"Why is faith without works dead?"

Question: "Why is faith without works dead?"

Answer: In his epistle, James makes the statement “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). Faith without works is dead faith because the lack of works reveals an unchanged life or a spiritually dead heart. There are many Scriptures that make it very clear that true saving faith will result in a transformed life, which is demonstrated by the “works” we do. How we live reveals what we believe and whether the faith we profess to have is a living faith.

James 2:14–26 is sometimes taken out of context in an attempt to create a works-based system of righteousness, but that is contrary to many other Scriptures. James is not saying that our works make us righteous before God, but he is making it clear that real saving faith is demonstrated by good works. Works are not the cause of salvation; works are the evidence of salvation. The person who claims to be a Christian but lives in willful disobedience to Christ with a life that shows no works has a false or dead faith and is not saved. James is clearly making a contrast between two different types of faith—truth faith that saves and false faith that is dead.

Many profess to be Christians, but their lives and their priorities indicate otherwise. Jesus put it this way: “By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers’” (Matthew 7:16–23).

Notice that the message of Jesus is the same as the message of James. Obedience to God is the mark of true saving faith. James uses the examples of Abraham and Rahab to show the type of works that demonstrate salvation, and both of those examples are of people who obeyed God in faith. Saying we believe in Jesus does not save us, nor does religious service. What saves us is the Holy Spirit’s regeneration of our hearts, and that regeneration will be seen in a life of faith demonstrated by ongoing obedience to God.

Misunderstanding the relationship of faith and works comes from a misunderstanding of what the Bible teaches about salvation. There are really two errors in regards to the relationship between works and faith. The first error is the gospel of “easy believism.” This error is the belief that one can “make a decision for Christ” or “pray a prayer of salvation,” and based upon that profession of faith salvation occurs. This is also called “decisional regeneration” and is dangerous and deceptive. Often those who advocate this view of salvation say that once a person has prayed the sinners’ prayer or made a profession of faith he is saved regardless of how he lives afterwards. This leads to the creation of a new category of person called the “carnal Christian” in order to excuse the ungodly lifestyles of many who have made a one-time profession of faith in Christ. Yet, as we can see in James and other verses of Scripture, this type of profession of faith that does not result in a life of obedience to Christ is in reality a dead faith that does not save.

The other error in regards to the relationship between works and faith is to make works part of what justifies us before God. The mixture of works and faith together creates a works-based system of righteousness which is totally contrary to what Scripture teaches. There is no conflict between Romans 4:5, “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,” and what James wrote when he said, “Faith without works is dead.” Works come from true faith and a heart that has been justified by God by faith alone. The works that follow salvation do not make us righteous before God; they simply flow from a heart that has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit as naturally as water flows downhill.

Understanding the relationship between faith and works is important because it helps us avoid the errors mentioned above. Saying we believe in Christ does not save us, nor does praying a prayer of salvation or making a “decision” for Christ. Salvation is a sovereign act of God whereby unregenerate sinners have the “washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” poured out on them (Titus 3:5), thereby causing them to be born again (John 3:3). When this happens, God gives them new hearts and puts a new spirit within them (Ezekiel 36:26). God removes their sin-hardened hearts of stone and replaces them with hearts of flesh and fills them with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit who causes them to walk in obedience to His statues and judgments (Ezekiel 36:26–27).

Faith without works is dead because it reveals a heart that has not been transformed by God. When we have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, our lives will demonstrate that by the way we live and our works of obedience to God. It will be evident by the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22) and a desire to obey God and live a life that glorifies Him. Christians belong to Christ, and as His sheep they hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:26–30).

True saving faith is always manifested by good works and a life that desires to live in obedience to God. Ephesians 2:8–10 makes it clear that works do not save us but that we are saved “for good works which God prepared beforehand that we would walk in them.” When we are truly born again we will have hearts that are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s law is written in our hearts so that we might walk in His statutes and judgments. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Faith without works is dead because it comes from a heart that has not been regenerated by God. It is an empty profession of faith from someone to whom Christ will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.”

Exposing the False Teachers

Exposing the False Teachers

In his exposure of these false teachers, Paul gives us six identifying marks that can guide us to discern the presence of "wolves in sheep's clothing" in our midst today.

First, false teachers distract Christians from obeying the truth of the gospel (v. 7). Paul compliments the Galatian believers for running a good race. Running a race was one of Paul's favorite images for living the Christian life. Here this image portrays how well they were obeying the truth. The gospel set the course for their life, and they were running well in that course. The reality of their belief in the truth about Christ was demonstrated by their obedience to Christ. But then they were distracted, tripped and so hindered from running this race. Paul asks them, Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? The question is rhetorical. Paul knows the answer. But by asking the question this way he exposes the false teachers' negative effect on the life of the believers. The picture is of a runner who distracts another runner, blocks his way, cuts in on him and trips him. Everyone would have been very angry with a runner who did such a thing. He would have broken the clear rules against cutting in or tripping in the foot races of the Greek festivals. He would be immediately disqualified and excluded from the festival.

The false teachers are hindering the Christians from obeying the truth of the gospel with all their talk about joining the Jewish people and keeping the law. All those who get the church off on a tangent, away from the clear direction given by the central truth of the gospel, are like these false teachers. They should be disqualified and excluded from the churches.

Second, false teachers replace the call of God with their own deceptive persuasiveness (v. 8). That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you, Paul informs his readers. When Paul had preached the gospel, the Galatians heard the voice of God calling them through Paul (1:6). But when the false teachers teach, all that can be heard is flattery, boastfulness and empty rhetoric. They are skillful orators. No doubt they claim to be giving God's message backed by Scripture. But all one can hear through their strident voices is a harsh repetition of the demands of the law. What a contrast to "the one who called you by the grace of Christ" (1:6) and the God who "called me by his grace" (1:15). Their message is all about the works of the law, not about God's work of grace in Christ. So obviously their persuasion does not come from God, who always calls by his grace.

Third, false teachers gain control over the whole church (v. 9). Just as a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough, so the negative influence of a few false teachers has penetrated the whole church and is quickly coming to control the direction of the church. False teachers are like that; they seek to dominate every situation in the life of the church.

Fourth, false teachers cause confusion and discouragement (v. 10). When the Galatians were converted, they related to God with the joyful confidence of children, calling him "Abba, Father" through the Spirit. But their confidence in God's grace has been badly shaken by the false teachers, who threaten them with the judgment of God if they do not keep the law of God. They are confused and discouraged. So Paul reassures the Galatians of his confidence in the Lord regarding them: I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. And then he turns the tables on the false teachers by putting them under the judgment of God: The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.

Fifth, false teachers spread false reports about spiritual leaders. We may infer that verse 11 is Paul's response to a false report that had been given about him. Since the immediate context focuses on the corrupting influence of the false teachers, it seems reasonable to suppose that they claimed Paul's support for their campaign to circumcise the Gentile believers. We don't know on what basis they would have done this. Perhaps if this letter was written after Paul circumcised Timothy, as recorded in Acts 16:3, they may have appealed to that incident. Or maybe they pointed to Paul's own willingness to continue his Jewish way of life even after his conversion (see 1 Cor 9:20). Whatever their basis may have been, they gave a false report about Paul to strengthen their own position.

Paul had, of course, preached circumcision before his conversion. He had been "extremely zealous for the traditions" of Judaism (1:14). But after his conversion he preached the cross of Christ as the only way of salvation. True, he continued to support Jewish Christian adherence to the traditional Jewish way of life. But he consistently resisted anyone who tried to "force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs" (2:14). That was a key point of his autobiography (1:13--2:21). Paul proves that the report that he is still preaching circumcision is false by pointing to the fact that he is being persecuted (5:11). Both non-Christian Jews and many Christian Jews fiercely opposed him precisely because he did not require circumcision. His refusal to require circumcision clearly implied that it was not necessary to belong to the Jewish nation to belong to the covenant people of God. By denying the exclusive claim of the Jewish people to be the only true people of God, Paul seemed to deny the reason for the Jewish people's very existence. No wonder, then, that they persecuted him from one country to another. If Paul had preached circumcision, then he would not have been persecuted by the Jews. By preaching circumcision, he would have been communicating that it was necessary to belong to the Jewish nation because the salvation of God was available only to those within this nation.

Paul says in verse 11 that if he has communicated that salvation is only in the Jewish nation by preaching circumcision, the offense of the cross has been abolished. For then the message that salvation is only through the cross of Christ would have been denied. The offense of the cross is that it denies a "most favored nation" status, a "superior race" category, as the reason for God's blessing. For the blessing of God comes only through the cross, where the judgment of God upon all was removed by Christ's death (see 3:13-14). The message of Christ crucified is offensive not only to Jews but also to the pride of all who want to claim some personal merit as the basis of God's approval.

Sixth, false teachers emphasize sensational rituals. Verse 12 sounds terribly harsh and crude, but we must interpret it in its historical and cultural context. It would indeed have been a sensational ceremony if all the male members of the Galatian churches had been circumcised by the false teachers. But then, Paul says, somewhat sarcastically, if they really want to put on a sensational show, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! He is probably referring here to a barbaric ritual that actually took place in his day in Galatian pagan temples. The priests of Cybele, the mother goddess of the earth, castrated themselves with ritual pincers and placed their testicles in a box. (Such a box is now on display in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England.) The false teachers were leading the Galatian Christians to think that the ritual of circumcision was a sacred act that would bring them into fellowship with God. But Paul has already said that "in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value" (v. 6). Now he puts the ritual of circumcision in the same category as the ritual castration of the Galli, the priests of the mother-goddess of the earth, Cybele; it had no more significance to the Gentile Christians than any of the other barbaric, bloody rituals practiced in the ancient world.

So Paul has totally discredited the value of circumcision and the motives of the false teachers who want to impose it upon the churches in Galatia. They only "want to make a good impression outwardly" (6:12); they want to boast in their sensational ceremony (see 6:13). Since their motive is to put on an impressive ritual show, they might as well learn a few lessons from the pagan priests, who really know how to put on a good show when it comes to using a knife on the human body!

It is never pleasant to expose the deceptive, destructive tactics of the "false brothers." But it is necessary to do so in order to protect the freedom of fellow Christians. Of course circumcision is not an issue today. But we are constantly faced with a choice between different religious options. They are not all the same; they are not all spokes on a wheel leading to the same hub. Some religious options lead to slavery and imprisonment. Only by obedience to the truth of the gospel of Christ can we protect the freedom that is ours in Christ.

Cessationism - Proving Charismatic Gifts have Ceased

Cessationism - Proving Charismatic Gifts have Ceased

From The Sword & Trowel 2011, issue 2 by Dr Peter Masters

Does the Bible teach definitively that the charismatic gifts have ceased? Can cessationism (the view that they have ended) be proved? Some say that the cessationism cannot be conclusively proved from Scripture.
We believe, however, that the ceasing of revelatory and sign-gifts in the time of the apostles is very plainly taught in God’s Word, so plainly, in fact, that the opposite view has only seriously appeared in the last 100 years or so.
The term cessationism comes from the great 17th-century confessions of faith, such as the Westminster and Baptist confessions. These both use the same word. Speaking about how God has revealed his will and committed it to the Scriptures, the confessions say, 'Former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased'. This word does not actually come from the Bible, but the doctrine does.
Not only has revelation been completed and ceased, but so have the signs that revelation is in progress. Here is a brief summary of six biblical proofs that the revelatory gifts have ceased (visions, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, and prophecies), and also the sign-gifts (healings and speaking in tongues). God still heals, of course, but in answer to prayer, and not through the hands of a gifted healer.
The controversial passage of 1 Corinthians 13.8-10 will not be used in this article to prove the ending of the gifts. We will refer only to passages which we believe to be conclusive.
1. Not since the apostles

The first proof for cessationism (the ending of revelatory and sign-gifts) is that healings and wonders could only be done by apostles, and were their special authenticating signs. In 2 Corinthians 12.12 Paul says: 'Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.'
There were some people in the church at Corinth who challenged Paul’s apostleship. To defend himself he draws attention to his gift of healing and of working other miraculous signs, stating that only the apostles could do such things.
The book of Acts says specifically that healings and wonders were exclusive to the apostles, who have now passed away.
An apostle was someone who had accompanied the Lord, seen him after his resurrection, and been personally commissioned by him. As a special witness of the resurrection he was given power to heal. He was also a person who would be shown 'all truth' by the Holy Spirit (John 14.26 and 16.13), and would either write or endorse inspired Scripture.
Believers would need to know who the true apostles were in order to respect their unique authority. They would know them by their healings and other signs. People who did not belong to the band of apostles (which included two named assistants) could not do these things. If they had been able to do them, then no one would have been certain who were true apostles.
In Acts 2.43 and 5.12 it is again made clear that all the miracles were performed 'by the hands of the apostles'. This was exclusively their sign. Also, in Hebrews 2.3-4 the healing gifts are firmly linked to the apostles.
Paul was an apostle by virtue of having seen the risen Lord, and having been directly commissioned by him. His lack of training by Christ was made good by his receiving special and unique revelations. He states that he was 'one born out of due time' (1 Corinthians 15.8), indicating that he was the only apostle outside the original band and therefore the last apostle. (Modern claims to apostleship do not match the biblical qualifications and are improper and wrong.)
When people say that cessationism (the ceasing of sign-gifts) cannot be proved from Scripture, they forget that the book of Acts says specifically that healings and other wonders were exclusive to the apostles, who have now passed away.
When the churches had grown and multiplied Peter went to Lydda, and then Joppa, famously healing Æneas and raising Dorcas from the dead. Entire communities were astonished, because none of the other believers in such places could do these things.
When a lad fell out of a window in Troas, there was only one person present who could raise him up, and that was Paul. The charismatic idea that healings were performed by numerous Christians is simply not to be found in the New Testament. Only the apostles are recorded as having healed, together with two apostolic assistants or delegates, Stephen and Philip, and possibly Barnabas.
The only time someone outside this group performed a healing was when the Lord told Ananias to heal Paul. There is no other healing apart from these in the early church. The Pentecostal/charismatic idea that healings took place constantly by Christians at large is not taught in the Bible. Thus the infallible record of Scripture shows the entire charismatic approach to healing to be a mistake based on a myth. The record proves that the healings and mighty deeds were restricted to a class of people who have passed away.
2. The temporary purpose of tongues

The second proof that cessationism can be proved from the Scriptures (sign-gifts have ceased) is about tongues-speaking. It is the biblical statement that tongues-speaking was given by God specifically as a sign for Jews, signalling to them that the new era of Messiah had arrived.
In 1 Corinthians 14.21-22 Paul says,
'In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not.'
In other words, the gift of tongues was a miraculous proof to Jews who were resistant to believing in Christ, that the new age and a new church order had arrived. It was not for the benefit of Jews who had come to believe, but a sign of promise and warning to those who did not believe. It was not intended for Gentiles, but Jews.
Paul quoted from Isaiah 28.11, a chapter in which Isaiah prophesies Christ’s coming. As a sign to Jews, Isaiah says Jewish people will be addressed by those with 'stammering lips and another tongue'. Gentile languages will challenge them, a most belittling experience for Jewish people. At the same time it was a sign that the Messianic age would bring Gentiles into the church, and the Gospel would be preached in other languages.
This would be a mark of the new age when God would pull down the flag of the Jewish church, and run up the flag of the Jewish-Gentile church of Jesus Christ. Unbelieving Jews, who resisted Christ and clung to the skirts of Moses, would find the Word of God being preached to them in barbarian, Gentile languages.
All this came to pass, beginning on the day of Pentecost. The Jews were duly called and warned, but tongues are not mentioned outside the Acts of the Apostles and 1 Corinthians 12-14, showing that they had accomplished their purpose of warning the Jews that the new era had arrived.
This announcing of the church age was accomplished while the apostles lived, and the sign has been withdrawn. What passes for tongues-speaking today is not done in the presence of doubting Jews, and has nothing to do with the sign of the New Testament. The sign that the church age has come has served its purpose, and been surpassed by the reality.
The Gospel is now preached in virtually every language in the world, and the sign that this would happen is long extinct. The purpose of tongues (according to Paul’s teaching) has been fulfilled, proving their discontinuation.
3. Tongues were real languages

The third proof of cessationism adds to the second, and it is this – that a gift of real languages was given on the day of Pentecost (and for a while afterwards), which has never been seen since that time. It should be obvious to us that the miraculous languages of the books of Acts and 1 Corinthians have never occurred since those days.
Tongues-speaking of modern times is never any known human language, but only meaningless, disjointed speech. Nothing miraculous happens. In New Testament times the tongues-speaker was given by the Spirit the ability to speak in a real language which he had never learned, and people who had grown up with him were astonished.
Jewish people would be present (as it was specifically a sign for them). On the day of Pentecost many Jews who lived in foreign regions heard their own languages spoken, and attested the genuineness of the speakers. After Pentecost the Spirit would give the miraculous gift of understanding to interpreters so that the authenticity of the language would be proved. Nothing like this has been seen since Bible times.
Today those who advocate tongues-speaking point to 1 Corinthians 13.1 where Paul, speaking hypothetically, says that even if he spoke an angelic tongue, without love, it would amount to nothing. Desperately looking for a text, charismatic teachers take Paul's words as a justification for ecstatic, non-linguistic tongues, but it is plain to any thinking person that this is a serious misuse of the verse.
By describing literal languages, the Bible effectively warns us that these gifts have been withdrawn. They simply have not happened at any time in history, anywhere in the world, since the very early days of the church. What happens today is that people (who may be sincere Christians), in their desire to do what their leaders insist is right, seek to give utterance outside the rules of speech. However, they do not speak real languages, or even understand what they are saying.
Cessationism is clearly taught in Scripture, by virtue of the fact that the very precise description of real languages given in Scripture cannot be applied to anything that has taken place since.[1]
Since Bible times we have had glorious events of reformation and mighty revivals, when the Spirit of God has been pleased to work in exceptional power. Yet we have not one reported or recorded claim of anyone speaking a real language they had never learned. This is certain proof that the gift of biblical tongues has ceased.
4. No instructions to appoint prophets

The fourth proof for cessationism is this: there are no New Testament instructions about appointing apostles, prophets, healers, or anything of the kind. This is a matter of tremendous significance, because God has given a detailed pattern for the church in the New Testament. It is true that some Christians do not believe that the Bible provides a blueprint for the church, but most people who are of baptistic, Bible-believing persuasion do.
The apostle Paul commands us repeatedly to be the most careful imitators of him in our church polity and conduct, and the pastoral epistles set out how we should behave and function in the church of God. We are given the precise pattern for the church for all time.
We disobey God's perfect pattern if we make appointments in the church he has not prescribed or commanded
We have instructions that most carefully set out how to select preaching and ruling elders and deacons, but no instructions about the appointment of apostles (because they were not to be perpetuated), or on how to recognise or accredit a prophet (because revelatory gifts ended with the completion of the Bible). Nor are there instructions about appointing healers.
This is not merely an argument from silence, but a proof that these offices and functions were not to continue. The instructions for all matters of church organisation are complete and detailed and all-sufficient for the church until Christ comes again. We disobey God’s perfect pattern if we make appointments in the church that he has not prescribed and commanded. We disobey Scripture.
How can it be said that there is no certain scriptural proof that the gifts have ceased, when the pattern for the church gives no instructions for the continuation of inspired spokesmen and sign-workers? This is conclusive proof of cessationism – unless we do not hold to the sufficiency of Scripture, and do not believe that God has given a pattern for his church.
5. Revelation is now complete

The fifth proof for cessationism is that the Bible plainly teaches that revelation is now complete. There can be no new revelation after the time of the apostles. We have already noted that in John 14.26 and in John 16.13 the Lord Jesus Christ says twice to the disciples that the Holy Spirit, when he comes, will lead them into all Truth.
They would be the authors of New Testament books, and the authenticators of inspired New Testament books not from their own pens. Soon all the Truth would be revealed, and after the apostolic era there would be no more revelation of Scripture. The Word would be complete.
How glad we are of that! What a state we would be in if people could pop up here, there and everywhere (as they do in the charismatic world) giving us new revelations. Who would know what was right, and what was true? But the Scripture is the final yardstick for everything, being complete and perfect, sufficient and trustworthy.
Jude was able to speak about the faith which was 'once delivered unto the saints'. His epistle was written possibly 25 years before the final book of the Bible, but late enough for all the main doctrines and church instructions to have been revealed. At this late stage of revelation he speaks of the faith once delivered, or better, once for all delivered. It is virtually complete; soon (from Jude’s standpoint) there will be no more revelation.
The closing verses of the Bible warn that nothing must be added or taken from the words of the book of Revelation, but this clearly applies to the whole Bible, not just the last book. We know this because the warning closely echoes the one given by Moses in the first book of the ­Bible (the first five were originally one book), namely Deuteronomy 4.2, 'Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it' (words repeated by Moses in Deuteronomy 12.32).
The completion of revelation is also proved by the fact that apostles and prophets are described as the foundation stage of the church.
In Ephesians 2.20 the church is described as being – 'built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets [that is – New Testament prophets], Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone'. A foundation is something completed and stable, while the building continues to be constructed.
What about Joel's prophecy, quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost, saying that when the Spirit is poured out, all believers, male, female, old and young will prophesy? Is it not implied that this will go on literally until the Lord’s return? No, because our understanding of this prophecy must agree with the unassailable teaching of the Bible that revelation was soon completed, and then ceased.
It is this completed revelation (especially the Gospel) that will be the witness of believers of all ages, male and female, through all the world, until the end. Believers will continue to see visions and dream dreams in the sense that they embrace, reflect upon, and proclaim the infallible '­visions and dreams' given to them in the Bible. They will not 'prophesy' in the sense of receiving new revelation. They will also dream dreams of Gospel plans and conquests. In this sense the prophecy of Joel is still being fulfilled.
The extraordinary manifestations such as tongues had clearly vanished by the time Peter wrote his two epistles, for he gives no hint whatsoever that these features of the early scene were
still operating.
As revelation was completed in the time of the apostles, we see that the task of apostles and prophets is over. And if the gifts of revelation are ended, then so are the authenticating signs of inspired penmen. We remember how Paul said, 'Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in…signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds' (2 Corinthians 12.12).
How can it be said that there is no biblical proof for cessationism when Scripture emphatically says that all revelation has been completed, like a foundation, at the beginning of the church age?
6. Scripture witnesses the end of gifts

The sixth proof for cessationism is that Scripture shows that they were in the process of being withdrawn at that very time. Paul, for example, who possessed apostolic power to do signs and wonders and mighty deeds, could not, in the course of time, heal Timothy or Trophimus or Epaphroditus.
We also see the withdrawing of the healing gifts in James 5, where James gives instructions about praying for the sick, and how the elders may lay hands upon the bedridden. It is obvious in this passage that there is no gifted healer in sight, only elders, who pray.
Anointing is mentioned, but the Greek term for religious anointing is not used. The Greek uses a very practical word that means 'rub down' with oil, more like a remedy for bedsores. James effectively says, 'Don’t be so heavenly-minded that you are of no earthly use, but take some physical relief for the suffering person.'

We can and must pray for healing, but it may be God's will that a sufferer should witness to God's grace in the illness
What matters most is prayer. It is certain in the instructions of James that no gifted healer is brought in to command healing, or to give a healing touch. The laying on of hands of ordinary elders is a symbolic act, communicating the church’s love, care and responsibility.
The passage of James contains four exhortations to pray, and it follows his teaching that we ought to say, 'If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.' We can and must pray for healing, but it may be God’s will that a sufferer should witness to God’s grace in the illness.
The main point for us in this article is that there is no one possessing personal power to heal in James 5. Healing is by God in answer to prayer. The ongoing stance of the church is seen as praying for healing, remembering that some are called to live as 'an example of suffering affliction, and of patience' (James 5.10).
The fact that James does not mention healing gifts shows unmistakably that the possession of healing power was withdrawn quite early in the course of the apostolic era.
Would a neutral reader assume Bible gifts were for every age?
It has been suggested that if a new convert with no experience of church life were shut in a room with a Bible, it would never occur to that person that the charismatic gifts had ceased. The opposite is true. There are many people (we know some) who come from other faiths who have been converted to Christ by private Bible reading, and subsequently found their way into a church. From the Bible alone they received no expectation of a charismatic scene. Much more frequently – increasingly so as time passes – believers leave charismatic churches having realised that what takes place there is not what they find in the Bible.
On reading Acts carefully, they discover that only the apostolic band healed, and feel they have been misled by the Pentecostal-charismatic notion that numerous people did so.
Some wonder what the original significance or purpose of tongues was, and when they learn from Paul that they were specifically for Jews, they again feel misled by their teachers.
They also feel mis-taught when it becomes obvious that tongues were real languages, a vastly more miraculous matter than incomprehensible sounds.
Then, as soon as these believers appreciate the importance of the scriptural pattern for the church, the question sometimes arises in their minds – 'Where are the Bible's instructions for appointing apostles, prophets and healers today?' They find there are none, and become even more critical of the teaching they have received.
Then the question of the authority and sufficiency of Scripture intrudes, and they think, 'Is not revelation complete? How, then, can modern prophecies be valid and inspired?' It becomes obvious that all the 'authoritative' prophecies they have heard are a great mistake, and a delusion.
Many thinking believers see for themselves that to charismatic people, Scripture is second in importance to human imagination and mysterious experiences.
Finally, the more these friends study the Word, the more they see the evidence that the signs disappeared soon after their spectacular initial outpouring.
None of this means that the Lord does not move his people to remember duties or truths, or urge them to do certain things, or warn them of imminent dangers. These are divine intimations, not revelations or gifts.
In the history of the church, there are recorded instances of people having an intimation from God about some threatening event or person, but these are never revelations of doctrine. We find such things in times of severe persecution. For instance, up until Perestroika in Russia, we heard of very credible instances when God’s key servants were wonderfully delivered from arrest because the Lord impressed on someone not to go to some particular place. It was later discovered that a KGB-police ambush lay in wait for them. However, no recipient of such an intimation was given a regular gift, and certainly not an authoritative revelation of doctrinal truth. God can do all kinds of things to deliver and bless his people, but this is not in any way the reappearance of apostolic or prophetic gifts bestowed on individuals.
The damage of charismatic teaching
Many charismatics are coming to see the enormous gap between the ­Bible and what they have been taught. Such doubters are often troubled by the fact that huge numbers of Catholics, who depend on Mary, the Mass, and works for salvation, are also able to speak in tongues and prophesy. Many also worship in exactly the same way as charismatic Protestants.
Charismatic doubters may also hear that non-Christian cults also speak in tongues. You do not need to be a saved Christian to speak in charismatic-style tongues, because it is not a true gift of the Spirit.
There are many sincere Christians in the charismatic movement, but we believe that the attempt to revive revelatory and sign-gifts is a very harmful mistake. We can see the harm in the emergence of huge sections of the movement in which the Gospel has virtually disappeared, buried under unbiblical extravagances.
There are large charismatic groups that now deny the penal substitution of Christ, and some even deny the Trinity. (One of the world’s most famous charismatic preachers and authors denies the doctrine of the Trinity.)
Worldly entertainment-style ­music dominates charismatic churches, even music of the most extreme and godless kind. The theatrical antics of money-grabbing charismatic leaders may be seen at any time on religious TV, and the prosperity-gospel heresy is seemingly everywhere.
Numerous charlatans and rogues have built large followings, carrying out their supposed 'healings' at venues throughout the world. Even music-hall fortune-telling techniques are being presented as spiritual wonders, in once respected churches.
The powerful current that constantly propels the charismatic constituency further and further from the Bible is evidence of a serious fundamental error, namely, the idea that the ­revelatory and sign-gifts are for all time. To experience them involves a twofold mistake: firstly, the downscaling of the gifts to something non-miraculous (eg: turning real languages into non-linguistic utterances); and secondly, the downgrading of Scripture, which must bow to imagined experiences of dreams, visions, 'words from the Lord', and similar revelations. There is harm done also to individual Christians whose faith is greatly diverted from the Lord and his Word, to phenomena and sensations.
We sincerely pray that God will deliver those who are his true children from the accumulating harm of this wildly mistaken departure from Scripture. It is perfectly possible to prove that cessationism is a Biblical truth.

"What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?"

Question: "What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?"

Answer: The baptism of the Holy Spirit may be defined as that work whereby the Spirit of God places the believer into union with Christ and into union with other believers in the body of Christ at the moment of salvation. First Corinthians 12:12-13 is the central passage in the Bible regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit: “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:13). While Romans 6:1-4 does not mention specifically the Spirit of God, it does describe the believer’s position before God in language similar to the 1 Corinthians passage: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

The following facts are necessary to help solidify our understanding of Spirit baptism: First, 1 Corinthians 12:13 clearly states that all have been baptized, just as all been given the Spirit to drink (the indwelling of the Spirit). Second, nowhere in Scripture are believers told to be baptized with, in or by the Spirit, or in any sense to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This indicates that all believers have had this experience. Third, Ephesians 4:5 seems to refer to Spirit baptism. If this is the case, Spirit baptism is the reality for every believer, just as “one faith” and “one Father” are.

In conclusion, the baptism of the Holy Spirit does two things, 1) it joins us to the body of Christ, and 2) it actualizes our co-crucifixion with Christ. Being in His body means we are risen with Him to newness of life (Romans 6:4). We should then exercise our spiritual gifts to keep that body functioning properly as stated in the context of 1 Corinthians 12:13. Experiencing the one Spirit baptism serves as the basis for keeping the unity of the church, as in the context of Ephesians 4:5. Being associated with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection through Spirit baptism establishes the basis for our separation from the power of indwelling sin and our walk in newness of life (Romans 6:1-10; Colossians 2:12).


Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/Spirit-baptism.html#ixzz3b99EftAn

Famous Calvinists

Famous Calvinists

FAMOUS CALVINISTS OF THE PAST:
Arthur W. Pink: 1886-1952 (Bible teacher and theologian)
Augustus Toplady: 1740-1778 (author of "Rock Of Ages" and other hymns)
Benjamin Keach: 1640-1704 (1689 Baptist Confession)
B.H. Carroll: 1843-1914 (founder south Western Theological Seminary)
Charles Spurgeon: 1834-1892 (famous Baptist preacher)
Francis Schaeffer: 1912-1984 (author of "How Shall We Then Live" video series)
George Whitefield:1714-1770 (evangelist & preacher)
J.C. Ryle: 1816-1900 (writer, pastor, evangelical preacher)
J.P. Boyce: 1827-1888 ( founder Souther Baptist Theological Seminary)
John Bunyan: 1628-1688 (author of Pilgrim's Progress)
John Calvin: 1509-1564 (preacher & Bible scholar)
John Foxe: 1516-1587 (Foxe's Book Of Martyrs)
John Gill: 1697-1771 (renowned theologian and bible commenator)
John Knox: 1513-1572 (founder of Presbyterianism)
John Newton: 1725-1807 (wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace")
John Owen: 1616-1683 (theologian and author)
Jonathan Edwards: 1703-1758 (evangelist)
Martyn Lloyd-Jones: 1834-1892 (pastor and theologian)
Martin Luther: 1483-1546 (Protestant Reformer)
Matthew Henry: 1662-1712 (Bible commentator)
Roger Willilams: 1603-1683 (founded the first baptist church in America)
William Carey: 1761-1834 (missionary)
William Wilberforce: 1759-1833 (slavery abolitionist)

WELL KNOWN CONTEMPORARY CALVINISTS:
D.A. Carson
D. James Kennedy
James Montgomery Boice
James White
John F. MacArthur
John Piper
Loraine Boettner
R.C. Sproul
Voddie Bachham

What is adiaphora?

What is adiaphora?
In Christianity, adiaphora means that something is debatable, spiritually neutral. There are essentials of the Christian faith such as the deity of Christ, monotheism, Christ's physical resurrection, etc. But there are also topics that deal with issues that are non-essentials. So in a general sense, adiaphora means those Christian teachings which are neutral, things that are neither commanded nor forbidden in Scripture. An example of this might be what color of carpet to have in a church, or what time of the day a service should be held.

Sometimes there is debate within Christianity on what may or may not be adiaphora.

God is absolutely sovereign

No doctrine is more despised by the natural mind than the truth that God is absolutely sovereign. Human pride loathes the suggestion that God orders everything, controls everything, rules over everything. T he carnal mind, burning with enmity against God, abhors the biblical teaching that nothing comes to pass except according to His eternal decrees. Most of all, the flesh hates the notion that salvation is entirely God’s work. If God chose who would be saved, and if His choice was settled before the foundation of the world, then believers deserve no credit for their salvation.

But that is, after all, precisely what Scripture teaches. Even faith is God’s gracious gift to His elect. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father” (John 6:65). “Nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27). Therefore no one who is saved has anything to boast about (cf Eph. 2:8, 9). “Salvation is from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).

The doctrine of divine election is explicitly taught throughout Scripture. For example, in the New Testament epistles alone, we learn that all believers are “chosen of God” (Titus 1:1). We were “predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11, emphasis added). “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world . . .He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (vv. 4, 5). We “are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son. . . and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:28–30).

When Peter wrote that we are “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 1:1, 2), he was not using the word “foreknowledge” to mean that God was aware beforehand who would believe and therefore chose them because of their foreseen faith. Rather, Peter meant that God determined before time began to know and love and save them; and He chose them without regard to anything good or bad they might do. We’ll return to this point again, but for now, note that those verses explicitly state that God’s sovereign choice is made “according to the kind intention of His will” and “according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will”—that is, not for any reason external to Himself. Certainly He did not choose certain sinners to be saved because of something praiseworthy in them, or because He foresaw that they would choose Him. He chose them solely because it pleased Him to do so. God declares “the end from the beginning. . .saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’” (Isa. 46:10). He is not subject to others’ decisions. His purposes for choosing some and rejecting others are hidden in the secret counsels of His own will.

Moreover, everything that exists in the universe exists because God allowed it, decreed it, and called it into existence. “Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases” (Ps. 115:3). “Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps” (Ps. 135:6). He “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11). “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (Rom. 11:36). “For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him” (1 Cor. 8:6).

What about sin? God is not the author of sin, but He certainly allowed it; it is integral to His eternal decree. God has a purpose for allowing it. He cannot be blamed for evil or tainted by its existence (1 Sam. 2:2: “There is no one holy like the Lord”). But He certainly wasn’t caught off-guard or standing helpless to stop it when sin entered the universe. We do not know His purposes for allowing sin. If nothing else, He permitted it in order to destroy evil forever. And God sometimes uses evil to accomplish good (Gen. 45:7, 8; 50:20; Rom. 8:28). How can these things be? Scripture does not answer all the questions for us. But we know from His Word that God is utterly sovereign, He is perfectly holy, and He is absolutely just.

Admittedly, those truths are hard for the human mind to embrace, but Scripture is unequivocal. God controls all things, right down to choosing who will be saved. Paul states the doctrine in inescapable terms in the ninth chapter of Romans, by showing that God chose Jacob and rejected his twin brother Esau “though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls” (v. 11). A few verses later, Paul adds this: “He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” (vv. 15, 16).

Paul anticipated the argument against divine sovereignty: “You will say to me then, ‘Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?’” (v. 19). In other words, doesn’t God’s sovereignty cancel out human responsibility? But rather than offering a philosophical answer or a deep metaphysical argument, Paul simply reprimanded the skeptic: “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use?” (vv. 20, 21).

Scripture affirms both divine sovereignty and human responsibility. We must accept both sides of the truth, though we may not understand how they correspond to one another. People are responsible for what they do with the gospel—or with whatever light they have (Rom. 2:19, 20), so that punishment is just if they reject the light. And those who reject do so voluntarily. Jesus lamented, “You are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life” (John 5:40). He told unbelievers, “Unless you believe that I am [God], you shall die in your sins” (John 8:24). In John chapter 6, our Lord combined both divine sovereignty and human responsibility when He said, “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (v. 37); “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life” (v. 40); “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (v. 44); “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life” (v. 47); and, “No one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father” (v. 65). How both of those two realities can be true simultaneously cannot be understood by the human mind—only by God.

Above all, we must not conclude that God is unjust because He chooses to bestow grace on some but not to everyone. God is never to be measured by what seems fair to human judgment. Are we so foolish as to assume that we who are fallen, sinful creatures have a higher standard of what is right than an unfallen and infinitely, eternally holy God? What kind of pride is that? In Psalm 50:21 God says, “You thought that I was just like you.” But God is not like us, nor can He be held to human standards. “‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isa. 55:8, 9).

We step out of bounds when we conclude that anything God does isn’t fair. In Romans 11:33 the apostle writes, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?” (Rom. 11:33, 34).

Under what conditions may Christians divorce and remarry?

Under what conditions may Christians divorce and remarry?



Couple Eating In earlier generations, this question was very seldom raised, simply because divorce was almost never encountered among Christians and was unusual even in the general population. Today, however, it has become a very real problem in evangelical Christian circles. Infidelity is no longer rare, even among Christian leaders, and one can hear almost weekly of some new pastoral “affair” and its traumatic effect on his church. With such examples in the leadership, it is bound to be even more common among the ordinary members, and the resulting decline in the stability of the Christian home today is surely one of the more alarming signs of the times.

In the past, attempts to deal with this question on a Biblical basis have tended to be somewhat academic, probably because the very idea of divorce was so alien to the expositor's own experiences. Nowadays, however, since the tragedy of divorce has spread so widely that almost every Christian has encountered it not only in his church but also among his close friends and relatives, it is vitally important that we seek to deal with it both Biblically and sympathetically.

First of all, the divine standard for marriage is lifelong commitment to one's spouse, and nothing else. Even though divorce was permitted in some cases under the Old Testament economy, Christ made it plain that this was not God's ideal. When He was asked this very question,

“He answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4-6).

This seems very comprehensive and conclusive, yet He immediately followed up this statement with the following apparent exception:

“Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery” (Matthew 19:9; see also Matthew 5:31, 32).

It does seem from this statement that the discovery of extramarital unchastity on the part of one' spouse is here given as a possible grounds for divorce. God does place a high value on faithfulness, on the part of both bride and bridegroom, as a basis for a happy and lasting marriage. Fornication is condemned as a sin in both Old and New Testaments.

In this day of widespread sexual license, however, this provision might well become a rather common ground for divorce, even among Christians. It does, indeed, dilute the principle of “one flesh” used by God to describe a true marriage.

“What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith He, shall be one flesh… Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body: but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body” (I Corinthians 6:16, 18).

This passage, incidentally, suggests that a woman who submits to extramarital sex becomes, in God's sight, a harlot, whether she yields her body for money or some other reason that she sees as profitable to herself.

On the other hand, it is noteworthy that Jesus, evidently on a different occasion, did not give fornication as an excuse for divorce.

“Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery” (Luke 16:18).

If there is any doubt, this also applies to wives.

“And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery” (Mark 10:12).

Since the Lord would not contradict Himself, we should conclude that, while there may be some situations in which extramarital sex would create such problems in a marriage that divorce would be better than continuing in an unhealthy or even dangerous relationship, in general it would be better to forgive earlier indiscretions (if accompanied by repentance and present faithfulness) rather than to break up what might otherwise still be a good marriage.

In both cases, however, Christ warned that remarriage after divorce amounts to adultery, a sin which is explicitly forbidden by God's seventh Commandment. Both divorce and remarriage, therefore, are extremely serious steps, and both violate the divine principle of permanent union and faithfulness in marriage.

But this is not the whole story.

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy… For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust” (Psalm 103:8, 14).

”If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (I John 1:9).

This promise is specifically for Christians, and includes even the sin of adultery, if there is genuine repentance. The Lord made this very clear in His dealing with the woman who “was taken in adultery, in the very act” (John 8:4). He reminded her accusers that they also were sinners and had no warrant to punish her. Then He told the woman:

“Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (John 8:11).

He in no way condoned her sin, but He did forgive her sin, when she gave evidence of godly sorrow and determination not to sin again in this way. Under such conditions, His followers would do well to follow His example. At least in this particular context, He put no further conditions on her freedom, either to return to her husband if he would have her, or to marry another if she were already divorced.

There is one other important Biblical factor to consider in divorce-and-remarriage situations. A Christian should never marry a non-Christian, as this almost inevitably leads to serious friction in the home later on, unless the unsaved partner can, by God's grace, be won to Christ.

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (II Corinthians 6:14).

Nevertheless, many Christians insist on doing this very thing. And then what? Also, a person may become a believer after marriage, with the partner still unsaved. In either case, there is an unequal yoke, and the Christian husband or wife may come to desire release from this yoke. The Apostle Paul commands in this case:

“…If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him” (I Corinthians 7:12-13).

The next verse indicates this is especially important for the sake of the children, who are often the ones hurt most by a divorce.

But suppose the unsaved spouse is the one who insists on a divorce.

“If the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace” (I Corinthians 7:15).

This obviously means that the Christian husband or wife is then at liberty to remarry. In fact, if there are children involved, and if a caring Christian spouse can be found, it would be good to remarry, for children need the love and guidance of both a father and mother, provided, of course, that the stepmother or stepfather is “in the Lord” (I Corinthians 7:39) and desires to assume such a responsibility.

By extension, these principles could be applied to other situations that the Scriptures do not cover explicitly. As noted above, God is able and willing to forgive all sins, including even the sin of getting a divorce for trivial reasons. He has called us to peace, not legal bondage, and He can make a good marriage and a happy home no matter what the previous history of the people involved may have been, provided that true repentance, proper restitution, and genuine saving faith and sincere desire to serve the Lord now exist in their lives.

These are all second-best choices, however. For young people who have not yet gotten involved in such mistakes, it is far better—for now and forever—to seek God's best, the ideal marriage He planned from the beginning. Such a marriage is a foretaste of heaven, for it is a picture of the heavenly bridegroom and His chaste Bride (Ephesians 5:22-33).

"How does psychology work with biblical counseling?"

Question: "How does psychology work with biblical counseling?"

Answer: Secular psychology is based on the teachings of psychoanalysts such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Carl Rogers. Biblical, or nouthetic, counseling, on the other hand, is based squarely on the revealed Word of God. Biblical counseling sees Scripture as sufficient to equip the child of God for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17). Biblical counselors teach that man’s basic problem is spiritual in nature; therefore, atheistic psychologists, who are spiritually dead themselves, have no real insight into the human condition.

On a related note, what is usually called “Christian counseling” is different from “biblical counseling” in that Christian counseling often uses secular psychology in addition to the Bible. This is not to say that a Christian counselor is not also a biblical counselor, but often Christian counselors are Christians who integrate secular psychology into their counseling. Biblical or nouthetic counselors reject secular psychology wholesale.

Most psychology is humanistic in nature. Secular humanism promotes mankind as the highest standard of truth and morality and rejects faith, the supernatural, and the Bible. Therefore, secular psychology is man’s attempt to understand and repair the spiritual side of man without reference to or recognition of the spiritual.

The Bible declares that mankind is a unique creation of God, made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26, 2:7). The Bible expressly deals with man’s spirituality, including his fall into sin, sin’s consequences, and man’s current relationship with God.

Secular psychology is based on the ideas that man is basically good and that the answer to his problems lies within himself. The Bible paints a very different picture of man’s condition. Man is not “basically good”; he is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1), and the unregenerate heart is “deceitful and beyond all cure” (Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore, the biblical counselor takes a drastically different approach: rather than seeking solutions to spiritual problems within one’s own mind, he seeks to confront sin, obtain wisdom from above (James 3:17), and apply the Word of God to the situation.

Biblical counselors, as opposed to psychotherapists and some Christian counselors, see the Bible alone as the source of a comprehensive and detailed approach to counseling (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:4). Biblical counseling is committed to letting God speak for Himself through His Word. Biblical counseling seeks to minister the love of the true and living God, a love that deals with sin and produces obedience.

Psychotherapy is needs-based. The needs for self-esteem, love and acceptance, and significance tend to dominate. If these needs are met, it is believed, people will be happy, kind, and moral; if these needs are unmet, people will be miserable, hateful, and immoral. Biblical counseling teaches that true satisfaction and happiness can only be found in a relationship with God and a pursuit of godliness. No amount of psychotherapy can make a selfish person unselfish, for example, but the obedient servant of God will be satisfied in his joyful, unselfish giving (2 Corinthians 9:7).

So, how does psychology work with biblical counseling? It doesn’t. Secular psychology starts and ends with man and his ideas. True biblical counseling points clients to Christ and the Word of God. Biblical counseling is a pastoral activity, a product of the spiritual gift of exhortation, and its goal is not self-esteem but sanctification.


Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/psychology-Biblical-counseling.html#ixzz3a1BBlz9U

THE FIVE POINTS of CALVINISM

The Five Points of Calvinism

There are two mains camps of theology within Christianity in America today: Arminianism and Calvinism. Calvinism is a system of biblical interpretation taught by John Calvin. Calvin lived in France in the 1500's at the time of Martin Luther who sparked the Reformation.

The system of Calvinism adheres to a very high view of scripture and seeks to derive its theological formulations based solely on God’s word. It focuses on God’s sovereignty, stating that God is able and willing by virtue of his omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence, to do whatever He desires with His creation. It also maintains that within the Bible are the following teachings: That God, by His sovereign grace predestines people into salvation; that Jesus died only for those predestined; that God regenerates the individual where he is then able and wants to choose God; and that it is impossible for those who are redeemed to lose their salvation.

Arminianism, on the other hand, maintains that God predestined, but not in an absolute sense. Rather, He looked into the future to see who would pick him and then He chose them. Jesus died for all peoples' sins who have ever lived and ever will live, not just the Christians. Each person is the one who decides if he wants to be saved or not. And finally, it is possible to lose your salvation (some arminians believe you cannot lose your salvation).

Basically, Calvinism is known by an acronym: T.U.L.I.P.

Total Depravity (also known as Total Inability and Original Sin)
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement (also known as Particular Atonement)
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints (also known as Once Saved Always Saved)

These five categories do not comprise Calvinism in totality. They simply represent some of its main points.

Total Depravity:


Sin has affected all parts of man. The heart, emotions, will, mind, and body are all affected by sin. We are completely sinful. We are not as sinful as we could be, but we are completely affected by sin.

The doctrine of Total Depravity is derived from scriptures that reveal human character: Man’s heart is evil (Mark 7:21-23) and sick Jer. 17:9). Man is a slave of sin (Rom. 6:20). He does not seek for God (Rom. 3:10-12). He cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). He is at enmity with God (Eph. 2:15). And, is by nature a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3). The Calvinist asks the question, "In light of the scriptures that declare man’s true nature as being utterly lost and incapable, how is it possible for anyone to choose or desire God?" The answer is, "He cannot. Therefore God must predestine."

Calvinism also maintains that because of our fallen nature we are born again not by our own will but God’s will (John 1:12-13); God grants that we believe (Phil. 1:29); faith is the work of God (John 6:28-29); God appoints people to believe (Acts 13:48); and God predestines (Eph. 1:1-11; Rom. 8:29; 9:9-23).


Unconditional Election:
God does not base His election on anything He sees in the individual. He chooses the elect according to the kind intention of His will (Eph. 1:4-8; Rom. 9:11) without any consideration of merit within the individual. Nor does God look into the future to see who would pick Him. Also, as some are elected into salvation, others are not (Rom. 9:15, 21).

Limited Atonement:
Jesus died only for the elect. Though Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for all, it was not efficacious for all. Jesus only bore the sins of the elect. Support for this position is drawn from such scriptures as Matt. 26:28 where Jesus died for ‘many'; John 10:11, 15 which say that Jesus died for the sheep (not the goats, per Matt. 25:32-33); John 17:9 where Jesus in prayer interceded for the ones given Him, not those of the entire world; Acts 20:28 and Eph. 5:25-27 which state that the Church was purchased by Christ, not all people; and Isaiah 53:12 which is a prophecy of Jesus’ crucifixion where he would bore the sins of many (not all).

Irresistible Grace:
When God calls his elect into salvation, they cannot resist. God offers to all people the gospel message. This is called the external call. But to the elect, God extends an internal call and it cannot be resisted. This call is by the Holy Spirit who works in the hearts and minds of the elect to bring them to repentance and regeneration whereby they willingly and freely come to God. Some of the verses used in support of this teaching are Romans 9:16 where it says that "it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy"; Philippians 2:12-13 where God is said to be the one working salvation in the individual; John 6:28-29 where faith is declared to be the work of God; Acts 13:48 where God appoints people to believe; and John 1:12-13 where being born again is not by man’s will, but by God’s.
“All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out," (John 6:37).

Perseverance of the Saints:
You cannot lose your salvation. Because the Father has elected, the Son has redeemed, and the Holy Spirit has applied salvation, those thus saved are eternally secure. They are eternally secure in Christ. Some of the verses for this position are John 10:27-28 where Jesus said His sheep will never perish; John 6:47 where salvation is described as everlasting life; Romans 8:1 where it is said we have passed out of judgment; 1 Corinthians 10:13 where God promises to never let us be tempted beyond what we can handle; and Phil. 1:6 where God is the one being faithful to perfect us until the day of Jesus’ return.

God's Mercy

The Mercy of God
A Body of Divinity — Thomas Watson
The next attribute is God's goodness or mercy. Mercy is the result and effect of God's goodness. Psa 33:5. So then this is the next attribute, God's goodness or mercy. The most learned of the heathens thought they gave their god Jupiter two golden characters when they styled him good and great. Both these meet in God, goodness and greatness, majesty and mercy. God is essentially good in himself and relatively good to us. They are both put together in Psa 119:98. Thou art good, and doest good.' This relative goodness is nothing else but his mercy, which is an innate propenseness in God to pity and succour such as are in misery.
1. Concerning God's mercy I shall lay down these twelve positions.

[1] It is the great design of the Scripture to represent God as merciful. This is a loadstone to draw sinners to him. The Lord, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness,' &c. Exod 34:6. Here are six expressions to set forth God's mercy, and but one to set forth his justice: who will by no means clear the guilty.' Psa 57:70. God's mercy is far above the heavens.' Psa 108:8. God is represented as a king, with a rainbow about his throne. Rev 4:3. The rainbow was an emblem of mercy. The Scripture represents God in white robes of mercy more often than with garments rolled in blood; with his golden sceptre more often than his iron rod.

[2] God is more inclinable to mercy than wrath. Mercy is his darling attribute, which he most delights in. Mic 7:18. Mercy pleases him. It is delightful to the mother, says Chrysostom, to have her breasts drawn; so it is to God to have the breasts of his mercy drawn. Fury is not in me,' Isa 27:7; that is, I do not delight in it. Acts of severity are rather forced from God; he does not afflict willingly. Lam 3:33. The bee naturally gives honey, it stings only when it is provoked; so God does not punish till he can bear no longer. So that the Lord could bear no longer, because of the evil of your doings.' Jer 44:22. Mercy is God's right hand that he is most used to; inflicting punishment is called his strange work. Isa 28:21I. He is not used to it. When the Lord would shave off the pride of a nation, he is said to hire a razor, as if he had none of his own. He shall shave with a razor that is hired.' Isa 7:70. He is slow to anger,' Psa 103:3, but ready to forgive.' Psa 86:6.

[3] There is no condition, but we may spy mercy in it. When the church was in captivity, she cried out, It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.' Lam 3:32. Geographers write of Syracuse in Sicily, that it is so situated that the sun is never out of sight. In all afflictions we may see some sunshine of mercy. That outward and inward troubles do not come together is mercy.

[4] Mercy sweetens all God's other attributes. God's holiness without mercy, and his justice without mercy were terrible. When the water was bitter, and Israel could not drink, Moses cast a tree into the waters, and then they were made sweet. How bitter and dreadful were the other attributes of God, did not mercy sweeten them! Mercy sets God's power on work to help us; it makes his justice become our friend; it shall avenge our quarrels.

[5] God's mercy is one of the most orient pearls of his crown; it makes his Godhead appear amiable and lovely. When Moses said to God, I beseech thee shew me thy glory;' the Lord answered him, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will shew thee mercy.' Exod 33:19. God's mercy is his glory. His holiness makes him illustrious; his mercy makes him propitious.

[6] Even the worst taste God's mercy; such as fight against God's mercy, taste of it; the wicked have some crumbs from mercy's table. The Lord is good to all.' Psa 145:5. Sweet dewdrops are on the thistle, as well as on the rose. The diocese where mercy visits is very large. Pharaoh's head was crowned though his heart was hardened.

[7] Mercy coming to us in a covenant is sweetest. It was mercy that God would give Israel rain, and bread to the full, and peace, and victory over their enemies, Lev 26:6 - 6, but it was a greater mercy that God would be their God, verse 12. To have health is a mercy, but to have Christ and salvation is a greater mercy; it is like the diamond in the ring, which casts a more sparkling lustre.

[8] One act of mercy engages God to another. Men argue thus, I have shown you kindness already, therefore trouble me no more; but, because God has shown mercy, he is more ready still to show mercy; his mercy in election makes him justify, adopt, glorify; one act of mercy engages God to more. A parent's love to his child makes him always giving.

[9] All the mercy in the creature is derived from God, and is but a drop of this ocean. The mercy and pity a mother has to her child is from God; he that puts the milk in her breast puts the compassion in her heart. God is called, The Father of mercies,' because he begets all the mercies in the world.2 Cor 1:1. If God has put any kindness into the creature, how much kindness is in him who is the Father of mercy!

[10] As God's mercy makes the saints happy, so it should make them humble. Mercy is not the fruit of our goodness, but the fruit of God's goodness. Mercy is an alms that God bestows. They have no cause to be proud that live upon the alms of God's mercy. If I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head,' Job 10:15: all my righteousness is the effect of God's mercy, therefore I will be humble and will not lift up my head.

[11] Mercy stays the speedy execution of God's justice. Sinners continually provoke God, and make the fury come up in his face.' Ezek 38:18. Whence is it God does not presently arrest and condemn them? It is not that God cannot do it, for he is armed with omnipotence, but it is from his mercy. Mercy gets a reprieve for the sinner, and stops the speedy process of justice. God would, by his goodness, lead sinners to repentance.

[12] It is dreadful to have mercy as a witness against any one. It was sad with Haman when the queen herself accused him. Esth 7:7. So will it be when this queen of mercy shall stand up against a person and accuse him. It is only mercy that saves a sinner; how sad then to have mercy become an enemy! If mercy be an accuser, who shall be our advocate? The sinner never escapes hell when mercy draws up the indictment.

I might show you several species or kinds of mercy; as preventing mercy, sparing mercy, supplying mercy, guiding mercy, accepting mercy, healing mercy, quickening mercy, supporting mercy, forgiving mercy, correcting mercy, comforting mercy, delivering mercy, crowning mercy but I shall speak of,

II. The qualifications or properties of God's mercy.

[1] God's mercy is free. To set up merit is to destroy mercy. Nothing can deserve mercy, because we are polluted in our blood; nor force it. We may force God to punish us, but not to love us. I will love them freely.' Hos 14:4. Every link in the chain of salvation is wrought and interwoven with free grace. Election is free. He has chosen us in him, according to the good pleasure of his will.' Eph 1:1. Justification is free. Being justified freely by his grace.' Rom 3:34. Salvation is free. According to his mercy he saved us.' Titus 3:3. Say not then, I am unworthy; for mercy is free. If God should show mercy to such only as are worthy, he would show none at all.

[2] God's mercy is an overflowing mercy; it is infinite. Plenteous in mercy.' Psa 86:6. Rich in mercy.' Eph 2:2. Multitude of mercies.' Psa 51:1: The vial of wrath drops, but the fountain of mercy runs. The sun is not so full of light as God is of mercy. God has morning mercies. His mercies are new every morning.' Lam 3:33. He has night mercies. In the night his song shall be with me.' Psa 13:3. God has mercies under heaven, which we taste; and in heaven, which we hope for.

[3] God's mercy is eternal. The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.' Psa 103:37. His mercy endureth for ever,' is repeated twenty-six times in one psalm. Psa 136. The souls of the blessed shall be ever bathing themselves in this sweet and pleasant ocean of God's mercy. God's anger to his children lasts but a while, but his mercy lasts for ever.' Psa 103:3. As long as he is God he will be showing mercy. As his mercy is overflowing, so it is everflowing.

Use one: We are to look upon God in prayer, not in his judgement robes, but clothed with a rainbow full of mercy and clemency. Add wings to prayer. When Jesus Christ ascended up to heaven, that which made him go up thither with joy was, I go to my Father;' so that which should make our hearts ascend with joy in prayer, is, We are going to the Father of mercy, who sits upon the throne of grace.' Go with confidence in this mercy; as when one goes to a fire, not doubtingly, saying, perhaps it will warm me, perhaps not.

Use two: Believe in his mercy. I will trust in the mercy of God for ever.' Psa 52:2. God's mercy is a fountain opened. Let down the bucket of faith and you may drink of this fountain of salvation. What greater encouragement to believe than God's mercy? God counts it his glory to be scattering pardons; he is desirous that sinners should touch the golden sceptre of his mercy and live. This willingness to show mercy appears two ways: -

(1.) By entreating sinners to come and lay hold on his mercy. Whosoever will, let him come, and take the water of life freely.' Rev 22:17. Mercy woos sinners, it even kneels down to them. It were strange for a prince to entreat a condemned man to accept of pardon. God says, Poor sinner, suffer me to love thee, be willing to let me save thee.

(2.) By his joyfulness when sinners lay hold on his mercy. What is God the better whether we receive his mercy or not? What is the fountain profited that others drink of it? Yet such is God's goodness, that he rejoices at the salvation of sinners, and is glad when his mercy is accepted. When the prodigal son came home the father was glad, and made a feast to express his joy; so, God rejoices when a poor sinner comes in, and lays hold of his mercy. What an encouragement is here to believe in God! He is a God of pardons. Neh 9:97. Mercy pleases him. Mic 7:18. Nothing prejudices us but unbelief. Unbelief stops the current of God's mercy from running. It shuts up God's bowels, closes the orifice of Christ's wounds, so that no healing virtue will come out.' He did not many mighty works there, because of their unbelief, Matt 13:38. Why dost thou not believe in God's mercy? Do thy sins discourage thee? God's mercy can pardon great sins, nay, because they are great. Psa 25:11. The sea covers the rocks as well as the sands. Some that had a hand in crucifying Christ found mercy. As far as the heavens are above the earth, so far is God's mercy above our sins. Isa 55:5. What will tempt us to believe, if not the mercy of God?

Use three: Take heed of abusing the mercy of God. Suck not poison out of the sweet flower of God's mercy. Think not that because God is merciful, you may go on in sin; this is to make mercy your enemy. None might touch the ark but the priests, who by their office were more holy; so none may touch the ark of God's mercy but such as are resolved to be holy. To sin because mercy abounds is the devil's logic. He that sins because of mercy, is like one that wounds his head because he has a plaster. He that sins because of God's mercy, shall have judgement without mercy. Mercy abused turns to fury. If he bless himself, saying, I shall have peace though I walk after the imaginations of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst, the Lord will not spare him, but the anger of the Lord, and his jealousy, shall smoke against that man.' Deut 29:19, 20. Nothing is sweeter than mercy, when it is improved; nothing fiercer, when it is abused; as nothing is colder than lead when taken out of the mine, and nothing more scalding when it is heated. Nothing is blunter than iron, yet nothing is sharper when it is whetted. The mercy of the Lord is upon them that fear him.' Psa 103:17. Mercy is not for them that sin and fear not, but for them that fear and sin not. God's mercy is a holy mercy; where it pardons it heals.

What shall we do to be interested in God's mercy?

(1.) Be sensible of your wants. See how much you stand in need of pardoning, saving mercy. See yourselves orphans. In thee the fatherless find mercy.' Hos 14:4. God bestows the alms of mercy only on such as are indigent. Be emptied of all opinion of self-worthiness. God pours the golden oil of mercy into empty vessels.

(2.) Go to God for mercy. Have mercy upon me, O God!' Psa 51:1. Put me not off with common mercy that reprobates may have; give me not only acorns but pearls; give me not only mercy to feed and clothe me, but mercy to save me; give me the cream of thy mercies; Lord! let me have mercy and lovingkindness. Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies.' Psa 103:3. Give me such mercy as speaks thy electing love to my soul. Oh pray for mercy! God has treasures of mercy; prayer is the key that opens these treasures; and in prayer, be sure to carry Christ in your arms, for all the mercy comes through Christ. Samuel took a sucking lamb,; I Sam 7:7; carry the lamb Christ in your arms, go in his name, present his merits; say, Lord! here is Christ's blood, which is the price of my pardon; Lord! show me mercy, because Christ has purchased it. Though God may refuse us when we come for mercy in our own name, yet he will not when we come in Christ's name. Plead Christ's satisfaction, and this is an argument that God cannot deny.

Use four: Such as have found mercy are exhorted to three things. (1.) To be upon Gerizim, the mount of blessing and praising. They have not only heard the King of heaven is merciful, but they have found it so; the honeycomb of God's mercy has dropped upon them; when in wants, mercy supplied them; when they were nigh unto death, mercy raised them from the sick-bed; when covered with guilt, mercy pardoned them. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.' Psa 103:3. Oh how should the vessels of mercy run over with praise! Who was before a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy.' I Tim 1:13. I was bemiracled with mercy; as the sea overflows and breaks down the banks, so the mercy of God broke down the banks of my sin, and mercy sweetly flowed into my soul. You that have been monuments of God's mercy, should be trumpets of praise; you that have tasted the Lord is gracious, tell others what experiences you have had of God's mercy, that you may encourage them to seek to him for mercy. I will tell you what God has done for my soul;' Psa 66:16; that when I found my heart dead, God's Spirit came upon me mightily, and the blowing of that wind made the withering flowers of my grace revive. Oh tell others of God's goodness, that you may set others blessing him, and that you may make God's praises live when you are dead.

(2.) To love God. Mercy should be the attraction of love. I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.' Psa 18:8. The Hebrew word for love signifies love out of the inward bowels. God's justice may make us fear him, his mercy makes us love him. If mercy will not produce love, what will? We are to love God for giving us our food, much more for giving us grace; for sparing mercy, much more for saving mercy. Sure that heart is made of marble, which the mercy of God will not dissolve in love. I would hate my own soul,' says Augustine, if I did not find it loving God.'

(3.) To imitate God in showing mercy. As God is the Father of mercy, show yourselves to be his children, by being like him. Ambrose says, The sum and definition of religion is, Be rich in works of mercy, be helpful to the bodies and souls of others. Scatter your golden seeds; let the lamp of your profession be filled with the oil of charity. Be merciful in giving and forgiving. "Be ye merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful".

Phony Miracles

Greed and Theft

While financial giving is essential to a vibrant walk with Christ (“Why Become a Giver?”), we openly and absolutely reject giving money to faith healers. Consider the greed and theft of several popular faith-healers today:

Peter Popoff:Randi writes, “Popoff was never shy about such matters [his affluence], delighting in showing off his wealth at every opportunity. His home in Upland (assessed at just under $800,000), which he put up for sale after I exposed his tricks on the Johnny Carson show in February of 1986, boasted both a walk-in vault and a jewelry display room measuring six by eight feet, with illuminated display shelves… Reports from inside were that Popoff had $2 million in cash stashed away in there against bad times, and had boasted about it… Popoff’s personal expenses included a monthly payment of $5,000 to one of L.A.’s most expensive interior decorators, to apply to his $300,000 bill for redesigning the Popoff residence… The Peter Popoff Evangelical Association paid the bill every month.”[1]

W.V. Grant:Randi writes, “The new Grant mansion outside Dallas cost $800,000, plus another $200,000 for the play area, outdoor night lighting, swimming pool, patio, and assorted electronic pinball machines, which Grant adores.”[2]

Oral Roberts: Regarding the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association, Randi writes, “It is a $500 million conglomerate that has become a major part of that city’s economy.”[3]

Fake Miracles

Secular investigators have repeatedly uncovered the fact that many popular faith-healers are completely fraudulent. For instance, investigator James Randi caught many faith-healers red-handed in trying to create fake miracles. He sent in his friend Don Henvick who dressed as a woman “Bernice Manicoff” to get healed.[4] Of course, “Bernice” was never healed, and only served to demonstrate the bankruptcy of various faith-healers.

Peter Popoff

Randi writes that Popoff was caught using a radio device to simulate the gift of knowledge and they spotted something in his ear.[5] They put a radio scanner to pick up the message. Elizabeth Popoff was saying, “Hello, Petey. I love you. I’m talking to you. Can you hear me? If you can’t, you’re in trouble, ‘cause I’m talking. As well as I can talk. I’m looking up names, right now. I forgot to ask. Are you going to preach first, or are you going to minister first?”[6] She went on to describe names, tables, afflictions, etc. Skeptical investigator James Randi exposed faith healer Peter Popoff for faking miracles (see video here).

W.V. Grant

W.V. Grant lied about going to college for theology. Randi writes, “Even Grant’s college degree is phony. He claims that he obtained it from ‘Midstates Bible College’ in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1972. He displays the diploma on his office wall. But Midstates wasn’t then and isn’t now registered with the Iowa Department of Public Instruction, as all parochial and public schools are required to be. It wasn’t recorded with the secretary of state’s office in Iowa as a corporation; nor was it listed in the county recorder’s office. It didn’t even show up in the telephone directory!”[7] Grant claimed that he used his excessive money to give money to Haiti, but this never happened.[8] The investigators at Primetime exposed faith healer W. V. Grant (see video here), discovering that his “ministry of miracles” were nothing more than old magician’s tricks.

Healing the blind? Faith healers will often “heal the blind” so that they can see how many fingers they are holding up. However, this is fraudulent. Randi writes, “It consists of Grant asking the subject to tell him how many fingers he is holding up, then placing the microphone before the subject’s mouth and at the same time saying the required number out loud, which the subject merely repeats!”[9]

Special knowledge? Faith healers will often have special knowledge of a person. For instance, Grant knew that a subject smoked Pall Mall cigarettes. However, Randi writes, “Close observation of the videotape of that show reveals that the Pall Mall package was visible through the white fabric of the man’s pocket. Grant had spotted this and used the information to his advantage.”[10]

Healing those in wheelchairs? In order to heal people in wheelchairs, the faith-healer never picks people who have a personalized wheelchair. These are people who are actually handicapped. Instead, they always pick from those who have the same type of wheelchairs, which belong to the auditorium. That is, when elderly people come walking into the stadium, an usher will give them a wheelchair to sit in, but they aren’t actually physically handicapped. Thus the faith-healer can spot such a wheelchair and pick a person who can already walk. Regarding one person who was “healed,” Randi writes, “The chair was supplied by an usher. He’d never been in a wheelchair before in his life.”[11]

Healing irregular legs? Faith-healers often heal subjects of irregular legs, by causing one to grow longer than the other. However, this is a slight of hand trick, where the magician pulls out a show to make one leg look longer than the other. One lady “healed” by W.V. Grant was actually “healed” on two separate occasions and on the same leg! Randi writes, “She was understandably puzzled, because she had visited Grant during a previous crusade two years earlier, and at that time, too, she had been ‘called out’ and then Grant had seemed to lengthen that same leg by three inches! He had the bad luck to choose the same victim twice for the same stunt! …If both miracles had been true, Evelyn would have had to walk with one foot in a ditch in order to walk straight.”[12]

Benny Hinn

Dateline criticized the ministry of televangelist Benny Hinn (see video here).

Should we expect to see healings today?

Yes and no. We believe that God still heals people miraculously, and sometimes, this happens through people with this particular gift (see our earlier article “The Charismatic Gifts”). However, we should consider a number of observations with regards to biblical healings and modern faith healers:

First, generating false miracles doesn’t help the cause of Christ. Clearly, the overwhelming majority of faith healers are using magician’s tricks or manipulation to create fraudulent miracles. Paul warned us about men who were false magicians, turning people away from the truth (2 Tim. 3:8-9). Secular people can see this a mile away, but sadly, many Christians are too undiscerning to be able to spot this blatant falsehood.

Second, miracles are infrequent in the Bible. We often think miracles are frequent in Scripture, but that’s because these are all in the same book. We turn a page, and another miracle occurs. But in the narrative, hundreds of years may have passed in between miraculous events! For instance, Israel wallowed in slavery for 400 years without seeing any miracles. Moreover, Sarah gave birth to Isaac at an incredibly old age (which was an incredible miracle), but Abraham and Sarah had to wait a very long time to get the promise of Isaac (30 years). Even a powerful prophet like John the Baptist didn’t perform any miracles (Jn. 10:41). While the book of Acts contains many miracles, we need to remember that these events are the highlights of 30 years of ministry. Certain portions of salvation history are surely punctuated by more miraculous interventions of God (e.g. the Exodus, ministry of Christ, book of Acts, etc.), but these are far from normative. God seems to emphasize important points of salvation history with more miraculous interventions to grab our attention. This is why more people are familiar with the book of Exodus more than Esther.

Third, sometimes miracles can distract us from God’s message. For instance, followers of Christ sometimes pursued him just to get a free lunch, rather than caring about him or his message (Jn. 6:26-27). While God will validate himself through miracles (e.g. burning bush, prophecy, miracles of Jesus), he is also careful not to distract us from himself with miraculous acts. Many believers become so obsessed with witnessing miracles that this will dominate their relationship with God.

Fourth, God does heal people miraculously when he sees fit. James 5:14-15 explains that God will heal others through the prayer of believers today. It isn’t that God can heal. The question is when and why he heals. However, this teaching of Scripture is not emphasized as central to our mission as a church. In fact, in many of the cases of actual healings, the observers are often allergic to the praise and attention that is caused by the miracle. Instead, God’s main miracle is his message (the Cross).

Fifth, Paul outlines a proper view toward these charismatic gifts. In 1 Thessalonians 5:19, he writes, “Do not quench the Spirit.” If God is moving powerfully in healing miracles, we should be glad and thankful about this (v.18)! It isn’t our role as believers to be overly skeptical about miraculous activity. However, in the immediate context, Paul writes, “But examine everything carefully” (v.21). In other words, while we should welcome miraculous acts of God, we should also be discerning about alleged miracles, too. As Christians, we should be the first to identify false faith healers.

Sixth, there are various differences between biblical miracles and the “miracles” of the faith healers. We can see these below:

Difference between Biblical Miracles and Modern Faith Healers

Biblical Miracles

Modern Faith Healers

Jesus and the apostles healed “every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people” (Mt. 4:23; c.f. 8:16; 10:1).
Modern faith healers will only heal selective diseases—such as back pain or arthritis.
Jesus and the apostles brought people back from the dead (Mt. 9:18; 23-25; 10:8; Jn. 11).
Modern faith healers have never attempted something like this. This is an inconsistency in their position. If biblical miracles should be normative for today, why don’t they ever bring people back from the dead?
The miracles in Scripture were attested to even by non-believers. For instance, even Pharaoh’s magicians attributed Moses’ miracles to “the finger of God” (Ex. 8:19). Moreover, Jesus’ enemies didn’t deny his miracles; instead, they attributed his miraculous power to Satan (Mt. 11:24).
By contrast, secular investigators have repeatedly debunked the miracles of faith healers. These are demonstrably false.


How do faith-healers get away with this?

There are multiple reasons for how and why faith-healers have been so successful:

First, faith-healers “blame the victim.” Critic James Randi writes, “Today’s faith-healers impose a heavy potential burden of guilt on their victims. People are told that any failure of the healing magic is due to lack of their faith. They, not Jesus or the healer, must take the blame.”[13] The faith healer is never incompetent or a fraud. Instead, they blame the sick person for having a lack of faith. Therefore, if a person isn’t healed, whose fault is it? Talk about kicking a person when they’re down! Not only are they sick with cancer (or some other ailment), but they are also faithless too!

Even in NT times, miracle workers weren’t always able to heal. For instance, even the great apostle Paul writes, “Trophimus I left sick at Miletus” (2 Tim. 4:20). He couldn’t heal Timothy’s “frequent ailments” (1 Tim. 5:23) or sickly Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25). Even Jesus was not always able to perform miracles in Nazareth (Mk. 6:5; Mt. 13:58). This does not mean that faith fills Jesus with power (like clapping fills Tinkerbell with life!). Instead, Jesus wasn’t able to heal in these places because he knew that more miraculous activity would only damage their already hardened hearts and their stubborn lack of faith.

Second, the first amendment has led to corruption in religious circles. Regarding financial accountability in the American church, Pastor Dennis McCallum rightly observes,

Because of the first amendment to the U. S. Constitution (that the government will not pass laws involving religion) American churches are free from normal requirements for disclosure like those applying to businesses. Churches can keep their books secret, and even the government cannot audit them if they refuse. Unfortunately, this well-intentioned law has resulted in the church being the most unaccountable institution in America. Churches have become the perfect venue for criminals and con men to ply their trade while remaining unaccountable and even remaining tax exempt! Paul’s standard—being able and ready to prove where the money goes—is long forgotten in many modern churches.[14]

Likewise, secular investigator James Randi writes,

The amounts of money asked for and received by religious figures are enormous. Moreover, it is banked tax-free. The IRS has declared that all such money—except for the preacher’s declared personal income—is exempt from taxes… Churches do not even have to apply for recognition of their exemption.[15]

Third, Christian leaders often lack the discernment or the courage to expose false teaching. For instance, Paul Crouch Jr.’s father ran Peter Popoff’s show on TBN. Randi writes, “When my colleague David Alexander, an investigator for CSER, suggested to Crouch Sr. that he should have told his TV audience of Popoff’s methods, Crouch showed no interest at all. Crouch might have felt ethically bound to warn his viewers but decided to commit what we might call the sin of silence. TBN chose not to protect Christians from being exploited, and Popoff was allowed to work his TV game for many years.”[16] We find such weakness appalling!

Conclusion

God still works miraculously today, and as believers, we should welcome the miraculous acts of God. But modern faith healers have exploited both the Bible’s teaching on miracles as well as the many desperate believers who have come to them for healing and hope. This sort of teaching should be rejected by Bible believers and openly exposed—both for the sake of those being taken advantage of and for protecting Christ’s name in the public arena.