Despite persecution, many who minister to the persecuted church believe Iran has one of the fastest-growing churches in the world. The church is growing largely through a house-church movement.

Iran’s repression of the Christian faith may be entering a new and more severe phase. According to Israel365 News, the tyrannical regime’s parliament has passed legislation that would allow the government to flog anyone between 31 and 74 times for simply sharing their Christian testimony. They will also face fines and up to two years in prison.

The legislation still needs the approval of the Guardian Council before it becomes law, but it focuses on one thing: a believer’s testimony.

In the book of Revelation, John saw end-time believers overcoming Satan through both the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.

“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” (Revelation 12:11 NASB)

In other words, a believer’s testimony is one weapon that can be used to defeat Satan. Satan is powerless to neutralize the blood of the Lamb, so it’s not surprising that evil would focus on stopping what it can—a believer’s testimony.

This is exactly what Iran’s Islamic leaders are targeting in the country’s recent legislation, titled “Countering the Infiltration of Foreign Intelligence Services and Governments or Entities.”

The new law will punish any Iranian who gives an interview or even speaks with any media outlet or media personality that is on the regime’s forbidden list.

While this includes your typical Western news outlets, the regime has also added Persian-speaking Christian broadcasters to this list.

This includes outlets such as Iran Alive Ministries, Sat-7, Nejat, Seven, Mohabat TV and the Persian Christian news outlet, FCNN.

These Christian organizations have been broadcasting television signals into Iran for years and are likely contributing to the growth of house churches. Many of these outlets share the testimonies of Iranians from Muslim backgrounds who have converted to Christianity.

But now, with this new legislation, the Islamic regime hopes to stop these testimonies from being broadcast into Iran or, at the very least, punish any Iranians who dare to speak with these media outlets.

“Another law, another fear. That’s how they control the people of Iran, passing laws and making it harder to follow [Jesus], so easier persecution,” said Iran Alive Ministries spokesman, Hormoz Shariat, in an interview with Global News Alliance. “The signal goes over the heads of the mullahs into people’s homes, and the government cannot stop it, and cannot prove that you are watching it.”

“Anybody connected to us, anybody working for us, anybody supporting us, even appearing on our channel, even going and doing a like on our social media, is a criminal, officially criminal,” Shariat added.

While those who born into historic Christian communities such as Armenians are allowed to practice their faith in Iran, it is illegal for anyone from a Muslim family to convert to Christianity.

Because of this, it is also illegal for Christians to share their faith with Muslims. Several house-church pastors are in jail for converting Christianity or for proselytizing.

But the Iranian legislation reveals how much the Islamic government fears the testimonies of Iranians who have abandoned the Muslim faith for Christ. The numbers may be significant with Muslim sources stating that over 50,000 Iranian mosques have closed in recent years.