Hi all,
Faith is not of ourselves; it proceeds from grace as per Ephesians 2: 8: By grace, you are saved through faith, and THAT is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God lest you boast it coming from yourself.
What part of faith NOT being of ourselves is so difficult to understand? It clearly states faith proceeds from grace. Grace is a revelation from the Father. Grace is a divine revelation, the first of which is seen in Matthew 16: 16-17 when Peter confessed Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus said that confession of faith came from a revelation from the Father of that fact. The whole of our Christian walk is founded upon that sequence of events: Grace first, then faith proceeds from that grace – and the whole process is not of ourselves or our efforts to ‘stir up faith.’
There is also the perversion, A revelation of fear, confusion, and strife that causes a person to respond to – faith in the revelation of Satan’s ideas. Revelation from the Father is peace; revelation from the devil is fear.
It is as Jesus told 2 blind men who wanted to be healed in Matthew 9:29: “According to your faith be it unto you.” Revelation of fear and according to your faith, it will be to you. Revelation of the Father’s peace and confidence in His future provision, and according to your faith, it will be to you. Which do you choose? A revelation of evil or a revelation of good?
Perverted grace – a revelation of evil – fear is the response.
A single woman spent her free time focused on the fear of an economic collapse, the fear being she wouldn’t have food to eat. From that fear, she used charge cards to fill her home with food items, but she was now afraid because she couldn’t make the card payments. I explained we are moved from the peace and presence of Christ in us, and He would not put us in that situation. In this area of her life, she proved she had more faith in the revelation of evil from Satan than she did in all the promises of provision from the Father seen in scripture.
The Internet has allowed every voice to gain an audience, and for Christians, fear seems to be the largest single driving force among these voices. If you submit to the spirit of fear, which is a revelation of Satan’s plans, and act on it – you have removed that part of your life from God’s peace. Moving yourself from peace to torment for fear has torment is a ‘curse.’
A certain preacher I know tells people if they don’t give to his ministry, they open themselves up to the devil. He also has said if they don’t tune in, they open themselves up to the devil. Some go so far as to say if a person doesn’t give money to their ministry, they open themselves up to a curse. By giving in to this manipulation using the spirit of fear, the Christian demonstrates a greater personal revelation and, therefore, faith in evil than in their loving heavenly Father.
God is telling of a bad thing, or the devil is telling of a bad thing…
In Acts 27:10, Paul is a prisoner of Rome on a ship. He states: “Sirs, I perceive this voyage will be with much harm to the ship, the cargo, and also our lives.”
Paul had a revelation from God—grace—shown by his use (Greek) of the word ‘perceive’. He had a revelation that the voyage would cause them to lose their cargo, ship, and lives. Years ago, when I was young, I thought any revelation of bad was of the devil, and more than once, I rebuked the Holy Spirit. Several times, with myself and friends like Paul, I perceived something bad would happen if I or they did whatever was the plan.
I learned this way to determine if it was God showing me what the devil had planned, like in Paul’s case, or if it was the devil trying to scare me into doing something stupid or unwise. In James 3: 14-18 he compares wisdom of the world with wisdom from God.
Wisdom of the world, he says, is ‘unspiritual and demonic’ and produces confusion, envy, strife. In the Greek, the word ‘unspiritual’ is ‘psuchkikos’, or ‘psychosis’, meaning mental, sense oriented (feelings) very animal and basic. It is ‘sensual’ he says, meaning ‘feeling in the mind based’, and demonically sourced. Confusion, fear, decisions by emotions.
By contrast in v17: “But the wisdom from above is first of all, pure. Also peaceful and peace loving, considerate, gentle, easily approached…” God’s wisdom brings peace; Satan’s wisdom brings confusion and fear. No matter the tragedy about to happen, there is peace. When it is the devil, there is fear, confusion, anxiety.
Paul’s peace in Acts 27:10 is evident. When the owner and captain ignored his warning, in the midst of the storm, an angel appeared to Paul stating he would be brought before Caesar, all 276 would survive, but they would be shipwrecked on an island. Paul’s peace allowed the Father to intervene.
A person opens themselves to the demonic by giving in to the wisdom of the world – fear, confusion, strife, envy. Can Christians place themselves under a curse? Yes. According to your faith, be it unto you.
Another example: Galatians 3:10
“Those who depend on the law to make them righteous are under a curse…” Paul’s asked the Galatians in 3:1 who had bewitched them? Witchcraft is a manipulation of God’s Word and will to control others. (I Samuel 15:23: Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Saul’s rebellion was twisting God’s Word into half-truths to manipulate others.)
In Acts 13 and 14, certain Pharisees told Paul that the Gentiles who were saved had to be circumcised and obey the law of Moses. Paul said no to that. In Acts 15 he went to Jerusalem to bring the issue to leaders. When it was determined Paul was right, \ that to make them obey the law of Moses after the fact God making them born again AND Spirit filled, would be pointless. God already gave them the Holy Spirit. What good would it be to make them obey what Moses did?
Paul says for a Christian to go back under the law of Moses is to place oneself under a curse. It is an act of denying the work of Jesus Christ. For He fulfilled the law, and when we are born again His law is written in our newly created spirit. To go back under the law is to reject the work of Jesus, for He took the Law on Himself.
One of the greatest errors is…
Christians thinking their lives are subject to the sins of previous generations. They think they are trapped in a pattern of torment and curse because of the sins of previous generations. They read they have Christ in them. They read they are commanded to use the name of Jesus against demons. They read ‘Greater is He in you than he that is in the world.” Yet they don’t believe it. They believe what their eyes and circumstances tell them – that the demons from the past, the sins from the past, have them trapped.
Let us separate spiritual truth from practical truth. Spiritually, you are of the family of God now. A citizen of heaven. Your spirit was recreated by the Holy Spirit, then sealed by that same Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1: 13). Your Father in heaven has not cursed you, won’t curse you. Spiritually, you are not under a curse.
In the natural, your earth body may come from a family is sinners, addicts, workers of iniquity. Your flesh may have inherited tendencies towards the sins of your ancestors. The lie is that you are automatically subject to that family line of sin. That is a lie. You can break the pattern by an act of your will.
Jesus taught many things, one of them was a command to use His name to cast out demons. Not pray about them. Not ask someone to pray they stop their attack. You – you have the authority to use the name of Jesus to command spirits away. You’re got Christ in you, don’t lay down your authority to allow demons to walk all over you. Consider this in Romans 8:32 and Hebrews 1: 1-3: The Father used His Son to create the whole universe. Then He gave us His Son. Once you have the Son, you have the universe. What can a little old devil do to you? You’ve already got everything!
New subject next week; until then, blessings,
John Fenn
