“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “who take counsel, but not of Me, who devise plans, but not of My Spirit that they may add sin to sin.”
Isaiah 30:1

As the people of God we are spiritually distracted in our day and the consequence of our neglect of piety is evidenced by the dire state of spiritual apathy. Any desiring to be much like Him must by necessity tarry long with Him. On the mount the transformative nature of the Son of glory is revealed and too often the eyes of the curious become weak and heavy prior to His disclosure of Himself and the resultant miscalculation by the impatient as to His will predictably ends in many sorrows.

The distraction of busyness presented in the form of technological allurements has induced as state of disobedient slumber to many naming Christ as Lord. Agitated minds given to constant external stimulation risk the danger of losing the capacity to wait in quiet upon the mount of the Lord. A pseudo faith defines much of biblical faith in our day as those naming Christ attend conferences, read an endless list of books rather than The Book, download endless mp3’s and engage in various activities in the fleeting hope of discovering the present reality of God, their minds have become numb and their hearing dull; their eyes do not perceive the providences of the Lord all around them. Seldom do they take counsel of the glorious beauty of Jehovah, constant noise and sights tickle the mind, giving expression to the delights and lusts of the old nature. Diligent study and meditation upon the Word of God is tragically ignored to the harm of those so malnourished.

Something is indeed horribly wrong in the church today. And when the Word is read or studied it is seldom done so with a view toward obedience and self-denial, whereas knowledge too often has become the end rather than the means to the end; namely, knowing the Word of God so as to know the God of the Word. There is so much noise today amplified in the minds of men and so few places where one can escape it and wait upon the Lord in solitude and silence. Technological advancements have become a curse to the Lord’s people, a source of stumbling, a source of false security, and certainly a diabolical substitute for His presence, these tend to lead the church away from those things that result in increased faith and dependence on the mercies of the Lord.

Blessed is the saint whose eyes have been opened by the Lord to the subtle dangers of technology that blinds the mind and dulls spiritual discernment. This is the age of microwave faith where instant results are expected by parishioners who have not sought the mind of God to their circumstances because they are too distracted by their technological allurements to seek His face or hear from Him. As the cycle intensifies more will seek solace and answers second hand from every source but the primary source, the Lord Himself. The Lord Jesus rightly asked if He would find faith upon the earth at His return.

O may the grace of the Lord be granted to this generation in repentance. May the Lord look upon His people with compassion and lead them in the paths of humility and righteousness. Let us lay aside the allurements of the world which so easily beckon to replace the sweet presence and counsel of the Lord. As the Apostle Paul was alone with the Lord in Arabia, let us seek Him in the desert places. As Jesus was alone with His Father on the mount when His disciples sailed upon the sea, let us seek Him on the mount during the early morning watches. As the Apostle John was alone in exile on Patmos due to the testimony of the Word of the Lord, let us seek Him while enduring isolation. When Stephen was alone in his stoning as result of bearing witness to the Truth, let us seek Him should the gate of hell be opened upon us, standing fast in the knowledge that it shall never prevail against the Rock and Fortress of our faith Who is the Chief Cornerstone of the Church, for our Redeemer lives and is ever with us.

Beloved, let us silence the technological noise of our day and seek the counsel of the Lord while He may be found, by His Spirit, through His immutable Word.

Copyright 2009, Immutable Word Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission. www.immutablewordministries.blogspot.com

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In whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Ephesians 3:12

Spiritual pettiness displays a diminished comprehension of intercession by exhibiting a preoccupation with the temporal over the eternal, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3). The veracity of intercession is grace, its means is faith, and its end is the privileged access behind the veil into the most holy place for the redemption of sinners and sanctification of saints. Let not a man presume upon the grace of the Lord by pursuing access before Him recklessly. Only by the atoning blood of Christ is a man able to come before the holy presence of El Shaddai, “since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (Romans 5:1-2). Presumption upon the grace of the Lord can result in tragic consequences, as was the case with Nadab and Abihu who were struck down for their brash arrogance. Intercession affords the man of God manifold opportunities to give glory to the Lord for the redemptive activity of the Spirit: by giving thanks for those being saved, “many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand…all the people were praising God for what had happened” (Acts 4:4, 21); recognizing the sanctifying work of grace in the saints, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers” (1 Thessalonians 1:2); pleading for mercy on behalf of sinners to quell divine wrath, “O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people….”(Deuteronomy 9:26); and requesting that spiritual wisdom and insight may be granted to believers, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18). Through intercession the Lord reveals Himself to His servant; the servant speaks to God about men, and subsequently speaks to men about God. Unlike Moses who wore a veil over his face lest the children of Israel should behold the fading refracted glory of the Lord upon his face, the Spirit’s presence within the Christian does not diminish, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). The Apostle confidently yet cautiously measured his access to the throne of the Lord in respectful submission and adoration, “I bow my knees before the Father” (Ephesians 3:14), soberly aware that he came before the King of kings and Lord of lords. The Spirit works within the saint to reorient him to intercede along the line of divine redemptive priorities. And grace persists until the will is conquered and brought into alignment with heaven and it is at that place where heaven is moved through the intercessor, “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years” (James 5:17). Submission produces requests from the saint that find their origin in the heart of the Lord, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14). Effective intercessors restrain from entertaining fleshly speculations as to the will of the Lord, by virtue of their time in His presence they know his mind along a particular line and are readily brought into conformity with it, “For who has known the mind of the Lord, that we will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). From the Father the divine will concerning men finds its genesis; the Son is the medium through whom the intercessor is received by grace, and the Spirit supplies unction and heavenly insight so that the intercessors prayers are effectual. The high priest was granted access into the holy of holies once a year on the Day of Atonement. The once and for all atonement of Christ rendered the temple veil of separation torn and obsolete, permitting direct access the Lord—“I AM”—for all who believe, by grace through faith. Unlike the high priest of old the believer now comes confidently and boldly before the throne of grace without a safety line tied to his body, to speak to God about men, and then men about God—as Moses and Christ. Let the servant of the Lord remain faithful to and diligent in intercession, cherishing it as most a sacred privilege and responsibility.

Copyright 2009 Immutable Word Ministries (“…the word of our God stands forever. Isa 40:8)

(Reproduced with permission)

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The Christian ought not to naively entertain the notion that in his natural endowments he is Satan’s equal. In the natural those in the Beloved are no more a match for the prince of darkness than is a squirrel to the ravenous the lion. In the natural Satan will devour you swiftly, effortlessly, and thoroughly while contemptuously mocking and laughing at your naivety. The adversary is adept at being crafty and modifies the variety, intensity, and duration of his assaults.

His relentless pursuit is intended to wear you down as a predator his prey. By race the Christian can withstand this fiendish assailant, but to do so he must heed the conditional directive of the Lord, “Abide in Me and I in you… apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5); to be victorious the branch must remain in the Vine. The Roman coat-of-arms was intended to protect the soldier’s body from a mortal blow. The battlefields of the world experience periods of violence followed by peace. The spiritual battlefield on which the saint finds himself is vehemently more hostile, and perpetual. There will be no truce, as it is a fight to the finish; there will be no treaty, in that light and darkness have no part with each other; there will be no peace until the Prince of Peace returns in glory and His enemies become His footstool. The serpent loathes the Seed of the woman and marshals every force of hell in a vain attempt to destroy her children; their existence is in defiance to his temporal dominion, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9).

In the Greek the Apostle refers to the armor of God in the singular. The translators have supplied the antecedent “whole” so that the English reader would understand that the Lord’s armor consists of the entirety its parts; if a part is missing the armor has not been put on and the saint cannot prevail. With the armor Christians can be victorious to stand against demonic forces that in the natural would obliterate them instantly. With God’s spiritual armor Joshua came against Jericho and David against Goliath—it was not their physical armaments that won the victory, “Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God” (Psalm 20:7).

Truth: God’s Word is the foundation upon which you stand and Satan tirelessly tempts you to doubt it, “Has God said?” (Genesis 3:1). Additionally, as children of Abraham the saint instinctively imitates his Lord by walking in the truth.

Righteousness: the breastplate protected vital organs from injury, especially the heart; the heart is deceitful and must be guarded from worldly pollution “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

After Bathsheeba grieving David reflected on the importance of guarding his heart, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

Shod your feet: proclaiming the Gospel is every saint’s obligation as it is a message of peace to sinners, alerting them that they are at enmity with God and that peace with Him is available through Jesus Christ.

Shield of faith: the natural circumstances of life do not define spiritual reality; do not attempt to apply human reasoning to them. Practice childlike trust that your heavenly Father is providentially working things together for good and reject the fiery darts of doubt, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways”, declares the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8).

The helmet: the helmet protected the head which houses the brain—the center of life; deliver a forceful blow and life will cease. After the Fall the Lord told the serpent that the Seed of the woman would crush his head, sealing his ultimate fate. Spiritual regeneration brings life eternal and while Satan may bruise and harass you on your pilgrimage he cannot extinguish the spiritual life which God supplies, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life”(John 5:24).

Sword of the Spirit: the sword is both defensive and offensive and to be wielded every time the enemy releases an accusation or statement antithetical to the Word of God, “The Lord rebuke you Satan, for it is written….!”

Copyright 2009 Immutable Word Ministries (“…the word of our God stands forever. Isa 40:8)

(Reproduced with permission)

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“…for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them,felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds.” 2 Peter 2:8

Is the wickedness in the world a perpetual source of spiritual mourning, inciting you to call down fire from heaven that justice might be vindicated? Is your heart griped with compassion for the wicked and your intercession being that the Lion of the tribe of Judah might not appear today in order that the wicked may have one more opportunity to repent? As aliens upon the earth anguish of heart to the wickedness in the world is the spiritual address of pilgrims.

Saints experience words and activities that deeply grieve their redeemed soul, those which are base and foul, indicative of unregenerate hearts. Responding to the effectual call of God grace translates the sinner from the kingdom of darkness and death to the Kingdom of God and life, transforming him into a new creation in Christ Jesus, one which possesses a new nature infused by the Holy Spirit, the Law of God being inscribed on the heart, “’This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people’” (Jer. 31:33).

The sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit causes the sinner, turned pilgrim, to be aghast at his former manner of life, and grace destines him to live among and behold fallen humanity, lost souls that remain in bondage to sin and death, subjects of the prince of darkness, depraved individuals who by nature engage in detestable acts, speaking blasphemous words, driven on by abominable thoughts. And lest the saint become boastful toward the wicked the Holy Spirit impresses that it is only by grace that he stands justified. Grace imparts to the pilgrim new dispositions—positive and negative—which empower him to sojourn upon the earth as an ambassador of Jesus Christ, constrained by the love of God to preach the redemption of the cross: the pilgrim is sanctified to holiness as the Lord is holy and he is not to be defiled by the world; the pilgrim is sanctified to compassion as the Lord is compassionate and he is not to become indifferent to the plight of wicked men and eternal damnation. In the Saviors stead the saint is constrained by love, seeking the good of
all men, irrespective of whether or not it is appreciated. The saint remains keenly aware that wickedness will be judged, and consumed with that knowledge the love of the Savior compels him to beg men to be reconciled to God, “For Christ’s love compels us….” (2 Cor. 5:14).

The regenerate spirit within the pilgrim is daily provoked by ungodliness in the world, longingly seeking a better country and the city whose foundation and walls are not made by human hands. The pilgrim patiently waits for the appearing of his Lord while seeking to faithfully carrying out that to which he is called, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (Jn. 20:21).

Engaged in the work of the cross the pilgrim is well served to soberly assess his vulnerability to the ways of the old man within, “Do not be deceived; bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Cor. 15:33). In this regard the pilgrim’s tendency is to turn away from the world as an act of self-preservation, but he cannot cloister himself from the world and remain salt and light to it. And a callous heart of in-difference as with Jonah is equally unfitting for children of the Lamb of God, “Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” (Jonah 4:11).

As ambassadors of Jesus Christ it is the pilgrims destiny to live among the people from which he was redeemed—being tormented within by the sin of the world—and “to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (Lk. 4:19), to be in the world but not of it, to direct the hearts of men to Christ Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the only mediator between God and men.

Immutable Word Ministries (…Word of Our God Stands Forever Isa 40:8)

Side note: Future readings can be accessed at: Immutable Word Ministries–www.immutablewordministries.blogspot.com

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J.A. Matteson

“And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.” Revelation 20:12

Two dreadful occasions await the unrepentant wicked at death: a definitive tribunal judgment and conviction before Almighty God, and being cast away for all eternity from the presence of God to suffer the indescribable anguish of hell, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27). And in as much as eye as not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of men the blessed wonder of all that God has in store for the redeemed in heaven (1 Cor. 2:9), neither has it truly been understood to the fullest extent just how unimaginably horrible hell will be for the wicked.

Beloved, the terse language of the Scriptures and especially that by the Lord Jesus Christ ought to serve as a strong warning and convincing proof that no man should dare trifle with it and that the administration of the Gospel is urgent to the hearing of all in danger of perishing. As for the redeemed they will stand before the judgment seat of Christ where each pilgrims work will be evaluated by the Lord Jesus Christ, faithful service being recognized and rewarded (2 Cor. 5:10).

The unregenerate, however, will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ at the great white throne of judgment and all of their wicked deeds laid naked, serving as the basis for their just condemnation (Rom. 2:5). All who rejected the salvation offered in the Lord Jesus Christ will stand before Him condemned (Jn 3:18-19)—the educated and ignorant, the wealthy and poor, the charitable and stingy, the politically powerful and the weak, the moral and immoral, the religious and impious—all will stand individually before God Almighty and hear the piercing indictment of their eternal sentence of doom, their sins itemized one by one, the foremost and eternally damning sin being unforgivable; viz., the sin of unbelief in the Son of God as the spotless Lamb of God and the rejection of His vicarious substitutionary death atoning for sin on the cross, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

On judgment day saints will have The Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous, Who will plead their pardon before the Father, these being justified by faith in the Lord’s atoning work on their behalf, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). Woe to the prideful man who brashly contends that he is righteous apart from the imputed righteousness found only in the cross of Jesus Christ, he is utterly deceived and by his boasting a deceiver of the simple, deluded in mind and worse than a charlatan, a diabolical fraud, for he has denied that “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

Diabolical is the teaching the Emergent Church movement that denies Scripture pertaining to the penal substitution of sin laid upon the spotless Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10; see also Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 Jn. 2:2)—it is the foundation of the Gospel. These fail to understand that apart from the shed blood of Christ they are still in their sin, justly condemned, twice dead, and in danger of hell fire.

Apart from the vicarious substitutionary death of Christ there is no hope, only a sure consignment to eternal darkness. These delusional teachers will not have The Advocate by their side to defend them for they have denied the very work He performed that they might be saved. By their words and deeds they are enemies of the blessed cross of Christ.

Copyrigtht (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries (“…the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8)

(Reproduced with permission)

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For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ… Philippians 3:20

Slumbering soldiers on foreign soil behind enemy lines quickly find themselves in mortal peril. The life of faith requires that the saint press on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus and be constantly on guard against temporal sidetracks that hinder progress in grace. The realization of desired attainments in grace appears elusive for the weary pilgrim, yet the Lord in His goodness has ordained that grace be extended towards His saints ensuring their progress in their travels towards the New Jerusalem, for the Apostle confidently asserts, “I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

Human governments and citizenships are instituted by God and are a shadowy representation of a supreme heavenly reality. All earthly authority is delegated and subject to the Creator who upholds all things by the power of His word. To be a citizen of a human government is to enjoy particular protections and provisions that are withheld to aliens. The Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the United States of America extends privileges to its citizens. And unlike earthly citizenships which may be acquired either by birth or immigration, citizenship in the kingdom of heaven can only be acquired by rebirth, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). The outworking of the heavenly citizenship within the saints is Christlikeness. Pilgrims trod the battlefields of the mind, remaining in mortal combat against the desires of the flesh, while at the same time faithfully endeavoring to pluck from the flames through the agency of the Gospel the living dead. The battlefield on which the pilgrim finds himself is a perpetual place of violence and horror where endurance remains a continual plea. The Lord has extended to the pilgrim positive graces so that he may not loose heart; viz., purification, protection, and provision. Providences, in that the citizen of heaven is to interpret every circumstance—from the largest to the smallest—as lovingly engineered for the purpose of transforming him into the likeness of his Lord, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28); purification, in that fleshly lusts are being daily mortified by the power of the indwelling Spirit, yielding increasing fruitfulness to the Lord, “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust…For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:4, 8); protection, for the armies of heaven are sentinels against the frontal assaults of Satan and his fallen world system, “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them” (Psalm 34:7); the provision of spiritual and natural graces, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18), and “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Let the man on pilgrimage to the New Jerusalem rejoice that the end of his sojourning is glory on high. Pilgrims sojourning upon the earth are foreigners keeping a watchful gaze heavenward, eagerly awaiting their Savior and the fist glimpse of the City whose foundation and walls are not made by human hands. And as the ocean mist and Autumn flower are momentary their weary pilgrimage will soon conclude and they will be at the City gate.

Copyright 2009 Immutable Word Ministries (“…the word of our God stands forever. Isa 40:8)

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“…and you shall know My rejection.” Numbers 14:35

The Lord, incomprehensible in grace towards those who love Him, is likewise severe in His retribution against those who hate Him. The wicked Israelites who returned from the promised land with a bad report, demonstrating open distain for the previously revealed word of the Lord, brashly revealed hearts of contempt, leading many in the congregation astray in unbelief. The tragic result was their coming to personally know a fearful aspect of the Lord’s holiness; viz., His wrath. While the Lord is longsuffering a time does come when grace transitions to justice. As the writer to the Hebrews soberly noted, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, for our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 10:31, 12:9). To this sober reality four observations may be made.

First is the certainty of God’s rejection of the wicked. The Lord knows those who are His (2 Tim. 2:19) while those who perish in a hardened state of unbelief—the reprobate—are likewise foreknown to the Lord, these being vessels of dishonor (Rom. 9:22), raised up in their proper season so that His magnificent grace to the vessels of honor might be revealed. The certainty of the Lord’s retribution will visit the wicked, and while it may appear delayed and that they are prevailing against the Lord, its inevitable consummation is assured and will be unleashed with unimaginable fury, “Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; against them He will thunder in the heavens, the LORD will judge the ends of the earth….” (1 Sam. 2:10). Let not the wicked naively presume for a moment that their wickedness has escaped the notice of Him to whom they will one day give a full account.

Second is the justice of God’s rejection of the wicked. The Lord’s holiness demands a corresponding recompense against wickedness which is antithetical to holiness. The divine essence of the living God is pure, undefiled, glorious, and in all ways incomprehensible to man; wickedness is an affront to the divine order and viewed by the Lord as far more than merely a repugnant annoyance. Wickedness, from the Lord’s perspective, is tantamount to cosmic treason, a frontal challenge to His person and authority, and the omnipotent Lord of Hosts is just in forcefully responding to all who transgress His Law, those following in the way of Lucifer, who with a third of the angelic host, arrogantly rebelled against the Lord, with the just result being their exile upon the earth, having been cast out of His presence in heaven. Contrite king David confessed the Lord’s righteous judgments leveled against sin, “Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge” (Ps. 51:4).

Third is the severity of God’s rejection of the wicked. The same king in fear of God’s rejection pleaded that His Holy Spirit not be taken from him after his sins of adultery and murder, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:11). The Apostle Paul speaks of the terror of the Lord’s wrath as an urgent plea to unbelievers, “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men….” (2 Cor. 5:11). But David as a beloved son of faith in the likeness of Abraham, an elect vessel of honor before the Lord, came to know His chastening and not His condemnation. The chastening leveled against the king by the King was intended for his sanctification as an object of grace, while the fury of the wrath of the Lord of Host’s towards objects of dishonor is indescribably horrifying, terrible beyond comprehension, and intended for their destruction. For just as eye has not seen nor has it entered into the heart of man all that the Lord has in store for those who love Him, in a similar fashion humanity cannot fathom the actual horrors of hell. Day by day the wicked are storing up for themselves divine wrath, with each act of wickedness the restrained vengeance of the Lord’s hot fury is further kindled, awaiting the moment in which it will be unleashed as a torrent, and the wicked will be consumed with terrors, vainly seeking to hide from the presence of the Almighty, “Therefore wait for Me,” declares the Lord, “for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out My wrath on them– all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of My jealous anger” (Zeph. 3:8).

Fourth is the permanence of God’s rejection of the wicked. It is appointed for man to die once and then comes judgment (Heb. 9:27). The decree of hell upon the wicked is eternal, and once the divine sentence has been enacted there is no appeal, “And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name” (Rev. 4:11). Let every man, therefore, seek the Lord while He may be found, today is the day of salvation, and harden not your heart to His loving kindness and grace. Call upon the name of the Lord this hour and be saved from the wrath to come.

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“…but they presumed to go up to the mountaintop.” Numbers 14:44

He who promised Israel would be given a good land, one flowing with milk and honey, demonstrated His faithfulness by previous miracles. While in Egyptian bondage the children of Israel witnessed no less than ten occasions where the Lord spoke judgment upon the Egyptians and carried it out. Hemmed in between the sea and Pharaoh’s army without a natural escape route the children of Israel witnessed the salvation of the Lord, the waters parted and they crossed on dry ground and once on the other side watched in amazement as their enemies drown in the midst of the sea. Arriving at Marah in the wilderness of Sinai the waters were bitter, then Moses called upon the name of the Lord and they were made sweet. Not withstanding the Lord’s subsequent supernatural provision of manna and quail the children of Israel continued in unbelief.

The tragic pattern was cyclical: the Lord would speak to the congregation who quickly responded positively only a short time later under divine testing to refute their earlier profession. And so the spies came back from Cannan, two brought a good report rooted in faith; ten brought a bad report manifesting unbelief. Two examined the land promised with eyes of faith based upon the previous word of the Lord; ten shook in fear in response to beholding the formidable size and fortification of their adversaries. That the inhabitants of the land were a powerful people was reality and to deny it would have been to entertain a delusion. Where the ten failed was in not accounting for the presence of the Lord with them, by questioning His promise to them that He would give them the land, by assessing their relative probability of victory over their adversaries by natural means rather than taking into account the supernatural presence of the Lord their God.

Unbelief in the promise of God, that He would give them the land, that He would go with them and fight for them to assure their victory, was their first sin in this setting. In response to their sin the Lord pronounces judgment and rather than being repentant and sorrowful for their sin, humbling themselves, they now sin a second time by disbelieving the judgment of God and brashly charge the mountain, presuming upon their own strength, only to be roundly defeated, unable to rescind the decree of the Lord spoken against them.

Pilgrim, if you are to take hold of that which the Lord has promised, let not unbelief fill your heart, for that which He has promised can only be secured by Him. Soberly consider and bring to remembrance the word of His promise in light of the pressings dangers that surround you; the dangers are real and not to be trifled with in the natural, but, thanks be to God, His presence is supernatural and exceptional to their hellish taunts, well able to vindicate your faith in due season—only trust Him. Remember too that the Lord tests the hearts of His servants to determine whether they will believe Him or not, so be prepared for the crucible of testing. It is in the chamber of temptation to doubt the word of the Lord that your faith is refined, learn therefore to embrace the providences of God that appear contrary human reasoning, as they are designed for your sanctification and as such are good. There are only two options available to the pilgrim in response to the word of the Lord: proceed forward confidently in faith, or hastily retreat in fear.

In the final analysis the testing of the Lord is not for His benefit, as though He lacked knowledge of the true state of your heart, for He is omniscient, but rather it is ultimately intended for your benefit, dear pilgrim, so that you might know by your perseverance that you are an heir of the King in the likeness of Abraham and not an illegitimate child, for this is “the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus” (Rev. 14:12). But in like manor let us also not presume upon the mercy of Lord should we falter at the promise of His word, ascending the mountain of promise in our own strength, for to do so is sin and will result in our ruin as it did Israel. But rather, let us learn from their error the sacrifice of a broken spirit and contrite heart, thus being restored in fellowship with the Lord; for, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).

Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries (“…the word of our God stands forever.” Isa. 40:8).

(Reproduced with permission)

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Consider Him who has endured such hostility…that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:3

The Lord Jesus Christ is the quintessential example of perfect single-minded devotion to God. The Lord began and concluded His earthly ministry displaying an unshakable resolve to faithfully discharge His Father’s will, irrespective of how men interpreted it; an inner awareness of absolute devotion to His Father existed from the earliest years, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” (Lk. 2:49). This compulsion towards obedience defined the Lord’s life and finds resemblance in the circumcised heart, inclining it toward the faithful discharge of the saving truth entrusted to it, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16).

The Lord Jesus Christ serves not only as a perfect model for obedience, but also as an exemplary standard of endurance in the midst of suffering—the result of obedience—and to this end the faith of the saints of old serve as an encouragement. Along the pilgrim’s path unexpected dangers lurk and their intended end is to divert the pilgrims devotion away from the Savior and Calvary, tempting him to concentrate upon temporal concerns, the utmost of which is to preserve personal autonomy while serving his Master, to which the Lord warns, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24). The Apostle daily mortified the flesh with its vigorous tendency towards self-determination exclaiming, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20).

The Lord encountered overt hostility to His Gospel, enduring all things for the joy set before Him, so too the pilgrim is called to endure while maintaining an eternal perspective. As the Son of Man the Lord Jesus Christ experienced humanity completely, if this were not so He could not qualify as the pilgrim’s high priestly intercessor. He was misunderstood in His speech and reviled, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” (Jn. 2:19-20); He was ridiculed for His stated identity, “In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself” (Mk. 15:31); He was vilified regarding the perceived source of His empowerment, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons” (Matt. 9:34); He was mocked, beaten, bled, and died in response to His unwavering convictions, “…after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified” (Matt. 27:26).

In spite of ill treatment the Lord was never demoralized, discouraged, distracted, doubtful, scared, concerned, bitter, envious, inclined to outbursts of anger, cynical, pessimistic, disparaging, or in any other way unsettled within, for these things depict the fallen depraved nature of man. In the midst of the storm the Lamb of God knew nothing but perfect obedience and peace. It is this disposition that the Spirit steadily produces in the hearts of the saints so that they “not grow weary and lose heart.” Let the saints of old serve to encourage you as you sojourn, for they like you were mortal men who, gazing into the future looked intently for a better city, whose foundation and walls are not made by human hands. And knowing that God was for them they remained undaunted in their mission of mercy to proclaim the excellencies of Him who calls and sanctifies in order that men might escape the coming wrath of the Lamb. The impetus of obedience is love, and the fruit of love is endurance, “…love… bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:7-8). And love comes full circle in that the object of the pilgrims love is Jesus Christ the Son of God, who is love. Perfect loves casts our fear in the face of violent hostility to the messenger and his message; therefore, let the pilgrim be fully persuaded of the Lord’s immutable love for him. And let him not entertain the false conclusion that opposition signals defeat, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).

Let him recognize, rather, that terse opposition indicates the Lord is taking enemy ground and that he may confidently stand firm in the administration of the Gospel to which he has been called.

Copyright 2009 Immutable Word Ministry (“…the Word of our God stands forever. Isa 40:8)
(Reproduced with permission)

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J.A. Matteson

“And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.”
Revelation 10:10

The Word of the Lord is a delight to the tender heart of pilgrims who are sustained by it, “The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Ps. 19:8). While sweet during consumption the Word’s effect on the obedient pilgrim is often bitter when it is a corrective Word to be broadcast to a wicked individual or culture that reject it.

The prophet Jeremiah attested to the delightful nature of the Word of the LORD received, “Thy words were found and I ate them, and Thy words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Thy name, O LORD God of hosts” (Jer. 15:16). The prophet Ezekiel also fed upon the words of the LORD prior to declaring it to a decedent culture, “’Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you’…And He said to me, ‘Son of man, feed your stomach, and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.’ Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth’” (Ezk. 2:8; 3:3).

Samuel understood personally the bitterness of the Word of the LORD he had consumed and proclaimed when it was sternly rejected by Israel, yet grace supplied divine perspective to the prophet, “And the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them’” (1 Sam. 8:7). John the Baptist understood the bitterness of a corrective Word preached when the wickedness of the king was denounced, “For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. For John said unto him, ‘It is not lawful for thee to have her’” (Matt.14:3-4). That corrective Word eventually resulted in John’s execution to silence his opposing voice.

Stephen experienced the bitterness of the corrective Word of the Lord when upon hearing it wicked men picked up rocks and stoned him to death, “Ye stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute, and they killed them…But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him….” (Acts 7:51-52, 57-58). The corrective Word of the Lord Jesus Christ directed at the religious elite stirred their wrath, culminating in His crucifixion whereby they sought to silence the Word, “… the Pharisees went out, and took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him” (Matt. 12:14).

By nature unregenerate sinners seek to suppress the truth of the Word in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18). As John received the apocalyptic Word pertaining to the end times its ingestion was sweet—as all divine revelation—but its effect would be bitter upon the one delivering the message. Faithful pilgrims endure the bitter aspects of the Word of the Lord, and motivated by the love of God proclaim it to a wicked generation, deleting nothing, adding nothing, delivering it unedited and raw as written, letting the Holy Spirit perform that which is pleasing to the Father, that the recipients might turn from their erring ways and be saved.

Pilgrims today delivering the Word of the Lord are also experiencing its bitter effects, being mocked, ridiculed, marginalized, and at times violently attacked and killed. In spite of intense opposition they humbly remain undaunted to deliver the Word. As the time of His appearing nears wickedness will increase. It is incumbent upon every pilgrim to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3), and to call to repentance a generation gone astray. Pilgrims do not have the option of enjoying the sweetness of the Word apart from its bitterness; it is their calling and destiny.

Copyright 2009 (c) Immutable Word Ministries (“…the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8)
(Reproduced with permission)

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1. Divine Testing

Unlike the ceremonial and dietary laws the moral Law of God is permanent and will be the plumb line by which the sons of Adam will be judged. The Apostle briefly outlines representative behavior patterns that typify the fallen depraved nature, behaviors that are odious before a Holy God, their just compensation being righteous condemnation. Through the Law the Holy Spirit mercifully confronts sin, convicts, generates repentance, and compels the transgressor to embrace the cross of Jesus Christ for salvation by faith, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”(Romans 2:4).

The mood of the present culture is increasingly one of brash lawlessness and hatred towards godliness. The sons of Adam are becoming increasingly emboldened, proudly flaunting sin. Tares are intertwined with the wheat, having crept into the fellowship of the Church by stealth and are seducing naïve saints into accepting abhorrent behavior as something pleasing to God. The Apostle lists only a few reprehensible behaviors to illustrate his point: the lawless, rebellious, profane, murders, immoral, homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and “whatever else is contrary to sound teaching.”

Note carefully that those who seek to advance such behaviors are teaching what is “contrary to sound teaching.” Mark such teachers and avoid them. These teachers have crept in among Christians and they are maligning Scripture, “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4).

While professing the Lord Jesus Christ they deny Him by their deeds, demonstrating conclusively that their hearts remain uncircumcised, they are false brethren. These professors proudly pursue legitimacy and empowerment through the civil magistrate. Increasingly the children of Light are being marginalized and vilified by them in their stance for the truth of the immutable Word of God. This is to be expected, for the saints are not of the world, but have been chosen out of the world, therefore the world hates them.

Genuine grace expressed in love does not conceal sin, for to do so is to withhold the Law of grace and capitulate to the sinners path of self- destruction; rather, grace and love expose sin, allowing it to stand naked and vulnerable, not to destroy the transgressor, but that he may be granted the gift of repentance and be saved, “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them….” (Ephesians 5:11).

All of the sinful behaviors highlighted by the Apostle are noteworthy. In the present culture one in particular is gaining rapid acceptance; viz., that which God unmistakably identifies as evil being labeled as good; the sin of homosexuality. Note closely that the Apostle identifies this and other sins as something that formerly described the believer prior to conversion.

The Apostle describes the sinful patterns in the past tense, not the present or future tense. The circumcision of the heart by the Holy Spirit results in a new creation in Christ Jesus whereby the old inclinations and desires are nailed to the cross and are now regarded in the past tense, “…do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; either…homosexuals…will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

The moral Law of God is immutable. Let not the man of God be seduced by strange teachings, following after the doctrines of demons and men. Never is the Word of God to be conformed to the culture; rather, let the culture be transformed by the Word of Truth and thus be saved from the wrath to come.

Copyright 2009 Immutable Word Ministries (“…the Word of God stands forever.” Isa. 40:8)

(Reproduced with permission)

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If indeed you continue in the faith….Colossians 1:23

That which God ordains as holy remains holy unto the Lord in that positional sanctification is a sovereign work of God and does not depend upon the merit of its object, “For while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). And even if what is holy suffers desecration—such as the temple by Nebuccanezzar—it does not diminish its intrinsic holiness; that which is holy is holy perpetually, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)—“us” in whom the Holy Spirit tabernacles.

The Apostle employs the term “saints” before his readers, “To the saints….” (Colossians 1:2) reminding them that by grace they have been set-apart as God’s people to His service and purposes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; that they have been bought with a price and are not their own; that they have been mercifully rescued from the authority and domain of Satan, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13), and that the outworking of their deliverance—its validation or proof to themselves and others—is evidenced by a transformed mind resulting in a renewed life—the distinguishing mark of which is a persevering faith which does not diminish, but steadily grows deeper, manifesting good works which God foreordained, “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach” (Colossians 1:21).

To the reprobate sanctifying grace possesses both a curious magnetic and repulsive characteristic. The Lord Jesus illustrated the magnetic attributes whereby a temporary outward piety, void of inner regeneration by the Holy Spirit, eventually manifests the bitter fruit of apostasy (Mark 4:1-9); the Apostle John reiterates the Lord’s dire warning, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). Saving faith—that which the Holy Spirit supplies—does not renounce Christ by apostasy. Beloved, what is the basis of your assurance that you are in Christ? Is it your confirmation, baptism, church membership, service, tithe, or some past “decision” for the Savior? Do you not know that apart from a vital living faith that these things are dead works, the end result of which is eternal damnation? The unpardonable sin is unbelief and those who belong to Christ cannot—rendered unable—forsake Him, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9).

The power of the Seed which indwells the saint saves and the same power secures unto eternal life. The saints of redemptive history have all displayed an abiding faith until death, one which does not perish. For many their testimony is one of unspeakable suffering at the hands of wicked men, many joyfully choosing horrible deaths while scorning the suggestion of apostasy by their perpetrators— this is the saving grace of the Holy Spirit. Shall we speak of Abraham, Noah, David, Joseph, Samson, Gideon, or the Apostles? The epitaph of Scripture to the enduring faith of such men declares, “And all these, having gained approval through their faith….” (Hebrews 11:39).

And beyond them we could speak of Polycarp, John Huss, Martin Luther, Jim Elliott, and countless others. The Scripture declares that, “…the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). The faith the prophet speaks of is not mere knowledge of theological propositions, but an intimate growing relationship with the risen Lord, the great I AM. Biblical faith daily seeks to work out its salvation with fear and trembling, hating sin, and puts no confidence in the flesh for salvation, while at the same time earnestly desiring to be pliable in the Potter’s hands so that the sweet fruit of good works unto the glory of God will be evident to all men. The holy ones of God, while imperfect and who stumble, die in a state of faith; this is the testimony of Scripture and Church history, “Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).

Beloved, let us offer thanks and praise for His marvelous grace to save and to keep!

Copyright 2009 Immutable Word Ministry (“…the Word of our God stands forever” Isa 40:8)

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This updated and revised manuscript is copyrighted © 2000 by Tony Capoccia. All rights reserved.

This file may be freely copied, printed out, and distributed as long as copyright and source statements remain intact, and that it is not sold.

Go here to read. It is lengthy but well worth the effort…

The Sovereignty of God in Salvation

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See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men…Colossians 2:8

All a man needs is Jesus Christ “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2: 3). Regeneration begets conversion and the saint is sealed with or in (__) the Holy Spirit—not merely by, implying an incomplete work of grace—but with, indicating a thorough internal transformation and empowerment by the Holy Spirit. At conversion the saint stands as a new creation in Christ Jesus, complete as His ambassador, lacking nothing, looking to the Head alone who is able to keep him from stumbling and to present him blameless on that Day. The Apostle confronted head-on the evil traditions and teaching of men that were not founded by Christ—the Chief cornerstone of the Church, nor the teaching of the Apostles—its foundation, viz., that faith was insufficient for justification and that men were obligated to follow human philosophy and tradition, binding their consciences to the delusional whims of men rather than to Christ. In the present day there is an evil at work through human philosophy and traditions of men that is subverting the word of Christ and His Apostles. The Reformers confronted Papal decrees and councils, the vile sale of indulgences for absolution, and the viewing of relics to circumvent time in purgatory.

Protesting these and many other unbiblical teachings the evil was unmasked and those advancing the cause of doctrinal reform were vilified, many brutally killed by a man-centered religion desperate to remain in control over the souls of men. As the masses were led astray in past generations by men who engaged in fanciful esigesis of Scripture leading to extra-biblical doctrines that enslaved the consciences of men, so too the present generation is being held hostage to doctrines of men that have been elevated as authoritative for faith and practice, the end result has been the subversion of the inspiration, inerrancy, authority, and sufficiency of Scripture to which the Apostle decries to the Corinthians, “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

From the humanists who denounce the inspiration of Scripture; to the proponents of higher criticism who reject its inerrancy; to the existentialist who holds to experience as the end authority of truth; to the proponents of the “church growth movement” who profess the sufficiency of Scripture, but by their deeds deny the same; to the charlatans of the word-of-faith movement who devilishly prey upon the simple for sordid gain, living in luxury and promising health and wealth to all who surrender to them their paychecks; to the contemporary Gnostics who being deceived by angels masquerading as messengers of light seek after experience and esoteric knowledge, opening their minds to the principalities and powers of darkness; to the post-modern emergent church and its aversion to propositional truth, denying that truth can be known and by implication denying Christ who is Truth; to the misguided theology and praxis of the “seeker-sensitive movement” that exchanges Christo-centric worship for man-centered entertainment and titillation, designed and produced to amuse the unregenerate, feeding the goats while starving the sheep; and to the Later Rain movement’s self-appointed “apostles” who arrogantly proclaim a new “Word of the Lord”, uttering delusions amongst the gullible with insatiable appetites.

Evidence of the distance the Church has wandered from the truth of Scripture is recognized by the hostile reaction by the many to few who dare question the teachings and doctrines found in extra-biblical non-authoritative resources in the form of Christian books, seminars, DVD’s, CD’s, etc. Many Christians unwittingly have elevated these to the position of papal inerrancy—anathema! Cast aside the yoke of slavery and return to the Word of the Lord and the simplicity of Christ, “Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings” (Hebrews 13:9).

Copyright 2009 Immutable Word Ministry (“…the Word of our God stands forever. Isa 40:8)

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Many within Pentecostal and charismatic churches are being negatively impacted, to varying degrees, by the issues outlined in this paper. In the view of this author individuals and/or ministries within many congregations influenced by the teachings within this paper are, in all likelihood, innocent or naive victims of a wave of false teaching that has blanked much of Christianity in recent decades and is on the rise.

Therefore, it is important that it be stated clearly at the outset that the discussion to follow is in no way an indictment upon individuals or specific ministries within various churches. Blind innocence describes 95% of individuals involved with the teachings of Word of Faith/Positive Confession. These trusting souls believe what they believe because it is what they have been taught somewhere along the line. Unfortunately, unlike the Bereans, most have failed to carefully search the Scriptures (systematically by applying sound biblical hermeneutical principles) to determine whether what they have been taught is, in fact, biblical and orthodox based upon historical Christian theology.

It is the conclusion of this author, therefore, that in varying instances the gospel being presented and the Christ being portrayed represent, in fact, a “different gospel” (Gal. 1:8) from that found in the New Testament. The intent or hope of this paper is to open up a constructive discussion of the issues and pursue a course back to the teaching of sound charismatic doctrine with practical application.

1. Introduction to Word of Faith/Positive Confession

Word of Faith theology has many strains of teachings, but the common denominator is that faith works like a mighty force. With enough faith, it is claimed, one can get almost anything they want—health, wealth, success, just name it and claim it in the name of “faith” and it will be yours. Many faith teachers cite verses such as Hebrews 11:1 as a proof text for their peculiar understanding of faith. Its various English translations are:

Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. NKJV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. NASB

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. NIV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ESV

Most Faith teachers prefer the KJV or NKJV because of the word “substance.” The word “substance” is frequently cited as evidence that there is something tangible or corporeal to faith.

The literal Greek rendering of the text reads as follows:

Now is faith of things being hoped the reality, of things the proof not being seen. Greek New Testament

The Greek word for “the reality” is ὑπόστασις (hupostasis) which means “a setting under, assurance, confidence.” Faith, by definition, is only as valid as the object it is placed in. That being the case it is easy to comprehend how the gods of Baal could not save—because there was no ὑπόστασις to them (they were not real).

The core premise of Positive Confession can be summarized as follows:

• God is revealed in Genesis as creating all things by speaking them into existence, “And God said….”
• Human beings are said to be created in the image of God.
• Human’s, then, are able to create reality (physical and nonphysical things) by merely speaking (claiming) them into existence.

To the advocates of this unusual doctrine, words are a creative force to be harnessed, with the unlimited power of influencing both the physical and the spiritual world. The end result is observable in that adherents to the teaching spend considerable time:

• binding Satan, demons and other territorial spiritual entities.
• claiming health.
• claiming wealth.
• claiming a multitude of other personal wants, wishes, and desires.

The fallacy with Word of Faith teachings is that faith becomes a force (the George Lukas concept of “the force” in Star Wars is not far removed from Positive Confession); that is, faith is placed in faith. The object of faith in this teaching subtly shifts from the sovereign God of the universe to ones faith. With the focus or trust no longer on God, but on ones own power to believe, idolatry results. When the object of ones faith is faith the first commandment has been violated, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). In this instance personal faith becomes a demigod. Personal faith assumes the position of sovereign deity, and the sovereign Deity becomes subservient to the whims and desires of fallen people. To put one other way, Word of Faith/Positive Confession theology tends to deify man while humanizing God. This exchange ought not to come as a total surprise for it is the desire of fallen humanity to “be like God” (Genesis 3:5).

Some critics of the Word of Faith/Positive Confession movement liken it to karma which may be understood as:

…the sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. The results or “fruits” of actions are called karma-phala. Karma is not about retribution, vengeance, punishment or reward; karma simply deals with what is. The effects of all deeds actively create past, present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one’s own life, and the pain and joy it brings to others.

The late Dr. Walter Martin, founder of the Christian Research Institute (CRI), wrote several apologetic articles addressing the growing threat of Positive Confession upon the body of Christ. To follow is an excerpt of an article from 1988—the introduction is by staff member Ron Rhodes. Dr. Martin is well known and respected in the evangelical community as an authority on cults and aberrant teachings within the body of Christ. Jude 3 has served as CRI’s scriptural mission, “contend earnestly for the faith, once for all given to the saints.”

Positive Confession Faith Teachings” (an article from the Christian Research Newsletter, Volume 1: Number 3, 1988, page 3) by Walter Martin.

The editor of the Christian Research Newsletter is Ron Rhodes.

From the FROM THE DIRECTOR column: ————-

In 1980, on a cassette entitled _The Errors of Positive Confession,_ and in subsequent tapes, which have been widely distributed nationally and internationally, I warned that the teachings of Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Earl Paulk, Charles Capps, and others of the so-called “faith teachers” were a perversion of biblical theology and could only lead to deeper heretical doctrines.

Since that time the doctrines of the born-again-Jesus and of Christians being “little gods” have evolved from the original positive confession teachings. Christians are now being told that Jesus Christ not only needed to die on the cross for their sins but also suffered in hell for them, and then needed to be born again in order to become their Savior! People have been misled into believing that men are little gods since they were made in the image and likeness of God and are to “take dominion” over the earth because of their godhood.

It is an unchanging law that heresy begets heresy and error begets error when men depart from the objective authority of the Scripture.

This does not at all necessarily mean that individuals who fall into these errors are unbelievers. It need only mean that they are ignorant or sincerely mistaken. But those who refuse to repent of their heresies when shown the error of their ways must be classified as false teachers in the biblical sense.

Certainly, we at CRI are all for faith healing in its proper biblical sense. But to teach people that their faith is sovereign over the sovereignty of God is a gross perversion of the Bible. It is God who is on the throne of the universe, not the faith of His creatures. We are informed in 1 John 5:14 that if we ask anything _in accordance with His will_ He hears us. It is axiomatic that if it is not in accordance with His will, He will not grant our petition no matter how sincerely we ask or how great the magnitude of our faith.

The faith movement has proven itself to be a divisive force splitting churches, dividing families, and leaving a trail of broken spirits and bodies belonging to those who believed that all they had to do was confess with their mouth and God was obligated to obediently perform. The God of the Bible is not some divine bellhop who jumps at the exercise of our faith. He is the sovereign Lord who works all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:11), and, when it pleases Him, graciously takes into account the faith of His children.

The so-called positive confession movement has done a great disservice to the body of Christ by paving the way for the errors of the born-again Jesus, the “little gods,” and the dominion theology doctrines. In the end these things will come to nothing, because, as the Lord has reminded us, “Before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me….I am the first and I am the last, and apart from Me there is no God” (Isa. 43:10, 44:6).

The Lord Jesus Christ died once for all, offering one sacrifice for sin forever. Nowhere does the Bible teach that He ever suffered in hell or that men may become gods. This is Mormon theology, cultic theology, and Christians should beware when they hear it. This theology divides and does not unite the body of Christ, and must be avoided at all costs (Rom 16:17; Tit 3:9-11).

————– Because the following text was right at hand when I prepared the above material — and because it was so brief — I felt that it should be included in the same file. Please note that the material below is from an out-of-print booklet CRI used to sell and is no longer available. ————-

CRI SPEAKS OUT ON THE ERRORS OF THE “WORD-FAITH/POSITIVE CONFESSION” MOVEMENT (partial text)

1st Edition, Copyright March 1991, Christian Research Institute INTRODUCTION by Robert M. Bowman, Jr.

Much of the mail which Christian Research Institute receives concerns the teaching known variously as “positive confession,” the “faith” (or “Word-Faith”) teaching, and the “prosperity” doctrine. Some of the best-known American televangelists subscribe either partly or wholly to this teaching. Its chief representatives today seem to be Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Fred Price, Robert Tilton, and Benny Hinn, though there are many other evangelists, teachers, and writers promoting the teaching.

It is our considered opinion that this teaching, at least in its complete form as expressed by the above men, is at best extremely aberrational and at worse heretical. (We use the term “aberrational” to refer to teaching which is decidedly unbiblical and damaging to authentic Christian faith, but which is not quite so heretical that its adherents must be considered non-Christians.) CRI has attempted to meet with these men and dialogue with them concerning their teachings, but most of them have refused. We were able, however, to meet with some of them and discuss a few of our concerns. We are continuing our efforts to engage these men in dialogue.

In brief, the teachings of these men may be summarized as follows: God created man in “God’s class” (or, as “little gods”), with the potential to exercise the “God kind of faith” in calling things into existence and living in prosperity and success as sovereign beings. We forfeited this opportunity, however, by rebelling against God in the Garden and taking upon ourselves Satan’s nature. To correct this situation, Jesus Christ became a man, died spiritually (thus taking upon Himself Satan’s nature), went to Hell, was “born again,” rose from the dead with God’s nature again, and then sent the Holy Spirit so that the Incarnation could be duplicated in believers, thus fulfilling their calling to be little gods. Since we are called to experience this kind of life now, we should be successful in every area of our lives. To be in debt, then, or be sick, or (as is often taught) be left by one’s spouse, and not to have these problems solved by “claiming” God’s promises, shows a lack of faith. While certain aspects of the above doctrine may vary from teacher to teacher, the general outline remains the same in each case.

2. Word of Faith/Positive Confession Theology: Origin and Practice Expanded
The terms Word of Faith and Positive Confession are synonymous within the Faith movement. Without question the fastest growing segment of professing Christianity in recent years has been among churches connected with the Positive Confession movement (a.k.a. the Word of Faith movement). Most noticeable is its deep rooted infiltration into traditional Pentecostal and charismatic churches. The Word of Faith/Positive Confession movement does not represent historical Pentecostalism or charismata, but is a spiritual blight and malignancy that as infected the church. Unfortunately, spiritual discernment has been low in identifying and rooting it from local congregations.

The origin of Word of Faith/Positive Confession is in 19th century America near Boston and New England. During this time of Christian history modernism dominated the thinking of faith and secular society. There tended to be an anti-supernatural bias both within the Church and culture. Large populations, however, both within and outside of the Church harbored a deep craving for the supernatural beyond the dictates of empirical science. In response to this desire a “healer” by the name of Phineas P. Quimby (1802-66) began to develop an innovative approach to faith, what would soon be referred to as New Thought. Eventually New Thought came under different names such as Unity School of Christianity, Divine Science, the Church of Religious Science, the Society of Healing Christ. Originally, Quimby’s healing ministry was based on hypnosis but in time he honed his approach to a “science or system” and the above referenced groups are known today as metaphysical in their theology and practice, not Christian. It is instructive to note that theology always determines methodology. If methodology is biblically jaundice, tracing back its roots with sound biblical hermeneutics will reveal a defective theology. Most historians agree the Mary Baker Eddy was heavily influenced by the writings of Quimby in formulating her metaphysical teachings in what would become known as Christian Science.

Another figure of significance was a pastor by the name of Charles Wesley Emerson who was known as a gifted orator and pastured a New Thought Church (Universalist) in Vermont between 1866 and 1871. Emerson later went on to form a college of oratory, The Emerson College of Oratory. The focus of the college was not simply to teach oratory to aspiring preachers, but to propagate New Thought metaphysics. One year a bright young student by the name of Essek William Kenyon enrolled. Over the term of his tutelage at Emerson College E.W. Kenyon was immersed in New Thought metaphysics. Kenyon graduated and became a powerful orator, assimilating biblical theology with a unique brand of New Thought teachings that elevated divine healing.

At this time Kenyon looked out at the landscape of Christianity in the Boston and New England area and witnessed the withering of mainline denominations, all the while watching the cults such as Christian Science and the Unity Church growing wildly. The deep seated hunger of people for the supernatural was being met by the unbiblical teachings of the cults. Historians have concluded that Kenyon was disturbed at the lack of the supernatural within most denominations that was leading to their demise. By this time his indoctrination into New Thought at Emerson College was enough to compel him to incorporate some metaphysical teachings into his messages in order to win by the faithful from the cults. So while his motive may have been admirable, his method was deployable. Reading Kenyon’s writings one can easily see the New Thought metaphysics coming through, the system of theology he developed is antithetical to historical biblical Christianity. Kenyon died in 1948.

Subsequent to E.W. Kenyon a new champion of New Thought arose, his name was Kenneth Hagin. Hagin plagiarized heavily from Kenyon, formulating most of his theology from his writings. Only on very rare occasions did he give credit to Kenyon, insisting that he received his teachings via “revelation knowledge” (classic New Thought metaphysical terminology) which also has heavy gnostic tendencies. Hagin refined Kenyon’s teachings, popularizing them into what has become known as Word of Faith/Positive Confession. Hagin’s theology can be traced to Kenyon, and his teachings can be historically traced to the mind science cults such as Christian Science. Hagin died in 2003. The prized disciple of Hagin was Kenneth Copeland (1936-present) who today is recognized by most Word of Faith/Positive Confession adherents as the heir apparent to Hagin. While the teachings of these men and others do not yet constitute a new denomination, per se, they certainly do represent innovative teachings outside of mainstream Christianity. In Section 3 additional Word of Faith/Positive Confession proponents and teachers are identified. The situation is so serious now because of the dominance over the so-called Christian media achieved by the teachers of Positive/Possibility Thinking and Positive Confession. In response to Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachings, Gary Gilley observes:

D.R. McConnell points out that “any new religious movement [within Protestantism] must bear the scrutiny of two criteria: biblical fidelity and historical orthodoxy.” Regrettably, the Positive Confession movement fails on both counts. The historical roots of this movement (which Charles Farah has called “Faith Formula Theology”) lie in the occult, and most recently, in New Thought and its off-shoot, the Mind Science cults. Its Biblical basis is found only in the peculiar interpretations of its own leaders, not in generally accepted Christian theology.

As the term implies Positive Confession places faith in spoken words over God. Words themselves literally become the creative agents by which the faithful can create a reality to their own liking. Positive Confession subverts God’s sovereignty in creation and the life of the believer. For instance, teachers of Positive Confession instruct that one should never pray, “If it’s the Lord’s will”, that is considered a negative confession and will reap the rewards of unbelief. At the end of the day faith is placed in faith rather than trust in God. When a “Positive Confession” is made and the thing requested does not come to pass it is because, according to the faith teachers, of either: 1) unconfessed sin or, 2) unbelief by the one who made the petition—they simply did not have enough faith and must generate more faith to “believe and receive.”

Word of faith teaching follows a predictable and reproducible formula. The four steps are:

a. “Say it!” (or “name it!”): positive or negative confession is critical because words have power, it is up to the individual to speak forth positive confessions. According to what the individual speaks, that shall he/she will receive.

b. “Do it” (or “claim it!”): your action defeats you or puts you over. Do not question what you claim, believe. According to your action (faith), you receive or you are kept from receiving.

c. “Receive it!” We are to plug into the “powerhouse of heaven.” “Faith is the plug, praise God! Just plug in.”

d. “Tell it so others may believe.” This final step might be considered the Faith movement’s outreach program.

If a positive confession of faith releases power, then according to Word-Faith, a negative confession can actually backfire. Charles Capps says the tongue “can kill you, or it can release the life of God within you.” This is so because, “Faith is a seed … you plant it by speaking it.” There is power in “the evil fourth dimension” says Paul Yonggi Cho. Hagin informs us that if you confess sickness you get sickness, if you confess health you get health, whatever you say you get. “This spoken word … releases power — power for good or power for evil,” is the commonly held view of the movement. It is easy to see why the title “Positive Confession” is often applied to this group.

As one might guess, the teachings of the Faith movement are very attractive to some. If we can produce whatever our hearts desire by simply demanding what we want by faith, if we can manipulate the universe and perhaps even God, then we have our own personal genie just waiting to fulfill our wishes. Frederick K.C. Price wastes no words when he writes:

Now this is a shocker! But God has to be given permission to work in this earth realm on behalf of man. … Yes! You are in control! So if man has control, who no longer has it? God. … When God gave Adam dominion, that meant God no longer had dominion. So, God cannot do anything on this earth unless we let Him or give Him permission through prayer.”

This is certainly a theology that would appeal to the masses, and thus accounts for the Faith movement’s popularity, especially in the affluence of North America with its ramped materialism coupled with a cultural bent towards narcissism and hedonism.

3. Word of Faith/Positive Confession Teachers and Excerpts

In addition to Copeland, Price, Cho, and Capps, some of the bigger names recognized as being in (if not seriously flirting with) the current Word of Faith/Positive Confession movement—though by no means the only ones— include, T.D. Jakes, Marilyn Hickey, Rod Parsley, Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, John Avanzini, Jerry Savelle, Morris Cerullo, Rodney Howard Brown, Jesse Duplantis, Joyce Meyer, Myles Munroe, Oral Roberts, Robert Schuler, Robert Tilton, Ed Young, Bill Johnson, Larry Huch, and of course, Paul and Jan Crouch. To follow are just a few excerpts that articulate Word of Faith/Positive Confession theology.

Hagin’s theme, as found in his booklet How to Write Your Own Ticket with God, can be summarized as follows (Christianity in Crisis , pp. 74-75):

In the opening chapter, titled “Jesus Appears to Me,” Hagin claims that while he “was in the Spirit”—just like the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos—a white cloud enveloped him and he began to speak in tongues. “Then the Lord Jesus Himself appeared to me,” says Hagin.” He stood within three feet of me.” After what sounded like a casual conversation about such things as finances, ministry, and even current affairs, Jesus told Hagin to get a pencil and a piece of paper. He then instructed him to “Write down: 1,2,3,4.” Jesus then allegedly told Hagin “if anybody, anywhere, will take these four steps or put these four principles into operation, he will always receive whatever he wants from Me or from God the Father.” That includes whatever you want financially. The formula is simply: “Say it, Do it, Receive it, and Tell it.”

Copeland states the faith formula this way:

All it takes is 1) Seeing or visualizing whatever you need, whether physical or financial; 2) Staking your claim on Scripture; and 3) Speaking it into existence.
Copeland also humanizes God by taking scriptural anthropomorphisms literally as did Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

God is a being who stands about 6’2″-6’3″, weighing somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred pounds, and has a hand span of 9″ across.

Benny Hinn has also stated categorically that while receiving revelation knowledge he was informed by God that God is, in fact, three Gods. In other words, Hinn claimed that the heretical teaching of tritheism was confirmed by God as true. In his own words:

“Man, I feel revelation knowledge already coming on me here. Holy Spirit, take over in the name of Jesus. … God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person; and He is a triune being by Himself separate from the Son and the Holy Ghost. Say, what did you say? Hear it, hear it, hear it. See, God the Father is a person, God the Son is a person, God the Holy Ghost is a person. But each one of them is a triune being by Himself. If I can shock you — and maybe I should — there’s nine of them. Huh, what did you say? Let me explain: God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person with his own personal spirit, with his own personal soul, and his own personal spirit-body. You say, Huh, I never heard that. Well you think you’re in this church to hear things you’ve heard for the last 50 years? You can’t argue with the Word, can you? It’s all in the Word.

It seems that Hinn admitted the next day that what he spoke was wrong. But, as Hanegraaff points out, that creates additional problems with Hinn’s ministry because he categorically stated on TV that what he was receiving and speaking was revelation knowledge from God.

Paul Yonggi Cho, has leaned heavily upon the occult (Korean culture is immersed with the occult) and blended occult philosophy into his teachings on faith. Missiologists refer to this as religious syncretism (the blending of antithetical faith constructs). Cho has coined the term “Law of Incubation” to describe how words and imagination have the power to create their own reality. Cho’s formula works as follows:

First make a clear-cut goal, then draw a mental picture, vivid and graphic, to visualize success. Then incubate it into reality, and finally speak it into existence through the creative power of the spoken word.

4. Word of Faith/Positive Confession—the Prosperity Gospel

As noted earlier few things generate more excitement in the minds of most Americans than the prospect of hitting the jack pot. The innate desire of most Americans to strike it rich is no doubt deeply rooted in the American cultural conscience. The early drafts of the Declaration of Independence pronounced that it was the right of every American to pursue “life, liberty, and possessions.” The draft was worked around a bit and the final reads “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The wording may have changed but the sentiment has not. By and large Americans could easily exchange “possessions” for “happiness” and be quite content.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the prosperity gospel is amazingly popular. The lifestyle of most of the Word of Faith teachers can be described as opulent with luxury homes, fancy cars, exotic vacations, riches untold. The hook to their audiences is that they too can experience prosperity, after all it is God’s will for them.

Robert Tilton declared on a Trinity Broadcasting Network program in 1990:
Being poor is a sin, when God promises prosperity. New house? New car? That’s chicken feed. That’s nothing compared to what God wants to do for you.

On Tilton’s website the following give-to-get prosperity formula is cited :
You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you, and you will pay your vows. You shall also decide and decree a thing and it shall be established for you, and the light (of God’s favor) shall shine upon your ways.

• According to Job 22:27-28:
• you pray
• decide what you want
• pay your vow
• decree that it be done
• and declare that it is being accomplished

Christ warned the church that opportunists would come after him and devour the unsuspecting, which is why he instructed his disciples to be gentle as doves, but wise as serpents.

Fred Price on a similar broadcast explains how the prosperity of God works:
If you’ve got one dollar faith and you ask for a ten-thousand dollar item, it ain’t going to work. It won’t work. Jesus said, ‘According to your [faith],’ not according to God’s will for you, in His own good time, if it’s according to His will, if He can work it into his busy schedule. He said, ‘According to your faith, be it unto you.

Not surprisingly the prescribed pathway to riches always seems to lead to donations to the ministry. Gloria Copeland (Kenneth’s wife) is startlingly candid in her book God’s Will Is Prosperity:

Give $10 and receive $1000; Give $1000 and receive $100,000 … give one house and receive one hundred houses or a house worth one hundred times as much. Give one airplane and receive one hundred times the value of the airplane. … In short, Mark 10:30 is a very good deal.

In summary, the prosperity gospel is a give-to-get system. The driving motivation of giving is not out of immense gratitude toward God for what he did for sinful humanity by sending his Son to die on our behalf, but what we can get from God. Faith and giving is reduced to a formula to acquire wealth and its root is simple greed. Scripture provides decisive warnings against such attitudes and practices.
But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.

1 Timothy 6:9 NAS

If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 1 Timothy 6:3-6 NAS

5. Word of Faith/Positive Confession—the Health Gospel

Isaiah 53 is commonly cited to justify blanket coverage for the physical healing of every Christian who has enough faith.

…it is the plan of our Father God in His great love and His great mercy that no believer should ever be sick, that every believer should live his life full span down here on earth and that every believer should finally just fall asleep in Jesus
Hagin also denied having a headache for forty-five years, labeling such as “simply symptoms rather than any indication of a headache.” The “name-it-and-claim-it” pundits are not content with mere wealth; they want to feel well enough to enjoy their prosperity.

The Word-Faith teachers believe that Christ provided for physical healing at the cross (the atonement). As a result, not only are Christians saved from sin, they are promised a life of health; it is their new birthright as heirs of the King. Kenneth Copeland writes:

The first step to spiritual maturity is to realize your position before God. You are a child of God and a joint-heir with Jesus. Consequently, you are entitled to all the rights and privileges in the kingdom of God, and one of their rights is health and healing. But, if healing is part of the atonement, why do Christians get sick? Lack of faith, as Benny Hinn explains:

The Bible declares that the work was done 2,000 years ago. God is not going to heal you now — he healed you 2,000 years ago. All you have to do today is receive your healing by faith. Of course reality, in the form of sickness and eventually death (the final form of sickness), has to be faced even by the Word of Faith leaders. Fred Price may proclaim “we don’t allow sickness in our home,” but his wife still has cancer. Kenneth Hagin braged that he had not had a headache, the flu, or even “one sick day” in nearly 60 years, but he had had four cardiovascular crises and is now dead. Paul Crouch may have healed Oral Roberts of chest pains on a TBN Broadcast, but it did not stop Oral from having a heart attack a few hours later. How are these things explained away? Predictably, they blame them on the devil. Sickness in the Word-Faith camp is usually seen as satanic attacks that must be repelled by words of faith (Positive Confession). It is deeply disturbing to this author the number of times, while in prayer settings for the terminally ill, the words, “By his stripes you are healed! You are healed! Healing will manifest, believe it and don’t let the devil cause you to doubt. Amen!” proclaimed and the one prayed for dies in due time from the malady they were supposedly “healed” from. In such instances the death is rationalized by insisting that the deceased either did not have enough faith to claim the healing, or they were concealing unconfessed sin, or they were “healed” by God taking them home to heaven (a convenient explanation for a claim of healing that failed to come to pass).

Applying sound hermeneutic principles to interpreting Isaiah 53 leads to a conclusion of sickness and healing far different from that espoused by the faith teachers. The sickness and healing to which the prophet writes is that of sin, often referred to in the Old Testament in terms indicative of sickness as the following examples illustrate.

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 NAS

Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from Him.

Where will you be stricken again, as you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is nothing sound in it, only bruises, welts and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil. Isaiah 1:4-6 NAS

Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed. Isaiah 6:10 NAS

For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us…and no resident will say, “I am sick”; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity. Isaiah 33:22, 24 NAS

I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them. Hosea 4:14 NAS

Numerous addition texts could be cited. If these and similar Old Testament texts were not enough the Apostle Peter sheds further light in Isaiah 53, slamming the door on the spurious interpretation of the faith teachers.

…and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. 1 Peter 2:24-25 NAS

Taken in context the apostle’s exegesis of Isaiah is very clear: the “healing” Christ purchased for humanity is deliverance from sin; that is fallen humanities greatest need. The atonement satisfied the justice of God toward sin:

…for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NAS

While at the same time revealing divine grace:

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10 NAS

Does God heal supernaturally today? Yes, of course. Is God obligated to heal; that is, will he supernaturally heal in every case when we ask him to because our physical healing is supposedly secured in the atonement? No, both history and personal experience refute that claim. In addition, Scripture denies the claim as well. The Apostle Paul more than likely experienced physical ailments and on at least one occasion pleaded with God three times to remove his “thorn in the flesh” and the Lord refused. Most commentators take Paul to be referring to some physical malady.

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me–to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 NAS

We read of an account where the apostle instructs his young apprentice, Timothy, to introduce wine into his diet for medicinal purposes. Did Paul lack the power or faith to heal?

No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. 1 Timothy 5:23 NAS

Also, there is the account of Paul leaving a sick believer behind at Miletus. Did Paul again fail to “believe” enough and await the manifestation of divine healing to occur?

Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus.
2 Timothy 4:20 NAS

Further, historian and theologians alike think it is very probable that Luke, the physician, accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys because the apostle was a man in poor health. The man’s repeated references to his eyes and his writing the conclusion to some letter in his own hand in large letters appear to indicate that perhaps one physical difficulty for the apostle was extremely poor eyesight.

Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. Galatians 4:15 NAS

See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. Galatians 6:11 NAS

6. Word of Faith/Positive Confessions and Pagan Shamanism

It is said that over thousands of years, people all over the world have discovered how to maximize human abilities of mind and spirit for healing and problem-solving. The remarkable system of methods they developed is today known as “shamanism,” a term that comes from a Siberian tribal word for its practitioners: “shaman” (pronounced SHAH-mahn). Shamans are a type of medicine man or woman especially distinguished by the use of journeys to hidden worlds otherwise mainly known through myth, dream, and near-death experiences.

According to the Foundation of Shamanic Studies, pagan practices of the Shaman include :

• Explore the hidden universe otherwise known mainly through myth and dreams.

• Awakening dormant spiritual abilities.

• Comparisons by participants of their discoveries in shamanic journeys as well as being introduced to shamanic divination and healing.

• Participants are initiated into the extraction method of healing, including how to see, sense, and remove localized illness and pain connected to spiritual factors. This is an important part of shamanic healing training.

• One of the classic tasks of the shaman is to journey into nonordinary reality in order to obtain answers to questions, both at the request of others and for oneself. Participants in the workshop have the opportunity to engage in divination journeys for each other as well as for themselves and to gain experience in using various time-tested shamanic divination techniques. In the shamanic search to become persons of knowledge…how to seek and receive revelatory knowledge from visionary sources.

• The annual residential program in advanced core shamanism is described by former participants as “transformative,” “life-changing,” and “the most important spiritual experience of my life.” A variety of advanced methods are practiced in this residential program, including extraction healing, soul retrieval, psychopomp work, divination, and work with the spirits of nature…selected advanced healing methods….

The information from the noted website also has an online questionnaire that encourages individuals healed by a “miracle” to voluntarily share there story for the encouragement of others.

The word divination means “1: the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers, 2: unusual insight: intuitive perception.”

The word omen means: “an occurrence or phenomenon believed to portend a future event.”

In the context of Christian ministry the above information begs the following types of questions:

1. How may one discern the difference between legitimate Holy Spirit healing and that brought about by shamanic (demonic) practices when both “miracles” have physical manifestations?

2. How may one discern legitimate revelation from the Lord in the form of a word of knowledge or wisdom from divination which provides similar “knowledge”?

3. How may one discern a God given dream vs. entering into occult practices of dream interpretation?

4. How may one pray for the healing for the sick without practicing “techniques” that are shamanic in essence?

The reason it is important to consider these and similar questions is because there is a widespread naïve acceptance within the charismatic community that any miraculous “healing” is of the Holy Spirit. Such an assumption is dangerous as the following example illustrates.

In Toranto and Brownsville the Holy Spirit was claimed to come upon people in “new” ways, causing many to fall to the floor and shake violently, enter into a catatonic state, bark like dogs, swim on their bellies like fish, and utter many other bizarre animal sounds. Consider the following excerpt from the web page of The Foundation of Shamanic Studies as they describe a shamanic workshop :

One of the classic tasks of the shaman is to journey into non-ordinary reality in order to obtain answers to questions, both at the request of others and for oneself. Participants in the workshop have the opportunity to engage in divination journeys for each other as well as for themselves and to gain experience in using various time-tested shamanic divination techniques. In the shamanic search to become persons of knowledge, they learn, as shamans have from time immemorial, how to converse with plant and animal spirits….(underlined emphasis mine)

In summary, ancient shamanism has infiltrated many charismatic and Pentecostal churches. It may take different forms and come by various names, but the practices of shamanism to the discerning eye are clear to see. On the surface they may appear Christian, but upon closer examination with the Bible their counterfeit roots become apparent. The coupling of pagan shamanism with Word of Faith/Positive Confession in many Pentecostal and charismatic churches has produced a lethal spiritual soup of error and the damaging consequences to unsuspecting Christians is nothing short of tragic.

Shamanism’s influence within the business community is amazing. From positive mental attitude training to possibility thinking, business training and motivational seminars have been taken by storm. Consider the editorial excerpt for the book The Power Path: The Shaman’s Way to Success in Business and Life by Jose Stevens:

According to Jose Stevens and Lena Stevens, business leaders and shamans share many important traits: the ability to solve problems, achieve goals, see the big picture, and forecast events. What their previous book, Secrets of Shamanism, did for the growth of the individual, The Power Path does for the growth of business managers and entrepreneurs. Based on years of study with shamans, the book shares a new way of thinking about the nature of power. By applying shamanic traditions of power to the workplace, readers learn how to improve work relationships, understand employees’ strengths and limitations, and inspire effective teamwork — techniques aimed ultimately at increasing business success.

The religious syncretism of Word of Faith/Positive Confession and shamanism is apparent and both sects have infiltrated the theology of historical Christianity.

7. Word of Faith/Positive Confession Theology and Pentecostalism and Charismata

Because of the degree of its influence and entanglement within modern Pentecostal and charismatic churches, most inside and outside of these churches consider Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachings as synonymous with or normative to the Pentecostal and charismatic tradition. Church history, one the other hand, demonstrates that nothing could be further from the truth.

The modern Pentecostal and charismatic traditions have their origins to the Wesleyan and holiness movements of the 18th and 19th centuries. Christians involved within these movements would not recognize the contemporary understanding or practice of faith as administered by the modern faith teachers. For instance the Wesleyan and holiness movements held to the sovereignty of God to heal, if and when he chose, and in accordance with his will. In other words, Wesley confessed that God is able to heal, not that he must in response to our requests. That is the biblical understanding of faith—that God is able—in contrast to the Word of Faith/Positive Confession teaching—God must—in response to our demands. The two views could not be further apart, the biblical view upholds the sovereignty of God while the Word of Faith/Positive Confession position exalts the will of man and humanizes God.

Another Scripture that is often used as a proof text by the faith teachers to claim that it is God’s will to heal continually and in every instance may be found in the synoptic gospels and is shown below from Matthew.

When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Matthew 81-4 NAS

Several truths become clear with a simple reading of the text:

1. Jesus was addressing an individual with leprosy, not the entire human race.

2. The afflicted man paid homage to Christ by bowing, confessed that Jesus is able to heal, and did not presume that he would.

3. It was not the man’s faith that healed him, but the mercy and goodness of God.

See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; it is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand. Deuteronomy 32:29 NAS

8. Word of Faith Theology and its Connection to the Occult and Mind Science

The modern Word of Faith/Positive Confession movement has direct ties to mind science cults such as Christian Science. To follow are several quotes from Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy , note their close similarity to the teachings of the Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachers.

“Every time you declare you are perfect in God, there goes through your body a health giving power.”

“I tell you the truth when I say there is only one Source of all good-God. The conscious recognition and acceptance of this fact, acknowledged by every activity of the mind, not two or three times a day, but every few moments all the day long-no matter what the outer self is doing, and this maintained, will enable anyone to express his freedom and dominion over all things human.”

“When the thinker is lost in the eminence of Mind the healing takes place.”

“To declare that you are well is the exact truth; you are not flesh but rather the ray of divine Light that shining upon flesh makes it appear alive. This you is spiritual.”

“… that an acknowledgement of the perfection of the infinite Unseen confers a power nothing else can.”

The quote and testimonial for one of Mary Baker Eddy’s books is from the Mary Baker Institute website. Specific words have been put in bold type by this author to draw attention to the nearly identical teachings within the Word of Faith/Positive Confession movement.

Boldly invoking openly her metaphysical bent, Baker said,

When I learned how mind produces disease on the body, I learned how it produces the manifestations normally imputed to spirits. I saw how the mind’s ideals [emphasis mine—positive/negative confession] were evolved and made tangible; and it matters not whether that ideal is a flower or a cancer, if the belief is strong enough to manifest it [emphasis mine—positive/negative confession]. Man thinks he is a medium of disease; that when he is sick, disease controls his body to whatever manifestation we see. But the fact remains, in metaphysics, that the mind of the individual only can produce a result upon his body. The belief [emphasis mine: negative confession] that produces this result may be wholly unknown to the individual, because it is lying back in the unconscious thought, a latent cause [emphasis mine: negative confession] producing the effect we see.

Consider a few additional Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachings in light of the metaphysical teachings of Christian Science.

1. Faith is a force that both God and man can use: “Faith is a force just like electricity or gravity” (Copeland), and it is the substance out of which God creates whatever is (Capps). God uses faith, and so may we in exactly the same way in order to produce the same results through obedience to the same “laws of faith” (Capps) that God applied in creation. “You have the same ability [as God has] dwelling or residing on the inside of you” (Capps). “We have all the capabilities of God. We have His faith” (Copeland).

2. Faith’s force is released by speaking words: “Words are the most powerful thing in the universe” because they “are containers” that “carry faith or fear and they produce after their kind” (Capps). God operates by these very same laws. “God had faith in His own words … God had faith in His faith, because He spoke words of faith and they came to pass. That faith force was transported by words … the God-kind-of-faith … is released by the words of your mouth” (Hagin). “Creative power was in God’s mouth. It is in your mouth also” (Capps).

3. Man is a “little god” in God’s class: “Man was designed or created by God to be the god of this world” (Tilton, Hagin, Capps). “Adam was the god of this world … [but he] sold out to Satan, and Satan became the god of this world” (Hagin). “We were created to be gods over the earth, but remember to spell it with a little ‘g’” (Tilton, Hagin, Capps). “Adam was created in God’s class … to rule as a god … by speaking words” (Copeland). “Man was created in the God class … We are a class of gods … God himself spawned us from His innermost being … We are in God; so that makes us part of God (2 Cor 5:17)” (Copeland).

4. Anyone — occultist or Christian — can use the faith force: Because man is a little god “in God’s class: very capable of operating on the same level of faith as God” (Capps), and “because all men are spirit beings” (Hagin), therefore anyone, whether Christian or pagan, can release this “faith force” by speaking words if he only believes in his words as God believes in His (Hagin). “God is a faith God. God releases His faith in Words, [and we must do the same:] … Everything you say [positive or negative] will come to pass” (Capps). “Spiritual things are created by WORDS. Even natural, physical things are created by WORDS” (Hagin).

5. You get what you confess: The vital key is confessing, or speaking aloud, and thereby, releasing the force of faith. “You get what you say” (Hagin, Hunter). “Only by mouth confession can faith power be released, allowing tremendous things to happen” (Cho). “Remember, the key to receiving the desires of your heart is to make the words of your mouth agree with what you want” (Copeland). “Whatever comes out of your mouth shall be produced in your life” (Tilton). “They’re [his two children] 30-some years of age today, and I don’t believe I prayed more than half a dozen times for both of them in all these years. Why? Because you can have what you say — and I had already said it!” (Hagin).

6. Never make a negative confession: The tongue “can kill you, or it can release the life of God within you … whether you believe right or wrong, it is still the law” (Capps). There is power in “the evil fourth dimension” (Cho). If you confess sickness you get it, if you confess health you get it; whatever you say you get” (Hagin). “Faith is as a seed … you plant it by speaking it” (Capps). “The spoken word … releases power — power for good or power for evil” (Bashan). Therefore, it is very important never to speak anything negative but only to make a positive confession — hence the name of the Positive Confession movement.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the apologetics ministry the Christian Research Institute, sums up well the essence of the Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachers when he writes,

Tragically, these purveyors of error have become adept at misleading their followers with a message that sounds authentic but is in reality a counterfeit. They point to Scripture, produce “miracles,” and operate under the banner “Jesus is Lord.” But think of the words of Jesus Himself when He proclaimed, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:22-23)

Some charismatics may object to Hanegraaff’s assessment as excessive, after all they would proclaim, just look at the healings and miracles being performed in their ministries. Are not people genuinely being helped? The following statement by D.R. McConnell reveals the fallacy of such reasoning with sobering clarity.

Many charismatics would object that a movement that has produced so many healings and miracles could not possibly be heretical. The gospel of the Faith movement does, indeed, produce results, but so does the gospel of metaphysics. Results can never be the criterion by which truth of an idea is proven. If that were the case, charismatics would have to admit that Mary Baker Eddy is a prophetess and that Christian Science is true gospel. Likewise, the numerous healings and miracles occurring in the Faith movement are not necessarily signs from God that the Faith gospel is the gospel of the New Testament. Charismatics who naively assume that healings vindicate truth are overlooking the fact that almost every major religion and cult the world has ever known has produced healings. For every god there is a religion, and in every religion there are healings.

Granted, the Faith movement does claim to heal “in the name of Jesus,” but this proves nothing, for so does the New Thought. Both the Faith movement and metaphysical cults incessantly use the name of Jesus. Because of the historical connection between the two, the question that must be raised, however, is whether the Jesus of the Faith movement is the Jesus of the New Testament. The answer to this question that will be given in this book is a decisive no. The Jesus of the Faith movement is “another Jesus” (2 Cor. 11:4) and the gospel of the Faith movement is a “different gospel” (Gal. 1:6). [emphasis in the original]

It is striking, but not surprising, the extent to which Word of Faith/Positive Confession parallels secular books that champion divination and other forms of mind science. For example, ponder the words of the statement by best selling author Rhonda Bryne in her book The Secret in light of what has been discussed thus far. Bryne is a self-proclaimed New Ager and not a Christian. Shamanism and New Thought metaphysics are the cornerstone of her belief system that is taking the nation by storm.

“Secret Summaries”

• Like Aladdin’s Genie, the law of attraction grants our every command.

• The Creative Process helps you create what you want in three simple steps: ask, believe, and receive.

• Asking the Universe for what you want is your opportunity to get clear about what you want. As you get clear in your mind, you have asked.

• Believing involves acting, speaking, and thinking as though you have already received what you’ve asked for. When you emit the frequency of having received it, the law of attraction moves people, events, and circumstances for you to receive.

• Receiving involves feeling the way you will feel once your desire has manifested. Feeling good now puts you on the frequency of what you want.

• To loose weight, don’t focus on “loosing weight.” Instead, focus on your perfect weight. Feel the feelings of your perfect weight, and you will summit it to you.

• It takes no time for the Universe to manifest what you want. It is as easy to manifest one dollar as it is to manifest one million dollars.

• Starting with something small, like a cup of coffee or parking spaces, is an easy way to experience the law of attraction in action. Powerfully intend to attract something small. As you experience the power you have to attract, you will move on to creating much bigger things.

• Create your day in advance by thinking the way you want it to go, and you will create your life intentionally.

By now those types of statements ought to sound familiar. Even more interesting is the fact that what Bryne claims is not untrue, metaphysics does produce “results.” The “power” that she and Mary Baker Eddy and the Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachers are tapping into, however, is not the Holy Spirit, but strong demonic delusions masquerading as angels of light (2 Cor. 11:14).

9. The Bible and Faith

Let us now turn our attention for a moment to the historical understanding of biblical faith. The logical starting point is with the word itself. The Hebrew for faith (believe) is אמון (âman) and means trust.

But the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”–so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand– that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” Exodus 4:4-5 NAS

The word is used repeatedly in the Old Testament to designate either the demonstration or failure of trust in the Lord as being One who does what he says he will do.

In the New Testament the Greek language incorporates not only the word “trust” (ελρίζω, el-pid-zo) but “faith” (πίστις, pis-tis) as well. Pistis carries with it the idea of being persuaded of something being true and trustworthy. It is the idea of relying upon something. It is an absolute assurance of something. We see the nature of biblical faith expressed by the New Testament writers extensively.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” Romans 1:17 NAS

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1

…and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NAS

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 NAS

As stated at the beginning of this paper the Greek word “assurance” is ὑπόστασις (hupostasis) which means “a setting under, confidence”, and these are synonymous terms for the idea of simple childlike trust in God. In the Bible the object of faith is always God, not in frail humanities picking itself up from its spiritual bootstraps and “just trying harder and harder to believe more” that what we want is what we will get.

For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:20-21 NAS

In fact even faith itself is a gift of God which is why so many times we do see individuals in scripture beseeching God to increase their faith. In the final analysis the increased faith that is sought is without exception a petition to engender a deeper belief that God is able, not that he will necessarily provide what is requested. The prayers that God answers are those that are in alignment with his will, irrespective of our wishes. If what we petition for is not in line with God’s will all the faith in “faith” in the universe is mere folly.

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. James 4:3 NAS

That single text seems to come the closest to concisely describing the self-absorbed motives of the health and wealth practitioners who, in all their pleading, would never dream of asking in light of God’s will, they are merely interested in God fulfilling their will.

10. Reclaiming Solid Biblical Hermeneutics for Faith and Practice

One of the primary ways in which the faith teachers are able to propagate their aberrant teachings is by means of poor hermeneutics. The reprinted article below is a half-humorous and yet serious examination of sloppy biblical interpretation practices that lead to false teaching. The Faith teachers are masters at practicing eisegesis, pouring interpretations into the Scriptures that simply are not in the text. The discerning Christian and teacher will be alert to and avoid these common interpretive pitfalls.

The following sections (items 1-13) of text are a quote from Biblical Twister: Techniques for the BSV.

“So you wanna be a false teacher. Well one of the first things that you’ve got to learn is some techniques for getting around the clear teaching of the Word of God and establishing your own unique doctrines.

Seriously, our new series on the “Badly Skewed Version” will document many of the ways that the Bible is being manipulated and distorted within the modern apostolic and prophetic community. Elsewhere, we have written in some detail about proper hermeneutics. In addition to knowing how to properly handle the scripture, it is important in a day of deception to be able to recognize some of the more common errors in Biblical handling that lead to false doctrine.

Scripture twisting is serious because it distorts and dilutes the pure message of the scriptures. It places words in God’s mouth that He did not say. It leads people into error.

It is important to note at the outset that everyone who teaches the Bible with regularity will occasionally make a mistake. We are all frail and human and we do nothing perfectly. However, what one is looking for is a pattern. When a teacher consistently mishandles the Word, one of two things is true. First, the teacher may be completely sincere but doesn’t know any better. Or two, the teacher knows exactly what he is doing but cares more about advancing his own agenda than being straight with the Scripture. From the standpoint of the learner, both are serious for as I wrote elsewhere, even a well-intentioned surgeon can still kill you if his skills are poor.

In this post, I would like to briefly list some of the more common scripture twisting devices employed by cults and false teachers in the hopes that this will enable our readers to become more discerning as they listen to the many teaching ministries within the body of Christ today. Since our new series on the BSV will be documenting scripture twisting within the prophetic community, I will draw most of my examples from the Evangelical world. When it comes to bad preaching, there is no shortage of material.

So without further adieu, let’s examine how to twist the Word into a theological pretzel.

1. Ignoring the Context: Context is the key to interpretation. The Bible can literally be made to justify anything if one takes it out of context. For example, in the infamous red book, Bill Gothard surmises that over-attention to clothing may be an attempt to compensate for an unwanted physical characteristic. He cites Matt. 6:27-28a, “Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment?” Gothard assumes that many of Jesus’ disciples were short. Now, Gothard’s point may be good psychology and may even be true but it has nothing to do with this passage which context demonstrates is clearly teaching about the futility of worry.

2. Confused Definition: Words take on different connotations and meanings depending on their usage. In addition, words change meaning over time. For instance if one were to listen to music from the early 20th century and pour contemporary meaning into the word “gay” every time it appears in songs, one could erroneously conclude that the music was celebrating homosexuality. Not to pick on Bill Gothard (but he’s an easy target since he seems to go out of his way to use all of these techniques) but in the Basic Seminar Textbook on page 20, he writes, “Correct decisions are based on faith; that is, visualizing what God intends to do. ‘Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.’ (Romans 14:23)”. Most Christians will recognize immediately that this is not the meaning of faith in this passage or any other in the Bible. Examples of this are literally rampant. Watch for this especially among teachers who insist on using the KJV. Language has changed a great deal since the KJV was translated. Make sure the teacher is defining words as they would have been at the time of the translation.

3. Selective Citation: The Bible is a very balanced book in its presentation of truth. False teachers will frequently only cite those passages that agree with their position without ever acknowledging that there are other passages that give a fuller picture. Since, we’re on a roll with Gothard, let’s take a look at his Men’s Manual. In this book, Gothard spends multiple pages advancing the idea that Christians should never incur debt. He cites multiple passages about the dangers of debt but never references a single passage of the many that command God’s people to loan to those in need. This is not a fair treatment of the subject.

4. Faulty Citation: Here the teacher simply alters the text during citation in order to change the meaning. He/she knows that most people won’t ever look the verse up. The Maharishi Mahest Yogi cites Psalm 46:10 as, “Be still and know that you are god.” Jehovah’s Witnesses insert the word “other” into the text at Colossians 1:15-16 in order to advance the idea that Jesus was the first creation of Jehovah.

5. Partial Citation: As the name indicates, the Scripture is manipulated simply by leaving part of the verse out so as to alter the meaning. Careful note should be taken whenever you see a teacher who repeatedly uses “…” in writing. Back to Gothard, the original version of “Basic Care Bulletin 11″ (it has been rewritten) which discusses the necessity of circumcision for all Christian males (a thoroughly unbiblical premise) only partially cites Acts 16:3 and Romans 3:1-2 to make them appear to support an ongoing mandate concerning circumcision. Page 5 reads, “Following the settling of this question, Paul affirmed the value and practice of circumcision by carrying it out on Timothy. Timothy was invited to minister with Paul, but first Paul ‘…took and circumcised him…’ (Acts 16:3). Paul also affirmed the many advantages of circumcision in his letter to the Christians in Rome: ‘What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? Much in every way” (Romans 3:1-2).

6. Collapsing Contexts: Just because two verses contain a common word does not mean that they are speaking about the same thing. At a pastor’s conference Bill Gothard discussed the supposed light that people see in the eyes of the young people involved in his ministry. He stated approximately the following, “Jesus said the light of the body is the eye and let your light shine before men.” Now, the only thing these two verses have in common is the word “light”.

7. Literalizing a figure of speech: The Bible uses a number of rhetorical and literary devices including, but not limited to, hyperbole, metaphor, simile and personification. These statements are not meant literally. God does not have feathers or wings. The trees of the field will not really clap their hands. An example of this error (and this is another teacher that commits many) is in Henry Wright’s book, “A More Excellent Way”. He writes, “Do you know what the Bible says is the cause of non-menopausal osteoporosis? I’ll give it to you-envy and jealousy are the cause of rotting of the bones. ‘A sound heart is the life of the flesh; but envy the rottenness of the bones. Proverbs 14:30″

8. Overstating a metaphor: When the Bible uses a figure of speech it is meant to make a limited point. For instance, when Jesus declared, “I am the door”, He was not stating that everything true of a door is also true of Him. Jesus is not made of wood. He is not rectangular. etc. But I have seen teachers take statements like this one in Proverbs, “Go to the ant you sluggard” and discover 15 things we are to imitate about ants. In like manner, Gothard’s Basic Care Manual 2, on page 21, does this with John 5:53-58 to prove that we must only eat whole grain bread. “Perhaps the most important relationship which Christ made between Himself and bread is the need for accepting the whole essence of both. The heart of the grain is the wheat germ and the outer shell is the bran. ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you…For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed…so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is the bread which came down from heaven….(John 6:53-58)”. To reduce this passage declaring our Lord’s supreme sacrifice and our need to receive it, to a discussion about bread is horrific.

9. Overstating an Example: Just because a certain thing happened a certain way in scripture at one point, does not mean that this is a divine principle and will occur the same way every time. For instance, the Bible indicates that some sickness is caused by personal sin. But the Bible does not indicate that all sickness is caused by personal sin.

10. Confusing what the Bible reports with what it mandates: The Bible reports the sinful decisions of men. This is not justification for repeating their errors. Even great men of faith made mistakes. Mormon fundamentalists will frequently refer to the passages of polygamy in the Old Testament as justification for the continued practice (in addition to D&C 132).

11. Proof-texting: Repeatedly citing verses from a variety of places in the Bible with no explanation or study. The passages are cited regardless of their true context or application. This is the “find a verse” method of Bible study. I know what I want to say so I go find a verse that I can jack-hammer into my message to support my point.

12. Mystical Interpretations: This is the seeing behind the words so common in prophetic circles. Paul Keith Davis takes the story of Joseph preparing for the famine by storing 1/5 of the crops each year as a mandate that the church in particular “storehouse cities” can demand in the spirit the souls of 1/5 of the population of their region.

13. Speculative Interpretations: The Bible tells us what we need to know but does not answer all of our curiosity. Scripture twisters fill in the gaps. Much, if not all, of the contemporary teaching on spiritual warfare comes from speculative approaches to passages and ends up delving into areas where the Bible has not given specific and clear teaching. The Word of God is holy. It demands care and respect. It must be approached properly if one is to avoid the “Badly Skewed Version”.

11. Conclusion

This brief paper represents merely an introduction to the teachings and odd application of Word of Faith/Positive Confession theology. The reader is encouraged to study the subject further. The attached bibliography is an attempt to provide a partial list of thoughtful readings by Christian leaders across denominational lines that have raised the red flag on these metaphysical teachings within the Body of Christ.

Every generation of Christians has its own false teachers and prophets to contend with, Jesus promised that. The present generation is no exception. Scripture demands that all things be tested, weighed, or judged by God’s inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Word. It is incumbent upon church leadership to be like the Berean’s and teach the body of Christ spiritual discernment through sound hermeneutical principles, equipping them to know how to examine diligently all teachings to determine whether they are supported by Scripture or not. Individuals who teach the Word of God would do well to heed the apostle’s Paul, James and Peter at this point:

Be diligent to present yourself approved of God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 NAS

Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:16 NAS

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. James 3:1 NASB

…in his letters [Paul], speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 2 Peter 3:16 NASB

In summary, it was stated at the outset of this paper that no church is immune to the effects of Word of Faith/Positive Confession teachings. Also, it was stated that most individuals involved with these teachings are innocent, not knowing that they are in error. It is recommended, therefore, that a slow and deliberate examination of teachings throughout the any church concerned about this issue take place, and where corrections back to biblical orthodoxy are needed, that they be done with a Christian spirit of gentleness, love, and great patience with a view toward genuine unity in the faith.

The Lord’s bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 3:24-26

In the final conclusion of McConnell’s book, a self-proclaimed charismatic, the following sound and reasonable observation is made:

The main cause for these chronic doctrinal tangents is readily apparent. From its inception to the present, the independent charismatic movement has had a defective doctrine of revelation. We charismatics are not adequately committed to the principle that the Bible is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. Correct doctrine comes from one source: apostolic teaching as it is expressed and preserved in the Holy Scriptures. The revelatory gifts of the Spirit—prophecy, words of wisdom and knowledge—can and should have their place in the church, but these gifts were never intended to become an alternative source of doctrine, thereby subverting the teaching of the Lord Jesus and his apostles. Until we become seriously committed to the principle that all doctrine and practice must be derived from the hermeneutically sound exegesis of God’s Word, our movement will remain vulnerable to an endless series of prophetic revelators and their bizarre teachings.

What then must be done to prevent this from happening again in the charismatic movement? We need a doctrinal reformation based on the principles of the Reformation. We must reconstruct out doctrine of revelation in such a manner as to allow for the revelatory gifts of the Spirit that are our charismatic heritage, but also clearly insist upon the Reformation principle of sola Scriptura. As the Reformers knew so well, the Scriptures alone must rule the faith, doctrine, and practice of the church. As we charismatics have come to recognize, however, those same Scriptures teach that the revelatory gist of the Spirit also have their sphere in the life of the church, something the Reformers did not admit. This special insight may enable charismatics to say more than the Reformers said about the doctrine of revelation, but it does not allow us to say less.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Albert Mohler. There Are No New Heresies—New Thought Isn’t New (www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=910).
Andrew Perriman. Faith, Health, and Prosperity: A Report on “Word of Faith” and “Positive Confession” Theologies (Gabriel Resources, 2004).
Bruce Barron. The Health and Wealth Gospel (InterVarsity Press, 1987).
Dan McConnell. A Different Gospel (Hendrickson Publishers, 1995).
Dave Hunt. The Seduction of Christianity (Harvest House Publishers, 1985).
Frederick H Cryer. Divination in Ancient Israel and its Near Eastern Environment: A Socio-Historical Investigation (Continuum International).
Gordon D. Fee. The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospels (Frontline Publishing, 1985).
H. Terris Neuman. An Analysis of the Sources of the Charismatic Teaching of “Positive Confession” (unpublished paper, Wheaton Graduate School, 1980).
Hank Hanegraaff. Christianity in Crisis (Harvest House Publishers, 1993).
Hanegraaff. Counterfeit Revival (Word Publishing, 1997).
James M. Kinnebrew. The Charismatic Doctrine of Positive Confession: A Historical, Exegetical, and Theological Critique (doctoral dissertation, Mid-American Baptist Seminary, 1988).
James W. Sire. Scripture Twisting—Twenty Ways the Cults Misread the Bible (Zondervan Publishing, 1989).
Jay E. Adams. A Call to Discernment (Harvest House Publishers, 1987).
John MacArthur. The Gospel According to Jesus (Zondervan Publishing, 1994).
Jonathan Edwards. God’s Sovereignty in the Salvation of Men in the Works of Jonathan Edwards (Banner of Truth Trust, 1995 reprint).
Jose Stevens. Secrets of Shamanism: Tapping the Spirit Power Within You (Avon Publishing, 2004).
Michael Horton. Too Good to Be True (Zondervan Publishers, 2006).
Paul Brand and Philip Yancey. Healing: What Does God Promise? (Multnomah Publishing, 1984).
Robert Bowman, Jr. The Word-Faith Controversy: Understanding the Health and Wealth Gospel (Baker Books, 2001).
Rhonda Bryne. The Secret (Atria Books, 2006).
Ron Rhodes. The Counterfeit Christ of the New Age Movement (Baker Book House, 1990).
Ruth A. Tucker. Another Gospel (Zondervan Publishing, 1989).
Steve Chalke. The Lost Message of Jesus (Zondervan Press, 2003).
Stevens. The Power Path: The Shaman’s Way to Success in Business and Life (New World Library, 2002).
Walter Martin. The Kingdom of the Cults (Bethany House Publishers, 1985).

Copyright (c) 2010 Immutable Word Ministries (“…the word of our God stands forever.” Isa. 40:8).

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Does this passage teach that Christians can loose their salvation?

Are Christians secure in their salvation, or is it possible for them to become apostate and suffer eternal damnation? What does the Scripture mean when it states that salvation is by grace through faith? Who does what in salvation—what is God’s role and what is the sinner’s role? These types of questions are of utmost seriousness because how we answer the questions will inform our ministry in how we communicate and live out our Gospel calling.

Upon close examination of Hebrews 6:4-12 it is evident that the author is responding in classical rhetorical fashion to a question posed by the Hebrew Christians who, as with Christians today, were grappling with seeking to understand how it was that some in their midst were forsaking the apostolic Gospel of grace and returning to a Jewish system of Law and works. These confessors of the faith had heard the Gospel of grace and even exhibited outward faith for a while by participating in the life of the church, only sometime latter to deny what they earlier had confessed when persecution arose against the church.

The author responds to their question by setting up a rhetorical situation for the purpose of demonstrating the impossibility of their concern—can true born again believers loose their salvation? The key to rightly interpreting this passage is to: 1) exegete it in the context of the entire book of Hebrews and, 2) endeavoring to inform the Hebrews passage in light of the balance of the New Testament teaching on the topic salvation.

Hebrews 6:4-12 NAS

“For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5. and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6. and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. 7. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8. but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. 9. But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. 10. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. 11. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so 12. that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

Reading the passage in isolation (out of its context) it may suggest a dire warning to the born again, that their salvation may hang in the balance day-by-day and is ultimately dependent upon their actions. But is that what is really being communicated in the passage? No. A fundamental interpretive practice of Bible study is referred to as the “analogy of faith” which underscores two key truths regarding Scripture: it is inspired by God thus inerrant. One attribute of God is His omniscience (He is all-knowing). Therefore, God cannot contradict Himself in Scripture because what is written was given in the form of divine revelation by the One who possesses perfect knowledge of all things. The analogy of faith recognizes Scripture as the inspired and inerrant Word of God free from actual contradictions and errors of redemptive truth. What this means practically is that as we read the Bible if there are two passages that appear to be in contradiction, both conclusions cannot be correct (law of non-contradiction), our interpretation of one of the passages then must be in error. The analogy of faith instructs the interpreter to understand vague or foggy passages of Scripture in light other passages which are quite clear on the topic under study. It is for this reason that the interpreter of this passage must take into account the remainder of the book of Hebrews and the other books of the New Testament in order to arrive at a correct application of the passage.

The book to the Hebrews was written to believers who were Jewish converts to the faith. One theme in the book is salvation by grace through faith in contrast to works (attempting to perfectly keep the Mosaic Law).

Greek Text
6:4 αδυνατον γαρ τους απαξ φωτισθεντας γευσαμενους τε της δωρεας της επουρανιου και μετοχους γενηθεντας πνευματος αγιου

The author refers to the apostate as “those” (τους). It is curious that these people are not directly identified as believers, those who are saved, or as believers.

The author classifies “those” (τους) as having once been “enlightened” (φωτισθεντας). To be enlightened is to be exposed to the saving knowledge of the gospel, to have been instructed as to its truth, to be informed, to have been taught in order to gain understanding. The word “enlightened” may also be rendered to give light or make known. We see this same word used of believers in other passages but not specifically pertaining to the event of being born again.

In the above passage the apostle uses the term in reference the believer gaining a deeper understanding of spiritual truth. To taste (γεύομαι) of the heavenly Gift is to experience His presence. Those referenced in the chapter 6 passage are described as “partakers” (μετοχους) in the Holy Spirit. The rendering is an individual who is a companion with or comrade with or one who shares with the Spirit. The word used for gift is δωρεας which simply means without cost, without cause or for no reason.

Examples:

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift (δωρεαν) of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38 NAS

The source of the gift referenced is heaven (επουρανιου) which is suggestive of the Spirit.

6:5 και καλον γευσαμενους θεου ρημα δυναμεις τε μελλοντος αιωνος

The author describes those who have become apostate as those who have tasted (γευσαμενους) or experienced first hand the Word of God and witnessed supernatural deeds of the Spirit having participated in the fellowship of the church.

6:6 και παραπεσοντας παλιν ανακαινιζειν εις μετανοιαν ανασταυρουντας εαυτοις τον υιον του θεου και παραδειγματιζοντας

To fall away (παραπεσοντας) is to denounce by word and/or actions what was earlier confessed to be true. It is the Spirit who renews (ανασταυρουντας) the dead and blind soul, who brings forth life form death, who mercifully bestows the gift of repentance to the soul previously at enmity against God.

“He (Christ) is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” Acts 5:31 NAS

“When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.’” Acts 11:18 NAS

“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” Romans 2:4 NAS

“For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10 NAS

“…with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth…” 2 Timothy 2:25 NAS

Apart from the initiative of God upon the lifeless soul no sinners would ever come to repentance on their own. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” John 6:63

If in fact an unregenerate person (one “in the flesh”) were able to come to Christ with repentance and faith apart from the work of the Spirit and therefore become born again, the following passage would be false. “…and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:8 For if it was possible to come to Christ in an unregenerate state that would be quite pleasing to God! But such is not the case.

6:7 γη γαρ η πιουσα τον επ αυτης πολλακις ερχομενον υετον και τικτουσα βοτανην ευθετον εκεινοις δι ους και γεωργειται μεταλαμβανει ευλογιας απο του θεου

6:8 εκφερουσα δε ακανθας και τριβολους αδοκιμος και καταρας εγγυς ης το τελος εις καυσιν

6:9 πεπεισμεθα δε περι υμων αγαπητοι τα κρειττονα και εχομενα σωτηριας ει και ουτως λαλουμεν

6:10 ου γαρ αδικος ο θεος επιλαθεσθαι του εργου υμων και του κοπου της αγαπης ης ενδειξασθε εις το ονομα αυτου διακονησαντες τοις αγιοις και διακονουντες

6:11 επιθυμουμεν δε εκαστον υμων την αυτην ενδεικνυσθαι σπουδην προς την πληροφοριαν της ελπιδος αχρι τελους

6:12 ινα μη νωθροι γενησθε μιμηται δε των δια πιστεως και μακροθυμιας κληρονομουντων τας επαγγελιας

“For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end…” Hebrews 3:13 NAS

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened (φωτισθεντας), so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints…” Ephesians 1:18 NAS

“But remember the former days, when , after being enlightened (φωτισθεντες), you endured a great conflict of sufferings….” Hebrews 10:32 NAS

The remainder of chapter 10 outlines how the authors born again readers were in fact enlightened by the Gospel (Romans 10:17) to the extent of being radically transformed to the point of enduring great suffering from an unbelieving world, emphasizing that we are not those who shrink back to destruction of soul ending in damnation (“we” meaning the redeemed, in contrast to “those” meaning the reprobate).

Copyright (c) 2010 Immutable Word Ministries (“…the word of our God stands forever.” Isa. 40:8).

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“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Mark 8:34

Self-determination constitutes the foundational bitter fruit of the Adamic nature and left unbridled it is the ruin of men. Here in the Lord’s injunction lies the central issue by which all men are held responsible before their Creator;’ viz., the Lord Jesus Christ has spoken, will I trust in Him and believe that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose, or will I call Him a liar by shrinking back through disobedience?

Certainly as the First cause the Lord has decreed from eternity past the outcome of all things and He often employs Secondary causes, human action or inaction, to bring them about. While certain aspects and workings of Providence have been make known to man, such as His moral Law found in the Ten Commandments, some of His eternal decrees remain cloaked according to the wise counsel of His own will. The Lord Jesus Christ knew that the decree of His Father for Him was the cross, and that the Father would utilize secondary causes—the evil within fallen men—to bring about that which He had decreed from eternity, and that He would do this in such a way that men were responsible for their evil acts, God in no way be author to them, “this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23).

The omniscient glorified Lord Jesus Christ spoke to apostle Peter after His resurrection and shared with him God’s decree regarding the future manner of his death by crucifixion, “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go” (John 21:18).

The old hymn “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go” aptly describes the mindset pleasing to the Lord where pilgrims obediently follow their Lord trusting that whatever comes to pass is ultimately for their good and the glory of God. A failure to understand this results in a disobedience which may incur divine correction, “And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17). It is not the pilgrims business to attempt to direct the Lord’s decree regarding his service on earth. Rather, faithful servants of the Lord seek the mind of Christ with a view toward complete obedience, leaving the outcome to their loving Lord who causes all things to work together for their good; delayed obedience is immediate disobedience and partial obedience is complete disobedience.

For the Lord Jesus Christ the endurance of the cross encompassed far more that physical pain and death, are horrible as they were; it also brought public shame and humiliation to the Servant of the Lord of Hosts. The sons of Adam are opposed to the message of the cross, it is foolishness and a stumbling block, and as the Chief Shepherd was ridiculed for proclaiming the kingdom of God and repentance, how much more are His servants who bear His name and likeness?

Beloved, to deny yourself is to obey the Lord Jesus Christ to the best of your ability and release the outcome of your faithfulness to His providential care, even if the path leads to shame and death. Indeed, faithful servants die daily and many are publically ridiculed. If you believe that all things work together for your good then you will obey completely, if not you will rebel, and if that is the case then repentance of your sin is in order.

Copyright (c) 2010 Immutable Word Ministries (“…the word of our God stands forever….” Isa. 40:8).

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emember how your fathers, in times gone by, defended God’s truth, and blush, ye cowards, who are afraid to maintain it!

Remember that our Bible is a blood-stained book; the blood of martyrs is on the Bible, the blood of translators and confessors. The pool of holy baptism, in which many of you have been baptized, is a blood-stained pool: full many have had to die for the vindication of that baptism which is “the answer of a good conscience toward God.”

The doctrines which we preach to you are doctrines that have been baptized in blood,—swords have been drawn to slay the confessors of them; and there is not a truth which has not been sealed by them at the stake, or the block, or far away on the lofty mountains, where they have been slain by hundreds. It is but a little duty we have to discharge compared with theirs. They were called to maintain the truth when they had to die for it; you only have to maintain the truth when taunt and jeer, ignominious names and contemptuous epithets are all you have to endure for it.

What! do you expect easy lives? While some have led through seas of blood, and have fought to win the prize, are you wearied with a slight skirmish on dry land? What would you do if God should suffer persecuting days to overtake you? O craven spirits, ye would flee away, and disown your profession!

Be ye the pillar and ground of the truth. Let the blood of martyrs, let the voices of confessors, speak to you. Remember how they held fast the truth, how they preserved it, and handed it down to us from generation to generation; and by their noble example, I beseech you, be steadfast and faithful, tread valiantly and firmly in their steps, acquit yourselves like men,—like men of God, I implore you!

Shall we not have some champions, in these times, who will deal sternly with heresies for the love of the truth,—men who will stand like rocks in the center of the sea, so that, when all others shake, they stand invulnerable and invincible? Thou who art tossed about by every wind of doctrine, farewell; I own thee not till God shall give thee grace to stand firm for his truth, and not to be ashamed of him nor of his words in this evil generation.

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“Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 20:7

As a pilgrim you are an ordinary individual, but one who has been miraculously translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, a soul that by grace has been regenerated and converted to life in the Beloved. Instantaneously you received an imputed righteous—a righteousness not your own—by means of the atonement, and are now positionally justified by grace through faith in Christ.

Infused with a new nature by the Holy Spirit the Lord has set you free from the fetters of bondage to sin and death, although practically you must learn to walk in that freedom by struggling against the latent desires of the flesh, characterized by improper thoughts, words, and deeds. Like Israel occupying a new land you are a sojourner and the Lord calls you to abstain from the wicked practices of the pagan people who dwell among you.

You are foreigner in the land, your citizenship being in heaven, and while you sojourn you are not to be swayed into worshipping the gods recognized by the peoples around you; indeed, some that you personally may have adored before your life in Christ. You are now called to be as salt and light to a fallen world. While separate in conduct and devotion you do not have the option of physically withdrawing out of the world as the monastics, for to do so would nullify your influence as an ambassador of Christ to the nations.

The gods of the people around you today are essentially the same as those of old, although their form and names may have changed; predictably they grow in the depraved soil of minds hostile to the Lord, those in rebellion against the Lord of Hosts, dedicated to the pursuit of power over others through position; fame rooted in a vain search for significance in the eyes of others also living under the sun; sensual depravity as a result of a debased mind evidenced by a pornographic and homosexual culture, one that deceives the simple by championing and parading indecent acts as an expression of enlightened personal liberty, when bondage to sin remains the genuine outcome; and an insatiable pursuit for worldly wealth whereby its adherents pit themselves against each other in the hope of its attainment, biting and clawing their way to the top of the heap.

Pilgrim, these types of pursuits occupy the attention and fan the flames of passion among those who do not know God, but they are to have no place in your heart. Flee from them at once, run for your life when they subtlety and seductively seek to take hold of you, cleverly appealing to the old man within. Like Joseph make up your mind before the test comes that you will not willingly sin against God, when the test comes run for your life, flee immediately…right now, get going, do not tarry and thus be deceived in to thinking you are able to remain and calmly consider the merits or faults of the proposition offered, rather get out of there now, leave your garment and exit in haste, “She caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me!’ And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside” (Gen. 39:12).

Beloved, spiritual syncretism is seductively subtle, able to slowly trap you in its web of lies if you remain ignorant of its intent and abilities, until one day you come to your senses only to grieve as to just how far off course you have traveled in your sojourning, and like Bunyan’s Pilgrim you find yourself backtracking a good distance, dismayed at how easily you were duped while vowing never again to be taken in by the prince of darkness.

Consider the Apostles warning, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust” (Jas. 1:14). The innate lust of the flesh remains within you and you must daily mortify its desires which wage war against the Spirit. Prevailing soldiers know the tactics of their enemy and have taken a sober assessment of their weakness before engaging their opponent. Offer to the Lord your points of weakness before the battle and He will enable you to stand on that day victorious just as Joseph on that day stood victorious as an ambassador of Christ.

Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries (“…the word of our God stands forever.” Isa. 40:8).
(Reproduced with permission)

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For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:9

God’s sovereign purposes and means with regard to salvation are problematic to human inclinations and reasoning. The sons of Adam by nature establish errant particulars on how things ought to be with regard to the things pertaining to salvation, chaffing under the notion that the ultimate destination of their souls is in the hands of the great I AM who extends mercy and compassion to those whom He choose while passing over others. That men stumble over the salvific aspects to sovereignty is expected as it has biblical and historical precedent. In this regard the Apostle anticipated an objection by his readers to his assertion that it was by divine election Isaac was saved and Esau damned, “What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!” (Romans 9:14).

Behold both the kindness and severity of God: to the reprobate a hardening ending in damnation, to the elect grace unto saving faith, “having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will….” (Ephesians 1:11). The redeemed are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus and the grace they enjoy is an unmerited gift from Him. To these things men of good intention have taken opposite and passionate positions. Some holding to a deficient anthropology whereby they ascribe an undue—unbiblical—ability within fallen man to seek and respond to God apart from grace and the end result of such thinking is boasting; such is the error of the Pelagians, semi-Pelagians, and Arminians.

In their estimation it is by their doing they are in Christ; the Gospel was articulated and they responded with a faith apart from that which God supplies; while in the flesh—unregenerate—faith was exercised and they were born again. A fanciful interpretation is applied to election and predestination whereby God from eternity past gazed passively into the future and saw how each man would respond to the Gospel, some positively and others negatively. On this basis they were elected and predestined to either salvation or damnation.

The end result is a man-centered doctrine far removed from biblical revelation. For it is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. God knows the course of all future events because He foreordains them to come to pass. The entire human race has rebelled against God and is worthy if eternal damnation by a just and holy Creator; all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; there is none righteous; there is none who seek after God, each has turned to his own detestable way; each has stored up wrath for the day of wrath; the work of each being contemptible and as a filthy rag. Grace has been extended to some in the form of saving faith through the agency of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth….” (James 1:18).

Those to whom grace is extended believe the Gospel and produce fruit in keeping with repentance and the remainder receive divine justice—the wages of sin is death— none receive injustice. But lest a man presume upon the grace of God let him make his calling and election sure and so press on toward the goal of the upward prize in Christ Jesus. Let such a man prove himself a doer of the Word and not merely a hearer, deluding himself. Let him work out his salvation with fear and trembling knowing God will not be mocked, for whatsoever a man sows that he will also reap. It is not by works that a man is saved, it is by faith alone; but it is by good works that the genuineness of his salvation is manifested, testifying to the Holy Spirit within him. In this regard the words of our Lord bear repeating, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:8). Beloved, let your profession of Christ and production of good fruit be in alignment, so that God may be glorified, men may be edified, and salvation be the outworking of your time and testimony on earth.

Copyright 2009 Immutable Word Ministries

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