ALTARS & ALTAR CALLS and How They’re Relevant

An altar in the Old Testament was typically a raised platform used for offering sacrifices. It’s not surprising therefore that the Hebrew word for ‘altar’ stems from the root zabach (zaw-BAKH), which means “to slaughter for sacrifice.” The LORD instructed that these structures be made from either earth or rock/rocks, albeit uncut likely to avoid the temptation of pride over craftsmanship or viewing the altar itself as an idol (Exodus 20:24-25, Deuteronomy 27:5-6, Joshua 8:31, Judges 6:20-21 & 13:19).

There was, of course, an altar at the Temple and tent Tabernacle that was used for regular sacrifices, such as the annual Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:34 & Hebrews 10:3), as well as individual offerings (Leviticus 4 & Luke 2:24). But we’re going to focus on “altar experiences,” which involved significant moments for worship (Genesis 8:20), receiving a divine commission (Judges 6:12-24), commemoration (Exodus 17:14–15 & Joshua 22:26–27) and establishing a covenant (Exodus 24:4–8). These somewhat overlap and mark a notable sequence in one’s life (Genesis 12:7). Taken together, they point to a potent encounter with the LORD and the revelation or new directive thereof coupled with the appropriate sacrifice and of course the decision/resolve to comply.

God is omnipresent, of course, but an “altar experience” is when the LORD manifests his presence to the individual and it naturally results in reverent awe, some kind of profound change, a sacrifice and a fresh directive (2 Chronicles 7:1-3).

With this understanding, there are arguable “altar experiences” in the Old Testament that don’t mention an actual altar, like when Jacob wrestled with God and is renamed Israel (Genesis 32:27-32), Moses’ divine meeting at the burning bush (Exodus 3) and Joshua’s awesome encounter with the Commander of the LORD’s Army (Joshua 5:13-15).

Altars in the New Testament

Since the need to sacrifice animals ceased with the spilling of Christ’s blood (Hebrews 9:23-10:12) we have no need for physical altars in the New Covenant era in the sense of sacrificing animals, which is why you won’t find believers doing this in the New Testament.

Rather, believers are themselves to be “living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1) because we “are not [our] own” since we were “bought at a price” via the blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). In other words, our whole lives are God’s possession, not just 10% of our financial earnings. Our bodies, our thoughts, our material possessions, our incomes — they’re all God’s already.

Of course people have to grow into this mind-blowing truth and this is where altars have their place in the New Covenant. The altar is invisible, but a personal “altar call” is when we encounter God by the Spirit wherein we receive new revelation and make the decision to comply. Usually a sacrifice is involved whereby we cut something out of our lives and consecrate – set apart – ourselves to serve the Lord in a new capacity. This becomes an important moment in our lives, which we’ll naturally commemorate sorta like we commemorate our birthdays and anniversaries.

Every believer’s first “altar experience” is when we receive the Lord and partake of spiritual regeneration (Titus 3:5). Once saved, the LORD works with us through the leading of the Spirit (John 16:13), the feeding of the Word (Matthew 4:4) and the service of the fivefold ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13).

We’ll continue to have “altar experiences” throughout our spiritual journeys, just as Old Testament saints did, except that believers have the benefit of a vastly superior covenant (Hebrews 8:6). Again, these altar experiences are encounters with God where we receive a potent revelation and make the necessary sacrifices. Such encounters are separate from – and should not be confused with – one’s daily fellowship with the LORD where the believer has (or, at least, can have) a 24/7 rapport with God by the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:17), which you can read about here. They are also distinguished from entering into the Lord’s presence during Praise & Worship. How so? Simply that “altar experiences” naturally involve a sacrifice, physical or mental (which we’ll address momentarily). That said, one can certainly have an “altar experience” during praise & worship when encountering God’s “manifest presence.”

Consider the salvation experience: An individual hears the gospel and is moved by the Spirit to believe and repent. The sacrifice is the old self — the sinful nature — and the person resolves to walk in newness of life reconciled with the Lord while “keeping with repentance” (Matthew & Luke 3:8; 1 John 1:8-9). This is an altar experience, a critical turning point in one’s life. Paul’s powerful conversion on the road to Damascus is a great example (Acts 9:1-22).

Or take a genuine believer who backslides, the Spirit will inevitably move that person to rededicate his/her life to the Lord. This is likewise an altar experience.

Yet all growing believers – that means every one of us – will have altar experiences from time to time during our spiritual growth; this goes with the lifelong process of sanctification.

Altar experiences can involve some type of pruning, like the removal of a piece of flesh that’s hanging on (John 15:1-4), a new directive or a release to serve in greater capacity. These encounters with God are between you and your Creator. They can take place at an assembly gathering, but they can actually occur anywhere, as was the case in the Old Testament examples noted earlier. For instance, when I was 20 I had an altar experience in a woman’s shower while working at a fitness center, which I’ll share momentarily.

Speaking of altar experiences at church services, let’s look at…

Altar Calls

An “altar call,” as it is known today, is an invitation to come forward and pray the sinner’s prayer or rededicate one’s life. The altar is the area in front of the assembly. Methodist preachers began practicing this circa 1800 as a method to help determine who had been converted at their gatherings. Charles Finney made altar calls more popular in the 1830s. You can read details here.

Because of this, I’ve heard ministers say that altar calls have only been around for a couple hundred years, which suggests that altar calls didn’t exist in the Church prior to about 1800. Really? Like there was never a call to repentance/consecration at any assembly in the previous 1800 years anywhere on Earth? Why Sure!

Biblical support for altar calls includes Christ’s exhortations to follow him (Mark 1:17 & Luke 5:29) and the importance of boldly confessing Christ before others if we expect the Lord to do the same (Luke 12:8), as well as Paul’s emphasis that “today is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). The first “altar call” is chronicled in the Scriptures and took place on the day the Church was birthed on the Day of Pentecost after Peter preached to those gathered:

³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

⁴⁰With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” ⁴¹Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Acts 2:37-41

Peter passionately preached, urged repentance and the listeners were “cut to the heart” – obviously convicted by the Holy Spirit (John 16:3-11) – and so 3000 people got saved.

Peter was led of the Spirit and the results were natural (and supernatural). It doesn’t mean ministers have to try to manufacture an “altar call” every time they preach. But it does make sense to invite listeners to reconcile to their Creator now and again (Romans 10:9-15) as this is part of the “ministry of reconciliation” and the responsibility of “ambassadors” of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

Yet some ministers choose not to implement a conventional altar call for one reason or another when they teach/preach and that’s perfectly fine. This is especially so at more unconventional meetings. We all have to be led of the Spirit in our particular services. However, there’s something called a “mini-altar call” wherein one or more believers seek the LORD in prayer for this or that — salvation, rededication, healing, etc. — and they encounter the Lord (Matthew 18:20). Mini-altar calls can take place before, during or after a Christian service; they can take place in the parking lot or in a car. I ran into a couple of believers at the local mall and could see that they needed prayer urgently; and so we huddled right there and had a mini-altar call in the central concourse (wherein we were careful to not draw undue attention to ourselves; in other words, the occasion had nothing to do with showing off to passersby and everything to do with meeting with the Lord on the spot).

One criticism of conventional altar calls is that unbelievers might pray the sinner’s prayer or rededicate their lives simply because they’re caught up in the emotion of the moment or they’re socially pressured to do so; they haven’t really “counted the cost” of being a believer (Luke 14:25-35). In other words, these converts quickly fall away, yet Christ plainly said that a certain percentage of people would respond this way, so it’s not really an issue (Luke 8:13). It’s just the way it is.

There are some interesting linking topics to altar calls that I’d like to address. Let me breach them by sharing my first “altar experience”…

How I Received the LORD

I grew up in a dysfunctional home. My mother had a severe mental illness, but was wholesome and loving, while my father was a good provider and regularly took the family on outings (hikes, skiing, movies, camping and vacations), but he was aloof, brooding and verbally abusive.

Being verbally cursed by my father on a regular basis (e.g. “You’re no good,” “You’re gonna turn to $#!%,” etc.), I gravitated toward the wrong crowd during my teen years and wasted my time & talents on the party lifestyle and delinquency. During those lost years I collected gospel tracts, like those by John T. Chick, and had a handful of Christians share the gospel or their testimony with me. Every now and then I would break out those tracts and read ’em. On a few occasions I prayed the “sinner’s prayer” at the end because I strongly sensed that I needed an inward overhaul. I suppose I was expecting some great epiphany that would suddenly change the course of my life for the positive, but nothing changed inside when I said these prayers.

Between the ages of 15-19 I searched for the truth in what I saw was a really screwed-up world. I looked into hedonism, the occult and science, but was left discontented by the hollow non-answers they offered. Despite my collecting of the tracts and reading them from time to time, I didn’t seriously consider what the Bible had to say on the grounds that I pretty much wrote it off as myth, e.g. Adam & Eve and the “talking snake” and Noah’s Ark. The few times I did seriously try to read the Scriptures — like the Psalms — the passages struck me as incomprehensible.

Four months after my 20^th birthday, I was working alone one night as a janitor at a nice health center. It was after midnight and I was cleaning the female shower room. Suddenly something ‘clicked’ inside me while I was in a particular stall and I believed. It was awesome! I rode home that night excited with a newfound sense of peace. The next morning I informed my mother & sister that I was now a Christian. Later that day I went to ‘The Point,’ which was a personal favorite spot on the huge lake behind my parents’ house. It was there that I officially prayed a “sinner’s prayer” from memory in those tracts I collected, although it was definitely expressed from my heart.

The reason I bring up my salvation testimony is because a couple important points crop up: The first one is that this was my initial altar call experience and it didn’t happen at a church assembly. We have to get away from the idea that God and the things of God are only experienced at a building where Christians gather a couple times a week. This is so far from the truth & Scripture that it’s incredible some people actually think this way (more on this in a moment).

The second point has to do with the question of when I was technically “saved.” The three possible answers are: (1) When I first believed in the shower room, (2) when I confessed Christ to others the next morning or (3) when I “officially” prayed the sinner’s prayer at the lake.

The answer is when I first believed. The other two are the automatic fruits of believing.

**The Moment of Faith is the Point of Salvation**

The fact that the moment of genuine faith is the point of personal salvation can be verified by several passages:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

John 3:36

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.”

Acts 16:31

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

One of the most obvious passages to prove that the point of faith is the point of salvation can be observed when the thief crucified next to Christ obviously believed and the Lord immediately acknowledged his salvation (Luke 23:39-43).

Repentance (Changing Your Mind) IS Consecration

Repentance means to change one’s mind in response to the truth – whatever that truth might be – which naturally has an impact on one’s actions. For instance, I heard & read the message of Christ several times throughout my teen years but didn’t really believe it (even though I said the sinner’s prayer on a few occasions) until that one day in the women’s shower room where I changed my mind in response to the truth – I believed – and thus confessed Christ to others and started to commune with my Creator (that is, I began a prayer life).

This reveals that repentance & faith are two sides of the same coin, which explains why they’re the first two doctrines of the six basic doctrines of Christianity (Hebrews 6:1-2). It also explains why Christ and the apostles linked repentance and faith together:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1:15 (ESV)

“I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.”

Acts 20:21

The moment a person believes in a particular potent truth can be referred to as a revelation or epiphany (a sudden realization) and repentance is the natural response – changing one’s mind with the corresponding actions. This moment of belief/repentance is also a point of decision and consecration.

Decision has to do with the individual’s God-given power of volition (Deuteronomy 30:19 & Psalm 119:30).
Consecration has to do with the corresponding setting oneself apart to live according to the revelation/directive in question. The Hebrew word for ‘consecrate’ means to “to set apart,” which we are instructed to do in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1).

In other words, when we have an “altar experience” we’ll perceive a fresh revelation or directive from the Lord, but we have to decide to comply, which includes making the necessary sacrifices. This might be eliminating a piece of flesh (including thought issues) or a particular hindrance, either of these will prevent believers from fulfilling their commission (Hebrews 12:1-2). God is calling you (and me) to throw out these “idols,” which is a part of consecrating yourself. Suddenly your mind and your time are freed-up and you have a fire for God and the things of God that was not there before (or maybe it was there and you lost it due to preoccupation with an “idol”).

Recent Examples From My Own Life

On May 24^th and July 17^th of 2019 I had a profound double-whammy altar experience involving pruning, revelation & directive. It was a stunning realization where I needed to eliminate certain things from my life forever – both mentally and physically – in order to effectively fulfill God’s call and the corresponding regular assignments.

Several months later, during the December holidays, I was led to take a 40-day fast of certain things for the new year to clear my mind and increase sensitivity to the Spirit. This led to another “altar experience” in mid-January. Just to be clear: Being led to give up some things for 40 days was not the altar experience — that was just “business-as-usual” — but this paved the way for my altar experience a couple of weeks later. Anyway, I decided to comply with the LORD’s instructions (which is always the wisest choice, of course) and made the necessary sacrifices. I’m glad I did because I’ve been so blessed!

Every altar experience will involve compliance and consecration. You have to decide to comply and set yourself apart accordingly to fulfill your particular mission. Compliance always results in blessing – even if it’s “just” inward blessing, like a renewed spiritual fire or intimacy with the Lord – whereas stubborn stiff-neckedness will lead to frustration and ruin.

I should add that these three “altar experiences” didn’t occur in a church facility. Speaking of which, let me close with a relevant story…

Close

I was in a Christian band in the early 90s and at one practice a friend of the soundman visited and brought her serious boyfriend. They were complete strangers to the rest of us. During the halfway break the man shared his story: He was an unbeliever, but recently experienced some creepy things that revealed to him there was a spiritual realm. Long story short: He desperately wanted saved and so we prayed together and he received the Lord. Awesome, right?

The next day he & his girlfriend visited the assembly that most of us attended and he promptly went up to the front during the altar call. None of the band members & Co. were at this particular service because there were four different services every weekend (one on Saturday night and three on Sunday). Shortly later the man’s girlfriend called Carol (who would become my wife a year later) and informed her of her boyfriend’s altar call experience, which was wonderful. Yet she curiously made sure to emphasize that he was actually saved at the altar call at the facility (implying, of course, that he didn’t really receive salvation at the band meeting). When Carol informed the rest of us we just laughed it off and basically said “Whatever.”

What was going on here? This woman couldn’t grasp that her boyfriend believed & was saved at the band meeting, which was his first “altar experience.” In her mind – for whatever reason – to truly be saved a person had to receive the Lord and say the sinner’s prayer at an altar call at an official church service with the proper oversight of authorized clergy. Of course neither of these is true and it’s sad that some people think this way.

It’s one of the reasons this article exists.

Here’s a 13-minute video that covers the main points of this article (and more):

This article is available in book form as chapter 7 in…

The print book is available here for only $12.50 (303 pages)
The Kindle eBook is available here for just 99¢!

Both links allow you to “look inside” the book.

What is GLORY in the sense of God’s (Shekinah) GLORY?

Praise & Worship—What’s the Difference? Why are they Important?

Spiritual Growth is Like Climbing a Mountain

Holiness — A Fresh Look

Insights on Moderation

Legalism — Understanding its Many Forms

Spirituality — How to be Spirit-Controlled Rather than Flesh-Ruled

Libertinism — What’s Wrong with It and How to Walk FREE

The NOAH’S ARK Account – Real or Fable?

The account of the global flood and Noah’s ark is detailed in Genesis 6:5-9:3. Skeptics argue that the story is too fantastical to be accepted as history, particularly the Noah’s ark element. However, the account is relayed in the Bible as a factual event and not a parabolic tale, not to mention in the New Testament Christ and Peter cited it as a historical event, not a fairy tale (Matthew 24:37-40 & 1 Peter 3:20-21); same thing with the LORD in the Old Testament (Isaiah 54:9).

Here are several factoids about the Noah’s ark episode, as well as some guesswork and a few theoretical points:

The Genesis Flood began in the approximate year 2348 BC. You can read details here.
The ark was about 450 feet long by 75 feet wide, which means it was six times as long as it was wide. This happens to be the precise ratio of contemporary naval ships. It was also over 45 feet high, which is near to 5 stories high.
Speaking of stories, the ark had three stories, each 15 feet high.
A colossal rectangular vessel of these dimensions would be very stable in the sea and impossible to overturn.
The ark had the space for 522 standard boxcars while 35,000 animals the size of a sheep can fit into 150 boxcars. This means that the ark could fit as many as 125,000 animals the size of sheep. A larger vessel wasn’t made until 1884.
There are less than 18,000 land species on the planet today, but let’s generously double that to include extinct creatures and then double that to include male & female vertebrates (Genesis 6:19-20). Then add the extra five pairs of clean animals that would be used for sacrifice and food (Genesis 8:20 & 9:3). This brings us to some 72,000 creatures, which is way more than were actually on the ark; I’m just trying to illustrate how much space was available on the vessel: Since the average size of animals is smaller than that of a sheep, less than 60% of the ark’s space would’ve been used for vertebrates even if there were 72,000 vertebrates!
However, the writers of The Genesis Flood, John Whitcomb and Henry Morris, suggest that only 35,000 vertebrates needed to be on the vessel. And John Woodmorappe, author of Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study, believes that an even smaller number of vertebrates would have been kept on the ark, about 16,000 (the book goes into detail on how 8 people could have cared for this many creatures using archaic technology). Woodmorappe also points out that the word “specie” is not equal to the “created kinds” of the Genesis text, so as little as 2,000 vertebrates may have been necessary on the ark. We don’t know the exact amount of animals because the Bible doesn’t specifically say.
In any case, Very large animals, like elephants and giraffe, were likely young ones.
Hibernating species could’ve slept through much of the ordeal.
In light of the available space noted above, there was plenty of room for the multitude species of insects.
There was also ample space for a year’s supply of food for everyone on board (Genesis 6:21).
Noah was told by the LORD that the animals would come to him & his team – obviously moved by the Almighty – so they didn’t have to gather them (Genesis 6:19-20). Noah’s job was to build an ark big enough to hold them all.
Theoretically, the migration of the animals was not hindered by the separation of the continents as the land at the time consisted of a supercontinent known as Gondwana (or Gondwanaland), which separated and drifted during this critical turning point in history, resulting in our current continents & islands (Genesis 10:25). Take a look at a world map and you’ll observe how they clearly fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
A theory is that the planet became skewed on its axis during this transitory period, which produced the polar ice caps. Clues in Scripture suggest a habitable global environment, confirmed by warm weather plant life and wildlife fossilized in all areas of the planet, which means that creatures were not isolated into polar and desert sectors.
Genesis 7:11-12 shows how the entire Earth was flooded: “all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights.” The waters in the canopy encircling the Earth were unleashed and merged with the terrestrial & subterranean waters (compare Genesis 1:7). Thus the water covering encompassing the globe ceased and a new system of hydrology began that has since characterized our planet (see Job 26:8, Ecclesiastes 1:7, Isaiah 55:10 & Amos 9:6).
The total duration of the flood – beginning to end – lasted about 371 days, meaning just over a year.

Be sure to visit the awesome Ark Encounter in Kentucky (pictured above), which is located just 30 minutes south of Cincinnati right off I-75 here.

Who were the “Sons of God” and Nephilim?

Created in the Image of God — What Does it Mean?

Why is this World so Messed Up?

How Old is the Earth? (The Gap Theory vs. Young Earth Creationism, Plus other Theories)

Comparing Jesus Christ With… Superman

Did you know that Superman is the “superhero” version of Jesus Christ? If there’s any doubt, watch the movie Superman Returns (2006) where the parallel is laid on so thick it’s nigh impossible to miss.

You could say that Superman is a comic book type of Christ similar to the way Joseph is a biblical type of the Messiah.

In this article we’re going to compare & contrast the two, which will elucidate some amazing insights about our Mighty LORD. Superman, of course, is a fictional character whereas Christ is nonfictional – a real superhero!

Let the Parallels Begin…

Superman came from another world, the planet Krypton.
Christ also came from another world, the spiritual dimension called Heaven.

Superman is Kal-El, but on Earth he’s Superman.
Christ is El, the Word of the LORD (John 1:1-2) and the “Angel of the LORD,” but on Earth he’s Jesus Christ.

We’ll look at the Hebrew word “El” in a moment. Let’s first consider the name Jesus Christ: ‘Jesus’ is the Greek form of the Hebrew Yeshua (or Joshua), which was the name the angel Gabriel instructed Mary to give to her divine offspring, as shown in Luke 1:31 & 2:21. The name literally means “Yahweh saves” (or “Yahweh is salvation”). Yahweh (YHWH) is the name of God. So ‘Jesus’ (or Yeshua/Joshua) is the Lord’s proper name on Earth.

As for ‘Christ,’ it’s a title and not Jesus’ last name. It’s translated from the Greek word Christos (khris-TOS), which means “anointed one” and comes from the Hebrew mashach (maw-SHAKH), meaning “anointed” or “chosen one.” A good example of this word used in reference to Jesus in the Old Testament is Psalm 45:7. So Jesus Christ literally means Yeshua the Anointed One.

Now let’s get back to the comparisons:

Superman initially appeared on Earth as a baby in a rocket and was found by his adoptive parents, Jonathan & Martha Kent (aka Pa & Ma Kent).
Christ also manifested on Earth as a baby via Mary, who was inseminated by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:26-38). Joseph became his adoptive father.

Superman, Kal-El, was sent by his father, Jor-El.
Jesus, El, is the Son of God who was sent from Father God, also El, as humanity’s savior. Remember, ‘Jesus’ means Yeshua is salvation.

El is the generic Hebrew term for “god” and is used in reference to Yahweh, the LORD. For example, El Shaddai means “God Almighty.” Other names of the LORD using ‘El’ are: El Elyon, which means the Most High God; El Olam, which means the Everlasting God; and El Roi, which means the God who sees. You can read details here.

Superman serves humanity as their savior/deliverer, albeit only in the temporal sense, like rescuing people from a burning building or saving the Earth from a meteor.
Christ also serves humanity as our savior/deliverer: He functioned in this capacity during his earthly life in a temporal sense through teaching/preaching, healing, exorcising demons and miraculously feeding the hungry, but he also eternally delivers us from sin & death, providing eternal life (Luke 2:6-21 & Romans 6:23).

Superman disguises his true identity as normal, mild-manner Clark Kent, a news reporter, which enables him to live amongst the Earthlings day-to-day without them knowing his true nature.
The Lord also disguised himself as an Earthling to walk with people day-to-day (John 1:14) but, upon entering public service at the age of 30, he began to openly reveal that he was “I Am,” that is God (John 8:58, 18:6 & Exodus 3:14). He straightforwardly said “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” and “I and the Father are ONE” (John 14:9 & John 10:30). He’s “the first and the last” (Isaiah 44:6 & Revelation 22:13).

Clark Kent has to change into Superman before openly saving people.
Christ didn’t have to do this; he was open about who he was and his life spoke for itself.

Superman is always in costume when he helps people and stays aloof & secretive afterwards; even his pal Jimmy Olsen doesn’t know his true identity.
Christ needed no costume to teach truths that would set people free, heal those with ailments, exorcise demons, raise the dead or feed the masses.

Superman lifts heavy objects to save people, whether bridges, buildings, planes, missiles or meteors.
Christ willingly takes burdens from us as we cast them on to the Lord (Matthew 11:28-30 & 1 Peter 5:7), but also the heaviest burden of all – sin & death (Romans 4:25 & 2 Timothy 1:10).

Superman has super-breath, which is the ability to take-in or blow-out huge amounts of air; this enabled him to be a human vacuum as well as generate hurricane-force winds at will.
Christ also has “super-breath,” which includes the breath of life that enables people and all living things to exist (Genesis 2:7 & John 1:3-4). He also imparted Holy Ghost anointing with his breath (John 20:22) and conquers armies of foes with a mere word (Revelation 19:21).

Superman has heat-vision which he strategically used to defeat his foes.
The LORD also has his own version of “heat-vision” which he uses to vanquish his enemies, whether in this temporal world (Revelation 20:7-9) or on Judgment Day (Hebrews 10:26-27,31), the latter of which you can read more about here.

Superman’s archenemy is Lex Luthor while Christ’s enemy is Satan.
Superman has to fight & defeat Luthor repeatedly because Luthor keeps resurfacing.
Christ delivered people who were under the power of Satan during his earthly life (Acts 10:38), but defeated Satan once and for all through his death & resurrection (Colossians 2:15 & Hebrews 2:14).
The body of Christ — anyone worldwide born of the “seed” of Christ (1 Peter 1:23 & Titus 3:5) — can function as Christ did on Earth. No one believer is Jesus Christ, of course, but believers worldwide make up the body of Christ on this planet and therefore represent him and continue his works (Acts 10:38).

When Superman saves people from one tragedy or another – e.g. a crashing jet or earthquake – the people are blessed and wowed, but they remain as mortally feeble as they were beforehand.
When Christ saves people he empowers & equips us to walk in the same power. For instance, the Lord taught that faith is the key to salvation, temporal and eternal (Mark 11:22-24); when he healed people he’d emphasize “your faith has healed you” (Matthew 9:22, Mark 5:34, 10:52, Luke 8:48 & 18:42) and he sent out his disciples to heal others and exorcise wicked spirits (Mark 16:15-18, Luke 10:17 & 24:49).
In short, Superman couldn’t impart his power to others while Christ could, did and does.

Superman received his power by originating from a planet with a much greater gravitational pull.
Christ received his “powers” through (1) growing in faith, (2) the empowerment & gifts of the Holy Spirit and (3) the assistance of angels.

Let’s consider all three of these and apply them to New Covenant believers, like you and me:

As the infant Jesus grew into a man, he also grew in wisdom & grace (favor), which would include growing in faith (Luke 2:40,52). Believers are also instructed to grow in knowledge, grace (favor) and faith (2 Peter 3:18 & 2 Corinthians 10:15). It’s through this — perhaps combined with #2 — that Christ healed the ailing, exorcised demons, miraculously fed masses, raised the dead and communicated with those from the third Heaven in a celestially transfigured state (Matthew 17:1-3).
Christ was baptized in the Spirit when John baptized him in water at the Jordan River (Matthew 3:16-17). The baptism of the Spirit is also available to all believers who already have the Spirit living in them and are therefore “temples of the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19). If you haven’t already, be sure to receive this powerful gift from God and pray in the Spirit regularly to supplement your prayer in your own language, which you can read about here. It was the anointing that came through the baptism of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12) that Yeshua was able to discern someone’s thoughts/intentions (Matthew 26:25, Mark 8:33 & John 13:27), know where needed resources could be found (Matthew 17:24-27), knew what a man was doing when he wasn’t physical present (John 1:48-49), knew details about soon-to-come events (Luke 22:8-13) as well as prophesy details concerning the end of the age (Matthew 24).
The Messiah was so built-up in faith that he was able to utilize the assistance of angels in life-threatening situations. For instance, when he was arrested in Gethsemane he stated that he could have called down twelve legions of angels, but he didn’t since his arrest was according to God’s plan of salvation for humanity (Matthew 26:53). Here are four occasions where Christ escaped critical situations with the obvious assistance of angels (even though angels aren’t mentioned):

Luke 4:28-30 where the incensed people of Nazareth attempted to throw Jesus off a cliff but he escaped by mysteriously walking “right through the crowd”
John 7:30,44 where those who wanted to seize the Messiah couldn’t lay a hand on him “because his time had not yet come”
John 8:59 where the offended religionists picked up stones to slay Yeshua but he miraculously hid himself and slipped by them
And John 10:31,39 where a group tried to murder him in Solomon’s Colonnade and he “escaped their wrath.”

Believers can also walk in this kind of faith/power, but it takes drawing near to God, growing in knowledge and grace (2 Peter 3:18), which means we’ll have to turn away from the distractions of the world and eliminate worthless time-wasters from our lives like excessive TV/movie-watching and so forth (please notice I said “excessive”), which you can read about here.

Superman had x-ray vision and could see through walls and so on.
Christ, as just noted, could discern people’s thoughts to some degree by the Spirit (Matthew 26:25, Mark 8:33 & John 13:27), as well as know what a man was doing when he wasn’t physically present (John 1:48-49) and knew details about soon-to-come events in his life & others (Matthew 16:21, 26:34 & Mark 8:31).

Superman could pass through solid objects by vibrating his molecules at super-speed.
Christ could also pass through solid objects after obtaining his glorified body upon being resurrected from the dead (John 20:26). More than that, he could teleport at will (Luke 24:31,36-37), which is superior to Superman’s super-speed since it eliminates the need to physically travel from point A to point B.
The awesome news is that believers are co-heirs in Christ (Romans 8:17) and will receive the same type of glorified body (1 Corinthians 15:42-54), which means we’ll have these same incredible abilities in the eternal age of the New Heavens and New Earth. Since these bodies will be imperishable we’ll be invulnerable like Superman. And, since they’ll be partly-spiritual, we’ll be able to “fly” by floating in the air or riding the wind; for proof, Christ was able to walk on water by faith while in his mortal body (Matthew 14:22-33), how much more will we be able to do this with glorified bodies?

This zeroes in on one of the most important differences between Superman and Christ…

The people Superman saves can never be like Superman – they’re doomed to live as fragile mortals and ultimately succumb to old age & eternal death.
Christ, by contrast, saves his people from death by dying in their place and giving them eternal life (John 3:16) – ultimately providing them with the very same kind of immortal, glorified body he has!

I can’t help but ask: Is Jesus Christ your superhero, your savior from sin and eternal death? If not, salvation is available to you simply through repentance and faith (Acts 20:21) in response to the awesome message of Christ (John 3:16,36). Just call on the name of the LORD (Romans 10:9-10) and you’ll receive spiritual rebirth by the Holy Spirit (John 3:3,6 & Titus 3:5). From there, you’ll grow spiritually by adding these seven qualities.

**Superman is Not a Counterfeit of Christ, but Rather a Type of Christ**

I once heard a zealous young minister go on a rant about how Superman is a counterfeit of Jesus Christ, but this simply isn’t true. He’s actually a superhero type of Christ. You see, to be a counterfeit of Christ the individual would have to be a real person, like Sun Myung Moon, and obviously Superman isn’t a real person. Rather, he’s a decidedly fictional comic book character that has gone on to appear in TV shows and cinema.

In theology, a ‘type’ is a special kind of symbol that represents a greater truth. For instance, Egypt and the bondage that the Hebrews suffered there are types of (1) the world and (2) slavery to sin.

As far as Christ-typology goes, Joseph was a type of Christ in that Joseph (1) was the beloved son of his father, Jacob, (2) was sent by his father to his brothers (3) was hated and rejected by them and sold for pieces of silver, (4) was severely tempted and overcame, (5) was “killed” and “came back to life” as far as his father was concerned, (6) graciously forgave his offenders when they repented, (7) subsequently provided them a new home that was a paradise compared to where they had been living, at least as far as sustenance goes.

Types are not perfect symbols of what they represent and therefore not every detail in Joseph’s life corresponds to the Messiah. Similarly, Superman is an obvious comic book type of Christ, but not everything in his lore matches that of Yeshua.

Nevertheless, it’s an interesting parallel and I hope you were blessed by these comparisons & contrasts. No doubt you have a greater revelation of our Mighty LORD.

Related Topics:

Jesus Christ — Milksop or Mighty Lord?

Christianity — Does it Weaken People or Empower?

THE Angel of the LORD — Mighty Angel or Pre-Incarnate Christ?

Spiritual Warfare — The Basics

Can a Certain Style of ART Be Evil?

To answer this question, let’s first define art: Art is creative expression to entertain or share a message. While it’s usually centered around aesthetic pleasure, this isn’t always the case; sometimes the artist focuses on ugliness/offensiveness to shock or create a mood and convey the message, assuming there is one. Forms of art include paintings, illustration, sculpture, music, movies, poetry, crafts, photography and storytelling. Styles of art refer to the differing types of art in any form. Even the works of architects, engineers and landscapers — buildings, bridges, etc. — could be considered artistic works to some degree, combining the practical with the aesthetical.

Where does the desire to create originate? The answer can be found in the very first verse of the Bible: “In the beginning God created…” Human beings are created in God’s likeness (Genesis 1:26-27) and the Scriptures show that it’s spiritual to imitate our Creator (Ephesians 5:1). In other words, we create because our Maker is a creator.

No art form or its particular style is intrinsically evil. As Paul put it by the Holy Spirit: “I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself” (Romans 14:14). Art is simply a tool for people to use. It’s neutral. Only the message it conveys can be evil. But evil shouldn’t be confused with heavy, brooding, shocking or ugly. While these things aren’t light, fun, pleasant or beautiful, they’re relevant to the human experience in a fallen world. Hence, the God-breathed Scriptures are full of heavy, shocking and ugly material. Anyone who questions this hasn’t read much of the Bible.

Furthermore, just because an individual might be an unbeliever it doesn’t automatically make his/her art evil. For instance, an atheist who hates Christianity could paint an outstanding picture of a beautiful landscape. Would this make the painting evil? No, the piece simply conveys the inspiring beauty of the Earth; the spiritual condition of the artist is irrelevant. So a Christian could hang this work in his/her home and enjoy it for what it is. You could say that believers are free to enjoy works of art that aren’t stamped “safe” by their local Christian store (or their pastor/sect).

Conversely, just because a Christian paints a painting or writes a song it doesn’t automatically elevate these works to the level of “sacred art.” They could very well be derivative, shallow or mediocre art; the fact that the artist is a believer is irrelevant. Believing in God, by the way, shouldn’t be an excuse to produce bad art!

Of course art is a matter of taste and so not everyone likes the same kinds of art or styles of the art in question. But just because someone doesn’t personally like a particular form/style of art doesn’t make it evil or worthless. It just means they don’t like it; and that’s their prerogative.

To illustrate, I don’t like movies that are musicals wherein people suddenly break out in song & dance while doing mundane activities, but that doesn’t negate these kinds of musicals as a legitimate form of art. Nor do I look down on those who appreciate these films. My mother loved ’em. (Just so there’s no confusion, I don’t mind musicals where the singing/dancing is intrinsic to the story, like the excellent 1952 version of Moulin Rouge).

I also don’t favor country music or rap, generally speaking (although I like Western music), but that doesn’t make those styles of music evil or worthless. Nor do I negatively judge those who listen to these styles. It’s a matter of a person’s subculture and personal preference.

‘What About Metal Music, Including Death Metal and Black Metal?’

Again, every style of music is art and art is not intrinsically evil. But it can become evil if the creators use it to convey a wicked message, like encouraging sin and glorifying evil, whether satanism, the occult or what have you.

But you have to be careful in making rash judgments because some works might seem like they glorify evil on the surface, but it’s not really the case. For instance, take the 1985 album Seek and Destroy by the band Philadelphia. The cover looks decidedly satanic, as you can see below, but all the group members are Evangelical believers and the songs are blatantly pro-Christian. While this art isn’t something you’d hang on your living room wall, the band obviously used it to reach metal listeners who would find the cover “cool” or what have you.

Now someone might argue that the cover art makes the album evil, but that would be like saying certain passages in the Bible that frankly address the devil make the Bible evil, such as “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). No doubt this is the message the band wanted to get across and it’s a good message.

Similarly, you don’t have to approve of the personal ‘look’ that a particular artist cops. Christian musicians look/dress a certain way because, in many cases, they came out of a particular subculture and therefore minister to that demographic, which is a biblical principle (1 Corinthians 7:20-24 & 9:22). So we have to be careful about hastily denouncing artists as “worldly” because their style of dress or hairstyle might strike us as different and aren’t akin to what we would likely see at a conventional church service. You can read the Bible’s actual definition of worldliness in 1 John 2:16-17.

As far as the claim that metal music is inherently evil goes, it has been called “the devil’s music” and there have been several bands with a satanic message, although often it’s just a shtick to draw attention and sell albums/tickets. Nevertheless, the idea that metal music is innately “of the devil” is a stereotypical myth. Again, all art forms are a neutral tool for what the artist wants to convey, whatever his/her ideology.

For proof, the band Black Sabbath started the genre and they had a few overtly pro-Christian songs, like “After Forever” and “War Pigs.” If you doubt this, just read the lyrics. Here’s the final stanza of “War Pigs”:

Now in darkness world stops turning,

Ashes where the bodies burning

No more War Pigs have the power,

Hand of God has struck the hour

Day of judgment, God is calling

On their knees the war pigs crawling,

Begging mercies for their sins

Satan, laughing, spreads his wings

Oh, LORD, yeah

I’m not saying Black Sabbath was a “Christian band,” just that – clearly – some of their songs were pro-Christian and anti-satanic. Again, this is the band that started the genre.

Since that time there have been countless Christian-oriented songs in metal music. Some bands merely dabbled in an occasional biblical song whereas others shot for full-tilt Christian status, which I’ll give examples of momentarily.

Let’s first consider the popular 1982 song “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” which is about an imprisoned man from centuries past who is taken to the gallows pole. Here are the concluding verses…

When you know that your time is close at hand

Maybe then you’ll begin to understand

Life down there is just a strange illusion

Yeah, Hallowed be Thy Name

Yeah, Hallowed by Thy Name

The lyrics don’t indicate if the man was guilty of a crime or not, but these words clearly show that, after his his body is hanged, he goes to heaven wherein he naturally praises the LORD. For those not in the know, this song was released by Iron Maiden, who were wrongly labeled “satanic” in the early 80s due to their song “The Number of the Beast,” which was actually based on a dream that writer Steve Harris had. In other words, the song is strictly fantasy-based and has nothing to do with the number of the beast as detailed in the book of Revelation. Iron Maiden songs address myriad topics with many focusing on history, like “Aces High,” which is about WW1 flying aces. Thematically, they basically fall within the ‘neutral’ category. Meanwhile, their drummer, Nicko McBrain, has been an unabashed Christian for over twenty years.

Obviously I’m not encouraging anyone to rush out and purchase albums by these bands – that’s between you & God and where you happen to be at spiritually (your calling & the counsel of the Spirit, etc.). What I encourage is moderation in all things. After all, even a good thing can become bad if you allow it to become an “idol” in your life, that is, something that fascinates you to the point of negatively preoccupying your time & attention. “Idols” by their very nature cool your affection for the LORD and hinder your sensitivity to the leading of the Spirit. Every believer has to be vigilant to prevent this from happening, whatever the “idol” might be.

As to the claim that certain styles of metal are inherently evil – such as death metal, black metal and gothic metal – this simply isn’t true. Whether a style of music is evil or not depends on the message of any given band/song. Here’s a list of several prominent styles of metal and the pro-Christian groups that have used this art to share overtly biblical themes (you can click on the sample songs in parentheses if you’re interested):

Rock/metal: Bride (sample song), Barnabas (sample song) (sample song)
Heavy metal: Saint (sample song), Septer (sample song)
Power metal: Sardonyx (sample song), Theocracy
Progressive metal: Tourniquet (sample song)
Thrash metal: Ultimatum (sample song), Hand of Fire (sample song)
Doom metal: Seventh Angel (sample song), Veni Domine
Death metal: Living Sacrifice, Creation of Death
Unblack metal: Antestor
Gothic rock/metal: Saviour Machine (sample song)
Nu-metal: P.O.D. (sample song), Demon Hunter (sample song)

All of these bands are blatantly and boldly Christian (which is why I included song samples so you can see for yourself). Through the medium of music & live performance they venture into ‘enemy territory’ to share the truths of God’s Word, which is a challenging task to say the least. (It’s much easier to “speak to the choir” at church services). In short, these musicians should be respected.

Furthermore, as noted earlier, there are secular bands that have released occasional songs with glaringly pro-biblical lyrics, like Helloween, Megadeth, Deadly Blessing, Trouble, Riot, Meliah Rage and many more. I’m not advocating that you listen to these groups; I’m just saying that they’ve released songs that contain positive Christian themes.

The reason I went into a little detail about metal is because this style of music has been slandered by sincere-but-sincerely-wrong people as wholly evil when that’s obviously not the case. It’s a lie; and the devil is the “father of lies” (John 8:44). You may not like (or understand) this style — and that’s perfectly okay — but please don’t slander the good examples of this music or the genuine children of God who like it, write it and perform it. Anyone who does so — and is stubbornly impenitent — will have to answer for it when they come face-to-face with the Mighty Christ at the Judgment Seat.

Now let’s consider a linking argument…

‘The Only Truly Spiritual Music Is Praise & Worship’

Praise & Worship is indeed spiritual, but it isn’t the only God-approved music out there. Praise & worship is its own genre and is made specifically for Christian devotion. Praise ushers in God’s presence and worship (adoration) is the response to being in the Lord’s presence. You can read more about this here. This explains why I spend more time listening to praise & worship than any other style of music, by far. It facilitates a spiritual atmosphere. Need I say more? But let’s not be stupid and suggest that this is the only kind of musical style that Christians can listen to or the only genre that’s approved of God.

For biblical proof, consider the songs we observe in the Bible, like the Psalms, which consist of the lyrics to actual songs. These songs, as well as poetry in the Bible, don’t only feature praise & worship. They also include emotional (brutally honest) venting, romance, historical accounts, prophecy, evangelism and even fantasy elements. For details see this article.

Let’s face it, praise & worship is limited in its topical scope. It’s naturally all about praising & worshiping the LORD, which means this style of music omits a lot of important truths chronicled in the Bible. For instance, generally speaking, praise & worship doesn’t detail the sobering prophecies chronicled in Revelation & elsewhere or the importance of spiritual warfare or the horrors of divine judgment or the historical truths of our spiritual forefathers & foremothers (that is, the good, the bad and the ugly of their lives). Christian metal, by contrast, addresses all of these things and much more; and is often very frank about it.

So, please, let’s drop this notion that praise & worship is the only God-approved music. It isn’t. For instance, Solomon’s ‘hit’ song was about true romance and doesn’t even mention God; I’m talking about the Song of Songs, which happens to be one whole book of the Bible. The LORD’s not one-dimensional and it’s healthy for us to imitate that quality (Ephesians 5:1).

Keep in mind, as already covered, that everything we do – including the music we listen to – must be done with moderation lest it become a hindrance in our lives (Hebrews 12:1-2). That includes collecting & listening to various forms of music and keeping up with the myriad artists, including praise & worship.

‘Well Horror Movies Are Certainly Evil’

They can be. But, again, it depends on the message that’s delivered. If the message is good then that makes the movie good in at least one sense. And, if the message is neutral, that means it can be viewed as a piece of art & entertainment, depending on the tastes of the viewer. Some Christians don’t like horror movies – or movies period – and that’s their prerogative.

I heard one preacher make a blanket statement denouncing all horror flicks because they’re theoretically created for the purpose of creeping people out one way or another, which – he argued – creates a spirit of fear. But what if the purpose of scaring/shocking people has a worthwhile moral, like the positive message that good people can overcome evil if they rise to the challenge and persevere?

Speaking of which, what about all the horrific & shocking stories/situations chronicled in God’s very Word? Here are some glaring examples (in no certain order):

Phinehas, a priest, driving a spear through both a brazenly rebellious Israelite & his Midianite woman (Numbers 25:8);
David chopping off Goliath’s head and parading it around as a trophy (1 Samuel 17:50-57);
David’s lust for the nude Bathsheba and his subsequent adultery and murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 11);
Lot’s daughters’ incestuous actions (Genesis 19:30-38);
Jael (a woman) hammering a tent peg through Sisera’s temple into the ground (Judges 4: 17-21);
the mass slaughter of infants (Matthew 2:16-18);
whole cities put to the sword, including women and children (Joshua 11:11-23);
the shocking global bloodshed in Revelation (chapters 6-19);
the naked demoniac (Luke 8:26-39);
the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:3–25);
Judah having sex with his daughter-in-law who was posing as a prostitute (Genesis 38);
the overt eroticism of the Song of Songs.

Need I go on?

The reason I added the Song of Songs. to this list is because — while it’s certainly not horrific — it can be shocking the first time you read it. For instance, I initially read it when I was 20 and my jaw dropped at the express sexual descriptions within the figurative language. Yet this poetic book is a blessing to God’s people because it shows that sex is a beautiful thing in the context for which the Creator intended. Only outside of this context does it become dirty and destructive.

The bottom line is that horror movies are art and art is good, bad or neutral depending on the content and message, as well as the leading of the Spirit in the life of the potential viewer in question (for instance, if the Lord instructs you not to fish for 40 days because you’ve become obsessed with the activity, it becomes a sin if you do it anyway even though there’s nothing intrinsically evil about fishing itself. How exactly would it become a sin? Because the Spirit led you to remove it from your life for a season and you disobeyed).

Examples of quality horror flicks include Jaws, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Stigmata and even the Jurassic Park films which include seriously horrific moments. You may not like some of these movies, but I appreciate most of them for their artistic merit, entertainment value and, in some cases, their ultimate message, which doesn’t mean I think they’re flawless.

Speaking of the Jurrasic Park flicks, the characters are not fleshed-out enough in my humble opinion, although they’re certainly flesh-eaten.*

* That’s a joke.

Which brings us to gore. Is the presence of overt gore in a movie automatically evil? No, God created blood and the insides of human bodies. When a surgeon operates on a patient to save life & limb it’s good, not negative. Similarly, The Thin Red Line has gory battle scenes, but they illustrate the horrors of warfare and point to something deeper. Even some slasher flicks have a good message about the reality of evil people, the immorality of sexual promiscuity and boldly confronting evil & triumphing.

You can read more on this topic here.

Closing Word

Notice what Solomon said about life:

So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

“Enjoyment of life” is relevant to our sojourn on this earth, which would include the appreciation of art. But, as with everything, we need to keep wisdom in view and be careful to “guard [our] hearts as the wellspring of life,” which you can read about here.

How to keep BALANCED in every area of Life

Insights on Moderation

R-Rated Movies — Yes or No?

Legalism — Understanding its Many Forms

Libertinism — What’s Wrong with It and How to Walk FREE

The Seven Keys to SPIRITUAL GROWTH

Should You “Obey” Your Pastor?

There’s only one verse in the Bible where it suggests that believers are to “obey” their spiritual leaders:

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Hebrews 13:17

The verse instructs us to “obey” those who are over us in the Lord and “submit to their authority.” Does this mean to obey and submit in the absolute sense? If your spiritual leaders told you to jump off the roof of a building, should you do it? Of course not. If they instructed you to do something immoral, should you do it? Clearly not. So these instructions have obvious parameters or limitations. Such limitations can be observed throughout the rest of the New Testament.

The exhortation here to obey & submit to spiritual leaders is akin to other appeals in the Epistles for wives to submit to husbands, children to obey parents and believers to submit to governing authorities (Ephesians 5:22-6:9 & Romans 13:1-6). Such instructions are only applicable when the authority gives good or neutral instructions. Otherwise “we must obey God rather than human beings” (Acts 5:29).

One important guideline of Bible interpretation is that we must “interpret Scripture with Scripture,” meaning our interpretation of a passage has to gel with what the rest of Scripture teaches on that topic, as long as it’s relevant (for instance, dietary laws for Hebrews under the Old Covenant are decidedly irrelevant to New Testament believers; see this article for details). You see, the Bible itself is the ultimate context of every passage and, therefore, every passage must be interpreted within that context, not to mention its more immediate context, i.e. the book, chapter & verses in question.

Clearer and more detailed passages obviously trump the more ambiguous and sketchy ones. This paves the way for balance and keeps believers from taking one or two passages and going to extremes. Consider the above verse, Hebrews 13:17, authoritarian pastors could take it and implement a spirit of domination over their congregants. They could say, for example: “As a believer you are obligated to obey God’s Word and God’s Word says that you must obey me and submit to me.” They might say it in a more subtle manner, but — whatever the case — this fosters an unhealthy dictatorial environment.

We know for a fact that this passage doesn’t give ministers a license to be authoritarian because 1 Peter 5:1-4 plainly states that spiritual leaders are to “serve” and not “lord it over” believers. Moreover, Christ repeatedly rebuked the arrogance of the religious leaders of 1^st century Israel. Matthew 23 is a good example.

Notice what Jesus plainly taught about Christian leadership to his 12 disciples:

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:25-28

This doesn’t mean, of course, that Christian leaders are to be spineless milksops; Christ, Peter, Paul and John were anything but, yet it does reveal the style of leadership believers are to have — an attitude of a servant or slave. Do servants or slaves “lord it over” others? Obviously not. Do they “exercise authority” with a dictatorial, intimidating air? Again, the answer is obvious. The Messiah taught that Christian leaders are not to be like this, period.

Furthermore, beware of a spirit of condemnation — aka “condo” — wherein the minister tends to put believers down and tries to shame them into obedience. We must understand that the authority ministers have is for building believers up and not tearing them down (2 Corinthians 10:8 & 13:10). This is stressed in Ephesians 4:11-13 where Paul detailed the purpose of all fivefold ministers: “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”. Of course, this doesn’t negate the necessity of righteous correction when appropriate (Matthew 18:15-17 & Proverbs 27:5), keeping in mind that correction works both ways (in other words, if the pastor or any other spiritual mentor is walking in sin he/she needs to be corrected).

With this understanding, never feel obligated to obey or submit to ministers who have an arrogant, authoritarian bearing. If you do, I guarantee you’ll be abused in some manner down the road. As for those who have proven their godly character and sound doctrine via rightly dividing the Scriptures (as opposed to just weakly parroting whatever their sect/camp claims is true doctrine), please submit to them so that their work will be a joy and not a burden. Hold them in the highest regard in love, assuming they’re diligent and not lazy (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13). After all, if their work is a joy they’ll obviously serve better and you’ll be blessed because of it. This is just common sense.

Submit to their vision for the local assembly and worldwide Church and do your part to help it manifest. If you can’t do this, please leave and find a fellowship with whose vision you can agree. After all, two opposing visions naturally create di-vision.

As far as obeying spiritual authorities goes, we’ve already established that this doesn’t mean to obey them in an absolute sense. The Greek word translated as “obey” in Hebrews 13:17 is peithó (PAI-tho), which means to be persuaded of what is trustworthy. For instance, the Lord persuades the yielded believer to be confident in His preferred-will (observe how peithó is translated as “I am confident” in Galatians 5:10 and as “I am convinced” in 2 Timothy 1:12). This involves obedience, yes, but it is the result of God’s persuasion through (1) the proper instruction/interpretation of God’s Word and (2) the leading of the Spirit.

So — by all means — be sure to obey what your spiritual leaders have proven to be true from God’s Word as confirmed in your own study time with the help of your Counselor (1 John 2:27). But never blindly obey anyone, especially if you sense they’re putting on big-headed airs to impress or intimidate.

This article is also a chapter in…

You can purchase the print book here for only $7.38 (175 pages)

Or get the Kindle eBook here for only 99¢

Ministerial Pitfalls and Abuses

Condemnation & Authoritarianism

Mentor & Protégé Dynamics

Legalism — Understanding its Many Forms

Nosiness and Manipulation (NOT Spiritual)

Official Prophets (Ministers) and Independent Prophets (Ministers)

Should Ministers Be Addressed with Titles?

Judging—When SHOULD You Judge and When SHOULDN’T You Judge?

Spiritual Growth — The Four Stages

Spiritual Growth is Like Climbing a Mountain

Handling Personal Offenses vs. Handling Criminal Acts

There’s a huge difference between dealing with personal offenses as opposed to dealing with severe criminal acts. The former is a matter of peace between people in the Church, as well as society (relatives, co-workers, neighbors, etc.), whereas the latter is a matter of protecting yourself & others in your community (or anywhere) from wicked thugs, as well as acquiring justice when a crime is committed.

In this article we’re going to FIRST address how the New Testament instructs us to handle personal offenses committed by (1) fellow believers and (2) unbelievers, which will include a look at (3) the principle of overcoming evil with good. SECOND, we’ll address how to handle serious criminal acts committed by whomever/wherever. Feel free to skip to the section that interests you.

The biblical data featured in this article is vital to the health of modern believers because, generally speaking, we’ve been fed an unbalanced diet on the topic and this facilitates the “doormat syndrome,” which is a weakly submissive response to abuse and crime. Here’s an example: A friend of mine dated a woman who, unbeknownst to him, fraudulently purchased items with his credit card that accumulated to a total of $20,000. They broke up during this period and her crime was eventually uncovered. Incredibly, my friend — who’s a working class individual — passively responded, “I’m not going to protest it; I’m just a doormat.” Yes, he literally said this! Instead of righteously holding this woman accountable to her criminal behavior he just let the issue go with the intent of slowly paying off her selfish materialism.

This is not what the Bible teaches! The LORD loves justice and hates crime (Isaiah 61:8). In fact, justice and righteousness are the very foundation of God’s throne (Psalm 89:14). Yes, God is love, but “love does not delight in evil” (1 Corinthians 13:6). This woman — supposedly a Christian — should’ve been held accountable for her crime and paid the consequences. Instead she’s off scot-free while my friend is still paying for her criminal indulgences.

This is absurd. The New Testament does not instruct believers to be passive doormats to abuse and crime like this. Rather, it provides brilliant tactics on how to overcome evil with good, including tough love when fitting, like confrontation and open rebuke; as well as utilizing the governing authorities & the corresponding legal system to acquire justice in criminal situations. Even in cases where the believer is called to “suffer according to God’s will” — like Spirit-led martyrdom — praying for one’s persecutors is anything but passive since it releases God & his kingdom into the situation.

Let’s start with…

New Testament Instructions on Handling Personal Offenses

Observe the Messiah’s instructions for dealing with an offending believer:

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. ⁴ Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

Luke 17:3-4

Jesus was not talking about a serious crime here, like rape, assault, robbery or the murder of a loved one. If someone commits a crime like this you need to take it to the governing authorities, which are established by God to punish criminals and hold the power to execute when appropriate: “they are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:1-6). We are instructed to submit to these authorities, which means we report the crime and seek justice when a serious CRIME is committed. If someone broke into your house and raped/killed your loved one would you just automatically dismiss the offense – that is, forgive the thug – or would you first contact the police and do everything in your power to apprehend justice? Obviously the latter. We’ll look at dealing with criminal acts in more detail later.

So Christ was talking about personal offenses here, like snubbing, malicious gossip (backbiting), insults, lying, minor theft and so forth. When fellow believers offend in this manner they should first be confronted and, then, forgiven when they repent. ‘Forgive’ literally means to “cancel the debt” or “dismiss the charge.” When the offender is stubbornly unrepentant we are not to dismiss the offense. Jesus specified this condition in more detail here:

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ ¹⁷ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

Matthew 18:15-17

When a fellow believer sins against us we’re not to gossip about it to others, but rather go to the offending person in private and share with them what they did to offend us. As far as is possible, we should do this with a humble, compassionate spirit, which sometimes isn’t possible because the offense in question is so offensive. If the offender refuses to repent then we are to get one or two spiritual believers and confront the person again. These additional people will naturally help make sure the charge is authentic. If the offender is still not repentant then we’re to tell it to the church in general so that the person is socially pressured to ’fess up and make a turnaround. If the offender continues to be stubborn and unrepentant then we’re to regard him/her as a pagan or tax-collector. A pagan is an unbeliever, which means you stop treating the person as if they were a brother or sister in the Lord because his/her actions have proven otherwise.

Please notice that Jesus Christ himself said that we are NOT to dismiss the offense—that is, forgive the person’s transgression—when s/he is stubbornly unrepentant, but rather excommunicate him/her from the fellowship. If the offender doesn’t go to your assembly, which is often the case today, then you excommunicate him/her from your personal fellowship; meaning you cut relational ties. The offense in question is only to be dismissed—forgiven—if the offender REPENTS. Only then should he or she be forgiven and welcomed back into the church or personal fellowship.

The apostle Paul taught the same thing when there was an unrepentant fornicator in the Corinth church; he instructed the believers in no uncertain terms to EXPEL HIM from the assembly (1 Corinthians 5:1-5,12-13). Thankfully, the guy later repented and so Paul encouraged the Corinthians to forgive him and warmly welcome him back into the fellowship (2 Corinthians 2:6-11).

Please notice that Paul only instructed the Corinthians to forgive this man when he was willing to humbly repent. The reason for this is obvious: It holds offenders accountable to their negative behavior and encourages repentance, i.e. positive change.

This is further backed up by Paul when he instructed believers to “Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13) and “forgive each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). We are to forgive just as the LORD forgave us, which is followed up in the very next verse with an exhortation to be imitators of God as dearly loved children (Ephesians 5:1). If we’re to imitate the LORD by forgiving just as he forgives, the question is naturally raised: When specifically does God grant us his forgiveness after we’ve missed it? Answer: When we humbly confess (1 John 1:8-9 & Psalm 32:5). Since confessing sin would be a completely useless gesture if we intended on continuing in the transgression the phrase is synonymous with repentance. To ‘repent’ means to change one’s mind in response to truth (Isaiah 55:7). Without humble repentance, God forgives nothing (Acts 20:21), which explains why repentance is the first basic doctrine of Christianity (Hebrews 6:1-2) and why “repent” was the first word of John the Baptist & Jesus’ first sermons (Matthew 3:2 & 4:17).

So the most important personages of the New Testament plainly taught believers to NOT dismiss the offense — to not forgive — on occasions where the offending believer is stubbornly unrepentant. When this happens we should of course intercede for him/her in the hope that they’ll turn around and fellowship will be restored.

Unfortunately, most Christian ministers and sects ignore these crystal-clear scriptural instructions. They wrongly teach that believers are obligated to forgive everyone for everything all the time, no conditions whatsoever, but the New Testament teaches otherwise. This idea—that we are to constantly offer immediate and universal forgiveness, no conditions—is a grossly false doctrine. It’s dangerous to believers’ spiritual health and can even cause people to reject Christianity altogether because it is so absurd and totally misrepresents Christianity. It foolishly fails to hold people accountable to their offenses and therefore perpetuates the negative behavior in question.

The New Testament teaches no such thing.

‘What about Matthew 6:14-15 and Mark 11:25?’

These are great passages with great truths, but they have to be balanced out by the above verses since they provide necessary detail that these two passages lack. This is the hermeneutical rule “Scripture interprets Scripture,” which means that passages with more exposition naturally help interpret verses that lack detail. With this understanding, Matthew 6:14-15 and Mark 11:25 emphasize that it’s imperative that we forgive on all occasions where we’re obligated to forgive; that is, when an offending believer humbly repents (e.g. Luke 17:3-4 & 2 Corinthians 2:6-11).

It might help to understand that this is the only way the LORD forgives us when we miss it: He forgives us when we humbly confess, meaning repent (1 John 1:8-9). And we are instructed to imitate God in this regard:

³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

¹ Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children

Ephesians 4:32-5:1

There were no chapter divisions in the original epistles: Hence, verse 1 immediately follows verse 32. In light of this, we’re to imitate God—that is, follow God’s example—in regards to forgiveness. And we know God doesn’t forgive apart from humble penitence (1 John 1:8-9), which explains why repentance is the first basic doctrine of Christianity (Hebrews 6:1-2) and why the first word of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ’s sermons was ‘Repent’ (Matthew 3:2 & 4:17).

When we fail to “rightly divide” the Scriptures by considering all relevant passages we inevitably fall into error; and error doesn’t set free. It can’t. It won’t. Only the truth sets free.

‘But Jesus Forgave his Murderers on the Cross’

Actually Christ didn’t forgive anyone when he was on the cross. Read the text closely:

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Luke 23:33-34

As you can see, Christ prayed to the Father for HIM to forgive his murderers, which means Jesus was praying for his persecutors to come to repentance because THIS IS THE ONLY WAY GOD FORGIVES SIN (Acts 20:21). God doesn’t forgive the arrogant unrepentant; He only forgives the humbly repentant (1 John 1:8-9). It’s an axiom. For now, God is patiently extending mercy to the unsaved in the hope that they’ll eventually be moved to repentance & reconciliation. Those who refuse will be judged and discarded into the lake of fire where they’ll suffer the “second death,” which means they won’t be forgiven by the LORD (Revelation 20:11-15, Matthew 10:28 & Hebrews 10:26-27,31).

So what Jesus was doing on the cross was precisely what he instructed believers to do when we are mistreated for his name: Pray for our persecutors. Stephen did the same thing when he was martyred (Acts 7:60). We’ll look at praying for offenders in a moment; let’s first address…

Casting Your Cares on the LORD (aka Venting)

Those who support the idea that Christians must immediately forgive everyone for everything all the time, no conditions whatsoever, claim that not forgiving an offender will automatically result in bitterness and hate. But they’re confusing forgiving with venting. To vent to God means to cast your cares/burdens/offenses on to the Lord in prayer, as observed in Psalm 55:22, 1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 62:8 and 142:1-3.

Casting your cares like this should be done across the board including situations where you are seriously offended and the offender is unrepentant. Discarding such burdens on the Lord will keep you free of bitterness and hatred. But venting to God is not forgiving. ‘Forgive’ literally means to “cancel the debt” or “dismiss the offense” and the Bible gives us precise instructions on when to do this and when not to do it. To forgive someone of a severe offense prematurely is folly. However, we are instructed to cast (vent) all our cares unto the LORD, which includes the hurt, violation and frustration we experience due to various offenses. When we do this, the LORD bears our burdens and we free ourselves from bitterness or hatred taking root.

Why cast our cares/burdens/offenses on to the LORD? Because we can’t handle them. Just as we must remove physical waste from our bodies so we must remove emotional waste. Venting is as vital to your spiritual-mental health as the large intestine is to your physical health – the waste must be removed.

There are several examples of casting cares on to God in the Bible. You can read details here.

Those who argue that not forgiving someone of an offense will naturally result in bitterness & hate also argue that unforgiveness itself is a sin. But how can it be if both Christ and Paul gave clear instructions to not forgive transgressors when they’re stubbornly unrepentant? Furthermore, if unforgiveness itself is a sin than God is guilty of sin since (1) he kicked Satan & his filthy angels out of heaven after they rebelled — in other words, he held their transgressions against them and treated them accordingly — and (2) millions of unrepentant souls will be discarded in the lake of fire on Judgment Day to suffer the “second death” (Revelation 20:11-15 & Hebrews 10:26-27,31).

Praying for Offenders

So when someone offends us we need to cast the care/burden/anger/frustration on to the LORD in prayer, but we also need to intercede for the individual in question. The Lord instructed:

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

Luke 6:27-28

Whether someone is a literal enemy or a carnal believer who is mistreating you in some capacity, praying for the person is vital. Why pray for those who mistreat us? Because prayer is the catalyst that releases the Living God into people’s lives – it releases his will, which is done in heaven, to be done in the person’s life on earth; it also releases God’s kingdom to reign. Let me explain…

When you intercede for a person you “release” the LORD into his/her life and situation. You see, although God is Sovereign and reigns supreme, the devil and his demonic forces have authority on earth, at least as far as the kingdom of darkness goes. This is why Satan is called “the god of this age” or “the prince of this world” and that the “whole world” is under his control to some measure and, in fact, he “leads the whole world astray” (2 Corinthians 4:4, John 14:30, 1 John 5:19 & Revelation 12:9).*

* How did the devil acquire this authority? See this article.

Yet, notice that the Enemy only has power over those designated as “the world.” The good news is that believers have been called out of this world and, indeed, ‘church’ literally means “called out of,” which is ekklesia (ek-KLAY-see-ah) in the Greek. Since Christians are no longer of this world and are in covenant with the Living God and therefore of another kingdom, we have the right and authority to loose God’s will on this earth.

You see, the Bible properly describes this current era we live in as “the present evil age” (Galatians 1:4). Why? Because Satan & his dark angels possess legal control over the kingdom of darkness that invisibly enshrouds the earth. This control extends to all unbelievers. The good news is that the LORD has ingeniously worked out a way for his good will to be manifested on earth – rather than his righteous wrath – via the prayers and service of his church, his called-out ones. In other words, God’s kingdom can reign on earth through the intercession and service of his saints. If you’re a believer, this means YOU.

Do you see why praying for those who mistreat you is so strategic? How do you get the darkness out of a room? By simply turning on the lights. It’s the same principle with praying for people and situations. By praying for them you’re releasing God & his will to be done, and when the light of the Most High enters the picture darkness flees. Maybe the people attacking you are unbelievers; by praying for them and loosing God into their lives they may be enlightened and humbly turn to the LORD. Be patient because this could take years. Or perhaps it’s a case of believers walking in the flesh; praying for them can bring awareness of carnality and provoke them to repentance and spiritual growth. Or maybe it’s wolves or goats masquerading as sheep; again, intercession can lead them to the Lord, repentance and salvation.

It’s true that, in all these cases, the individual may stubbornly choose to reject God’s grace, which will sooner or later result in judgment, but his grace will at least manifest for your deliverance. The LORD may even utilize you as a vessel of audacious righteousness, like when Paul openly rebuked a hostile sorcerer and pronounced temporary blindness to humble him and spur repentance (Acts 13:8-12). This is an example of tough love. Whatever the case, releasing God into the situation through intercession is the immediate answer while confronting offenders is secondary. You can be sure that the LORD will most certainly deliver you as long as you persevere in love and faith.

We observe this in the early Church in the account of Herod Agrippa, who unjustly arrested many Christians and even had James the son of Zebedee executed (Acts 12:1-5). The believers prayed for their persecutor, of course, just as the Christ instructed. God graciously gave Herod much time to wise up and repent, but he remained pompous and stubborn. When Herod accepted praise that’s only due the Almighty during a political speech “an angel of the Lord struck him down” (Acts 12:21-23). What happened? Herod’s pomp and unjust acts reached the limit of God’s tolerance since he refused to wise up and thus judgment fell. When God’s mercy ends, judgment begins. Thus the believers were delivered from their heinous persecutor.

For anyone who mistakenly thinks that God reserves all judgment until the end of the age, see this article.

Martyrdom, God’s Will, and Resisting Thugs

James’ execution by Herod was an example of martyrdom, as was Stephen’s stoning and Christ’s crucifixion. In all three cases it was God’s will for them to be martyred, which was strategic in the LORD’s plan for one reason or another. For instance, the Messiah’s death brought about salvation to anyone on Earth who repents & believes ever since (Acts 20:21) while Stephen’s martyrdom widely dispersed the Church at the time and therefore advanced God’s kingdom in the world (Acts 7:54-8:4).

However, you should only submit to martyrdom if you discern the Holy Spirit leading you in this direction. In other words, don’t be a submissive doormat to thugs who want to murder you. We are to follow the example of the Mighty Christ and he plainly resisted being murdered by wicked people on several occasions in the Scriptures. For instance, when he was arrested in Gethsemane he stated that he could have called down twelve legions of angels, but he didn’t since his arrest was according to God’s plan of salvation (Matthew 26:53). Yet even in this situation of seeming defeat Jesus revealed the incredible divine power that was at his disposal: When he acknowledged who he was – “I AM” – the detachment fell back to the ground (John 18:4-6).

Other examples include:

Luke 4:28-30 where the incensed people of Nazareth attempted to throw Jesus off a cliff but he escaped by mysteriously walking “right through the crowd”
John 7:30,44 where those who wanted to seize the Messiah couldn’t lay a hand on him “because his time had not yet come”
John 8:59 where the offended religionists picked up stones to slay Yeshua but he miraculously hid himself and slipped by them
And John 10:31,39 where a group tried to murder him in Solomon’s Colonnade and he “escaped their wrath.”

You see? Christ did not submit to the wicked will of every thug who happened down the pike. In fact, he only did so when he was apprehended to be crucified, which is an example of “suffering according to God’s will” (1 Peter 4:12-13,19).

The Messiah’s example corresponds to his instruction to his disciples in Matthew 10:23 to “flee” if they were persecuted in one place and go where they might be better received. If the Lord wanted believers to be doormats for abuse he would have told them to stay and suffer the mistreatment. If he wanted us to be rash brawlers he would have told them to stay and duke it out. Of course “fleeing” has a negative connotation so it would be better to describe it as escaping. The point is that Jesus doesn’t want us to be passive doormats in such situations.

Needless to say, unless the Spirit moves you to martyrdom, do everything in your power to escape the murderous wrath of people with criminal intent.

Summing Up Casting Your Cares and Praying for Your Enemies

Casting your cares on to God and praying for your transgressors plays a vital role in cases of offense and potential forgiveness. After all, you can’t very well forgive offending believers if they’re not first enlightened and moved to repentance. Besides, in cases of severe offenses, is it even possible to genuinely forgive – dismiss the charge and regard the offender as innocent – if you haven’t vented and interceded for the person?

Of course, casting cares and intercessory prayer are just as important in situations where we are not required to forgive. Say a close Christian brother severely sins against you but stubbornly refuses to repent when confronted. Although you are under no obligation to forgive him – since he refuses to humbly repent (Luke 17:3-4 & Matthew 18:15-17) – you are instructed to cast the care on the LORD and pray for him. If you don’t, the offense will weigh on you and may likely provoke hostility (hatred) and eventually bitterness. In such a case, someone who erroneously believes that Christians are obligated to automatically forgive everyone for everything all the time would contend that your problem is unforgiveness when, in fact, your problem is that you failed to pour out your soul to God – venting your negative emotions – and intercede for the offender. In this case unforgiveness is not the problem, but rather failing to cast your cares and pray. It’s important to distinguish this.

Let’s sum up venting, intercessory prayer and forgiveness:

Casting your cares on the Lord – venting – is for your own well-being
Intercessory prayer is for the benefit of the offender
Forgiveness is for the health of the relationship and is contingent on the repentance of the offender

We live in a fallen world where people are unique and imperfect. As such, there’s bound to be offenses and misunderstandings in every relationship, how much more so in close relationships that are prone to life’s pressures, like family, work or ministry-related associations? How can these relationships survive the many inevitable failings and offenses? Through the power of prayer, venting to the LORD, confrontation, repentance and forgiveness. In other words, the prayer / vent / confrontation / repentance / forgiveness dynamic keeps relationships alive. It keeps marriages, friendships and every other type of relationship functioning and healthy. Without the operation of these powerful principles very few, if any, relationships would last.

Dealing with Personal Offenses from Unbelievers

While we’ve already flirted with this issue a bit, let’s address it more directly: Should we use these same instructions (above) in dealing with personal offenses from unbelievers? These Scriptural directives on praying for offenders, venting, confrontation and potential repentance/forgiveness are applicable to any relationship, like marriage, friendships, co-workers and neighbors. They’re universal. They keep relationships alive and functioning; without them, associations inevitably fall apart and walls develop, separating the individuals.

Let’s say you work with an unbeliever who starts offending you in certain ways, like snubbing you, calling you names or badmouths you to co-workers and higher-ups. The first thing you’ll want to do is cast your cares on to the LORD and intercede for this person. This is “turning the cheek” wherein you graciously overlook the offense and you give the transgressor time to repent. If s/he stubbornly refuses you’ll have to eventually confront him/her as led of the Spirit. If s/he still refuses then you can get Human Resources involved (or the supervisor or whoever), which would be the secular equivalence of getting mature believers involved in cases where the transgressor is a believer.

If the offender remains stubborn then you are free to cut all relational ties while keeping him/her in prayer and continuing to cast your cares on to God. Your “relationship” with the co-worker becomes strictly business since they’ve rejected your grace. You can be sure that the LORD will address the situation, one way or another, and deliver you (assuming you’re actually walking with the Lord and the offenses are legitimate). With these kinds of situations the “turn away principle” is in order.

It helps to understand that unbelievers are in spiritual darkness and lack the moral foundation of the Word of God, the reborn spirit and the indwelling Holy Spirit, although they do have a spirit and grasp universal morality deep down inside, whether they care to admit it or not (Romans 2:14-16). In light of this, relationships with unbelievers require greater patience and mercy than those with the average Christian. Each case is dependent on (1) you, (2) your level of spiritual maturity and (3) the leading of the Holy Spirit, which explains Paul’s carefully worded instructions:

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Romans 12:18

Here Paul is encouraging believers to live lives of peace, which means being peaceable—avoiding strife and striving for peace with all people in every situation, which includes unbelievers. This is also encouraged in Hebrews 12:14. Yet Paul adds a condition: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you.” Why does he phrase it like this? Obviously because peace is not possible in some situations since it depends on the antagonist’s attitude and response. Every situation is unique and you have to be led of the Holy Spirit, but sometimes you may have to make a bold stand and radically correct or break all ties, which are examples of tough love. In cases of severe offenses—and I’m talking about criminal acts—you may even have to defend yourself and your loved ones or enlist the help of authorities, which we’ll address momentarily.

What does “as far as it depends on you” mean? Every believer is on a lifelong journey of spiritual development. The apostle Paul was spiritually mature and therefore far more able to walk in patient peaceableness in trying circumstances than a new believer fresh out of the world. In other words, your peace walk is dependent upon your level of spiritual growth. Whether you’re a half pint or a gallon, live up to that level, as far as it is possible.

The passage – Romans 12:18 – could be viewed as somewhat of a “safety valve.” When you face unjust offenses from an unbeliever and respond by implementing the principle of overcoming evil with good (Romans 12:21) any reasonable person will be diffused and react positively to your graciousness & the Spirit’s moving. However, when an antagonist stubbornly refuses to respond in a positive manner – particularly after generous longsuffering on your part – you can be sure that s/he is a calloused fool of the lowest order. Such a person disqualifies himself or herself from any further merciful patience and you are released to completely cut ties or move toward righteous radicalness with God’s blessing. A good example of the former is when Paul cut ties with hardened Jews at the synagogue in Ephesus after three months of ministry (Acts 19:8-9); a good example of the latter would be his radical dealings with a hostile magician on Cyprus (Acts 13:8-12). Peter did something similar with another sorcerer (Acts 8:18-24).

Understanding the Principle of Overcoming Evil with Good

At this point we need to look more fully at the New Testament’s general rule in dealing with offenses:

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

This is the biblical principle of overcoming evil with good. If an unbeliever is offending you when you’ve done nothing to deserve, it’s very possible that they won’t be open to correction based upon what the Bible says; although you can certainly confront them based on universal principles of morality without quoting the Bible, as noted earlier. Those who reject correction are too far in the flesh; their understanding is darkened and their hearts too calloused (Ephesians 4:17-19). Dealing with them based on Scriptural morality – which is universal morality – will most likely be futile (although you can certainly try).

How about “fighting fire with fire”? In other words, they cuss you out and you cuss back; they slap, you slap; they yell, you yell, etc. Although such a reaction is tempting, since the flesh naturally wants to react this way, the Bible teaches that this is not the way we should deal with mistreatment, at least not initially. All it does is feed the strife and escalate the antagonism, not to mention tie up the hands of God, so to speak. If this is what you want then, by all means, go ahead and react in this manner.

The Bible advocates a better, more effective way, which is the principle of overcoming evil with good. Those lacking insight will naturally think this is a disempowering instruction and some will even scoff at it as absurd, yet nothing could be further from the truth. This principle doesn’t weaken you and make you out to be a wuss; on the contrary, it’s completely empowering; in fact, it’s utterly brilliant! Let me explain…

As a Christian, you are called to live out of your regenerated spirit by the Holy Spirit and not out of the flesh. This is known as putting on the new man (Ephesians 4:22-24). When you do this you’ll be spirit-ruled and therefore spiritual; hence, you’ll produce fruit of the spirit like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, humility and self-control (Galatians 5:19-23). The more you sow to the spirit the more good fruit you’ll bear, and the higher quality.

If people attack you when you’ve done nothing wrong they’re actually trying to victimize you by pulling you down into their carnal hostility and, consequently, into the realm of the flesh. If they succeed and you start “fighting fire with fire” it will break your focus and involve you in unnecessary and draining conflicts. When this happens you’ve allowed yourself to be victimized and overcome. In other words, you’ve lost.

Yet you can refuse to be victimized by simply overcoming the evil with good. Bless and pray for those unbelievers who curse you and mistreat you. Learn to overlook such offenses, at least the first couple of times, which is being “slow to anger” (James 1:19). Please notice that the instruction is to be slow to anger, which is different than saying righteous anger is never appropriate to express (e.g. Acts 13:8-12, Acts 8:18-24, and Mark 11:15-18). Resist rash words and actions. By doing this you are refusing to be drawn into the realm of the flesh and are, in essence, regarding the offender as an irritating gnat that’s trying to fly into your ear. Why resort to quarreling, cussing or brawling when you don’t have to? Give the high road a generous chance—cast your cares on to the Lord and pray for the offender—and the Holy Spirit will direct you from there. This is “turning the cheek.”

“Bless Those Who Curse You”

In addition to praying for people who mistreat us, Jesus also instructed in Luke 6:27-28: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you.” Loving your enemies is part of the principle of overcoming evil with good. We’ll focus here on the notion of blessing people who curse us.

Let’s first define cursing. Cursing means to speak evil or speak negatively against a person or thing. Cursing is not cussing, although it can include cussing; cussing is foul language.

Cursing can be overt or subtle but its effects are the same: generally speaking, it saps life and discourages (I say “generally speaking” because there are examples of righteous cursing in the Bible, which we’ll look at momentarily). Here are some examples of cursing in the modern day: “You’re never going to amount to anything,” “You can’t do anything right,” “You’re gonna turn to $#!%,” “Drop dead,” “Go to hell,” “**** you,” “What an idiot,” “You’re a moron,” “Boy, you’re looking old,” “That’s a nice gut you have there,” “You can’t do it,” “He’ll never be successful at that,” “Hey girly man,” “You’re gay,” etc.

Yes, there are times when people are just kidding and you have to discern the heart’s intent, but it’s obvious that if someone regularly hurls curses at you, even though the curses may be subtle or given under the guise of jest, the foundation of the cursing is hostility or malice, which is rooted in fleshly traits like arrogance, envy, jealousy and rivalry.

The Bible instructs us to confront and correct fellow believers when they offend us, which would include them cursing you, but why go that route if you don’t have to? Consider simply blessing the offender.

Say a fellow believer is insulting your body, insulting your musical talent, insulting your choice of apparel or calling you names, is it really necessary to get all heavy by confronting and rebuking, particularly if it’s unlikely the person will receive correction from you (which is often the case when the individual is significantly older)? In such situations don’t fight fire with fire since that will only stir-up the hostility and lead to unnecessary strife. Instead, counteract the curse with a blessing. For instance, say someone rips on you for being out of shape, reply with something like, “You’re looking really good.” Or say a guy criticizes your singing; tell him how good he is at his talent, e.g. “You’re an awesome guitar player (or drummer or singer, etc.).”

These types of people usually desire an audience and therefore prefer to deliver their insults while others are present. Since the root of their hostility is pride, which is a superiority complex, the purpose of their cursing is to bring you down and embarrass you in order to elevate their selves. Depending on the crowd, it’s likely that some people present understand what’s really going on. They see the arrogance and sense the jealousy and rivalry of the attacker. They realize how sad and pathetic he or she really is. Issuing a blessing in response to a curse in such cases speaks volumes. Another option is to smile and say nothing, which is in accordance with Proverbs 12:16: “A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.” This is “turning the cheek.” It takes more strength to do this than fly off the handle because any fool can blow up at the drop of a hat and speak rashly, but it takes true character to overlook an insult. Either way, such a response diffuses the curse and is a beaming testimony to your spirituality.

You may have to repeat this a few times before s/he ‘gets’ it. Down the road the abuser may regress and you’ll have to repeat as necessary until he or she gets it again. If s/he doesn’t change, it may then be necessary to confront and correct. When this occurs shoot for subtleness rather than overkill, such as “I see you’re still jealous of me after all these years.” This shows the abuser that you’re aware s/he is attacking you, that you know the root reason for the attack – s/he is threatened by you – and that you’re not going to get all bent out of shape by it; you’re just waving it off like an irritating fly.

My point is that blessing people who curse you is the initial route to go because it’s such an effective principle. Again, why get all worked up with confronting and rebuking if you don’t have to? Save the heavy artillery for the truly serious situations.

If this applies to dealing with believers who curse you – and it does – how much more so unbelievers?

Righteous Cursing (as Led of the Spirit)

Of course we need to be balanced with the Scriptures and so it’s important to realize that this tactic of blessing those who curse you is not an absolute rule. On certain occasions you might have to curse someone in righteous anger, led of the Spirit.

Let’s first consider Paul’s instruction:

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

Romans 12:14

While this sounds like an absolute instruction, it’s not. It’s a general directive and therefore there are exceptions. For proof, Paul openly rebuked Elymas the sorcerer and cursed him with (temporary) blindness as led of the Spirit:

But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. ⁹Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, ¹⁰“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? ¹¹Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹²When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

Acts 13:8-12

This is an example of Spirit-led cursing. Elymas (eh-LOOM-as) was trying to hinder the governor of Cyprus from receiving the message of Christ and so Paul, in righteous anger, cursed the sorcerer in order to put a stop to his satanic hindrances and, hopefully, humble his arrogant behind, spurring repentance and faith.

Peter did something similar with another sorcerer:

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money ¹⁹and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! ²¹You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. ²²Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. ²³For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

²⁴Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

Acts 8:18-24

Peter opened his severe rebuke with a curse: “May your money perish with you.”

First Corinthians 16:22 is another example of righteous cursing: “If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed! Come, Lord!”

Righteous cursing in the form of corrective name-calling is also glaring in the New Testament — and practiced by the Lord Christ — which you can read about here.

In all these cases the righteous cursing is a form of tough love, which is not emphasized enough in most Christian circles today. While blessing those who curse you is the general rule, righteous cursing is sometimes in order. You have to be led of the Spirit. This ignored truth helps keep believers balanced and healthy.

Up to this point in this article we’ve been talking about how to handle personal offenses from believers and unbelievers. Let’s now look at…

How to Handle Serious CRIMES

There’s a huge difference between experiencing a personal offense and suffering a severe CRIME. It’s the difference between (1) someone gossiping about you or insulting you and (2) someone committing robbery, assault, rape or murder. Scripture shows that people guilty of criminal offenses like the latter are subject to the governing authorities who are ordained by God to punish evildoers for the protection of citizens:

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ²Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. ⁴For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

⁶This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.

Romans 13:1-6

The passage conveys four important points:

Human governments are established by God for societal order, which includes protecting the populace from thugs, foreign & domestic. Therefore, those who rebel against them are rebelling against what the Almighty has instituted, consequently bringing judgment on themselves, not from God directly but from the civil authorities he has established. Paul was not addressing Christian persecution but rather Christian obedience to the laws of the land. His point is that human government – “God’s servant” – is established for the good of the people, to restrain evil and protect life and property; if any believers break the law, “God’s servant” will punish them. Why? Because, as Isaiah 61:8 plainly points out, the LORD loves justice and hates crime. In fact, justice and righteousness are the very foundation of his throne (Psalm 89:14).
Human governments bear “the sword,” which is a figure of speech for the authority to execute wrongdoers for severe crimes, as well as the right to punish lawbreakers in general. Even in our increasingly ‘progressive’ societies today we execute the most heinous criminals.
Since civil authorities are ordained by God we should submit to them, which is clearly stated in verses 1 and 5. Submitting to the governing authorities does not mean blind obedience, but rather respecting and abiding by its laws. We must recognize this authority over us even if we don’t always agree with it. It also means we should financially support them, i.e. pay taxes, as shown in verse 6, which was something Jesus advocated as well (Matthew 22:15-22).The only exception to this rule is if government oversteps its bounds by intruding upon the realm of God and universal morality, e.g. Exodus 1:15-21, Daniel 3, Daniel 6 and Acts 4:18-20. How do we reconcile this with the fact that God established the existing authorities? Simple: Although God’s authority stands behind the governing authorities, right or wrong, it also stands over them; hence, Christians who belong to this higher authority are permitted to supersede the human authorities if there’s no other recourse.
Since God ordains government as his servants to promote good (verse 4) we should take advantage of this divine commission by exercising our rights to obtain justice. A good example of this is found in Acts 16:16-40 where Paul and Silas were unjustly flogged and thrown in prison after exorcizing a demon from a girl. They maintained a worshipful spirit despite their tribulations and were miraculously released whereupon they evangelized the jailer & his family. The next day the civil authorities wanted Paul and Silas to quietly leave Philippi but Paul insisted: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly. No! Let them come themselves and escort us out” (verse 37). Although Paul maintained a faithful, spiritual attitude while enduring the mistreatment he was understandably angry at the injustice. And, yes, a person can be angry and not sin, it’s called righteous anger (Ephesians 4:26, Mark 3:5 & John 2:13-17). Notice that Paul didn’t just automatically forgive the Philippian authorities for their humiliating abuses. He didn’t just sweep the matter under the rug, so to speak. No, he appealed to his and Silas’ rights as Roman citizens and insisted that the magistrates come and personally escort them from the prison. How did the magistrates respond? They were “alarmed” to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens with legal rights that protected them from such abuses; these believers could potentially protest to Rome and justly remove them from power, ruining their political careers. They had no choice but to humbly go to Paul & Silas and “appease” them; other translations say “apologize,” which corresponds to humble repentance (verse 39). The next time Paul was wrongly apprehended and threatened to be whipped he insisted upon his rights and evaded the flogging altogether (Acts 22:22-29). You see, Paul didn’t have a martyr complex like some Christians today. He refused to allow himself to be abused if it was within his power to evade it. You could say he refused to be a doormat. Another example can be found in Acts 25:11 where Paul appealed to Caesar.

Peter gave similar instructions in 1 Peter 2:13-14 while Titus 3:1 is another coinciding text.

What can we derive from these four points? Christians are clearly mandated by Scripture to submit to the civil authorities, which are ordained by God to punish wrongdoers. Since this is so, it naturally follows that we should do everything in our power to see to it that criminals are apprehended and penalized by “God’s servants,” the governing authorities. If criminals commit crimes and we’re prone to just automatically forgive them, that is, dismiss the charges, we’re obviously not submitting to these authorities because we’re not respecting their laws enough to seek justice and press charges. I’m of course talking about real crimes here, not trivial infractions.

‘Isn’t the Idea of Retributive Punishment Rejected throughout the New Testament?’

Certainly not in regards to the governing authorities who are established by God for the purpose of apprehending & punishing criminals and hold the power to execute when appropriate: “they are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” Believers are instructed to submit to these authorities, which means we report the crime and seek justice when a serious CRIME is committed. If someone broke into your house and raped/killed your loved one would you just automatically dismiss the offense — that is, forgive the crime — or would you swiftly contact the police and do everything in your power to apprehend justice?

You see, we are to obtain justice in cases of criminal offense by submitting to the legal system of the governing authorities who are God’s servants, agents of righteous wrath to punish the criminal. Of course we also rely upon God’s ultimate justice, both in this temporal age and the eternal age to come.

Again, there’s a huge difference between piddly offenses and severe crimes. In the Church individual believers are to handle the personal offenses, and Church authorities when necessary, as Paul did in Corinth. As far as personal offenses from unbelievers go, the individual believer can handle it with the help of the Holy Spirit and, in certain cases, others linked to the situation (supervisors, Human Resources, relatives, friends, etc.). But governing authorities are to handle criminal offenses for the sake of societal justice. No legal justice system is perfect, of course, but without it we’d fall into a state of lawlessness and personal retribution characterized by rash lynchings, literal or figurative.

Should Christians be ‘Doormats’ to Criminal Attacks?

Absolutely not. The Torah permitted Hebrew citizens to kill criminals if necessary (Exodus 22:2-3); and Christ pointed out the obvious right of protecting oneself from thugs (Matthew 24:43 & Luke 12:39). Those who work for the state as police officers, executioners and soldiers have the authority to execute, which is what the “sword” represents in Romans 13:4 (believers who work for the state possess this authority as well). But such personnel are usually not around when wicked criminals attack their innocent prey, which means citizens have to protect themselves & their loves ones in such cases.

This explains Christ’s instructions to the disciples just prior to leaving for Gethsemane and his subsequent arrest: “and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one” (Luke 22:35-38). This instruction was in contrast to previous occasions where the disciples ministered without such an item in their travels. Possessing swords obviously pertained to protection, not aggression, as the threat of criminal persecution would increase after Christ’s crucifixion. This is backed up later in the same chapter when the disciples asked, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” (verse 49). The point is that Jesus clearly authorized his disciples to carry instruments of protection, which was wise when they were out traveling & ministering from town-to-town. Keep in mind that they had a money box full of donations that would attract thieves (John 12:6). Why did they have swords after walking with Christ for over three years? Because the Lord authorized it.

Of course Christ told Peter in Gethsemane “Those who live by the sword will perish by the sword,” but his initial instruction was for Peter to “put the sword back in its place,” NOT throw it away (Matthew 26:52). There’s a difference between living by the sword and utilizing it when necessary. For instance, when the returning Jews restored the walls of Jerusalem they posted armed guards for protection from deadly enemies (Nehemiah 4:7-9). Simply put, in a wicked world arms are sometimes necessary, such as any life-threatening situation (see this article for details).

An Example from My Own Life

Many years ago I was solitary camping at a state park in Tennessee where I was held-up by three guys with guns while hiking in the woods. They verbally assaulted me and threatened to kill me, not to mention they kept asking where my wife or girlfriend was with clear intentions of rape, but I was thankfully alone. Since we were fairly close to the trailhead where my car was parked they stole everything of value in it. They even took my car, although it was later discovered abandoned a mile or so away. Even though I was grateful that they didn’t kill me or abuse me in some manner they committed a severe crime against me. Should I have just automatically forgiven these hoods? Of course not, that would be absurd. I went straight to the authorities and did everything in my power to see that they were apprehended and punished. I also sought the LORD in prayer, vented, and interceded for the criminals, but I certainly didn’t just dismiss the charges, that is, forgive them.

If I automatically forgave them I wouldn’t have sought justice via their apprehension and punishment. Why? Because I forgave them, which would mean that I dismissed the offense, and they would be free to prey on others.

As it turned out, unfortunately, they were never caught, at least not for this crime. Late that night the police pulled over three men in the area who fit the descriptions I gave but they weren’t the same men. I was a traveler who lived a couple of states away and that was the last I ever heard of it. Regardless, I did everything in my power at the time to see that these criminals were apprehended and punished by the God-ordained authorities. I did this because of my God-given sense of justice, my concern for other potential victims and my submission to “God’s servants.” To automatically forgive in such cases is clearly wrong and we are under no Scriptural mandate to do so. The only exception would be if the Holy Spirit directs the victim to immediately forgive and not press charges, usually because there’s evidence of repentance and the crime is not severe enough to pursue justice further. This is a matter between the victim and God. Yet this isn’t what Scripture generally encourages in cases of criminal offense and it wasn’t how the LORD directed me in this incident (I had just finished praying in the forest for about 90 minutes right before being assaulted and was therefore quite spiritually sensitive, so I know I didn’t miss it).

The bottom line is that I didn’t forgive these criminals and I was under no Biblical mandate to do so. Those who teach that Christians should automatically forgive in such circumstances don’t even know what forgiveness means, nor do they understand that Yahweh is a God of justice who establishes civil authorities to maintain peace and order by apprehending and punishing evildoers. These are “God’s servants” to whom believers are required to submit.

However, whereas I wasn’t obligated to forgive these hooligans I was obliged to overcome evil with good, as detailed above. If I failed to do this, the evil done to me would have harmed me one way or another. It could have caused me to become embittered; it could have caused me to become fearful of hiking in the woods or even stepping out of my house; it could have caused me to become paranoid of strangers for the rest of my life; it could have even caused me to become racist since I’m white and the three assailants were black. The incident occurred over 20 years ago but none of these things happened because, although I didn’t forgive these perpetrators, I did overcome evil with good by implementing the Scriptural techniques covered in this article. Specifically, I prayed for these men for several weeks after the incident and a number of times since. Who knows? Some of them may be saved and serving the LORD today, hopefully all three. If not, they’re likely either destitute, dead or rotting away in prison. In addition, I refused to allow the crime to burden me in any way. Such a severe offense will definitely weigh on you if you allow it. So I vented by casting it on the LORD. I cast my anger, frustration and sense of violation on him and God faithfully filled me with life, peace, joy and faith, and continues to do so. Even when the crime was taking place I refused to allow it to embitter me; I literally thanked the thugs for not killing me and extended goodwill to them. I overcame their evil with good.

But none of this canceled out my God-given drive for justice, my concern for other potential victims and my submission to the God-ordained governing authorities. When it comes to criminal acts we are called to (1) seek justice and (2) overcome evil with good.

If you find yourself in similar situation I encourage you to do the same: Don’t automatically forgive the criminals by pardoning the offense (which is what forgiveness is) unless of course the Holy Spirit specifically directs you to do so. Seek justice by doing everything in your power to see to it that the thugs are apprehended and penalized by the authorities, which are instituted by God to protect lives & property and penalize wrongdoers. In addition, be careful to not allow the crime to ruin you in any way. Always refuse the victim mentality, no matter what. Instead be intent on overcoming the evil with good, as I did. Pray for the criminals. Pray for justice. Cast your anxieties on the LORD and he will sustain you. You’ll be blessed.

‘But Christ Instructed Us to Love Our Enemies!’

Yes, Christ instructs us to love our enemies, bless those who curse us and pray for those who abuse us. This releases God on the scene to hopefully move the adversary to repentance and salvation. The Greek word for ‘love’ in that passage is agape, which refers to practical love and not warm feelings or respect. If there’s any doubt, read the definition of agape in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. On the other hand, the other Greek word translated as “love,” philia (noun) /phileo (verb), refers to warm feelings/respect, like the love of friends and spiritual family. My point is that the Bible doesn’t instruct us to have warm fuzzies for wickedly abusive enemies, but rather to love them in a practical sense, which includes praying for them since they desperately need it. Yet this also includes reporting crimes to authorities so the criminal can get the discipline they require and society gets justice. This is a form of tough love whereas enabling someone to continue as a wicked thug is not love. The problem here is that modern people have a one-dimensional understanding of love. You can read more about the different kinds of love here.

As far as blessing our enemies and not cursing them goes, we saw earlier that this is a general instruction and not absolute (Romans 12:14). For instance, Paul openly rebuked Elymas the sorcerer and cursed him with (temporary) blindness as led of the Spirit (Acts 13:8-12). Peter did something similar with another sorcerer (Acts 8:18-24).

‘But Jesus Exemplified Graciousness’

Yes, he did, but let’s not be one-dimensional; he also exemplified several other things that characterize the Mighty Christ. Here’s one: The Messiah cleansed the temple of selfish, greedy riff-raff, which he did twice – once at the beginning of his ministry (John 2:13-17) and later near the end (Matthew 21:12-13). Although it wasn’t his normal every-day manner, Jesus threw over tables, scattered coins, cracked a whip, yelled and chased people & animals out, hardly the actions of a nice-guy doormat. And no one dared challenge him; he was a holy terror, pure and simple, provoking the religious leaders to fear him and plot to murder him (Mark 11:15-18). How do we explain these nigh shocking accounts? Doesn’t the Bible say God is love? Isn’t Christ one with the Father? Absolutely, but some situations call for the softer side of love and some the hard side. We have to be led of the Spirit realizing that sometimes doing the good thing may not be the nice thing.

You want more examples? Christ astonished and silenced his enemies (Luke 20:26) to the point that “no one dared ask him anymore questions” (Mark 12:34). He was incredibly bold, outspoken and had no qualms about offending arrogant people who were deserving of correction (Luke 11:37-53). He was forthright and honest when necessary – he got straight to the point without beating around the bush with overly diplomatic language.

All over the gospel accounts we see evidence of Christ being courageous, astonishing, amazing, authoritative and even frightening! Just look up these passages: Matthew 7:28-29, 14:26, Mark 1:27, 2:10-12, 4:37-43, 7:37, Luke 5:8-11, 7:14-16, 20:40 and the aforementioned John 2:13-17. People who insinuate that Jesus was some effeminate luvvy-wuvvy milksop obviously don’t know how to read!

“If Someone Takes Your Cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic”

This is something Christ instructed and it needs to be addressed because it seems to suggest permitting people to get away with criminal acts. Let’s read the full passage:

“If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.”

Luke 6:29-30

The issue of turning the cheek is addressed here; let’s focus on the rest of the passage.

Years ago there was a woman at work who would leave her purse lying around. Sometimes money could be seen at the opening, usually just dollar bills. I informed her that she shouldn’t leave bills hanging out for all to see and she shrugged, “If someone takes it they need it more than I do.” She wasn’t even a Christian, but this is the general thought Jesus was conveying here. I am reminded of the many times over the years my wife and I allowed people to borrow books, cds, dvds, apparel & tools and never getting them back; we usually concluded, “They must need it more than we do” and let it go. (And, no, I’m not saying you shouldn’t get your stuff back from borrowers, particularly expensive items). Here’s how Jesus put it in Matthew’s gospel:

“And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well… ⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Matthew 5:40,42

Back in those days there wasn’t a Walmart or Goodwill nearby to purchase inexpensive clothing; decent apparel was worth more, which explains why Jesus’ executioners cast lots for his soiled garments (John 19:23-24). This helps make sense of Jesus’ statement: “if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic…” If people are in such dire need that they’ll resort to legal measures to acquire clothing, give them another item as well; that is, as long as it’s within your power to do so. After all, there’s a limit to how much you can give. Bill Rudge was ministering in Haiti years ago and he noticed some needy people while going back to the mission compound. He gave away his shoes, shirt, tank top and socks. All he had left were his shorts and that’s as far as he would go, otherwise he’d have to streak naked to the compound! He had more clothes back with his luggage, of course, which is why he was able and willing to give away everything but his shorts.

Yet, Christ’s teaching goes deeper than this. The Lord was advocating being in control of the situation: If a man takes your jacket he’s in control, but if you respond by willingly giving him something else you’re in control. You just usurped control of the situation. We could put it like this: Don’t be a passive victim and don’t be a rash brawler; but be assertive and led of the Spirit. Maintain an attitude of love, wisdom and self-control in all circumstances, just like the Mighty Messiah.

I think it’s also important to stress that Christ was referring more to people in genuine need rather than hardcore thieves, which is substantiated by verse 42: “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” The motive for giving on such occasions is generosity and compassion. You sympathize with the needy person just as you would want others to sympathize with you if it were your plight. This is the golden rule or “royal law” noted in Matthew 7:12 and James 2:8. But there’s a huge difference between needy people wanting to borrow from you, or taking things and never giving them back, and hardcore criminals who routinely commit crimes, whether stealing, murder or otherwise. The latter should not be tolerated.

For instance, why did some of Jesus’ disciples have swords in their possession as shown in Luke 22:49-50? They had ministered with Jesus for over three years by this point, which indicates they carried swords because Jesus permitted it. Why did he permit it? Because they traveled with a money box that contained all their ministry earnings as they journeyed from town to town. The swords were obviously for protection from potential thieves, particularly in the many desolate regions they had to travel.

Furthermore, if Jesus meant we should be doormats to every thief and criminal that comes down the pike why did he radically chase the “robbers” from the temple twice during his three-and-a-half-year ministry, as depicted in John 2:13-17 and Mark 11:15-18? Why did he refuse to allow murderers to apprehend and kill him on multiple occasions, as illustrated in Luke 4:28-30, John 7:30,44, 8:59 and 10:31,39? As pointed out earlier, the only time he submitted his life to the hands of thieves and murderers was when he was arrested in Gethsemane because it was God’s will that he suffer and die for the salvation of humanity. It goes without saying that we have to be balanced with Christ’s teachings and example in the Bible, otherwise we’ll fall into error and embrace ideas he never actually taught.

Closing Word

As you can see, the New Testament is far from one-dimensional when it comes to dealing with offenses, whether personal or criminal. Believers are not called to be passive doormats to abuse. Rather we have spiritual weapons and wise strategies for overcoming evil with good, including tough love. This comprises prayer (intercession), casting cares on to the Lord (venting), confrontation (rebuke) and forgiveness when repentance is evident.

As far as criminal acts go, we are to go to the God-ordained governing authorities to apprehend justice in the hope that the perpetrator will be caught & punished for the sake of justice and the protection of others in our communities. Of course we each have a responsibility to protect ourselves from bitterness, hate and fear by venting to the Lord and interceding for the criminal(s) in question, not to mention being active in our Christian service, which keeps us productively occupied.

For an excellent biblical example of dealing with criminal offense and overcoming evil with good — including tough love — check out the amazing story of Joseph here. His example is significant since he was a type of Christ and believers are Christ-followers/learners.

The material from this article and much more is now available in book form!

You can purchase the print book here for only $5.76 (121 pages)

Or get the Kindle eBook here for only 99¢

Absolute Pacifism (Unbiblical) vs. Limited Pacifism (Biblical)

Military Service — Is it Okay for Believers to Serve in the Armed Forces?

Why You should always Forgive when the Offender is Repentant

Jesus Christ — Milksop or Mighty Lord?

Cast Your Cares! (Venting)

Turning the Cheek — What it Means and Doesn’t Mean

The Six Basic Doctrines of Christianity

Judging—When SHOULD You Judge and When SHOULDN’T You Judge?

Check out our video: Should Christians RESIST Criminal Acts?

What Does “SALTED WITH FIRE” Mean in Mark 9:49?

Let’s read the full passage, which starts with verse 42 and continues to the end of the chapter:

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. ⁴³If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. ⁴⁵And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. ⁴⁷And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸where

“‘the worms that eat them do not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’

⁴⁹Everyone will be salted with fire.

⁵⁰“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

Mark 9:42-50

Starting with verse 42, Christ addresses the topic of temptation and chronicles the four causes of temptation outside the root source, which is one’s sinful nature:

People who “cause” naive believers to sin, which applies to the social environment you allow.
The “hand,” which is symbolic of something you do.
The “foot,” which is figurative of a path you take.
The “eye,” which represents what you allow yourself to see; this includes your inner eye, your imagination.

This brings us to the last two verses of the chapter, which are more ambiguous than the preceding seven verses. You see, sometimes Christ was intentionally ambiguous, which compels people to seek out answers in their studies and relationship with the LORD. You can read more about this here.

Let’s again look at the verses in question:

⁴⁹ “Everyone will be salted with fire.

⁵⁰ Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

Do these two verses stand alone or are they linked to verses 42-48? Let’s assume the latter, which makes sense.

We know that salt was used as a preservative for food as well as a seasoning.

As for fire, it was used to destroy unwanted items — e.g. the weeds in Matthew 13:40 — or to purify metals. (Of course it was also used for warmth and cooking).

Assuming verse 49 is linked to verses 42-48, it would suggest that everyone will be seasoned by the fire of suffering, which, in this context, means the suffering of resisting temptation. In other words, facing and enduring serious temptations works in perfecting and preserving the believer. This of course involves suffering since you willfully sacrifice the pleasures of the flesh for the sake of Christ, which goes with the process of sanctification.

Verse 50 says “salt is good” because it preserves and seasons the believer — “preserves” the believer unto eternal life and “seasons” with godly character. The context is the sacrifice of resisting serious temptation; and salt was plainly linked to sacrifices in the Old Testament, as observed in Leviticus 2:13.

Let’s consider the remaining lines in verse 50…

“…if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?”

If the seasoning of the believer loses its saltiness, how do you season it again? This suggests Hebrews 6:4-8 since Christ plainly conveyed in verses 42-48 that believers who fail to cut off those things that cause them to live a lifestyle of sin (obviously with no concern of repentance) will reap the wages of sin — death — in the lake of fire (Gehenna), which is the second death (Revelation 20:11-15).

“Have salt among yourselves”

Salt also represents the Word of God (Matthew 5:13-16)—the written Word (John 17:17) and the Living Word (John 1:1 & John 14:6)—each of which produce godly character, enabling the believer to function as a preservative in society.

“and be at peace with each other”

The resulting godly character enables believers to live together in loving harmony (Psalm 133) rather than fleshly strife (1 Corinthians 3:3).

For details on the nature of Gehenna/the lake of fire — aka the “second death” (from verses 42-48) — see this article.

Spiritual Growth is Like Climbing a Mountain

Spiritual Growth — The Four Stages

Is Christianity a “Relationship with God”?

Why Was Jesus Sometimes Ambiguous?

Once Saved Always Saved?

Once Saved Always Saved? — Answering the Best Arguments

Does the Bible Say the Earth is Flat or Spherical?

The Earth is not flat as flat-earthers claim and the Bible does not support this theory. The curious flat earth position can be refuted on both natural and biblical grounds.

As far as physical evidence goes, other celestial bodies—like the moon, the sun and planets that can be observed with the naked eye or telescopes—reveal that they are spherical in shape. Since these bodies are spherical in nature it stands to reason that the Earth is also. This reasoning is supported by the Bible in light of the fact that the Scriptures teach that the Universe constantly “pours forth speech” and “displays knowledge” to “all the Earth” (Psalm 19:1-4). Paul backed this up by the Spirit in different words (Romans 1:19-20).

In light of this, it’s no wonder that the ball-shape of the Earth was grasped in ancient times. For instance, Greek philosophers documented it in the 5^th century BC. While this was theoretical, Hellenistic astronomy established the Earth’s sphericity as a natural fact in the 3^rd century BC, computing the Earth’s circumference. This position was steadily embraced through Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages and finally proven beyond doubt in 1519–1522 via the circumnavigation of the globe by Ferdinand Magellan & Juan Sebastián Elcano (Magellan was killed in the Philippines by natives during the long expedition).

Further evidence of the Earth’s sphericity can be observed in plane flights and their accurate flight plans. There’s no account of a plane flying off the edge of the earth nor did Magellan’s expedition sail off the edge.

Furthermore, simple GoPro cameras released from the ground up into space easily prove that the Earth is globe-shaped. You can easily view such videos on Youtube and other video sites.

What the Scriptures Say About the Earth

The Bible suggests the spherical nature of the earth suspended in empty space:

²¹ Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
²²He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

Isaiah 40:22

He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;

he suspends the earth over nothing.

Job 26:7

As you can see, the Earth is described in terms of being circular, hanging over nothing in the canopy of the physical heavens. This suggests what scientists & common people alike have discerned through the ages—the Earth is globe-shaped and suspended in empty space.

We readily understand “grasshoppers” in the first passage as figurative language because (1) we know people are human beings, not insects, and (2) it specifies that the inhabitants of the Earth are “like grasshoppers.”

However, the word “earth” is not figurative, nor is the reference to the “heavens,” aka the physical Universe. “Earth” is a literal reference to our planet since verse 21 notes God’s creation of the Earth and verse 22 chronicles the LORD stretching out the heavens, that is, the Universe. It doesn’t say the Earth is like a circle, but rather describes the planet as “the circle of the earth.” Since the heavens “pour forth speech” and “reveal knowledge” “to all the earth” we understand that the earth is circular in the sense of being ball-like in light of the fact that we can observe the spherical nature of the Moon with the naked eye, as well as other bodies, particularly with the aid of quality telescopes.

Obviously neither passage is a detailed textbook on astronomy, but they support the basic idea that the Earth as an orb-like body suspended in the empty space of the Universe. The LORD knew we’d acquire important details through our astronomical observations and studies. Think about it like this: the Bible tells us a lot about the human mind, but it doesn’t give us details about the physical brain or brain surgery. We naturally obtain knowledge of the latter through specific studies. So it is with astronomical issues.

Speaking of space, some flat-earthers challenge: “Does space even exist?” Obviously. It’s what Job referred to above as “empty space” and “nothing.” Look up into sky on a clear night—THAT is space. It’s the physical heavens filled with celestial bodies that “pours forth speech” and “reveals knowledge” to all the Earth (Psalm 19:1-4). The above two passages don’t give a lot of detail, but God knew we’d gather exposition through studying the cosmos, exploring the Earth and making advancements in technology & travel, including space exploration, like Moon landings and unmanned robotic spacecrafts to Mars.

The Hebrew Word for “Earth” or “Land”

“Earth” in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word erets (EH-rets), which refers to either (1) planetary Earth or (2) a portion of dry land. In the above two passages—Isaiah 40:22 and Job 26:7—erets refers to planetary Earth whereas it refers to dry “land” as distinct from the “seas” in this verse:

God called the dry ground “land” [erets], and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:10

How can we tell if erets refers to global Earth or dry land? Simply by the context of the passage. “Context is king” is a hermeneutical rule for good reason.

Idiomatic Expressions in Scripture

Flat-earthers cite verses that refer to the ends of the Earth as evidence for their position, like these four:

If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to them or listen to them.

Deuteronomy 13:6-8

for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

Job 28:24

Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with righteousness.

Psalm 48:10

Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son? Surely you know!

Proverbs 30:4

Do verses like these suggest an end to the Earth and therefore edges to our planet, which support the flat Earth model? Scripture interprets Scripture and truth interprets truth. For instance, we saw above that Scripture describes the Earth as circular, suspended over empty space; and, furthermore, natural evidence shows that celestial bodies like the moon, Mars and Sun are spherical in shape hanging in empty space. As such, the references to the “ends of the earth” in Scripture must be figurative language for the far reaches of the planet. It’s idiomatic speech, like “He’s a loose cannon” or “that was a piece of cake.” It’s not rocket science.

This verse lends credence:

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind would blow on land or sea or on any tree.

Revelation 7:1

Just as there are not literally “four winds” there are not literally “four corners of the earth.” This is simply figurative language for the furthest reaches of the Earth in all four basic directions—North, South, East and West. We use the same idiomatic expressions today when we say “people from all corners of the globe came to the event.”

I should add that, idiomatic or not, all four directions can be pinpointed on the globe: The North and South poles refer to the vertical ends of the Earth while opposite points of latitude/longitude would refer to East and West, depending on where you dwell on the planet. For instance, I live in Northeast Ohio, USA, so the Italian island of Sardinia would be “East” to me and the middle of the Northern Pacific Ocean would be “West” and the farthest point East/West would be the wastelands near Jiuquan in Western China, which is the express opposite side of the world to me.

I should also point out that some references to the ends of the Earth in Scripture refer to remote inhabitants and not land, as seen here:

May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Psalm 67:7

“The ends of the earth” here is clearly figurative and not literal since it refers to people living far away and not to literal edges of the planet. See Psalm 98:3 and Isaiah 45:22 for similar examples. Just as we don’t take “the ends of the earth” literally in this context, so we don’t take it literal in the above context.

Scriptural References to the “Pillars” of the Earth

Flat-earthers claim that the Earth literally rests on pillars due to passages like these:

When the earth and all its people quake,

    it is I who hold its pillars firm.

Psalm 75:3

He raises up the poor from the dust;

    he lifts the needy from the ash heap

to make them sit with princes

    and inherit a seat of honor.

For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s,

    and on them he has set the world.

1 Samuel 2:8 (ESV)

Both of these passages are poetic literature, which explains why they’re formatted in verse. The word “pillars” refers to foundations, which is why the NIV uses “foundations” in the latter verse instead of “pillars.” Are there literal pillars holding up the Earth? No. This is simply poetic language comparing God’s Earth to a large building of that time period and the architecture thereof. It is literally true, however, that the LORD “holds” the foundations of the Earth and other celestial bodies suspended in empty space, as disclosed here:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:15-17

By comparing our planet to a large structure in biblical regions in ancient times, we understand that the Earth is God’s masterful construction. He owns it (Psalm 24:1), reigns supreme over it (Psalm 47:7 & Matthew 11:25) and holds its foundations (Psalm 75:3 & 1 Samuel 2:8), guaranteeing its permanence (Psalm 104:5 & Ecclesiastes 1:4). Even when the LORD makes a new heavens and new earth for the eternal age to come God won’t be creating a new Earth from scratch. He plainly says “Behold, I make all things new” not “I make new things” (Revelation 21:1-5). The new Earth will be the same basic planet, but awesomely renovated with the horrible mar of sin, pain and death removed forever.

Psalm 104:5 says that the Creator “set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.” All this means is that the Earth cannot be moved from the foundation God has set for it. What is the Earth’s specific foundation in the Universe, physically speaking? Obviously its perpetual orbit around the Sun. The Earth cannot be moved from this foundation, unless of course the Sovereign LORD chose to do so (Psalm 103:19 & 135:5-6).

So the Mighty Christ is the spiritual foundation of the Earth (as well as the entire Universe) while the planet’s orbit around the sun is the physical foundation.

Picturing a Flat Earth in the Universe

Google images of how a flat Earth would look in the Universe and it’s absurd, which you can peruse here. Some of the images are obviously intended to amuse, but the more “authentic” renditions don’t help much, do they? Honestly, the idea of a flat earth is laughable and simply doesn’t gel with the knowledge God has supplied us through our nightly exposure to the starry panorama that constantly “pours forth speech” and “displays knowledge” (Psalm 19:1-4). Other nearby celestial bodies are plainly spherical in nature and so is the Earth.

Lastly, let’s consider this argument…

‘Christians believe that devil is the greatest deceiver, but for some reason he leaves cosmology alone. He doesn’t dare touch science and “space.” ‘

We’re talking about the shape of physical things in this article and, specifically, the shape of the Earth. Are scientists wrong about the shape of other physical things (keeping in mind that many of these scientists were and are believers)? For instance, are they wrong about the shape of the heart and effective heart surgery? Are they wrong about the shape of the brain and effective brain surgery? Are they wrong about geology and the various substances of the Earth? Are they wrong about geography? Are they wrong about the shape of the continents, islands, oceans and seas? Are they wrong about the spherical shape of the moon? (Again, many of these scientists were/are Christians).

If they’re generally right about these things, why would we question their reasonable conclusions on the shape of the Earth? Let’s say the Earth really is flat and scientists know this. Would they all team-up and agree in unison: “The Earth is actually flat, but let’s lie to the the populace in every nation and tell them it’s spherical, just like the moon and other celestial orbs”? It’s a rhetorical question.

Conclusion

As you can see, the Bible doesn’t support the idea of a flat Earth. Instead it suggests a circular Earth that’s suspended in empty space with a stable foundation. While the Scriptures don’t go into detail on these matters, the physical heavens God created do by constantly “revealing knowledge” to “all the earth,” which is genuine astronomy (not astrology).

This article is important because flat-earthers will sometimes phrase their arguments from the false premise that their position is undeniable truth completely supported by the Almighty in Holy Scripture. For instance, they’ll say things like “Does God tell the truth? Does the Holy Spirit lie?” which of course presumes that the LORD somewhere says in the Scriptures that the Earth is flat. But, as we have seen, the Scriptures don’t actually teach this. It’s a lie.

The Enemy loves this particular lie because it unnecessarily marginalizes Christians as silly religionists who can’t see the forest for the trees because of their blind embracement of myths easily disproven by God’s very own creation (the Earth & Universe). As such, believers who adamantly subscribe to the flat earth paradigm pretty much destroy their “witness” or, at least, severely damage it.

I should add that this isn’t an issue to fight over and separate. If a fellow believer insists that the Earth is flat, what’s that to you or me? They should be respected as human beings with the right to draw their own conclusions. Besides, it’s not like this is an essential issue of salvation. As they say: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things charity.”

At the same time, we shouldn’t allow this curious position to go unchallenged by the truths of Scripture, as well as the nature of the Universe obvious through the naked eye, research, exploration, technology and common sense.

For details on God’s purpose for the vast Universe in eternity see Eternal Life (“Heaven”) — What will it be Like?

Hermeneutics — Proper Bible Interpretation

Why is this World so Messed Up?

Bible—Is it Full of Contradictions? Does it Promote Slavery, Tyranny and Discrimination?

Legalism — Understanding its Many Forms

Sectarianism — What is It? What’s Wrong with It?

Insights on Evangelism, aka “Witnessing”

Evangelism concerns being a witness for the Lord, as conveyed by Christ here:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

Most people think evangelism only involves sharing the message of Christ and encouraging a person to say the sinner’s prayer, but—as wonderful as those may be—witnessing involves much more. Observe Christ’s details on evangelism here:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20

To “make disciples” means to make students of the Lord. The Greek verb for ‘make disciples’ is mathéteuó (math-ayt-YOU-oh), which literally means to make people learners of Christ, that is, true students/servants of the Lord. You can read more about this here. Making learners of Christ includes helping people to progressively learn about God through the sharing of scriptural truth, as well as being an example in lifestyle, not to mention regularly praying for them. When this is done, the genuine disciple will inevitably grow spiritually.

So true evangelism is more than just coercing people to say the “sinner’s prayer” (like thru using the “Romans road“). It’s more of a process that takes time as the potential convert successfully morphs into a learner of Christ. After all, what good is saying such a prayer if the person’s faith isn’t fed and no godly example is set for them? Is it any surprise that such “converts” often fall back into the ways of the world? We have to get away from this shallow idea that witnessing is all about believers accumulating notches. What good is that “notch” if the convert merely says these words—a prayer of salvation—but continues to live as an unbeliever? In such cases the words are hollow and the “notch” is meaningless.

Of course some witnessing situations will be a matter of “planting a seed,” like someone you happen to meet at the airport or on a plane. Yet—even in those situations—you can get personal info to keep in touch and intercede for him/her. However, if the person lives in your area you can invite them to a Bible study or an assembly or go out to coffee. If the individual shows no interest in feeding their newfound faith and growing in the Lord I would seriously question the legitimacy of their salvation prayer. If this is unfortunately the case you can still keep them in prayer and hope for a more serious conversion down the line; that is, an authentic one.

Tips on Evangelizing

Focus on your personal relationship with the Lord, first and foremost, so that the Fountain of Life—God—pours life into you (Psalm 36:9 & John 10:10). And then share that life with those in whom you naturally come into contact, as you have opportunity (1 Peter 3:15). Be real, not contrived. Be led of the Spirit. Only share what needs to be shared on a particular occasion. In other words, two words that fit the need of the situation are better than a sermon if the individual in question isn’t ready for it. We have to remember that Christ’s Church is a body of believers where one plants a seed, another waters; and even others may see the growth and harvest (1 Corinthians 3:5-9).

Lastly, keep in mind the hallowed words: “Preach the gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words.” This corresponds to what Christ taught:

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a lampstand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:13-16

Believers are both salt and light. Salt is something you taste and is a preservative, which shows that it’s figurative of the Word of God we share (John 6:63 & 6:68). Light, on the other hand, is something you see and corresponds to our actions & lifestyle — our example as “living epistles” (2 Corinthians 3:3). Jesus spends three verses talking about being light and only one verse about being salt. The point? Both are vital, no doubt, but living what you say or being what you say is paramount for being a genuine witness.

Related Topics:

What is the “Romans Road” to Salvation?

REDEMPTION — God’s Plan of Liberation for Humanity & Creation

Why Was Jesus Sometimes Ambiguous?

Why did Jesus Answer Questions with Questions?

Disciple — What is it? (The answer might surprise you)

Prayer—Communing with God

Is Christianity a “Relationship with God”?

The Salvation Equation: Faith = Salvation (+ Fruit + Works)

Is Christianity a “RELATIONSHIP With God”?

We’ve all heard it said that “Christianity is a relationship with God, not a religion.” Is this true? If so, what is the support for it in the Holy Scriptures, God’s blueprint for authentic Christianity?

From beginning to the end, the Bible unveils the story of the Creator’s relationship with humanity: From the creation of people (Genesis 1:26-27 & 2:7) and their habitat—the earth and the physical universe wherein it dwells (Genesis 1-2)—to their directive (1:28) and moral responsibility (2:16-17). From their fall and banishment (Genesis 3) to their redemption (1 Peter 1:18-19 & Ephesians 1:7), the millennial reign of Christ on earth and the eternal age of the new heavens and new earth (2 Peter 3:13 & Revelation 21-22) where the LORD will forever dwell together with redeemed humanity (21:1-5).

As far as personal relationship goes, Adam communed with God in the Garden of Eden, even after his fall (Genesis 3:8-13); Enoch “walked with God” and they were so close that the LORD simply “took him away,” presumably so they could be together in Heaven, but also as a type of the future Rapture (Genesis 5:22-24); Moses communed with God in the Tent of Meeting wherein the LORD dwelt on the mercy seat between the gold-sculptured cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 33:11); Asaph walked with the Creator so closely that they figuratively held hands (Psalm 73:23-25); and David, of course, was “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14 & Acts 13:22).

I’m sharing all this data to show that people have had a relationship with their Creator from the very beginning. In other words, fellowship with God is perfectly normal and is actually the first order of life. This explains Christ’s statement “seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). (Please notice that it says seek first and not seek only).

All of these people from the Old Testament had a relationship with the LORD despite the fact that they had an inferior covenant with God. Today a vastly superior covenant is available to all people through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 8:6-7). This is the awesome message of the gospel—we can reconcile with our Creator, be forgiven of sin and receive eternal life & immortality (2 Timothy 1:10).

The “Message of Reconciliation”

The above explains why the gospel is referred to as the “message of reconciliation” in Scripture (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). ‘Reconciliation’ means “to turn from enmity to friendship” and this is the core of the Christian message: We can have an actual relationship with God through spiritual regeneration via the imperishable seed of the living Word of God, Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:23). I should add that ‘seed’ in the Greek is “sperm” (1 John 3:9) — believers are born-again of the imperishable sperm of Christ, the enduring living Word of God.

Christianity’s all about reconciling with God and literally knowing him. Christianity is a relationship with the awesome Creator of the universe and our works are merely an overflow of this relationship.

But religionists—legalists—reject this simple truth because having an actual relationship with the LORD is something that’s largely done in private and legalists are all about putting on airs of religiosity to impress others. Consequently, they divert to rule-ism and works-oriented religion. This is why the false ministers depicted in Matthew 7:15-23 immediately start boasting of their works when they come face-to-face with the Lord. As is typical with legalists, they thought their great works would secure them God’s favor and eternal salvation, but they were wrong.

Christ’s response to these legalists, “I never knew you,” is a key insight about legalists—they don’t have a relationship with the Lord and therefore don’t really know God despite claims to the contrary. Take the Pharisees, for example. They claimed that God was their father, which implied close kinship, but Jesus frankly told them they were children of the devil (John 8:41-44)! Another good example is the priests of Judah just prior to their forced exile; the LORD spoke of them like so:

“The priests did not ask,

‘Where is the LORD?’

Those who deal with the law did not know me;

the leaders rebelled against me.’ ”

Jeremiah 2:8

He goes on to point out that they had no awe of God (verse 19). People who really know the LORD develop an overwhelming awe. Legalists lack such awe because they don’t know their Creator, even though they put on airs of veneration to impress others.

I should stress that works have their place. After all, James made it clear that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:14-24). But works are a result of having a relationship with God and not a means to the relationship. This is why Paul said it is by God’s favor we are saved, through faith, and not by works so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Unfortunately, legalists choose to concentrate on their works so that they can boast. It’s all about ego and arrogance. We see this in the aforementioned passage from Matthew (7:15-23).

Godliness vs. Religion

Scholar E.W. Bullinger points out the differences between godliness and religion in his lexicon (335). The Greek word for godliness in the Bible is eusebeia (yoo-SEB-ee-ah), which relates to a real & vital relationship with the Almighty, whereas the Greek word for religion is thréskeia (thrays-KIH-ah), which refers to the outward acts of religious works and ceremonies. The latter can be performed by the flesh without knowing God at all, which is why legalists make it their focus, but having a relationship with God requires the human spirit; and, more precisely, reborn human spirit.

Jesus said, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24); ‘spirit’ in the latter case refers to the human spirit. The point being that true worship is not merely a matter of outward conformity to religious rules, ceremonies, works and places. Authentic worship springs from a regenerated spirit that’s connected with the LORD and involves communion between the individual and the indwelling Holy Spirit, who guides/helps us (John 16:13 & 14:26).

This, by the way, is why Christ & the epistles stressed the necessity of spiritual rebirth (John 3:3, 3:6 & Titus 3:5). This is relationship. ‘Godliness’ means to be like God and being like God naturally proceeds from relationship since we become like those we spend time with the most, which is the Law of Association. In other words, a relationship with God produces godliness. ‘Religion’ by contrast doesn’t refer to godliness, but to outward forms of devotion, which are wonderful as long as they proceed from one’s relationship with the LORD.

New Testament Passages on “Relationship With God”

With the understanding of the above, let’s observe a smattering of random New Testament verses that express relationship with God, along with some insightful commentary:

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴ that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵ not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God;

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

Genuine believers can know the Creator due to spiritual regeneration and the indwelling Holy Spirit whereas unbelievers—i.e. “pagans”— cannot. Please don’t take this the wrong way because unsaved people can certainly grasp God’s existence through the general revelation of creation (Psalm 19:1-4 & Romans 1:18-20), conscience (Romans 2:14-15) and the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11). The problem is un-regenerated people don’t have the spiritual software to commune with their Creator as children of God, which is why they need to be born again spiritually of God’s seed (1 John 3:9 & 1 Peter 1:23). Until this happens, they’re a creation of God, but not actually a child of God.

When I was an unbeliever throughout my teens I was an agnostic and desperately seeking truth—ultimate reality—the way it really is. I sensed the Creator’s existence through creation and inner conscience and, no doubt, the work of the Holy Spirit, which eventually led me to salvation through Christ at the age of 20.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

Ephesians 1:17

This passage speaks for itself, but notice how it establishes God as Father/Son/Holy Spirit.

What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:8-11

Paul was a mature believer by this point—high level STAGE FOUR—and, as such, he considered everything a loss compared to knowing the Lord. Anything he had sacrificed in his life for the Lord he considered “garbage,” which means he didn’t consider those things that great a loss compared to gaining Christ and walking with God. When the Spirit moves you to let go of something, don’t desperately hold on to it. As you let it go and get closer to the Lord you will see that that thing you sacrificed was rubbish by comparison.

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,

Philippians 2:1 (NASB)

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:9

“Fellowship” refers to peaceful communion and presumes relationship. Regenerated believers have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.

No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.

Hebrews 8:11

This passage quotes Jeremiah 31:34 and unveils the main purpose of the superior New Covenant—to reconcile with God and know the LORD.

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ²For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

John 17:1-3

In this prayer to the Father, the Messiah wasn’t defining eternal life, since eternal life literally means the life of the perpetual age-to-come; He was revealing the most important quality of eternal life, which is knowing the LORD!

Spiritually regenerated believers have eternal life—the life of the age-to-come—in their spirits since the Holy Spirit gives rebirth to the human spirit when a person accepts Christ (John 3:6 & 3:36). As such, we can tap into this abundant life daily (John 10:10), which is called:

“living by the spirit” aka “walking in the spirit” (Galatians 5:16),
“clothing yourself in Christ” (Romans 13:14),
“participating in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) and…
“putting on the new self” (Colossians 3:10 & Ephesians 4:22-24).

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:3

Again, “fellowship” presumes peaceful communion and therefore relationship.

We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

1 John 5:20

Everything comes down to knowing God through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual fruit & works will naturally proceed from there.

Closing Encouragement

As you can see, true Christianity is all about reconciling with your Creator and walking in fellowship with the LORD on a daily basis. It’s as normal as breathing: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3 KJV).

For insights on how to cultivate a closer relationship with God see the article Prayer—Communing with God; also check out the video DRINK UP! (from the Fountain of Life).

Related Topics:

INTIMACY WITH GOD and Its Benefits

Praise & Worship—What’s the Difference? Why are they Important?

Spirituality — How to be Spirit-Controlled Rather than Flesh-Ruled

Spiritual Growth is Like Climbing a Mountain

The Seven Keys to SPIRITUAL GROWTH

Spiritual Growth — The Four Stages

REDEMPTION — God’s Plan of Liberation for Humanity & Creation

How to Obtain Your Desires

The Basics of Christianity