LIVE A GODLY LIFE Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com Christians should live completely for God, not patterning their lives after the world. Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” SELF-CHECK: WHO DOES PEOPLE SEE WHEN THEY SEE YOU? DO THEY SEE GOD OR DO THEY SEE THE WORLD? THINK ABOUT IT. PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
Demons in the New Testament In the New Testament, the term demon is used to describe wicked demonic spirits. These entities defile and bring evil to human subjects. Their intent seems to be physical affliction more than moral persuasion. Demons in the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles The primary context in which demons are found in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles is in relation to their negative and harmful effects on human beings. These include physical violence (e.g., Matt 8:28–33; Mark 5:2–5, Luke 4:34–36; Acts 8:7), muteness (Matt 9:32–33), blindness (Matt 12:22), torment (Matt 12:43–45; Luke 6:18; 11:24–26), and sickness (Acts 19:12). In addition to these maladies, other conditions manifest themselves in those who are overtaken by demons or evil spirits. These include: self-destructive or isolating behaviors, insanity, sudden outbursts, convulsions, crying out, grinding teeth, foaming at the mouth, and becoming stiff (Matt 17:14–17; Mark 9:17–29; 5:1–20; Luke 9:39–43). In the Gospels, the term “spirit” is often employed to designate demonic or unclean spirits (Mark 3:22, 30; 7:25–26). This is due in part to their habitation. Demons are associated with specific locations such as deserts, tombs, and desolate places (Mark 5:2; Luke 8:27; 11:24). These places were thought to make a person ritually unclean. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke refer to the ruler of the demons as Beelzebul (e.g., Matt 12:24, 27; Mark 3:22) and Satan (e.g., Matt 12:26; Mark 3:26; Luke 13:11, 16). The book of Matthew mentions the future judgment of demons (e.g., Matt 25:41). In the Gospels, Jesus frequently helps those possessed by demons. Most exorcisms conducted during Jesus’ day were done in conjunction with elaborate rituals such as incantations. The historian Josephus (ca. AD 37–101) tells of a Jewish exorcist by the name of Eleazer who cured many demon-possessed people by means of a root set in a ring. The root was held under the victim’s nose and the demon was drawn out (Josephus, Antiquities 8.46–49). In the book of Tobit, Tobias burns the heart and liver of a fish as part of an exorcism (Tob 6:5–6; 8:2–3). In contrast to these elaborate remedies, Jesus cast out demons on His own authority—the Spirit of God working through Him (Matt 12:22–13; Mark 3:22–27; Luke 11:14–23). Others also perform exorcism in Jesus’ name: the twelve disciples (Mark 3:15), Philip (Acts 8:7), Paul (Acts 19:12), and one unnamed individual outside of Jesus’ circle of disciples (Mark 9:38). The Gospels do not give any indication of how one becomes possessed by a demon. Some ancients believed that the mouth or nostrils could be a passageway for entering or leaving a person (e.g., Josephus, Antiquities 8.46–49). Demons in the Rest of the New Testament There are relatively few references to demons or evil spirits in the remainder of the New Testament. For Paul demons were a real, but defeated power—in the sense that Jesus’ resurrection overturned the power of evil, but not in the sense that they no longer exist. In one passage he warns the Corinthians to abstain from any idolatrous sacrifices, for they were comparable to the ones offered to demons by the Israelites in Deut 32:17 (1 Cor 10:20–21). Further, Paul believes that demons were actively involved in deceiving humanity, leading to corruption about the teachings of Scripture (1 Tim 4:1). Revelation describes demonic, evil spirits appearing as frogs, which will come out to seduce the kings into battling on the great day of the Lord (Rev 16:13–14). It was believed there would be an increase in demonic activity in the last days (2 Bar 27:9). Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com FOOD FOR THOUGHT. ONE CAN NEVER LEARN TOO MUCH. I HOPE YOU FOUND THIS QUICK STUDY TO BE HELPFUL. PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
Are the New Testament Accounts of Demons True? Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com CLEARLY THE NEW TESTAMENT refers to demons. According to the Gospels Jesus “cast out” many of them, and they appear to be personal beings who make requests, react in fear and take other actions that characterize personal beings. But are they real? Are demons not a prescientific way of talking about what we would now call psychoses (or some other mental problem)? Are there really spiritual beings in this world that can affect human beings? It is true that in the Middle Ages and even today in some Christian circles much, if not all, of what we call psychological dysfunction was and is attributed to demons. The results of this misdiagnosis in the Middle Ages were often grotesque and rightly deserve the censure of Christians committed to expressing the love of Christ. Also, demons are rarely mentioned in the Old Testament, and most of the Old Testament texts in which they are mentioned are controversial. They certainly are not called “demons,” for that is a Greek word. And it is true that many of the symptoms attributed to demons in the New Testament could also be indications of such dysfunction as hysteria or epilepsy. This in itself makes one want to question the reality of demons. Yet this is not the whole story. First, the belief in demons is part of a development in doctrine within Scripture. In the Old Testament there is very little said about any spiritual being other than God until after the exile. There is the enigmatic figure of “the serpent” in Genesis 3, but it has no other name and does not appear again in the Old Testament text. There are also indications that at least some of the Old Testament people believed in the reality of the gods of the nations around them, even though they were themselves true worshipers of Yahweh. Still, that is not the official teaching of the Old Testament. The thrust of the Old Testament is that the gods of the nations were helpless idols, simply wood or stone (Is 44:9–20). To whatever extent they existed, they were helpless before Yahweh, the living God of Israel. This, of course, is in keeping with God’s persistent emphasis up to the exile that he is One and that he will not accept both/and worship (such as worshiping both Yahweh and the Baals). It is therefore only late in the Old Testament period that we get references to Satan (and even then “Satan” may be more a name for a heavenly prosecutor than for an evil being) and only in the intertestamental period that we get significant references to demons (see, for example, Tobit). The New Testament is in line with this development of doctrine. The simplicity of the Old Testament view of the universe gives way to a greater complexity in the New. Thus it is not surprising to find references to demons in the New Testament where there are none in the Old. Second, the Bible as a whole and the New Testament in particular witness to the existence of nonphysical beings and a spiritual realm. Besides God the Father, there is Jesus, who according to John once existed completely in this realm and then became flesh (Jn 1:14). The ascension refers to his return to the spiritual realm, but as a physical being (that is, he remains a human being with a body). Then there are angels, which are referred to 176 times in the New Testament, mostly in the Gospels and Revelation. These holy beings point to the existence of a spiritual realm, which, the New Testament says, also contains a dark side. This dark side includes Satan (or the devil), referred to in the New Testament more than 65 times, spiritual forces that Paul calls “powers and authorities” (Rom 8:38; Eph 3:10; 6:12; Col 1:16; 2:15), and of course demons, mentioned 52 times (and “demon” is only one of the terms used for them; they are also called “unclean spirits” some 23 times). In other words, demons fit into a New Testament picture of a nonphysical or spiritual world surrounding human beings. In this context they are not strange but part of a normal biblical worldview. If one were to deny the possibility of the existence of such beings, the logical extension would be to deny the existence of all spiritual beings, most likely including God. Third, while demons do cause symptoms which we might at first interpret as psychological dysfunction, it is not true that such problems are all that they cause. Such diseases as epilepsy (Mt 17:14–18), paralysis similar to that caused by some forms of malaria (Lk 13:10–13) and probably fever (Lk 4:38–39) are all attributed to demons. Therefore, many forms of physical disease were attributed to demons, although not all physical disease was attributed to them, for the Gospels differentiate between healing diseases and casting out demons. The key is whether those physical diseases attributed to demons really disappeared when Jesus cast out the demon. If so, his claim that a demon was causing the problem and that it took casting out rather than a healing word would be confirmed. Fourth, there is a good reason for the emphasis on demons in the New Testament and especially in the Gospels (which is the only place that they receive emphasis). Jesus came announcing the reign or kingdom of God. When that “kingdom” came in a more physical form in the Old Testament, there was a conflict between God (Yahweh) and the gods of Canaan (and before that of Egypt). This ended with God’s demonstrating his power over these gods and often with the destruction of the idols. Now in the New Testament the kingdom comes and it is opposed by Satan, as seen in the temptation narratives and other references to Satan throughout the Gospels. Lesser powers associated with Satan (the exact relationship between Satan and the various other dark spiritual forces is never described in detail) would naturally be involved in this opposition. If the kingdom of God is going to come to individuals, the power of the kingdom of darkness is going to be broken and the demons may end up being destroyed (see Mk 1:24; 5:7–8). Thus the demons are part of the cosmic or spiritual conflict going on behind the outward actions of preaching, teaching and healing. Demons fit into the New Testament picture of what the reign of God means and the fact that salvation is not simply deliverance from physical sickness or political oppression or poverty, but at root a deliverance from final judgment, from spiritual sin and from the oppression by evil spiritual forces connected to these things. Therefore, if one believes that the New Testament picture of the world and the human situation is accurate, it is quite normal and logical to believe in demons as real personal beings. It would also be quite normal to believe that where the kingdom of God is expanding one might run into such beings. However, only spiritual discernment can reveal when words of comfort and counsel, when healing and when a command to expel a demon are needed. Where such discernment is present, the results will be good, as in the case of Jesus and the apostles. Where it is lacking, we will see either the rejection of the existence of demons (with the result that a certain number of people who could be healed will not be healed) or a fascination with them in which people either withdraw in fear or else try to “cast out” what is really a disease and by so doing violate other human beings. The New Testament teaches us about the reality of demons. It also teaches us not to fear them or to go looking for them, but to recognize that if and when they are encountered, there is more than sufficient power in Christ to expel them. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS QUICK STUDY ABOUT DEMONS. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT DEMONS. PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
DON’T GIVE UP Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com It’s not about how many times you fall, it’s how many times you get back up. It’s in the Bible, Proverbs 24:16, NIV. “for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.” Don’t let failure discourage you. It’s in the Bible, Joshua 1:9, TLB. “Yes, be bold and strong! Banish fear and doubt! For remember, the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” You can succeed next time. It’s in the Bible, Philippians 4:13, TLB. “For I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.”
DO NOT GIVE UP. DO NOT QUIT. WE ARE CHAMPIONS, WE ARE CHRISTIANS. THE VICTORY WILL BE OURS.
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Romans 12:10 ESV Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. John 15:12 ESV “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 ESV Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
Hebrews 13:1 ESV Let brotherly love continue. STOP HATING, TOO MUCH HATE IS IN THE WORLD. LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER. REMEMBER, WE DON’T KNOW HOW LONG WE ARE GOING TO HAVE PEOPLE IN OUR LIFE. LOVE THEM WHILE THEY ARE HERE.
James 1:5 (GW): If any of you needs wisdom to know what you should do, you should ask God, and he will give it to you. God is generous to everyone and doesn’t find fault with them. James 1:6–7 (GW): When you ask for something, don’t have any doubts. A person who has doubts is like a wave that is blown by the wind and tossed by the sea. 7 A person who has doubts shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord. James 1:22–25 (GW): Do what God’s word says. Don’t merely listen to it, or you will fool yourselves. 23 If someone listens to God’s word but doesn’t do what it says, he is like a person who looks at his face in a mirror, 24 studies his features, goes away, and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 However, the person who continues to study God’s perfect laws that make people free and who remains committed to them will be blessed. People like that don’t merely listen and forget; they actually do what God’s laws say.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT. THESE VERSES ARE VERY CLEAR AND VERY POWERFUL. ALLOW THESE VERSES TO BE A GUIDE UNTO YOUR LIFE.
The Truth of Justification This is the past tense of salvation. The moment a person believes, he has been saved, or delivered from, the penalty of sin. God Himself declares that person as righteous. This is justification. Charles Ryrie states, “To justify is to declare righteous. It is a judicial term indicating that a verdict of acquittal has been announced, excluding all possibility of condemnation. Indeed, in Scripture, justification is invariably set over against condemnation (Deuteronomy 25:1; Romans 5:16; Romans 8:33–34). The claims of God’s law against the sinner have been fully satisfied. Justification is not because of any overlooking, suspending, or altering of God’s righteous demands, but because in Christ, all of His demands have been fulfilled. Christ’s perfect life of obedience to the law and His atoning death that paid its penalty are the basis for our justification (Romans 5:9).” “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38–39). (italics added) We who are believers are justified from all things. This would include anything we can do before or after we believe. It is all based on the finished work of Christ on Calvary! It isn’t the greatness of our sin that is the issue. It is the greatness of the payment for our sin that our Lord Jesus Christ made for us. When we simply believe, the payment is good on our behalf and we are at that moment justified. “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28). There are no good deeds of any kind that can be mixed with faith. God’s sole condition for salvation is faith alone in Christ alone. Thus, based on the finished work of Christ, God is satisfied with the payment made for our offenses. Romans 5:1 states, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” (Romans 5:1). God is the Judge and the Executor of wrath. We are by nature under the wrath of God, as stated clearly in John 3:36. When we trust Christ though, we are declared righteous and have peace with God.
DO YOU BELIEVE? Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being. John 5:24–29 I can guarantee this truth: Those who listen to what I say and believe in the one who sent me will have eternal life. They won’t be judged because they have already passed from death to life. “I can guarantee this truth: A time is coming (and is now here) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who respond to it will live. The Father is the source of life, and he has enabled the Son to be the source of life too. “He has also given the Son authority to pass judgment because he is the Son of Man. Don’t be surprised at what I’ve just said. A time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice, and they will come out of their tombs. Those who have done good will come back to life and live. But those who have done evil will come back to life and will be judged. John 11:25–26 Jesus said to her, “I am the one who brings people back to life, and I am life itself. Those who believe in me will live even if they die. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?” Psalm 121:7–8 The LORD guards you from every evil. He guards your life. The LORD guards you as you come and go, now and forever. Proverbs 21:21 Whoever pursues righteousness and mercy will find life, righteousness, and honor. John 6:35 Jesus told them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never become hungry, and whoever believes in me will never become thirsty. DO YOU BELIEVE THIS WORD FROM GOD? IF YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN RECEIVE. Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
WE ARE NOW BEGINNING A LENGTHY STUDY ON SALVATION. PART ONE: The Permanence of Salvation When we trust Christ as Savior, that very moment, we are born again. We are born into the family of God and become children of God. This new birth is not the end, but rather the beginning. Just as human parents give birth to their children and those children are their children from that point on, once God gives birth to His children, they are His children forever. There are no verses in the Bible that talk about us becoming “unborn” once we are born. Nor does the Bible teach that we can be born again, and again, and again. The Scriptures are abundantly clear that once we are saved, we are saved forever. We have everlasting life. This speaks of Divine Preservation. The Bible clearly teaches Preservation. But it is the Lord Who keeps us saved after we have trusted Christ as our personal Savior, not ourselves. Jude states, “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:” (Jude 1:1). We are preserved IN Christ. This is also known as eternal security. And this is where many people become confused. Some believe that our preservation is in our hands and up to us. If it is up to us to keep ourselves preserved in going to Heaven, then we are in very feeble, even impossible hands! We cannot keep ourselves saved any more than we can save ourselves to begin with. It is just as impossible. The Apostle Paul said it so eloquently in Galatians, You stupid people of Galatia! Who put you under an evil spell? Wasn’t Christ Jesus’ crucifixion clearly described to you? 2I want to learn only one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by your own efforts to follow the laws in the Scriptures or by believing what you heard? 3Are you that stupid? Did you begin in a spiritual way only to end up doing things in a human way? (Galatians 3:1-3) If we could not save ourselves to begin with, what makes us think that we can live perfectly enough to keep ourselves saved? No, we are kept by the power of God (1 Peter 1:5). Since it is God who keeps and preserves us, we can never be lost once we are saved. Salvation is permanent because Christ paid for all sin. “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38–39). The word “forgiveness” means “to cause to send away, to release one’s sins from the sinner.” All of our sins were in the future when Jesus died. If He has paid for any of them, He has paid for all of them. “All” in the Greek means 100% of all there is. “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30). The required payment needed to pay for our sins has been paid in full. There are no sins left to pay for. It is through that perfect, one time payment that our Lord Jesus Christ provides for us eternal redemption! If it is eternal redemption, then once we have been redeemed, it will last forever. “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:12). THIS IS PART ONE OF A DEEP LENGTHY STUDY. I HOPE YOU FOUND IT TO BE INTERESTING. WOULD YOU LIKE US TO CONTINUE THIS STUDY? Everlastinngsalvationchurchofgod.com PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
The Permanence of Salvation PART 2 Salvation is permanent because believers have been declared righteous. God is the one who determines who goes to Heaven and who does not. He has ordained that all those who trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior are justified or declared righteous. The Judge of the universe has spoken! It is settled! His verdict is clear, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:31–34). Salvation is permanent because everlasting life is everlasting. Everlasting means eternal, perpetual, forever, endless, ageless, dateless, timeless, everlasting, infinite, permanent and ceaseless. The Complete Word Study Dictionary states, “When referring to eternal life, it means the life which is God’s and hence it is not affected by the limitations of time.” The Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47). “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). If everlasting life would cease, then it would not be everlasting! Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com I HOPE YOU ARE ENJOYING THIS SERIES OF STUDIES ON SALVATION. PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
