By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
This past weekend was the 234th anniversary observance of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, which occurred in my hometown of Greensboro, NC. On March 15, 1781 Nathanael Greene--commanding general of the Continental Army's Southern Department--bloodied the British in a terrible battle. They held a re-enactment, as they do every year. Many natives of Greensboro do not realize how significant this battle was in the ultimate defeat and surrender at Yorktown, even though technically it was a defeat. I mention this because it was this very same battlefield that opened my eyes to the reality of spiritual warfare.While walking at night in 2001, I saw a demon which had visibly manifested. And human warfare is a potent picture of the reality of spiritual warfare. It has been pointed out often that the offensive weapon mentioned in the Ephesians passage is the bible/Word of God, which is the Sword of the Spirit. It is not rocket science to assume that this precious weapon would come under heavy fire from Satan.
Most bible believing preachers (RC and Protestant) hardly ever go beyond a passing reference to spiritual warfare in their pastoral prayers or sermons/homilies.That is an indisputable fact.So, I want to address this via an issue that most bible-believing pastors are passionate about....though there are signs of slippage. Namely, the authority and inerrancy of the bible. In v.17 the bible/Word of God is referred to as the sword of the Spirit.We need to realize that any diminishment of the full authority and inerrancy of the bible has serious consequences for spiritual warfare. Going all the way back to Genesis 3:1 Satan has made it a major strategy of his to plant doubts amongst God's people about the full trustworthiness of God's Word.
My goal in this blog is to defend the inerrancy of the bible re: spiritual warfare.
In 1979 Jack Rogers and Don McKim wrote a book which proposed that the bible is authoritative in matters of faith and conduct, but it is not infallible when it comes to historical or scientific details. In addition, they argued that that the notion of inerrancy was an innovation of the Princeton theologians of the 19th and 20th centuries, most notably B.B. Warfield, created the doctrine of inerrancy, which teaches that the Bible is entirely without error in all that it affirms.(please see the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy...ICBI for response in dozens of scholarly books) Their proposal effected many then, and limited inerrancy (or limited errancy), has a widespread polluting effect within the church today.Young evangelical/RC theologians are falling prey once again to the Rogers/McKim logic.
If you have never heard of B.B. Warfield, then it is my honor to introduce you to him--he helped the Church by offering a very straightforward and simplified argument for inerrancy.
A Medieval philosopher (whom I mention in my book several times) William of Ockham is known for his principle of parsimony, or simplicity. The argument with the fewest assumptions is the better argument, the principle states. And Warfield used Occam's razor well. The simple, but not simplistic, argument he made was this: IF God is the author of Scripture, then Scripture is true.If it is inspired by the Spirit of Truth, then it must be true/inerrant.
Consider this conversation between two Christians-one who believes inerrancy is important and the other does not
Bill--"I am a Christian and follow the bible re religious matters."
Chris--"Do you believe the bible is inerrant?"
Bill--"Nope"
Chris--"Do you believe that all Scripture is inspired by the God of Truth?" (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Bill--"Umm, yea, all of Scripture is inspired by God."
Chris--"Do you believe the God of Truth inspires error/lies/falsehood?"
Bill--"Of course not."
Chris--"Then is the bible inerrant or not?"
Bill---"Uumm..." The logic is simple but compelling!
Today, in our generation, theologians are challenging the inerrancy of God's Word again. To do so, blunts the Sword of the Spirit in spiritual warfare.
St Augustine wrote Jerome, "Admit even a single well-meant falsehood into such an exalted authority, and there will not be left a single section of those books which, appearing to anyone to present difficulties from the point of view of practice or to be hard to believe from the point of view of doctrine, will escape, by the very same very same baneful principle, from being classified as the deliberate act of an author who was lying."
Will we submit ourselves to Scripture, or will we submit Scripture to ourselves?
This exchange between Augustine and Jerome teaches us that inerrancy is not a modern invention, in fact it goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1) The real issue is failure to submit to the full Lordship of Christ.
In the 1970's, which is the same time fascination with the paranormal began in earnest, there was a renewed attack on the full authority of the bible within the church.Many of us went through college with professors taking delight in pointing out the alleged contradictions and errors in the bible.
As a student of the bible and of logic, I can say with confidence that there are no errors or contradictions in the Word of God (in the autographs).Whatever copyist errors that have crept in are exceedingly minimal. If God is the God of Truth, how could He inspire error?
The bible is not primarily a handbook on history or science, BUT when it touches on either and affirms it, then it speaks true truth.If it does not, then why should we believe it re: spiritual issues?
Next time I want to deal with the relation between the intrinsic authority of the Word of God and the authority of the Church. There is a difference between sola scriptura and nuda scriptura.
Bottom line--how can we cling to the bible in spiritual warfare unless it is truly true, as God is True?!
Everything we hold dear regarding our victory over the Evil One assumes that our source of that knowledge (the bible) is true. If it is not true regarding matters that can be verified, then why should we believe it regarding "spiritual" matters that are unverifiable?
Inerrancy means that God did not err in His Words to us. Infallibility means that the Lord cannot speak falsehood.
The source of our knowledge of the Person and work of Christ is the bible. If the source is under attack then so is everything else. This is an issue worth taking a strong, firm but loving stance over...for God's glory!
"Seeing Ghosts through God's Eyes" (also in a Kindle edition)...please consider purchasing my book which uses science, logic, and the bible to analyze the true source of power behind paranormal activity.
Looking inside the spiritual & literary worlds
Showing posts with label genesis 3:1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genesis 3:1. Show all posts
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Accused By The Father Of All Lies
I really wanted to touch on the subject for the people who easily tend to forget (like myself) when we come down too hard on ourselves, if we are depressed or think we're not good enough, not important or if we just feel that nagging feeling about ourselves we forget that Satan is the father of all lies. He would love nothing more than for us to feel that think it's the Holy Spirit or somehow God scolding us for being a horrible individual. I'm certainly not saying that that's an excuse that people can use for doing things out why I'm just speaking in general. I personally believe we are living in the end times therefore Satan is getting more desperate. He is sending out all his armies of demons to drag as many souls to hell as he can. He knows how it ends, everybody knows how The Bible and and Satan knows it better than any of us. He knows his demise is coming, at some point the enemy and his legions of demonic creatures and demons or whatever you want to call them, are finished.
Satan is the original liar. He is the “father” of lies. Satan told the first lie in recorded history to Eve, in the Garden of Eden. After planting seeds of doubt in Eve’s mind with a question (Genesis 3:1)he directly contradicts God’s Word by telling her, “You will not certainly die” (Genesis 3:4). With that lie, Satan led Eve to her death; Adam followed, and so have we all.
Lying is Satan main weapon against God’s children. He uses the tactic of deceit to separate people from their heavenly Father. The most common lie is "there is no God,” “God doesn’t care about you,” “the Bible cannot be trusted,” But we must remember the apostle Paul tells us that Satan “masquerades as an angel of light” so that what he says and does sounds good and seems reasonable. Another example would be "familiar spirits" demons masquerading as your past love one in order to get a foothold into your life. Of course they would know exactly what to say that only your grandmother would know and they could appear to look like you're lost and dearly departed. The Bible warns us to "be aware of the familiar spirit"
Satan has told more lies to more people (and even angels) than any being ever created. His success depends on people believing his lies. He has used everything from “little white lies” to huge, pants-on-fire whoppers to deceive folks. Adolph Hitler, a man who learned how to lie effectively, once said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed." Whether a lie is small or large is not really the issue. Lies are of the devil. If you’ve lied even once, then, unless you repent, you will not enter heaven. The Bible teaches that allliars “will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Reveleation 21:8)
Satan also known as the devil, is mentioned quite often in the Bible. There are many popular ideas about this evil spirit being. Some think that Satan is not real, but is rather a personification of the wickedness that abides in the world. Others admit that the devil exists, but assume that he is now confined in the bottomless pit. Still others believe that Satan is free and actively promoting sinfulness in our world today. What is the truth? What does the Bible tell us about this evil being? God's Word clearly teaches the reality of Satan as a personal and very real entity. He is presented as an evil being who affects humanity by his actions. Many details about the devil are available in the Bible, but the facts have to be searched out.
Satan surrounds man with strongholds so as to prevents us from obeying the calling that God may have for us in this life. Not everybody has a calling but many have callings and Satan would like to prevent as many as possible from prospering and coming to pass. Satan likes to go after the mind. That is the biggest playground for him and demons. They could affect you in many ways they can cause oppression which is a lot like depression. When one becomes so bombarded with speculations or imaginations which are adverse to the obedience of Christ. Paul says "the weapons of our warfare against these are not of the flesh." These imaginations must first be destroyed before we can bring our thoughts into captivity.
Many of God’s children do not recognize many of our thoughts and thought process as the work of Satan. A person may consider such a thought as his own and take it as true, thinking that the brother really is wrong. And yet, this is not true. It is Satan who has put the thought into his mind. How is he to resist the devil? He must say, "I do not want this thought. I return it to you, Satan." Should he accept it, it will become his own thought. It is Satan’s at the start, but it will become his if he keeps it. That's just one of many examples of how you conduct spiritual warfare when those thoughts come to pass.
I wish everybody knew what Satanic temptation is. Satanic temptation enters mainly, if not exclusively, in the form of thought. When Satan tempts people, he does not come out and say " I am the devil tempting you". If people were able to better recognize it was of Satan they would resist it however, he is so very sneaky and plays dirty! All his temptations are formulated so as not to easily arouse us. He does not want them to suspect him; he would rather have us sleep on. So he injects a lot of thoughts into the minds of as many people as possible in order to seek out the ones that may be weaker at that time due to life normal ups and downs whether it be a death in the family or divorce etc...if we accept it, it has become a foothold for him. We must resist the enemy at all times. Always remember to pray over yourself daily and command that Satan and his entire kingdom have no authority over your mind, body, soul or spirit. Remember in Jesus's name we have authority over the enemy and his kingdom! Do not allow yourself to be bullied by him or his demons. Remember fear is not of God.
Written By Jennifer Lori Auld
Satan is the original liar. He is the “father” of lies. Satan told the first lie in recorded history to Eve, in the Garden of Eden. After planting seeds of doubt in Eve’s mind with a question (Genesis 3:1)he directly contradicts God’s Word by telling her, “You will not certainly die” (Genesis 3:4). With that lie, Satan led Eve to her death; Adam followed, and so have we all.
Lying is Satan main weapon against God’s children. He uses the tactic of deceit to separate people from their heavenly Father. The most common lie is "there is no God,” “God doesn’t care about you,” “the Bible cannot be trusted,” But we must remember the apostle Paul tells us that Satan “masquerades as an angel of light” so that what he says and does sounds good and seems reasonable. Another example would be "familiar spirits" demons masquerading as your past love one in order to get a foothold into your life. Of course they would know exactly what to say that only your grandmother would know and they could appear to look like you're lost and dearly departed. The Bible warns us to "be aware of the familiar spirit"
Satan has told more lies to more people (and even angels) than any being ever created. His success depends on people believing his lies. He has used everything from “little white lies” to huge, pants-on-fire whoppers to deceive folks. Adolph Hitler, a man who learned how to lie effectively, once said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed." Whether a lie is small or large is not really the issue. Lies are of the devil. If you’ve lied even once, then, unless you repent, you will not enter heaven. The Bible teaches that allliars “will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Reveleation 21:8)
Satan also known as the devil, is mentioned quite often in the Bible. There are many popular ideas about this evil spirit being. Some think that Satan is not real, but is rather a personification of the wickedness that abides in the world. Others admit that the devil exists, but assume that he is now confined in the bottomless pit. Still others believe that Satan is free and actively promoting sinfulness in our world today. What is the truth? What does the Bible tell us about this evil being? God's Word clearly teaches the reality of Satan as a personal and very real entity. He is presented as an evil being who affects humanity by his actions. Many details about the devil are available in the Bible, but the facts have to be searched out.
Satan surrounds man with strongholds so as to prevents us from obeying the calling that God may have for us in this life. Not everybody has a calling but many have callings and Satan would like to prevent as many as possible from prospering and coming to pass. Satan likes to go after the mind. That is the biggest playground for him and demons. They could affect you in many ways they can cause oppression which is a lot like depression. When one becomes so bombarded with speculations or imaginations which are adverse to the obedience of Christ. Paul says "the weapons of our warfare against these are not of the flesh." These imaginations must first be destroyed before we can bring our thoughts into captivity.
Many of God’s children do not recognize many of our thoughts and thought process as the work of Satan. A person may consider such a thought as his own and take it as true, thinking that the brother really is wrong. And yet, this is not true. It is Satan who has put the thought into his mind. How is he to resist the devil? He must say, "I do not want this thought. I return it to you, Satan." Should he accept it, it will become his own thought. It is Satan’s at the start, but it will become his if he keeps it. That's just one of many examples of how you conduct spiritual warfare when those thoughts come to pass.
I wish everybody knew what Satanic temptation is. Satanic temptation enters mainly, if not exclusively, in the form of thought. When Satan tempts people, he does not come out and say " I am the devil tempting you". If people were able to better recognize it was of Satan they would resist it however, he is so very sneaky and plays dirty! All his temptations are formulated so as not to easily arouse us. He does not want them to suspect him; he would rather have us sleep on. So he injects a lot of thoughts into the minds of as many people as possible in order to seek out the ones that may be weaker at that time due to life normal ups and downs whether it be a death in the family or divorce etc...if we accept it, it has become a foothold for him. We must resist the enemy at all times. Always remember to pray over yourself daily and command that Satan and his entire kingdom have no authority over your mind, body, soul or spirit. Remember in Jesus's name we have authority over the enemy and his kingdom! Do not allow yourself to be bullied by him or his demons. Remember fear is not of God.
Written By Jennifer Lori Auld
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