of self-indulgence; self-control and the estimation of others being disregarded and defied. ‘Reprobate’ expresses that character in which a course of self-abandonment to vice results; one cast away without hope of
recovery; the very desire and recognition of good being lost. The profligate man is he who has thrown away, and becomes more and more ready to throw away, all that the good and wise desire to retain; as, principle, honor, virtue, possessions. A profligate man, therefore, is one guilty of open and shameless irregularities and vices. Reprobation is the doctrine that a part of mankind has been condemned as reprobates from eternity.” (Webster’s and Worcester’s Unabridged Dictionaries-1901)
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles……Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them……Romans 1: 20-23, 28-32NIV
Consider this scenario: There is a person whom you know, from personal experience, to be cold, calculating, conniving, vicious, ruthless, destructive and treacherous. And then there is another person- the one who tells you that nobody is all bad, there is some good in everyone, you need to “see the good” in the first person, you will find the good in him if you just look hard enough, and if you can’t see the good, then you just haven’t tried.
Sister, trust me on this- if you have to look that hard to “find the good” in someone, IT ISN’T THERE! Anyone who would tell you that is very naïve, in deep denial, or has some personal interest in not rocking the boat and is vested in allowing the evil person to continue his destruction unchallenged.
Even if there was some tiny good point you could come up with, IT ISN’T RELEVANT. Someone who is malicious, heartless and abusive most of the time doesn’t deserve Brownie Points for occasionally doing something not horrible. Doing harm to others is not made any better by letting someone go ahead of you in line at the market. So what if we do find a “good” characteristic in an abuser?-maybe he likes animals or has a great sense of humor- does that mean we should now be more tolerant of his malevolence? So what if he gives money to charity?- does that mean we should “give him a break” and let his cruelty toward his family slide? No- a “good side” that you have to dig around , wrack your brain for, or stretch reality to find does not excuse or justify the obvious and blatant- that 99 % of the time, this person is cruel, vicious, destructive, wicked, and dangerous. Just because the dog sometimes eats out of the cat’s bowl doesn’t make him a cat.
Often, whenever an abuser behaves in a manner that is considered NORMAL for anyone else, others consider it NICE for him, when it is really the way he should be behaving all the time. They’re relieved and grateful that he’s being nice so they can relax and lower their guard a little. They consider this to be the abuser’s “good side”, when actually it is behavior that would be EXPECTED of anyone else.
Most evil people are clever and conniving enough to behave nicely or do something good once in a while-especially in front of others-precisely to throw you off and cause you to doubt your perception of them- and to cause OTHERS to doubt your perception. They purposely try to APPEAR nice to cover up their true nature. In fact, they will often go to great lengths to disguise what they really are – many of them are well-liked in their communities, regularly do volunteer work or are well-respected church members. You can see how well this works by how many misguided people will tell you that you haven’t tried hard enough to “find the good” in someone you know to be evil. Keep in mind that, even when the wicked do something that outwardly appears good, they are only doing it because it is somehow advantageous to them. Their motive is not to help others, but to benefit themselves- but even that is only worth inconveniencing themselves for only so much.
Jesus teaches us that not everyone who gives the false appearance of goodness or of being religious is truly righteous, and on Judgment Day he will weed out those who aren’t:
Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly,” I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”….Matthew 7: 21-23.
BAD TO THE BONE: SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST EVIL!
The Bible does not support the theory that there is some good in everyone, and in our hearts, we know this theory is full of holes, although we may hate to admit it. Although the “liberal tolerationists” choose not to see it, the truth is that there ARE people who truly have NO good in them! They are BAD people, through and through. People exist who serve Satan and are children of the devil. They are bad to the bone, and anyone who says otherwise is delusional.
Unfortunately, these wicked people hold down jobs, buy houses, marry and have children, just like normal people. Some of us have had the misfortune to be born one of these children.
Many Scriptures make clear distinctions between good people and bad people, children of God and children of the devil. In the Bible, it is black and white- there is no middle ground. Scriptures teach us to discern the spirit of a person by his fruits, as well as his deeds. A person, and his deeds, are either righteous or wicked – you can’t be a little bit of both:
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning…This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother….1 John 3: 7-8,10 .
The Bible teaches us to recognize the acts of a sinful nature and tells us very clearly that those who live by their sinful nature are doomed to damnation. When I first read this list of condemned behaviors, I was struck by how much some of them sounded like relatives of mine!: The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God….Galatians 5:19.
Jesus teaches us to discern the spirit of a person by his fruits-his works and the results he produces with what he does in his life. Depending upon the righteousness or wickedness of his nature, everything he does, touches or influences will either be blessed or cursed. Jesus also warns us that an evil person can NEVER do good. He also illustrates what will eventually happen to evil people:
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them….Matthew 7: 16-20NIV.
There are people prowling the world, preying on others, who are reprobates, having what is known as a “Reprobate Mind”. There is absolutely nothing good about them. They are evil incarnate, wicked through and through. By definition, they are unsalvageable and doomed to damnation. How does one become a reprobate? By rejecting God so many times that God finally gives up on her and turns her over to the control of her own evil desires. (see Romans 1:28) I will destine you for the sword, and you will all bend down for the slaughter; for I called you but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me….Isaiah 65:12NIV.
HOW DOES SOMEONE BECOME A REPROBATE?
The simple answer is that they DEVOLVE into one. God is ever gracious and forgiving, and gives us many, many chances to repent and turn from our sinful ways. Reprobates have rejected the message of the Holy Spirit. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin….Mark 3:29NIV. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme…1 Timothy 1: 20NIV.
Even God has a limit to his patience, and the reprobate has stepped beyond the pale. The Lord knows when someone is indeed a hopeless case and will never repent and turn to him no matter what. He turns her over to her reprobate mind, and allows her to suffer the Natural Consequences of her wickedness in her worldly life, relationships, etc., before she dies and goes on to suffer for all eternity:
On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day, they will ask, “Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?” And I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods….Deuteronomy 31:17-18NIV. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sin is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God….Hebrews 10:26-27 NIV.
Becoming a reprobate is a long process, in many cases a lifelong process. It is not the type of sin, or even the magnitude of the sin, it is the CONSISTENCY of sin that makes one a reprobate. Reprobates usually start out with small sins, and progress to bigger and bigger ones. In the process, they lose their consciences and well as all perspective. They allow selfishness to rule them and take over their minds, at first hurting others or trampling on their feelings, and eventually ceasing to care at all whom or how many lives they completely destroy.
By lacking discipline and more importantly, love for others, and allowing themselves to sin on even a small scale, they give Satan a greater and greater hold over them. With each successive sin, the state of the person’s soul deteriorates more and more. With each sin, Satan wins a victory and his power over the sinner increases. Soon he is able to tempt the sinner to go on to more outrageous and harmful sins, while numbing any feelings of remorse. He will fill the sinner with feelings of pride and power, cause him to lose all desire to be righteous, and to view kindness or goodness with contempt and disdain.
As his conscience and his soul decay more and more, the reprobate progresses, or more accurately, regresses, from sinning once in a while or here and there to no longer being capable of NOT sinning. He becomes more primitive, uncivilized and unprincipled in his thinking. Sin becomes a way of life for him.
All along, during this long process, God is making himself known to the sinner. He is giving the sinner many chances to reject Satan and to turn to the Lord. But the reprobate will make a conscious choice, every time, to reject God’s way and follow the devil instead. He will give in to his base needs and lower impulses time and again. Why? Because the devil’s way means instant gratification and the satisfaction of selfish impulses, which are much more attractive to a wicked person than the love, kindness, selflessness, and patience needed to be a child of God.
Remember that the Lord has made man in his own image, and in so doing, has given us free will. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you…James 4:7KJV. A reprobate refuses to submit to God. All he has to do to be saved is resist the devil and submit his will to God’s, but he will not. Some of us choose to follow Jesus and worship God, some choose the other path. Eventually, because of the reprobate’s choices in life, Satan will have complete control over him. It will be too late to ever go back, and the reprobate wouldn’t even if he could. He belongs to the devil now.
DISCERNING THE SPIRIT OF A REPROBATE
Reprobates may seem almost normal to the undiscerning eye, until you examine the big picture of their lives and relationships. Get beyond outward appearances and try to look into the heart of the reprobate, as well as those around him. Does he get along well at work? Do all his neighbors like him? Does he constantly seem to be going from one job to another and from one friend to another? Is he really part of one big happy family, or are they all just putting up a good front? Does the person in question, as well as his family, seem truly happy, deep in their hearts? Do they seem content, at peace, joyful, and relaxed around each other? Are they really giving and loving, and are their relationships all they may initially seem to be? Do they have loving and caring relationships? Do they have any long-term relationships, and, if so, what is the state of these relationships? Unto the pure, all things are pure; but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate….Titus 1: 15-16KJV.
“Reprobate” is the Biblical equivalent of “sociopath”. A reprobate is marked by a number of characteristics which are ingrained in his nature and may or may not be obvious at first, but they bear being aware of and looking out for. Not all reprobates will have every trait, but they will manifest enough to send up a red flag. Reprobates are usually:
Conniving, Selfish, Disdainful, Impatient, Angry, Underhanded, Sly, Shrewd, Deceitful, Cruel, Untrustworthy, Spiteful, Disloyal, Treacherous, Confrontational, Greedy, Willful, Self-Indulgent, Prideful, Arrogant, Unremorseful, Scornful, Sneaky, Manipulative, Belligerent, Calculating, Scheming, Devious, Cunning, Callous, Brutal, Cold-blooded, Sadistic and Vicious.
The Scriptures warn us to have nothing to do with such people. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them….2 Timothy 3: 2-5NIV.
The reprobate will twist your words, play mind games, revel in confusion, and cause chaos, dissension, and disharmony. “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?”…Acts 13:10NIV. He is supremely selfish, self-centered and greedy in nature- greedy not just for money or material goods, but for power, position, control, prestige, or attention. It is not “me first” so much as it is “me only.” He has an utter lack of remorse or repentance. He denies any responsibility for the havoc he creates or the results of his actions. He will scapegoat, blame, frame, set-up, and sacrifice others to preserve his image and get what he wants. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour….Deuteronomy 5:20KJV. He lies continually. Self-preservation is the most important, no matter who else has to go down.
The easiest way to remember these reprobate characteristics is to think of everything you know Satan himself to be- the reprobate will be most of these things because he is Satan’s child. Of these, perhaps the most pervasive traits are ruthlessness, treachery, deviousness, cunning, and an utter lack of remorse. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!…Matthew 10:25NIV.
The Lord Jesus himself was scapegoated by the lying reprobate children of Satan, who were greedy for control and power and twisted his words, caused chaos and dissension, framed him, lied about him, and sacrificed him. All the while they were falsely accusing and setting Jesus up, they claimed to be children of God, but Jesus refuted them and proved them to be children of Satan:
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”….John 8:42-47NIV.
Reprobate characteristics will not necessarily be obvious. Sometimes the reprobate can be quite subtle and this is designed to disguise his true nature. Many of his sins are not actual crimes, such as theft or assault, although they might be, but rather sins against the SPIRIT of another person or persons.
A big clue is that everywhere the reprobate goes, and in all his relationships, he leaves a behind path a destruction, heartache, betrayal, vengefulness, and cruelty. He contaminates everything he touches and the atmosphere around him is poisoned. Being in his presence for any length of time is draining and exhausting, and you instinctively know that nothing is as it seems and you always need to watch your back. You will feel anxious, restless, irritable, nervous, and often have a headache when you are with him; if you are especially sensitive to his evil, you may feel nauseated in his presence.
It is impossible for anyone to experience any peace or joy around such a wicked person; if he senses those feelings anywhere near him, he will be sure to immediately squash them flat. He’s like a one-man train wreck. The one shred of justice in his earthly life, before he leaves this world and goes straight to hell, is that, most of the time, even though he’ll never admit it, his own life is just as miserable as those of the people he hurts, if not more so. That is the result of the demonic forces which he has allowed to take over his life and which now control it.
In order to teach about the reprobate mind, I have written in the past about my birth-father (see the article “A Portrait of Evil” on our website). In the future, I will write more about him, as well as tell the story of another truly reprobate relative in our family, my husband’s birth-sister. It is my prayer that these testimonies will help you to recognize and protect yourself from an evil family member.
I DON’T EVEN KNOW THIS PERSON!- THE SHOCKING REPROBATE REVELATION
Although in most families there are one or two, or even several, “problem” relatives, not everyone can be considered reprobate. In my own family, on both mine and my husband’s side, there are a number of “difficult” people, dishonest people, hurtful people, even people who have stabbed us or others in the back. Yet, in my entire life, although I have heard numerous heartbreaking stories about damage done by reprobate family-members, I have only met in person four people who have a true reprobate mind- my birth-father, my husband’s birth-sister and her husband, and one ex-friend.
From my own personal experience, I have observed the disintegration of the souls of the reprobates I personally knew over the course of decades. When you have been around a nasty, manipulative, or selfish relative all your life, you almost get used to the way they are. You, unconsciously or deliberately, develop strategies to cope with their hurtfulness and overlook a lot of bad behavior in the interest of “getting along”. You learn to put up with a lot.
For years, the reprobate will either maintain a stable level of hurtfulness, or will slowly get more and more selfish, uncaring, and destructive to others.
He will become more critical, resentful, and bitter toward others and life in general. This resentment and bitterness is what he will use to justify hurting others. He will block any feelings of guilt for what he does by telling himself, and everyone else, that his victim “deserved it”. He will start doing things like rationalizing stealing money from someone because, in his mind, he feels that he has always “gotten the short end of the stick” and he deserves to make up for it. The fact that this will be at someone else’s expense is of no importance to him. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears…Hebrews 12:15-17 NASB
You don’t realize that he is getting worse and worse, so you keep adapting. His evil sort of creeps up on you without you noticing. And then one day, out of the blue, he does something so outrageous, so incredible, so hugely destructive, that it takes your breath away. Suddenly, the veil drops and your eyes are opened. At this point, his pride is telling him that he is invincible, and that he can literally get away with murder. He believes that he has the right to do anything he wants, and no one has the right to say anything or to stop him. The betrayal, the cunning, the treachery, the denials, the hatefulness and complete lack of love or caring about anyone else is staggering. You feel as though you are looking at a complete stranger- seeing him for the first time.
Whether this eye-opening incident was directed at you or at some other innocent victim, you are devastated to realize that someone you love can be so evil. You wonder how you could even be related to him.
You are shocked into seeing him as he really is- having a wicked, reprobate mind. He may not have always been this way, but he is now. And he probably has been for a very long time, but you just didn’t see how bad he really was.
That is how the revelation usually hits you. Although he may have been reprobate for years but you just didn’t get it, there is usually one last-straw event that opens your eyes. Before this, you really didn’t have an understanding of the evil you were dealing with. After this, you will look back on so many other incidents and see what you weren’t able to see in the past. Taken all together, these incidents show the pattern that you will now be able to absorb and see in a new light. It has been there all along, but your hopes and wishes for a loving relationship blocked your discernment of the truth.
From my own experience, as well as the testimonies of others, I have seen that this is usually the way the realization hits you that you are not dealing with a human spirit anymore, but with a demon-controlled, purely evil, lost soul.
Here are truths concerning those of a reprobate mind:
What can I do to help my reprobate relative?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
How can I save my reprobate relative?
YOU CAN’T. HE IS UNSALVAGEABLE.
How do I deal with my reprobate relative?
YOU DON’T. EVEN GOD WILL NOT DEAL WITH A REPROBATE. ARE WE BETTER THAN GOD?
What do I do?
RUN. FOR THE HILLS. FAST. GET AWAY AND PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN AND LOVED ONES. ACCEPT THAT THERE IS NOTHING ELSE IN YOUR POWER THAT YOU CAN DO.
WHY DOES GOD ALLOW REPROBATES TO EXIST?
Having turned the reprobate over to his own sinfulness, the Lord does use him to teach us and to refine our faith. It is the only constructive, useful thing a reprobate is any good for:
I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way. They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters. The bellows are burnt, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them….Jeremiah 6:27-30 KJV.
What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath- prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory- even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?…Romans 9: 22-24NIV
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong….2 Corinthians 12: 7-10NIV.
SO, WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
These truths are painful, but they are reality nonetheless. Having any dealings with a reprobate is extremely dangerous. We often delude ourselves into thinking that if we treat all people with kindness and love, they will respond in kind. In most cases this is true, but not when dealing with a reprobate. Reprobates do not respond to love and kindness, except to interpret it as vulnerability or weakness on your part and use it against you to dominate you.
In our pride, we must not think ourselves able to control or deal with that which the Lord himself will not. If the perfect love of our Father cannot soften the reprobate’s heart, wasting our love on him is meaningless. If the Holy Spirit cannot turn the reprobate’s heart to God, nothing we are capable of doing will have any effect. If the Blood of Jesus cannot save a reprobate, we surely cannot.
This is because we are not dealing with a human spirit anymore, but with demons. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places….Ephesians 6:12KJV. A reprobate is a demonic person, who has given Satan complete control over his will. His mind, his heart, and his soul belong to the devil, and the devil is not going to let him go.
A discussion of the reprobate mind would not be complete without a few words about Spiritual Warfare and deliverance. There is much written about Spiritual Warfare and deliverance by experienced deliverance ministers. I have not been called to teach about deliverance, and I would never recommend a lay person becoming involved with it as that would truly be playing with fire. Only if you have studied this subject intensely, know your Scriptures inside out, have a deliverance team to help you, and have participated in deliverances in the past, and if the demonic person wants a deliverance and will acknowledge Jesus and accept the Holy Spirit afterwards- then maybe, you might attempt to cast out the demons. This is not an undertaking for amateurs, and it is out of the question for most of us.
We must leave the reprobate to wallow in his own evil, just as God has done. The only thing left for us to do is go into “damage control” mode. We now have an understanding of the reprobate’s true nature, and knowledge is power. We know that saving her soul is hopeless. The only thing left to do is save ourselves, and save our children. This means cutting off all contact with the reprobate and never allowing her to contaminate your life again (2 Timothy 3:5). You can control whom your children see, so now is the time to do it. Do not allow her to taint your children, your family, and your life with her evil. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you…..Matthew 7: 6KJV.
Even if she comes to you, claiming to have changed and repented, do not believe her and do not trust her. This is the devil speaking. If you have ever seen “The Exorcist”, think of all the tricks and wiles Satan used to make the priest feel guilty and to deceive him, including taking on the persona of the priest’s own sweet, pitiful, innocent mother. A true reprobate will never change, and wishing will not make it so. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil…Jeremiah 13: 23NIV . If you have any doubts, insist on the test of time- observe her at arm’s length, without allowing her to insinuate her way back into your family or your life, for a very long period of time- at least a year or two, and see for yourself if she has truly had a change of heart- but don’t count on it.
Regarding other adult family members, you can try to protect them and enlighten them with your knowledge of the reprobate mind, but you cannot control them- if they want to continue having a relationship with a demonic person, ultimately, that is their choice. There’s really not much you can do about it, except pray for them.
The one positive action which certainly can’t hurt is prayer. This does not require exposing yourself directly to the reprobate’s evil. Since someone with a reprobate mind is FOREORDAINED to damnation, it is not likely that the Lord is going to take away the reprobate’s free will to choose sin because of our prayers. If, in our hearts, we hold out hope that our wicked relative will turn from his sinful ways, how much greater is our loving Father’s desire for such a turn of events? Unfortunately, the reprobate is not merely a “prodigal son” who can easily return to God, but a full-fledged, demon-controlled, servant of Satan. As we are God’s children, he is Satan’s child. It is not in our power to choose righteousness for a demonic person, and the Lord will not take away his free will.
More importantly, pray for yourself and others who will be affected by the reprobate’s wickedness. Pray for courage, strength, and wisdom. Pray for discernment and knowledge and the counsel and comfort of the Holy Ghost. Cover those who will come into contact with the evil one with the Blood of Jesus and pray for them to be protected.
WHAT WILL BECOME OF MY REPROBATE RELATIVE?
The destruction and calamities that are going to befall the reprobate as a result of her choices, both in this life and the next, will be disastrous, overwhelming, and sudden. This is one reason why we need to get out of the way fast- to protect ourselves and our children before the consequences of her evil overtake our reprobate relative. My feeling is that I really don’t want to be caught in whatever disaster is about to happen and it’s much better for me to be out of the picture at that point:
But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you- when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes….Proverbs 1:24-31NIV
You cannot save a reprobate. The only thing you can do is save yourself. And Jesus answered and said unto him, “Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”…Luke 4:8KJV. We need to literally put the demonic behind us and move on. If you have such a person in your family, our prayers are with you as you come to terms with your sorrow at losing a relative to Satan. May you rebuild your life with God’s loving grace, forever leaving behind the evil one, and find love, peace and acceptance with your sisters and brothers in Christ.
In Ephesians 6, we are taught to put on the full armor of God when battling demonic forces. We must stand up for the truth. We must be strong in our faith, spirit-filled, and devoted to God’s word. We must lead righteous lives and pray about everything. This Scripture is an important basis for Spiritual Warfare and is how we will ultimately win the battle against Satan’s schemes:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything , to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints….Ephesians 6: 10-18NIV.
***For some examples of the devious and deviant way in which the reprobate mind operates, read about some of my own birth-father’s antics in our articles “A Portrait Of Evil” and “Some Things Never Change- How My Birth-Father Called Me After Ten Years Of No Contact And Then Took Less Than Five Minutes To Have His Usual Meltdown, And The Story Of The Christmas Presents From The Devil.”
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further, for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was….2 Timothy 3: 8-9KJV.
He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” …..Matthew 13: 11-16NIV
He said, “Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed”…Isaiah 6: 9-10NIV
What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.” And David says: “ May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever”…Romans 11: 7-10NIV
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient….Romans 1:28KJV
They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be! How could one man chase a thousand or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up? For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede. Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are filled with poison, and their clusters with bitterness. Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras. Have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in my vaults? It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them….Deuteronomy 32: 28-35NIV
Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them…Jeremiah 6: 30KJV
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men”…Matthew 16: 23NIV.
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates….2 Corinthians 13: 5-6KJV.
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves…..Colossians 1:13NIV.
***For more on understanding when it’s time to leave a relationship with a destructive or evil relative, see Cutting Ties: Knowing When It’s Time To Walk Away.