Jesus and The Abiding Authority of Old Testament Moral Law

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Some folks have dismissed the Old Testament laws prohibiting occultic activity simply because they sincerely, but wrongly, believe that the Old Testament has been abrogated (done away with) by the New Testament. So, with one fell swoop, they throw out the entire older testament, and continue to engage in ghost box activity, EVP’s etc. because they believe that those laws were not part of ‘giving of the NEW law” in the New Testament. However, as an aside, they overlook the New Testaments condemnation of the occult.

Showing that the Old Testament is still valid today is a comprehensive task beyond the scope of this blog, but I wish to focus on one incident in Jesus’ life that shows how HE viewed and used the Old Testament moral law. I say MORAL law because theologians often distinguish between the moral law, civil law, and ceremonial law. Again, it is beyond the scope of this discussion to address this, as I have in an earlier blog.

Are there some difficult passages? Yes, but common sense can usually cipher out the issues that folks raise like: what about where it condemns using two kinds of cloth? Common sense is not THE law of theology, but it certainly is useful!

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Briefly, there are two ‘take-aways’ from this text. First, the entire OT is normative and applicable for today (though not always literally, as we’ll see). Jesus could not have stated it more clearly: nothing in the OT will be abrogated or abolished by His ministry. Certain things like the ceremonial law regarding sacrificices find their fulfillment in Christ’s once for all atonement, and are thus not to be repeated by Christians. But as we read the OT law about sacrifices and feast days we learn more about the multi-faceted nature of the atonement. In other words, they are still normative and applicable in how they teach us about the Person and Work of Christ.

Second, those who do toss out the OT law can expect some ramifications (see v.19) That is sobering for those who hold to the view that the OT law is no longer binding on Christians.

One last word of introduction. It sometimes takes discernment and common sense to tell which commandments in OT are literally normative for today, and are not seen as typology, ect. Again, all the OT is normative/authoritative and applicable (in some way) for today, but it is the OT moral law that is LITERALLY normative for today. Some examples of this would be the Ten Commandments and Deuteronomy 18.

Most people are aware that, when Jesus was tempted by Satan, He quoted from the book of Deuteronomy—in particular Deut. 8:3; 6:16; and 6:13. If in the midst of the most savage spiritual warfare, God in human flesh appealed to the OT moral law as the “Sword of the Spirit’, then surely it shows how important,significant and normative it is for today’s believers! What Jesus later taught in the same chapter regarding the abiding authority of OT law (see above), He ‘practiced what he preached’ in the temptation narrative. “It is written…” and He then quoted a verse that hammered the devil head on.

However, what you may not be aware of is the deep and abiding significance of the Greek tense of the phrase: “It is written…” Gegreptai in the Greek, in all three quotes…gegreptai, gegreptai, gegreptai! Satan knew the enormous significance  of this word (translated into three words in English).

So, with each temptation, Jesus says to Satan: “Gegreptai…” and then quotes from OT moral law—Deuteronomy. It is in the PERFECT tense. What does this mean?

Well, to be more specific, gegreptai is-third person, singular, perfect, indicative, passive.

The perfect tense in this context denotes permanence of normative authority. Generally, the Greek perfect tense denotes the present state resultant from past actions. It is a completed act with abiding results. In other words, it (texts quoted from Deuteronomy)was written in the past but it is still in force; it is still the Word of God!

Do you see the fantastic ramifications of this? The Holy Spirit could have chosen to use the aorist past tense, but in all three replies Jesus used the perfect tense to emphasize to Satan, and to us, that the Word of God is alive and Divine. He hammered home to the devil that what had been written about 1.500 years before had lost none of its original divine normative authority.

Yes, it is very instructive that Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy, but it is even more so when we realize the full significance of His prefatory words, “It is written…” He was telling the devil, and us, that the written words He was uttering had a permanently abiding authority to them.

Hence, the notion that we can jettison the moral law of the OT in general, and texts like Deuteronomy 18 in particular, regarding occultic sin, is especially wrong-headed in light of Jesus’ use of the perfect tense when referring to the up-to-the-second normative authority of the moral law in the same book, a few chapters earlier.

The words are to be taken at face value at speaking God’s abiding contempt for all occult tools and practices.

I add this as a short addition to the reasons for why all Old Testament laws regarding attempting to contact the dead must be taken as valid and normative for all people today—especially believers.

Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.

Was Satan Truly Cain's Father?

Recently while I was out of state handling several cases of diabolic possession I was watching TV and the preacher who was on was making a very bold claim about Cain and Abel. This preacher was spot on regarding the Biblical story and discussion regarding Cain killing Abel. However, the clergy member stated boldly that the Bible says that Cain was the offspring of the snake (Satan).

Well this struck me and I was led to listen even more intently to this man preach. After his segment was over I knew in my heart that this was not proper teaching and I wanted to let all of you who follow this page know that the controversy of Cain being the seed of the snake is NOT proper and true.

As many of you know scripture can be misinterpreted by isolating a certain scripture. Therefore using one point or one word in a sentence to determine what the context is to be. As followers we are told to divide the word of truth; which means we cannot disregard the majority of references written on any given subject throughout the Scripture of doctrine as a whole.

Now, there are believers and followers of Lord Jesus Christ who have adopted a cult like interpretation of the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis. This cult like aspect leads a person to believe that Satan is the cause of the fall by intercourse with Eve which resulted in Cain being the offspring of Eve. Thus the eating of the fruit of the tree is symbolic in its meaning.

The truth can only be explained correctly by holding to a literal interpretation about this event, which is how Jesus Christ described Genesis. Those who come to another conclusion do so because they equate or symbolize the event of the fall into a metaphor. This type of interpretation is often found in the new age movement and like cults.  Our Bible makes it clear that fall of man came from the eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge by both Adam and Eve, it had nothing to do with intercourse or "knowing" eve as some followers like to say.

The Bible says this, At a certain time of the day the Lord visits them and said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate" (Gen. 3:11-12).  There are those who insist that Cain is the offspring of the Serpent, (Satan) by Eve’s eating of the tree (symbolic of her having intercourse with the snake). When intercourse is described the phrase (“knew her”) is used. This is completely missing the mark in describing the sin of Eve. If one turns the eating of the fruit into promiscuity on Eve’s part – than what can be said of regarding Adam?

God blames Adam for the sin, not Eve, which would be a necessity if this was a sexual sin by her participation. Adam and Eve were monogamous: it would not have occurred to our first parent to "know" any other than "his wife," and “her husband.” How else could Jesus refer to their marriage in Mt.19:5 as the standard if one was unfaithful, especially in conception (1 Cor.6:16). To make Eve a harlot or anything relating to this scenario is a demonic teaching!

We know the story but let's get definitive shall we. First we need to recognize that Satan is evil with no good, second the word eating is used for food. They were already eating from all the other trees. If eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil was intercourse then eating from the other trees is intercourse as well.

The Bible says Adam did not know his wife until after they were put out of the garden. This whole theory is in jeopardy if one reads the word of God carefully and correctly. The “serpent seed doctrine” states that Adam did not know Eve intimately during the time of their stay in the garden but Satan did. This is incorrect.  According to the word of God the conception of Cain took place after Adam and Eve were put out of the garden from the fall (eating of the forbidden tree), but the 'sin' was from eating of this tree which caused the fall took place in the garden.

One has to do some doctrinal cutting and pasting which is incorrect to try and connect Cain’s conception to the encounter with Satan as the tree or fruit. This changes the literal descriptions in Genesis to match this story in nature. This is a literal event - literal trees, literal people and a literal serpent, which is also mentioned several times in the New Testament in these verses (Rom. 5:21, 16:20; 1 Cor.15:21; 2 Cor.11:3-4; 1 Tim. 2:14).

Therefore we can conclude the following according to Gen 4:1: “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD." Gen 4:1 Adam knew his wife and an ancient word is 'meuo' referring to know - intimately (as in sexual intercourse). When Eve conceived; the Hebrew word is harah; a primitive root; to be (or become) pregnant, conceive (literally or figuratively): KJV-- been, be with child, conceive, progenitor.

Nowhere does the Holy Bible say Cain was conceived by anyone else but Adam. It does not say Satan, the Serpent or any other 'knew' Eve. When Eve bore Cain she said he was from the Lord, not Satan. She saw this child as a gift from God. Certainly this would not be the case if Satan was progenitor of Cain. You don't get a demon child from God or with His help, nor do you praise God for it.

This becomes a matter of whether one wants to get there teaching from the Bible or use their own imagination. The same word Adam knew his wife and she conceived Cain is used in Gen.4:17 that Cain knew his wife.  So there you have it, the falseness of this 'knowing' eve from a sexual standpoint by the snake/satan is FALSE and needs to be thrown away. Cain and Abel were brothers - not twins as this controversy also likes to further add. The Hebrew texts are crystal clear on what brother verses twin mean (see the story of Esau and Jacob for TWINS).

So hopefully you can see now that this teaching of the Snake 'knowing' Eve is a Demonic teaching straight from the pits of HELL! Therefore you will now have a source for combating this falseness if you ever come to a discussion with a person who believes this aspect.

Blessings and hopefully this helped understand more bible truth.

Rev. Bradley Luoma

Why the Old Testament is Vital in Countering the Occult

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Gnostic/occult.motifs were already present in the age of the Apostles. Early church tradition traces the rise of Gnosticism to Simon Magus, briefly mentioned in Acts 8:9-24. Remember he attempted to purchase the Holy Spirit. Peter was not pleased and it seems from the text that Simon repented, at least superficially. Later tradition says that Simon went to Rome and started a gnostic group, and competed with Peter for converts...he actually arrived in Rome before Peter did according to tradition.Justin Martyr, an early Christian apologist, stated that Simon was teaching that he was the Messiah--God! I don't do this often but I want to include here an extended quote from Harold Brown's 'Heresies'..

"Simon and his followers are charged by their Christian opponents with practicing magic(k) and occult arts.  This was natural enough; to the extent that they were impressed by his ability to work apparent miracles, the early Christians had no choice but to attribute them to the power of evil. MANY OTHER GNOSTIC FIGURES WERE ACCUSED OF NECROMANCY,A NOT UNLIKELY CHARGE IN VIEW OF
THEIR EMPHASIS ON THEIR ACCESS TO HIDDEN, OCCULT, KNOWLEDGE AND POWER.

Simon's system involved a number of points that will also characterize later heretical movements: 1.a syncretistic blending of biblical ideas with themes drawn from other, pagan, Near Eastern sources;2.a dualistic interpretation of the material world as hopelessly estranged, by nature, from the purely spiritual Father;3. the teaching that a personal Savior has appeared on earth; 4.a rejection of the Jewish Scriptures as fraudulent or malicious;5.an interest in not only secret lore, but in magic and the occult.The fact that Gnosticism, like certain later movements, ties rejection of the Hebrew Old Testament to fresh superstitions and an interest in the occult helps us to see the cardinal importance of the Old Testament for Christian orthodoxy.

The major doctrines of Christianity are indeed drawn from the New Testament, and superficially it might appear as though the Old Testament is of interest cheifly as background. As a matter of fact, however, it is the Old Testament that guarantees the rootedness of Christ, His Person, and His work in real history. Whenever the Old Testament is ignored or reduced to mere Jewish religious thought, Christians readily fall prey to various mythologies and occults. With the loss of confidence in the reliability in the Old Testament, brought about by, among other things, nineteenth-century liberal Bible criticism, some nominally Christian leaders developed an enthusiasm for pagan mythology...(Pg. 51)"

There is a confluence of forces that has caused the occult in general, and necromancy in particular, to explode. But according to Dr Brown (now deceased), a loss of confidence in the reliability of the Old Testament has been high on the list of causes.If he is correct, and I think he is, then we have a serious problem on our hands. Of those you reading this, how many of you have taken an Old Testament course which basically undercut the reliability of the Old Testament? Many of you, I am sure. When I was in college, it broke my heart to see the vicious spiritual wounds being inflicted in these classes, and the high number of student casualties. Students in these classes, as with the teaching of macro-evolution, were not made aware of brilliant scholars who differed with their professors anti-supernaturalistic presuppositions.Hence, we were made to believe that any thinking person MUST believe in macro-evolution and that the Old Testament was a mythical book which was riddled with errors and contradictions. Tragic....

The Old Testament is not full of myths, errors or contradictions. It is God's inerrant Word which is on a collision with the worldview which has become dominant today. The infinite/personal God created the heavens and earth....the biblical God is eternal, not energy. It is in the Old Testament where we have the most explicit denunciations of occultism...psychics/mediums, and necromancy.The biblical worldview is stated clearly in the Old Testament, especially in the first three chapters of Genesis. In fact, every major New Testament motif can be found in germinal form in Genesis 1-3.

In high school, and especially college/university, both the content and teaching methodology is uniformly anti-Christian. Not to mention graduate school, where even bible believing Christians are falling prey to the monolithic consensus amongst the faculty to develop methodologies foreign to the bible.And so we have seminary trained folks going on paranormal investigations and attempting to do what the bible abominates--attempting to speak to the dead. This is a call to re-capture a high view of the Old Testament, and to read it. Due to the darkening spiritual landscape, we MUST humble ourselves before God's revelation in the Old Testament--without it, we are historically rootless. May I close with a practical suggestion? Many Christians get fired up about reading the bible but give up after a few months, due to a lack of a reading plan.For the last 40 years, I have followed this plan on a daily basis. This has enabled me to read every word of the bible nearly 40 times. Here is a plan that has worked well for me...

Day one-read Genesis 1, and Matthew 1
Day two-read Genesis 2, and Matthew 2...and so on. If you wish to read through the bible quicker, just read 2-3 chapters instead.

I feel strongly about reading from BOTH testaments during each devotional, for this reason. It is absolutely amazing to see the unity of the bible over 1,500 years. (from Moses to NT)Very often what you read in the Old Testament, you will come across again in your New Testament reading....extremely enriching!! Reading from both enables you to see the continuities and dis-continuities between the OT and NT. Leviticus is usually the book that most Christians give up on. But that is unfortunate, because reading about the various OT sacrifices in Leviticus, illumines the many faceted nature of sacrificial death of Christ.And it helps to drive home the necessity of Christ's once, for all sacrifice.

Reading the bible is for nothing if we do not apply it. First, ask what does the bible passage teach...especially about God? (not what you get out of it), then ask how it applies to your relationship with God (how you think, act, feel) and your life circumstances. Much more could be said, but I will stop there....

"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.

HOW TO EQUIP OUR CHILDREN TO HANDLE THE LANDMINES OF EDUCATION

By Mark Hunnemann

As a parent or grandparent how can we help our children to thrive in secular schools, and not stumble over the many arguments that are antithetical to Christ? (2 Corinthians 10:4-6) Put another way, how can we teach them to be in the world but not of the world?

Yesterday I was watching an "Animal Planet" special on Africa. One of the most fascinating animals to me is the Honey Badger. It is not that big but I was astounded by the way it attacked a King Cobra. The cobra "ran" when it saw the Honey Badger by climbing a tree. Undaunted, the badger scampered up the tree and jumped from limb to limb until the cobra fell to the ground. Unlike Riki Tiki Tavi, this crazy Honey Badger ran straight to the cobra and its celebrated fangs. This unassuming badger ran right up to it and did swift business with it, and ate it. The commentator stated (and this is key) is that it had been stung and bitten so many times by bees and cobras that it had become immune to the stings and bites of both. Incredible....

There are two extremes to avoid as a parent. Some think, I'll quarantine my children. Homeschoolers are especially tempted to this extreme, but if the virus is still out there in the world, and if they are not given some exposure to the world, then they will not have built up any resistance.When I was in college, I saw so many professing Christians take Old Testament or New Testament classes in order to learn. However, many lost their faith in a semester or two because they had not been exposed to the arguments that are out there. It was horrible to watch. So, quarantining is a bad idea.

The other extreme is overexposure where the kids are cast as sheep among wolves, and hope it will toughen them up. This is what happens by default when we have no strategy against Satan's schemes.

So, what is the golden mean? As Jay Richards says--inoculation: measured exposure to a pathogen.We can be inoculated against smallpox by getting an injection of of cowpox, to which our bodies react by developing antibodies which protect us from more harmful pathogens. Or like the Honey Badger who builds up immunity. We need think about ideas like Darwinism in the same way. We do not want to wait until high school or college before our children hear the best arguments for/against Darwinism. Mom and dad need to discuss these things before then, and be able and willing to have the compassion to give honest intellectual answers to honest intellectual questions.

Richards says, kids should learn to ask their professors, "What would be the best argument I could go read against what you have just told me?" (lol, can you imagine the prof's reaction?!) They rarely know the answer to that question, but that is what intellectual honesty requires. Imagine a jury that only heard the prosecution but not the defense. What I found in higher education were professors who knew all the liberal nonsense, but did not even know the names of hundreds of scholars who could defend the biblical view. However, at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis (and other conservative seminaries), my professors knew the best liberal arguments, and were on the cutting edge of showing their intellectual bankruptcy, and the reasons for why the bible is the inerrant Word of God.

Last week we talked about how oppression is an unassuming, but very common, tactic of Satan. It is not as sensational as possession, but is very ruinous. Likewise, in the arena of ideas, Satan is tearing to shreds millions of Christians who have not been equipped. The best way to equip our children to handle the landmines of education is by measured exposure to the world.Then, like the Honey Badger, they will be equipped to seek and destroy arguments and bring every thought captive to Christ.  

Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.

The Heart Of Deuteronomy

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

It would seem that one of Jesus' favorite books was Deuteronomy, as He quoted from it so often. As a little boy, He was instructed in the Torah.

I have had computer problems so I need to make this short.

What is the HEART of the book that Jesus had such affection for? LOVE....for God and man.

Many folks do not realize that the Great Commandment is found in Deuteronomy, first and not in the New Testament.

ALL of the major temptations in wilderness were responded with quotes from Deuteronomy.

Three weeks ago I was clawed in my shoulder for the first time--it was very unnerving. That night I had cleansed a person/house......

I was left with the need for human tenderness and not counsel or advice. Please keep that in mind.

Lastly, this book has the most profound comment re why God saved/loved us....He loves us because He loves us. A GOLDEN CIRCLE.....there is no reason on our end as to why God would be drawn to us....He loves us because He loves us--that is far back as you can go in the divine counsel.

Let us love God and be tender to those hurting.

"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.

What Does Mother's Day Mean to You?

By Pastor Stephen Piersall

I am confident most of you may have plans to buy flowers, go out to eat, etc. I'm certain husbands with children will have plans for the kids to have a special day all lined up from breakfast in bed, flowers, or a list of coupons that Mom can use whenever she wanted. In fact, my favorite sport NASCAR does not race on Mother’s Day, but the night before they have the race and many pre-race festivities honoring the Moms of the NASCAR teams.

Did anyone think to “take” Mom to church? Hmmmm!

Many know the story of Mary as the mother of our LORD Jesus Christ. Did you know that they did not use last names until many years later but the few who did before so would have used their last name as their occupation? In the case of Jesus “Christ” was his designation.

Let’s verify that
:
The term Christ is a title; it is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament term Messiah and means anointed one.

1. Jesus is the Christ, Matthew 16:16, "And Simon Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

2. Acts 5:42, "And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ."

3. Jesus called himself the Christ, John 4:25-26, "The woman *said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us." 26 Jesus *said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

4. The Christ was born Matthew 1:16, "and to Jacob was born Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." See also Matt. 2:4; Luke 2:11.

Speaking for my wife and myself, we both have witnessed the deterioration and seen our Mother’s die. Feelings we experienced: painful, helplessness, heartbroken, crying, anger, guilt, etc. All we have our memories to fall back on. What if the roles were reversed, and they had to watch us get tortured? Devastating!

Imagine the pain Mary went through when Jesus her son, our LORD was crucified? Immeasurable agony after having the joy, she must have had been watching him be born and growing into not only a man, but the son of God.

Life is short, and I write this today in celebrating Mother’s Day. They have made a very significant impact in our lives. Do not let that go to waste; this may be their last Mother’s Day, and do not let yourself go through the guilt and agony if that were to happen.

Make this Mother’s Day the best you can. If you have the chance to do something special, I say go-for-it and make the day full of joy and happiness. You don’t have to spend tons of money as I know for a fact that even the card we made as kids with paper, pencil and crayons meant to them more than any store bought gift could.

--

May God shine his light through you †
Pastor Stephen Piersall
God's Preservation Ministry Soul Care
gpmsc.org/
http://www.facebook.com/GodsPreservationMinistry
networkedblogs.com/blog/soul-care

Why the Old Testament is Vital in Countering the Occult

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Gnostic/occult.motifs were already present in the age of the Apostles. Early church tradition traces the rise of Gnosticism to Simon Magus, briefly mentioned in Acts 8:9-24. Remember he attempted to purchase the Holy Spirit. Peter was not pleased and it seems from the text that Simon repented, at least superficially. Later tradition says that Simon went to Rome and started a gnostic group, and competed with Peter for converts...he actually arrived in Rome before Peter did according to tradition.Justin Martyr, an early Christian apologist, stated that Simon was teaching that he was the Messiah--God! I don't do this often but I want to include here an extended quote from Harold Brown's 'Heresies'..

"Simon and his followers are charged by their Christian opponents with practicing magic(k) and occult arts.  This was natural enough; to the extent that they were impressed by his ability to work apparent miracles, the early Christians had no choice but to attribute them to the power of evil. MANY OTHER GNOSTIC FIGURES WERE ACCUSED OF NECROMANCY,A NOT UNLIKELY CHARGE IN VIEW OF
THEIR EMPHASIS ON THEIR ACCESS TO HIDDEN, OCCULT, KNOWLEDGE AND POWER.

Simon's system involved a number of points that will also characterize later heretical movements: 1.a syncretistic blending of biblical ideas with themes drawn from other, pagan, Near Eastern sources;2.a dualistic interpretation of the material world as hopelessly estranged, by nature, from the purely spiritual Father;3. the teaching that a personal Savior has appeared on earth; 4.a rejection of the Jewish Scriptures as frauulent or malicious;5.an interest in not only secret lore, but in magic and the occult.The fact that Gnosticism, like certain later movements, ties rejection of the Hebrew Old Testament to fresh superstitions and an interest in the occult helps us to see the cardinal importance of the Old Testament for Christian orthodoxy.

The major doctrines of Christianity are indeed drawn from the New Testament, and superficially it might appear as though the Old Testament is of interest cheifly as background. As a matter of fact, however, it is the Old Testament that guarantees the rootedness of Christ, His Person, and His work in real history. Whenever the Old Testament is ignored or reduced to mere Jewish religious thought, Christians readily fall prey to various mythologies and occults. With the loss of confidence in the reliability in the Old Testament, brought about by, among other things, nineteenth-century liberal Bible criticism, some nominally Christian leaders developed an enthusiasm for pagan mythology...(Pg. 51)"

There is a confluence of forces that has caused the occult in general, and necromancy in particular, to explode. But according to Dr Brown (now deceased), a loss of confidence in the reliability of the Old Testament has been high on the list of causes.If he is correct, and I think he is, then we have a serious problem on our hands. Of those you reading this, how many of you have taken an Old Testament course which basically undercut the reliability of the Old Testament? Many of you, I am sure. When I was in college, it broke my heart to see the vicious spiritual wounds being inflicted in these classes, and the high number of student casualties. Students in these classes, as with the teaching of macro-evolution, were not made aware of brilliant scholars who differed with their professors anti-supernaturalistic presuppositions.Hence, we were made to believe that any thinking person MUST believe in macro-evolution and that the Old Testament was a mythical book which was riddled with errors and contradictions. Tragic....

The Old Testament is not full of myths, errors or contradictions. It is God's inerrant Word which is on a collision with the worldview which has become dominant today. The infinite/personal God created the heavens and earth....the biblical God is eternal, not energy. It is in the Old Testament where we have the most explicit denunciations of occultism...psychics/mediums, and necromancy.The biblical worldview is stated clearly in the Old Testament, especially in the first three chapters of Genesis. In fact, every major New Testament motif can be found in germinal form in Genesis 1-3.

In high school, and especially college/university, both the content and teaching methodology is uniformly anti-Christian. Not to mention graduate school, where even bible believing Christians are falling prey to the monolithic consensus amongst the faculty to develop methodologies foreign to the bible.And so we have seminary trained folks going on paranormal investigations and attempting to do what the bible abominates--attempting to speak to the dead. This is a call to re-capture a high view of the Old Testament, and to read it. Due to the darkening spiritual landscape, we MUST humble ourselves before God's revelation in the Old Testament--without it, we are historically rootless. May I close with a practical suggestion? Many Christians get fired up about reading the bible but give up after a few months, due to a lack of a reading plan.For the last 40 years, I have followed this plan on a daily basis. This has enabled me to read every word of the bible nearly 40 times. Here is a plan that has worked well for me...

Day one-read Genesis 1, and Matthew 1
Day two-read Genesis 2, and Matthew 2...and so on. If you wish to read through the bible quicker, just read 2-3 chapters instead.

I feel strongly about reading from BOTH testaments during each devotional, for this reason. It is absolutely amazing to see the unity of the bible over 1,500 years. (from Moses to NT)Very often what you read in the Old Testament, you will come across again in your New Testament reading....extremely enriching!! Reading from both enables you to see the continuities and dis-continuities between the OT and NT. Leviticus is usually the book that most Christians give up on. But that is unfortunate, because reading about the various OT sacrifices in Leviticus, illumines the many faceted nature of sacrificial death of Christ.And it helps to drive home the necessity of Christ's once, for all sacrifice.

Reading the bible is for nothing if we do not apply it. First, ask what does the bible passage teach...especially about God? (not what you get out of it), then ask how it applies to your relationship with God (how you think, act, feel) and your life circumstances. Much more could be said, but I will stop there....

"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.

The Best Defense is a Strong Offense

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; con-substantial with us according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the virgin Mary, the mother of God, according to the manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us". (The Creed of Chalcedon, 451 AD)

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already." (1 John 4:1-3)

A well-known saying goes, "The key to a strong defense is a strong offense." I think there is a lot of truth in that, and it certainly applies to spiritual warfare. Both of the texts quoted above--The Chalcedonian Creed of 451 AD and 1 John 4:1-3--accentuate this truth. Let's take a brief look at the latter first.

First, please note that we are commanded or ordered by John to be discerning...this is not an optional extra or suggestion. He lovingly (beloved) commands that we be discerning. It is impossible to overstate how much a profound and insidious effect the "virtue" of TOLERANCE has become...it is nearly venerated in our culture, making it hard to swim against the tide. However, John is insisting that we must be "intolerant" of teaching that originates in hell instead of heaven, if we are to be faithful followers of Christ.

Second, this text is a command to discern between teachers/teaching that is from the Holy Spirit and teachers/teaching that is inspired by demonic  forces.It is not just paranormal phenomena or activity that is demonic; certain teachers and teachings are demonic as well. Once again, it cannot be overstated how contrary to the world spirit controlling our culture that this very strong judgement is.Truth, by its very nature, must stand in antithesis to non-truth. In other words, part of fearing God (and not man) is being valiant for truth, and opposing error. As "the father of lies" Satan delights in distorting biblical truth, especially that which relates to the Person and Work of Christ (the gospel).

 Please note that it is NOT a command to discern if the source is a trapped spirit!! The only two sources of teaching/doctrine mentioned in 1 John are the Holy Spirit or unholy spirits. There are many folks who profess to be Christians and use their alleged gift of discernment on paranormal investigations to supposedly distinguish between the presence of human and demonic spirits.  That notion and practice is utterly foreign and repugnant to the clear meaning of this text.I have heard folks refer to this passage to support their necromatic practices, but is totally foreign to the intent of Holy Spirit in this text.

Third, it is very instructive that the Litmus test to distinguish between teaching/teachers which are from God and those from Satan is doctrinal in nature. Specifically, the test John lays out is Christological..having to do with the Person and Work of Christ. But John is more specific still....affirming the full humanity of Jesus is the test (there are others tests as well, as this is not an exhaustive list of discernment tests) Does anyone find it surprising that John does not mention the DEITY of Jesus in this context?  John is here accenting that the denial of the full humanity of Jesus is demonic.Elsewhere, John writes some of the strongest affirmations of Jesus' full deity found in the bible. Evidently, there was a demonic heresy  gaining popularity which John felt needed to be addressed...the beginnings of gnosticism.

Have you ever heard of the heresy known as "docetism"? It was the first Christian heresy. It comes from the Greek word "dokeo", which means "to seem or appear". Docetism taught that Jesus only appeared to be a man or human. For various reasons, the idea of God becoming human...suffering, and ultimately dying a horrible death was unfathomable and scandalous.According to early church tradition, Simon Magus, mentioned in Acts 8:9-24, attributes the rise of gnosticism in the church to Simon. And this gnostic view of God and reality made the Incarnation seem ludicrous to its adherents.It is said that Simon and Simon Peter battled it out in Rome over the true nature of Jesus. So, the apostles had to fight hard for the truth.
If Jesus only appeared to be human, then that destroys the Incarnation, and the basis for the substitutionary atonement,because He wouldn't be truly representative of us. Jesus HAD to be fully God and fully man for His atonement to be truly effective as a once for all sacrifice for sins. (see book of Hebrews for extended treatment)

Simon taught that Jesus only appeared to have suffered and died.

It is the denial of the real humaness of Jesus, that John says is a hallmark of demon inspired teaching/teachers.It seems to me that John was already confronting the very same spirituality that has become so common today--gnosticism or New Age.

When cleansing a house we say, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus of Nazareth!" Have you ever considered why we add "of Nazareth"? It is the BIBLICAL Jesus--fully God and fully man--that demons are terrified of....and must bow to His authority.The fuzzier our conception of Jesus is, the weaker our offense and defense becomes.

The key to a strong defense in spiritual warfare, is a strong offense. We must reject our aversion to doctrine/theology, and enthusiastically embrace Chalcedonian (biblical) Christology. That is certainly what is being implied in 1 John 4:1-3. It was the crisis posed by heretics that jump-started the attempts of the early church Fathers to further explain the Trinity and the dual nature of Christ.Later, there was another heresy known as Arianism (which denied the full deity of Jesus) which, from a human perspective, almost destroyed the church. But God raised up men valiant for truth, and the Truth prevailed. NOTHING CAN SQUASH GOD'S CHURCH.

Harold O.J. Brown was a brilliant professor of biblical and systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical Seminary (recently deceased in 2007). I am reading (or re-reading) his book "Heresies" which is a history of the church's struggle  with heresy, from the second century until present day.While the word "heresy" may not be in vogue, it is indispensable for those who believe in biblical truth--truth implies or assumes its opposite...non-truth or falsehood. Heresy is not small error--it is serious, potentially soul-killing, church-splitting error (e.g. denial of Trinity or deficient view of Christ). Many of the epistles of the  New Testament were written, at least in part, to correct heretical notions that were splitting churches and causing Christians to stumble.Will you have the courage to lovingly call heresy, heresy? Or are we ashamed of the gospel?

During the first 400 years of the New Testament Church, it was in danger of being overrun by the very same spirituality/beliefs that are common today--gnosticism/occult paganism/New Age. Almost all the apologetics during this time was devoted to defending and explaining the Trinity, divine creation, and the biblical view of WHO JESUS IS. The Creed of Chalcedon in 451 AD (quoted above) is considered THE definitive statement regarding dual nature of Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man. Please take the time to read it slowly and carefully, as it seeks to walk a very fine line between heresies on the right and the left. I wish I had the time to walk us through it, but I do not.However, if you carefully and prayerfully meditate on this creed, it will equip you for being even more effective in spiritual warfare. For over 1,000 years this Creed has been vigorously affirmed by bible believing Catholics and Protestants, and viewed as the clearest explanation of Jesus ever written.(outside of the bible). Sharpen your sword soldier!

It is Professor Brown who stated that, whenever a culture''s view of Jesus becomes fuzzy, then necromancy soon rears it ugly head (pg. 53)...and that the early church Fathers were often attacking the gnostics belief/practice  of necromancy.The explosive growth of belief in spiritism in the last 20 years, coincides with a corresponding weakening in our understanding of Jesus of Nazareth. Due to our culture's aversion to being :judgmental" and veneration of tolerance, we MUST return to the old paths of rich, Chalcedonian Christology. JESUS IS LORD!! AMEN.

"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.

The Necessity of Scripture

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

The ultimate written authority we are subject to is God's inerrant, personal Word to us in the bible. It is God's authoritative interpretation of His own creation (among many other things)...which includes the paranormal. Hence, it is appropriate that we spend some time looking at the nature of scripture. This series will include discussions of: the necessity of scripture, the clarity of scripture, the comprehensiveness of scripture, and the sufficiency of scripture. All of these speak of why scripture is important for us, and the ways it is to have preeminence in our lives. A driving force of the sixteenth century reformation was sola scriptura (scripture alone), and it remains the driving force of any church or Christian who seeks to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Let us first look at the necessity of scripture.

To speak of the bible's necessity is simply to say we need it. We have noted before that when Satan tempted Jesus to turn stone into bread that our Lord replied by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4). Notice that Jesus refers to every word, which implies that every single word is necessary for our spiritual diet...every word is inspired by God the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16). We certainly need food, but our need for God's word is of even greater importance. In practice, which is viewed by you with more importance--eating      breakfast or daily ingesting God's word?

Recently I was communicating with a friend who is a witch. In response to a blog I had posted on Facebook, they commented that it would make them sad if their magical world of spirits was reduced to only demons and angels--implying that the bible impoverished one's view of reality. As is so often the case with occultists (and folks who believe/speak in ghosts are occultists), my friend was of the opinion that she had an objective view of the spirit world, but that I was saddled with an antiquated bible which has antiquated views about the spirit world. Poor me! I replied that nobody is able to be 100% objective (defined as not influenced by anything but the "facts") and we all operate, consciously or unconsciously, with a worldview--a set of presuppositions about reality...an ultimate norm or standard that we appeal to. The ultimate norm may be the bible or it might be one's reason, imagination, intuition, experience and so on. But we must disabuse ourselves of any notion that we view the paranormal objectively...nobody does...nor is it possible or even desirable. As followers of Christ, He must have preeminence in all of our thought--regarding the full circumference of reality--seen and unseen.

However, if our ultimate norm for interpreting reality is anything but the bible, then it has become autonomous (literally, "self-law"). Autonomous reasoning is attempting to reason independent of God. I told my friend that we ALL lean on something to be our ultimate court of appeal...it is not just Christians with their bible. For example, since the paranormal is invisible (usually), it is particularly necessary that we be guided through this treacherous terrain by the compass of the bible--otherwise our autonomous reasoning will steer us wrong....and onto the rocks. We WILL misinterpret real experiences, and Satan WILL deceive us if we attempt to reason autonomously regarding anything--especially regarding the spirit world on earth since that is God's ordained, temporary home for Satan and his infernal army. I refer you to the first sentence in this paragraph--there is no "IF"S" about it...it seems to me that the primary human cause (as opposed to Satanic strategy) of this explosion of necromancy is the ancient disease known as autonomous reasoning....Satan tempted Adam and Eve to first think autonomously, and their sinful eating of forbidden fruit would follow. Instead of bowing before the comprehensive jurisdiction of God's holy and authoritative Word over every area of our lives (including the paranormal), we have used our God-given faculties independently of our Maker.The temptation to think autonomously has its roots in the Garden (Gen.3......and Satan's revolt before that) and we must come to terms with how thoroughly original sin has affected our minds--we instinctively suppress and deny the truth of God and exchange it for a lie (Rom.1). I say all this because it accents just how necessary God's Word is.

Have you ever been to a county fair where one of the games was a duck-shooting gallery? Pling...pling...pling...even I can nail them at such close range. "They are a sitting duck" is a common expression referring to people who are defenseless against a deadly enemy. The tens of millions of Americans who have an active interest in the paranormal are sitting ducks in the worst possible way. Their insistence on autonomy of thought has exposed them to demonic oppression. The friend I mentioned earlier said that the idea that all paranormal activity was demonic was stupid (her word). Not so...what is foolish is playing in Satan's sandbox....what is naive is the notion that we can outwit Satan's deceptions without the Word of God. The carnage is becoming a killing fields--and it is heartbreaking to see. If ever their were in the history of mankind a situation which showed the absolute necessity of the word of God is America in 2013.

Second, the written Word is necessary because it establishes God's covenant authority over us. People often speak of having a personal relationship with Christ, but they are uncertain about the role of scripture in that relationship. Jesus says that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15, 21, 23, 15:7, 10) To obey His commandments we need to know them--hence, the necessity of having His Word and reading it. His words are absolutely necessary for our lives (John 6:68). If we do not obey His Word, then we may not call Him Lord (Matt.7:21--27). Jesus' words are found only in scripture. By right of creation and re-creation, God (and God alone) has the rightful authority to demand implicit obedience from us...keeping His commandments. We will speak more of this in the weeks to come, but the Lord, and His Word, has jurisdiction over every area of our lives--including full control over our interpretation and behavior regarding the paranormal. The written Word of God is the constitution of God's redeemed community here on earth.

Third, His written, personal Word to us records the key events in Jesus ministry, as well as giving us God's own interpretation of those events The four gospels and epistles are equally important--generally speaking, the gospels record the key redemptive events, and the epistles interpret or explain the meaning and significance of those recorded events. I hasten to add that the gospels certainly contain theological interpretation and commentary, and the epistles have historical elements in them...but we can still say that the gospels are primarily narratives of redemptive historical events, and the epistles elaborate the significance of the: incarnation, life, substitutionary atonement, resurrection, ascension, and second coming of our Lord Jesus. Without the bible, Jesus' death would have no meaning to us. Without the bible we would have no clue as to the Person and Work of Jesus--the incarnate Word. Without the Old and New Testaments, there is no Christ...without Christ there is no gospel....without the gospel there is no salvation. The gospel cannot be grasped by general/natural revelation--it had to be verbally communicated by our Lord to us. Below is the very first statement of the Westminster Confession of Faith regarding this matter--personally subscribing to the substance of the WCF was a prerequisite of my ordination in 1985 in the AR Presbyterian denomination.

Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His Church; and afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which makes the Holy Scripture to be MOST NECESSARY; those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now ceased. (WCF 1:1...emphasis added)

Fourth, God's written word is necessary, because without it, reality in general would become meaningless and incoherent. Any attempts at autonomous reasoning (thinking independently of God's influence) ultimately becomes self-destructive. For example, Scripture says we are made in God's image (Gen.1).This image-of-Godness is not anan optional extra--it is the essence of our self identity. As His image bearers, we cannot even begin to have accurate knowledge of self if we reason independently (autonomous) from the God we mirror. As John Calvin said in the beginning of the Institutes, knowledge of God and knowledge of ourselves, are inextricably bound together...and it is difficult to know which comes first. Having, cherishing, and reverently reading the Word of God is absolutely necessary for spiritual growth and equipping of the saints for spiritual warfare.

See Part 2 The Clarity of the Word of God