Ingrained Wickedness

Ephesians 6:12

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

Spiritual strength and courage are needed for our spiritual warfare and suffering.  Those who would prove themselves to have true grace must aim at all grace and put on the whole armour of Yahuwah, which he prepares and bestows.  This armour is made to be worn and there is no putting off our armour till we have done our warfare, and finished our course.  The combat is not against human enemies, nor against our own corrupt nature only, we have to do with an enemy who has a thousand ways of beguiling unstable souls.  The devil assaults us in the things that belong to our souls and labour to deface the heavenly image in our hearts.  We must resolve by Yahuwah's grace, not to yield to Satan.  Resist him, and he will flee.  If we give way, he will get ground.  If we distrust either our cause, or our Leader, or our armour, we give him advantage.  

The different parts of the armour of heavy-armed soldiers, who had to sustain the fiercest assaults of the enemy, are here described.  There is none for the back, nothing to defend those who turn back in the warfare.  Truth, or sincerity, is the girdle.  This girds on all the other pieces of our armour and is first mentioned.  There can be no service without sincerity.  The righteousness of Yahushua, imputed to us, is a breastplate against the arrows of Divine wrath.  The righteousness of Yahushua implanted in us fortifies the heart against the attacks of Satan.  The resolution must be steadfast, or armour to our legs and to stand  our ground or to march forward in rugged paths, the feet must be shod with the preparation of the service of peace.  Motivation to obedience, amidst trials, must be drawn from a clear knowledge of the scriptures.  Faith is all in all in an hour of temptation. Faith, as relying on unseen objects, receiving Yahushua and the benefits of redemption and so deriving grace from him, is a shield, a defence every way.  The devil is the wicked one.  Violent temptations, by which the soul is set on fire, are darts Satan shoots at us.  Also, hard thoughts of Yahuwah and as to ourselves.  Faith applying the word of Yahuwah and the grace of Yahushua quenches the darts of temptation. 

Salvation must be our helmet.  A good hope of salvation, a Scriptural expectation of victory, will purify the soul, and keep it from being defiled by Satan.  To the faithful armed for defence in battle, the apostle recommends only one weapon of attack, but it is enough, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of Yahuwah.  It subdues and mortifies evil desires and blasphemous thoughts as they rise within, and answers unbelief and error as they assault from without.  A single text, well understood, and rightly applied, at once destroys a temptation or an objection and subdues the most formidable adversary.  Prayer must fasten all the other parts of our armour.  

There are other duties of service and of our stations in the world, but we must keep up times of prayer.  Though set and solemn prayer may not seasonable when other duties are to be done, yet short pious prayers darted out, always are so.  We must use holy thoughts in our ordinary course. A vain heart will be vain in prayer.  We must pray with all kinds of prayer, public, private, and secret, social and solitary, solemn and sudden.  With all the parts of prayer, confession of sin, petition for mercy and thanksgiving for favours received.  And we must do it by the grace of God the Holy Spirit, in dependence on and according to, his teaching. We must preserve in particular requests, notwithstanding discouragements.  We must pray, not for ourselves only, but for all saints. Our enemies are mighty, and we are without strength, but our Redeemer is almighty, and in the power of his mighty we may overcome. Wherefore we must stir up ourselves. Have not we, when God has called, often neglected to answer?  Let us think upon these things, and continue our prayers with patience in a world filled with strong demonic forces that drive many to unbelievable acts of unwarranted 'wickedness' that at is almost always considered some form mental illness when no other explanation is apparent.

With this in mind, psychopathy is generally considered a confluence of genetic and chemical imbalances.  Psychopaths lack the proper neurological frameworks to develop a sense of ethics and morality.  Sociopaths interact with their social worlds in a meaningful way, but their moral compasses needed a massive tune-up from yesterday. Both tend to be charming, despite being unable to empathise normally with others.  They offer convincing systems of fear and disgust but tend to lack both. 

Psychopaths are dangerous. They’re violent and cruel and oftentimes downright sinister.  They show no remorse for their actions, usually because of a lesion on a part of their brain responsible for fear and judgment, known as the amygdala.  Psychopaths commit crimes in cold blood.  They crave control and impulsivity, possess a predatory instinct, and attack proactively rather than as a reaction to confrontation.

Sociopathic behaviour is manifested as conniving and deceitful, despite an outward appearance of trustworthiness or sincerity.  Sociopaths are often pathological liars.  They are manipulative and lack the ability to judge the morality of a situation, but not because they lack a moral compass, rather, their existing moral compass is skewed.

This means that while psychopathy and sociopathy both likely involve impaired cognitive function, the two differ in which circuits are affected.  Psychopaths are fearless; sociopaths aren’t.  Psychopaths don’t have a sense of right and wrong, sociopaths do.  But both are equally capable of ruining lives and destroying relationships — not that they care.