DEATH — Does It Mean “Separation” as Religionists Claim? (No)

There are doctrinal “sacred cows” in Christendom that aren’t actually biblical. One of these is the curious theory that death doesn’t really mean death, but rather “separation.”

Consider Paul’s unmistakable statement in this passage:

For the wages of sin is death (thanatos), but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

“Death” here is translated from the Greek word thanatos (THAYN-ah-tohs), which simply means “death” (Strong 35)—the absence of life or opposite of life. Greek scholar E.W. Bullinger says that thanatos refers to “The natural end of life” (207). Although this is simple to understand and commonly understood, those who teach that human damnation consists of eternal (never-ending) torment “explain” that death in this passage doesn’t really mean death, but rather “separation from God.” When you press them for details as to exactly what they mean by “separation from God,” it turns out that they really mean never-ending conscious life in fiery torment. Do you see the obvious problem with this theory? Under the guise of “interpretation” they would have us believe that death actually means the exact opposite of what it really is! In other words, since “the wages of sin” to them is not death at all, but rather immortal life in conscious torment, their definition of death means something entirely opposite to literal death! If this isn’t a blatant example of subtracting from God’s Word and adding to it, I don’t know what is.

This religious theory must be rejected for a number of obvious reasons:

1. If we take “eternal life” literally, we must also take “death” literally

God clearly declares in Romans 6:23 above, as well as numerous other passages, that the wages of sin is death and eternal life is a gift to those in right-standing with him. So death is promised as a punishment for ungodly sinners and life is promised as a gift for the righteous. In such a context as this, every law of language and common sense agrees that if we take the promise of life literally we must also take the punishment of death literally. If one is literal then both are literal. If there is to be no real death for unrepentant sinners there will be no real life for repentant saints.

Adherents of eternal torment can insist that death only means “separation” all they want, but the simple fact is that the opposite of life is death. What word could better describe the end of life than ‘death’? The only way a person can accept the view of eternal torture is to believe that death doesn’t mean death, that die doesn’t mean die, that destroy doesn’t mean destroy, that perish doesn’t mean perish, that destruction doesn’t mean destruction and that consume doesn’t mean consume.

2. Physical death is death of the body

While most Christians believe the soul (mind & spirit) survives the body, we cannot ignore the biblical fact that “the body without the spirit is dead” (James 2:26). The body is not itself separated; it is dead. It no longer has life in it because death is the opposite of life. Death means death, it’s not complicated. Thanatos, the Greek word translated as death in Romans 6:23 above, is used most often simply in reference to this death, the first death. For example:

“I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him [Paul] that deserved death (thanatos) or imprisonment.”

Acts 23:29

The Roman commander speaking in this verse is merely attesting that Paul committed no crime worthy of execution or imprisonment. Thanatos here simply refers to physical execution—the cessation of physical life. When a person is executed his/her conscious life expires, at least as far as physical life is concerned. Believe it or not, adherents of eternal torture suggest that “death” refers to separation even in this context. Their theory is that death would refer to separation of the inner being (mind & spirit) from the outer being (body) (Dake 619). According to this theory the Roman commander really meant to say, “There was no charge against Paul that deserved separation of the inner being from the outer being or imprisonment.” Did the Roman commander really mean to say this when he used the word thanatos? Of course not, the idea is ludicrous. The usage of thanatos here refers to literal physical death, the expiration of conscious life in the body. This is how James 2:26 above defines physical death: the body without the spirit is dead. That is, void of conscious life. Whether or not a person’s consciousness exists on a spiritual plane after physical death is a separate issue.

3. The same biblical words used in reference to the second death are also used in reference to the death of animals

In his popular lexicon (a dictionary of biblical words), W.E. Vine admits that thanatos—death—is indeed “the opposite of life,” but then completely contradicts this statement by saying that “it never denotes non-existence” (Vine 149). With all due respect, Mr. Vine would do well to forsake his sectarian bias and honestly dig a little deeper in his studies as the Scriptures blatantly disagree with this statement. Case in point: The equivalent Hebrew word for death, maveth (MAW-veth) (see 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, which combines quotes from Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14 supplanting the Hebrew maveth with the Greek thanatos). Maveth is used in reference to the death of animals in the Old Testament:

Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: as one dies (maveth) so dies (maveth) the other.

Ecclesiastes 3:19

As dead (maveth) flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

Ecclesiastes 10:1

Would anyone ludicrously argue that the equivalent Hebrew word for death in these verses refers to “separation” or never-ending torment? Of course not. Animals and flies that experience death (thanatos/maveth) literally die—their life ceases. They of course leave behind a dead, decaying shell, but their conscious life expires. That’s what death is. It’s plain and simple. This disproves Vine’s unscholarly theory as animals definitely cease to exist when they die, that is, their conscious life expires. If “death” (thanatos/maveth) literally means death when used in reference to animals, why would its definition mysteriously change to something completely different—actually opposite—when applied to human beings? It doesn’t, but adherents of eternal torment are forced to interpret the Bible in this bizarre manner because of their unbiblical theology. (Their reasoning is: “If people have an immortal soul and can therefore never actually die, then death can’t really mean death when used in reference to people”).

4. Numerous other biblical words besides thanatos describe the second death in strict terms of death and destruction

Thanatos (John 8:51, Romans 6:23 & James 5:20) is supported by many other Hebrew and Greek words which are variously translated as

• “die” — John 11:26 & Romans 8:13,
• “destruction” — Matthew 7:13 & 2 Peter 3:7,
• “destroy” — Matthew 10:28 & James 4:12,
• “perish” — John 3:16 & 2 Peter 3:9,
• “consume” — Hebrews 10:26-27

These are all in reference to the ultimate wages of sin — literal everlasting destruction when cast into the lake of fire (2 Thessalonians 1:9 & Revelation 20:11-15). As covered in the early sections of this article, these words are backed-up by numerous crystal clear examples of literal destruction, like weeds thrown into fire (Matthew 13:40), a king’s enemies being executed in front of him (Luke 19:27) and the very word for “hell” itself, Gehenna — a symbolic reference to the lake of fire, which is the second death. Add to this the fact that the Bible says point blank that eternal life and immortality are only available through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:10 & Romans 2:7). In light of all these factors, even if thanatos had a secondary definition of “separation” — which it doesn’t — it still wouldn’t refer to separation in regards to the second death of human beings.

5. If the fate of ungodly sinners is to be some sort of life or “existence” in undying “separation” from God in misery and torment, God would have certainly expressed this repeatedly in the Bible.

The LORD could have easily chosen words to describe damnation in explicit terms of “separation,” “existence in torment” or “perpetual life in misery,” but He did not do this. Forgive me for being redundant, but God consistently chose words that have for their usual, basic meaning “die,” “death,” “destruction,” “destroy,” “perish,” “consume” and “burn up.” This is established in  Chapter One of HELL KNOW, which you can read here. God couldn’t possibly use a better choice of words to describe literal death. He then made sure to back-up these unmistakable words with multiple easy-to-understand examples of literal death and incineration, as noted above and in detail in Chapter Two.

Consider also that if thanatos really meant “separation” then why should English Bible translators even bother translating thanatos as “death” at all (which they unanimously do)? Why not rather universally translate it as “separation”? Wouldn’t this simplify matters and spare us all a lot of confusion? The obvious reason they don’t do this is because thanatos literally means death, the opposite of life, and therefore non-existence or, we could say, the state of non-being. Death is not a different form of life; it is the opposite of life. Thus the first death, which is physical death, refers at least to non-existence in the physical realm; and the second death—which entails the everlasting destruction of soul and body—refers to absolute non-existence with no hope of resurrection.

6. “Death” and “separation” are two completely different words in Hebrew and Greek, just as they are in English; these words have different meanings

The Hebrew badal (baw-DAL) and the Greek chorizo (koh-RID-zoh) are two Old and New Testament words for “separation” (see, for example, Isaiah 59:2 and Romans 8:35,39). If the wages of sin is not really death, but rather separation, then God would have used these Hebrew and Greek words to describe the ultimate wages of sin. For example, Romans 6:23 would read, “For the wages of sin is separation (chorizo)” and Ezekiel 18:4 would read, “The soul who sins will separate (badal).” But does the Bible teach this anywhere? No, “the wages of sin is death” and “the soul who sins will die” (NASB).

It is true that one of the results of sin is separation from God (Isaiah 59:2). This is spiritual death, which simply means that one’s spirit is dead to God. Those who are spiritually dead cannot have a relationship with the LORD because God is spirit, and those who worship and know him can only do so in spirit and in truth (see John 4:24). That’s why Christ taught that we need to have a spiritual rebirth in order to know God (John 3:3-6; see also Titus 3:5). Jesus experienced separation from the Father when he bore our sins on the cross. He even cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). He also experienced severe suffering when he was crucified. While it was horrible for Christ to experience this separation and suffering, it ended in death. The penalty Jesus paid for our sins was separation from God, temporary suffering, followed by death. This was an example of the second death to all humanity. Those who are already separated from God (i.e. spiritually dead) and reject His offer of reconciliation can likewise expect suffering that ends in death on Judgment Day (Revelation 20:11-15).

The bottom line is that the second death is consistently described in terms of literal death and utter destruction in the Bible, not “separation.” See this article for details.

7. To suggest that death means something entirely opposite of its actual definition is nothing more than a blatant case of subtracting from God’s Word and adding to it

Adherents of eternal torment subtract the word “death” (thanatos) from the numerous passages which describe the wages of sin strictly in terms of literal death, and supplant it with “eternal life in separation from God” — a definition that is, once again, completely opposite to the actual definition of death. This practice is all done under the noble mask of “interpretation,” but notice how the Bible strictly condemns this practice:

Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.

Deuteronomy 4:2

Every word of God is flawless;…

(6) Do not add to his words,

or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

Proverbs 30:5-6

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. (19) And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Revelation 22:18-19

As you can see, it’s a grave offense in God’s eyes to subtract from his Word and add to it something else. As pointed out in Proverb 30 above, the God-breathed Scriptures are flawless. There’s simply no reason to make any changes. But adherents of eternal torment are guilty of this transgression in regards to the Bible’s repeated declaration that the wages of sin is death.

The scriptural arguments above are proof enough that ‘death’ simply means death in the Bible and not “separation,” but here’s additional proof…

8. A comparison of New Testament words for “death,” “perish,” “destruction,” etc. to other well-known Greek writings of the same general period offers additional support

For example, Plato argued that the human soul is immortal and can never die or cease to exist. What Greek words did Plato use to express this denial? He used the exact Greek words that Paul and others in the New Testament used to describe the everlasting destruction of unbelievers. Here are several examples to show what I mean: Plato taught that the human soul would not die (apothnesko), Paul taught that it could die (e.g. Romans 8:13); Plato taught that the human soul would never experience death (thanatos), Paul and James taught that it could experience death (e.g. James 5:20); Plato taught that the human soul would not suffer destruction (apoleia and olethros), Paul, Peter and Christ taught that it could suffer destruction (e.g. 2 Thessalonians 1:9, 2 Peter 3:7 and Matthew 7:13-14).

Plato used these various Greek words to describe absolute extinction of being, not separation of being. Since Paul and others used these very same words to describe the eternal fate of those who reject God’s message of reconciliation in Christ, we must conclude that they too were referring to absolute extinction of being (Constable 42).

Furthermore, there were people in the 1^st Century who adhered to universal extinction, that is, they believed that when people died they simply ceased to exist, with no hope of resurrection for either the righteous or unrighteous. The Epicureans were Greeks who advocated this view and the Sadducees were Jews who supported it. What words did these sects use to express their belief in absolute extinction of conscious life? Why, the very same Greek words used in the New Testament to describe the everlasting destruction of the ungodly (Constable 48).

So, death simply meant death in uninspired writings—the cessation of life—just as it does in the biblical Scriptures.

In light of these eight reasons, we have no recourse but to take God at his Word and conclude that the second death will be a literal death—utter, awful, complete and final. The religious theory that death means “separation” must be categorically rejected.

‘ What About Spiritual Death? ’

This next objection goes hand in hand with the argument that death means “separation.” Under the guise of “interpretation” many sincere Christians add the word “spiritual” to the numerous plain passages that promise death to unrepentant sinners. For instance, they argue that Romans 6:23 should read: “For the wages of sin is spiritual death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ our Lord.” They then translate ‘spiritual death’ as “eternal separation from God because of sin” (Dake 619). The obvious problem with doing this is that none of the multitude of biblical texts that promise death and destruction as the ultimate wage of sin contain the word “spiritual.”

God wrote the Scriptures through men by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21 & 2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible is truly “God’s Word.” If the LORD really meant to say “spiritual death” in all these passages we’ve looked at throughout this study then He would’ve said so. I don’t think the Almighty needs our help in writing a book, do you?

Actually, adding the word “spiritual” to the numerous passages that promise death to unrepentant sinners is another case of adding to God’s word and subtracting what it really says—a practice that’s condemned in the Scriptures, as already noted.

Speaking of which, spiritual death is a legitimate doctrine. To understand spiritual death it’s necessary to understand that it’s the spiritual side of human nature that actually “connects” with God. Thus spiritual death simply means that the spirit of a person is dead to God, that is, the capacity of his/her spirit to unite or commune with God is dead. “Original sin” is the reason this capacity does not exist. In order for a person’s spirit to unite with God he or she has to be spiritually regenerated. This explains why Jesus taught that our spirit must be “born again” for us to “see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3-6).*

* The doctrine of “original sin” suggests that humanity’s fallen nature—our inclination to commit sin—was naturally passed on to all of us by our primeval parents, Adam and Eve.

So spiritual death is a present state of the non-Christian. This is why Paul described the Ephesians as “dead in transgressions” before their spiritual rebirth (Ephesians 2:5). The second death, by contrast, is a future event entailing the complete destruction of soul and body in hell. So spiritual death ultimately results in the second death, which is an absolute death described in the Bible as “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9) and the destruction “of soul and body” (Matthew 10:28) wherein “raging fire will consume the enemies of God” (Hebrews 10:26-27,31) when the unrepentant wicked are discarded in the lake of fire “which is the second death” (Revelation 20:11-15).

All the relevant passages we’ve examined in this study apply to the second death, a future event. None of them refer to spiritual death, which is a present state in the non-believer’s life.

For a more detailed examination of human nature and spiritual death see Human Nature: Spirit, Mind & Body.

Related Topics:

Hell (Human Damnation) — Questions and Answers

IMMORTALITY — Only Available Through the Gospel 

Human Nature — Spirit, Mind & Body

This article was edited from chapter 6 of…

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Created in the IMAGE OF GOD — What Does It Mean?

The Bible says that human beings are “created in the likeness of God” or “created in God’s image.” What exactly does it mean to be created in the LORD’s likeness or image? While people are the only physical beings created in God’s image, is it possible that angels — decidedly spiritual beings — were also created in the Creator’s likeness? What does the Bible say on this intriguing topic?

Let’s start by looking at the very first reference to people being created in God’s image and likeness:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image,

       in the image of God he created them;

      male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:26-27

As you can see, the LORD — Father, Son & Holy Spirit — decided to make humankind in their image and likeness and then did so. The Hebrew word for ‘likeness’ is demuth (dem-OOTH), which means likeness or similitude—that is, something that resembles another; it’s something that is a, match or counterpart to another. As such, human beings resemble the Almighty; you could say that we’re God’s counterpart in the physical realm.

The Hebrew for ‘image’ is tselem (SEH-lem), which simply means image, representation, copy or duplicate. A scriptural example can be observed when the LORD instructed Moses to drive out the rejected inhabitants of the Promised Land and “destroy all their carved images (tselem) and their cast idols” (Numbers 33:52). The false Canaanite god Baal, for instance, was perceived as a man with the head and horns of a bull; and so the Canaanites’ carved images depicted this — the carving (idol) was a physical image of the mental concept.

So humankind — male and female — is the physical image of God. This shows that, while “God is spirit,” as Christ said (John 4:24), He’s not some amorphous cloud entity in the spiritual realm. The LORD has a shape, similar to people, with a head, torso, arms and legs. It has been argued that God has no physical body, which is obvious, but the Creator certainly has a spiritual form or “body.” For instance, the Bible says repeatedly that the LORD sits enthroned in Heaven (Psalm 47:8, 103:19 & Isaiah 40:22). Does this refer to a shapeless cloud being sitting on a throne in Heaven? No, the Creator has a central presence and spiritual form, similar to the body of human beings, who were created in God’s image and likeness.

Consider Ezekiel’s awesome description of the LORD in a vision of an incredible craft wherein God sits on a throne that rests on a sparkling ice-like platform propelled by four cherubim with the aid of four giant wheels within intersecting wheels:

Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. ²⁷ I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. ²⁸ Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Ezekiel 1:26-28

I realize this is a vision, but it’s describing God’s form — “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD” — which is chronicled as “a figure like that of a man.” This is how the God-breathed Scriptures describe the Creator’s appearance and it is the Scriptures that we are to use to formulate accurate doctrine, that is, teachings; they’re the basis for correcting error and erroneous ideas  (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Sure, the references to “glowing metal” from the waist up and “fire” from there down are figurative, but Ezekiel is simply using items he’s familiar with to describe the indescribable — God.

Genesis 1:26 (cited above) provides further insight on what it means to be created in God’s image and likeness: It means to possess authority of some sort, like humankind holds over the Earth and its creatures. This explains why people have zoos for animals and not vice versa.

Being created in God’s likeness further means to possess volition, which is the power to consciously choose. It also means to understand and distinguish good and evil. Thus we have a conscience — an inward moral compass — and only those who foolishly harden their hearts are bereft of this sense. Animals, by contrast, are instinctual and do not comprehend such concepts.

Being created in the LORD’s image also means having the ability to create in a sophisticated sense, like the Creator. Hence, human beings create cities, highways, languages, literature, art, music, movies, computer systems and so on. Animals, of course, lack such aptitude.

Were Angels Also Created in God’s Image?

People are the only physical beings created in God’s image, but what about angels? Are they spiritual beings also created in God’s likeness? The Bible doesn’t expressly say it in these terms, but it could be argued that the Scriptures point to this conclusion. Consider the evidence:

1. Angels are referred to as “the sons of God,” which is ben Elohim in the Hebrew. This can be observed in Job 38:7. The phrase is also used in Job 1:6 & 2:1 and Genesis 6:1-4, the latter of which refers specifically to fallen angels. Needless to say, sons are created in the likeness of their father; they’re “chips off the old block.”
2. When angels manifested physically they always appeared as people and not some other life form. While fallen angels have been known to possess animals on occasion (Genesis 3:1 & Matthew 8:31-32), not to mention people, when angels actually manifested physically without possessing someone or something they always appeared as human beings (Genesis 18:1-3,10,16-17,22-23).
3. When the “sons of God”—fallen angels—manifested in the physical realm to copulate with women and produce offspring they obviously had to be men in form. To produce offspring you have to be the same basic species. For instance, a dog and a wolf can produce viable, fertile offspring, but two different species can’t, like a giraffe and a lion or a human being and any animal. Since the coupling of these “sons of God” with women produced offspring they had to be a compatible species (Genesis 6:1-4).
4. The devil & his angels understood morality and possessed volition to make a choice for evil. In other words, they weren’t instinctual like animals; they comprehended good and evil and made a conscious decision for the latter.
5. Christ said redeemed people would become “like the angels” at the First Resurrection (Luke 20:34-36). He didn’t say we would become angels, just that we’d become “like the angels” in two senses: A. We will never marry and B. we will no longer be able to die; in short, we’ll attain intrinsic immortality at the bodily resurrection (2 Timothy 1:10). Nevertheless, the fact that Jesus linked humans to angels reveals a degree of commonality, the main difference being that angels are decidedly spiritual in nature whereas people are created specifically to function in the physical realm. Yet neither of these is absolute since angels have been known to physically manifest and redeemed humans are shown functioning in the spiritual realm separate from their physical bodies (Revelation 6:9-11 & 7:9-15).
6. Descriptions of angels in Scripture show them having the basic appearance and anatomy of people—head, human-like faces, torso, arms & legs—with the exception of some described as having wings. True, Ezekiel described cherubs in two visions in terms of being covered with eyes and having four faces, including that of a man, but this is likely symbolic language, as detailed here; the same goes for John’s descriptions of the living creatures in Revelation.
7. Jesus is The Son of God and The Angel of the LORD whereas angels are referred to as sons of God and angels. Christ is Deity, of course—the Creator of all things, as detailed here — while angels are created beings created by the Creator, yet this terminology reveals some kind of affinity in likeness.

All this points to angels being created in the image of God, like human beings. However, the Bible never technically describes angels as being created in God’s image and likeness, which it repeatedly does with humans (aside from Genesis 1:26-27, there’s also Genesis 5:1, 9:6, 1 Corinthians 11:7 and, arguably, Ephesians 4:24 & Colossians 3:10).

In any case, angels lack the privilege and position granted to people; that is, to be co-heirs with Christ, seated with Him at the right hand of the Father, as shown in these potent verses:

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Romans 8:17

To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

Hebrews 1:13

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 2:6

Reflect on these things; it’s good stuff!

So were angels created in God’s image like human beings? I think the evidence speaks for itself and this association helps us to understand…

The Reason for the Great War of the Three Realms

As detailed in this article, before Satan’s fall & casting from Heaven along with a third of the angels, he was originally Lucifer — aka “Morning Star” or “Shining One” — the most attractive, talented and honored angel the LORD had created (Isaiah 14:12). Lucifer was a guardian cherub handpicked by God for the privilege of guarding — i.e. covering — God’s throne in Heaven, similar to the cherubim who were assigned to guard the Garden of Eden after Adam & Eve were banished (Genesis 3:24).

Ezekiel 28:12-19 shows that Lucifer had an intrinsic musical anointing and dwelt in the presence of the Almighty. When God created the Earth & Universe the angels “sang together” and “shouted for joy”. Satan’s rebellion occurred sometime after this because there had to be an Earth and the corresponding Underworld for him to fall to and inhabit (Luke 10:18). As explained in this article, the “underworld” is simply the spiritual dimension that undergirds the Earth & Universe. Not being physical beings, the devil and his fallen angels operate from this spiritual realm to negatively influence the physical world.

Job 38:4-7 shows that “all the angels shouted for joy” when the Earth was created. The word ‘all’ is kol (kohl) in the Hebrew, meaning “the whole.” As noted earlier in this article, the Hebrew for ‘angels’ in this verse literally means “the sons of God,” the same phrase used to describe angels elsewhere in Scripture, including the devil & his filthy angels (e.g. Genesis 6:2,4 & Job 1:6, 2:1). My point is that all the angels rejoiced when God created the Heavens and the Earth (Genesis 1:1), which would include Lucifer and his subordinates before their rebellion and ouster from Heaven.

Yet in Genesis 3:1-15 we observe Satan, after his fall, possessing a serpent-with-legs in order to tempt the first woman. This shows that Lucifer and his cohorts rebelled and were cast from Heaven sometime after the creation of the Earth & Universe, but before the devil’s duping of Eve, which means sometime between Genesis 1:31 and Genesis 3:1.* We don’t know the exact expanse of time between the two, but it could’ve been years. In any case, this shows that Satan’s rebellion occurred shortly after the creation of human beings.

* This is the young Earth perspective, which I believe is the most biblically faithful position on the age of the Earth/Universe. Gap theorists, who embrace the old Earth model, place the fall of Lucifer & his fallen spirits sometime between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. For details, see this article.

We know that Lucifer’s insurgency was due to pride:

¹³ You said in your heart,     

   “I will ascend to the heavens;  

   I will raise my throne       

     above the stars of God;   

   I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,       

     on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.

¹⁴I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;       

       I will make myself like the Most High.”

 Isaiah 14:13-14

These five “I will” statements reveal Satan’s arrogance — he wanted to be God rather than be God’s servant. This was the first sin ever committed, the first sin to enter God’s creation. And notice that sin is traced to what’s going on in one’s heart, which is corroborated by Christ in the New Testament (Mark 7:20-23). No wonder Jesus emphasized this in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28).

Lucifer was not satisfied with his extraordinary blessings and privileges. Instead, he wanted to be God and so, after his defeat, he naturally tempted Adam & Eve with the same basic sin that led to his downfall (Genesis 3:1-5). But there’s more to this story, way more…

Lucifer was possibly having problems with the concept of serving before God created Adam & Eve, but once humans were created and he caught wind of the fact that angels were commissioned to serve people (Hebrews 1:14) his pride couldn’t handle it, particularly when he found out human beings were created in the likeness of God, like the angels. And, worse, that they were expressly created to be co-heirs with Christ, seated with Him at the right hand of the Father, a privilege and position not granted to angels, as detailed earlier (Romans 8:17, Hebrews 1:13 & Ephesians 2:6). Lucifer’s envy went into overdrive and thus he orchestrated his doomed revolt.

Lucifer thus became Satan, the “Adversary” or “Enemy.” Knowing God’s character, the LORD gave Satan & his foul cronies time to repent, but they were incorrigible. Since angelic spirits possess intrinsic immortality (Luke 20:34-36), God couldn’t annihilate Satan & his fallen angels and so sentenced them to eternal separation from God’s kingdom and so created the lake of fire as their eternal habitation (Matthew 25:41 & 46).

This is when the devil – which means “slanderer” – accused the LORD of being unloving and unjust. Consequently, God allowed a universal demonstration to all the angels – faithful and fallen – to prove both his great love and perfect justice by allowing the Enemy to tempt human beings, which would result in humanity’s fall. This would pave the way for God to implement his wonderful plan of redemption through the suffering & sacrifice of Christ, which offered forgiveness, reconciliation & eternal life for any human being who humbly repented and received God’s graciousness (Acts 20:21), which was something the devil & his cronies were unwilling to do.

Hence God’s sentence on the fallen angels was temporarily suspended until this universal demonstration was completed. This “demonstration” to spiritual powers can be observed in this passage:

8Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Ephesians 3:8-12

“The rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” refers to angelic authorities, which includes “the rulers… the authorities… the powers of this dark world and… the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

In the meantime the devil & his underlings are doing everything they can to thwart God’s demonstration. For anyone who might object to the idea of a dispute between God and the devil and the corresponding exhibition on Earth, the Bible details just such a scenario on a smaller scale in the book of Job (Job 1:8-12 & 2:3-7).

Satan’s top priority, of course, is to keep as many people from eternal salvation as possible (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). Apparently he thinks that if he can keep enough people from redemption the Creator will be forced to bend his justice, which would set a precedent and thus grant Satan & his demons an acquittal.

I know this is heavy stuff, but it gives the big picture of what’s happening behind the scenes and explains our fallen Universe and the ongoing war between good and evil. All the pieces of the puzzle fit. Mull over the data and decide for yourself. Thankfully, this is a temporary war and God’s kingdom wins in the end. Thus all the humbly repentant are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth, the home of righteousness (2 Peter 3:13).

Praise the LORD!

Related Topics:

IMMORTALITY — Only Available Through the Gospel

What is Conscience?

Satan (the Devil) — Liar, Slanderer, Thief, Murderer

The Fall of Man (Humanity) and Slavery to Satan

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

RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS

Why is this World so Messed Up?

What is Oneness theology—aka “Jesus Only”—and is it Biblical?

KEY of KNOWLEDGE — What Is It?

Christ noted the “key of knowledge” when addressing the legalistic Teachers of the Law:

⁴⁶“And you experts in the law, woe to you because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them…

⁵² Woe to you experts in the law because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”

                                     Luke 11:46,52

As you can see in verse 46, legalists lack the capacity or desire to set people free. On the contrary, they do the very opposite—they load people down with heavy and unnecessary burdens that they’re unwilling to help carry. This is what legalists do. (For details on the pharisaical spirit see this article).

Verse 52 goes on to show that legalists aren’t interested in giving anyone the “key of knowledge.” What is the “key of knowledge”? It refers to understanding what the Law is all about—it’s simply correct interpretation of the Scriptures. In short, it’s truth, which is the only thing that can set people free (John 8:31-32), the primary truth being Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. After all, the Messiah is the main theme of Scripture (John 1:45 & 5:39-40). And the Living Word and the written Word are both truth (John 14:6 & 17:17). ‘Truth,’ by the way is alétheia (ah-LAY-thee-ah)  in the Greek, which means “reality” or “the way it really is.”

The Mighty Christ is the “word of God” (John 1:1-4) and “truth” (John 14:6), not to mention the Creator of all things and the One who “holds all things together” in the Universe, including every molecule (Colossians 1:15-20). As such, Jesus Christ is the key of knowledge “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”:

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:2-3

But Pharisaical religionists — i.e. legalists — aren’t interested in giving people this key because 1. they don’t really know the LORD and 2. they don’t really want people set free. In fact, they actually hinder others from discovering the truth and walking in freedom. They ironically offer the precise opposite to the services they’re supposed to provide. Is it any wonder that Christ called their converts “twice the sons of hell” as they were? (Matthew 23:15).

But why? Why don’t legalists want people set free? Why do they actually hinder others from finding the truth? Because of pride. It makes them feel needed and superior if people are weak, dependent and needy. If people are set free they’ll no longer have control over them. In fact, they’re intimidated by strong individuals who are free, which is why they wanted to kill Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:13-14 & John 8:40). As a matter of fact, legalists can’t set people free since they’re not free themselves and people can only give what they’ve got. If they don’t have freedom they can’t give freedom.

You’ll see this spirit seep into some churches or ministries. The pastor and staff will only go so far in helping others because they want to keep congregants weak and needy. It’s an issue of pride and even job security; it’s also totally absurd. It’s like guitar teachers holding back important theory and techniques because they don’t want their students to surpass them one day and steal their thunder. Ridiculous!

The true Christian spirit, by contrast, is intent on setting people free above all else. As a minister friend told me, “My job is to become unnecessary in the life of the believer.” As disciples get to know the LORD they’ll naturally become stronger and freer. In time, the minister’s services will no longer be needed.

This article was edited from…

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• The print version is available here for a special low price (292 pages).
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Related Topics:

Legalism — Understanding its Many Forms

Ministerial Abuse — The Diotrephes Spirit vs. the Davidic Spirit

Ministerial Pitfalls and Abuses

Mentor & Protégé Dynamics

Religion and Christianity — What’s the Difference?

Godliness and Religion—What’s the Difference?

Spiritual Growth — The Four Stages

Should You “Obey” Your Pastor?

Spiritual Growth is Like Climbing a Mountain

Deny Yourself or Love Yourself — Which Is It? (Both)

Christians are not  under the Mosaic Law (Galatians 5:18 & Romans 7:6), but under Christ’s law (1 Corinthians 9:19-21 & Galatians 6:2), which is the law of love:

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:37-40

There are only two laws in Christianity with three applications: Love God and love others as you love yourself. Christ Himself taught this by quoting the Old Testament. Anyone who walks according to this law of love automatically fulfills all  the moral Law of the Old Covenant (Matthew 7:12 & Romans 13:8-10), which is why Jesus said loving God and loving people — which includes loving yourself — are the greatest commands.

Yet Jesus also instructed that we are to deny ourselves:

 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 

Matthew 16:24

While this might seem like a contradiction, it is not.

The passages that say you are to love others as you love yourself are obviously referring to loving oneself in a wholistic, eternal sense whereas biblical instructions to deny yourself refer to denying the flesh, the sinful nature. For instance, the married believer who genuinely loves himself (and the Lord, his wife and family) won’t entertain the adulterous attentions of a flirtatious “hottie” whereas the fool who doesn’t truly love himself will. Why? Because the fool stupidly favors indulging the deceitful desires of his flesh above his own long-term welfare.

It’s for this reason that a wise woman won’t consume a strawberry shortcake every day even though her flesh might crave it. She loves herself too much. Loving oneself in this manner is healthy and is not narcissistic whereas indulging the corrupt desires of the flesh is folly (Ephesians 4:22-24).

Related Topics:

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

The Four Types of LOVE in the Bible

Gentle Love and Tough Love

Law (Torah) and the Believer

Law of Christ—What is It?

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

Some hardcore pacifists are so unbalanced they argue that a true Christian should never participate in the military, even in cases where the God-ordained authorities require it. Just yesterday I ran into a couple of believers who adamantly advocated this position. The implication, of course, is that it’s inherently sinful to serve in the military and be willing to kill or die in obedience to the civil authorities of one’s country. War is indeed hell and should ideally be resorted to only when absolutely necessary. Yet those who believe serving in the armed forces is itself  evil have to explain John the Baptist’s answer to some soldiers who asked him what they should do. Notice John’s response:

John replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.”

Luke 3:14

Keep in mind that John was preparing the way for the ministry of Jesus Christ by calling people to repentance (Mark 1:4). If merely being a soldier is intrinsically evil John would have said something like, “It’s wicked and sinful to be a soldier; flee from the military or you will suffer God’s wrath!” You’ll find no such statement anywhere in the New Testament, whether from Jesus, Paul or anyone else. Simply put, governing authorities need police and military personnel to fulfill their God-ordained mandate to maintain societal order, which includes protecting the country (Romans 13:1-6).

This is not to say, of course, that individual Christians don’t have the right to object to military service due to personal conscience or what have you. In such cases the military is better off without them since their hearts wouldn’t be in it, so to speak (see Deuteronomy 20:8 & Judges 7:3).

Nor am I saying that corrupt governments shouldn’t be resisted or corrected, like the Nazi-led government in Germany during WWII or the Japanese “constitutional monarchy” of the same era (which was, in effect, a military junta). A good biblical example of resisting corrupt government can be observed when Nathan made a bold stand against the gross corruption in David’s monarchy (2 Samuel 12:1-10).

Related Topics:

Turning the Cheek

Pacifism — Absolute Pacifism (Unbiblical) and Limited Pacifism (Biblical)

Should Christians RESIST Criminal Acts?   (video)

Dealing with Personal Offenses vs. Criminal Acts

GRACE — What Is God’s Grace? How Do You Receive It? How Do You Grow In It?

You hear a lot about “grace” in Christian circles, but what exactly is it? In the Bible it’s translated from the Greek word charis (KAIR-iss), which means “graciousness, favor, kindness.” Consider a “teacher’s pet” in a positive way. Why is a certain student the “teacher’s pet”? Simply because that particular student has the teacher’s favor. Now let’s apply this to God’s favor or God’s grace. Just as the teacher’s pet has the teacher’s favor so you and I can have God’s favor.

But how do we obtain God’s grace/favor? It’s simple:

…Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud

but shows favor (charis) to the humble.”

James 4:6

“God opposes the proud

but shows favor (charis) to the humble.”

1 Peter 5:5

Both James and Peter are quoting Proverbs 3:34 (albeit in koine Greek). So this phrase is shared three times in God’s Word—once in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testament. Do ya think the LORD’s trying to get something important across to us? Obviously so: Don’t be proud because God opposes — resists — the proud; rather cultivate humility because God gives his grace/favor (charis) to the humble. Simply put, humility attracts the LORD. Now humility is not self-loathing; it simply means you don’t think you’re all that and a bag of chips. Those with a humble spirit are teachable. It’s a healthy, beautiful quality and we’ll look at why humility attracts God and his favor shortly.

In this article we’re going to explore two forms of God’s grace:

1. God’s grace (favor) of eternal salvation. This, of course, includes all the benefits that come with salvation, like the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7), spiritual regeneration (Titus 3:5) and the apprehension of eternal life (John 3:36 & 1 John 5:11-12).
2. God’s grace (favor) for you personally as you grow spiritually. If you find this incredulous, Jesus Christ—our example—grew in God’s grace (favor) when he was on Earth (Luke 2:52) and the epistles clearly exhort us to grow in God’s favor (2 Peter 3:18 & James 4:8).

We’re also going to look at humility because, as noted above, this is the quality that attracts God’s favor/grace. Along with humility, we’re going to examine two qualities that spring from humility—repentance and faith. We’re also going to consider two types of love in the Bible, which relate very differently to God’s grace.

The reason this article is important is because there’s a lot of error about God’s grace in the body of Christ today. This includes error concerning the linking topics above, especially repentance. A top example would be the erroneous idea that God’s grace is “unconditional.” Really? If this were so, then everyone would have it. It’s true that God’s favor is unmerited in the sense that you cannot work for it or purchase it, but there are conditions to receiving it… and growing in it. If this weren’t so, then everyone would have it—or will have it—and that’s Universalism, a blatantly unbiblical doctrine.

I should stress that this article is rooted in what God’s Word teaches about grace and not what this or that sect/camp/popular minister teaches. Thankfully, the Scriptures are simple and unmistakable on the topic.

Let’s start with:

1. God’s Grace (Favor) of Salvation

Notice how the awesome gift of eternal salvation is linked to God’s grace:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace (charis),

Ephesians 1:7

and all are justified freely by his grace (charis) through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:24

For the grace (charis) of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

Titus 2:11

For it is by grace (charis) you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:8-10

Eternal redemption and all of its benefits are available to all people by God’s grace. In other words, God is extending his hand of favor—and the eternal salvation that goes with it—to all people as a gift. A gift—as Ephesians 2:8-9 above shows—is not something that comes from ourselves through performing religious works; it’s a gift from a giver and you cannot work for it. In this sense God’s grace of salvation is unmerited and this explains the definition of grace you’ll often here from Christian ministers as “unmerited favor.” But, technically speaking, the word ‘grace’—charis—doesn’t mean “unmerited favor,” it simply means “graciousness, favor, kindness.”

While God’s grace of salvation is an unmerited gift, the individual has to receive this gift; he/she has to accept it. In other words, although the gift of eternal salvation is unmerited and therefore you can’t work to get it or purchase it, this doesn’t discount the fact that it needs to be received.

There are two things necessary in order for people to receive a gift:

1. They have to know there’s a giver with a gift for them to receive.
2. They have to be willing to receive the gift, which is where humility comes into play.

Let’s say a rich distant relative leaves you $1 million when he dies. It’s in the bank for you to receive. But you can’t receive it if 1. you don’t know about the giver and his generous gift and 2. you don’t go to the bank and get it.

Concerning the second one, I remember an occasion in the 90s when a family I knew was financially struggling. So I went to their apartment and handed the wife a $100 bill, but she waved it off. She refused it. Why? I don’t know. Pride maybe, like perhaps she was too proud to take “handouts.” I don’t know, but she declined the gift. I walked away a little sad that she wouldn’t receive my gift. This shows that, just because someone offers a generous gift, it doesn’t mean that everyone will receive it.

It’s the same with God’s gracious gift of salvation and all that goes with it, like the forgiveness of sins and eternal life: Some people will choose to reject it. Why? I don’t know. Usually I suppose because they don’t think it’s legitimate; in other words they don’t believe. Perhaps they stubbornly adhere to secular humanism or this or that religion/ideology, which they feel is good enough for them and more valid than John 3:16 & Romans 6:23. Another possible reason is pride. Maybe they think they don’t need it for one reason or another, like they deem themselves good enough as is to merit God’s favor and eternal life.

This brings us back to that attractive characteristic which is key to receiving God’s grace/favor…

Humility, the Key (or Key Ring) to Receiving God’s Grace

Let’s return to our fundamental verse—James 4:6—but this time include the verses before and after:

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he [God] jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? ⁶ But he gives us more grace (charis). That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud

but shows favor (charis) to the humble.”

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

James 4:6-10

Verse 6 stresses that God shows graciousness to the humble. As noted earlier, this is conveyed three times in the Bible. It reveals a vital truth about God’s favor and how to unlock it in your life. ‘Humility’ in the Greek is tapeinophrosune (tap-i-nof-ros-OO-nay), which means “inner lowliness” or “lowliness of mind.” It’s not self-loathing or self-belittlement, but rather a healthy sense of one’s littleness in the grand scheme of things regardless of position, possessions or talents. It’s a modest opinion of oneself and describes a person who depends on the LORD rather than self. A humble person is pliable and teachable whereas an arrogant person is obstinate and unteachable. You could explain humility as an inside-out virtue that is naturally produced when comparing oneself to the Almighty Creator rather than to other people, which of course helps keep one from being a self-exalting, self-inflated blowhard.

Have you ever met someone who regularly brags on himself or herself? It’s a huge turn-off, isn’t it? If it’s a turn-off to you, how do you think the LORD feels about it? This explains the words of wisdom: “Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips” (Proverbs 27:2).

Two good examples of humility in the Bible are Moses (Numbers 12:3) and David (1 Samuel 18:23). It goes without saying that God used these men greatly, which is why 3000-3500 years after their passing people all over the world still talk about them and their exploits, like us right now. They were mighty men—very talented individuals—but they were also genuinely humble, which is what attracted God’s favor and explains why the LORD was able to use them so mightily.

God’s favor/graciousness/kindness is wonderful and he offers his grace to everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity or location. This shows that God has no favoritism. But the LORD does not give favor to the proud who are too proud or too stubborn (one way or another) to recognize it, let alone receive it.

Now someone might point out that Christ taught that God “is kind to the ungrateful and wicked” (Luke 6:35) and “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). This shows the LORD’s general grace — kindness — toward fallen creation, which is intended to attract people to the Creator and his grace of salvation. Unfortunately, many proud souls disregard God’s general grace and scoff at the Almighty, even denying his existence; some palpably hate the LORD or any notion of an Almighty Creator (Psalm 14:1 & 53:1).

God is greatly patient with such people (2 Peter 3:9) and we’re called to pray for them (Matthew 5:44), but if they stubbornly continue in their arrogance, hatred and unbelief—disregarding God’s general grace, not to mention any additional grace offered to them through the intercession of the saints—they’re not going to receive God’s grace of salvation. And, if they’re too stubborn to recognize and receive the LORD’s grace of salvation they’re certainly not going to grow in personal grace, like Jesus did (Luke 2:52) and Peter instructed us to do (2 Peter 3:18). Why not? Because—again—God opposes the proud, but gives his grace to the humble!

And this reveals…

The Two Keys to Receiving God’s Grace of Salvation

While God’s grace of salvation is unmerited—meaning you cannot work for it or buy it—it still has to be received in order to possess it. If this weren’t so then everyone would be saved, which is Universalism, a false doctrine easily disproven in the Scriptures (click the link for details).

There are two keys to receiving God’s grace of salvation, both of which spring from genuine humility (as opposed to false humility). In light of this, you could say that humility is the key ring to God’s grace, which holds two keys, the first one of which is…

Faith

We observed earlier how faith is key to receiving God’s grace of salvation in this famous passage:

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

Ephesians 2:8-9

God’s grace of salvation is received through faith. Why? Christ implied the answer in these two statements: “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:14) and “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these [children]” (Matthew 19:14). Jesus wasn’t encouraging childish behavior, of course, but rather childlike trust—faith—and all that goes with it: humility, innocence, receptivity and lack of self-sufficiency in regard to the Creator and his kingdom. This is meekness or humility. It draws God’s grace, whereas arrogance repels him.

Faith is vital due to the fact that:

…without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

Without faith it’s impossible to please God. Reflect on that; it’s an axiom.

What exactly is faith? Faith is belief, but not in the sense of believing in fairy tales; nor is it casual mental assent. Faith is simply belief based on God’s revelation. Now, understand, God reveals truth—reality (including the Reality of Himself)—through various sources in addition to the written Word of God, although God’s Word is where we learn specific spiritual truths and develop genuine doctrine. For instance, the Creator reveals himself through everything that he has created (Romans 1:19-20). So faith is belief based on 1. what is intrinsically obvious, 2. accurate knowledge, whether scientific, spiritual or otherwise, 3. genuine revelation by the Holy Spirit, or 4. some combination of these three.

Let’s consider examples of the first three. Regarding #1, someone may say they believe in the concept of God as Creator because it’s obvious that the Earth, Universe and all living creatures were intelligently designed. Or someone may believe homosexuality is intrinsically wrong because the design and function of the sexual organs is obvious (tab ‘A’ fits into slot ‘B’). In both cases the person believes based on what is clearly palpable. Concerning #2, people may believe they have a brain even though they’ve never seen it because medical science has proven that it exists through dissecting human remains, not to mention brain surgery, etc. So the person believes based on sound data. Regarding #3, some may turn to God because the Holy Spirit revealed reality to them and they believed it. Their belief is based on revelation supplied by the Holy Spirit. Of course any revelation given by the Spirit of truth will correspond to the rightly divided written Word of truth, which explains Paul’s ministerial guideline: “Do not go beyond what is written” (1 Corinthians 4:6).

We observe further insights about faith in that the Scriptures describe it as the substance of things hoped for and being certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). The Amplified Bible augments the original Greek text like so:

Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified)

Faith is the “title deed” of the things we hope for; that is, the things we righteously desire. In short, faith is the substance that brings the world of hope or desire into reality! In the Gospels, for instance, people would come to Jesus hoping for healing and after receiving it the Lord would say something like “Your faith has healed you” (see, for example, Mark 5:25-34). Faith was the substance that brought them what they hoped for, healing. They were certain—convinced—that Jesus would heal them even though they couldn’t yet see it physically.

I trust you’re seeing why faith is necessary to receive God’s gracious gift of reconciliation and eternal life. After all, how can you receive a gift from someone you don’t even believe exists? For example, if you said you had a gift for me and I responded by saying I can’t receive it because I don’t believe you exist, would you still force the present on me? Of course not. More likely, you’d be irked at my stupidity and arrogance. The same principle applies to those who reject the gospel. When you come across people who do this, be sure to pray that the LORD open their eyes to the truth, i.e. reality.

Did you ever wonder why faith is so important to receiving salvation? Because faith is nothing more or less than believing God. That’s precisely what Adam & Eve failed to do when they were tested in the Garden of Eden and that’s why they fell (see Genesis 2:15-3:24). In other words, the fall of humanity came about due to unbelief and therefore humanity’s restoration is dependent upon belief.

The fall of Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden, by the way, is actually a showcase of God’s grace: The LORD could’ve justly wiped ’em off the face of the Earth for their sin (Romans 6:23), but instead he killed two animals as a substitutionary sacrifice, which provided the temporary covering of sin (Genesis 3:21). This, of course, prefigures the substitutionary death of Christ, which forever cleanses us of the guilt of sin (Hebrews 9:12-15 & 10:4).

I said that there are two keys to receiving God’s grace of salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 (quoted above) only cites one—faith. The reason only faith is cited is because the other key goes hand-in-hand with faith. In short, they’re two sides of the same coin. This other key is…

Repentance

The word ‘repent’ simply means to change one’s mind for the positive, yet this does not refer to a hollow mental exercise, but a real change of mind with the corresponding actions, like the resolve to fulfill God’s will (Acts 26:20) and turn from that which is opposed to God’s will, i.e. sin (Acts 8:22, 2 Corinthians 12:21 & Revelation 2:21-22). Please look up those passages because they offer a balanced understanding of repentance.

We see a complete explanation of what it means to repent here:

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

While this passage does not use the word ‘repentance,’ that’s precisely what it’s talking about and we see that repentance is a three-pronged practice. It’s not just putting off the flesh and the sin it produces, which is how repentance is often defined. This is an incomplete definition and therefore a shallow understanding of the subject.

Nor is repentance trying to put on the new self without putting off the old self and changing one’s thinking. Say you’re a parent and have a baby who soils her diaper. How do you resolve the mess? You (1) take the old diaper off, (2) clean her up, and then (3) put on the new diaper. Wouldn’t it be absurd to put the new diaper over the old diaper? Yet this is what many Christians do in effect when they refuse to put off the old self before putting on the new. They try to put the new man over the old man without changing their thinking and it doesn’t work. It’s a ticket to utter frustration.

To genuinely repent means to change one’s mind corresponding to a revelation from God, as noted earlir. It could be revelation based on 1. obvious reality (truth), 2. some element of creation, 3. God’s written Word, 4. spiritual conscience, 5. the moving of the Holy Spirit (the last two being arguably synonymous) or some combination of these.

Let’s say John Smith, a believer, is struggling with a particular form of sexual immorality and he learns from the Scriptures that he needs to “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). For John to genuinely repent he’s going to have to put off the sin in question, which is the first prong of repentance. Then he needs to change his thinking — his mind — regarding that transgression, which is the second prong of repentance. The reason he’s been falling into this particular sin is because he thought it would be good for him to commit it, but if he changes his thinking to understand that sexual immorality is destructive to his life and his relationship with God (not to mention likely destructive to other people) he’ll be less prone to fall prey to it. Lastly, he needs to “walk in the spirit” so that he’ll be spirit-controlled rather than flesh-ruled, which is the third prong of repentance — putting on the new self. Those who are spirit-controlled bear forth the fruit of the spirit rather than the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-23). This is the key to walking free from any sin; the Bible calls it “walking in the spirit” (Galatians 5:16), “putting on the new self” (Colossians 3:9), “participating in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) and “clothing yourself in Christ” (Romans 13:14). You can read more about how to walk in the spirit here.

If John wants true, lasting freedom from his sin he’s going to have to change his thinking regarding who he is in Christ.  For instance, the Bible describes the believer as:

• dead to sin (Romans 6:11,14,18),
• a child of God (John 1:12-13)
• born righteous, spiritually speaking (2 Corinthians 5:21 & Titus 3:5).

These are positional truths as opposed to practical truths. They reveal who the believer is in Christ. The way you ‘practice’ positional truth is by simply lining up your thinking & confession accordingly, which is the second prong of repentance. For instance, John would think/say “I, John, am dead to sin; I’m a child of God born righteous; Praise God!” Changing your thinking to be in harmony with who the Word of God says you are in Christ is one way to sow to the spirit (Galatians 6:8); it’s part of “putting on the new self” — your new spiritual nature — which was “created to be like God in true righteousness” (Ephesians 4:22-24, quoted above). Simply put, if you change your thinking, you’ll naturally change your actions. To learn more about positional truths and how to practice them see this video.

Repentance and Faith

I pointed out that repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin, which we observe here:

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

For repentance to be effective it must be combined with faith — which comes through exposure to the LORD and His revelation; this includes God’s Word and genuine revelation of the Spirit. If repentance is not combined with faith — belief rooted in God’s revelation of reality — it’s just a dead exercise and will ultimately fail because true repentance is a genuine “change of mind” with the corresponding actions, as detailed above. This explains, by the way, why repentance and faith are the first two doctrines of the six basic doctrines of Christianity (Hebrews 6:1-2). It is vital to your spiritual health to grasp how repentance and faith work together.

Speaking of the six basic doctrines, they’re referred to as “elementary” Christian teachings in Hebrews 6:1 and yet there are whole sects and ministries in Christendom that cut out one or more of these foundational doctrines or, at least, cut out parts of them. For instance, “radical grace” (or “pure grace”) preachers will cut out repentance almost entirely and, if they do teach repentance, they emphasize that it’s a change of mind while deemphasizing the corresponding actions, which includes “putting off the old self,” meaning turning from the “deceitful desires” of the sinful nature (see Ephesians 4:22-24, quoted above).

Repentance reflects humility because it takes humility to admit you’re wrong about something and change your mind. The same goes with feeling remorse and admitting a mistake or transgression. By contrast, an arrogant person is too lofty, selfish, hardhearted and stubborn to change his/her mind with the corresponding actions or feel genuine guilt or confess error. Indeed, pride by its very nature refuses to show proper respect toward others, including—perhaps especially—those in legitimate authority, particularly the Ultimate Authority (God). This again brings to mind this passage:

“God opposes the proud

but gives grace to the humble.”

James 4:6 & 1 Peter 5:5 (see also Proverbs 3:34)

We must get a hold of this: God literally opposes the arrogant, that is, he resists them; Proverbs 16:5 even goes so far as to say “the LORD detests all the proud of heart” (emphasis added). Yet, thankfully, God gives his awesome grace to the humble, which means his favor. This explains why the LORD only offers the grace of his forgiveness to those who are humble enough to acknowledge and turn from their transgressions, as shown here:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:8-9

Modern-day “radical grace” teachers hate this passage because they stress that all our sins are already forgiven—including our future sins—and thus there’s no need to confess them when we miss it. Confessing sin, by the way, is a synonym for repentance because ’fessing up would be useless if not accompanied by a change of mind and the corresponding actions.

One “radical grace” teacher had the audacity to quote 1 John 1:7 to support the idea that all of our future sins are already forgiven. Incredibly, he wasn’t aware of the following two verses (verses 8-9, quoted above), which show that believers are obligated to confess their sins as they commit them in order to receive forgiveness. Remember the hermeneutical rules: Context is King and Scripture interprets Scripture.

Of course, Christ died for all our sins (Colossians 2:13-14). This includes our future sins, and therefore forgiveness is available for them, BUT forgiveness of these future sins cannot be personally appropriated until AFTER we commit them and humbly confess, as shown above. After all, how can you repent of something you haven’t even done (yet)? Moreover, how can God forgive something that hasn’t even been committed? This explains the need for 1 John 1:8-9. This dynamic is what John the Baptist was referring to as “keeping with repentance” (Matthew & Luke 3:8). It’s in line with what Peter taught concerning born-again believers:

But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

2 Peter 1:9

Believers have only been forgiven and cleansed of their “past sins” (other translations say “former sins” or “old sins”). Thus when a person turns to the Lord in repentance and faith all their past sins are immediately forgiven, Praise God!

But future sins are a different matter because, again, you can’t confess something you haven’t even committed. Like I said, forgiveness is readily available for any future sins you might commit since Christ bought and paid for all our sins through His substitutionary death, but you have to confess future sins after you commit them—repent, change your mind with the corresponding action—in order to be forgiven of them. If you don’t do this these sins won’t be forgiven—dismissed—and you’ll hence have to answer for them at the Judgment Seat of Christ, which is the judgment believers must undergo wherein Paul said we’ll “receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). The “bad” isn’t referring to confessed sins because all confessed sins are forgiven—dismissed—and you’re “purified of all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). So the “bad” would include unconfessed sins, whether sins of commission or sins of omission.*

* A “sin of commission” is something you do, like steal, gossip/slander or commit adultery whereas a “sin of omission” is something you don’t do that you should’ve done.

Let me share an example of the repentance/forgiveness dynamic from everyday life that we can all relate to: Several years ago I was pulled over on a bypass for changing lanes without using my turn signal. I had just finished a sermon outline for the following Sunday morning and was going to a job; I had a million things going through my mind and didn’t have the time or desire to chat with a patrol officer. When he came to my window he noticed an attitude in my words & demeanor and responded, “Now, sir, did I approach you in a disrespectful manner? Why are you giving me an attitude?” In the flash of a second or two I searched my heart and received correction; I made a 180˚ attitude adjustment and replied, “I’m really sorry, sir; I’m on my way to work and have a lot of things on my mind.” I then explained that, even though I didn’t use my turn signal, I did look into the lane before changing and also pointed out that we were the only two vehicles on the highway at the time. Throughout the rest of our conversation I addressed him as “sir” and treated him with sincere respect. This changed the entire course of the incident. Instead of strife and a ticket, our conversation was pleasant and he ended up just giving me a verbal warning.

What saved me from a needless citation? The humility to receive correction, sincerely apologize and show respect. This works in every relationship, including your relationship with the Almighty. Humble repentance is the key that unlocks mercy and forgiveness in all relationships. This simple, powerful principle will bless your socks off if you wisely apply it when appropriate.

Humility—and the Corresponding Repentance & Faith—is What Makes People “Worthy of the Kingdom of God”

At the risk of sending “radical grace” preachers into cardiac arrest, the New Testament blatantly speaks of those “worthy” of the gift of eternal life. Notice for yourself from the very words of the Mighty Christ and apostle Paul:

Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵ But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, ³⁶ and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.

Luke 20:34-36

Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

⁵ All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.

2 Thessalonians 1:4-5

As you can see, Christ spoke of those considered “worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection of the dead” while Paul spoke of those “worthy of the kingdom of God.” In both cases they were talking about genuine believers worthy of the kingdom of God and the resurrection unto eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). The Greek word for ‘worth’ in each passage is kataxioó (kat-ax-ee-OH-o), which simply means to “deem worthy.” The Scriptural data above shows that this does not refer to being deemed worthy of eternal salvation due to religious works or rituals, but rather being “deemed worthy” due to genuine humility characterized in repentance and faith (Acts 20:21).

In conclusion, anyone who wants God’s grace of salvation, it’s free and you don’t have to work for it or purchase it, but it can only be received through humility; and humility is reflected in the willingness to repent and believe in response to God’s revelation, in this case the message of Christ. This is how you “obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:8) as opposed to disobeying the gospel of God (1 Peter 4:17). These are two other verses that send “radical grace” preachers into coronary because they hate the word ‘obey’ in conjunction with God’s grace of salvation. But obeying the message of Christ does not mean working for salvation or trying to buy it; however, it does mean responding with humility to God’s gracious offer of salvation—which is manifested in repentance and faith. Why? Because it’s humility that attracts God’s grace as opposed to pride which naturally repels His favor (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5 & Proverbs 3:34). Amen.

The New Testament Started with John the Baptist and his “Baptism of Repentance”

The New Testament started with John the Baptist, as plainly stated by Christ:

“The Law and the Prophets [i.e. the Old Covenant] were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached”

Luke 16:16

The Old Testament ended with John the Baptist who prepared the way for the Messiah via a baptism of repentance (Luke 3:2-4). With the ministries of John and Jesus the kingdom of God was preached, not the Law and the Prophets. From John forward “the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached.” The “Good News,” of course, refers to the awesome message of Christ—the gospel.

So the four Gospels are not Old Testament, but rather the “prologue” to the New Testament and therefore PART OF the New Testament, even though the Church didn’t technically start until the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2:1-13 & 11:15-16). This explains why Christ spoke AS IF the Church was already in function in this passage where he addressed dealing with offending believers:

“If they [the offending believers] 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 18:17

As you can see, Jesus spoke as if the Church was already in existence even though he had yet to die for our sins and be raised to life for our justification. You could say that the Church was already alive but not birthed yet, like a baby in a mother’s womb.

With the understanding that John the Baptist and Jesus Christ preached “the good news of the kingdom of God,” notice what the first word of each of their first sermons was:

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Matthew 3:1-2

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Matthew 4:17

Why did they preach repentance? Because the kingdom of Heaven was near. Similarly, the disciples proclaimed that “the kingdom of God is near” (Luke 10:8-9). Other translations say “the kingdom of God is at hand.” The words “near” and “at hand” are translated from the Greek eggizó (eng-ID-zoh), which means “extreme closeness, immediate imminence—even a presence.” Whether extremely close or even present to a degree, they preached the kingdom of God and not the Law and the Prophets, which agrees with Jesus’ plain declaration in Luke 16:16 above.

Keeping with the full definition of repentance (as detailed above), by saying “repent for the kingdom of God is near” John and Christ were essentially saying “change your minds, turn from sin and turn to the LORD for the kingdom of God is immediately imminent!” John’s “baptism of repentance” was given to “prepare the way for the Lord” (Luke 3:3-4). In other words, John wasn’t encouraging people to change their minds & turn from sin and that’s it; he was preparing them for the soon-to-come ministry of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, who had “the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Notice that Jesus didn’t have the words of the Law, but the words of eternal life. This verse puts it well:

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:17

When Christ did teach on the Law, he focused on the moral Law* and the fact that believers achieve the moral Law simply by fulfilling the first and second greatest commands by the Spirit (Matthew 22:36-40). All of this shows that repentance & faith go hand-and-hand. They’re two sides of the same coin. Genuine repentance—that is, changing one’s mind plus the corresponding action—is based on faith in God’s revelation, whatever that revelation might be.

* Whilst Christ fulfilled the ceremonial and dietary laws, he didn’t teach that believers were obligated to obey them because these laws are done away with in the New Covenant (Colossians 2:16-17, Mark 7:19, etc.). For details see this article.

Why do I point out such obvious things? Because there are “radical grace” preachers who claim that John the Baptist was decidedly Old Testament and therefore he preached the Law in the manner of Old Testament prophets. Many “radical grace” teachers say the same about Christ, but the above proves otherwise.

For details on the Church and when it began, etc. go here.

2. God’s Grace (Favor) for You Personally as You Grow Spiritually

Once obtaining eternal salvation by God’s grace (favor), every believer can grow in the LORD’s favor on a personal level. We see this in the example of Jesus Christ:

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor (charis) with God and man.

Luke 2:52

God’s grace—His favor—was on Jesus (Luke 2:40) and he grew in it. He also grew in favor with people because the fruits of the spirit are attractive and work as people magnets (Galatians 5:22-23). This is stressed in the biblical book of wisdom:

³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;     

bind them around your neck,     

write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name     

in the sight of God and man.

Proverbs 3:3-4

Both love and faithfulness are fruits of the spirit, which attract the favor—kindness, graciousness—of God and—generally speaking—people too. I say “generally speaking” because the fruits of the spirit can also attract enemies due to their envy, jealousy and rivalry, which incite them against the fruit-bearer. A good example of this is Christ, who walked in the spirit and thus won the hearts of the common Israelites, but he also incurred the ire of the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law.

The prophet Samuel is another good example of growing in favor with God and people (1 Samuel 2:26).

Concerning growing in God’s favor, observe how plainly Peter urged this:

But grow in the grace (charis) and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

                     2 Peter 3:18

Just as important as it is to grow in the knowledge of the Lord—which is typically stressed in Christendom—it’s also vital to grow in his grace; that is, grow in his graciousness, his favor. How do you do this? We saw the answer earlier in this verse:

Come near to God and he will come near to you.

James 4:8

This is a universal law—an axiom: If you come near to the LORD he will come near to you.  And when God comes near to you, you naturally have greater favor than if he was distant from you. It’s a simple principle verified in the Old Testament (Zechariah 1:3 & Malachi 3:7). It can even be observed in the priestly blessing of the Old Covenant:

“the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

  the Lord turn his face toward you”

Numbers 6:25-26

Someone might protest: “This is favoritism!!” No, favoritism would be denying certain people from growing in God’s grace, but that’s not the case. Anyone—from any race, any ethnicity, any socio-economic class and any location—has the opportunity to grow in God’s favor. All they have to do is put into practice these simple principles and they’ll grow in God’s graciousness. Again: Come near to God and he’ll come near to you.

Two Types of Love and How They Relate to God’s Grace

The concept of having God’s grace and growing in it can be observed in the Greek terms translated as “love” in the New Testament, phileo love and agape love:

1. Phileo love refers to friendship love or brotherly love, like the platonic affection of David and Jonathan (2 Samuel 1:25-26). Philadelphia, “the city of brotherly love,” was named after this type of love. There’s an element of tender affection to phileo love; it means there’s a bond with the corresponding respect and affection. The word phileo (fil-LAY-oh), a verb, can be found some 25 times in the original text of the New Testament whereas the noun form, philia (fil-EE-ah), appears only once. Jesus’ phileo love for Martha, Mary and Lazarus is a good example (John 11:5,35-36).
2. Agape love refers to practical love or love-in-action and is therefore not dependent on affection, respect or closeness. This can be observed in the Scriptural definition of agape love found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, which says that agape (uh-GAHP-ay) love is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not rude or selfish or easily angered, etc. The word ‘love’ for God’s love for the world in the most popular passage of the Bible is agape: “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). The Creator was walking in love toward all humanity when the Father allowed the Son to die in our place as our substitutionary death; and the Son was willing to die. This was agape love, practical love, and not phileo love.

The Bible says that the Father phileo loved Jesus when Christ was on Earth (John 5:19-20). Why? Because Jesus imitated the Father, that is, he was godly—like God. As such, Jesus grew in God’s favor (Luke 2:52). We too can grow in God’s favor by coming near to Him (James 4:8, 2 Peter 3:18 & Ephesians 5:1).

God loves every person on Earth in a practical sense (John 3:16)—in other words he agape loves them—but he does not have phileo love for everyone on Earth, that is, affection and respect—a close bond. For instance, God had great phileo love for the apostles Paul, Peter and John, but not for arrogant, hateful people like Hitler. Sure, God agape loved Hitler—just like God has agape loved people all over the earth throughout history—but he didn’t have any affection or respect for Hitler; He wasn’t close to Hitler, but he agape loved him. Are you following?

Just the same, God is agape loving heinous criminals and sick deviants all over the world today—he’s walking in agape love toward them—but the LORD doesn’t have phileo love for cruel murderers, self-centered rapists and perverse pedophiles. The wonderful news for these types of people—and all sinners everywhere—is that when unbelievers respond positively to God’s agape love—humbly receiving his grace of salvation through repentance & faith—they automatically attract God’s phileo love; and this love can grow as their relationship develops.

Think about it in terms of a “teacher’s pet,” as noted earlier. I mean “teacher’s pet” in a positive sense, not negative. The pupil is the teacher’s pet because she’s humble; she honors the teacher and is compliant. She does her homework and strives to do well on tests. If she offends the teacher she readily apologizes. The teacher will naturally have phileo love for such a student—affection and respect—but he won’t have affection and respect for a student who’s aloof and shows contempt. Of course the teacher will care about the latter student because he’s a noble instructor who unbiasedly cares about all his students. He wants each one to learn, mature and be successful in life. But when a student is foolish and disrespectful there’s only so much the teacher can do. The teacher will walk in agape love toward such students—practical love—but he will not have phileo love for them. Why? Because they’re arrogant fools who regard the teacher with contempt. All the instructor can do is continue walking in agape love toward them—including praying for them and walking in tough love when required—in the hope that they’ll positively respond at some point and turn from their folly.

Now let’s relate this to you and God: YOU can grow in God’s phileo love just like the teacher’s pet! “Come near to God and he will draw near to YOU” (James 4:8). It’s an axiom—a universal law. Strive for a closer relationship with your Creator. Cultivate a more intimate prayer life, which is simply talking with the LORD. Paul instructed us to “pray without ceasing,” which indicates a 24/7 bond of communion (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Love God by obeying His instructions, both the general instructions from the written Word and the specific instructions of the living Word, the Spirit of Christ (1 John 5:3). As you do this, you’ll grow in God’s favor just as surely as Jesus Christ did when he was on Earth (Luke 2:52) and others as well, like Samuel (1 Samuel 2:26).

This is why Peter exhorted believers—you & me—to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” DO IT. This is adding godliness to your faith, as Peter instructed (2 Peter 1:5-9), which you can read about in detail here.

Just as God offers grace to his human enemies by walking in practical (agape) love toward them, which has the potential to morph into phileo love if they respond positively to his grace, so believers are instructed to agape love their enemies. This means to walk in practical love toward them (Luke 6:35 & Matthew 5:44). However, we are never commanded to phileo love our enemies. Why? Simply because you’re not going to have affection & respect for people who hate you without cause and therefore disrespect & abuse you. You’re not going to have a bond of friendship with them. You’re not going to be close to them. But this doesn’t prevent you from walking in practical (agape) love toward them—praying for them to come to their senses and receive Christ, returning blessing for cursing, doing good to them even though they don’t deserve it. God is only asking us—co-heirs in Christ—to do what he does for his human enemies. Are you following?

For details on the four types of love go here.

God’s Grace is the Foundation for Living a Godly (“Like-God”) Life

Here’s another wonderful thing about God’s grace:

For the grace (charis) of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. ¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

Titus 2:11-12

It’s God’s favor that enables believers to say “No” to worldliness and the deceitful desires of the flesh, the sinful nature. It empowers us to live self-controlled, godly (“like-God”) lives in this present evil age (Galatians 1:4). How so exactly? It’s through God’s grace of salvation that we obtain spiritual regeneration (Titus 3:5) and are thus born righteous through the seed of Christ (Galatians 2:21) and, furthermore, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, our Helper (1 Corinthians 6:19 & John 16:7,13). All this equips us to practice repentance in the genuine three-pronged sense, as covered above (Ephesians 4:22-24).

Speaking of repentance, it is God’s grace—God’s kindness—that leads us to repentance:

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Romans 2:4

It’s the LORD’s grace that enables us to be born righteous, spiritually speaking, through the seed of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 1:17, 1 John 3:9 & 1 Peter 1:23):

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!

Galatians 2:21

Needless to say, authentic repentance—that is, 1. changing one’s mind based on faith in God’s revelation with the corresponding 2. turning from sin and 3. living out of your new nature—does not come about through preaching the Law or simply urging people to “Turn from sin!” but rather through declaring God’s grace and the truths thereof, as covered in this article.

Responding to a “Radical Grace” Preacher

Switching gears, let’s now consider this unbalanced parable on repentance offered by a “radical grace” preacher:

Let me give you a picture to illustrate true repentance. Suppose a man calls a woman up and gives an invitation to come to his house. She’s never been there before so need directions. There are two ways the man could direct her: He could give her his address and provide an accurate picture of where he lives. Or he could say, “flee from your house—just drive from your house as fast as possible and don’t look back.” Do you see the difference? In both cases the woman’s going to leave her house. That’s guaranteed.

But only by trusting his directions will she arrive at his house. Repentance is just like that. It’s not fleeing from sin like a Pharisee. It’s turning to God in faith. In both cases you will leave your sin. But only by trusting God will you actually arrive someplace better than where you started.

On the surface this illustration sounds accurate and there are certainly truths contained therein, but the man’s perspective on repentance is unbalanced, as verified by a few statements:

Repentance is just like that. It’s not fleeing from sin like a Pharisee. It’s turning to God in faith.

Actually Pharisees didn’t flee from sin, generally speaking, although they of course gave the outward appearance of doing so, which is a form of legalism. Why else do you think Christ blatantly called them “hypocrites” (literally meaning “actors,” that is, fakes), as well as “sons of hell,” “blind guides,” “blind fools,” “whitewashed tombs,” “full of hypocrisy and wickedness,” “snakes” and “brood of vipers”? See Matthew 23:13-33.

More importantly, repentance is neither one nor the other; it’s both. The erroneous idea that it’s only turning to God in faith can be observed in another statement the preacher made:

Which of the following is the best definition of repentance: 1. Repentance means to turn from sin or 2. Repentance means to change your mind.

By slyly using the “which is the best definition” tactic, this minister was trying to get the reader to choose one or the other definition which, by default, rejects the other. I understand where he’s coming from because there are shallow ministers who preach repentance as “You must turn from your sin!” and pretty much leave it at that. These types fail to give people New Testament revelation, which would inspire faith and enable them to change their mind with the corresponding putting off of the flesh and living out of their new nature with the help of the Holy Spirit. That’s true repentance, not merely turning from sin.

The problem with defining repentance as changing one’s mind while disregarding putting off the old self—the proverbial “turn from sin”—opens the door to the mentality that believers can walk in faith, but they don’t necessarily have to put off the old self, that is, turn from sin. This unbalanced mentality explains how the Corinthian church had a man in their midst who was living in fornication with his father’s wife and was unwilling to repent; i.e. change his mind and put off the old self. The “old self” in this case was sexual immorality. Thus Paul instructed the assembly to expel the man from the assembly (1 Corinthians 5:1-5,12-13). Thankfully, the guy later repented and so Paul encouraged the believers to forgive him and warmly welcome him back into their fellowship (2 Corinthians 2:6-11). I should point out that Paul was following the instructions that Christ Himself gave on handling an unrepentant believer (Matthew 18:15-17).

This “radical grace” preacher happened to bring up this particular occasion at the Corinthian church and wondered why Paul didn’t expel numerous others from the fellowship since they were guilty of sins like jealousy, strife and divisive sectarianism (1 Corinthians 3:3-4). Here’s why: Paul’s very letter—the epistle of 1 Corinthians—was his initial confrontation concerning these types of offenses in the Corinth assembly and it remained to be seen if those guilty would repent, i.e. change their minds with the corresponding actions. The fornicator, by contrast, was obviously already confronted a few times (probably half-heartedly, knowing the Corinthians) and—since he stubbornly refused to change—Paul adamantly instructed the Corinthian elders to expel him, at least until he (hopefully) repented, which the man later did and was therefore welcomed back.

My point is that it was this unbalanced mentality that repentance is merely “changing one’s mind” without the corresponding turning from the flesh that enabled this man to continue practicing fornication with no qualms in the fellowship at Corinth.

It was this same unbalanced mentality that enabled a woman in the church of Thyatira in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) to mislead believers into sexual immorality, which compelled the Lord Christ to rebuke the believers as follows:

Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. ²² So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. ²³ I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

Revelation 2:20-23

“Jezebel” is likely a symbolic name for this false prophetess who was misleading believers at the Thyatiran fellowship into sexual immorality and other sins. The Mighty Christ points out that he had graciously “given her time to repent of her immorality” but she was unwilling to do so. This offers a fuller understanding of repentance as Jesus gave her time to repent—that is, change her mind—but notice it wasn’t a pointless changing of the mind as she was to “repent of her immorality,” i.e. change her mind about her immoral ways, which meant putting off the immorality. In other words, turning from it—stopping it.

The same can be observed in Christ’s statements about those who committed adultery with this libertine “prophetess” and followed her immoral example: He said he would make them “suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways” (verse 22). You see? Repentance isn’t merely changing of one’s mind; it includes putting off the flesh and putting on the new self (Ephesians 4:22-24).

The Lord goes on to say that he would “strike her children dead,” obviously referring to Jezebel’s spiritual children who followed her example and stubbornly refused to repent. This is the divine judgment of premature death. Many modern Westernized believers find such a thought incredulous due to the unbalanced diet their pastors feed them, but in the Scriptures we observe this same thing happened in the Corinth church where unrepentant believers brought judgment upon themselves and thus some of them were wiped off the face of the Earth (1 Corinthians 11:27-32). This doesn’t mean they lost their eternal salvation, but they did incur the judgment of premature death, as did Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). The positive side to accounts like this is that they inspires the fear of the Lord (see verse 11), which promotes holiness—changing one’s mind in light of the revelation of God which motivates putting off the flesh and putting on “the new self, which is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (again Ephesians 4:22-24).

Plain passages like these cause “radical grace” preachers to hyperventilate. They thus totally ignore them and hope that no one brings them up. But we have to be balanced with God’s word. When we draw conclusions on a topic, like grace, we cannot discard relevant “pieces of the puzzle”; rather, we must make sure that all the Scriptural “pieces” fit together. Our conclusions should be as “watertight” as possible. That’s what this teaching on grace is all about—putting all the pieces of the scriptural puzzle on grace together without unsoundly discarding relevant passages. If you’re not familiar with proper hermeneutics go here.

Now let’s get back to the man’s parable:

Suppose a man calls a woman up and gives an invitation to come to his house. She’s never been there before so need directions. There are two ways the man could direct her: He could give her his address and provide an accurate picture of where he lives. Or he could say, “flee from your house—just drive from your house as fast as possible and don’t look back.” Do you see the difference? In both cases the woman’s going to leave her house. That’s guaranteed.

Actually, it’s not guaranteed that the woman’s going to leave her house. What if she simply refuses the invitation? What if she’s not very smart and—even though the man provided directions to his house—she stubbornly refuses to leave her abode? Or what if she’s a homebody who prefers to stay home and “visit” the man’s house via Skype, phone or email? In such cases, it would be necessary for the man to not only provide his address, but also encourage the woman to leave her house.

But only by trusting the man’s directions will the invited woman arrive at his house.

No, only by 1. trusting the man’s directions and 2. willingly leaving her house will she arrive.

only by trusting God will you actually arrive someplace better than where you started.

Only by trusting God enough to obey the details of his instructions, which includes leaving where you are. Otherwise one’s trust—faith—is hollow.

Okay, that’s enough of this faulty parable. Let’s consider some of this man’s other “radical grace” statements:

If grace is the only thing that teaches us to say no to ungodliness, guess what you should preach. Grace!

True—as shown in Titus 2:11-12—but what is it that unlocks God’s grace in a person’s life? Humility (James 4:6 & 1 Peter 5:5). After all, God opposes the proud. Furthermore, humility is the root of both repentance and faith, as explained earlier, which open the door to eternal salvation (Acts 20:21).

Responding to the message of Christ with genuine humility and the corresponding repentance & faith is what it means to “obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:8). It’s those who are arrogant who “do not obey the gospel of God,” which means they refuse to humbly repent and believe (1 Peter 4:17).

Of course, “radical grace” preachers loathe these verses because they hate the word “obey” in connection with salvation; and they hate the idea that people have a responsibility to humbly receive the message of Christ. The gift of salvation is not forced upon anyone.

The one message I hope people take away loud and clear from all this, is that it’s all about Jesus and what He has done. It’s not about me and what I do. See Him, know Him, fix your eyes on Him, marvel at Him and repentance will follow as naturally as breathing.

While I understand where this man is coming from and there’s certainly some good truth in this statement, God’s grace of salvation is dependent upon what the person does or doesn’t do, as plainly denoted above. The person is responsible for “obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” This doesn’t mean the gift of salvation is worked for or purchased, but it does have to be received by those “worthy” candidates (Luke 20:34-36 & 2 Thessalonians 1:4-5) who respond to God’s grace with humility characterized in the willingness to repent and walk in faith.

Repentance literally means “change your mind” – nothing more, nothing less.

Wrong, it means changing one’s mind with the corresponding action, like the resolve to fulfill God’s will (Acts 26:20) and turn from that which is opposed to God’s will, i.e. sin (Acts 8:22, 2 Corinthians 12:21 & Revelation 2:20-23). Why do you think Christ urged the transgressing Thyatirans to “repent of [their] immorality”? (See Revelation 2:21-22).

Paul said we must rightly divide the word (i.e. emphasize certain scriptures over others). It follows that it must be possible to wrongly divide the word (emphasize the wrong scriptures over others).

But “rightly dividing the Word” (or “properly handling” it, as the NIV puts it) does not mean to discard relevant passages. As noted earlier, all the applicable pieces of the Scriptural puzzle must fit and one’s conclusions must be watertight or, at least, as watertight as possible. This is what this article does with the topic of grace whereas “radical grace” preachers regularly cut out pertinent passages to support their unbalanced take on the subject. For instance, you’ll rarely, if ever, hear them mention 2 Peter 3:18, Luke 20:34-36 & 2 Thessalonians 1:4-5 or Acts 8:22, 2 Corinthians 12:21 & Revelation 2:21-22. Passages like these send them into uncontrollable spasms of spiritual arrest.

How do you account for Luke 24:47 where Jesus says the forgiveness or remission of sins will be proclaimed in His name to all nations?

Let’s read the passage to see what Christ specifically said:

“This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

Luke 24:46-47

While Jesus died for everyone’s sins throughout history and therefore bought forgiveness for us (Colossians 2:13 & 1 Peter 3:18) notice that repentance is a condition for people to personally appropriate that forgiveness. This explains why the apostles preached repentance & faith (Acts 20:21) and why repentance & faith are the first two doctrines of the six basic doctrines of Christianity, which are “elementary” teachings, meaning they’re fundamental to Christianity and therefore those ministers who fail to teach them are askew and out-of-balance.

Have our sins been forgiven or haven’t they? Paul thought so (Colossians 2:13). Peter thought so (2 Peter 1:9). John thought so (1 John 1:7 & 2:12). I think so.

When a person humbly turns to the Lord in repentance & faith in response to the gospel all their past sins are forgiven, which explains Peter emphasizing “past sins” in 2 Peter 1:9, a verse this minister cites. Future sins, however, are a different story because—although Christ paid the penalty for them—a person cannot receive forgiveness for them until 1. they commit the sin and 2. confess to the LORD. After all, how can a person confess and receive forgiveness for something they haven’t even done yet? This is why 1 John 1:9 is sandwiched between the verses this man cites above. Speaking of which, why did he omit such a relevant passage on the topic contained in the very context of the verses he cites as proof texts? I’ll tell you why: It contradicts his unbalanced idea that all future sins are already forgiven and so there’s no need to confess them and receive forgiveness.

The point is not that the tax-collector “beat his breast” but that he asked. This is the sole condition for receiving grace and mercy – you have to ask for it. You can ask with weeping, like this man, or boldly, like the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28) – as long as you admit your need for grace you’ll get it.

Exactly: humility opens the door to God’s grace, as I’ve been stressing throughout this article. Let’s read that passage about the tax-collector who “beat his breast”:

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Luke 18:9-14

The reviled tax collector “went home justified before God” because he humbled himself before the Almighty and asked for mercy. He was obviously willing to repent—change his mind with the corresponding action. The Pharisee, on the other hand, did not go home justified before God. Why? Because he was arrogant and absurdly boasted of all his “great” religious works when he stood before the LORD at the Temple. This parable effectively illustrates the fundamental truth emphasized throughout this article: “God opposes the proud but gives his grace to the humble.”

People need to hear how much God loves them.

Absolutely. They need to hear how far God has bent over backwards, so to speak, to reconcile lost, sinful humanity. This is the extremist example of loving one’s enemies — suffering horribly and dying for them; in this case, in the hope of reconciling with them and providing eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). And, yes, apart from redemption lost humanity are enemies of God (Romans 5:10), which isn’t to say that every unsaved soul is frothing at the mouth with malevolent evil.

As explained earlier, the LORD loves his human enemies in the sense of agape love, which is practical love; thus Christ died for us (John 3:16). The Almighty is hoping this gets their attention, that they “come to their senses” and transfer “from the dominion of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18 ). But God doesn’t have phileo love—affection, respect, closeness—for arrogant fools who spurn the Creator and his graciousness. He doesn’t have “warm fuzzies” for those who stubbornly and selfishly continue on in their sin. He’s not up their affectionately reflecting on sick pedophiles: “Oh, I just luvvy wuvvy these vile abusers of children.” NO! He opposes them—resists them.

We see this in the case of Saul, who was radically persecuting the early Church: The Lord appeared to him and asked why he was persecuting Him (his body, the Church) and proceeded to strike Saul with blindness (Acts 9:1-19). This is an example of tough love, which you can read about here. Saul was a tough nut to crack, but he wisely responded to the Lord’s tough love tactics by humbling himself and praying, to which the Lord sent Ananias, who laid hands on Saul and he was healed. Thus Saul became the apostle Paul, God’s mightiest human agent in the New Testament era.

But it could have gone the other way: Saul could’ve arrogantly spurned the Lord and suffered the inevitable consequences. A good example of this is King Herod Agrippa I, who reigned over Judea from 41-44 AD. Like Saul, Herod began severely persecuting the Church, even putting James, the brother of John, to the sword and imprisoning Peter (Acts 12:1-5). The Lord mercifully gave Herod much time to repent, but he refused and pompously continued on in his sin and thus an angel of the Lord wiped him off the face of the Earth (Acts 12:19-23). Truly, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble!

They need to hear about his unconditional favor and grace.

Actually the Greek word for ‘favor’ or ‘grace’—charis—simply means “graciousness, favor, kindness.” Contrary to what this man heard in seminary it doesn’t mean “unconditional favor.” If God’s grace of salvation was truly “unconditional,” as this man & others claim, then everyone will be saved, whether they humbly turn to God in repentance & faith or not, which is not what the Scriptures teach. That is Universalism, a false doctrine easily negated by numerous plain passages, as shown here.

It is true that God’s grace of salvation is unmerited in the sense that it cannot be bought and you can’t work for it. Yet this doesn’t mean there aren’t conditions to receiving it. Humility is the necessary condition that unlocks God’s grace in a person’s life (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5 & Proverbs 3:34) and humility is the root of both repentance and faith, as explained earlier. In other words, the only ones who merit God’s grace are those humble souls who are willing to “obey the gospel” through repentance & faith. These are the ones who are “worthy of the kingdom of God” (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5).

When the Corinthian Christians fell into sin, Paul still didn’t preach “turn from sin.” Instead he reminded them of their identity in Christ. He understood that grace, not dead works, is the cure for sin.

Yes, some of the Corinthians fell into jealousy, strife and sectarianism, which is why Paul corrected them in his first letter (1 Corinthians 3:3). By “corrected them” he clearly encouraged them to put off such fleshly works. He even emphasized that they “flee from sexual immorality” “and stop sinning,” both of which certainly sound like “turn from sin” to me (1 Corinthians 6:18 & 15:34).

But, in keeping with the proper understanding of repentance, Paul didn’t just urge them to flee from sin, he also told them who they were in Christ to give them a revelation on which to base their faith. For instance, he stressed that they were a “temple” of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and conveyed several other such truths in his subsequent letter (e.g. 2 Corinthians 5:17,21 & 8:9).

Regarding 2 Corinthians 7:8-11, Paul is saying, “I don’t regret what I did.”

What did Paul do and why didn’t he regret what he did? Let’s read the passage:

Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— ⁹ yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. ¹¹ See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

2 Corinthians 7:8-11

Paul caused the Corinthian believers sorrow by his previous letter (that is, the epistle of 1 Corinthians). Why did his epistle cause them sorrow? Because it identified their sins and corrected them; he urged them to repent and even insisted that they expel an unrepentant fornicator. All this is detailed above. Paul didn’t regret what he said because it made them sorrowful and this led to their repentance. This shows, by the way, that the Corinthians repented in response to Paul’s confrontation in his first letter; and this is why none of them were expelled. Thankfully, even the man who was expelled repented and thus Paul urged them to allow him back into their fold (2 Corinthians 2:6-8).

You see, it was necessary for Paul to preach biblical repentance on this occasion and it bore good fruit at the Corinth church. Sometimes it will be necessary for you or me to preach repentance as well—which includes urging people to put off the flesh—as led of the Spirit. “Radical grace” preachers who hate the idea of preaching repentance—at least in the sense of turning from sin—need to get a hold of this.

I change my way of thinking so that my life lines up with what is true. I repent every day and it’s wonderful.

That’s great, Praise God! I encourage this man — and other “radical grace” preachers — to preach biblical repentance to their listeners, but repentance in its complete sense, not just useless mental assent. ‘Radical grace’ teachers tend to downplay “putting off the flesh,” one way or another.

The key to life is not in turning from sin but trusting in Jesus.

I don’t understand why this man insists that it’s one or the other. It’s both. If “the wages of sin is death” then it naturally follows that turning away from sin must be turning away from death (Romans 6:23). It’s why Christ admonished: “unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:3,5). In other words, repentance is a step in the right direction, toward life. This is why the book of wisdom says that “correction and instruction are the way to life” (Proverbs 6:23). When a person is in error and receives correction or instruction and turns from his/her error, it’s the way to life.

Of course “trusting in Jesus” is the key to life because Christ is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6) and thus has “the words of eternal life” (John 6:63,68).

Yet having faith in Christ and stubbornly refusing to turn from the deceitful desires of the flesh is not life. It’s this kind of libertine folly that enabled the unrepentant fornicator at the Corinth church and eventually caused him to get expelled (1 Corinthians 5:13); it’s what brought about the premature deaths of others in Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:29-32); it’s what caused Jezebel’s followers in Thyatira to suffer intensely, with the most stubbornly unrepentant ones prematurely dying (Revelation 2:20-23)!

So the key to life is 1. turning from sin and 2. turning toward the Lord in faith. That’s why Paul preached repentance and faith, not one or the other (Acts 20:21); it’s why repentance and faith are the first two of the six basic doctrines of Christianity (Hebrews 6:1-2). It’s why repentance & faith go hand-in-hand.

Needless to say, “radical grace” are really teaching unbalanced grace because they regularly discard relevant passages on the topic. And they’ll have to answer for it at the Judgment Seat of Christ (see James 3:1 & 2 Corinthians 5:10-11).

Let’s not be foolish like that; let’s be thorough in our studies — including on the topic of grace — and “watch our life and doctrine closely” (1 Timothy 4:16 ). Some unwise ministers, unfortunately, are not watching their doctrine.

This article is available in book form — freshly edited with additional material:

You can purchase the print book here for only $5.38 or get the Kindle eBook here for only 99¢

Related Topics:

False Grace — “Hyper-Grace Cotton Candy”

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

Berean Spirit — What is it? How Do You Cultivate It?

Once Saved Always Saved?

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

Trinity — Father/Son/Holy Spirit — Yes or No?

“The Trinity” is a reference to God as Father/Son/Holy Spirit but, interestingly, the word “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible, which explains why I don’t use the term in my teachings. After all, if the LORD doesn’t use the term, why should I?

So is the doctrine of the Trinity true? And, if so, what is the biblical evidence to support it?

Let’s start with the very beginning of the Bible where the Creator refers to Himself in the plural:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…”

Genesis 1:26

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 

Genesis 3:22

The LORD’s plurality doesn’t indicate the false notion of polytheism, however, because the Bible emphasizes that God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4 & Isaiah 45:5,6,18). Rather, it’s an indication of one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Here are ten plain passages to illustrate this:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ 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.”

Matthew 28:18-20

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

2 Corinthians 13:14

For through him [Christ] we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Ephesians 2:18

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:16-17

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:4-6

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior

Titus 3:4-6

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

²⁵ “All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 14:25-26

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, ² who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

1 Peter 1:1-2

¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸ because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

Romans 14:17-18

It might help you to grasp the concept of the tri-unity of God by considering that human beings are triune in nature — spirit, mind & flesh. If you think it’s wrong to relate human nature to God’s nature, the New Testament does this very thing here:

For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

1 Corinthians 2:11

Also, there are items in nature that reflect the three-in-one principle, like the shamrock:

Or consider water, which is one element that can manifest as fluid, ice or vapor.

These clear passages and others prove the notion of God as Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

The Enemy hates any teaching that relays the truth of God as Father, Son & Holy Spirit because the kingdom of darkness desperately wants people — including believers — to think less of Christ and the Holy Spirit, rather than view them as equal to Yahweh (God). In other words, the devil wants to trick people into thinking Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are less important and have less power than God and therefore what they say or do is just not as important. This is a LIE of the Enemy to deceive people.

As the Messiah said, “The truth shall set you free” (John 8:31-32).

I should stress that sincere believers who don’t understand or accept the tri-unity of God are genuinely saved and therefore brother & sisters in the LORD. After all, you don’t have to properly understand someone’s nature in order to have a relationship with him/her. For instance, does a person have to properly grasp my physical/psychological/spiritual make-up to have close fellowship with me? Of course not. Just the same, you don’t have to have a perfect understanding of our Creator’s nature to have a genuine relationship.

Furthermore, no passage on salvation thru Christ, like John 3:16 or Romans 10:9-10, includes a clause about how the believer must embrace the tri-unity of God in order to be saved. In other words, while the nature of the LORD is an important topic in the Scriptures, it’s not essential to salvation. Put another way, to be a genuine Christian — a sincere learner of the Anointed One — you don’t have to have a perfect understanding of God’s nature.

Related Topics:

Seven Proofs that JESUS CHRIST IS GOD

Is the Holy Spirit God or a Divine Force?

The Basics of Christianity

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

Does God have a Feminine side?

What is Oneness theology—aka “Jesus Only”—and is it Biblical?

Human Nature — Spirit, Mind & Body

Demonic Spirits — How to Deflect Them

A basic understanding of human nature is necessary to grasp how evil spirits negatively influence people and destroy their lives. This will help you to understand the simple measures we need to take in order to prevent them from doing this. I want to stress that these are simple actions and they’re easy as pie to master.

So let’s first establish the essentials of human nature and then observe some key passages that show how malicious spirits negatively sway people.

Human Nature and Spiritual Influence

Human beings are made up of three basic parts: spirit, mind and flesh. Your mind is the center of your being and it’s flanked by two opposing natures—spirit and flesh. Your spirit is your higher nature whereas your flesh is your lower nature. Put another way, your spirit is your godly nature while your flesh is the sinful nature. Your spirit is the part of you that inclines toward what is positive, productive and godly whereas your flesh is the part of you that veers toward what is negative, destructive and ungodly.

These two natures regularly transmit impulses, images and desires to your mind. The mind is the center of your being; it’s the part of you that thinks (intellect), feels (emotion) and decides (volition). Your mind is caught between these opposing natures (Galatians 5:17). In other words, you regularly experience the conflict of these two natures in your mind. This diagram helps picture all this:

While it’s not fun being caught in a conflict between two opposing natures, there’s good news: Because your mind possesses volition—will—you have the God-given power of decision and therefore the ability to DECIDE which nature you’re going to receive from and follow—your godly nature (spirit) or your sinful nature (flesh).

Assuming you’re a believer, the Holy Spirit gave birth to your new regenerated spirit (John 3:6 & Titus 3:5), which was “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). On top of this, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit—a temple of God—because the Spirit of God resides in you. Exactly what part of your being does the Holy Spirit inhabit? Your spirit, of course, since your spirit was made holy through regeneration (Ephesians 3:16). In fact, it’s only because your spirit has been reborn holy that the Holy Spirit is able to indwell you! With this understanding, your spirit—your “new self”—is indwelt and led by the Holy Spirit. So when you follow the impulses of your regenerated human spirit you are simultaneously following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

By contrast, if you follow the impulses of the flesh—the sinful nature—you are automatically following the leading of the devil and filthy spirits because the flesh is the sinful nature, which is the satanic nature. In other words, all a person has to do in order to fulfill the devil’s will in his or her life is to live according to his/her fleshly impulses.

What I’m getting to is this: The Holy Spirit (God) works with you through your spirit—your godly nature—while demonic spirits work with through your flesh—the sinful nature.

In light of this, it’s imperative that you learn to distinguish spiritual thoughts from fleshly ones. Both types of thoughts will be transmitted to your mind on a regular basis. Once you can distinguish these two kinds of thoughts you simply need to learn to discard the negatives impulses and feed positive proclivities.

Doing so naturally keeps demonic spirits from being attracted to you and setting up house, so to speak. How so? Because, remember, demons are impure spirits and are therefore attracted to what is morally filthy. So keeping moral filth far from your “house”—your mind & body—naturally keeps filthy spirits away.

How to Distinguish Spiritual Thoughts from Fleshly Thoughts

To accomplish this you’ll have to learn to differentiate thoughts that originate from your godly nature from impulses that proceed from your sinful nature. The former are positive and productive whereas the latter are negative and destructive. Distinguishing the two is easy.

The Bible offers fairly detailed descriptions of what these conflicting natures produce:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faith-fulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:19-23

Every believer has to learn to recognize and throw off thoughts that stem from the flesh, like sexual immorality, hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, selfishness, envy and other obvious carnal traits, such as arrogance, deceit and slander (Proverbs 6:16-19). Don’t feed these types of thoughts. Instead feed thoughts that stem from your spirit, your higher nature, which is why Paul said:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9

The more you “feed” positive, productive thoughts like these, the more you’ll live out of your higher nature. It’s simple. The Bible puts it like this:

Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the spirit * set their minds on the things of the spirit.

Romans 8:5

* Since there is no capitalization in the biblical Greek, translators must determine if “spirit” should be capitalized in reference to the Holy Spirit or not capitalized in reference to the human spirit. Many translations capitalize “spirit” in these passages and some do not (for example The New English Bible). I believe these passages (and other such passages) are plainly referring to the human spirit and therefore “spirit” should not be capitalized because the context is contrasting the conflicting parts of human nature (e.g. Matthew 26:41). In a way it makes no significant difference since our born-again human spirit is indwelt and led by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16).

So learning to set your mind on things of the spirit rather than things of the flesh is key to walking free of the satanic nature and the influence of evil spirits.

Also, as verse 9 of the previous passage instructs, get in the habit of observing genuinely spiritual believers (not religious people) and put into practice the positive things you observe. When you practice these two things, notice what results: “and the God of peace will be with you.” Needless to say, filthy spirits will not be attracted to you when you do this (which is not to say that they won’t attack you for righteousness’ sake when permitted, as explained in this article).

Managing the Soil of Your Heart

It helps to understand the biblical concept of the heart and how it fits into the model of human nature.

“Heart” is kardia (kar-DEE-ah) in the Greek, which is where we get the English ‘cardiac.’ Like the English word ‘heart,’ kardia literally refers to the blood-pumping organ but figuratively to the core thoughts or feelings of a person’s being or mind (Strong 39). Greek scholar E.W. Bullinger describes the heart as “the seat and center of man’s personal life in which the distinctive character of the human manifests itself” (362). The heart could therefore be described as the core of the mind. It is part of the mind, but specifically refers to the deepest, most central part; that is, the core.

What dwells in your heart is determined by which nature you have decided to live by, whether spirit or flesh (Romans 8:5-6). Jesus said, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart” (Luke 6:45). What’s this mean? Simple: If you, in your mind, decide to dwell on carnal thoughts, then carnal, negative, destructive things will naturally store up in your heart over time. If, on the other hand, you choose to focus on spiritual thoughts, then good, positive, productive things will store up in your heart. Whatever’s in your heart then determines your actions and therefore the course of your very life. This is why the book of wisdom says: “Be careful what you think for your thoughts run your life” (Proverbs 4:23 NCV). Take heed—truer words have never been spoken!

Here’s our diagram of human nature with the heart added:

Notice that the heart is the core of your mind and is figuratively called “soil.” Why? Because the Bible likens the heart to soil (Luke 8:15). Soil in the natural is a neutral substance that grows whatever seed is planted in it. This is the way it is with the soil of your heart, except that it grows non-physical “seeds,” whether spiritual or unspiritual. By “seeds” I mean thoughts, impulses, desires, images or impressions. Dwelling on these “seeds” waters them, so to speak, and thus enables them to grow. In other words, your meditation feeds them; and that is how they grow. And whatever grows in your heart is what eventually fills your heart and produces the desires thereof. These desires of your heart then determine your actions, good or bad.

Has someone ever offended you and you dwelt on it so much that you made more of it than what it was? When the issue was finally resolved you realized you made a mountain out of a mole hill. How did this happen? Simple: You fed the offense with your thought life and thus it grew. As you kept thinking about it, the bigger it got. This principle goes into motion with any impulse you choose to focus on and give life to, whether of the spirit or the flesh.

In regards to fleshly impulses, the Bible details the scenario like so:

but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.                         

James 1:14-15

People are tempted by evil desires that stem from their flesh, the sinful nature. Once they grab ahold of the bad impulse and feed it with their thought life, desire is conceived in the soil of their hearts, which eventually gives birth to the action, the sin itself.

Demons Work with People through their Flesh

The reason I’m going into detail about human nature is so you’ll grasp how the Holy Spirit (God) works with you through your spirit, your higher nature, whereas evil spirits work to destroy you (and those linked to you) through your flesh, the sinful nature.

Because the flesh is the satanic nature all a person has to do in order to be “of the devil” is to habitually live out of his/her sinful nature. For instance, envy, jealousy, rivalry, hatred and strife are works of the flesh. If a person regularly lives out of these fleshly impulses he or she will automatically carry out the Devil’s will in whatever environment s/he operates.

Take a woman at a church assembly who embraces thoughts of envy and jealousy. This naturally gives birth to rivalry and hostility toward the people with whom she’s envious and jealous. Hostility is hatred. There are degrees of hostility, of course, but—whatever the degree—hatred always eventually morphs into unjust attacks, starting with malevolent gossip, which is slander. This of course poisons people’s minds against their maligned brother or sister, which then produces discord in the assembly and robs the fellowship of peace and unity. Every Christian assembly on Earth has experienced this scenario and the root problem can always be traced to an individual who gave-in to the fleshly impulses of envy, jealousy & rivalry and then spread the resulting hostility to others.

Or consider the example of a married Christian man who meets an alluring woman on the job and it stirs up fleshly interest. The more he thinks about her the more desire grows in his heart until it manifests into adultery when the opportunity presents itself.

In both of these cases neither the woman who gossiped and created strife in her assembly nor the man who committed adultery were possessed by evil spirits. They simply ignored the leading of their higher nature (and the corresponding guidance of the Spirit) and surrendered to their fleshly desires by feeding them with their thought life, which made the corresponding desire grow in the soil of their hearts. And then they eventually acted on these desires.

Allow me to point out that the word ‘spirit’ does not always refer to a spiritual entity; it can simply refer to a person’s character, as in Joshua had “a different spirit” than other Hebrews and thus served the LORD wholeheartedly (Numbers 14:24). Neither the woman who engaged in hostile gossip and created strife in her fellowship nor the man who committed adultery was possessed by demons to do what they did. They simply gave their hearts over to the destructive impulses of their flesh, fed those desires, which then grew in their hearts, and ultimately acted on them. As such, the woman had a spirit of gossip and strife—a character of gossip and strife; and the man had a spirit of adultery—a character of adultery. But neither was possessed by a demon to do what they did. They have no one to blame but themselves for their foolish decisions. Remember, we all have the power of decision and therefore we decide which nature we’re going to live out of, whether flesh or spirit, sinful nature or godly nature. It’s our choice every day.

However, this is not to say that demonic spirits didn’t “whisper in their ears,” so to speak (which we’ll look at momentarily). Not to mention, once they started engaging in their particular sin it no doubt attracted evil spirits because filthy spirits are drawn to that which is morally impure, much like flies are attracted to dog excrement and rats to garbage.

An anointed minister testified to how he picked up a stench in the spirit when practicing homosexuals came up for prayer as he was ministering. I also shared how a boy, my nephew, smelled vomit when he was around a practicing witch who married into the family. People who take paths that are morally filthy like these—homosexuality and witchcraft—naturally attract filthy spirits. This results in demonic bondage to the sin, at best; and demonic possession, at worst. I’m not saying this with Pharisaical condescension or condemnation, but rather godly compassion and the desire to see people set free, whatever their transgression is, whether homosexuality, witchcraft, adultery, gossip/slander, religious legalism, drunkard-ness or what have you.

Needless to say, don’t entertain impulses of the flesh. Learn to put into motion the law of displacement by focusing on impulses of your higher nature (Ephesians 4:22-24). Concentrating on spiritual thoughts naturally displaces carnal desires. This keeps evils spirits at bay because they’re not attracted to that which is pure, godly and spiritual. And when they observe that a person is stubbornly single-minded they’ll give-up and seek easier prey. Remember: sloth is a trait of the satanic nature and so impure spirits are lazy by nature.

For quick insights on controlling your thoughts see this video; for insights on how to renew your mind see this video.

How Does Satan “fill a Person’s Heart”?

All of the above helps us to interpret a couple cases in the Bible where it says that Satan filled a person’s heart.

Let’s start with the case of Ananias from Acts 5:1-11. This was the era of the early church where believers were selling land and extra houses to provide money for the needy in the church (Acts 4:32-37). Ananias followed suit by selling a piece of property and giving the proceeds to the church, but he kept a good chunk for himself. There was nothing wrong with this and Peter even said so (Acts 5:4). It was Ananias’ property and his money; and he could do whatever he wanted with it, as led of the Spirit. The problem was that Ananias and his wife deceptively said they gave all the proceeds to the church, evidently to appear exceptionally generous and spiritual. Thus Peter asks: “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?” (verse 3).

How did Satan fill Ananias’ heart? Did he literally possess him? No, he filled his heart in the sense that Ananias gave his mind over to the fleshly impulses of the sinful nature, which is the satanic nature. Ananias wanted to impress others by appearing more generous than he actually was, so he lied about giving all the profit of his sale when he only gave part.

This is the typical way the devil fills a person’s heart, which we observed in the examples from the previous section: Satan filled the heart of the woman who succumbed to envy and hostility, which resulted in gossip and produced strife in the assembly. The married man surrendered to his carnal lust for a flirtatious woman at work and allowed desire to build in his heart until it manifested in adultery. The devil “filled their hearts” in the sense that they gave themselves over to the cravings of the satanic nature, but they weren’t possessed by Satan or demons.

How did Satan fill Judas’ Heart?

The case of Judas Iscariot shows that Satan or demons can fill people’s hearts more literally. Judas, of course, was the fake disciple who betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver. This reveals that his main problem was greed (that is, his main problem beyond not actually knowing the Lord). The Bible blatantly describes him as a thief who regularly pilfered from the treasury of Jesus’ ministry (John 12:6). The Lord knew what was going on, of course, because he functioned in the gifts of the Spirit, one being the word of knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). Thus Jesus indirectly referred to Judas as “a devil” well before this incident (John 6:70-71). Why? Not because Judas was literally possessed by an evil spirit at the time, but because he walked in the flesh without repentance and therefore wasn’t a genuine follower of Christ. Anyone who chooses to live out of their flesh will automatically perform the will of the devil because the flesh is the sinful nature, the satanic nature. This is why Jesus called Judas “a devil”—his allegiance was clearly with the devil, even though he wasn’t likely aware of it.

Yet a couple other passages reveal that Satan literally possessed Judas on two separate occasions over a year later:

Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.

Luke 22:3

As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”

John 13:27

The verse from Luke is talking about when Judas skulked away to the chief priests to agree to betray Jesus for a monetary reward. The verse from John takes place over a day later during the Last Supper, which is when Christ discharged Judas from the celebratory meal to betray him.

The texts do not contradict one another because John acknowledges the first occasion where Judas was possessed in verse 2 of the same chapter: “The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.” This refers to the events of the Luke passage.

We can glean a few important facts from both verses:

1. Satan possessed Judas not once, but twice
2. There was an interim period between the two possessions where Judas was not possessed. This indicates a partial possession, as detailed in this article (scroll down to the section Dealing with “Spirits of Infirmities”).
3. Even though Judas’ will was not under the direct control of the devil during the interim he did not repent or seek to undo Christ’s unjust arrest which he had set in motion.

No doubt the Sovereign LORD insisted on the interim so that Iscariot had time to reflect on what he had done, graciously providing him the opportunity to repent.* Since Judas didn’t have a change of heart, however, he was without excuse. In other words, Judas couldn’t justify his actions on the grounds that “the devil made him do it.”

* God reigns supreme, which includes reigning over the devil who’s the temporary “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Thus even Satan has to have permission to carry out his wicked attacks, as shown in Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-7. That said, this is a general truth and it’s uncertain how far and detailed it extends concerning any given satanic strategy and the target(s) thereof.

A fourth point is that his kind of demonic possession does not come out of nowhere. A person isn’t just morally heading one way one day and is suddenly possessed by a demon and proceeds to go in a totally different direction. No, possession of this nature occurs when a person has already given in to the sinful nature and is therefore already habitually fulfilling the devil’s will, which naturally attracts wicked spirits. If the person is eventually possessed by a demon or demons he or she simply goes deeper down the same fleshly path s/he was going.

We see this with Judas: He was already habitually stealing from the treasury because of his greed. Jesus knew this early on due to the word of knowledge and thus thoroughly interceded for the thief. Christ even made it known that he was on to him outright (John 6:70-71). Unfortunately, Judas remained unrepentant. His eventual succumbing to the temptation of blood money for Christ’s arrest & murder was simply deeper down the same dark road. It wasn’t until then that Satan possessed him.

Of course, Judas’ possession was a special case that warranted the devil’s direct involvement. When Satan possesses the Antichrist during the future Tribulation it’s likewise a special occasion (2 Thessalonians 2:9 & Revelation 13:2). In the vast majority of cases, however, Satan prefers to kick back and allow his filthy underlings to perform hands-on work like this (i.e. possess people).

It’s important to distinguish between demonic possession that occurs due to increasing immoral activity (as was the case with Judas) and demonic possession by a spirit of infirmity, which results in some kind of mental/physical malady. The latter type of possession may have nothing to do with a person participating in immorality. For instance, the boy who had a mute, deaf spirit (Mark 9:17-29) and the woman with the crippling demon (Luke 13:10-16), both addressed at the end of this article (scroll down to the section Dealing with “Spirits of Infirmities”). There is zero indication that either of them suffered possession and the corresponding maladies due to increasing, unrepentant immorality.

This shows that living a morally blameless life (which, of course, requires keeping in repentance*) is not enough to walk free of demonic possession as far as spirits of infirmities are concerned. Having a close relationship with God is not enough either. Why? Because these kinds of spirits prey upon the ignorant. The only antidote to ignorance is knowledge; and knowledge is power, assuming it is implemented (Proverbs 24:5). Any believer who knows and practices the Scriptural truths detailed in this article & the follow-up one will protect themselves from spirits of infirmities.

* Matthew & Luke 3:8. Keep in mind that blameless is not the same as sinless.

This illustrates the difference between:

• The Person of God.
• The wisdom principles of God’s kingdom.

It’s possible to genuinely know God, but be ignorant of the principles of His Kingdom, including spiritual warfare. Likewise, it’s possible to grasp principles of godly wisdom and yet not know the LORD whatsoever. For instance, an atheist doesn’t know God—and possibly hates God—but because he lives by the principle that “diligent hands will rule” (Proverbs 12:24) he prospers in his occupation.

The ideal, of course, is to walk in both: 1. Develop a relationship with the Person of God and 2. learn the wise principles of His kingdom.

Amen.

Can Believers be Possessed?

This brings up the question of whether or not genuine Christians can be possessed. The answer is no and yes. Let me explain…

True believers can never be totally possessed because they’re already indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). Of course, evil spirits are assigned to believers to try to oppress them and ruin their lives—the very opposite of what heavenly angels are commissioned to do (which is to serve people). This shows why learning and mastering spiritual warfare is vital as we grow in Christ.

Genuine believers cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons as well (1 Corinthians 10:21). To be fully possessed of a demon or demons, a believer would have to first fall away by denying Christ, whether literally or through incorrigibly wicked actions. For proof that a Christian can indeed fall away, see Hebrews 6:4-9, 2 Peter 2:20-21, 2 Timothy 2:11-13 and Titus 1:16. I want to emphasize that God’s Word supports the doctrine of eternal security 100% and this is verified by Christ Himself in John 10:28-29. However, the Bible clearly does NOT support the doctrine of unconditional eternal security, as verified by these crystal clear passages and numerous others. *

* For details see the section of this article The Enemy WILL Attack these God-Given Blessings. Also see the article Once Saved Always Saved?

Although genuine believers cannot be fully possessed, they can fall prey to partial possession, which is touched on in this article (scroll down to the final section Dealing with “Spirits of Infirmities”). Here are two types of partial possession observed in the Scriptures:

1. When a person suffers possession by a spirit of infirmity, which causes some type of ongoing physical disorder. In this scenario a spirit of infirmity induces a malady, but the person is otherwise uncontrolled by the spirit. The woman from Luke 13:10-16 whose crippling condition was caused by a demon and required exorcism is a good example. There’s no evidence that she wasn’t in control of her faculties. Thus the demon caused her crippling state, but it did not control her mind and will. It had power over her physically, but not mentally. It was thus a partial possession.
2. Another kind of partial possession is when a spirit takes control of a person’s mental faculties one way or another, but the spirit comes and goes and thus it’s not a perpetual condition. This was the case with the woman I personally knew noted in this article. She was decidedly a Christian, but an evil spirit would come on her now and then, with two different manifestations—a depressed, worried state or a mean, stubborn state. Both of these manifestations were thoroughly demonic and she occasionally committed self-harm in one form or another. Yet she was her normal, pure, loving self about 50% of the time. Since the evil spirit came and went it wasn’t a total possession, but rather a partial one. This is evidence that a true believer can suffer partial possession where a demon comes on him or her from time to time and wreaks havoc. It’s not a total possession, but such people need exorcized nevertheless, like the boy in Mark 9:18 and Luke 9:39.

In cases where believers suffer partial possession the demon attacks their body or mind, but it cannot afflict their spirit because they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16).

Satanic Head Games

It was pointed out earlier that fallen angels are able to “whisper in a person’s ear,” that is, shoot thoughts into people’s minds, obviously corresponding to the desires and weaknesses of their flesh. Consider Christ’s temptation after the Spirit led him to fast in the wilderness for 40 days and nights:

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

‘He will command his angels concerning you,               

and they will lift you up in their hands,               

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ”

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Matthew 4:1-11

This occasion warranted Satan’s direct involvement. He knew that the Mighty Christ came to destroy his work* so he personally tried to stop the Messiah by tempting him to succumb to the weaknesses of his flesh and therefore sin. This, of course, would’ve made Jesus unacceptable as a substitutionary curse for humanity since the sacrifice had to be innocent.

* See Hebrews 2:14, 1 John 3:8 and Acts 10:38.

Notice that verse 3 says “The tempter came to him and said…”. Did the devil actually appear to Jesus or did he come to him and ‘whisper in his ear,’ so to speak? In other words, did he come to him invisibly and simply transmit the tempting words to his mind? The Greek word for “came to” doesn’t necessarily mean appear visibly, but simply ‘to come to, come near to, approach.’ Since Satan is a spiritual being, not physical, it’s more likely that he came to the Messiah spiritually and therefore invisibly, although Christ no doubt discerned his presence through the gift of discerning of spirits (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).

I’m not saying that Satan didn’t appear to Jesus in some physical form, just that it’s very possible they he simply came to him spiritually—invisibly—and spoke to him by shooting flesh-based suggestions into his head. This is how evil spirits try to negatively influence you and me, why wouldn’t it be the same in this situation?

Someone might understandably argue that verses 5 & 8 show the devil taking Christ to the highest point of the Temple in Jerusalem and then to a high mountain, but Satan could’ve taken him there in a mental sense, relaying his temptation in thought form or perhaps a vision. After all, have you ever been tempted where an evil spirit physically appeared to you or physically transported you to the applicable environment or did you simply experience the temptation through thoughts, impulses and the imagery thereof? The latter, of course.

The Sword of the Spirit and the Law of Displacement

Christ counteracted these temptations by simply speaking the truth. On all three occasions Jesus responded with a quote from the Scriptures. This is what we need to do when we encounter temptation: When you experience an inner carnal impulse, perhaps combined with the corresponding imagery, recognize it for what it is—a negative, destructive, ungodly temptation rooted in the flesh. Then boldly speak the counteractive truth. Repeat as necessary until the temptation lifts. This is one of our God-given spiritual weapons; it’s called the sword of the spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It’s simply speaking the Word of God in bold faith as a defensive or offensive tool. Use it! This “sword” does you no good if you don’t take advantage of it. It guarantees victory over temptation.

You’ll notice in the second temptation that the devil quoted a Scripture verse. Please understand that Satan & evil spirits know the Scriptures and will sometimes use them to tempt people to take a wrong path, just as the devil did with Jesus here. The Messiah recognized that Satan’s usage of this verse conflicted with other truths, of course, and so he cited another passage that gave balance to the matter, which is in line with the hermeneutical rule “Scripture interprets Scripture.”

You can only do this if you’re familiar with the Scriptures, so I encourage you to acquaint yourself with God’s Word more and more by developing a daily reading program. Try different reading plans until you find one that fits your lifestyle and schedule. Change your plan every now and then so it doesn’t get predictable and boring. Also switch translations from time to time; and consider reading plans based on topical studies. Always pray for knowledge, understanding and wisdom before you read and the LORD will bless you (Proverbs 2:1-7).

It’s important as well to understand that the Enemy can tempt you through a person or group who cite Scripture (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). The Jehovah’s False Witnesses are a good example. Yet such a temptation can very well come through people functioning under the tag of whatever camp you favor (Baptist, Evangelical, Charismatic, Reformed, Mainline, Pentecostal, Emergent, etc.). Thankfully, it’s easy to recognize these fakes, if you know for what to look. Speaking of which…

Christ said that false prophets can be recognized by their fruit (Matthew 7:15-23). A false prophet is simply a minister who falsely speaks for God and you can identify them by the fruit they bear. Do they produce fruit of the spirit on a regular basis or works of the flesh? See Galatians 5:19-23. No one is perfect, of course, but what do they habitually produce? And are they willing to humbly ’fess up and apologize when they miss it (1 John 1:8-9). Do they have a spirit of love or a spirit of abuse? Do they build up or tear down? Genuine ministers are called to build up, not tear down (2 Corinthians 10:8 & 13:10). After giving appropriate correction, they build-up and encourage, not condemn. Needless to say, if you observe consistent bad fruit and an unwillingness to keep with repentance in a “minister” then head for the hills (Matthew 15:14).

One last thing on this matter: When you ‘swing’ your sword of the spirit by speaking the truth in bold faith, it doesn’t have to be a word-for-word verse or even a Scripture text at all. It simply has to be truth, which is the way it really is. Say, for example, a wicked spirit whispers in your ear that you’re a no-good piece of excrement who can’t do anything right. You don’t have to quote an exact Scripture to counteract this lie, just speak the truth: “I’m a child of God born of the seed of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit; I was born righteous and can do all things through Him who strengthens me!” Those of you who know the Bible know that this is a personalized paraphrase of several verses.

But, again, you don’t have to cite from Scripture at all to counteract a temptation—whether word-for-word or paraphrasing—as long as what you say is the truth. For instance, we earlier considered the example of a married man who was tempted by a coquettish “hottie” at work. All he has to say to thwart the temptation is the truth: “I am a married man of the Most High God! I love my wife and am faithful to her and God!”

When you do this you’re putting into motion the Law of Displacement, which means that two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time. In this particular case it applies to your thought life. When you experience a tempting thought you counteract it by simply speaking (and thinking) the counteractive truth, which displaces the negative thought. Repeat as necessary. When you do this you’re swinging your sword of the spirit and slicing down the lies of the Enemy.

Another thing you can do is sing praise & worship songs. Blast some music and have a praise & worship session; or, if you’re musically inclined, do it yourself, like David did in the Psalms (e.g. Psalm 8 and 65). Praise & worship is a powerful spiritual weapon because praise ushers in God’s manifest presence and there’s fullness of joy in the presence of the LORD (Psalm 100:4 & 16:11).

Examples of Demonic Head Games

The Bible repeatedly shows that the LORD knows our thoughts, which of course includes the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:11, Psalm 94:11 & Proverbs 20:27). But the devil and his loser minions have no such power. All they can do is determine your weaknesses by observing you and tempt you by shooting ideas into your mind corresponding to the weaknesses of the flesh, like lust, greed, pride, envy, jealousy, fear and doubt.

We know that angels are assigned to people to serve them. It’s the same thing in the kingdom of darkness, except that demons disservice people through misleading, hindering, oppression or possession. In short, they want to ruin people’s lives.

With this in mind, say a demon is assigned to a woman. This spirit cannot read her thoughts, but it can observe her actions and words day & night and so ascertain her fleshly weaknesses. The demon then transmits thoughts into her mind accordingly in the hope of ruining her one way or another. The spirit can also lure into her life the ‘right’ people to assist in the diabolic plot; that is, the wrong people. This is likely what happened with a teenage girl who embraced demonic thoughts and became convinced that she was going to be “taken” one day and her mother & sister would never see her again. She repeated shared this curious belief with her mother & sister. Once the (presumed) evil spirit got her to use the power of her mind in conjunction with the power of her tongue the next step was to inspire the right psychopath to meet her at the wrong time and place. Thus she was apprehended, raped and tragically wiped off the face of the planet.

Now consider the hypothetical woman we talked about earlier who caused strife in her fellowship due to her envies and jealousies. The demon (or demons) assigned to her would observe that she had issues with envy/jealousy/rivalry and so it would draw into her life the right person or persons who would stir up these fleshly impulses. Meeting these people would produce hostility in her—that is, hatred—and so she would start gossiping and slandering, which would in turn produce discord in the assembly, the precise opposite of what the Lord wants (Psalm 133).

It’s the same thing with that hypothetical married man who was enticed by an alluring woman at work. The wicked spirit (or spirits) assigned to him would notice his penchant for a certain type of female and then lure into his environment the perfect candidate. The man would experience unwholesome impulses from his flesh, particularly when the woman flirts with him. The demon might assist in the temptation by transmitting thoughts into his mind. In other words, this spirit “whispers into his ear” corresponding to the evil desires of his flesh. Once he grabs ahold of the idea and feeds it with his thought life, desire is conceived in his heart and keeps growing as he feeds it. He eventually falls into adultery when the opportunity presents itself.

This is how evil spirits work behind-the-scenes in regards to any type of sin.

Two Real-Life Stories

Let me share a couple real-life examples that I’ve unfortunately witnessed.

I was a teacher at an assembly a decade ago where there was this fatherless preadolescence girl who started calling me her “spiritual father.” She was a wonderful girl—bright, witty and fun. Carol & I never had a daughter so we enjoyed the honor of having a “spiritual daughter.” I’ll call her ‘Melanie.’

Melanie had a somewhat sad situation, but she never let it bring her down in the least: Her father evidently molested her in the form of inappropriate touching a few years earlier and he was essentially no longer in the picture. But she thankfully had a loving, if overly looming, mother.

When Melanie was 13 a new family joined the assembly. The couple had three daughters and one of them was also 13. The two girls started a friendship that soon became problematic. They would gaze into each other’s eyes in an unhealthy manner and walk together curiously close. It became so bad that visitors asked if they were “a couple.” During this time Melanie morphed from a bright, joyful girl into a brooding, lifeless early teen. The dramatic change occurred in a matter of just a few months.

That summer my sister, Jen, visited from California. She knew Melanie from past visits where we enjoyed outings together. I didn’t inform Jen about Melanie’s new friend, their questionable relationship or Melanie’s dark turn, but after sitting by Melanie during a service Jen asked me, “Who was that evil girl?” She was referring to Melanie’s new friend who was hovering behind her the whole time with a grim visage (evidently jealous of Jen sitting by her).

It was eventually discovered why the new family left their former assembly: The daughter had developed the same type of questionable relationships with a couple of girls there and the family was eventually asked to leave when the parents failed to properly control their daughter.

The situation got so bad at our fellowship it was decided that Melanie and her friend were no longer allowed to spend the night at each other’s houses; or even spend time alone together at all.

It goes without saying that any sense of closeness with our former “spiritual daughter” ceased as she fell under the spell of this girl. Shortly later the LORD called us out of this fellowship and four years passed before we received an email from Melanie. She was 18 by this point, on the verge of graduating high school and planning to go to art school. We met for coffee where she sadly confessed to being an atheist and explained away anything having to do with God or Christianity.

What went on “behind the scenes” in this sad situation? In light of the scriptural data we’ve covered, it’s not hard to come up with a probable answer: Melanie was a threat to the Enemy’s kingdom because she was genuinely fruit-bearing and on fire for the Lord. She spread joy to all the people she knew. She was overflowing with great potential. As such, the demonic spirit(s) assigned to her preyed upon her weaknesses. Her biological father had abused her and abandoned the family, but the LORD faithfully supplied my wife & me to help make up for it as her “spiritual parents.” She was home-schooled and the church assembly was small, so she was hungry for a friend her age. Hence evil spirits inspired this family who were in need of a new fellowship to come into the fold where Melanie would meet this girl her age and start a relationship. The demon would ‘whisper in Melanie’s ear’ according to her fleshly weaknesses. The friendship began and quickly descended into sullenness, unhealthy dependency, lesbianism and, ultimately, full-tilt atheism.

It’s a sad story and we continue to intercede for Melanie to come back to the Lord one day. But it shows that everyone will be tested by the enemy, as permitted by the Sovereign LORD, even bright church girls full of fruit of the spirit.

Here’s another real-life story: When I was a young man, shortly out of high school, I hooked up with this singer who was still in school for the purpose of starting a band. I’ll call her Laura. We attended the same mega-church.

While the band thing didn’t work out, I was impressed by Laura’s devotion to God and her genuine evangelistic spirit. She told me several stories about being a witness for Christ at her school and so forth. After graduating high school she quickly went off to college and I fell out of touch with her. Unfortunately, her rock-solid Christian family experienced several serious blows within the course of a year, starting with her father, who was a respected deacon at the fellowship. He committed adultery and the marriage eventually fell apart. Around the same time Laura’s younger sister, who was 17, died in a car wreck. On top of all this her first year at university didn’t go well, to put it mildly. She was assaulted by the wave of ungodly humanism that secular colleges are known for and was date raped. She dropped out of college and came home, but she didn’t return to her former assembly.

A close friend ran into Laura a couple years after these events and said she was palpably bitter. He brought up the Lord, but she didn’t want anything to do with God or Christianity. That was three decades ago and I’m unaware of what happened to her from there.

Both of these sad tales show that no one is exempt from satanic attack. If you’re a threat to the devil’s kingdom you will be attacked. If you fail to take advantage of the armor & weaponry that God has faithfully provided and “fight the good fight of faith” the enemy will take you out, just like these two young women.

Forgive my frankness, but you can’t half-buttocks it with the Lord. I’ve known several guys who got saved and went to church gatherings for a long season, but they never came to a point of taking the things of God seriously enough. They continued to flirt with the flesh and the world to some degree. I’m talking about things like boozing, porn, drugs, smoking, fornication and the like. They ended up losing their marriages, their jobs and basically becoming down-and-out. Three ended up in prison.

But—and this is an important “but”—I’m confident that this will not be the case with you. If you’ve come this far in this article then you obviously have a thirst for knowing the LORD and what God’s Word says about angelic spirits, good and evil, and your responsibility in spiritual warfare as a New Covenant believer.

As insinuated, one of the keys to overcoming the enemy’s attacks is to utilize God’s armor & weaponry, which is detailed in this article. Here we’re going to focus on a couple of other demonic strategies. The Bible instructs us to be aware of the devil’s schemes so that we’re not outwitted (2 Corinthians 2:11).

How the Enemy Blinds People’s Minds

The Scriptures show that the Enemy has the power to blind people’s minds:

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4

The devil & his loser minions don’t want people to comprehend the awesome message of Christ because “it is the power of God that brings salvation” and sets them free (Romans 1:16). Evil spirits therefore veil it “to those who are perishing.”

“Veil” means to hide, conceal or keep secret. How exactly do wicked spirits conceal the gospel to unbelievers? Do they unleash a spiritual fog around their minds? Not literally, but in a sense, yes. They blind people’s minds by implanting an erroneous ideology, which is the result of embracing “deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). More traditional English versions refer to this as “doctrines of demons” or “doctrines of devils” (NASB & KJV). “Doctrines” is another word for teachings or instructions; so “doctrines of demons” simply means teachings or instructions of unclean spirits.

While these false teachings originate from a demon whispering error in someone’s ear, so to speak, they are passed to others through a human agent—someone who’s already blinded by the false indoctrination. The Bible describes such people as “hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:2). Although the context refers to false teachers in the Church, how much more so in the world? Libertine college professors are Exhibit A. As people give ear to these erroneous teachings they naturally develop an ideology; and this indoctrination—this perspective or mindset—blinds them to the good news of the gospel and the truths of the Word of God in general.

To understand how this works, let’s look at…

Noémas—Mindsets, Ideologies

Notice what the Bible exhorts us to do:

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5

Christ is the living Word of God who is the truth (John 1:1 & 14:6). So we are to “take captive” thoughts and make sure that they comply with the truth. ‘Truth’ is alétheia (ah-LAY-thee-ah) in the Greek, which means “reality” or “the way it really is.” So we are to take “thoughts” and make sure that they conform to reality. If they don’t comply with the truth then they are ‘weeds’ of unreality and should be purged from the soil of our hearts.

The word ‘thought’ in this passage is noéma in the Greek (NOH-ay-mah). While noéma can refer to thoughts, good or bad, it can also refer to a person’s perspective—mindset, attitude or ideology—which is the result of indoctrination, good or bad. Indoctrination is naturally determined by the doctrine—the teaching or instruction—to which you are regularly exposed. For instance, if you sit under a secular humanist professor long enough and don’t counteract what s/he teaches with the truth of the rightly-divided Word of God (or the truth period) you’ll naturally develop a secular humanist ideology. You’ll then start to live out of this mindset, to one degree or another. The doctrine or teaching you’re exposed to on a regular basis determines your indoctrination, which is your mindset, good or bad. Such a mindset is a noéma.

The Greek word for “doctrine” is didaskalia (did-as-kal-EE-ah). It means teaching or instruction and can be good or bad depending on how true it is or is not. The Bible speaks of sound doctrine (1 Timothy 4:6) and bad doctrine:

Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings (didaskalia) of demons,

1 Timothy 4:1 (ESV)

Obviously the teachings of demons aren’t good because demons are evil spirits.

The point is that a person’s mindset or ideology—noéma—is determined by the teachings to which he or she is regularly exposed. Noémas formulate over the course of time as a person is fed information. The longer it takes for a noéma to develop the more imbedded it is in the individual’s psyche.

It is through negative noémas that the enemy “blinds the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The devil has control of their minds—through demonic noémas—and the truth cannot penetrate the indoctrination. To help you visualize this, I went to the Facebook page of a Christian friend I hadn’t seen for 25 years and was surprised by his cover pic. It was a skull with a red dragon wrapped around its head. No doubt he chose this pic because he thought it looked ‘cool’ or whatever, but it’s actually an excellent illustration of how the enemy blinds people’s minds: The red dragon represents the devil and he has control of the person’s mind, which is depicted as a skull and symbolizing death, the natural result of Satan’s misleading.

Notice how 2 Corinthians 10:5 (quoted above) says we are to “take captive” thoughts and mindsets. The Greek for ‘take captive’ literally means to “take captive as a prisoner and interrogate.” The Bible is saying that we should take any perspective we have and honestly & thoroughly examine it, making sure it conforms to reality (the way it really is) rather than unreality (the way it really isn’t). If we discover that the mindset does not comply with reality then we need to throw it out.

This can apply to any doctrine—teaching—you were taught during your formative years as a believer. Just because you were indoctrinated by a particular teaching in a relatively sound sect by a respected pastor doesn’t make the doctrine true. So you need to “interrogate” it in light of reality. Does it comply with the rightly-divided Word of truth and the Spirit of truth (John 17:17 & 16:13)? If not, it needs to be thrown out in favor of whatever the truth is, which is reality.

As noted above, this applies to secular indoctrination as well, such as the godless humanism that’s commonly taught at our secular colleges and universities. Generally speaking, the professors thereof teach that the idea of an intelligent Creator is absurd and thus life is meaningless and you’re just an accident. There’s nothing special about human beings, they say, and we’re basically just animals. And, when ya die, that’s it. The consequences of this kind of brainwashing are devastating—it produces moral rot and an attitude of no respect for life, including one’s own; it encourages living with a temporal perspective (noéma) rather than an eternal one (noéma). Such a hedonistic philosophy can be summed up as: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32).

One example of secular indoctrination is homosexuality. While homosexuality was still a crime in much of the USA as of the new millennium, that’s all changed. Now homosexuality is taught to be innate and healthy in our secular culture and people are encouraged to experiment with it and embrace it as a legitimate alternative lifestyle. Our secular mentors are increasingly active homosexuals, like Ellen DeGeneres, Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper. Take the first two, for instance: Parents allow their children to sit under them where they’re exposed to their smooth “gay” propaganda and then wonder why some of their offspring eventually embrace the homosexual lifestyle. Notable people who publicly “come out” are commended by celebrities and governing officials alike. Those who refuse to approve of homosexuality, by contrast, are considered evil bigots and punished severely, socially speaking. The truth about homosexuality, however, is that it’s a damning sin and those who unrepentantly practice it will not inherit the kingdom of God. “Do not be deceived,” the Bible warns (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

A believer struggling with this kind of worldly indoctrination or same-sex attraction can take these noémas (mindsets) captive and interrogate them in light of the truth of Scripture and the leading of the Spirit of truth. Since these noémas don’t comply with the truth they need to be purged out of one’s mindset in favor of reality.

As you do this with every thought/impulse/attitude/mindset you purge your heart of falsity and unreality. This is “being made new in the attitude of your mind” (Ephesians 4:22-24).

How to Prevent Demonic Oppression and Possession

There are three effective ways to deflect evil spirits and they’re all taught in this passage:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

James 4:7-8

The three ways to keep evil spirits at bay are:

1. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
2. Draw near to God.
3. Purify your heart.

Let’s look at all three:

Resist the Devil and he will Flee from You

Resisting “the devil” doesn’t mean resisting Satan himself because the devil is, generally speaking, on his throne in the Underworld directing the activities of his dark kingdom. He only personally gets involved in matters that are of great magnitude to him, like tempting Christ to sin (Matthew 4:1-11) or moving Judas to betray Him (John 13:27). When James taught that we are to “resist the devil” he was speaking of the kingdom of darkness in terms of its leader much as historians speak of military aggression in relation to the aggressor nation’s leader, like “Hitler invaded France,” when, in fact, Hitler was nowhere near France. So resisting the devil means resisting the kingdom of darkness and, specifically, the evil spirits that are assigned to oppress you one way or another.

At the time that James wrote this passage he was addressing believers scattered across the nations, but his words apply to all believers scattered across the world throughout the Church Age. We’re called to “resist” evil spirits and their oppression. This means we are to conduct spiritual warfare—confront and overcome enemy attacks by utilizing the armor & arms that God has faithfully supplied us, which I’ll supply a link for momentarily.

Draw Near to God

This simply means to constantly make an effort to come closer to the LORD and corresponds to the first and greatest command: “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

More than anything else, to draw near to God refers to cultivating a close relationship. The gospel of Christ is called “the message of reconciliation” because it’s all about reconciling to the Creator. To ‘reconcile’ means to turn from enmity to friendship. You must understand that God wants to be your friend (John 15:13-15). Of course, you can’t have friendship without relationship; and relationship demands communion, which is genuine communication. So cultivating a close relationship with God requires developing a prayer life. Prayer is simply communion with God—talking with your Creator—and the foremost form of prayer is simple communion. This is observed in Jesus’ outline for prayer:

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

¹⁰ your kingdom come, your will be done,        

on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.

¹² And forgive us our debts,        

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

¹³ And lead us not into temptation,        

but deliver us from the evil one.’ ”

Matthew 6:9-13

This is typically referred to as “the Lord’s prayer” and people sometimes pray it word-for-word, particularly when the occasion calls for a brief scriptural prayer, like ceremonies. This is fine, but it’s really not a prayer to be spoken by rote. It’s actually an outline of different types of prayer. In other words, it’s a prayer skeleton that needs to be filled in with the “flesh” of our spontaneous prayers according to our unique expressions, communion, needs or desires and the specific people or situations touching us.

The outline can be broken down as such:

• Our Father in heaven = Communion or fellowship with God.

• Hallowed be your name = Praise & worship.

• Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven = Binding & loosing or intercession, that is, releasing God’s will and kingdom into people’s lives and situations on Earth, including your own (as explained in this article; scroll down to the section Prayer “Releases” Angels to Serve You and Others).

• Give us today our daily bread = Petition, that is, praying for your needs and righteous desires.

• Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors = Repentance, venting, and forgiveness where applicable.

• And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one = Armoring up, protection, watchfulness, speaking in faith, and deliverance.
• For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen = Return to praise and close.

As you can see, each part of “the Lord’s Prayer” refers to a specific type of prayer.

Let’s consider the first two types, as they apply to our topic:

Our Father in Heaven refers to communion with God since the believer is addressing God as his or her “Father.” ‘Father’ indicates familial relation and relationship requires communication, hence fellowship. Christianity at its core is a relationship with the Creator of the Universe, which is why the gospel is referred to as the message of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20. I encourage all believers to cultivate an intimate relationship with their heavenly Father where you’re in constant communion throughout the day, even when you’re in bed (Psalm 63:6). Paul referred to this as “praying without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV) and the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 13:14).

Please notice, by the way, that Jesus instructed us to pray to the Father, not to Him (Matthew 6:9). Praying to the Father in the name of Jesus is prayer protocol (John 16:23).

Hallowed be Your Name refers to praise & worship. To ‘hallow’ means to honor as holy and venerate, that is, treat with respect and reverence. God’s name—YaHWeH—represents the Creator Himself so we are to hallow the Great “I Am” (Exodus 3:13-14). The only way you can accomplish this in prayer is by telling him. Praise is celebration and includes thanksgiving, raving and boasting, whereas worship is adoration. Praise naturally attracts God’s presence and is in accordance with the law of respect: What you respect moves toward you while what you don’t respect moves away from you. Worship, on the other hand, is adoration or awe, and is the response to being in God’s presence. See Psalm 95:1-7 and Psalm 100 for verification.

We could further differentiate praise & worship as such: Praise celebrates God whereas worship humbly reveres Him; praise lifts God up while worship bows when He is lifted; praise dances before God whereas worship pulls off His shoes; praise extols God for what He’s done while worship adores Him for who He is; praise says “Praise the Lord” whereas worship demonstrates that He is Lord; praise is thanksgiving for being a co-heir in Christ while worship lays the crown at His feet.

Every believer is called to deeper praise & worship. It will literally revolutionize your life, as it has mine and continues to do so.

It’s no accident that communion with God and praise & worship are the first two kinds of prayer Jesus mentions in his outline (Matthew 6:9-13). They’re simply the most important. After all, what does the average father or mother want to hear from their children, particularly as the children grow and develop? Not, “Gimme, gimme,” but rather simple communion: “Hi Dad! How are you doing today? You’re awesome!” “Do you have time? I’d like to just hang out with you.” “Mother, I have something I’ve been thinking a lot about and I’d like to share it with you to see what you think.” “Mom, you’re so beautiful!” “Dad, tell me more about that project you’re working on; it’s lookin’ great so far.” Etcetera. If this is the kind of communion our earthly parents prefer, why would we think it’s any different with our heavenly Father?

You can have these types of conversations with God throughout the day, every day—when you wake up in bed, when you’re in the shower, when you’re driving, when you’re walking down the hall, in the evening, etc. As noted earlier, Paul referred to this as “praying without ceasing” and the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit.”

We have to get away from the idea that we only encounter God when we go to church gatherings once or twice a week. This is an Old Testament mentality in the sense that the Israelites had to go to the Temple in order to meet with the LORD, as far as His presence on Earth goes. And, even then, He was hidden in the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was located (see this article for details).

Purify Your Heart

Demons are “unclean spirits” or “impure spirits,” which means filthy spirits. As such, they’re naturally attracted to that which is morally filthy. They are drawn to moral filth much as flies are attracted to excrement and rats to refuse. By contrast, the Holy Spirit and holy angels are attracted to that which is holy. “Holy” means purity, the natural result of being consecrated unto the absolutely pure Creator.*

* I was at a church Bible study once where the associate pastor insisted that ‘holy’ doesn’t refer to purity, but rather “consecrated unto God.” I understandably asked: So when God is worshipped by the seraphim and living creatures in Heaven as “Holy, holy holy is the LORD” (Isaiah 6:3 & Revelation 4:8) what these angels are really saying is “Consecrated unto God, Consecrated unto God, consecrated unto God is the LORD”? This of course is nonsensical and the pastor had no answer; moreover he was upset that his definition of ‘holy’ was shown to be dubious.

This shows why the Bible instructs us to “get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you” (James 1:21). Doing this repels evils spirits because they’re repelled by holiness and attracted to filthiness.

Yet notice that James didn’t just say to get rid of the moral filth and evil, he also said to “humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” He was talking about the Word of God planted in believers through the teaching & preaching of Holy Scripture, which includes James’ very epistle. Remember, in the 1^st century they didn’t have Bibles in book form available to every believer and so they relied on the teaching & preaching of the apostles, pastors and teachers who ministered to them. This included copies of epistles or gospels that might pass through their assemblies.

Why does James say “humbly accept” the Word planted in you? Because it “can save you.” ‘Save’ is the Greek word sozo (SOHD-zoh), which in this context means to rescue from the power of sin. James was teaching the “put off/put on” principle: Put off the moral filth and displace it with the truth. This corresponds to the law of displacement. As you do this you’ll be transformed as you’re “made new in the attitude of your mind”:

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

To “put off your old self” means to put off the sinful nature. The works of the flesh are obvious (Galatians 5:19-23). When you miss it, be quick to humbly ’fess up and the LORD will forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). John the Baptist called this “keeping with repentance” (Matthew & Luke 3:8). The repentance/ forgiveness dynamic is fundamental to your walk with the Lord because it enables you to 1. get back up when you fall, 2. receive God’s forgiveness, 3. have your slate wiped clean, and 4. continue to progress forward.

However, James’ admonition to “get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent” shows that putting off the old self is more than just repenting of sins committed, it’s also a matter of getting rid of anything that contributes to falling into sin, which includes anything that attracts filthy spirits.

For instance, I’ve thrown away entire secular album collections because I sensed some of their dubious lyrics and imagery were holding me back. I was being led by the Holy Spirit to consecrate myself to the LORD further than I already was at the time. I’ve likewise thrown away movies for this same reason. I encourage believers to regularly take inventory of their possessions—the items to which they expose their eyes and ears—and purge as directed.

When I was a young Christian I had several posters on the wall of my bedroom at my parents’ home that were ‘sword & sorcery’ in nature. I defended them on the grounds that the images were typically of warriors fighting demonic-type creatures. My brother-in-law, however, was visibly taken aback by them and argued that they could attract demonic spirits. While I didn’t necessarily believe this—since they depicted mighty warriors fighting evil beings—I decided to take the dubious art down in favor of more agreeable and Christian-oriented works. I didn’t regret the decision.

I know people who are essentially “stuck in a rut” of the past because they stubbornly refuse to move on from the art, music and accouterments with which they grew up. Please don’t misunderstand me here because God’s call on each person is different and the Lord often leads believers to stay within the culture or sub-culture with which they’re familiar (1 Corinthians 7:17-24). Why? Because the best way to reach people in a culture is through believers from that culture who are familiar with it. They speak the same language and therefore people can more readily relate to them and hence receive from them. Nevertheless, if there are certain things that you sense are bogging you down spiritually you need to either remove them from your life or, at least, limit your exposure to them. Of course, if something’s leading you into error or sin you need to get rid of it altogether.

In the early 2000s I read this book on ridding your home of spiritual darkness. The author argued that certain items can be cursed in the sense that impure spirits are attached to the articles and thus having such a cursed item in your house provides a door for that demon to oppress you one way or another. He didn’t give much scriptural support and so I was skeptical—and still am—but some of it made sense in light of what we’ve gone over in this article: Demons seek places that are dry of God and are attracted to that which is morally filthy, including occult-oriented objects or items that support the occult. They’re also attracted to objects of literal idolatry. In fact, the Bible says that demons are the entities behind the ‘gods’ that idols represent (1 Corinthians 10:19-22). Therefore those who worship idols are, in reality, worshipping demons! Needless to say, purge anything that has to do with idol worship from your household.

During the days of the early Church, articles that Paul touched, like handkerchiefs and aprons, “were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them” (Acts 19:11-12). It was the same thing with Peter’s shadow (Acts 5:15-16). These things had the anointing of God on them and thus physically or mentally ill people exposed to them were healed and demons fled! A good example from the Old Testament would be Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:20-21). These various items were blessed as conduits of God’s power. Could the inverse also be true? Could certain items be cursed with a demonic non-anointing? If the former is true with the kingdom of light, isn’t it possible—even likely—that the reverse is also true with the kingdom of darkness? Passages like Deuteronomy 32:16-17 and 1 Corinthians 10:19-22 suggest that demons can associate themselves with certain objects, in this case idols. So don’t take chances with dubious items—purge yourself and your abode of anything questionable!

Let me share a couple of personal examples: In 2001 I purchased this wooden jungle mask while on vacation in Mexico and displayed it on our living room wall. Of course, I valued it as nothing more than an exotic piece of art, but I finally decided to discard it simply because I didn’t want anything in my house to attract evil spirits, not that there was any evidence of the mask doing this. I just felt that biblically-oriented art would be more appropriate for my dwelling.

It was the same thing with these little elephant figurines that my sister innocently sent me from one of her trips abroad. My stepson informed us that they were actually idols in India, so I promptly threw ’em out. I realize that things like this come down to a person’s heart and if the individual in question doesn’t perceive the object in an occultist or idolatrous manner there’s likely no problem. But, why even take the chance? As Paul said: “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons” (1 Corinthians 10:21).

Consider how Solomon decorating the Holy Temple in Jerusalem with godly art, like cherubim, (1 Kings 6:23-29). Fill your dwelling place with items that attract the Holy Spirit & holy angels and repel filthy spirits. Get rid of anything morally dubious. Amen?

Now relate this principle to the abode of your body & mind. YOU are a temple of God — a living, breathing house of God (1 Corinthians 3:16). What’s ‘decorating’ the walls of your mind & heart? This offers additional insight to James’ admonition to purify our hearts.

‘You Kids Stay Off Drugs!’

Drugs played a vital role in ancient cults with their lifeless prayers to their gods—that is, demons—at pagan shrines and the magic empowered by these lying spirits. Sorcerers and witches used drugs in their spells, which explains something about the words “witchcraft” or “sorcery” used in Paul’s list of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21. The original Greek term is pharmakeia (far-mah-KIH-ah) and is where we get the words pharmacy and pharmaceutical. It literally means “drugs” or “medication” and only refers to magic by extension due to witches and magicians using drugs in their spells. As a work of the flesh, pharmakeia concerns any and all drug-related sins, which includes drug experimentation, drug abuse, drug trafficking, etc.

Needless to say, we should shun drugs if we want to avoid demonic influence, oppression and possession. This includes doctor-approved meds that you don’t really need, which doctors perpetually prescribe in order to keep the pharmaceutical biz thriving more than anything else.

The enemy uses witchcraft (including supposed “white” witchcraft), sorcery, séances, Ouija boards, and all occult-oriented activities to open a person up to demonic influence on a more personal basis, with partial or total possession being the goal.

Are there Spirits of Certain Sins, like Lust?

Christ said that some demons are more wicked than others (Matthew 12:45), but did he mean more wicked in general or more wicked in regard to a particular sin? I assume the former.

In any case, just as people are assigned heavenly angels (Matthew 18:10) so individuals are presumably assigned evils spirits on behalf of the kingdom of darkness. Just as angels are watchers, as detailed in this article, so demons are watchers. And it wouldn’t take long for an evil spirit assigned to a person to discern what his/her fleshly weaknesses are, whether envy, jealousy, hatred, arrogance, strife, greed, lust, perversion, alcohol, drugs, sloth, fear, doubt, depression, etc. Once a demon determines the carnal proclivity, it then “works with” the person to get him or her to live according to their carnal weakness, whatever that is.

It must be stressed, again, that devils never make a person sin except in cases where someone is wholly possessed, which—as covered earlier—is something that takes place down the road, after a person has already significantly conceded to the corrupt desires of the flesh. The Bible makes it clear that sin is the result of one’s “own evil desire” and so no one can claim ‘The devil made me do it’ (James 1:14-15). Consider, for example, when Satan tempted Christ: The Enemy knew Jesus was weak & hungry from fasting so he slyly proposed that he turn the rocks into bread and partake, but the devil couldn’t make Him do anything (Matthew 4:1-4). All evil spirits can do is tempt. The decision to commit evil or not comes down to the will of the individual.

If a demon successfully tempts a person and gets him/her into the habitual practice of sin it would eventually attract other evil spirits because filthy spirits are naturally drawn to that which is morally filthy. While these spirits may be attracted to the specific sin in question, they may just as well be attracted to sin in general. Whatever the case, a satanic bondage to the sin thus develops.

Thankfully, there’s freedom in Christ (John 8:31-32), but it doesn’t come through rebuking a demon of a particular sin, like a “spirit of alcohol” or a “spirit of gossip” or a “spirit of homosexuality.” Although there’s nothing wrong with authoritatively saying “Away from me, foul spirit” if you discern you’re under severe temptation; after all, Jesus did this (Matthew 4:10). Freedom from sin comes through 1. being spiritually regenerated (if the person isn’t saved) and 2. knowing and applying the relevant truths of God’s Word, as detailed above—putting off the evil desires of the flesh and learning to live out of your new nature by the Holy Spirit, which includes renewing the mind (Ephesians 4:22-24).

Notice how the Lord said freedom is attained:

Then Jesus said to those who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

John 8:31-32 (NRSV)

So acquiring the truth and putting it into practice is what sets people free, not verbally rebuking a demon of such-and-such sin. As the individual who is struggling with a particular sin acquires truth and puts it into practice any evil spirit oppressing him or her will eventually flee and seek easier game (James 4:7).* But the person has to be diligent with the things of the spirit because demons are going to fight tooth & nail to keep an individual in bondage to the sin in question. Life’s a fight, fight it.

* This brings up a question: If a demon is assigned to an individual, where would it flee to if it leaves that particular person? We can only theorize based on the biblical data: Obviously demons aren’t assigned to one individual and that’s it. For instance, people eventually die and new people are born. Evil spirits are assigned to human candidates within a territory and they naturally go where their efforts are proving fruitful. The demoniac from the Gerasenes, for instance, had hundreds or thousands of demons in him. Also keep in mind that only a third of the angels fell with Satan, so there’s a limit to their numbers.

Of course, in cases where a person is partially or fully possessed he/she would have to first be exorcized of the demon(s), followed by the applicable 2-step process above.

Earlier we saw that the word ‘spirit’ does not always mean a spiritual entity; it can simply refer to a person’s character, as in Joshua had “a different spirit” than the other Hebrews (Numbers 14:24). So whereas I think it’s unbiblical to say that a person has a spirit of a particular sin in reference to demonic spirits, you could say that s/he has a spirit of such-and such sin in regards to their developed character. For instance: “Mark has a spirit of lust,” “Carrie has a spirit of lying,” “Alex has a spirit of rage” or “Zach has a spirit of legalism.” This simply means that they’ve developed the character of the sin in question due to habitually giving-in to the flesh in that particular area. This is true in regards to noémas (mindsets/ideologies) as well. For instance, someone can have a spirit of liberalism.

It is biblical, however, to rebuke a “spirit of infirmity” if you genuinely discern that a person’s disability is induced by a demon or demons. Examples include a crippling problem (Luke 13:11,16), deafness and muteness (Mark 9:25) or mental illness (Mark 5:1-8). Of course, not all infirmities are directly caused by evil spirits, so you have to have spiritual discernment to effectively minister in these cases. And the only way you can do this is to have genuine spiritual sensitivity, which comes by drawing closer to the LORD, as well as eagerly desiring gifts of the Spirit rather than eagerly denying them (1 Corinthians 12:1,31 & 14:1,39). If you’re not sure if a spirit is behind the infirmity in question, simply rebuke the ailment itself, as Jesus did (Luke 4:39). As a believer and co-heir in Christ you have the authority to do the works the Messiah did (John 14:12). So get in the habit of boldly declaring your authority in Christ, take charge over any sickness and command it to leave.

For more details on dealing with spirits of infirmities see the final section of this article.

We’ve explored how to deflect evil spirits in this article, closing with the three simple yet effective ways to repel demons—1. resist their attacks, 2. draw near to God and 3. purify your heart. Actually, God has provided an easy, surefire means to achieve this. I’m talking about the Armor & Weaponry of God.

This article was edited from Chapter 17 & 18 of…

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Related Topics:

Evil Spirits (Demons) — What Are They? What’s Their Purpose?

Your Thoughts Run Your Life! (video)

How to Renew Your Mind (video)

SPIRITUAL WARFARE — Do You Know What You’re Fighting For?

NOTE: It is recommended that you read Armor & Weaponry of God before this article.

What good is it to know about the armor & arms of God if you don’t know when the enemy is attacking you or someone else? You must understand that the devil & his loser minions aren’t going to manifest as cartoony red characters with cloven hooves and pitch forks. They’re spiritual beings and therefore invisible to the human eye. The way they attack is by trying to put one or more curses on you and those linked to you.

I don’t mean “curse” like in those old horror flicks, e.g. The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, but rather in a biblical sense. In this article we’re going to define the five general curses of the Law that the enemy uses to attack believers. We’re also going to look at five other curses which threaten believers’ spiritual blessings, ten curses in all.

Let’s first establish that…

Jesus Christ Was Your Substitutionary Curse

Most believers know that Christ suffered substitutionary death for them. In other words, the Messiah died in our place—the innocent for the guilty—that we might have the benefit of eternal life. However, the majority of Christians don’t know that Jesus was their substitutionary curse period. Notice what the Bible says on this point:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

Galatians 3:13

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. ‘Redeem’ means to release from the power of something through purchasing. What was the price for our redemption? The blood of Christ; that is, the very life of the Mighty Lord. In short, Jesus suffered & died for you to be redeemed.

How did Christ redeem us from the curses of the law? The text says “by becoming a curse for us”! In other words, he suffered being cursed so that we don’t have to be cursed. How exactly was he cursed? Paul cites Deuteronomy 21:23 in reference to Christ’s crucifixion: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” So when the Messiah suffered and died during his last 12 hours he became our substitutionary curse—an innocent human being cursed so that the guilty might be blessed. That’s you & me and all people.

The Five General Curses of the Law

The text specifies that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.” What precisely is the curse of the Law? This phrase refers to the five general curses detailed in Deuteronomy 28:15-68: 1. physical ailments, 2. mental maladies, 3. defeat to human enemies, 4. premature death and 5. financial lack. Jesus suffered all these curses in his last hours so that you can be released from the power of them. This is different than saying you won’t be attacked by them, because the enemy will certainly try to oppress you with them.

Observe how the Anointed One suffered each of these curses:

1. Christ suffered severe physical wounds to purchase health & healing for the believer: “by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24 & Isaiah 53:5). Precisely what kind of wounds did the Messiah suffer? Read on…
2. Christ suffered extreme mental anguish to redeem us from mental illness. This suffering includes the psychological distress of the various tortures he experienced during his final hours on Earth: Severe scourging that ripped his flesh to pieces, unjust mocking & physical blows, a crown of thorns rammed on his head, his hands & feet literally nailed to a huge stake and the corresponding agony of crucifixion, which is arguably the most painful execution ever conceived and is where we get our term “excruciating.” This form of execution, by the way, was reserved for the worst of criminals, as well as foreign enemies. On top of all this there was the mental anguish of being utterly separated from God wherein the Son cried out to the Father: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:45-54). Lastly, the phrase “by his wounds you have been healed” refers to both physical and mental healing.
3. Christ suffered defeat to his human enemies, which heretofore never happened. While Jesus was attacked by people throughout his 3½ years of ministry on Earth, they were never victorious over him. He always eluded them or stumped them, one way or another; in other words, he was always ultimately triumphant. For instance, he refused to allow his opponents to unjustly apprehend and kill him on multiple occasions, as documented in Luke 4:28-30, John 7:30,44, 8:59 and 10:31,39. The only time he submitted his life to the hands of his enemies was when he was arrested in Gethsemane because it was God’s will that he suffer and die for the redemption of humanity. We have to get away from this ludicrous religious idea that the Messiah was some kind of timid doormat when he was anything but (Mark 11:15-18).
4. Christ suffered premature death by obediently dying at 33 years of age. The Bible promises 70-80 years minimum (Psalm 90:10 & 2 Corinthians 1:20). The only God-approved exception to this promise is if a believer is called to martyrdom for the advancement of the kingdom of God, like Stephen (Acts 7:54-8:4). In such cases, the Spirit will reveal this to the believer and give him/her the grace to handle it, as was the case with Stephen. It should be stressed that even with this exception the believer has the victory, as shown in Philippians 1:21-23.
5. Christ “became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Christ wasn’t poor during his lifetime on Earth; he was a carpenter who attracted business due to his honesty, diligence and superb craftsmanship (Proverbs 22:29). Nor was he poor during his 3½ years of ministry because his team had a treasury, which Judas regularly stole from without the disciples even detecting it (John 12:6). The Messiah only “became poor” during his last 12 hours when he was arrested, tortured, stripped of his very clothing and literally nailed to a huge stake, i.e. “cross,” not to mention literally forsaken by the Father. This was the depth of poverty—physically, mentally and spiritually.

As you can see, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). He released us from the power of the five general curses by willfully suffering these curses in one form or another in our place. He was our substitutionary curse.

The “Hour When Darkness Reigns”

Those last horrible hours of Christ’s life on Earth were when Satan & his devils were released to assault Him. Notice what they hit him with—all five of the general curses of the Law. Is it any wonder that Jesus referred to this time period as the “hour when darkness reigns” (Luke 22:53)?

What did he mean by that? Simply that it was the window of opportunity for the devil & his evil spirits to freely assault him, as permitted by the Sovereign LORD. And how did they attack him? Through the five general curses of the Law.

When Satan Attacks He Uses One of the Five General Curses

Let’s now observe further scriptural evidence that the kingdom of darkness uses one or more of the five general curses of the Law when they attack a person. We just witnessed the example of Christ, so let’s consider the examples of two righteous men from the Old and the New Testaments respectively, Job and Paul.

God was compelled to allow Satan to attack Job in order to test him and observe if he would forsake the LORD once the devil stripped him of his many blessings. Observe how Job suffered the five general curses of the Law when the devil was released to assault him:

• Physical ailments: Job was stricken with painful boils from head to toe (Job 2:7).
• Mental illness: Job was thrust into dire mental anguish after the satanic assaults to the point of craving death and hurling audacious accusations at the Almighty (Job 3, 10:1-3 & 30:31).
• Human attack and defeat: The neighboring Sabeans and Chaldeans, who up to that point lived peacefully by Job, unjustly attacked and killed almost all his employees and stole his wealth (Job 1:14-15 & 17). Keep in mind that this curse does not refer to simply human attack, but rather human attack and defeat, which is why I also describe it as ‘defeat to human enemies.’
• Premature death: Job’s ten children and nearly all his employees were killed (Job 1:14-19). Job’s life was not at stake because the LORD wouldn’t permit it (although in the second round God allowed his body to be attacked). So Satan struck down the next “best” thing—Job’s offspring.
• Financial attack: Job’s great wealth consisted of numerous employees and thousands of sheep, camels, oxen and donkeys; all but four of his workers were killed and all his animals were stolen or destroyed (Job 1:14-17).

Job passed his great test because he turned to God rather than away from Him. He severely vented to God and accused Him of crimes against humanity based on his limited understanding of reality, but he never cursed his Creator or forsook Him.

Venting, by the way, is a healthy practice in which the Bible describes as “casting your cares on the Lord” (Psalm 55:22). We’re instructed to do this because the LORD cares about us and doesn’t want immaterial burdens to weigh us down or limit us, which will inevitably happen if we don’t vent in some manner. To “cast all your anxiety on him” (1 Peter 5:7) means to literally go to the LORD in prayer and hurl your burdens on him. This is what Job did. The burdens you are to hurl on God include unjust offenses and the sense of violation & anger they produce, which can tempt you to become bitter. Why cast your cares on 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 our spiritual-mental health as the large intestine is to our physical health—the waste must be removed. No wonder venting is strongly encouraged in the Bible (Psalm 62:8) and we observe example after example of it (Psalm 142:1-3 & Jeremiah 20:7-18).

So Job passed his test and the LORD restored him and blessed him doubly (Job 42:10). Keep in mind that Job was presumably under the covenant of the Patriarchal Age,* which refers to the covenants the LORD made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Acts 3:25 & Exodus 6:4-5). The terms of this covenant were obedience to God’s revealed Law at the time, which included circumcision (Genesis 17:1-14,23) and, of course, keeping with repentance, which Job devoutly followed. This explains why God boasted of him as “blameless” (Job 1:8 and 2:3), which is not the same as sinless. The only sinless human being who ever lived was Jesus Christ.

 * See Job 1:5, for instance.

Now let’s consider Paul, who was under the New Covenant wherein the terms are faith working in love (Galatians 5:6):

• Physical maladies: Paul was stricken with some type of physical ailment according to Galatians 4:13, which provided the opportunity for him to preach the gospel to the Galatians. The word for “illness” in this text could also be translated as “weakness” as it does in Matthew 26:41, which reads: “The spirit is willing but the body is weak.” If it does refer to physical weakness, some theorize that it could apply to Paul after he was stoned and left for dead in the Galatian city of Lystra (Acts 14:8-20). They speculate that Paul would surely need time for his body to fully heal from the abuse, which may be why he referred to the situation as a trial for the Galatian believers (Galatians 4:14). But this seems unlikely since Paul received an immediate healing and walked right back into the city (!), not to mention he left to preach in another city the very next day (!!). Other possibilities include malaria, which was common in the area, or an eye disease in light of Paul’s statement, “If you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me” (verse 15), although this could simply be a figure of speech. Regardless of what Paul’s physical problem was, he resisted the attack in faith & perseverance, received healing and lived over another decade to fulfill God’s apostolic assignment from Jerusalem to Rome and all points between, not to mention write many other important epistles by the Spirit, like Romans and Ephesians, etc.
• Mental ailments: The apostles went through many hardships as they determined to advance the kingdom of God. Second Corinthians 11 details Paul’s numerous sufferings, including being thrown into prison multiple times, severely flogged five times (typically 39 lashes!), beaten with rods three times, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked three times, and more. Not to mention all his labor, sleepless nights and the pressure of all the churches he oversaw (verses 23-29). Facing such horrendous attacks, trials and pressures, Paul and the other ministers were understandably assaulted by negative emotions at times, like fear, doubt, frustration, anxiety and wanting to quit. This is why Paul said they were “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10); he also mentioned “fears within” and being “downcast” (2 Corinthians 7:5-6). But they never allowed such dark emotions to take root in their hearts and derail their faith and mission for God. There’s no evidence of this in Scripture. They withstood in faith & patience and overcame. Take, for example, when Paul was about to be shipwrecked due to a great storm in Acts 27:21-26; instead of caving-in to the fear and despair of the situation—e.g. “We’re all gonna die!!”—he received instruction from the LORD and boldly spoke in faith.
• Human attack and defeat: Paul was attacked by a man named Alexander the metalworker who caused him “a great deal of harm” (2 Timothy 4:14-15), but Paul overcame and wasn’t defeated or dead. He was able to warn Timothy and believed that the Lord would pay Alexander back for what he had done. Another good example is from Acts 16:22-34 where we observe Paul and Silas being unjustly attacked in Philippi after exorcizing a demon from a slave girl. They were beaten, flogged and thrown in prison. This was a serious attack indeed, but Paul and Silas withstood in faith and perseverance. At midnight they were praying and singing hymns in their gloomy, smelly jail cell (!). They refused to be defeated. They refused to give-in to doubt, frustration and despair. They knew that victory was theirs no matter how bad the situation appeared. The next thing you know there was an earthquake and the cell doors flew open! God clearly responds to such stubborn, fervent faith. Not only did they escape, the jailer and his family were saved and baptized! Paul and Silas even stayed at their house that night and dined.
• Premature death: Paul healed a crippled man in Lystra, which was a powerful testimony to the people there, but some Jews came and stirred the crowd against him. As noted above, they stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, supposing him to be dead. But Paul received an incredible healing after the disciples gathered around him and he went right back into the city! The next day he was well enough to leave for another town to preach, which indicates a total healing (Acts 14:8-20). Another example would be when Paul sailed to Rome as a captive in Acts 27. A great storm came and seriously threatened all their lives. Keep in mind that, according to Job 1:16,19, Satan has the ability to utilize nature for his own diabolic purposes. The devil didn’t want Paul to fulfill his divine commission of carrying the gospel to gentile kings; hence, he tried to kill him on the open sea via the storm, but it didn’t work because Paul received divine instruction and stood in faith (verses 21-26). Yet the devil didn’t stop there. No sooner was Paul shipwrecked on the island of Malta then a deadly viper bit him (Acts 28:1-10). The islanders expected the apostle to drop dead at any moment but he withstood in faith—meaning he utilized his “sword of the spirit,” which is the word of God spoken in bold faith—and ended up having a powerful healing revival!
• Financial lack: Paul pointed out in Philippians 4:12-13 that he knew what it was like to be in need and also to have plenty; he knew what it was like to be hungry and to be well fed. He also testified to his brushes with financial attack in 2 Corinthians 6:10. So we know Paul went through experiences where physical resources were seriously limited. Yet, in the Philippians passage he shared his secret of being content in any situation, whether living in plenty or in want: He said he could do all things through the Lord Jesus Christ who strengthened him. In other words, he stood in faith. He didn’t give-in to worry or despair in times of need and cry, “God has forsaken us—we’re not gonna make it!” Likewise, in the Corinthians passage he admitted to having nothing, but countered it with an expression of faith, “yet possessing everything.” Consequently, he always made it through times of lack with a peaceful contentment. He fully understood that blessings come via faith & patience in our covenant, and faith works in love. Jehovah Jireh always eventually provided and Paul fulfilled his many missionary assignments. Late in his life, when Paul was in custody in Caesarea, Governor Felix frequently went to him hoping Paul would offer him a bribe (Acts 24:26). This indicates that even under house arrest Paul was financially blessed since wealthy politicians don’t try to milk people who are impoverished and have no money.

A good example from the life of Christ would be when, out of nowhere, tax collectors required Peter and Jesus to pay the annual Temple tax, which amounted to about $500 each (Matthew 17:24-27). Jesus wasn’t taken off guard and, interestingly, didn’t even ask Judas to take the money from their ministry earnings. He had faith that God provides the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18) and knew precisely where to get the amount they needed by the Spirit. Hence, the LORD provided.

Christ, Job and Paul are our examples. When any of the five general curses of the Law show up in your life it means you are under satanic attack.

When this happens, the first thing you need to do is determine if the assault is a Self-Inflicted Trial (SIT), a Discipline-Intended Trial (DIT) or a Maturity-Intended Trial (MIT). Here’s an explanation of each:

• SITs are obvious; the result of one’s own folly, like being injured due to reckless driving and the resulting wreck or suffering physically due to a junk food diet. In both cases the person’s travails are not due to some satanic plot, but simply his/her foolish choices. The answer to SITs is learning wisdom.
• A DIT means the curse is hitting you due to disobedience, whether a sin of commission or a sin of omission. If this is the case, immediately ’fess up and God will dismiss the charge (1 John 1:8-9); then take up your weapons and fight the good fight of faith until the curse departs.
• An MIT means that the curse is striking you for righteousness’ sake and the LORD is allowing the enemy to assault you in order to test your character and, once your character is proven, turn the negative situation around to your good (Romans 8:28). That’s the genius of MITs: God takes something in which the enemy intends to destroy you with—or, at least, hinder you—and ultimately turns it around to your good, making you “strong, firm and steadfast” “after you have suffered for a little while” (1 Peter 5:8-10). Of course, this is providing you fulfill your role by fighting the good fight of faith and enduring. (Remember: the LORD is your “helper,” not your do-everything-for-you-so-you-don’t-have-to-do-anything-at-all-er). This is precisely what happened with Joseph (Genesis 50:20).

The reason this data is essential is so that you know with certainty when you’re under satanic attack. After all, what good is the armor & arms of God if you can’t even recognize when you’re being assaulted?

This material is also essential so you don’t mistake a satanic attack for “God’s will.” For instance, a genuine Christian woman was diagnosed with life-threatening cancer and concluded that, whether she lived or died from the cancer, it was God’s will. No, it’s Satan’s will to take out fruit-bearing believers prematurely.

The obvious problem with this woman’s type of fatalistic reasoning is that, if you think something’s God’s will, you won’t fight it. You’ll accept it and suffer the consequences. But if you recognize something as a satanic attack you’ll fight it tenaciously.

Needless to say, don’t accept any curse of the Law on the mistaken grounds that it’s “God’s will”! If a curse shows up in your life due to your own folly or rebellion, you’re evidently undergoing an SIT or DIT; simply repent and proceed to fight the good fight of faith. The curse will flee from you as you persevere in faith.

If, however, you’re walking blamelessly before the LORD, keeping with repentance, you’re obviously undergoing an MIT. Don’t embrace the curse as “God’s will.” Tenaciously fight the good fight of faith and don’t give up. The curse will eventually depart and the LORD will turn around the negative situation for your good.

Handing an Unrepentant Believer Over to Satan

Speaking of Discipline-Intended Trials (DITs), this type of trial explains something curious Paul said to the Corinthian believers. It concerned an unrepentant man in their assembly who was having sexual relations with his father’s wife. Paul instructed the church to “hand this man over to Satan” (1 Corinthians 5:5). What did he mean by this? Simply that the man must be excommunicated from the fellowship since he was unwilling to repent of his sin. The hope was that he’d be spurred to repentance whereupon he’d be forgiven and warmly welcomed back. Thankfully, this is precisely what panned out, as revealed in Paul’s subsequent letter (2 Corinthians 2:6-11).

To explain, a dis-fellowshipped believer is removed from the protective covering of the church assembly and placed outside where the “god of this world” is at liberty to have his way with him/her, so to speak. The enemy will thus assault the individual with one or more of the curses of the Law because this is how Satan & evil spirits attack people. They don’t manifest as spooky boogeymen, they attack through one or more of the curses of the Law.

Let me emphasize: the purpose for “handing a person over to Satan” is to win him/her back. Paul’s goal was in line with God’s love, in this case tough love. The hope was that banishment from the church community and suffering one or more of the curses of the Law would humble the man, provoke desperation, and ultimately shock him back to his spiritual senses, at which point he would be warmly welcomed back into the fellowship just like the prodigal son humbly returned to his father (Luke 15:11-32). So handing a person over to Satan is one-and-the-same as handing him/her over to a Discipline-Intended Trial.

God Motivates People Through the Attraction of Blessings

The blessings of the Law are naturally the opposite of the curses of the Law; they are:

• Physical health.
• Mental health (e.g. peace of mind, faith, hope, love, etc.).
• Victory over human enemies and their unjust attacks.
• Long life.
• Financial provision.

Every sane person on Earth wants these five general blessings operating in his or her life. They’re intrinsic to our spiritual/mental DNA. After all, no one wants sickness & disease, mental illness, defeat to enemies, premature death or poverty—no one! If someone says otherwise they’re either a liar, a fool or cracked.

Is it any wonder, therefore, that the LORD used these blessings to motivate Israel to obey His Laws? Read Deuteronomy 28. It’s a long chapter, but it establishes “the terms of the covenant” that God had with the Israelites (Deuteronomy 29:1,9). In modern lingo ‘covenant’ means agreement or contract. Every contract has terms. If you hire a company to provide a new roof for your abode the terms are x amount of money for a new leak-proof roof. The LORD’s terms for the covenant (contract, agreement) that He had with the Israelites were: Blessings for obedience to the Law and curses for disobedience. In short, God used humanity’s natural attraction to the five general blessings and our aversion to the five general curses to inspire compliance and discourage transgression.

Yet the entire Old Testament is testimony to the fact that the Israelites couldn’t comply with these terms. Why? Because something was seriously wrong with their “spiritual DNA.” The condition of spiritual death—which is the state of being dead to God—and their sinful natures rendered them incapable of fulfilling the simple terms of their covenant.

For Israel—and people in general—to fulfill such terms they would have to have a spiritual regeneration whereby they acquire a new spiritual nature that’s united with God and, even more, indwelt, empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit. The attainment of eternal life is an awesome “fringe benefit.” This is what the New Covenant is all about and explains why…

The New Covenant Is Superior to the Old Covenant

The New Covenant that believers have with God is superior to the Old Testament that the Israelites had. Notice what the Bible blatantly says on this point:

But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

⁷ For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.

Hebrews 8:6-7

For the New Covenant to be superior to the Old Covenant it would have to contain all the benefits of the Old Covenant plus more. For instance, if I buy a new car that’s superior to my old one it would have to have everything the old one had plus be new and likely have additional benefits, otherwise it wouldn’t be superior. If the Old Testament promised the five blessings of the Law under the condition of obedience how could the New Testament be superior if it doesn’t, at least, provide these blessings?

The New Covenant does provide them because the New Testament expressly assures us that “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:20). “In Christ” is a covenant phrase, meaning in covenant (in contract) with God through spiritual regeneration via the gospel of Christ. No matter how many promises God made in the Old Testament they are ‘Yes’ to those in covenant with God through Yeshua. In other words, a believer can claim any of the general blessings provided in the Old Covenant by faith.

For further proof, notice how the New Testament promises the five general blessings to believers:

1. Physical health/healing: 1 Peter 2:24 and 3 John 1:2
2. Mental wellness: John 14:27, Philippians 4:6-9 and 3 John 1:2
3. Victory over unjust human attack: 2 Timothy 4:17-18 & Luke 18:1-8
4. Long life (with the exception of cases where God calls the believer to martyrdom for the advancement of His Kingdom): 1 Peter 3:9-12 *
5. Financial blessing: Mark 10:30, 2 Corinthians 8:9 & 9:11 and Philippians 4:19

* The Old Testament was more concerned with long life on this Earth (Deuteronomy 5:33, Psalm 91:16 & Proverbs 10:27) whereas the New Testament is more concerned with acquiring eternal life period (John 3:36, 11:26 & 1 John 5:11-12). Nevertheless, with the exception of Holy Spirit-directed martyrdom for the advancement of God’s Kingdom, the New Testament promises long life with conditions.

While these blessings are promised to New Testament believers, the terms of our Covenant are different than the Old Covenant. The terms are not obedience to the Old Testament Law because 1. the dietary and ceremonial laws were fulfilled in Christ and are not applicable to New Testament believers (Colossians 2:16-17); and 2. the moral laws—also fulfilled by Christ—are fulfilled in our lives by simply living according to our new nature, “created to be like God in true righteousness,” with the help of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:22-24). The terms of the New Covenant are faith working in love (Galatians 5:6), which the Amplified Bible reads as faith being activated by love. As such, anyone who fulfills the first and second greatest commands of the Law automatically fulfills all of the moral law (Matthew 22:36-40 & Romans 13:8-10). These two simple commands have three applications: LOVE GOD and LOVE PEOPLE as you LOVE YOURSELF.

Do you want these five general blessings supernaturally operating in your life on a regular basis? Of course you do. They manifest through faith working in love—love for God and love for people as you love yourself.

Yet you must understand that the kingdom of darkness is going to attack you through the five general curses of the Law, just as the enemy did with Job, Jesus and Paul, which is why it’s necessary to learn how to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). If there’s a fight to faith that means there are enemies to faith. You must know your enemy and how assaults from your enemy will manifest in order to be victorious in your fight. That’s one of the purposes of this article.

So you operate in the five blessings of the Law simply by walking in faith, which includes “fighting the good fight of faith.” And faith is activated by love—loving God and loving people as you love yourself—which includes tough love when appropriate.

There are some things you need to keep in mind, however; let’s start with…

Spiritual Laws Work in Conjunction With Natural Laws

Spiritual laws work in union with natural laws not in exemption from them. For instance, faith being activated by love is a spiritual law that works in conjunction with common sense principles. Consider these examples:

• The Bible promises physical health/healing, but if you consume unhealthy food on a regular basis, allow yourself to become obese or develop the habit of smoking, you’ll naturally imperil your health.
• The Bible promises peace of mind, but this blessing will elude you if you choose to use your mind to dwell on negative, sinful things.
• The Bible promises deliverance from unjust attacks by enemies, but if you’re an arrogant, contentious person who never prays for your enemies I wouldn’t bank on it.
• The Bible promises long life but if you choose to be a careless daredevil or obstinate chain-smoker your life could be cut short.
• The Bible promises financial provision within the framework of your calling, season and environmental context, but if you’re lazy (2 Thessalonians 3:10), stingy (2 Corinthians 9:6) or stubbornly unrepentant (Proverbs 28:13) don’t count on it.

You see? Spiritual laws and parallel natural laws work in conjunction. It’s a matter of simple wisdom.

You probably know unbelievers who operate in some of the five general blessings of the Law simply by observing the corresponding natural laws. For instance, someone could be a staunch atheist and yet prosper financially because he or she is diligent and rises to levels of authority in his/her occupation (Proverbs 12:24). Yet, without the Lord’s guiding hand, there can be a price to such “success,” like the loss of one’s marriage or mental/physical breakdown. For those in covenant with God, however, “The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22 NKJV).

Financial Blessing Is Determined by Season, Calling & Environmental Context

Financial provision is the blessing that tends to upset some Christians, as if they want to fight for their right to be impoverished. While there have been problems with dubious ministers who essentially make Christianity out to be a get-rich-quick scheme or have used the gospel as a means to get rich (1 Timothy 6:9), we shouldn’t throw out God’s conditional promises of financial blessing with the proverbial bathwater. Disregarding the false teachings of greed-loving “ministers,” the problem some believers have with the concept of financial blessing begins with an erroneous image of what it means to be financially blessed of God in a fallen world. Moreover, their criticisms do not take into account issues like the season the believer’s in, divine purpose or environmental context. Let’s look at these:

An Erroneous Image of Financial Blessing in a Fallen World

Someone wrote to rebuke me in response to one of our teaching videos where he mistook my references to “the good life.” He evidently envisioned it to mean living like Hugh Hefner, as if true prosperity is all about owning a huge mansion and sipping cocktails while lounging at an in-ground pool with myriad half-naked women prancing around, etc. (I’m not saying, by the way, that a believer can’t own a mansion or have an in-ground pool). For one thing, this is a decidedly worldly image of “prosperity.” Secondly, the video itself defined the “good life” as being hooked up with God’s will and fulfilling the objectives He gives you, whatever they may be, which includes having the resources to carry out these objectives. An objective or purpose like this could be any number of things, including moving to a third-world country and being a missionary. God’s objectives — His courses — for each believer are exciting and good because they’re in line with your Creator’s will who knows you inside out and therefore how you’re “wired.” Living in accordance with the LORD’s purposes is “the good life,” regardless of what that purpose is. There will be hardships and persecutions, of course, but God knows what you can handle and can’t handle and will provide the grace to get through as you wisely fight the good fight of faith.

The Season You’re In

You might be in God’s perfect will and yet the season you’re in will determine your prosperity to an extent. For instance, prosperity at 18 years-of-age is different than prosperity at 50. Consider the example of Joseph, who was a type of Christ: He was unjustly sold into slavery by his jealous brothers when he was 17 and became a slave, and then a prisoner, before eventually living in the palaces of Egypt many years later as second-in-command of the nation. This journey entailed about 13 years. When he was a slave in Potiphar’s house the LORD blessed Joseph and he prospered in that context, but he was still a slave (Genesis 39:2-6). Obviously, there are limitations to how much you can prosper as a slave. Likewise Joseph prospered while an inmate in prison, but he was still a prisoner (39:21-23). You see? The season you are in determines the extent of your prosperity.

Your Divine Purpose

Your God-given calling will also determine the scope of your prosperity. This is similar to the previous one: Joseph was called to be a slave for a season, and then a prisoner, before becoming second-in-command of Egypt. He prospered as a slave and prisoner, but it certainly limited his prosperity. Why would God possibly call Joseph to be a slave and prisoner for so many years? Because Joseph was being groomed to be second-in-command of one of the most powerful nations on Earth at the time. The way up is down. People are more apt to be quality leaders if they have personally experienced humiliating circumstances, unjust suffering and corrupt non-leadership.

Your Environmental Context

A brother-in-the-Lord I know came from the more modest sections of Youngstown, Ohio, and as he became increasingly successful his fiancé wanted him to move to a better area before marrying. Yet he insisted that he was called to stay in that community to reach the people there. The LORD heavily put them on his heart. Whether he knew it or not, this corresponded to Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthian believers: Generally speaking, they should remain in the situation they were in when they were called in order to reach the people thereof, as directed by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 7:17-24). After all, who better to reach a group of people than those from that community and culture? This was a general instruction and not an ironclad law. Obviously if a person is led of the Spirit to move outside of such a context then that’s what he or she should do. The brother who felt led to stay in a modest area of Youngstown would indeed prosper there, but it would be a different expression of prosperity than if he were called to, say, Hollywood or the jungles of the Amazon. What if your environmental context is a communistic country where the ruling elite ensure that everyone stays at an equally modest level (except for them, of course)? (What hypocrisy, by the way).

Obviously, there’s some overlap between the season you’re in, your divine calling and your geographical setting.

In any case, when you grasp these things, it helps set you free of envy and facilitates contentment in your God-given assignment.

What Is “Prosperity” Anyway?

This all brings us to the definition of prosperity. What exactly is prosperity for the believer? It’s having enough resources for your needs and righteous desires in order to fulfill your God-given calling, which depends on the season you’re in, your specific assignment and the environment to which you’re called. Righteous desires are, of course, not the same as unrighteous desires, like greed, hedonism and pomposity.

People who lust after material things for the purpose of being greater than so-and-so (the proverbial Jones) and looking down on others are walking in eye-rolling carnality. Yet there’s nothing wrong with having a spirit-of-excellence and wanting what you have to reflect the glory of God. I Praise the LORD for my neighbors who maintain a great home & yard rather than let things get rundown.

Nor is merely being rich evil, as Abraham, Job, Solomon and David were (or became) quite wealthy. When Paul instructed the young pastor Timothy on rich people in the congregation he didn’t tell Timothy to rebuke them for being wealthy, he simply exhorted Timothy to tell them not to be arrogant, but to put their hope in God rather than their riches and “to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share” (1 Timothy 6:17-18). Why did Timothy have to tell them not to be arrogant? Because the attainment of material wealth tends to feed the fleshly ego and tempts people to look down on those with less. This is a form of greed, which Christ blatantly condemned (Luke 12:15); so is putting on airs to impress others. Needless to say, if you’re wealthy don’t let it go to your head. Instead, develop the spirit of a giver; giving is the antidote to greed (Romans 12:8). Yet don’t become arrogant of your giving and look down on those you presume don’t give as much and condemn them as not truly saved or what have you.

Lastly, it’s not money that’s the root of all evil, but rather the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10). It’s fine to have money; it’s just not fine for money to have you.

Objections to the Blessing of Health/Healing

It’s astonishing, but there are genuine Christians who sincerely love the LORD who will fight tooth & nail for the right to be sick & diseased and prematurely perish. Yet a third of Jesus’ earthly ministry was focused on physical health/healing:

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

                                   Matthew 4:23

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.                                                  

Matthew 9:35

Christ’s ministry was threefold: 1. He taught the Word of God, 2. He evangelized by preaching the Good News and 3. He healed people of every disease and sickness. So His ministry consisted of teaching, preaching & healing. (Memorize that: teaching, preaching & healing; teaching, preaching & healing; teaching, preaching & healing).

One of the things he taught was that health/healing is a God-given right in covenant with the LORD. This explains how people whom Yeshua healed had the faith to be healed in reaction to his teaching & preaching (whether they heard the Word directly or indirectly):

Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

Matthew 9:22

 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Mark10:52

 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Luke 17:19

These verses are from three different occasions taken from three different Gospel accounts. Christ regularly taught and preached the truth of health/healing and thus these people had the faith to receive healing, each from three different physical maladies—a bleeding problem, blindness, and a skin disease. Jesus was the conduit of God’s power, but it was their faith that made them well. Everything in our covenant is by faith & perseverance, including salvation (Hebrews 6:12). *

* Faith that gives up isn’t true faith, only faith that perseveres (Colossians 1:22-23 & 1 Corinthians 15:2).

By “conduit” I mean the channel through which God’s power flows to an individual, or an article that inspires faith, or both. This could be a person, like Jesus or Paul (Acts 20:7-12), or a thing, like Peter’s shadow (Acts 5:15-16), a handkerchief (Acts 19:11–12) or anointing oil (James 5:14-15). The LORD uses conduits like these because people obviously need them to inspire faith and it’s their faith that ushers in healing via God’s power. So it’s not the conduit that heals the individual, but the power of God, which is appropriated through the believer’s faith. But you actually don’t need a conduit to receive a healing or any miracle; you can receive directly from the LORD, as Jesus said: “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). Of course, it takes spiritual growth to receive directly from God like this, which is one of the reasons Fountain of Life focuses on cultivating spiritual maturity (Ephesians 4:11-13).

“But Paul left a man sick in Miletus,” someone might point out, based on 2 Timothy 4:20. Obviously this man didn’t have the faith to receive healing at the time, despite Paul’s teaching & preaching, which shows that the conduit itself doesn’t heal. However, if the man kept drawing near to God and feeding on the message of faith & healing he would eventually have the faith to receive healing. We don’t know if this ever happened because the Bible doesn’t say.

If you want health/healing you’re going to have to fight the good fight of faith for this God-given right in Christ. This is regardless of whether or not the problem is the result of simple wear & tear on your body, including age, or if it’s demonic in nature (Luke 13:11,16). Only a fool would fight for the right to be sick & diseased and die prematurely.

Don’t Be Like Job’s “Friends”!

None of this means, by the way, that we should negatively judge believers who are suffering some physical malady or any other curse, like Job’s “friends” did with him (1 Corinthians 4:5). Rather, we should do our part to help hurting believers receive their healing or blessing, which may include walking in tough love by correcting a sin issue that, on some occasions, opened the door to the enemy (which would be a DIT—a Discipline-Intended Trial). For instance, Jesus saved an adulterous woman from the curse of premature death, yet he also corrected her sinful behavior which opened the door to this curse in the first place (John 8:1-11). True love corrects when appropriate, but don’t presumptuously judge & condemn, like Job’s “friends.”

Many physical and mental maladies are passed down in one’s family from generation to generation. The people suffering these ailments didn’t do anything to incur it. But, if they want to walk free, they’re going to have to learn to fight the good fight of faith; and fight it tooth & nail because the enemy is going to do everything in their power to keep a person bound up so as to not be a threat to their kingdom. This is why I’m sharing the material in this article and the linking one.

The Five Main Blessings of Your Covenant

Now that you understand the five general curses of the Law and the corresponding five blessings of the law, let’s examine the five main spiritual blessings that are yours through Christ being your substitutionary curse:

1. 1. The apprehension of eternal life (John 3:16 & 2 Timothy 1:10). The Son of God suffered the wages of sin—death—so that you might have eternal life (Romans 6:23).
   2. Reconciliation with God wherein you can have a relationship with your Creator (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). ‘Reconciliation’ means to turn from enmity to friendship. Christ suffered separation from God on the cross so that you can be united with your Creator and have intimate fellowship (Matthew 27:46).
   3. Spiritual regeneration where you’re born righteous in your spirit (Ephesians 4:24). Jesus Christ never sinned when he was on Earth, but he suffered the curse of being “made sin” on the cross so that you “might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). ‘Become’ is translated from the Greek word ginomai (GHIN-oh-may), which means to “come into being, to be born.” This means that your spirit was made pure and in-right-standing with God when you came to Christ. And explains why God sees you as holy—because you are holy, spiritually speaking (Colossians 1:22).
   4. Freedom from bondage to sin. This blessing is a natural outflow of the previous one: Since Christ suffered being made sin on your behalf so that you can be born righteous & holy in Christ, you can walk free of bondage to the flesh simply by learning to live out of your new nature. The Bible calls this walking in the spirit (Galatians 5:16-17) or “participating in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). Humbly “keeping with repentance” is a strategic key to maintaining this blessing (Matthew/Luke 3:8 & 1 John 1:8-9).
   5. A meaningful life with God-given purpose. When Christ was forsaken by the Father on the cross he suffered the utter meaninglessness of life for the first time in his life so that you can have a meaningful life of Divine-purpose (Matthew 27:46).

The Blessing of a Meaningful Life With God-Given Purpose

Allow me to elaborate on that last blessing: The LORD provided for us an entire book in the Holy Scriptures to illustrate the curse of the meaninglessness of life. I’m talking about the book of Ecclesiastes, which isn’t a long book so I encourage you to check it out if you’re not familiar with it. Ecclesiastes happened to be the favorite book of an unbeliever I met who regularly read the Bible. Actually, this wasn’t surprising because Ecclesiastes is the one book in Scripture that focuses on the human perspective “under the sun,” a phrase repeatedly used in its twelve chapters.

This “under the sun” perspective refers to the mundane viewpoint, which is limited to the outlook perceived through the five physical senses. It’s a viewpoint of life without the benefit of the divine, eternal perspective, which explains why Solomon—the writer—constantly laments the meaningless of life in Ecclesiastes. I’ve experienced this curse even after becoming a believer, yet only when I allowed myself to become distant from God for one reason or another, whether falling into sin or spiritual apathy. The good news is that Christ suffered this curse of mundane futility so that you can have the blessing of a purposeful life with God-given drive! *

* For a biblical 3-point plan on how to discern God’s will for your life and fulfill His purposes see my teaching How to Obtain Your Desires and the corresponding video. Or check out Chapter 6 of my book The Four Stages of Spiritual Growth.

This blessing, along with knowing the LORD—that is, having an actual relationship with your Creator—will become the driving force in your life as you mature in Christ. Why is this important? Because these two blessings will enable you to endure the discomfort of the enemy’s increasing attacks as you mature and increasingly engage in spiritual warfare (as they say: “Higher levels, bigger devils”). For instance, how was Paul possibly able to face the incredible satanic attacks on his life and endure? (See 2 Corinthians 11:23-29). Because his main goal in life was not mundane peace, prosperity, pleasure and the avoidance of pain, but rather pleasing God through fulfilling the works He called him to fulfill. Doing so produces far greater peace, riches and joy because they’re spiritual in nature.

I should add that the LORD and His will should be our first priority, but not our only priority (Matthew 6:33).

Reflect on these things and the Spirit will give you insight.

The Enemy WILL Attack These God-Given Blessings

Just as the kingdom of darkness will try to stop the five blessings of the Law manifesting in your life by trying to put one or more of the five curses of the Law on you, evil spirits will attack these five spiritual blessings, whether in your life or in the lives of those for whom you’re interceding:

1. The enemy will attack your eternal salvation (I’ll show you how in a moment, don’t freak out).
2. The enemy will attack your relationship with God.
3. The enemy will try to prevent you from living out of your new nature, which is righteous, and get you back into the flesh.
4. The enemy will try to get you stuck in life-dominating sin bondage.
5. The enemy will try to prevent you from fulfilling your God-given purpose(s).

Let me elaborate on each of these:

The enemy will attack your eternal salvation

The Bible certainly teaches that your salvation is secure (John 10:28-29), yet it’s obviously contingent on continuing in faith (Colossians 1:22-23 & 1 Corinthians 15:2). Numerous passages clearly show that Christians can abort their salvation if they choose to neglect their faith (e.g. Hebrews 6:4-9, 2 Peter 2:20-21, 2 Timothy 2:11-13 and Titus 1:16). This is just common sense; after all, if it takes faith to be saved it naturally follows that people cannot be saved if they come to a point where they no longer believe. So the Bible supports the doctrine of eternal security, but not the doctrine of unconditional eternal security.

Since it takes faith to be saved (Ephesians 2:8) and salvation is secure as one continues in faith, the only way the enemy can successfully attack a believer’s salvation is by deceiving him/her with doctrines of demons in an effort to get them to come to the point where they no longer believe. This is done through corrupt noémas—erroneous indoctrination (explained in full in Chapter 17 & 18 of my book ANGELS) (you can read a web-version here). Let me give you a recent example: A man I know, who was an evangelizing Christian for 25 years, foolishly read a book which championed atheism and he eventually publicly confessed that he no longer believed (!) and even encouraged people to read the book (!!). How did the enemy rob this man of his eternal salvation? Through false teachings that corrupted his mindset and therefore ripped off his faith.

Of course, this man’s relationship with God must have been pretty feeble and his theology shallow for a mere atheistic book to derail his faith, but this just goes to show the importance of two pieces of the Armor of God—the gospel of peace shoes and the belt of truth, as covered in this article. Without these vital pieces of armor the devil can rob you wholesale!

The enemy will attack your relationship with God

Did you notice that when the devil attacked Job his stated goal was to get him to curse the Almighty to His face? Make no mistake, the enemy’s primary objective is to break the believer’s relationship with God, with the first order of business being to break the fellowship. In short, evil spirits are obsessed with destroying your communion with the LORD.

The enemy will try to prevent you from living out of your new nature, which is righteous, and get you back into the flesh

Since any believer who learns to walk according to their new righteous nature will produce the fruit of the spirit—the very character traits of God—he or she naturally becomes a threat to the kingdom of darkness. As such, evil spirits will seek to keep believers from living according to their new nature, i.e. walking in the spirit.

The enemy will try to get you into the bondage of life-dominating sin

Since sin breaks fellowship with God and hinders believers from participating in the divine nature, the kingdom of darkness will do everything in their power to get believers in bondage to a particular sin wherein it becomes life-dominating. Some obvious examples include alcoholism, pharmakeia (drug-oriented sins), porn bondage, greed, fornication, homosexuality and pathological lying (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). When a person is captive to a particular sin—living it as a lifestyle—he or she is no threat to the devil’s kingdom; in fact, s/he inadvertently supports it.

The enemy will try to prevent you from fulfilling your God-given purpose(s)

Since any fulfillment of a God-given assignment is a direct threat to the kingdom of darkness, evil spirits will do everything they can to prevent believers from fulfilling their divine calling in whatever season they’re in, however big or small.

Master the Ten Curses and Contrasting Blessings

Altogether there are ten curses and ten contrasting blessings—five curses of the Law and five spiritual curses; five blessings of the Law and five spiritual blessings.

• The five curses of the Law and the five blessings of the Law have to do with mundane things corresponding to your life on Earth.
• The five spiritual curses and the five spiritual blessings have to do with God, eternity and the things of the spirit (which, of course, affect your life on Earth).

This article was devoted to detailing these ten curses and ten blessings so that you’ll readily recognize when you’re under demonic attack and hence fight the good fight of faith accordingly. After all, how can you conduct spiritual warfare if you’re not even aware you’re being attacked? This goes for people you’re interceding for as well.

You Must Fight the Good Fight of Faith for Your Rights!

The five blessings of the Law and the five spiritual blessings are yours in Christ. In other words, these ten blessings are yours by right in covenant (contract) with God through Christ. Remember, you are a co-heir in Christ through spiritual regeneration wherein you’re born of the Messiah’s seed, that is, the Anointed One’s spiritual sperm (Romans 8:17 & 1 John 3:9).

Here, again, are the ten blessings:

The Five Blessings of the Law

1. Physical health/healing.
2. Mental health.
3. Victory over unjust human attack.
4. Long life till you’re satisfied (minimum 70-80 years).
5. Financial provision/blessing (not a get-rich-quick scheme).

The Five Spiritual Blessings

1. Eternal life.
2. Reconciliation and relationship with the LORD.
3. Spiritual regeneration wherein you’re spiritually born righteous and can live by this new nature.
4. Freedom from bondage to sin via walking in the spirit.
5. Meaningful life with God-given purpose.

These ten blessings are your rights (‘10’ is incidentally the number of completion in the Bible). But they are attained and maintained through faith & perseverance. This includes your eternal salvation, as explained above. Like I said earlier, faith that gives-up is not true faith. That’s why faith and perseverance/patience/endurance are often spoken of in the same breath in the New Testament (e.g. Hebrews 6:12).

These ten blessings are your earthly “Promised Land.” To explain, the Israelites were promised the land of Canaan and victory over the inhabitants thereof, which were their enemies; yet they still had to get their swords out and take the land. Similarly, these ten blessings are promised to you, the believer, but you must put your armor on, get your weapons out and fight the fight of faith in order to walk in them. Unlike with the Israelites, however, your enemies aren’t flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). Your enemies are spiritual in nature and their attacks manifest through one (or more) of the ten curses above, which explains why it requires spiritual armor and spiritual weapons to overcome them.

I’ve heard Christians speak of the Promised Land as if it were a type of eternal life in the new Heavens and new Earth (typically referred to as “Heaven”). This is true as far as our eternal Promised Land is concerned. Even the Old Testament saints looked forward to the eternal Promised Land (Hebrews 11:10,16). Yet, just as they had an earthly Promised Land, so New Covenant believers have an earthly Promised Land, although it’s not a piece of real estate. It’s walking in the ten promised blessings above. This includes fulfilling whatever mission or dream the Lord gives you. In other words, the Hebrews’ Promised Land is a type of your inheritance during your temporal life on this Earth.

The Hebrew’s earthly Promised Land was Canaan where there were enemy nations that they had to conquer in order to obtain their Promised Land. Just as they had to put their armor on and take up their weapons in order to inhabit their Promised Land, we believers have to put on our armor and take up our weapons to inhabit ours.

Needless to say, get your armor on & your weapons out and fight the good fight of faith—conquer your Promised Land!

‘What About Hebrews 11:39?’

Before closing this article we need to clear up an objection based on this passage:

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,                                                     

Hebrews 11:39

To properly interpret this passage both the hermeneutical laws Context is King and Scripture interprets Scripture must be applied. First, who is the subject of the text? Second, what specific promise(s) didn’t they receive while on Earth? As far as the first goes, the writer is contextually referring to various Old Testament saints who, albeit flawed individuals, were commended for their faith as they endured great challenges and persecutions.

As far as the promise(s) they didn’t receive on Earth goes, the context shows that it’s referring to their eternal Promised Land:

By faith he [Abraham] made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.                       

Hebrews 11:9-10

 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. ¹⁴ People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 11:13-16

So the promise they didn’t receive while on Earth is the new Jerusalem and, by extension, the new Heavens (Universe) and new Earth (2 Peter 3:13). The new Jerusalem is currently in Heaven but will “come down out of heaven from God” to rest on the new Earth in the eternal age to come (Revelation 3:12 & 21:2,10).

New Covenant believers are also looking forward to this promise and, like the Hebrews, will not receive it as long as we’re on this Earth:

For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

Hebrews 13:14

Someone might understandably point out that verse 13 (of Hebrews 11, above) infers more than one promise, as it says: “They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” Answer: While the “promise” the Old Testament saints didn’t receive on Earth mainly concerns the new Jerusalem and, by extension, the new Heavens and new Earth, it also naturally includes the foundational promises on which these future blessings are based: 1. the promised prophet, Jesus Christ (Deuteronomy 18:15), and 2. the New Covenant established through his death and resurrection (Jeremiah 31:31,33). Every Old Testament saint listed in the Hall of Faith Chapter of Hebrews 11 died before these promises came to pass.

Of course New Covenant believers have received these two promises, otherwise we wouldn’t be New Covenant believers; and this ties into something noted in verse 40:

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, ⁴⁰ since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.                                                    

Hebrews 11:39-40

This distinguishes the Old Testament saint from the New Testament saint. The spirits of New Covenant believers were “made perfect” through spiritual regeneration when they accepted the gospel of Christ (Hebrews 10:14, 12:23 & Ephesians 4:24). Yet deceased Old Testament saints won’t receive this promise until their resurrection. At that time “together with us” they will “be made perfect.”

Lastly, twice previously in the book of Hebrews believers are encouraged to walk in faith & patience to inherit their promised blessings (Hebrews 6:12 & 10:36) so Hebrews 11:39 cannot be interpreted to discourage this. Not to mention, we have the entire rest of the New Testament. Scripture interprets Scripture.

Related Topics:

Armor & Weaponry of God

Once Saved Always Saved?

Spiritual Development — The Four Stages

Spiritual Growth is Like Climbing a Mountain

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

This article was edited from Chapter 20 of ANGELS, available here for a special low-price (345 pages). Or pick up the Kindle eBook for only $2.99!

ARMOR & WEAPONRY of God

Anyone who regularly takes advantage of the armor & arms of God will automatically 1. draw closer to God, 2. activate angels on your behalf and 3. deter evils spirits. Those who don’t won’t. Thus it’s imperative to have a basic understanding of God’s armor & weaponry.

We’ll first look at what each piece of the armor & arms is and then observe how to use each of these spiritual tools throughout your day. I encourage you to utilize either of the two 7-item breakdowns as a checklist until you can “put on” the armor & weaponry without even referencing a list. I do this daily as soon as I wake.

Speaking of which, the armor & arms of God are not things you “put on” and that’s it. They’re obviously not literal pieces of armor & weaponry, but rather figurative of spiritual things YOU DO, and continue to DO, throughout any given day. Because of this, it’s possible for a believer to be using the armor & arms of God without even knowing you’re doing so. If this doesn’t make sense, it will once you understand what each piece is.

You’ve no doubt heard sermons or read books/articles on this topic and that’s great. But I encourage you not to limit your view of the armor & arms of God to the way you first heard it. I’m not saying that what you were taught was wrong, but simply encouraging you to be open to new insights. The armor & weaponry of God are instrumental to successful spiritual warfare and a proper understanding of them is vital to a victorious walk with the Lord.

Let’s start by reading the relevant text:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Ephesians 6:10-18

The first paragraph is simply an introduction to God’s armor & weaponry wherein several important points are stressed:

• God wants you to be strong in Him and walk in his mighty power. The way you do this is by putting on the armor of God and using the weapons he provides. Speaking of which…
• Use the FULL armor. Twice we’re encouraged to put on the full armor, not part of it, which shows that every piece is necessary to effectively withstand the enemy’s attacks.
• The identity and nature of the enemy. Your enemy is not flesh & blood—that is, people—but rather “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” This refers to the evil spirits commissioned to assault you & yours.
• Your need for God’s armor & weaponry. Since evil spirits are spiritual in nature, and therefore invisible, it requires intangible protection & arms to overcome them.
• The “day of evil.” This refers to when you are attacked by the kingdom of darkness. You are not attacked every second of every day (although, of course, you have to constantly contend with the evil desires of the flesh, but that’s a different issue). There are specific times when the enemy will assault you. This is the “day of evil.” The Bible is warning every believer that the enemy will attack. It’s not a question of if you will be attacked, but rather a matter of when.
• The purpose of God’s armor & weaponry: Your victory. The LORD wants you to be victorious when the enemy attacks; He wants you to withstand the assault. This is the very reason he provides these defenses & arms. You must get it through your head that God is on your side: He’s for you and not against you (Romans 8:31).

When Paul wrote the epistle to the Ephesians he was under house arrest in Rome and so there were Roman soldiers constantly in his vicinity. As such, he was able to get a good look at their armor & weaponry and drew parallels, by the Spirit, to the intangible armor & arms God provides for every believer, which includes YOU.

Here are the seven pieces of the armor & arms of God and an explanation of each:

1. The Belt of Truth (verse 14)

This is the first piece of armor because truth is essential for victory in a world governed by the father of lies (John 8:44). Truth is alétheia (ah-LAY-thee-ah) in the Greek meaning “reality” or “the way it really is.” The belt of truth is simply devotion to seeking and finding the truth and living according to it, utilizing the sources of truth that God has provided. The other pieces of the armor & weaponry of God are dependent on this piece of armor, which explains why it’s the first one.

There are two main sources of truth: 1. The Living Word, who is truth (John 14:6), and 2. The written Word, which is truth, assuming it’s interpreted soundly, balancing out truth with truth (John 17:17). Both sources are essential: The first refers to seeking the Living Word so that you are led by the Spirit of truth (John 16:13) while the second refers to feeding from the written Word and acquiring truth through “rightly dividing” it (2 Timothy 2:15). The way you do the second is twofold—receiving from sound ministers of God (Ephesians 4:11-13) and receiving through personal study (1 John 2:27).

Be careful to pursue the truth above loyalty to a particular sect. Otherwise you’ll fall into the pitfall of sectarianism, which is a work of the flesh. Go here for details on sectarianism.

2. The Breastplate of Righteousness (verse 14)

This piece of armor refers to accepting the gift of righteousness the LORD has provided you in Christ (Romans 5:17) and living out of your new nature—your spirit—because it was born righteous when you accepted the gospel and underwent spiritual regeneration (Titus 3:5). This is your “new self, which was created to be like God in true righteousness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). As you learn to walk according to this new nature with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit you’ll naturally walk in practical righteousness. So putting on your breastplate of righteousness is one-and-the-same as walking in the spirit (Galatians 5:16).

Of course, as a human being with a flesh, you’ll inevitably sin; this includes the more common sins like envy, jealousy, rivalry, hatred, gossip, lying, greed or lust. Those who have their “breastplate” on will humbly ’fess up and receive God’s forgiveness, which “purifies you from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). Doing this is “keeping with repentance” (Matthew & Luke 3:8). The repentance/forgiveness dynamic is essential to spiritual growth because it ensures God’s grace continually flowing in your life and your ongoing progress. It keeps your spiritual arteries clear of the clog-up of unconfessed sin. *

* Incredibly, there’s this widespread false teaching amongst Evangelicals today which suggests that believers never have to repent of anything, ever. Jesus must have been walking in gross error when he instructed the Ephesian Christians to repent in Revelation 2:5 (sarcasm).

A Roman soldier’s breastplate guarded his heart and other vital organs. Just so, the breastplate of righteousness guards your figurative heart—your mind—and prevents it from being corrupted by things that would eventually destroy you (Proverbs 4:23).

3. The Gospel of Peace Shoes (verse 15)

The “gospel of peace” refers to the message of Christ, which is the “message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). ‘Reconciliation’ means “to turn from enmity to friendship.” It’s through the gospel that you have peace with your Creator and are born His beloved son & daughter (Romans 5:1 & 1 John 3:2,9). It’s through this gospel that you become Christ’s friend (John 15:14-15).

The Roman soldier’s footwear was designed for firm-footing, which was a life-or-death matter in combat. When you face spiritual attack, your peace with God is likewise a matter of life and death—success or victory. The text says that the gospel of peace shoes grant the believer “readiness.” This is the Greek word hetoimasia (het-oy-mas-EE-ah), which means “foundation” or “firm-footing” without which you won’t be ready or prepared for battle.

Putting this all together, your relationship with the Lord is foundational to withstanding spiritual attack. Having your gospel of peace shoes on means developing a close relationship with God and maintaining it. Someone might say that this sounds similar to the belt of truth, but the belt refers specifically to acquiring truth from both The Living Word and the written Word. The gospel of peace shoes, by contrast, are focused on your relationship with God period. In other words, the belt of truth concerns procuring the truth from the Living Word and the written Word whereas the gospel of peace shoes concern your rapport with the Person of God. The belt has to do with learning the principles of God’s kingdom whereas the shoes have to do with knowing the Person of God.

Make no mistake, without this vital relationship the enemy will chew you up and spit you out, one way or another. One of the Enemy’s favorite strategies is to mislead believers into the pit of sterile religiosity where they know about God, but don’t know Him. People like this have “a form of godliness but deny its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). They’re akin to the lifeless Pharisees.

If the gospel of peace shoes—that is, your relationship with God—is foundational to your spiritual walk, why isn’t it the first piece of armor to put on? Why do truth (the belt of truth) and walking in the spirit (the breastplate of righteousness) take precedence? Because the gospel of peace shoes relate to communion with God and therefore worship. And Jesus said “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Think about it: Without the belt of truth we can’t worship God properly and our communion would be prone to error. Similarly, without the breastplate of righteousness we would fall into worshipping God out of our flesh rather than out of our spirit. So both the belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness come first.

4. The Shield of Faith (verse 16)

The Roman soldier’s shield was huge and would easily cover his whole body when he knelt behind it, protecting him from arrows, spears and the like. Just the same, the shield of faith protects the believer by “extinguishing all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” But you have to put this faith shield up or you’ll get hit. Think about it in terms of the space crafts on Star Trek: If the Enterprise doesn’t have its invisible shields up, the opponent could destroy them with phaser fire, photon torpedoes, etc. So it’s imperative that you have your faith shield up to protect yourself from enemy attacks.

How do you do this? Simple: Regularly release your faith by speaking according to the promises of God in the five general areas of satanic attack. Remember, your tongue has the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21). As you give voice to God’s Word your angels will be employed to serve you accordingly. They’ll erect a “hedge of protection” around you. What are these five areas of attack? They are 1. physical ailments, 2. mental maladies, 3. defeat to human enemies, 4. premature death and 5. financial attack. Consider the first one as an example: If you use the power of your tongue to speak death by confessing something like “There’s a flu bug going around so I’ll probably get sick” you just threw your shield out the window and opened yourself up to attack. This foolishly prevents your angels from doing their job of protecting you. Instead, erect your shield and activate your guardian angels by saying “That virus that’s going around is under my feet and has no authority on my body; by the torture of Christ, who redeemed me from all curses (Isaiah 53:5), I’m free of all sicknesses & diseases.” If you do this and believe,* whatever virus that’s going around will hit your invisible shield and not harm you whatsoever. Never ever talk sickness & disease. Speak health and blessing.

* If you don’t believe then you’ll need to feed on the applicable Word of God, which is how faith comes (Romans 10:17), as well as pray in the spirit (Jude 20), which is the 7^th piece of the armor. Every believer has a “measure of faith” when he or she comes to the Lord, but faith can grow (Romans 12:3) and these are two of the main ways to do it, as well as spending more time in God’s presence, of course. Paul observed in 2 Thessalonians 1:3 that the faith of the Thessalonian believers was growing. Your faith can likewise increase, but it’s dependent on YOU.

You must understand that every blessing in the New Covenant is attained and maintained by faith, including your salvation (Romans 10:9-10). What is faith? Faith is not belief in fantasies or fantastical things, like Leprechauns, but rather belief based on the knowledge of truth (reality) that you acquire; which is released through the power of your tongue.

How is this invisible “shield” erected and maintained around you as you walk in faith? By the angels assigned to you, who obey the voice of God’s Word (Psalm 103:20). This is covered in detail in my book ANGELS.

The text says that the shield of faith “can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” In other words, if you have your faith defenses up, no curse will be able to hit you. For instance, Carol & I always have our shields up concerning sickness & disease and so we’re hardly ever hit. I say “hardly ever” because there are three kinds of exceptions, which we’ll look at below when we cover the sword of the spirit.

5. The Helmet of Salvation (verse 17)

The helmet protected the Roman soldier’s head. Likewise, the helmet of salvation protects the believer’s mind from distress when undergoing satanic attack. As you apply the wisdom principles of God’s Word and “fight the good fight of faith” as led of the Holy Spirit (1 Timothy 6:12), it’s guaranteed that the LORD will deliver you (2 Peter 2:9). This assurance grants you peace of mind that transcends understanding in the midst of attack. In short, the helmet of salvation prevents your mind from going squirrelly when experiencing demonic assault.

As an example, I underwent a serious attack last Fall, but I had peace of mind about it and therefore had the grace to endure the ramifications of the assault, which lasted exactly 40 days, the biblical number of perfection in testing or judgment (go here for evidence).

The helmet of salvation is the absolute assurance that God will deliver you when you suffer attack as you walk in faith & perseverance and don’t give up.

This certainty of salvation includes the most important salvation—eternal salvation. Your eternal salvation is guaranteed as you continue in faith and endure (John 10:29 & Colossians 1:22-23).

The last two pieces of the armor of God are notable in that they’re not solely defensive in nature, but offensive as well. That’s because they’re not actually armor, but rather weaponry…

6. The Sword of the Spirit (verse 17)

This weapon is defined as “the word of God.” How does this piece differ from the belt of truth, which refers to the truth of the rightly divided word of God? Simple: The sword of the spirit does not refer to the pursuit of truth, as does the belt of truth, but rather to the word of God spoken in bold faith as a weapon. To do this, of course, you have to first acquire the word of truth by “putting on” the belt. This shows that the belt of truth is a foundational piece of the armor & arms of God, which is why it’s the first one you don.

How does this differ from the shield of faith which is erected by speaking the word of God in faith? Simple: The shield is strictly designed for defense whereas the sword is intended for both defense and offense. Since believers are ambassadors of the kingdom of God and function on Earth as enemies in enemy territory it’s necessary to have your shield of faith up at all times to protect yourself from unforeseen attacks. (Think of it in terms of potential sniper fire when soldiers are in war zones). The sword of the spirit, by contrast, isn’t pulled from its figurative “scabbard” until there’s evidence of enemy attack in one of the five general ways noted above, whether concerning you or someone for whom you’re interceding. Similarly, Roman soldiers wouldn’t pull out their swords until the enemy assaulted them or if they went to the enemy to attack them. Either way, the enemy must be in sight to use the sword.

Speaking of which, devils obviously won’t manifest in your life in the form of red cartoony figures with pitchforks. When evil spirits attack it will manifest via one of the five general curses noted above—physical maladies, mental illnesses, unjust human attack, premature death and financial lack. We observe this in the Enemy’s attacks on Job (Job 1-2). When one or more of these curses show up in your life you are under enemy assault and it’s time to get your sword out and start swinging! If you don’t, you’ll be defeated. There are also five other kinds of enemy attack, which apply to spiritual things and are addressed in this article.

We’ll further differentiate the sword of the spirit from the shield of faith below and elaborate on when and how to use both.

7. Praying in the Spirit (verses 18-20)

Most ministers omit this last article when teaching on the armor of God, but it’s a vital piece of spiritual weaponry. Paul instructed us to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” What does it mean to “pray in the spirit”? Notice how the Bible defines it:

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.

 1 Corinthians 14:14-15

As you can see, God’s Word defines praying in the spirit as praying in another tongue via your spirit by the Spirit. This is different than typical prayer, of course, which is to “pray with your understanding,” meaning to pray with your mind using the language with which you’re most familiar. In my case it would be English. Paul said he did both: He prayed (and sang) with his spirit and he also prayed (and sang) with his understanding. We need to do both as well; Paul was our example. And please notice that he lists praying in the spirit before praying with your understanding, which implies that it’s at least as important.

Also observe that he instructs us to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” In other words, we should include praying in the spirit every time we pray; and with every type of prayer! The different types of prayer include communion, praise & worship, binding & loosing, intercession, petition, venting & forgiving, which you can read about here. Get in the practice of praying in the spirit with all these different kinds of prayers on “all occasions.”

Speaking of which, I encourage you to go on the offensive with this spiritual weapon. In other words, don’t simply use it when you discern you’re being attacked. Use this awesome gift on “all occasions” day and night. Evils spirits will run away screaming in all directions!

If you don’t yet have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then make it a priority to receive it. This awesome gift is available to all believers. Unfortunately, most of Christendom is either ignorant of this gift or is deceived about it, erroneously insisting that it “passed away” when the biblical canon was completed. Don’t buy the lie. God’s Word encourages us to eagerly desire spiritual gifts, not eagerly deny them (1 Corinthians 12:1,31 & 14:1,39). These gifts include the gift of personal tongues, otherwise known as glossolalia (gloss-ah-LAY-lee-ah).

Paul didn’t provide a metaphor for praying in the spirit as he did with the other pieces of God’s armor, like “belt,” “shield” and “sword.” I suspect this was because there was no Roman armament that could compare to the weapon of praying in the spirit. I like to refer to it as the missiles of praying in the spirit because you can pray for people and situations on the other side of the planet; in fact, you can pray for situations you’re not even cognizant of because when you pray in the spirit you bypass the limitations of your mind—your understanding—through your spirit with the help of the Holy Spirit.

For details on this awesome piece of weaponry and its benefits please see Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Differentiating the Shield of Faith and Sword of the Spirit

Now that you understand what each piece of the armor & weaponry of God is, let’s go into a little more detail on distinguishing the shield of faith from the sword of the spirit.

A question might have occurred to you: If the shield of faith “extinguishes all the flaming arrows of the evil one” why is the sword of the spirit necessary? In other words, how does a curse that’s assaulting you get past your shield and require you to get out your sword? There are four possible reasons:

• If you don’t have your belt of truth on your faith won’t be effective as a shield because faith comes through first being exposed to the truth (Romans 10:17). In short, if you don’t have the truth you won’t have the faith. This, again, reveals why the belt of truth is the first piece of armor that you “put on.”
• For one reason or another, your shield wasn’t up. For instance, you canceled your shield by speaking doubt and unbelief. This, of course, deactivates your protective angels because angels are commissioned to obey the voice of God’s Word (Psalm 103:20).
• You opened the door to the enemy through unrepentant disobedience, whether a sin of commission or sin of omission. (A sin of commission is something you do, like slander someone through gossip, whereas a sin of omission is something you didn’t do that you should’ve done, like give a poor person some money as the Spirit led you).
• You’re undergoing a Maturing-Intended Trial (MIT), which means that you’re suffering attack for righteousness’ sake. In this type of trial the LORD is permitting the assault for the purpose of testing your motivations and spurring growth through actively confronting challenges and working your faith muscles. Consider Job’s trials detailed in Job 1-2: It is clearly established from the get-go that Job was blameless and upright so we know he didn’t open the door to the Enemy through disobedience. Nowhere does it state that Job opened the door to the devil through fear or disobedience; in fact, God praised Job to the devil as blameless! However, the LORD was compelled to allow Satan to attack Job to test his motivations: Was Job’s piety a charade for the sake of acquiring God’s blessings? Would Job curse the Almighty or deny God’s existence if his many blessings were removed? Although the rest of the book of Job shows him struggling greatly and seriously venting to the LORD during his long trial (e.g. Job 10:1-3), Job didn’t turn away from his Creator, but rather went directly to Him, which takes faith; not to mention he persevered. Job therefore passed the test and God restored him and doubly blessed him (Job 42:10).

When one or more of the five general curses manifests in your life you need to search your spirit and discern how it got past your shield (assuming your shield is up) and respond accordingly:

• If your words had no power when you spoke in faith because you failed to don your belt of truth, then put on your belt by going to God’s Word and feeding on the truths relevant to your trial (Matthew 4:4). Then start speaking in bold faith accordingly.
• If you either failed to put up your faith shield in the first place or canceled out your shield by using your tongue to speak unbelief, you need to repent and do as above: Feed on God’s Word in the relevant area and then speak it in authoritative faith. Remember: Your enemy is spiritual in nature, so defeating demonic assaults requires spiritual warfare, not physical. This and the previous point could be filed under Self-Inflicted Trials (SITs) because you’re only being attacked due to your spiritual negligence or unbelief.
• If you are convicted of a sin immediately ’fess up and God will forgive you; and then start swinging your sword as necessary. This is a Discipline-Intended Trial (DIT) where you opened the door to the enemy through unrepentant sin (Ephesians 4:27). Hence the attack is a disciplinary measure on God’s part. Just a few days ago Carol said she felt sickness trying to come on her at work and, upon searching her heart, she was convicted of walking out of love with a contentious baby Christian (remember, “faith works in love,” so if you walk out of love you walk out of faith). Carol swiftly repented and started swinging her sword and the sickness withdrew. By the time she arrived home there was zero evidence of sickness.
• If you know your shield was up and you’re walking in obedience according to the terms of your Covenant—“faith working in love” (Galatians 5:6)—then you can be sure that you’re undergoing a Maturity-Intended Trial (MIT). Simply resist in faith and the enemy will flee like a pathetic cur with his tail between his legs (James 4:7); in the meantime stand and endure. As was the case with Job, God will “restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” “after you have suffered a little while” (1 Peter 5:8-10). You will experience greater maturity and favor with God as a result, just as Job did. Now, someone might complain that spiritual warfare is complicated by the fact that it requires you to determine if the malady is a disciplinary measure on God’s part due to unrepentant disobedience or an attack from the kingdom of darkness for righteousness’ sake, permitted by the Sovereign LORD. Well, that’s just the way it is and it’s this very factor that calls for an actual relationship with God through “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 13:14). Relationship is what true Christianity is about and this separates it from mere human religion. What do I mean? If a believer has a genuine relationship with God s/he will be able to discern fairly easily if the curse that’s assaulting him/her is due to a Self-Inflicted Trial (SIT), a Discipline-Intended Trial (DIT) or a Maturity-Intended Trial (MIT). On the other hand, believers who fail to cultivate communion with God will have a harder time distinguishing SITs, DITs and MITs, particularly DITs and MITs (as SITs are always obvious). So this is a spur to go deeper in your walk with God. *

* See this article for further details on the three types of trials (particularly the section When Satan Attacks He Uses One of the Five General Curses and the following section).

“Putting On” the Armor of God on Any Given Day           

As noted earlier, the armor & arms of God are figurative of the spiritual tools the LORD has provided us in order to overcome spiritual attack. “Putting on” the armor is not something you do at the beginning of the day and that’s the end of it. The armor & weaponry of God are spiritual principles to be practiced throughout your day and week. They empower you, shield you from satanic attack, activate your angels and guarantee victory.

I’ve gotten in the habit of going over the armor & arms in my prayer time when I wake up every morning (with the exception of a day of rest). It’s basically a spiritual checklist that keeps me conscious of these seven vital articles and therefore regularly practicing them.

Let’s succinctly rundown all seven pieces as you would practice them on any given day (since each is explained above I’m going to limit scriptural references to additional insights):

1. The Belt of Truth: Make a genuine effort to seek the truth—reality—through the two main sources of spiritual truth: A. The Living Word via the Spirit of truth. B. The written Word via the balanced teachings of sound ministers and your own studies in God’s Word.
2. The Breastplate of Righteousness: Endeavor to live out of your new nature, which was “created to be like God in true righteousness.” The Bible calls this “participating in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). Cultivate a pliable, humble heart that’s quick & willing to ’fess up if you succumb to the corrupt desires of the old nature. God is faithful to dismiss the sin and “purify you from all unrighteousness.” Guard your heart as the wellspring of life by regularly rooting-out negative, destructive thoughts & desires (Proverbs 4:23).
3. The Gospel of Peace Shoes: Put on your gospel shoes by cultivating a prayer life, regularly communing with the LORD. Your relationship with God is foundational and offers you sure-footing when facing spiritual attack.
4. The Shield of Faith: Use the power of your tongue to erect a shield around you by speaking in faith concerning the blessings that are yours in Christ. Do not speak doubt & unbelief or you will cancel out your shield and deactivate your angels. Every blessing provided in your covenant comes through faith & perseverance. So never ever give up.
5. The Helmet of Salvation: Guard you mind by being conscious of God’s promises of deliverance as you walk in faith & endurance. This assurance of salvation—including eternal salvation—will keep your mind from going batty during an attack.
6. The Sword of the Spirit: Use the Word of God as a defensive and offensive weapon by speaking it in bold faith when discerning an attack by the enemy on you or yours. Use it in intercession.
7. Praying in the Spirit: Pray in the spirit on all occasions with each type of prayer noted in the Lord’s prayer outline (Matthew 6:9-11). This weapon is especially useful in situations where you don’t know what to pray with your understanding or have limited knowledge concerning what to pray. Pray and sing in the spirit! Get in the habit of praying in the spirit full blast for five-ten minutes or so when you get up in the morning. It will get your day off to an awesome start.

The reason it’s necessary to understand and utilize the armor & arms of God is because donning the armor and taking up your weapons empowers you by protecting you from evil spirits and their schemes; it activates angels on your behalf and guarantees your victory.

Someone might say, “But it’s so simple.” Yes, it is. Victory in Christ is easy as pie. That’s the beauty and genius of it. There is a yoke and burden to serving the LORD, but the yoke is easy and the burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30). But religious people evidently want a hard yoke and heavy burden, speaking of which…

An Erroneous Reaction to the Armor & Arms of God

It boggles my mind when I come across sincere believers who respond negatively to the purpose of the armor & weaponry of God, as detailed above. Such people embrace the sickness, defeat, death & poverty gospel. They basically fight for their right to be downtrodden by curses, like physical maladies, mental illness, defeat to enemies, premature death and poverty/lack. They have a sick masochistic martyr complex.

I want to make it clear that every believer will be attacked in these areas. That’s how the kingdom of darkness manifests, not as quaint red devils with pitchforks! Even if you have your shield up, which “extinguishes all the flaming arrows of the evil one,” you’ll have to get your sword out and fight the good fight of faith and persevere, as explained above. When this occurs, you’re going to “suffer for a little while,” as Peter put it, but the LORD will restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast (1 Peter 5:8-10).

Consider the example of Paul, the great apostle, who undertook several missionary journeys to reach the world for Christ. Notice what he said:

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:11-13

Paul starts off by insisting that he wasn’t in need—a “positive confession” for sure—but admits that he experienced times of need in his ministry travels, as well as times of plenty. He then unveils his secret of contentment in every situation “whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want”: He can do all things through Christ who gives him strength. In short, Paul’s resources—his finances, in essence—were assuredly attacked at times, but he endured in faith knowing that he was rich in Christ (2 Corinthians 8:9). As such, he knew the resources would come as he persevered in faith. And they always did. He could “do all things through Christ who strengthens him” (KJV). That’s the secret to contentment during satanic attack and the suffering thereof.

You see Paul had his helmet of salvation on. He had his shield of faith up. He didn’t cancel out his shield by giving-in to doubt and speaking unbelief, like “I don’t think God’s going to come through this time; I’m not going to make it.” No, he held on in faith and endured; and the resources always came. Praise God!

A Personal Example

In the winter of 2013 my left knee swelled up and I could hardly bend it. Simply walking across the room or climbing stairs was painful. This was a malady that obviously got past my shield of faith. It was a Maturity-Intended Trial (MIT), an attack by the enemy for righteousness’ sake. I needed surgery, but decided instead to claim healing and stand in faith. It took over three long months but my healing finally manifested and by Christmas time I was snow skiing. Needless to say, it wasn’t fun during those 3½ months that I was suffering. Sometimes squirrelly thoughts would cross my mind, like “Why are you allowing this to happen, God?! I’m seeking you and serving you more than ever!” But I rejected the victim mentality and the corresponding verbiage. I refused to blow money on doctors, take meds and get surgery. I stood in faith, swinging my sword. Carol & I kept laying hands on my knee, praying and believing. And the healing eventually manifested! Before the year was over I was skiing down huge hills in New York! God is Good!

By the way, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go to the doctor. Do what you have the faith to do as led of the Holy Spirit. Luke was a physician and I encourage regular check-ups. During my trial I was simply led to receive healing from the Great Physician rather than blow time & money on earthly doctors. In order to do this you have to develop stubborn faith regarding the benefits that Christ bought for you. Speaking of which, see this article for details.

This article was edited from chapter 19 of…

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Related Topics:

The Breastplate of Righteousness

Spiritual Warfare — Do You know What You’re Fighting For?