And who is your Lord/lord? As unregenerate, we bowed to Satan as our ruler. As Jesus is now our Lord, we bow to Him. Jesus is my Ruler and He rules over His ppl, the church. Satan is the ruler of the lost, as they are of the world.
Who is the world that hates His disciples? The lost. If Satan is ruler of the world as you purport him to be, he rules us, too. He does not rule me. God does.
So, you do not have an internal struggle in which the flesh and its deeds must be daily put to death? If Christ were the ruler of this world, why does Paul state in 2 Corinthians 4:
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Christ is praying that His Father would not remove them from the world, as in taking them to heaven. He also prays that His Father would protect them from Satan. That is the context. Was Satan their god, too? The 12 I mean.
I haven't read in this thread that anyone is making that claim. However, because the believer is "in the world and not of the world" it does not change who is the god of this world.
If I am called to war and fight on foreign soil, that does not mean I belong to the ruler of that country. By using your example, the WWII vets who were fighting all over Europe and especially Germany, were under Hitler's authority. Absolutely not. They fought against Hitler and his army because he was their enemy. That is what Jesus was praying for. They, and consequently us, are in a war against Satan. But that does not mean he is our ruler. In fact, he is our mortal enemy.
However, that statement does not change who the god of this world is according to Paul. Hitler ruled until he was "put down." There will be a time when Christ returns with the saints and "puts down" all enemies of God. Zachariah 14 expresses it this way:
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.
Psalms 24:1 just 'wooshes' by your eyes every time, doesn't it?
Not at all, because it has in it the creation, the sustaining, and the ultimate kingdom of God on this earth.
However, to proof text a verse and state in so many words, "See, I am right and you are dumb" is in error, for that psalm does not prove your view unless you take it outside of the statement, that very clear statement, of Paul.
Again, if Satan is the god of this world in the manner you are espousing, then he is your ruler, too. Is he? I am not saying he is your ruler, but by mere implication, you are espousing this as biblical fact.
Sure you are.
But then you disagree with the statement of Paul as far as who is the god of this world.
And he blinds those who he is ruler over, the lost. If the gospel is hid, it is not hid to believers, but unbelievers. I do not know why you struggle to see this.
Is the population of believers currently or in any time in the past conquered the world for Christ?
Certainly, Satan blinds. That is just one aspect of his deception. However, he also has authority. Authority that he offered to Christ in the temptation. Had he not had such authority, Christ would certainly have responded differently.
I offer you the very words of Christ who John records as saying:
30“I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;
And in another place:
30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. 31 Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” 33 But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.
The work of the cross did not remove Satan as prince of the darkness and ruler of the world, rather, in Christ's own words:
11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that the judgement means immediate dethroning. Not so.
Just as the unbeliever is "condemned, already" so is Satan already judged, and will be removed as the "ruler of this world" when Christ returns as King. Just as the book of the Revelation states, and Zachariah records what God has given him.
Again, Psalms 24:1?? 'Woosh!!!!'
Context does not allow for your application.
God has given Satan certain authority (the KJV calls him a "prince" in John 30) and there is no reason for this argument to continue by asserting that Christ has taken over the world at this present time.
One day, He will. But that day has not yet come, and when it does, the believers will be with Him en mass.