Bible Truths

CHAPTER ONE

How to Understand the Bible

We have chosen Bible Truths Unmasked as the title of this book, because it is our desire to unmask the numerous plain, simple, and clearly stated Bible truths that are unnecessarily hidden from many Christians of all churches. The devil himself is the chief cause for these truths being unknown to men. He not only blinds the minds of them that believe not (2 Cor. 4:3-4), but he steals the Word of God from the hearts of Christians lest they should discover the means of complete victory over him-victory that is the heritage of every believer. Satan and his agents are transformed into angels of light and ministers of righteousness to deceive (2 Cor. 11:13-15). He even uses the best of saints and ministers of churches to propagate fallacies of all kinds and to rob men of the richest blessings of the gospel of Christ. We propose to show in this book many of these truths that are not commonly known. We promise to give an abundance of plain Scriptures which one can read in his own Bible to confirm what we say. We will literally unmask truths tha

t have been hidden from many generations and have not been fully experienced by Christians since the days of the apostles. The reader will be astonished at some of our claims and will perhaps argue at first that such is not the teaching of the Bible, but if he will be honest and open to what the Scriptures really say he will be convinced that these truths are plainly written in the Bible and that they are for all believers today.

This Book Reveals God's Will and Shows:

1. How to read and understand the Bible.

2. How to reap the benefits of the promises of God.

3. How to detect demon powers and false religions.

4. How to resist the devil and overcome him and his fallen angels and demons.

5. How to keep from being deceived and know whether you are deceived or not.

6. How to detect between manifestations of God and those of evil spirits.

7. How to get into Christ and know the will of God.

8. How to know what sins and bad habits will damn the soul.

9. How to distinguish between carnality and sin.

10. How to have freedom from sin and bad habits and spiritual defeat.

11. How to be born again and know God in reality.

12. How to solve all problems of life, both now and hereafter.

13. How to have unwavering, unshakable, and absolute faith in God.

14. How to know you have the right faith and the right religion.

15. How to increase faith and how to use it.

16. How to be prosperous and succeed in business.

17. How to know whether you will go to Heaven or Hell.

18. How to overcome obstacles to faith and hindrances to prayer.

19. How to have freedom from poverty and want.

20. How to get answers to every prayer.

21. How to know when prayer is not going to be answered.

22. How to know when you pray right and when prayer will be answered.

23. How to know when it is God's will to heal and answer prayer.

24. How to get bodily healing and have sound health.

25. How to have freedom from sickness, pain, and disease.

26. How to become master of yourself and be free from worry and anxiety.

27. How to do the works of Christ and even greater than he did.

28. How to have power with God and suffer no defeat in life.

29. How to have all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

30. How to exercise unlimited authority in all the fullness of God.

1. How to read and understand the Bible.

2. How to reap the benefits of the promises of God.

3. How to detect demon powers and false religions.

4. How to resist the devil and overcome him and his fallen angels and demons.

5. How to keep from being deceived and know whether you are deceived or not.

6. How to detect between manifestations of God and those of evil spirits.

7. How to get into Christ and know the will of God.

8. How to know what sins and bad habits will damn the soul.

9. How to distinguish between carnality and sin.

10. How to have freedom from sin and bad habits and spiritual defeat.

11. How to be born again and know God in reality.

12. How to solve all problems of life, both now and hereafter.

13. How to have unwavering, unshakable, and absolute faith in God.

14. How to know you have the right faith and the right religion.

15. How to increase faith and how to use it.

16. How to be prosperous and succeed in business.

17. How to know whether you will go to Heaven or Hell.

18. How to overcome obstacles to faith and hindrances to prayer.

19. How to have freedom from poverty and want.

20. How to get answers to every prayer.

21. How to know when prayer is not going to be answered.

22. How to know when you pray right and when prayer will be answered.

23. How to know when it is God's will to heal and answer prayer.

24. How to get bodily healing and have sound health.

25. How to have freedom from sickness, pain, and disease.

26. How to become master of yourself and be free from worry and anxiety.

27. How to do the works of Christ and even greater than he did.

28. How to have power with God and suffer no defeat in life.

29. How to have all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

30. How to exercise unlimited authority in all the fullness of God.

2. The Basis of Proof for These Claims

The basis of proof for the above claims is the Bible. Many books are being written today designed to relieve men of their problems of life and help them to become outwardly good and refined. Such books are based upon pure psychology, which is the science of the human mind and soul and their operation, and a mixture of religion. They are helpful to an extent to certain classes, but they miss the mark when it comes to the heart of the trouble of the human race and how to permanently cure human ills. The great trouble in the world is not so much outward maladjustment as it is inward depravity caused by sin and rebellion against God. The real fact is that men are depraved and fallen creatures and out of harmony with God and His creative purposes. They are dominated by higher evil spirits who seek to control every act of their life and conduct contrary to the divine will.

If men are to become victorious over all adversities of life and attain to the full benefits of the gospel, they must be enlightened as to the true source of their troubles and turn to God for help over these evil spirits that dominate the human race. They must solve their problems through God and the Bible and not through psychology and human effort if they are to have complete and eternal relief. The Bible must be accepted as the inspired and infallible Word of God. What it says must be accepted as the final word of authority on all questions of life. The law of the Bible is that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established (Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1).

We propose to follow this law and to prove everything by what is plainly written in Scripture. It is all important that the reader be willing to lay aside any theory that he has been taught if it is contrary to the plain Word of God. Let him accept at face value what God says and refuse to question God or make His Word a lie about anything it says.

3. God Means What He says and Says What He Means

If God says anything He means it. We have all the right in the world to believe that He is an intelligent Being and that He can and does use the human language as well as any man. There is nothing to be gained by doubting, questioning, and arguing about everything that He says. We stand to lose everything both now and hereafter if we pursue such a program. It is the purpose of the devil to get men to live in doubts and unbelief concerning what God has promised in His Word so as to rob them of the benefits of faith in God and in His Word. If God did not mean what He said then He should not have said it, but if He did say it who are we to make Him a liar? Shall we not rather believe that the devil is a liar, that he is our worst enemy, and that unbelief and doubts are his work for the purpose of robbing men of the benefits of the gospel through Jesus Christ?

4. No Room for Misunderstanding the Bible

There can be no excuse for misunderstanding the Bible concerning anything that it says. The Bible is the most simple book in the world to understand. Men could not possibly make a book that could be more simple to understand than the Bible. All that the Bible ever required of men in order to understand it is to believe it and take it for what it says. Not one passage in Scripture even hints that the Bible is hard to understand by those who are simple enough to believe what they read. It is only the "unlearned and unstable" that are referred to as the ones who wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction (2 Pet. 3:16). It is the "fools, and slow of heart to believe" that misunderstand Scripture (Luke 24:25-27). It is "unbelief and hardness of heart" that causes men to question what the Bible says (Matt. 13:14-17; Mark. 16:13-14). Men who desire to know the truth can easily understand it if they will make up their minds that what the Bible says is final as far as they are concerned. The secret of knowing truth is to find out what God says and then believe it. To stop and reason about what is written or whether it means what it says will automatically rob one of a simple faith in God and in His Word. This must be stopped if a true understanding of truth is to be gained. True understanding and faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:11-18). About ninety times in Scripture there is an appeal to get men to believe what "is written," as if everything was simple enough to understand if they wanted to believe.

5. Causes for Misunderstanding the Bible

Pride, willful unbelief, doubt, and rebellion against what "is written" are the causes of misunderstanding the Bible. The hard part then is not in understanding what is plainly written, but in being willing to believe and obey it. If one could not understand the truth, he could not reject it. The trouble with the rebels in Matt. 13:9-11 was that of rejecting what they heard, not in understanding what was said This passage says, "For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."

Any Scripture will be hard to understand if one makes up his mind that he is not going to believe it. When one rejects what he hears and refuses to obey it -, he will naturally be hardened and turned against it. When one closes his mind to truth there can be no simple understanding of it. One must be willing to accept the Bible as God's Word. He must believe that God could not be honest if He sought to hide from man the very things He will judge him by in the end. He must accept what the Bible says, not what men interpret it to say. He must forget the many foolish and hurtful interpretations of men and believe that God knew what He said and that He meant exactly what He said.

6. Many Bible References as Proof

It is our policy to give Scripture references to prove everything that we say. It is not necessary to look up the references in order to get the truth. They are given as proof that what we say is biblical, and for those who desire to investigate for themselves what the Bible says on the various questions. We shall state exactly what the Bible says so that each reader can get the truth even though he does not read every reference. Should there be any doubt that we are giving what is in the Bible, we invite everyone to read the references for himself and see that the Bible actually says what we say it does. If the Bible does say what we teach, then one is automatically under obligation to God as well as to himself to believe the Bible even though it might contradict what he has been taught in his church. Be sure that you do not allow preconceived ideas and what you have been taught to cause you to be biased on any point. Do not seek to make the Bible conform to your ideas. Conform your ideas to the Bible. Let the plain language of Scripture settle every point of difference and confirm what you believe.

7. God's Promises are Especially Simple

God's Promises are Especially Simple

One might have been taught that certain parts of the Bible are hard to understand. This has been held by many concerning the prophecies, the proverbs, some figures of speech, and some other passages in Scripture, but there is no excuse for misunderstanding these parts of the Bible any more than the plain historical parts and those portions that are held to be simple. Prophecy is simply history written beforehand and should be understood in this light. All riddles, allegories, types, symbols, and figures of speech are either explained or are clear in themselves as to the true meaning.

When it comes to the promises of God that we shall deal with in particular in this book, there cannot possibly be any misunderstanding about what they say or mean. Every promise of God is a simple statement of obligation to men that God will give them certain benefits when they meet certain conditions. All the promises of God are conditional, as can be seen in the Scriptures themselves. If one wants the benefits promised, he must accept the promise for what it says and meet the conditions required. He can then depend upon the fulfillment of it in his life. God cannot lie so man is assured that what God has promised He is abundantly able to perform. Not one promise needs interpretation. All that is needed is for one to act upon what they say and believe that they will be fulfilled to the ones who believe. Attach no other condition to them other than what is plainly written. When conditions are met the blessings will be realized. "For ALL the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (2 Cor. 1:20).

CHAPTER TWO

The Reality of God, Satan, Fallen Angels, and Demons

1. The Reality of the Living God

Faith in God and in His promises presupposes the existence of God and that He is a God of love, justice, mercy, and truth. This must be taken for granted without any doubt. Paul said, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS, and THAT HE IS A REWARDER of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6). You can and should believe in God if you want the benefits from Him He has promised. We will not take up a study of God, which is fully dealt with in our 52 lesson Bible course called, "God's Plan for Man." We will proceed with the assumption that you do believe in a personal God; that the Bible is the Word of God; and that God will be true to you in all that He has promised. We must build upon this biblical and fundamental foundation, and as you receive the benefits of the promises, you will have the best proof of the existence of God and that He is faithful to His obligations to men.

2. The Reality of Satan

The Bible not only teaches the reality of a personal God, but also the reality of a personal devil or adversary of God and man. Satan is mentioned by various names about 175 times in Scripture. Jesus, the apostles, and all Bible writers refer to him as a real person (1 Chron. 21:1; Zech. 3:1-3; Matt. 4:1-11; Eph. 6:10-18; 1 Pet. 5:8-9; Rev. 12:7-12; 20:1-10). Personal pronouns, descriptions, names, attributes, and works are ascribed to Satan in all Scripture. He is pictured as being the head of all spirit forces against God (Matt. 12:24-30; Eph. 2:2; 6:10-18; 2 Cor. 11:14; Rev. 12:7-12). He is a fallen angel and the former ruler of the planet Earth before the days of Adam. He led a rebellion against God and ascended into Heaven to cast God out but he was defeated and the Earth cursed and all life on the Earth was totally destroyed by the flood of Gen. 1:2; 2 Pet. 3:4-7; Ps. 104:6-9. He was sinless and perfect in his ways from his creation until sin was found in him (Ezek. 28:11-17). He was cast out of Heaven when he was defeated (Isa. 14:12-14; Luke 10:18). The Earth remained desolate until God restored it in six days and made man and the present creation (Jer. 4:23-26; Gen. 1:2-31).

Satan, therefore, is not a disease germ, an error of the mortal mind, an evil principle, or a being with hoofs, horns, tall, and a pitchfork residing over the realm of Hell. That he is a real person is plainly taught in the following personal acts and works in the human race:

1. He is the deceiver of all men (Rev. 12:9; 20:1-10; 2 Cor. 11:14).

2. He had the power of death until Christ conquered death, Hell, and the grave (Heb. 2:14; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Rev. 1:18; 20:11-15).

3. He is the leader of all sinners and backsliders in the human race (1 John 3:8-10; 1 Tim. 5:15) and of all spirit rebels (Eph. 6:10-18; Matt. 9:34).

4. He causes all sickness and disease and physical and mental maladies in the human race (Luke 13:16; John 10:10; Acts 10:38). (5) He takes advantage of all adversities of men to further their rebellion and hold them captive (2 Cor. 2:11; 1 Tim. 1:20; 5:11-15; 1 Pet. 5:8-9).

5. He tempts and provokes men to sin (1 Chron. 21:1; Mark 1:13; 1 Cor. 7:5).

6. He causes offense and opposition to God (Matt. 16:23).

7. He transforms himself into an angel of light to deceive (2 Cor. 11:14).

8. He resists others who would serve God (Zech. 3:1-2; 1 Pet. 5:8-9).

9. He enters into union with others against God (Luke 22:3; John 13:2).

10. He sends messengers to defeat saints (2 Cor. 12:1-7; Dan. 10:12-21).

11. He hinders the gospel (1 Thess. 2:18; Acts 13:10).

12. He steals the Word of God from the hearts of the people lest they should believe it and be saved (Matt. 13:19; Luke 8:12).

13. He endues men with power to work miracles (2 Thess. 2:9; Rev. 13:1-18).

14. He wars on messengers of God and sometimes holds them captive. (Dan. 10:12-21).

15. He sets snares for men to fall into sin (1 Tim. 3:7; 2 Tim. 1:26).

16. He makes war on the saints (Eph. 6:10-18; 1 Pet. 5:8-9).

17. He causes diversions and blinds men to the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4).

18. He causes double mindedness (James 1:5-9); doubt and unbelief (Rom. 14:23; Gen. 3:4-5) darkness and oppression (2 Cor. 4:4; 2 Pet. 1:4-9); deadness and weakness (Heb. 6:1; 9:14); delay and compromise (Acts 24:25; 26:28); and divisions and strife among men (1 Pet. 5:8; 1 Cor. 3:1-3).

19. He stirs up the passions and lusts of men and gains control of them as they submit to his demon forces (John 8:44; Eph. 2:1-3; 1 John 2:15-17).

3. The Reality of Fallen Angels

Angels are real personal beings with spirit bodies. The only difference between angels and men is that they have spiritual bodies and are greater in power and personal attributes. That they are personal beings is proved by the following facts in Scripture:

1. Angels are intelligent and wise (2 Sam. 14:20; 19:27; Matt. 24:35).

2. They are immortal and mighty (Dan. 10:5-21; Luke 20:36; Rev. 12:7-12).

3. They are not demons or human beings (Acts 23:8-9; Heb. 2:9,16).

4. They have wills and spirit bodies with bodily parts like men (Isa. 14:12-14; Dan. 10:5-21; Rev. 12:7-12; 20:1-10; Gen. 18-19; Josh. 5).

5. They can and do operate in the material realm (Rev. 9:11, 14; 12:7-12; 20:1-10).

6. They wage war in actual bodily combat (Rev. 12:7-9; Dan. 10:5-21).

7. They rule nations (Dan. 10:13-21; 12:1; Eph. 6:10-18).

8. They are created sons of God (Gen. 6:1-4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Col. 1:15-18).

9. They are organized into principalities and powers to war on saints (Rom. 8:38; Eph. 6:10-18; 1 Pet. 3:22).

10. They are of two classes, good and bad (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6-7; Rev. 12:7-9).

11. They are made subject to Christ (1 Pet. 3:22).

12. Rebel angels are to be cast out of Heaven (Rev. 12:7-12).

13. Fallen angels deceive men (2 Cor. 11:14); oppose saints. (Rom. 8:38; Eph. 6:10-18); originally fell with Lucifer (Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:11-17; Matt. 24:41; Rev. 12:7-12); and are doomed to eternal Hell (Matt. 25:41; Jude 6-7; Isa. 24:21-23; 25:7).

14. They eat food (Gen. 18; Ps. 78:49); wear clothes (John 20:12); observe men (1 Cor. 4:9); cook (1 Kings 19:5-7); travel (Rev. 8:13; 9:1); speak languages (1 Cor. 13:1); witness confessions (Luke 15:8-9); and do many things man can do.

15. They have personal soul and spirit faculties like men (Luke 15:1-10; 1 Cor. 11:10; Mark 8:38; Luke 2:13; Rev. 5:11; Job 4:18; etc.).

16. They have appeared to men as personal beings with bodies like men (Gen. 18:1-16; 19:1-5. Josh. 5:15; Judges 6:11; 13:6-20; Dan. 10; Acts 12:7-11; Heb. 13:2; etc.).

4. Reality of Demons or Unclean Spirits

The subject of demons is very real according to the Bible. The word demon is not found in Scripture, but it means evil spirit or devil. The word devil is used of Satan, the prince of demons (Matt. 9:34; 12:24). He is the chief evil spirit and the original source of evil in the universe. The Greek word for devil used in collection with Satan is diabolos, meaning adversary, false accuser, slanderer. It is translated "false accuser" and "slanderer" and is used of men in 1 Tim. 3:11; 2 Tim. 3:3; Titus 2:3. It is translated devil once when applied to Judas when he became an adversary of Christ (John 6:70). In thirty-four other places it is used of Satan as the chief adversary of God and man and is translated devil.

(1) Only One Devil, but Many Demons

In the other seventy-six places where the words devil and devils are found, they refer to evil spirits or demons and the word is derived from two different Greek words-diamonion and diamon, meaning evil spirits, devils, or adversaries of God and man. There is only one chief devil but there are many demons. The devil has an angelic body and cannot enter bodily into anyone, but demons are disembodied spirits and do not seem to be able to operate in the material world except through possession of men and beasts who have bodies for them to operate through.

(2) Other Facts About Demons

A. They are called: devils (Mark 16:17); familiar spirits (Lev. 20:6); unclean spirits (Mark 1:27); evil spirits (Luke 7:21); and seducing spirits (I Tim. 4:1).

B. Demons are made subject to Christ and believers by the atonement; by the name of Jesus; and by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 8:16, 17; 12:28; Mark 16:17; Luke 10:17; Acts 19:15).

C. Thousands of demons can enter into and take possession of one man at the same time (Mark 5:9).

D. They must be discerned, tested, resisted, and rejected by believers (1 John 4:1-6; 1 Cor. 12:10; Eph. 5:27; 6:10-18; 1 Pet. 5:8, 9).

E. They are possessed of more than ordinary intelligence (Matt. 8:29).

F. The rightful place for demons is in the abyss (Luke 8:31; Rev. 9:1-21).

G. They have separate personalities (Luke 8:26-33).

H. They are disembodied spirits (Matt. 12:43-45; Rev. 16:13-16).

I. They are Satan's emissaries (Matt. 12:26-29).

J. They are numerous and seek to enter into and control both men and beasts (Mark 5:1-18; Matt. 12:43-45; Luke 8:32).

K. Demon possession and demon influence are different (Matt. 4:23, 24 with 16:21-23).

L. Demons know their fate to be one of torment (Matt. 8:31, 32).

M. They know those who have power over them (Acts 19:13-17).

N. They fear God (James 2:19), make war on saints (Eph. 6:10-18), and influence men to commit sin (1 Tim. 4:1-5; 2 Pet. 2:10-12).

O. All unbelievers are more or less possessed with them (Matt. 12:43-45; Eph. 2:1-3).

P. The only resources against them are prayer, bodily control, and the whole armour of God (Matt. 17:21; Eph. 6:10-18).

Q. Traffic with demon spirits is forbidden in both Testaments (Lev. 19:31; 20:6; Deut. 18:10; Isa. 8:19-21; 1 Chron. 10:13-14; Luke 4:41; Acts 16:16; 1 Tim. 4:1-5; 2 Pet. 2:1-3; 1 John 4:1-6).

A. They are called: devils (Mark 16:17); familiar spirits (Lev. 20:6); unclean spirits (Mark 1:27); evil spirits (Luke 7:21); and seducing spirits (I Tim. 4:1).

B. Demons are made subject to Christ and believers by the atonement; by the name of Jesus; and by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 8:16, 17; 12:28; Mark 16:17; Luke 10:17; Acts 19:15).

C. Thousands of demons can enter into and take possession of one man at the same time (Mark 5:9).

D. They must be discerned, tested, resisted, and rejected by believers (1 John 4:1-6; 1 Cor. 12:10; Eph. 5:27; 6:10-18; 1 Pet. 5:8, 9).

E. They are possessed of more than ordinary intelligence (Matt. 8:29).

F. The rightful place for demons is in the abyss (Luke 8:31; Rev. 9:1-21).

G. They have separate personalities (Luke 8:26-33).

H. They are disembodied spirits (Matt. 12:43-45; Rev. 16:13-16).

I. They are Satan's emissaries (Matt. 12:26-29).

J. They are numerous and seek to enter into and control both men and beasts (Mark 5:1-18; Matt. 12:43-45; Luke 8:32).

K. Demon possession and demon influence are different (Matt. 4:23, 24 with 16:21-23).

L. Demons know their fate to be one of torment (Matt. 8:31, 32).

M. They know those who have power over them (Acts 19:13-17).

N. They fear God (James 2:19), make war on saints (Eph. 6:10-18), and influence men to commit sin (1 Tim. 4:1-5; 2 Pet. 2:10-12).

O. All unbelievers are more or less possessed with them (Matt. 12:43-45; Eph. 2:1-3).

P. The only resources against them are prayer, bodily control, and the whole armour of God (Matt. 17:21; Eph. 6:10-18).

Q. Traffic with demon spirits is forbidden in both Testaments (Lev. 19:31; 20:6; Deut. 18:10; Isa. 8:19-21; 1 Chron. 10:13-14; Luke 4:41; Acts 16:16; 1 Tim. 4:1-5; 2 Pet. 2:1-3; 1 John 4:1-6).

(3) The Nature of Demons

They are: evil (Judges 9:23; 1 Sam. 18:9. 10); intelligent and wise (1 Tim. 4:1; 1 Kings 22:22-24; Acts 16:16); powerful (Mark 5:1-18; Rev. 16:13-16); not angels (Acts 23:8, 9); not human, for they possess men and can be cast out (Matt. 10:7; Mark 16:17); and are individuals (Mark 16:9).

They have: knowledge (Matt. 9:21; Luke 4:41; Acts 19:15); faith (James 2:19); feelings (Matt. 8:29; Mark 5:7); fellowship (1 Cor. 10:20, 21); doctrines (I Tim. 4:1); wills (Matt. 12:43-45); miraculous powers (Rev. 16:13-16); intelligence (1 Tim. 4:l; 1 John 4:1-6); emotions (Acts 8:7); desires (Matt. 8:28-31); and other soul and spirit faculties.

(4) The Work of Demons

They possess people and cause: dumbness and deafness (Matt. 9:32, 33; Mark 9:25); blindness (Matt. 12:22); grievous vexation (Matt. 15:22); lunacy and mania (Matt. 4:23, 24; 17:14-21; Mark 5:1-18); uncleanness (called unclean spirits twenty-one times, Luke 4:36; etc.); supernatural strength (Mark 5:1-18); suicide (Matt. 17:15; John 10:10); fits (Mark 9:20); lusts (John 8:44; Eph. 2:1-3; 1 John 2:15-17); counterfeit worship (Lev. 17:7; Deut. 32:17; 2 Chron. 11:15; Pa. 106:37; 1 Cor. 10:30; Rev. 9:20); error (1 John 4:1-6; 1 Tim. 4:1); sickness and disease (Matt. 4:23, 24; 12:22; 17:15-18; Acts 10:38); torments (Matt. 4:23, 24; 15:22); deceptions (1 Tim. 4:1, 2; 1 John 4:1-6); lying (1 Kings 22:21-24); enchantments and witchcraft (1 Sam. 28; 1 Chron. 10:13; 2 Chron. 33:6); heresies and false doctrines (1 Tim. 4:1); wickedness (Luke 11:26); fear (2 Tim. 1:7); worldliness (1 John 2:15-17; 1 Cor. 2:12); bondage (Rom. 8:15); discord (Matt. 13:39; 1 Kings 22:21-24); violence (Matt. 17:15); betrayals (John 13:2; 1 Kings 22:22, 23); oppression (Acts 10:38); sin (1 John 3:8); persecution (Rev. 2:10; 1 Pet. 5:8); jealousy (1 Sam. 16:17; 18:8-10); false prophecy (1 Sam. 18:8-10; 1 Kings 22:21-24); and cause every evil they possibly can to come to God and man.

They can: teach (1 Tim. 4:1); steal (Matt. 13:19; Luke 8:12) fight (Eph. 4:27; 6:10-18; 1 Pet. 5:8); get mad (Matt. 8:28; Rev. 12:12); tell fortunes (Lev. 20:27; Acts 16:16); be friendly (called familiar spirits sixteen times, Lev. 20:6, 27); can go out and come back into men as they will, unless cast out and rejected (Matt. 12:43-45); travel (1 Kings 22:21-24; Mark 5:7, 12); speak (Mark 1:34; 5:12; Acts 8:7); imitate departed dead (1 Sam. 28:3-9; 1 Chron. 10:13; Isa. 8:19; Deut. 18:11); and do many things when in possession of bodies through whom they operate.

(5) Demons and Disease Germs

There are demon spirits for every sickness, unholy trait, and doctrinal error known among men. They must be cast out in order to get relief from them. Disease germs, which are closely allied with unclean spirits, are really living forms of corruption which come into the bodies of men bringing them to death. Just as refuse breeds maggots, so man in his fallen state of corruption breeds germs through unclean living and through contact with corruptions in the fallen world. Germs are agents of Satan, corrupting the bodies of his victims through unclean spirits that work invisibly in men.

(6) Knowledge About Demons Necessary

One must believe in the reality of Satan, fallen angels, and demons before he can intelligently co-operate with God against them and resist them in his own life. They are real, and the fact they deceive men to think they are non-existent proves all the more their reality. If we want the benefits of God according to the gospel, then we must be reasonable and believe what God has said about these beings and how they work in the human race to bring them to sin, sickness, pain, suffering, poverty, want, defeat in life, and to eternal Hell in the end.

CHAPTER THREE

The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

1. Satan the World Deceiver (Rev. 12:9)

The greatest and most important work of Satan now among men is to counterfeit the doctrines and experiences of God as revealed in Scripture in order to deceive saints. Men are commanded to prove and to, test all doctrines and experiences in the supernatural realm to see if they are of God or of Satan (1 Cor. 2:12-16; Phil. 1:9, 10; 1 Thess. 5:21, 22; 1 John 4:1-6). It is certain that every religion, doctrine, and experience among men cannot be of God, so we must judge them by the plain written Word of God. The greatest danger for spiritual believers is to accept anything and everything in the realm of the supernatural as being from God. Such believers have consecrated themselves to yield to the Holy Spirit and to the leadings of God, and they think that they cannot be deceived and be led by evil spirits through counterfeit doctrines and readings. But the fact that the believer is a child of God does not stop the devil from trying in every conceivable way to imitate God to the believer. In fact, believers are the ones he concentrates upon and wars against.

2. Latter Day Deceptions and Satanic Powers Predicted

Just like the magicians in Egypt imitated God's power in the days of Moses (Ex. 7:9-8:19), the devil is seeking to counterfeit the true work and plan of God for man in these latter days. In certain religious cults there are manifestations of satanic powers in healing, making men prosperous, and otherwise doing for them what God has promised to do for His children. Jesus predicted that in the last days many false Christs and prophets would come who would "shew great signs and wonders; inasmuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matt. 7:22-23; 24:24).

Paul predicted the same thing when he wrote, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils" (1 Tim. 4:1-8; 2 Tim. 3:1-13; 4:1-4). He also predicted that the future Antichrist is "coming after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie; that they might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thess. 2:8-12). Peter and John also predicted great power from Satan to men in the last days (2 Pet. 2:1-3; Rev. 13:1-18; 19:20).

3. Two Sources of Supernatural Help

It can be seen from the above facts that men can and will get help from satanic powers in the last days. Satan and demons who cause disease, who hinder men in getting prosperity, and who fight to keep men from getting answers to prayers from God, can also withdraw this opposition and help men to get these benefits should circumstances be favorable to him.

Satan and demons riot only can help men but they can hold them in bondage and defeat physically, spiritually, and materially if they so desire until they come to know the truth that sets them free. God alone can deliver from their power unless of their own accord they relinquish their hold on men. Jesus taught us in Matt. 12:43-45 that demons can leave a person and then come back again if they desire. The fact that they go out when rebuked by those who have power over them proves that they can loose any person they bind (Matt. 12:22-32; Luke 10:18-20; Acts 19:11-17). It stands to reason that if they can put diseases upon men, they can also take them off when it is to their advantage.

When will it be to their advantage? When they can deceive men with false doctrines and get them to accept false religions that deny the essentials of the gospel of salvation that will save their eternal souls. A number of false religions today are getting people healed and are bringing men certain other benefits, but their deceived followers never get to know the true source of these manifestations. Just because men get some benefits they are convinced that the source must be of God, but this is not true. Jesus said that in the judgment "Many will say unto me . . . Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I NEVER KNEW YOU: depart from me, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY" (Matt. 7:21-23).

These religions, without exception, deny the blood of Christ, the new birth, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and all the essentials of the gospel that will save the souls of men in eternity.

The devil backs up such preaching by taking off some sicknesses, and in other ways he helps men who follow these religions, and they are convinced that they have at last found the true religion. However, they do away with Christianity and the Bible and will be damned in the end because of rejecting Jesus Christ and the cross (Acts 4:12).

GOD IS THE TRUE SOURCE OF HELP, NOT THE DEVIL AND DEMONS. We come to you with the true message of the Bible, and we guarantee upon the authority of the Word of God that you will get healing, health, prosperity, answers to prayers, and anything that God promises you if you will follow faithfully the instructions, and you will not have to deny God, Christ, or one thing in the Holy Scriptures to get these benefits. You can get to know God in reality and enjoy the fullness of God in your life as you walk in truth and conform to the will of God. Then, too, your eternal soul will be saved in the end, and you will have eternal life instead of eternal damnation, which the followers of these false religions will have to endure.

We want it distinctly understood that there are two sources of help and you can get SOME help from demons if you will deny the truth, but if you will let the true God be your source of help, you will get ALL you want in this life as well as in the life to come.

4. How Satan Deceives the World

Paul said, "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed Into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works" (2 Cor. 11:14, 15). This makes it clear that counterfeits of Satan in doctrines and manifestations will be substitutes of truth and as near to the light and truth as possible in order to deceive seekers after truth. So it will pay everyone to be careful about what he believes and what supernatural power he yields to. There are definite ways outlined in Scripture by which one can detect what kind of spirit is seeking control of him.

5. How to Detect Counterfeit Religions and Demon Workings

(1) Any doctrine that denies or in any way causes doubt and unbelief concerning anything taught in Scripture is from demons. Any religion that denies the inspiration of the Bible; the reality of God as a person; the divine sonship of Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God; the virgin birth; the pre-existence of Jesus Christ; the divinity of Christ and His miraculous power and supernatural ministry; the death, burial, bodily resurrection, and the bodily manifestation of Christ after His resurrection; the bodily ascension to Heaven and the coming again of Jesus Christ to set up a kingdom in the world forever; the reality and power of the Holy Spirit and His ministry among men to convict of sin, to create men in Christ, and to carry on the work of God among men; the reality of Christian experiences as the new birth, cleansing from sin, living free from sin, divine healing, the Spirit baptism, gifts of the Spirit, miracles, and signs following believers, answers to prayer, fulfillment of the promises in getting health, happiness, prosperity, and the numerous other experiences of the New Testament; the reality of Satan, demons, sickness, sin, and the fall of man; the creation of all things by God; the free moral agency of men; the universality of sin and the depravity of man; the necessity of repentance and the born-again experience; the penalty of sin as being the eternal loss of the soul; the necessity of the atonement; the reality of Heaven and eternal Hell; the resurrection and judgment of all men; and the immortality of the soul is not of God. Any religion that teaches contrary to these and all other fundamental doctrines of Scripture is of the devil and is for the purpose of causing the soul to be damned in eternal Hell.

Any religion that denies the inspiration of the Bible; the reality of God as a person; the divine sonship of Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God; the virgin birth; the pre-existence of Jesus Christ; the divinity of Christ and His miraculous power and supernatural ministry; the death, burial, bodily resurrection, and the bodily manifestation of Christ after His resurrection; the bodily ascension to Heaven and the coming again of Jesus Christ to set up a kingdom in the world forever; the reality and power of the Holy Spirit and His ministry among men to convict of sin, to create men in Christ, and to carry on the work of God among men; the reality of Christian experiences as the new birth, cleansing from sin, living free from sin, divine healing, the Spirit baptism, gifts of the Spirit, miracles, and signs following believers, answers to prayer, fulfillment of the promises in getting health, happiness, prosperity, and the numerous other experiences of the New Testament; the reality of Satan, demons, sickness, sin, and the fall of man; the creation of all things by God; the free moral agency of men; the universality of sin and the depravity of man; the necessity of repentance and the born-again experience; the penalty of sin as being the eternal loss of the soul; the necessity of the atonement; the reality of Heaven and eternal Hell; the resurrection and judgment of all men; and the immortality of the soul is not of God. Any religion that teaches contrary to these and all other fundamental doctrines of Scripture is of the devil and is for the purpose of causing the soul to be damned in eternal Hell.

(2) Any power, influence, or doctrine that causes one to become passive, inactive, submissive, and unresisting to all Workings of supernatural spirits which seek to control the life contrary to Scripture, is not of God. God's Spirit always, and without exception, wants free and active choice in the surrender of the will as it gets light according to the Scriptures. God seeks intelligent action, while demons demand the surrender of the will without active choice to do as one intelligently sees fit to do according to the Bible. They demand passivity on the part of their victims. They demand that man be a mere machine, an automaton, and that he be non-active in submissiveness to them. They seek absolute and compulsory action through men.

God's Spirit always, and without exception, wants free and active choice in the surrender of the will as it gets light according to the Scriptures. God seeks intelligent action, while demons demand the surrender of the will without active choice to do as one intelligently sees fit to do according to the Bible. They demand passivity on the part of their victims. They demand that man be a mere machine, an automaton, and that he be non-active in submissiveness to them. They seek absolute and compulsory action through men.

When anyone asserts that the spirit demands of him that he do something and that it is forcing him to do it, this is a sure sign that he is being moved by the wrong spirit. Demons work to get men to act quickly and unintelligently and to do acts regardless of the outcome to the cause of Christ and lost souls. The spirits of Christians are always subject to them, and anything that demands that the personal spirit be not under the individual's personal control is the wrong spirit (1 Cor. 14:32). The Holy Spirit never causes people to act indecently and disorderly or to call attention to self in public services or do things which they never would do in private.

6. Causes of Passivity and Defeat Among Christians

(1) A determination to obey the supernatural, thinking that surrender is a guarantee against demon operation.

(2) A desire to have communication with God leads them to believe that all supernatural influences and spirits must be of God, so many times they yield to the wrong spirit or accept the wrong doctrine.

(3) A deep hunger to be wholly surrendered to God and to be submissive to Him in all things leads them to submit, subdue, and make all things subject to the supernatural, so they unconsciously accept demon workings at times and are deceived.

(4) A lack of knowledge of the workings of demon powers and of the readings and guidance of God, consequently there is failure at times to distinguish between good and evil influences.

(5) Ignorance of the Bible and wrong interpretation of Scriptures that deal with demons and their manifestations.

(6) Blind yieldedness to any and all spirit workings regardless of the source (so often they yield to the wrong spirit).

(7) Ignorance of the true workings of the Holy Spirit according to the Scriptures.

(8) Promises to obey the readings of God as they get to know them and since they are not always sure of God's will they sometimes follow the wrong spirit.

(9) A longing to know God and His spiritual operations make them anxious and quick to yield to counterfeit workings of God by evil spirits.

(10) A desire to be used of God among men in order to prove their contact with the supernatural power promised to all men.

(1) A determination to obey the supernatural, thinking that surrender is a guarantee against demon operation.

(2) A desire to have communication with God leads them to believe that all supernatural influences and spirits must be of God, so many times they yield to the wrong spirit or accept the wrong doctrine.

(3) A deep hunger to be wholly surrendered to God and to be submissive to Him in all things leads them to submit, subdue, and make all things subject to the supernatural, so they unconsciously accept demon workings at times and are deceived.

(4) A lack of knowledge of the workings of demon powers and of the readings and guidance of God, consequently there is failure at times to distinguish between good and evil influences.

(5) Ignorance of the Bible and wrong interpretation of Scriptures that deal with demons and their manifestations.

(6) Blind yieldedness to any and all spirit workings regardless of the source (so often they yield to the wrong spirit).

(7) Ignorance of the true workings of the Holy Spirit according to the Scriptures.

(8) Promises to obey the readings of God as they get to know them and since they are not always sure of God's will they sometimes follow the wrong spirit.

(9) A longing to know God and His spiritual operations make them anxious and quick to yield to counterfeit workings of God by evil spirits.

(10) A desire to be used of God among men in order to prove their contact with the supernatural power promised to all men.

7. Ignorance no Guarantee Against Demons

One must realize that ignorance is no guarantee against workings of evil spirits. In fact, this is one of the chief means by which they try to control man. If they can get anyone to accept their suggestions, doctrines, ideas, readings, and guidance in the least degree, then they will be satisfied with that much ground gained, but they will be tireless in activity to gain more ground. In order to work through a man demons must keep him in ignorance of the truth. Paul warned believers not to "give place to the devil" (Eph. 4:27) and to "put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil . . . to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked" (Eph. 6:10-18). When a person becomes contentious over doctrines not plainly stated in Scripture, and that are contrary to Scripture, he is a victim of demon possession and demon teaching. A person under the control of the Holy Spirit will be gentle, humble, honest, and open minded to truth. He will be eager to accept as truth what is shown him to be plainly written in the Word of God. He will not be stubborn to hold on to personal ideas or to prove that he is right in total disregard of what the Bible says. He will be ready and willing to accept new truth and to walk in the light as he receives it (1 John 1:7).

8. How to Keep from Being Deceived

When one is born again and becomes a spiritual person, he enters into the realm of the supernatural and spiritual. He should begin a study of the Bible to see what it teaches and how he should walk and how to conduct spiritual warfare. If he neglects to be on guard and fails to be aggressive against satanic powers, he is liable to be defeated by them. There is not one thing to be afraid of if one lives a conscientious Christian life by reading the Bible and praying daily and by walking and living in the Spirit according to light received by the Bible (Col. 2:6-8; Gal. 5:16-26; Rom. 8:1-13; 1 John 1:7). One should get up every morning and pray and have faith in God's help through the day. He should always meditate on the Scriptures and refuse to do one thing contrary to the known will of God as the Bible teaches and there will be no danger of being deceived.

Man must be on his guard concerning doctrine, experience, and every phase of the Christian life. He must learn not to believe anything concerning spiritual and eternal things unless it is definitely stated in Scripture or is at least in harmony with them. It matters not if it comes from the best ministers in the land or from an angel from Heaven. it should be judged by what the Bible says before it is accepted as truth. He must learn to guard against every impression, revelation, or whatever it might be, whether it comes from dreams, visions, preaching, or even from impressions while in prayer. The fact of a possibility of being deceived should keep everyone on guard and open to test everything by the Bible (2 Tim. 2:15; 3:15-17).

9. How to Detect the Manifestations of the Holy Spirit

The true manifestation of the Holy Spirit will be earmarked by the following clear-cut rules and Christian principles:

(1) A Christ-like spirit of love, patience, and faith in God (Gal. 5:21-22).

(2) Soberness and keenness of spirit vision (2 Tim. 1:7; 1 Cor.12:1-11). lion-like

(3) Deep humility of heart and meekness of spirit, with courage against sin, sickness, poverty, disease, discouragement, failure, and every other thing that could cause defeat in the Christian life (Acts 1:8; 10:38; Rom. 8:1-13; Gal. 5:16-26).

(4) Absolute clearness of the mental faculties in intelligent action to carry out Bible instructions concerning known duty and personal life as a Christian (1 Cor. 14:32; 2 Tim. 1:7).

(5) Freedom from all fault-finding, surmising, whispering, or slander to anyone, and freedom from all the works of the flesh that are listed in Rom. 1:29-32; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; Gal. 5:19-21; Mark 7:19-21.

(6) The lack of any condemning and judging spirit, or seeking to hurt anyone by thought, word, or deed. All divine readings will be for the edification and betterment of all concerned and will be in accord with the golden rule (1 Cor. 13; Eph. 4:22-32; 5:1-18).

(7) Freedom from any ignorance concerning the divine will at the moment. When one is moved upon to act quickly and urgently without knowing whether the act will glorify God or not, it will be best to wait and pray until it is clear beyond all doubt that God wants such action. If it is God moving one to do something, it will not insult Him to try the spirit and intelligently judge whether the proposed act is biblical or not, for God commands this kind of judgment on our part before we act (1 John 4:1-6). If it is God, one can wait until he is assured by God in several ways before he acts. He should wait like Gideon of old, who sought two impossible signs before he knew and acted upon the will of God. However, one must not be guided entirely by so-called fleeces or the opening of the Bible for some verse to show God's will. He must judge all fleeces by the Word of God and wait until he knows it is God asking him to do something. All acts of God will be primarily for the liberation of men from sin, for the deliverance of the body from pain, sickness, and want, or for some other good thing that someone needs to have done for him (Acts 10:38). All work of the devil tends to blind, cause sin, discouragement, lack of faith, and failure in life (John 10:10).

10. Grounds for the Working of God and Satan

Just as the devil requires lies in the minds of men to hold them in bondage, so God requires truth in the mind for the true working of the Holy Spirit (John 8:31-36). Demons will cause one to be hindered in every conceivable way from getting truth that will set one free from their hold on the life (Matt. 13:19; 2 Cor. 4:1-4).

11. The Duty of Saints in Spiritual Warfare

(1) Beware of neglecting those things that will cause enlightenment in spiritual warfare (Ps. 1:2-4; 2 Tim. 2:15; 3:15-17).

(2) Do not fall an easy prey to the criticism of others or to the pressing cares of life which will keep you occupied from taking time to wage a successful warfare (Luke 21:34-36; Eph. 6:10-18).

(3) Do not forget that spiritual weapons alone will give victory over sin and Satan (2 Cor. 10:4-7; Eph. 6:10-18).

(4) Do not neglect prayer and reading the Bible (Eph. 6:18; 1 Tim. 4:12-16).

(5) Do not be discouraged when the conflict for the moment seems to be going against you (1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12; James 1:12).

(6) Be alert and resist Satan (James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8-9).

(7) Do not fail to use the authority of Christ through His precious blood, His name, and the Holy Spirit against evil powers (Acts 1:8; John 14:12-15; Mark 16:15-20).

(8) Do not fail to do the whole will of God intelligently as it becomes known. Walk in the light of the Word of God (1 John 1:7).

(1) Beware of neglecting those things that will cause enlightenment in spiritual warfare (Ps. 1:2-4; 2 Tim. 2:15; 3:15-17).

(2) Do not fall an easy prey to the criticism of others or to the pressing cares of life which will keep you occupied from taking time to wage a successful warfare (Luke 21:34-36; Eph. 6:10-18).

(3) Do not forget that spiritual weapons alone will give victory over sin and Satan (2 Cor. 10:4-7; Eph. 6:10-18).

(4) Do not neglect prayer and reading the Bible (Eph. 6:18; 1 Tim. 4:12-16).

(5) Do not be discouraged when the conflict for the moment seems to be going against you (1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12; James 1:12).

(6) Be alert and resist Satan (James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8-9).

(7) Do not fail to use the authority of Christ through His precious blood, His name, and the Holy Spirit against evil powers (Acts 1:8; John 14:12-15; Mark 16:15-20).

(8) Do not fail to do the whole will of God intelligently as it becomes known. Walk in the light of the Word of God (1 John 1:7).

12. How to Tell When One Is Deceived

Man is deceived when he thinks that sin will not have any effect upon him; that he will inherit the kingdom of God regardless of sin in his life (1 Cor. 6:9-11; Rom. 8:12-13; Gal. 5:19-21); that he will not reap what he sows (Gal. 6:7-8); that it is not necessary to obey the Bible (James 1:22; 2:10); and that he cannot be deceived (1 Cor. 10:12-13; 2 Cor. 11:3-15; 1 Tim. 4:1-9; Eph. 6:10-18). These are all sure marks of demon deception and delusion.

Many latter-day delusions can be traced back to the above fallacies or to a crisis in the lives of the founders of the new religions who wanted truth and more of God. They threw themselves open to the supernatural and accepted demon doctrines and powers instead of judging what they received by the Bible. No man should blindly obey any spirit or believe any doctrine. Many of these leaders were more or less honest to begin with, and may yet be somewhat honest, but honesty is no guarantee against the working of the devil. Satan has no principle of righteousness and he will take advantage of an honest heart if permitted, as quickly as of a dishonest one.

13. A Warning to New Believers

Until one gets acquainted with the Scriptures and the spiritual realm into which he enters in finding God, he should walk very carefully in prayer and read the Bible for more truth to obey. He must not permit anything to side-track him. If he falls, he must get up and rededicate himself to God and go on more aggressively against his foe than ever before. During the period of learning to distinguish truth from error and between God and demon workings, very few can guarantee that they are obeying God in every detail, and God only, because there are many factors likely to intervene, such as the mind, spirit, will, desires, imaginations, imperfect knowledge and submissiveness, false ideas, and personal feelings, as well as numerous deceptive intrusions of evil spirits.

The beginner must learn to discern false spirits as well as false doctrines. Deliverance from believing lies must be by believing truth. Nothing can remove a lie but truth. Nothing can give you complete victory over evil but God through the precious blood of Christ and by much prayer and constant walking in the Spirit (Rom. 8:1-16; Gal. 5:16-26; Eph. 6:10-18). (For a complete study of divine and satanic workings see our 52-lesson Bible course, "God's Plan for Man").

In the next few chapters we shall deal with the work of demons in the human race, showing how men are deceived and held in bondage to Satan through sin and false doctrines concerning salvation and the sin business.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Bible Doctrine of the New Birth

The following studies on the new birth will make it clear that a man must be saved from all sin and how this can be brought about in his life so that he will know it:

1. The Absolute Necessity of the New Birth

Jesus taught that a man "must be born again" and "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. . . Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. . . Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. . . Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (John 3:1-8; Matt. 18:3; Luke 13:1-5).

We repeat again, it is all-important that we pay personal attention to our eternal welfare and not trust the best of men. If we permit men to mislead us in eternal matters and we are lost, it will be too late then personally to see after our welfare; so let us do it now. Don't take the attitude that you cannot be deceived and that your church is the only right one and cannot mislead you. This may be true, but it would be wise for you to make sure of it by going to the Bible yourself and seeing with your own eyes and knowing from your own heart that you are right with God and that you have had a real new birth and that you are living right with God every day. Don't let any religion make you think you are all right just because you have conformed to its teachings. You may still be lost. Make sure about it.

There is no use fooling yourself. That will not get you anywhere except to eternal Hell. You are either born again or you are not. You are either really saved, or you are being deceived into thinking that you are, or you know that you are lost. If you are not getting answers to your prayers, it is either that you are not saved, or you are doubting God. If your obstacle is doubt, then you should quit doubting God. If it is not doubt, then it will pay you to examine yourself, and see if you are really right with God. He is obligated to answer you if you are His child. If you have once been saved, it may be that you have become cold in your experience and need reconsecration to God. You know your own life and true relationship to God; so get the fact settled that you are a genuinely saved person and in present contact with God. and then you will be in the right position to get what God has promised.

Thus it is very clearly stated that the new birth is a necessity if one wants to be reconciled to God. No man can be saved without it. No man can get to Heaven without it. It is the one MUST of the Christian religion so it is necessary that we learn about it and get it in order to be eternally saved.

2. What the New Birth Is Not

The new birth is not confirmation, church membership, water baptism, card signing that you accept Christ, taking the sacrament, shaking hands with the preacher, standing up to accept Jesus as a saviour, observing religious duties, an intellectual reception of Christianity, orthodoxy of faith, confessing Jesus as the Son of God, joining some church that claims to be the true church, going to church, saying prayers, reading the Bible, memorizing creeds, being moral, being cultured or refined, doing good deeds or doing your best, being as good as the next fellow, or any of the other things that some men are trusting in to save them outside of old-fashioned religion and the new creature experience of Scripture.

Neither is the new birth brought about by these things. Nicodemus, whom Jesus addressed concerning the new birth, had most of these qualifications, but Jesus said to him, "Ye must be born again." The thief on the cross and many others whom Jesus forgave while on Earth were saved without these things. They simply did the one necessary thing-became "converted" and "born again" by accepting Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour and by repenting and turning to God with the whole heart as a little child, as proved in Matt. 9:1-7; Luke 7:48-50; 18:9-14; 23:43; John 8:1-10.

Every man who is born again will automatically have the above external evidences of a good life by virtue of the new birth, but there are millions, it is sad to say, that are trusting these things to save them, and they really believe that these things are the evidences of a right relationship with God. Millions will die and be lost without the new birth because they have been misled concerning the experience of being born again. There is no excuse for men being deceived if they will read their own Bibles instead of listening to some religious teacher. One can have all the above mentioned forms of religion and still be lost in eternity without God and without hope.

Culture, refinement, and outward correctness of life in the church or out of it will not take the place of the new birth. The trouble is in the heart (Mark 7:18-23), and merely to reform the outward life will not save the soul.

An artist could put a coating of wax and the most beautiful colors on the outside of a rotten apple, but it would still be rotten at heart. One bite into it would be a bite into decay. The fact is that out of Christ every man is rotten in the heart, and mere culture, refinement, outward respectability, morality, and outward correctness of life are simply artificial and the practice of hypocrites who, like whited sepulchres, "make clean the outside; but within are full of extortion and excess . . . dead men's bones, and all uncleanness" (Matt. 23:25-28; Rom. 3:9-23).

3. What the New Birth Is

The new birth is a new creation from above through a direct operation of the Word of God and the Holy Ghost upon the life, changing one completely and making him a new creature in Christ. It is the same as the new creature experience of 2 Cor. 5:17; the new creation work of Eph. 4:24; the salvation experience of Rom. 1:16; 10:9-10; 2 Thess. 2:13; the baptism in the body of Christ of 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27-29; the experience of being made free from the law of sin and death of Rom. 8:1-4; the adoption into the family of God of Rom. 8:14-16; the turning from Satan to God of Acts 26:18; the washing from all sin of 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 1 John 1:7-9; Rev. 1:5; the remission of sins of Acts 2:38; the reconciliation to God of Col. 1:20-23; 2 Cor. 5:17-21; and the begetting of one as a child of God of 1 Pet. 1:2-4, 18-23; James 1:18.

4. How the New Birth Is Received

The new birth is brought about by four acts on the part of man. When any man does these four things he can be assured that he is born again of the Spirit of God and that he has been accepted into the family of God. The four acts are:

(1) Recognize that you are a sinner and lost, without God and without hope (Rom. 3:23; Eph. 1:11-13; 1 John 1:9). One time in South Dakota a church member came down to an altar of prayer. I asked her what she came for and she said that she wanted to get the good feeling that some of the Christians say they have. I asked her if she were a sinner and she replied that she had been born a Christian. Her parents were members of such and such a church and she was brought up in the church and had never sinned in her life. I told her that she might as well go back to her seat as real salvation and knowledge of sins forgiven is only for sinners. She repeated that she wanted the wonderful experiences that she knew others had. 1 told her that she could not have them because such blessings were only for sinners. I knew she was deceived into thinking that because she was brought up in a church that she was born a Christian and was not a sinner. I then asked her if she had ever gossiped. She replied, "I guess everybody has done that." I asked her if she had ever lied. She replied, "No." I said, "You mean to tell me that you have never told even a white lie, or you have never misrepresented anyone or anything or tried to deny any wrong doing in all of your life." "Oh," she said, "I guess we have all tried to get out of acknowledging wrong things that we have done." I asked her several other questions about personal sins and she acknowledged that she had done all those things at times in her life. I told her that this was enough to convince her that she was a sinner and needed salvation, and if she did not believe she was a sinner because of her doing wrong many times in her life that the Bible says that she was a sinner, for "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). If one will not acknowledge that he is a sinner he cannot be saved.

(2) Admit that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save you from sin by His own precious blood (I Pet. 1:18-23; 2:24; 1 John 1:7-9; Eph. 1:7).

(3) Come to God repenting of your sins and turning away from all sin, pleading the merits of the blood of Christ in the name of Jesus Christ, and you shall be born again; that is, the Holy Spirit will then definitely make you a new creature, cleansing you from all sin by the authority of the Word of God and by the blood of Christ that was shed to atone for your sins (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:24; Col. 1:20-22).

(4) You must believe from the heart when you confess with the mouth that God does forgive you of your sins and that He does cleanse you from all unrighteousness (Rom. 10:9-10; 1 John 1:7-9; 5:1-4).

When one does these four things and he does not know that he is saved, then something is wrong with him and not with God. There is something in his life that he has failed to confess or make right with God or with his fellow men. If one is willing to forgive all others of their trespasses against him, as required in Mark 11:22-26, and if one is willing to give up all sins and bad habits and turn to God with a whole heart to obey God and the Bible, he will be definitely changed in life by the power of God. But if one holds on to something or is not willing to forgive others he cannot be saved.

Some years ago in Pennsylvania, while preaching what men must do to be saved from sin, a woman yelled out in the audience with a loud voice, "I can't!" Without knowing what she referred to I answered, "You can!" She continued to say, "I can't!" Three or four times we answered each other this way. Finally I said, "Sister, what is it you cannot do?" She said, "I can never forgive him." I learned afterward that her husband had left her for another woman and she had determined in her heart that she would never forgive him. I said, "You have to forgive him in your heart before God will forgive you." She said, "I will go to Hell before I forgive him." Whether she ever forgave or not I do not know, but if she does not she will be lost, according to Jesus (Mark 11:22-26).

One time in South Dakota two girls came down to the altar of prayer for salvation. One was forgiven in a few minutes and rejoiced in her salvation. The other did not get satisfied that night or the next night, or the third night until I found out what was wrong. On the third night I said to her, "Young lady, you might as well tell me what is wrong. There is no need for you to come for prayer every night if you do not mean business. Your friend got gloriously converted in a few minutes the first night when you both came together to find Christ. She has found Him and you have not." She replied, "I don't know what is wrong." I said, "You do not need to tell me that. You do know what is wrong or you would not be having such a struggle over giving it up in order to get saved. God is no respecter of persons. If He saved your friend He will save you if you are willing to give up what He asks of You. Is there anyone you are not willing to forgive?" She said, "No." I replied, "Is there anything you are not willing to give up?" She replied, "Yes, there is a young man that loves to take me to the dances. I love to dance." I then showed her that the dance and even a young man that would quit her if she stopped going to dances were not worth losing her soul over. She then accepted Christ and gave up the dance and was soundly converted.

And so it is, any person can be saved and know it if he will mean business with God and surrender all sins to live holy and clean according to the gospel.

This way of getting men saved is not the modern way that great evangelists use, who require only the raise of a hand, a hand shake, or the formal and mental acceptance of Christ by acknowledging that He is the Son of God, but this method will produce sound and saved converts in every case or else they do not get saved. It may be that some few really get saved by a formal acceptance of Jesus or by saying that they take Jesus as a Saviour, but in the majority of cases this method is too shallow and produces only church members without old fashioned salvation that will make them new creatures. This is why such converts so often continue in their same gins and bad habits. They did not get saved from their sins to begin with. They had no power of deliverance from their sins and habits and consequently soon realize that they did not get what they needed. Preachers are responsible for leading them this far and no further. They are responsible for not teaching them what salvation is all about and what is expected of them when they turn to God.

It is the habit of the modern preacher to emphasize that all one has to do to be saved is to merely say that he accepts Christ. Men can do this daily without a change of heart. This is the easy way; the way of least effort on the part of man, and this is why he gets so little or -nothing in so many cases. If all men were required to really repent and pray until they knew that God had forgiven them and until they received the evidences of the new birth, as in Chapter Eight, then we would not have so many sinning Christians; that is, people who are sinners and who claim that they are Christians. When men get the Bible salvation the Bible way they will stick with it and quit the sin business more than what most modern converts do (2 Cor. 7:10; Heb. 7:25). Many thousands of men never repent of sins, as the Bible demands. They merely say to the preacher that they accept Jesus. Some do not do anything but answer the preacher's question of: "Do you accept Jesus as your Saviour?" They say "Yes" and that is all there is to getting right with God. There is no repentance or godly sorrow for sin, no giving up sin, and -no real consecration to God. There is more to salvation than this. Men must repent and quit the sin business. They must seek God until they are new creatures or they are not saved.

5. What the Water of the New Birth Means

The Word of God is the "water" referred to in John 3:5, as proved in Eph. 5:26; John 6:63; 15:3; 17:17; 1 Pet. 1:23; James 1:18. When one believes the Word of God that he is a sinner, that Christ died to save him from all sin, that if he confesses his sins to God and turns from sin with a whole heart and believes the gospel, he is conforming to the Word, then the Holy Spirit will transform him by faith in the power of the Word of God and the blood of Christ and give him the evidences of salvation as listed below. One must get a Bible experience and live as God demands or be lost. He must begin reading the Bible and praying to God. He must begin to walk and live in the Spirit and conform to the Word of God as he receives the light (1 John 1:7; John 8:31-32).

CHAPTER EIGHT

Bible Evidences of the New Birth

There are certain evidences of the new birth that are plainly stated in Scripture that will prove to the individual and to others that he has been born again.

1. What the Bible Evidences of the New Birth Are

(1) You will be changed down in the depths of your being and be made a new creature: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 5:17-18). If you have never been changed like this, then it is certain that you have never been born again.

(2) You will have the witness of the Spirit in your life that you are a child of God: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Rom:8:14-16).

(3) You will have freedom from condemnation and from the law of sin and death and you will live and walk in the Spirit: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. . . That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. . .. And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness" (Rom. 8:1-13; Gal. 5:16-26).

(4) You will be cleansed from all sin: "He shall save his people FROM their sins" (Matt. 1:21); "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us FROM all sin. . . If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us FROM all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:7-9).

(5) You will be free from sin: "Ye shall know the truth, and THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE. . . If the son therefore shall make you free, YE SHALL BE FREE INDEED" (John 8:31-36); "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? . . . Our old man was crucified with him. that the body of sin might be destroyed, that HENCEFORTH V,7E SHOULD NOT SERVE SIN. For he that is dead IS FREED FROM SIN. - . Reckon yourselves to be DEAD INDEED UNTO SIN. - . SIN SHALL NOT HAVE DOMINION OVER YOU. . . Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? . . . ye were the servants of sin . . . being made FREE FROM SIN, ye became the servants of righteousness . . . even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, YE WERE FREE FROM RIGHTEOUSNESS. . . BUT NOW BEING MADE FREE FROM SIN, and become servants to God. we have your fruit unto holiness, and THE END everlasting life" '(Rom. 6:1-23); "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus HATH MADE ME )FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH" (Rom. 8:1-4); "Everyone that DOETH RIGHTEOUSNESS is born of him - . . he that doeth righteousness is righteous EVEN AS HE IS RIGHTEOUS. . . He that committeth sin IS OF THE DEVIL . . . whosoever is born of God DOTH NOT COMMIT SIN . . . whosoever is born of God OVERCOMETH THE WORLD . . . whosoever is born of God SINNETH NOT; but he keepeth himself, and that wicked one TOUCHETH HIM NOT" (1 John 2:29; 3:7-10; 5:1-4, 18).

(6) You will be delivered from the power and dominion of sin: "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Rom. 6:14. See also passages in the last point above).

(7) You will receive power to become a son of God: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (John 1:12; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 John 3:1-3).

(8) You will receive a definite crucifixion of the flesh with the affections and lusts: "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24; Eph. 4:22-24; 2 Cor. 5:17).

(9) Your sins will be blotted out: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19).

(10) You will be washed, sanctified, and justified: "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11).

(11) You will have salvation: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom. 10:9-10); "But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth" (2 Thess. 2:13).

(12) You will be created in righteousness and true holiness: "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:24).

(13) You will depart from iniquity: "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. . . Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity" (2 Tim. 2:4, 19).

(14) You will have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit dwelling in you: "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23); "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9).

(15) You will be free from the power of Satan: "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me" (Acts 26:18).

(1) You will be changed down in the depths of your being and be made a new creature: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 5:17-18). If you have never been changed like this, then it is certain that you have never been born again.

(2) You will have the witness of the Spirit in your life that you are a child of God: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Rom:8:14-16).

(3) You will have freedom from condemnation and from the law of sin and death and you will live and walk in the Spirit: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. . . That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. . .. And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness" (Rom. 8:1-13; Gal. 5:16-26).

(4) You will be cleansed from all sin: "He shall save his people FROM their sins" (Matt. 1:21); "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us FROM all sin. . . If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us FROM all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:7-9).

(5) You will be free from sin: "Ye shall know the truth, and THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE. . . If the son therefore shall make you free, YE SHALL BE FREE INDEED" (John 8:31-36); "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? . . . Our old man was crucified with him. that the body of sin might be destroyed, that HENCEFORTH V,7E SHOULD NOT SERVE SIN. For he that is dead IS FREED FROM SIN. - . Reckon yourselves to be DEAD INDEED UNTO SIN. - . SIN SHALL NOT HAVE DOMINION OVER YOU. . . Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? . . . ye were the servants of sin . . . being made FREE FROM SIN, ye became the servants of righteousness . . . even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, YE WERE FREE FROM RIGHTEOUSNESS. . . BUT NOW BEING MADE FREE FROM SIN, and become servants to God. we have your fruit unto holiness, and THE END everlasting life" '(Rom. 6:1-23); "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus HATH MADE ME )FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH" (Rom. 8:1-4); "Everyone that DOETH RIGHTEOUSNESS is born of him - . . he that doeth righteousness is righteous EVEN AS HE IS RIGHTEOUS. . . He that committeth sin IS OF THE DEVIL . . . whosoever is born of God DOTH NOT COMMIT SIN . . . whosoever is born of God OVERCOMETH THE WORLD . . . whosoever is born of God SINNETH NOT; but he keepeth himself, and that wicked one TOUCHETH HIM NOT" (1 John 2:29; 3:7-10; 5:1-4, 18).

(6) You will be delivered from the power and dominion of sin: "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Rom. 6:14. See also passages in the last point above).

(7) You will receive power to become a son of God: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (John 1:12; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 John 3:1-3).

(8) You will receive a definite crucifixion of the flesh with the affections and lusts: "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24; Eph. 4:22-24; 2 Cor. 5:17).

(9) Your sins will be blotted out: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19).

(10) You will be washed, sanctified, and justified: "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11).

(11) You will have salvation: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom. 10:9-10); "But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth" (2 Thess. 2:13).

(12) You will be created in righteousness and true holiness: "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:24).

(13) You will depart from iniquity: "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. . . Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity" (2 Tim. 2:4, 19).

(14) You will have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit dwelling in you: "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23); "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9).

(15) You will be free from the power of Satan: "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me" (Acts 26:18).

2. Do Born Again People Sin Daily?

I am fully aware that literally thousands of religious teachers are constantly saying that no man can live free from sin, that we sin every day, and that there is no man that does not sin every day he lives. One can see that this teaching is entirely out of harmony with the Bible by reading the above Scriptures. If these men sin every day, then they are sinners every day and there is no time that they are not sinners. If they are sinners all the time, then there is no time they are not under the death penalty of the broken law, and they will be sent to Hell as sinners to pay the death penalty. They are not Christians or saved from sin any one day they live if they sin every day they live. Christ means nothing to them if they are sinners and if they cannot be saved from sin.

It is time that men wake up and stop listening to such men and begin to read the Bible and obey it for themselves. Naturally, no man that does not believe in salvation from sin can ever get saved from sin. If Christ came to save us from our sins and He cannot do it, then He has failed in His mission. If the New Testament teaches freedom from sin, then it is either the truth or a lie. If it is a lie, then we might as well throw the whole Bible away and have nothing to do with religion. Christianity, in that case, is a mere sham and a false religion, teaching something that is not true. If salvation through Christ is true, however, then these modern teachers of religion are false and -no man can safely believe them. It is not right to even listen to them deny the truths of the Bible. It is a sin to support them in such a program. If Christianity is a sham it is a sin to support it and its leaders.

Do not let men deceive you into thinking that there is no such thing as a clean, holy, and victorious life in Christ secure from sin, the flesh, the world, and the devil. If you are not saved from these things you are not saved from Hell, according to the Scriptures under Point 10, Chapter Five. There may not be such a life of freedom from sin as far as these teachers are concerned and as far as they know. Either they do not know the Bible and they do not have biblical experiences, or they are plain rebels against truth and refuse to get such blessings. In either case, you should not listen to them concerning such an important thing as your eternal welfare. Why not listen to the Scripture instead 7 It will not deceive you. It will always tell you the truth, as you can see from Scriptures in Point I above.

The other day a young man called to question my Bible doctrine of a Christian being free from sin. I named adultery, fornication, and all the sins listed under Point 10, Chapter Five, and asked him in connection with each one of them if he were guilty of these sins. He said he was not guilty of them. I asked if he was committing these sins daily and he said he was not. I asked him if he thought he could live free from these sins daily, and he answered that he could. He said that he was a Christian and that the only thing he knew he was doing that could be wrong was smoking. I asked him if he thought he could get rid of that and live free from it every day. He answered that he could. I then asked him if he thought he would be living free from sin if he were free from all these sins, and he answered in the affirmative and agreed that such a life was possible.

People who think they cannot live free from sin are really mistaken as to what sin is. If they class lack of knowledge, temptations, and common mistakes in life that do not break the law of God as sin, then they are right that no man lives free from sin. But if they think one cannot live free from the above mentioned sins that will damn the soul, then they are all wrong, for such must be true of anyone who will be saved. Men who argue that no person can live without sin are simply using every excuse under the sun to continue in sin. They want to make people believe that they are Christians and yet they want to indulge in some sin or bad habit that will condemn them in the end. Men can live free from sin if they get saved from sin and permit Christ to live in their lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. If men live in sin daily then there is not a day in which they are not tinder the condemnation of a broken law and they will be sent to Hell to pay the death penalty for sin.

3. Is the Body Sinful and the Soul and Spirit Holy?

The theory that the body is always sinful and the flesh sins every day, but the soul and spirit are perfectly sinless and holy is one of the most foolish, ignorant, and unscriptural theories the devil and his agents are seeking to impose upon intelligent Bible loving people. There can be no Scripture produced that says any such thing. This is purely a doctrine of demons to deceive men and cause their souls to be lost in eternal Hell. The following Scriptures prove that the body must be holy and sinless as much as the soul.

"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, THAT THE BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE DESTROYED, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead [that is, dead to sin as in Rom. 6:2] is freed from sin" (Rom. 6:6-7); "If Christ be in you, THE BODY IS DEAD BECAUSE OF SIN; but the Spirit [Holy Spirit] is life because of righteousness. . . Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, NOT TO THE FLESH, TO LIVE AFTER THE FLESH. FOR IF YE LIVE AFTER THE FLESH, YE SHALL DIE: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify THE DEEDS OF THE BODY, ye shall live" (Rom. 8:1-4, 10, 12-13); "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present YOUR BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, HOLY, ACCEPTABLE UNTO GOD, which is your reasonable service. AND BE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD: BUT BE YE TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind, that ye might prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Rom. 12:1-2); "THE BODY IS NOT FOR FORNICATION, BUT FOR THE LORD; and the Lord for THE BODY. - . Know ye not that YOUR BODIES are the members of Christ. . . Every sin that a man doeth IS WITHOUT THE BODY. . . YOUR BODY is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? . . . Therefore glorify God in YOUR BODY, and in YOUR SPIRIT, which are God's" (1 Cor. 6:13, 15, 19-20); "Know ye not that ye' [YOUR BODIES] are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwell in you? If any man defile THE TEMPLE OF GOD, him shall God destroy; for THE TEMPLE OF GOD IS HOLY, which temple ye are" (1 Cor. 3:16-17); "But I keep under MY BODY, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (1 Cor. 9:27); "That the life also of Jesus might be manifest IN OUR BODY" (2 Cor. 4:10); "Christ shall be magnified IN MY BODY, whether with the circumcision made without hands, IN PUTTING OFF THE BODY OF SINS OF THE FLESH . . . having forgiven you all trespasses" (Col. 2:11-13); "that she may be holy BOTH IN BODY AND IN SPIRIT" (1 Cor. 7:34).

4. Are All Christians Holy?

One of the great scarecrows of modern religion is the word holiness. People of various churches are more afraid of this word or the word holy than they are of the very devil himself. In fact, many had rather fellowship the devil than anyone who believes in holiness. There are many holiness denominations that are looked upon as the offscouring of all things and as the refuse of all that is evil. Why not be fair and honest a few minutes and consider with us what God says on the question. Now, don't misunderstand, we are not advocating some of the peculiarities of certain groups that call themselves holiness. We are not suggesting that you have to be branded as such before you can be saved and be holy, according to the Bible. We merely want to point out that there is no reasonable excuse for anyone to be afraid of the words holy and holiness. No man needs to think that holiness is going to jump on him and take him to Hell without his consent. One can only become holy in Christ and by full obedience to the gospel. It will not fall upon anyone. It is not some devil that seeks entrance into the lives of men. Devils are in the business of keeping men from becoming holy, hence the great scare that they have caused among honest people. They do not want you to live any kind of life that even looks like it is holy, so just calm yourself and don't be afraid you will get something wrong while we consider what God says.

Believe it or not, everyone who is a real Christian is holy and therefore is a holiness person. This is true whether he is a Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, or what not. This is proved by the scriptures in points given above. If men today get the salvation of the New Testament they will be holy. The words holy and holiness are used in the following passages which prove that all children of God are holy people:

"That we . . . might serve him without fear, IN HOLINESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS before him, all the days of our life" (Luke 1:74-75); "Even so now yield your members servants TO RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO HOLINESS . . . ye have your fruit UNTO HOLINESS, and the end everlasting life" (Rom. 6:16-23); "For if the first fruit BE HOLY, the lump is ALSO HOLY: and if the root BE HOLY, SO ARE THE BRANCHES" (Rom. 11:16); "Present YOUR BODIES a living sacrifice, HOLY, acceptable unto God" (Rom. 12:1); "Ye are the temple of God . . . the temple of God IS HOLY, which temple ye are" (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19-20); "That she may BE HOLY both in body and in spirit" (1 Cor. 7:34); "Cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, PERFECTING HOLINESS in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1); "He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should BE HOLY AND WITHOUT BLAME before him in love" (Eph. 1:4); "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created IN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TRUE HOLINESS" (Eph. 4:24): "That it [the church] should BE HOLY AND WITHOUT BLEMISH" (Eph. 5:25-27); "To present you HOLY AND UNBLAMEABLE AND UNREPROVEABLE in his sight" (Col. 1:20-23; 3:12); "For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but UNTO HOLINESS" (1 Thess. 4:3-7); "I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all THE HOLY BRETHREN" (1 Thess. 5:27); "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up HOLY HANDS, without wrath and doubting" (1 Tim. 2:8); "She shall be saved in childbearing [from death in child birth], if they continue in faith and charity AND HOLINESS with sobriety" (I Tim. 2:15); "Who hath saved us, and called us with an HOLY CALLING" (2 Tim. 1:9); "A bishop must be blameless . . . sober, just, HOLY, temperate" (Titus 1:8); "That they be in behaviour AS BECOMETH HOLINESS.. . Teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, WE SHOULD LIVE SOBERLY, RIGHTEOUSLY, AND GODLY, IN THIS PRESENT WORLD" (Titus 2:3, 11-14); "Wherefore, HOLY BRETHREN, partakers of the heavenly calling. . . Follow peace with all men, AND HOLINESS, WITHOUT WHICH NO MAN SHALL SEE THE LORD: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God" (Heb. 3:1; 12:10, 14); "But as he which hath called you IS HOLY, SO BE YE HOLY IN ALL MANNER OF CONVERSATION [manner of life). . . Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, AN HOLY PRIESTHOOD" (1 Pet. 1:15-16; 2:5, 9; 3:5; 2 Pet. 3:11).

In face of such plain Scriptures can anyone with a clear conscience claim to believe the Bible and still deny that Christians are and must be holy to be saved in the end? These passages speak for themselves. It matters not what modern religious leaders say, these passages demand holiness from every believer. If men are not holy, they are not saved; if they are saved, they are holy. In fact, every born again person is holy according to the above passages and 1 John 2:29; 3:5-10; 5:1-4, 18; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 5:24; etc. No man will have any part in the first resurrection without holiness of life: "Blessed AND HOLY is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign a thousand years" (Rev. 20:4-6; 22:11).

Modern religionists can argue all that they want to that no man can be holy and live free from sin, but it is certainly clear that no man who does not live this way will ever see God in peace. If men cannot live this way, then there cannot be any such thing as Christians and saved men either now or in eternity. Men do not have to belong to any particular group who are classed as holiness on Earth, but it is certain that without being holy in God they are lost, so let us all become holy in Christ and be more tolerant toward other holy people.

The new birth means more than mere profession of faith that Jesus is the Son of God, or that one is saved because of church membership, water baptism, church attendance, partaking of the Lord's Supper every Sunday, and a lot of other substitutes that some men are trusting in to save their souls. One must become honest and face facts and be saved the Bible way or be lost. We have given to you the truth about the new birth, how to get saved, and how to live a saved life in Christ to the end. The responsibility of conforming to truth is yours. You will be saved or lost as you accept the message of God and obey the gospel. Give your heart to God and do not be satisfied with anything short of becoming a new creature in Christ and then you can experience eternal life.

CHAPTER NINE

The Bible Doctrine of Faith

1. It is God's Will for All Men to Have Faith

It is the will of God to have unwavering, unshakeable, and absolute faith in God. It could not be anything but His will for all men to have faith in Him. Could it be possible that God would rather have unbelief in Him than to have faith? Would God rather have men doubt Him and call Him a liar in everything He says than for them to have utmost confidence in Him? Could it be the highest will of God for men to question everything that He says rather than to accept it as truth? Shall men pray to know whether it is the will of God for them to have faith? Shall they constantly pray, "If it be thy will, O God, please show me whether it is thy will for me to have faith in you and your Word"?

I hear you say, "Certainly not, no man should pray such a prayer. He should have faith in God and in what He says without praying to know whether it is His will or not." This is true, and this is what every man would answer if he were asked the question concerning the will of God for all men to have faith in Him. Yet some men constantly affirm that it is hard to have faith in God, that they cannot have faith enough to get answers to prayer, that they cannot know whether it is the will of God to do what He has promised, and that they cannot get their prayers answered and they do not know what is wrong.

2. Only One Cause for Failure in Prayer

There is only one cause for failure in prayer. Jesus taught that it was "Because of your unbelief." Some argue that this cannot be the trouble in their case, but the fact remains that this is the sole reason, providing one is a qualified son of God. Suppose we search the Scriptures for some other reason and see if it can be found. . . Suppose we become honest enough to investigate what God says and give Him the benefit of any doubt. If we would answer ourselves with the Bible we would find a number of Scriptures that plainly prove this.

3. Scriptural Proof Unbelief Is the Cause of Failure

When the disciples proved powerless to cast out the devils from the lunatic boy they came to Jesus and said, "Why could not we cast him out?" Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Matt. 17:19-20); "Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast Into the sea; it shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matt. 21:21-22); "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23); "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which be saith shall more to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:22-24); "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6); "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:4-8).

4. Do Not Make God a Liar

Are we going to believe these passages or are we going to argue with God and contend with the almighty concerning His word. If He says that we can have what we want if we have faith, then if we do not get what we want it is certainly BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF. When we say that God will give all men the answer to their prayers if they pray in faith we want to make it clear that we refer to children of God only. God has not promised to hear every prayer that a sinner prays except that of repentance and asking forgiveness. Sinners cannot have unwavering faith in God for every thing that is promised Christians. One must be qualified as a son of God to have faith to claim the full benefits of the promises of God. Therefore, let it be understood that when we refer to people getting answers to every prayer we mean this is for the children of God. As long as we argue that God will not hear every prayer of every truly saved man who prays in faith according to the promises we make God a liar. Since some Christians are not getting many of their prayers answered by living in unbelief and constant doubting and reasoning with God, we suggest that they try another method-that of taking God at His Word and of having unwavering faith in God, not because they merit anything, but because of the plain written Word of God.

5. The Definition of Faith

The words faith, trust, and believe simply mean to confide in, so as to be secure without fear; to flee for refuge to or to take shelter in; to put faith in; to stay or rest on; to rely on; to believe or to take one at his word; to rely upon the promise of another; and to put absolute trust in a person without any questioning or doubts as to His faithfulness.

The Bible definition of faith is, "The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1). Various renderings express this verse thus: "Now faith is a well-grounded assurance of that for which we hope, and a conviction of the reality of things which we do not see" (Weymouth); "Now faith means we are confident of what we hope for, convinced of what we do not see" (Moffatt); "Now faith is the title-deed of things hoped for; the putting to proof of things not seen (Centenary Translation); "Now faith is an assumption of what is being expected, a conviction concerning matters which are not being observed" (Concordant Version); "Now faith is the persuasion of the things that are in hope, as if they were in act; and it is the manifestness of the things not seen" (The Syriac); "Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen" (Revised Version).

6. The Nature of Faith

Paul, in Rom. 4:17, teaches that true faith is an attribute of God, "who quickeneth the dead, and CALLETH THOSE THINGS WHICH BE NOT AS THOUGH THEY WERE." Faith is a union of assurance and conviction; the counting or reckoning a thing done as though it were already done. Faith does not have to see before it believes. It laughs at impossibilities and all circumstances that may be contrary to it and counts the thing done that it asks from God. Faith is not swayed to believe God only when things seem possible. It is not moved to waver or question in the least when things seem to go contrary to what has been asked. It doggedly plugs right along counting the impossible as possible; counting as done the things that are not seen; and counting the things that are not as though they were.

7. What Faith Is Not

Faith is not feeling that prayer is answered. The average person who seeks to exercise faith depends upon what he can see, hear, or feel. Testimonies concerning faith are usually expressed in connection with feelings and emotions, or the various senses. Sense faith is based upon physical evidence or upon the emotions and feelings of the soul. All who take this road as the basis of faith will sooner or later be deceived. Faith should be based upon the Word of God regardless of any sense-knowledge, or feeling-evidences. People are constantly looking to feelings as to whether prayer has been heard or not. If they happen to feel good, or if something happens that encourages them, they think that it is easy to believe, but if reverses come and feelings take wings, these same people are in the depths of despair. They are quick to accuse God of being unfaithful and untrue to His Word. If they do not go this far, they are quick to imagine that it was not God's will to grant the answer. They become satisfied to go without what God has plainly promised.

8. Faith Related to the Human Senses

Faith has not the slightest relationship with feelings and sense evidences. At the times when men think they have all the faith in the world because of feelings, they may have the least in the world, and when they think they have the least, they may have more than at any other time in their lives. Many people are surprised to get answers to prayer because when they prayed they thought they had no faith. People should not believe they are healed because the pain is gone, or that they are saved because they feel they are forgiven. They should not think that their prayers are answered because things are working out that way. Instead, they should always maintain that their prayers are answered because of what the Word of God says. The Word of God should have first place in their lives instead of the senses. All basing of faith upon what we have done, how well we live, or what experiences we have had will lead to failure in answered prayer. God does not answer upon these grounds. He answers solely upon the grounds of grace and personal faith in Him and in His Word.

9. Faith Must Be in the Right Objects

Not only must we have personal faith, but faith must be in the right objects. Our faith must be in God (Mark 11:22-24); in Christ and His atonement (Acts 3:16; Rom. 3:25); in the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:1-11; Gal. 5:22); and in the Word of God (Rom. 1:16). We must consecrate to believe God regardless of anything that might happen to hinder prayer. The right program is not talking about faith, or the need of it, but the actual exercise of it. Simple faith in the Word regardless of feelings and circumstances is never possible to the man who lives only in the realm of his senses, for he believes only what he can see, feel, hear, or understand to be possible. This was the kind of faith Thomas had when he declared that he would not believe until he had seen. It was the kind that Martha had when she could see nothing but the natural fact that Lazarus had been dead four days and "by this time he stinketh." This is the kind of faith taught and encouraged by modern religious leaders, but it is not the kind required by the New Testament.

10. The Right Kind of Faith Is Necessary

Active living faith is necessary in order to get answers to prayer. One must learn to use this kind of faith in God. He must learn to fight the fight of faith and lay hold of God and His Word. He must learn that he is surrounded by an unbelieving world and that he lives in an atmosphere of doubts. Demons, fallen angels, and men have lived for centuries in unbelief and wickedness creating currents of doubt and mistrust that are very subtle and deceiving to those who desire to have faith. The fall of man has left deep wounds of doubt and wavering that must be healed. One must learn that he has to wrestle with powers of darkness and currents of mistrust and unbelief which make it a struggle to exercise active living faith for things that are not seen. He must not only learn how to do this, but he must do it in order to get results.

11. Weak Faith (Rom. 4:19; 14:1-15:4; 1 Cor. 8)

This is the kind of faith that constantly limits personal benefits and privileges in the gospel, due to wrong teachings and personal scruples concerning non-essentials of life. There are literally thousands of people who spend much of their time arguing and condemning each other over small details of life that are not essential enough to mention in particular in Scripture. These consist of what one may or may not eat, drink, wear, or do in life and still be a Christian. In Rom. 14 it is clear that the Kingdom of God does not consist in meat, drink, and personal details of life that are not specifically forbidden in Scripture, but that it is "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

If the devil cannot get men to commit great sins that are forbidden in Scripture, he will urge honest-hearted people to go to the extreme and condemn this or that in personal liberties that are not strictly condemned by God. Multitudes today go to the utter extreme and condemn in some degree almost every phase of human living. The law of Scripture concerning anything that is not definitely forbidden by God in Scripture is: "He that doubteth is damned if he eat, because be eateth not in faith: for WHATSOEVER IS NOT OF FAITH IS SIN" (Rom. 14:23).

The Christian law of love to others is: "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. For meat destroy not the work of God. All things are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast thou Faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is the man that condemneth not himself in the things which he alloweth. We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification" (Rom. 14:19-22; 15:1-2).

12. Strong Faith (Rom. 4:20)

This faith is the kind that refuses to be defeated. It refuses to take no for an answer. It laughs at circumstances, symptoms, all outward appearances, and what is seen or felt, and it doggedly holds to the fact that what has been asked of God is granted. Abraham had this kind of faith: "Who against hope believed in hope, that he should be the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not WEAK IN FAITH, be considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb [who was about ninety years old] : He staggered not at the promise of God though unbelief; but was STRONG IN FAITH, giving glory to God; and BEING FULLY PERSUADED that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And it was counted to him for righteousness" (Rom. 4:18-22).

This is the kind of faith all men should have and could have if they would only persuade themselves that God is true to His Word. Most men claim that they have faith in God to this extent, and not one wants to say boldly that God is a liar and that He will not do as He has said, but when it comes to exercising faith that will not doubt or waver in prayer, very few will maintain such a strong faith and thank God for the answer even before it is realized. Very few will simply refuse to question or waver in the least when it seems that things are going contrary to what has been asked of God. This is exactly why they do not get definite answers from God. There is no person who will exercise faith as strong as that of Abraham who will go very long without an answer from God. Such a thing, that God would refuse one who came to Him in such unwavering faith is literally impossible and unheard of (James 1:4-8; Heb. 11:6). All men are definitely assured of getting from God those things which He has promised if they will "walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham" (Rom. 4:12, 23-25).

13. Unfeigned Faith (1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim 1:5)

This faith is the kind that knows no hypocrisy, sham, or counterfeit. It is the kind that does not brag or put on outward show, that it is real. It is simply genuine and real and sincere in its every aspect. It proceeds out of a pure heart and from a good conscience, as stated in these Scriptures. It is not hereditary, although in 2 Tim. 1:5 Paul speaks of it as being in three successive generations. It is the kind that all honest, pure, and sincere men have. It is the unselfish, holy, and godly kind that naturally increases in the life of every true child of God, as he grows in grace and knowledge (2 Pet. 1:4-9; 3:18).

14. Temporary Faith (Luke 8:13)

This is the kind of faith that believes for a while and springs up like a mushroom, but because of shallowness or lack of root it fails in time of temptation and test. People through the ages have been of this type. They receive the Word of God with great joy, and it seems that they are going to outstrip everybody else in faith, but after a few days or weeks they are not heard of again, or if they are heard of again it is in another revival meeting where their emotions become again stirred temporarily and they make another start in faith, only to fall again. They never fully come clean with God or make the full surrender of their lives except for the moment. They do not prepare the soil so that the seed can take deep root and produce fruit.

Some teach that this cannot happen, but it does in spite of the so-called impossibility of falling away from the faith and being renewed in repentance again. Some teach that one cannot fall from the faith, but Jesus certainly said that some would "receive the word with joy; and these have no root, WHICH FOR A WHILE BELIEVE, and in time of temptation FALL AWAY" (Matt. 13:20-21; Luke 8:13). Paul speaks of these as those who "concerning faith have made shipwreck" (1 Tim. 1:19); as having "cast off their first faith" by going "aside after Satan" (1 Tim. 5:12-15); and as having "erred concerning the faith" (1 Tim. 6:21). Many Scriptures say that men can depart from, and fall from the faith (Acts 14:22; 1 Tim. 2:15; 4:1; 5:8-15; 6:10, 21; 2 Tim. 2:18; Heb. 3:6, 12-14; 6:11-12; 10:22-38). Men are repeatedly told to continue in the faith (Acts 14:22; Col. 1:23; 2:6-7). Anybody with common intelligence knows that he can disbelieve anything that he chooses to lose faith in, especially in things that are not seen.

15. Mental or Historical Faith (1 John 5:10-13)

This is faith in the history or the record of God concerning the past and concerning His own Work for men. One can believe mentally the record of God to the letter and still not be saved. It is simply believing with the mind the record of anything of the past. No consecration to God is necessary to believe history. Mental faith may believe every part of the Bible, past, present, and future, as well as all the truth of the blessings of God, but if it does not act upon the Word of God it falls short of true heart faith. Faith without works is dead, being alone. It is passive or mere mental assent to truth. Thousands of sinners have mental faith in God and the Bible, but they keep neglecting the definite action of obeying truth.

True heart faith is not only mental assent to truth as a fact. Most people have such assent. They will believe that God is able, that He has promised to do certain things, and that He would if true faith were exercised, but there is little effort put forth to co-operate with God or to get what He has promised. It is merely a mental assent to truth without active faith-in it. It is the kind of faith that will turn to every source of help but God, and His Word. It is just like believing that food is good without ever eating to get the benefits from it. Mental assent, or passive faith, is one of the most dangerous enemies of true faith in God. It claims all the faith in the world and is satisfied easily with either anything or with nothing from God. If it does not get what it wants, it does not care. It would accept something from God if He would come personally and lay the answer in the lap, but apart from this there is little or no effort put forth to act in faith concerning anything God has promised. Mental faith may go as far as to maintain belief in every truth and in every part of God's program, and it may even claim to be contending for certain benefits, but as long as it remains only mental it will not dare to act upon the promises of God.

16. Active Faith (James 2:14-26; Heb. 10:19-39)

This is the kind that acts upon the Word of God as it is made clear. James put it this way: "shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." All men must have this faith to --et anything from God. As long as faith is purely mental and passive no action will be taken to obey the truth. Men must get beyond the stage of hearing only and into the act of doing what God says before they get results. Active living faith moves to obey every truth of God to the letter and to appropriate what God has promised. It acts as if the things that are not seen are a reality. It is quick to provide works to prove that it is sincere and obedient.

Think of having a real, active, living faith of your own! Imagine the thrill of having your own prayers answered! As I write I have on my desk a large stack of letters marked "Testimony." These letters, which have been received in recent months, tell how God has answered prayer. People hear the radio programs and are inspired to take God at His Word. As they act they are answered.

One lady says that she had been sick for ten long years and had not done any of her housework. She heard me say on the air that if you will believe God and refuse to be sick and defeated, you can have whatever you want. She said, "I acted upon the Word and got out of bed and God met my faith. I have been doing my work ever since." Another one is so thrilled that her prayers have been answered three times from laying her hands on the radio and praying with us. Many more are deeply stirred to a new life and deeper consecrations because they are learning to act upon the Word.

Multitudes of people have never had an answer to prayer, and they are missing the greatest blessings of life by such neglect. Most people depend upon others to get answers for them. They pray, so they think, but they want someone else to do the believing. In reality, they are not praying. They are merely saying words and going through a form of prayer. True New Testament praying is always heard of God and the answer is always sure. God has planned that all men should have this kind of faith and results. "These signs shall follow them that believe," and "all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23; 11:22-24; 16:15-20; John 14:12-15; 15:7-16).

Faith can be developed into a mighty living force that will know no defeat. You can know that you are master of all demon powers and circumstances through Jesus Christ. You no longer need be a slave to fear, timidity, weakness, failure, sickness, poverty, helplessness and despair. You can be a conqueror in the very things wherein you have suffered defeat. "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7, 16).

you must awake to the consciousness of the new life you have in Christ. As a branch, you have His life, His health, His power, His love, and His nature flowing through you. You are the fruit-bearing part of Christ in the Earth. You are in Him and He is in you. You have His words abiding in you, giving you faith for whatsoever you ask. You have as much right in Him to be asking and receiving from God as He had. You have a right to expect the same answers from God that He got. You represent God here as He did, so do not be satisfied to go without the benefits that He died to give to you.

You are commanded to be a doer of the Word, and this means ask and receive. You are not to be merely a bearer. You are not deceiving yourself when you act upon the Word. It will be confirmed, for it is truth (2 Cor. 1:20). It must be a living, active faith, not a mere mental passive something that all sinners can have. You are in Christ, and as God's child and heir you have the authority to act on the Word. You are a fruit-bearer, a producer for God, so get busy and produce for Him according to His Word (John 15:1-16).

17. Wavering Faith (James 1:5-8)

This is faith doubting God and refusing to believe. To believe and to have faith is to act on the Word. It means taking what is already yours. To believe on Jesus means to take Him for all that the Bible declares Him to be. It means that you take salvation from sin, healing for the body, answers to your prayers, and all that He died to bring to you. Believing is an act of the will. When you really believe, you have acted. You have taken the necessary step to get what you want from God. Faith is action in counting those things that be not as though they were (Rom. 4:17; Mark 11:22-24). Doubting is refusing to act on the Word. Unbelief is either refusing to act according to the knowledge that you have, or it is a manifestation of ignorance of the Word of God. If you do not know, you cannot act because you do not understand. If you do not understand you are afraid to act because you do not know how to act. The cure for all unbelief is a thorough knowledge of the Word and consecration to obey it to the letter, regardless of how impossible it may seem to you at the moment.

A wavering faith is called double-mindedness, a constant change of the mind as to what is wanted or whether the thing asked for is wanted or not. It is the attitude of yes-no, yes-no, and yes-no, until God Himself cannot tell whether it is yes or no. One minute it is decided that a thing is wanted, and it may be wanted with some real desperation, but the next minute it is not so important and it does not matter much whether it is received or not. People who have wavering faith do not really make up their minds that they are going to see the fight of faith through to an answer. They would accept the answer if it would come without any hesitation or effort on their part, but to take the necessary steps to get an answer or to fight in the least for the thing that is asked, is another question.

18. Unwavering Faith (Heb. 10:23; 11:6)

This is faith taking God at His Word without any question. God commands us to "ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A doubleminded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:5-8). We are told to "Hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)" (Heb. 10:23). Again, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6).

This is faith refusing to doubt, wonder, question, or reason about one detail of what one has asked from God. It has absolute confidence that what was asked is according to the Word of God, and therefore it knows that prayer is answered. It rests upon the promises as the basis of the answer, instead of upon feelings and things seen. It ref uses to act contrary to what it has asked or to question in the least any delay in an answer. It counts the thing done regardless of all outward evidences to the contrary. It laughs at impossibilities and goes on in utmost confidence that what God has promised He is able to perform. It gives thanks for the answer from the moment it asks and looks forward in child-like expectation of getting it.

19. Human Faith (Mark 11:22-24)

This is simply the exercise of human faculties in having confidence and conviction that he can believe God, and that God is true to all that He has promised. All men are capable of faith in themselves and faith in anyone else that makes any statement of promise to them. Faith is an attribute of man's created being. It was natural for man to believe God before the fall. There was no such thing as a doubt, a question, or any unbelieving reasoning on the part of man before this time. It was the devil that injected doubt and unbelief into man's moral and spiritual makeup. And since man's fall and because of the almost total depravity of his being, it becomes one of the greatest struggles of his redemptive career to have that same simple and unwavering faith that was natural before the fall. It was doubt and unbelief that caused the fall, and it is of the greatest importance to get rid of all such in redemption.

20. Divine Faith (Heb. 11:3; 12:2; Gal. 2:20; 5:21).

Faith is not only a natural attribute of man. It is an attribute of God. It is God's absolute confidence and conviction in His own Being and Word. The first passage listed above teaches that the ages were planned by faith through the Word of God and that things were brought into existence that never existed before. God had faith in Himself when He planned the worlds. He believed that He could do what He commanded, and He counted those that were not as though they were (Rom. 4:17). The third passage listed above speaks of "The faith of the Son of God," thus proving that He also has faith as does the Father. In fact, He is the author and finisher of faith (Heb. 12:1-2). The last passage mentioned above speaks of "Faith" abiding along with hope and love, which means that these three qualities are eternal as attributes of God.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Scriptural Proof for Divine Healing

It is a constant experience in our ministry to hear men, who are seeking God for healing of the body, question or argue about the will of God for healing. Multiplied thousands of Christians pray daily for deliverance from sickness and pain by saying, "If it be thy will." This is the cause why tens of thousands of cases are not healed by God in answer to prayer. Such a prayer is not "the prayer of faith" and it is not in harmony with the revealed will of God. In fact, it is a prayer contrary to the will of God. It is a prayer of unbelief. When we state this we are met by all kinds of arguments of unbelief. People maintain that such a prayer is the proper way to pray. They will not listen to reason or to the Scriptures and so they go without the benefits of healing provided in the atonement and promised by God in His Word. We propose to show in the next four chapters that IT IS THE WILL OF GOD THAT EVERY CHILD OF HIS HAVE FREEDOM FROM ALL SICKNESS, PAIN, DISEASE, AND PHYSICAL SUFFERING FOR WHICH JESUS DIED TO DELIVER THEM FROM IN THIS LIFE. IT IS GOD'S WILL FOR HIS CHILDREN TO HAVE POWER OVER THESE THINGS AND TO BE IN SOUND HEALTH ALL THEIR DAYS.

1. What Divine Healing and Health Is Not

It is not healing and health by natural remedies, imagination, will power, personal magnetism, metaphysics, demonology, spiritualism, immunity from death, presumption insubordination to God's will, mind over matter, denial of the plain facts of sin, sickness, and disease, or natural healing by inherent laws and creative powers in man's body.

2. What Divine Healing and Health Is

Divine healing and health is a definite act of God through faith in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and the precious blood of Christ, whereby the human body is cured, healed, repaired, delivered from sickness and its power, and made as whole, sound, and healthy as it was before the attack.

3. Eighty Scriptural Arguments for Divine Healing

There are eighty reasons for believing in the healing of the body that we shall list together with many Scriptures which prove each point.

The Bible Plainly Teaches:

(1) That divine healing for the body is scriptural (Matt. 8:17; 1 Pet. 2:24).

(2) That health was natural before sin entered (Gen. 1:26-31; 2:17).

(3) That death entered through sin as part of the curse (Rom. 5:12-21).

(4) That the first prophecy and promise of redemption included healing for the body through Jesus Christ (Gen. 3:15; Isa. 53:5; Matt. 8:16-17; 1 Pet. 2:24).

(5) That sickness originated with sin and is now being propagated by Satan and demons (Job 2:6-7; Matt. 4:23-24; 15:22; 17:14-21; Luke 13:16; John 10:10; Acts 10:38).

(6) That the first recorded healing in Scripture was by prayer (Gen. 20:7, 17).

(7) That the first recorded bodily affliction was the consequence of disobeying God and that when conditions were met, healing was given in answer to prayer (Gen. 20:1-18).

(8) That in all cases of healing in Scripture, prayer, atonement, and spiritual means were used instead of human remedies (Gen. 20:7, 17; Ex. 15:26; Ps. 103:1-4; 105:37; 107:20; Acts 10:38; James 5:14-16; 1 Pet. 2:24; Matt. 8:17).

(9) That spiritual means to heal sicknesses and diseases is all that God has provided for man (Ex. 15:26; Matt. 8:16-17; James 5:14; 1 Pet. 2:24).

(10) That spiritual means is all that God has promised and commanded to be used in sickness (James 5:14-16; Ex. 15:26; Ps. 91; Matt. 8:16-17; 1 Pet. 2:24).

(11) That God cursed His people who did not trust Him in sickness and disease (2 Kings 1; 2 Chron. 16:12-14; Jer. 17:5-10).

(12) That there is no case recorded in the Scriptures where men got benefits from any other source than by spiritual means (Ps, 103:1-4; 107:20; Matt. 8:17; 1 Pet. 2:24).

(13) That multitudes have been healed by spiritual means (Ps. 105:20; Acts 10:38).

(14) That no Scripture encourages human remedies to cure disease (Matt. 8:17; 1 Pet. 2:24).

(15) That Bible characters used spiritual means in times of sickness (Ps. 38; 103:1-3; 107:20; James 5:14-16; 1 Pet. 2:24; Matt. 8:17).

(16) That God made a covenant with His people to heal them (Ex. 15:26; 23:23; Lev. 26; Deut. 7:15; 28:1-65; James 5:14-16; Matt. 8:16-17; 1 Pet. 2:24).

(17) That God kept His part of the covenant (Ps. 103:1-4; 105:37; 107:20; Matt. 8:17).

(18) That only spiritual means were used by Israel in the wilderness (Ex. 15:26; 32:7-28; Num. 11:1-3; 12:13-16; 21:1-9; John 3:14; Ps. 105:37; 107:20).

(19) That healing was promised on condition of obedience to God (Lev. 26; Deut. 28; Ex. 15:26; Psalms 91; 107:17-21).

(20) That the brazen serpent, a type of Christ, caused healing (Num. 21:1-9; John 3:14). Should we expect less of Christ, the antitype, than from the type of Christ? (John 10:10).

(21) That healing always came unless certain ones had sinned and were under the curse of the law, which had to be upheld (Lev. 10; Num. 11:19-20; 25:1-14).

(22) That the heathen outside the covenants of God were not promised healing until they came under the terms of the covenants and lived up to them (Ex. 15:26).

(23) That all the plagues upon Israel occurred because of sin (Lev. 26; Deut. 28).

(24) That eleven out of thirteen plagues upon Israel in the wilderness were caused by the misuse of the tongue (Ex. 15:24-26; 32:1-6; Num. 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 21).

(25) That God did permit the devil to afflict Job, but that God used the affliction to purify and refine him (Job 2:6-7; 42:1-7). God did not leave him sick all of his life; so this is no example to prove that modern believers should remain sick. After the test God healed him; so if anyone today claims he is under a test like Job, let him also learn his lesson and get healed. Let him believe God will heal him as He did Job.

(26) That God, to bring sinners to repentance, does permit Satan to afflict them (Job 33:12-30; 1 Cor. 5:1-5; 2 Cor. 2:6-11).

(27) That God always healed when the lessons were learned and men came to repentance (Gen. 20:7, 17; Num. 11:2; 12:13-16; 21:1-9; Job 33:12-30; 42:1-12; Ps. 103:3; James 5:14-16).

(28) That God permits Satan to afflict His people when they go astray (Ps. 38; 103:3; Num. 12:13-16; 21:1-9; Gal. 6:7-8).

(29) That bodily healing is taught in both Testaments, in every division of the books of the Bible, and in almost every book of the Bible, as seen in the Scriptures in the points above and below.

(30) That sickness is the only means God can use to wake some men to their need of God and bring them to repentance (Job 33:12-30; Hos. 6:1).

(31) That divine health as well as divine healing was promised when certain conditions were met (Lev. 26; Deut. 28; Ex. 15:26; Ps. 91; Prov. 3:1-8; 12:18; 13:3; 15:4; 18:8, 21; Isa. 58; James 5:14-16; 1 Pet. 3:10-11; 3 John 2).

(32) That Christ came to redeem from both sin and sickness (Isa. 53; 61:1-2; Matt. 8:16-17; 9:1-10; Gal. 3:13; Rom. 8:11; Acts 10:38; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 John 3:8).

(33) That healing is in fulfillment of prophecy (Isa. 35:1-12; 53:1-12; 61:1-2; Matt. 8:16-17; Acts 10:38; 1 Pet. 2:24).

(34) That Jesus proved His claims to sonship by healing men (Matt. 4:23-24; 11:3-6; Luke 4:18-25; 13:32, 33; Acts 10:38; 1 John 3:8).

(35) That Jesus authorized the twelve to heal as they went preaching (Matt. 10).

(36) That He also authorized the seventy to heal as they preached (Luke 10).

(37) That the disciples were successful in healing and casting out devils before Pentecost (Matt. 10; Luke 10; Mark 6:7-13).

(38) That the disciples were authorized to carry on the work of healing throughout this age to confirm the Word of God (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 2:3-4; Mark 16:17-20).

(39) That the early believers did confirm the Word by healing (Mark 16:20; Acts 2:43; 3:1-12; 5:12-16; 6:8; 8:7-13; 11:19-22; 14:3, 27; 15:4, 12; 19:11-12; 28:9; Rom. 15:18-19, 29; 1 Cor. 16:10; Heb. 2:3-4).

(40) That all disciples throughout this age are commanded to observe all things Christ commanded the early disciples (Matt. 28:20; Acts 1:1-8).

(41) That Jesus commanded the disciples to get definite power to confirm the Word of God before they went out (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:1-8; Mark 16:15-20; John 14:12-15).

(42) That Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into the world to carry on the healing ministry that He had started (Acts 1:1-8; 2:33-34; 1 Cor. 12:7-11; Heb. 2:3-4; John 14:12).

(43) That Jesus promised such power to every believer (Mark 9:23; 11:22-24; 16:15-20; John 14:12-15; 15:7, 16).

(44) That the gifts of healing are part of the spiritual equipment of the church (1 Cor. 1:7; 12:11; Rom. 12:6-8; 15:18-19, 29; Heb. 2:3-4).

(45) That healing is part of the church work (James 5:14-16; 1 Cor. 12:1-11).

(46) That it is always God's will to heal His children in the new covenant (Matt. 6:10; 7:7-11; 8:3. 7, 16-17; Mark 9:23; 11:22-24; 16:15-20; John 14:12-15; 15:7, 16'; 16:23-26; Heb. 11:6; James 1:5-9; 5:14-16).

(47) That healing is in the atonement (Isa. 53:4-5; Matt. 8:1617; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Cor. 11:23-32; John 3:14; James 5:14-16; 3 John 2).

(48) That apart from the atonement God would have no right to answer prayer for healing, for death was the penalty for sin and the law must be upheld; the sinner would have no right to ask God for healing, for he is under the death sentence; Christ would not have healed, for there would have been no means of forgiveness and healing; He would not have authorized His ministers to carry on His work; the Spirit would have no basis for working among men; and not one part of the penalty for sin or the results of sin could be done away with (Matt. 8:17; 1 Pet. 2:21).

(49) That healing is part of the children's b

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