My musings on faith.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

The Holy Spirit

Inspired by the musings and questions in the August 7 posting over at The Todd Blog, I’m going to share a little of what I’ve learned about the Holy Spirit.

The best explanation/clarification I’ve ever heard of the Spirit’s role in the trinity is this: One of His primary jobs is to reveal Jesus, and to help us understand, remember and live out His word. It’s also important to note that the Spirit is not about calling attention to Himself. The Holy Spirit is like a spotlight trained on Jesus. If you’re sitting in an auditorium, your attention is focused on the performers on the stage—not the spotlights that illuminate it. Likewise, the HS just wants to shine light on Jesus. Therefore, any ministry that focuses most of its attention on the Spirit is not authentic. (I first learned this ananlogy in BSF, and have also seen it in What Every Christian Ought to Know, by Adrian Rogers. [a book I would only recommend w/ caveats.])

Although I can’t remember or track down the source now, I also remember hearing that where the Spirit is call “the Comforter,” a more accurate translation might be “the Strengthener.” This is certainly borne out in Scripture.

Speaking of Scripture… rather than take my thoughts or any author’s thoughts, why not study for yourself? Though this is by no means a comprehensive list, I did a keyword search on Bible Gateway in the NT for “Spirit,” and came up w/ several pertinent passages. Go to it!

John 7:38 & 39.
John 14:16-18
John 15:26
Acts 1:8
Acts 15:28
(Really, the whole book of Acts. Someone has suggested that rather than “The Acts of the Apostles” a more accurate title might be “The Acts of the Holy Spirit.”)
Romans 8:9-16
1 Corinth. 2:9-16
1 Corinth. 12:4-13
Galatians 5:16-26
1 John 4:1

By the way, since part of the Spirit’s job is to illuminate the Word—ask Him for help.

Happy learning!


P.S. Bible Gateway is a great Bible study resource. Give it a try!

Posted by Jana on 08/19 at 02:23 AM
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Tuesday, July 11, 2006

To rebuke, or not rebuke, that is the question.

In response to something our small group is studying this week, I’m going to share my research on what scripture says about rebuking Satan and other demons.

First off, let me say that this is an “in-house debate.” This is something which, in the end, we can agree to disagree about, and still be brothers and sisters in Christ. And I do not doubt the good intentions and honest motives of most who subscribe to this approach. I recognize and respect their sincere desire to follow God and please Him.

Secondly (though not second in importance), I’d like to establish that the final authority on this matter is the word of God. No personal experience or opinion, no teacher or author can trump the truth of God’s written word.

Brief summary (for those who don’t want to read the long version):
- Scripture makes clear that we are in a spiritual battle. (Eph. 6:12)
- There are some good things to be learned from the contemporary spiritual warfare model.
- The word “rebuke” is simply a verb meaning to reprimand.
- Nowhere in scripture is there an example or command for all believers to rebuke Satan or his spirits. There are a few cautions against it. (Jude 1:9 is one.)
- Our battle is not just against Satan; our battle is often against our own sinful desires. (1 Peter 2:11)
- Likewise, not every trial or trouble is from Satan; some comes from our own doing, or from the Lord for our ultimate good. (James 1:13 & 14; James 1:2 & 3; Heb. 12:5 & 6)
- An over-emphasis on Satan as the author of every trouble can become an excuse to not do the things we need to do. (Though usually we don’t realize this is what’s happening.)
- The example found in scripture regarding how to respond to trouble: pray to God. (2 Cor. 12:7-9)
- The way scripture prescribes that we resist the enemy: walk in obedience to God. (James 4:7-10)
——————————————-


For those who want more detail, here’s the long version.
What is true about spiritual warfare.
- Jesus rebuked demons. Mark 9:25; Luke 4:41, 9:42 & 18:39.
- Satan is real, and he is our active enemy. There are plenty of scripture references, but Matthew 4:1-11 alone makes it pretty clear. 1 Peter 5:8, too.
- We (believers) are in a spiritual battle. Eph. 6:12 says it outright.
- We are told to resist the devil. James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9.

Some positive lessons from the “school of rebuke:”
- Knowing and using God’s word for prayer and for focusing your thoughts on His truth. I heartily recommend this!
- The recognition that Satan is real, but that God is greater than him and we don’t need to fear the dirty dog.
- Some type of proclamation or ceremony can be helpful for us to make a mental and/or emotional break with the past or with a sinful habit.

My point of disagreement, however, is with the recommendation by some Christian authors and speakers that we should talk back to Satan, or that the correct spiritual response to our troubles is to rebuke any evil spirit that might be associated with it.

About the word “rebuke.”
Before I go into scripture, let me just comment on the word “rebuke.” It’s a verb that means 1. To criticize or reprove sharply; reprimand. Synonym - admonish. 2. To check or repress. It isn’t a magical word meant to be used as an incantation to summon certain powers. If I say, “I slap you,” but I haven’t touched you, then I haven’t really slapped you, have I? Likewise, you don’t rebuke someone by saying “I rebuke you;” you rebuke them by saying something like, “Go to your room!” or “Don’t eat that cake!”

Scripture does not prescribe the rebuking of spirits as a common practice.
Nowhere in scripture do I ever find an example or command to rebuke spirits of any kind, much less Satan himself. In fact, Jude 1:9 warns against it, saying that even the archangel Michael would not presume to rebuke Satan, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” (I therefore don’t have a problem with your asking God to rebuke Satan, if you need to.) Another passage that should give one pause about taking on demons is Acts 19:13-16.

Did Jesus rebuke demons? Absolutely! But He is God, and we are not. You might ask, “Didn’t He give us authority to cast out demons?” Let’s examine that.

In Matthew 10:1, Mark 3:15 & 6:7 and Luke 9:1, He gives the twelve the authority to drive out demons. In Luke 10, He appoints 72 followers to go out to heal the sick and proclaim that the kingdom of God is near. When they return, rejoicing and saying “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name,” He replies, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

It’s important to note that in God’s order, authority to do something is always handed down by a higher authority. No one can confer authority on himself. I have not found any instance where scripture says that all believers are given authority to drive out demons. If you look carefully through the book of Acts, you will find only four mentions of demons being driven out:

1. Acts 5:16 — People who were tormented by evil spirits were healed. From the passage it’s unclear whether this is the work of all the apostles, or just Peter, but it’s clear that it was one or the other, not someone else.

2. Acts 8:6 & 7 — Evil spirits came out of people when Philip (one of the original twelve) preached.

3. Acts 16:18 — Paul commands a spirit to come out of a slave girl.

4. Acts 19:11 & 12 — “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.”

So, in Jesus time, he did give this authority to the twelve and to another 60 or 72 (depending on whether the twelve were included in that number), but to the latter he gave some cautions about getting too focused on having power over demons. And the only mentions we see of demon eviction after Jesus’ ascension were by some of the original twelve apostles, and Paul — who was, in a sense, also an apostle, since Jesus called him out with a supernatural event and a specific assignment. (He called Paul “my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.” Acts 9:15.)

Which leads me to the questions we’re still left with, “Okay, so how are we supposed to win this spiritual battle? How are we supposed to resist the devil?”

About the battle: Satan is not our only enemy.
I think it’s important to note that our battle is not only against demons. We also battle against our own wrong desires (James 4:1 and 2 Peter 2:11); the “law of sin” within us (Rom. 7:23); as well as arguments, pretensions and thoughts that are contrary to God (2 Cor. 10:5). One of the things that concerns me about the demon-rebuking approach is that it tends to downplay personal responsibility. This school of thought encourages you to think that every time you come against a little trouble, Satan is behind it, and it will go away if he goes away. Sometimes, our own selfishness, laziness or pride is behind it, without any help whatsoever from Satan or his crew! (James 1:13 & 14) And sometimes, it’s straight from the hand of God, sent to discipline us (Heb. 12:5-7) or to train us to persevere (James 1:2 & 3). In the cases of Job and Peter, the trial was Satan’s idea, but God allowed it and worked good out of it.

About resisting Satan, Part I: respond to trials with prayer to God.
We know from 2 Cor. 12 exactly how Paul handled his personal showdown with Satan: “…there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” (v. 7-9) Throughout Acts and the epistles, again and again, you will see the apostles responding to persecution and trouble with prayer to the Lord; not once do they address Satan, or blame their trials on a “spirit of strife” or some such thing.

So if you feel that you must do something about the devil pestering you (or his underlings; remember, he’s not everywhere), ask God to deal with it. I like Elizabeth Elliott’s approach. She said, “If I feel like Satan’s bothering me, I just say to God, ‘Did you see what he did?’”


About resisting Satan, Part II: resist him by obeying God.
If you look closely at the sections of scripture that talk about our faith in warfare terms, you will not find any suggestions to rebuke demons or address them in any way. The oft-quoted passage in 2 Cor. 10:1-8 (a favorite of mine) that talks of demolishing strongholds never mentions demon activity; the subject of the paragraph is the Corinthians’ obedience — or lack of it. It defines strongholds as “arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,” and thoughts that are not obedient to Christ.

What you will find in scripture regarding the spiritual battle is much exhortation to live in obedience to the Lord. When Paul tells us in Eph. 6 to “put on the full armor of God,” he isn’t talking about some metaphysical or mental exercise where you speak and/or imagine yourself putting on armor; he’s using a word picture to describe actions of obedience: “know the truth; walk in righteousness, have faith in God’s promises when Satan sends you ‘arrows’ of doubt, use God’s word to protect and defend yourself; and keep on praying!” The injunction in James 4 to “resist the devil” is preceded and followed by commands to humble yourself before God and give up sinful ways. (How interesting… I just noticed that the passage in 1 Peter 5 that speaks of resisting the devil also follows the words, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,” — both James and Peter are quoting this from Prov. 3:34.)

So I think that scripture’s prescription for resisting the devil is not to speak to him, but to — 1. pray to the Lord, asking Him to remove the trial or give us grace to meet it, and 2. resist the temptation to do things the devil’s way. We don’t resist Satan by saying, “I resist you.” We resist the him by choosing forgiveness over bitterness, generosity over greediness, humility over pride. And we must get the strength and grace to do that from God Himself.

Posted by Jana on 07/11 at 10:34 PM
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Grace and effort, together again.

The subject of discipleship has been burning in my mind and heart, lately. The fire was lit first by learning just what a small percentage of regular church attenders actually “plug in,” then fueled by reading George Barna’s book Growing True Disciples.

Then I ran across an article by Brian McLaren in LeadershipJournal.net, about the difference between “teaching about the Christian life [and] teaching people to live it, enjoy it, practice it.” This is good stuff…

“Many of us were initially hesitant to explore ‘spiritual transformation’ because it required us to learn and teach historic spiritual disciplines. Our resistance, I think, was less a matter of laziness than of doctrine: we worried that spiritual practices… were about earning salvation or achieving God’s approval in a legalistic sense.

“Eventually though, confident that we are saved by grace through faith plus nothing, confident that the gospel means Jesus Christ plus nothing for God’s approval, we have begun to explore Christian practices for the sake of transformation. As Dallas Willard says, we’ve realized that the gospel is opposed to earning but not to effort.” [Emphasis mine. -js.]

In his aforementioned book, Barna contrasts an “eye on the prize” mentality with a “path of least resistance” approach. I hope that in our zeal to make sure seekers understand that it’s only by grace that we’re saved, and that grace covers every sin — both blessedly true, thank God! — we don’t leave the impression that God really doesn’t mind if we make no serious attempts to live a self-disciplined life. On the contrary, for the believer, grace is given to empower us toward Christlikeness, not excuse us from it.

I’m wondering if, looking back over the whole of church history, we might not see a pendulum of popular thought among God’s people swinging back and forth between living in an excess of grace (can there be such a thing?) and an overweening obsession with personal effort. When will we learn that grace and effort can co-exist? I have to confess I see this pattern in my own life, and I see keeping the two in balance as one of my greatest spiritual challenges.

Posted by Jana on 05/16 at 10:30 PM
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