The Dangers Of

"Spiritual Direction"

God's plan is simple and always has been. He purposed to draw all men to Himself through the redemptive, once-for-all sacrifice of His Son Jesus, followed by Jesus' resurrection, glorification and sending of the Spirit of Truth to indwell all who would believe - though all men will not respond. He sent the Holy Spirit to warn of judgment and condemnation, and to call all to repentance through the sharing of what He

clearly stated in His word.

 

This is all we need to realize our fallen state and to turn to Him for salvation. Through our reading of the word of God, accompanied by a changed heart that desires the holiness that Christ is, man returns to God and is conformed to His image and likeness. That is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit: to conform believers to the image and likeness of Christ. This image is basically holiness, the very desire of God towards

His children:

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, accord-ing to the good pleasure of his will, 6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Believers in Christ form the body of Christ, which helps all members to hold fast to the truth and conform their lives to Christ:

Rom 15:14  And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Truth is to be shared within the body of Christ by teachers and pastors. The other members should discern their teaching, realizing they are only men who can be influenced not only by the Holy Spirit, but by the world, the flesh, and the devil. Sharing also takes place among the members of the body, and where there is disagreement, the truth is to be sought out with honest hearts desiring only the truth. These sharings protect the body of Christ from deception, and the process itself serves to bring sinful ways such as anger, envy, jealousy, apprehension, ambition, etc., to the surface, where they may be repented of. In this way, all grow into the image of Christ.

This is stated rather simply, but the point is we are to seek the truth together and grow in the image and likeness of Christ, with each member personally answerable to God concerning doctrinal truth and holiness.  God has given ample supply within the body, and when all members cooperate with what He has established, the unity of the Spirit is preserved in the bond of peace. Love, truth and holiness become evident. There is no lording it over anybody, and the many and various spiritual deceptions are negated.

When fellowshipping with one another or when seeking help from a pastor, it is absolutely necessary that:

1. The central emphasis must remain on our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The basis for working through the problem should be the revealed word of God in its proper context and witnessed to by the Holy Spirit.
3. One should not rely solely on the word of one person, but seek out the counsel of one or two others so the Holy Spirit can witness two or three times to any suggested solutions or answers.

What a Christian says and does has to have a two-fold foundation: the word of God and the Holy Spirit who reveals the word He Himself inspired. You can't have one without the other. If a person has the word without the Holy Spirit, the evidence of deception will quickly manifest itself. If he tries to follow the Spirit without the word, the result will be the same. The Toronto Experience is a good example of that. The individual Christian is responsible for knowing the word and acquiring a true understanding of it as taught, and wit-nessed to, by the Holy Spirit, disallowing any other influence that would alter the true meaning of what has been written.

The devil, of course, is always "inspiring" new revelations and new movements to lead people astray from what God has once for all revealed. Deception and lies, hammered and pressed and formed to look like the truth, have always been a problem throughout Church history.

During the past fifteen years, many "new" things have been introduced into Christianity which have supposedly "re-defined" the church. The stance of the Christian should be, "If its new, it needs to be questioned, examined, discerned and judged." We're all familiar with the verse from Jude:

 

Jude 1:3  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

The faith of the Christian HAS been delivered to the original twelve apostles and passed on throughout the ages. There is nothing new under heaven to be revealed. My opening, simplistic paragraphs are the foundation on which we are to live the Christian life. A Christian is one who has a personal relationship with the living God, and though he may need help from his brothers to get through some spiritual rough spots regarding doctrine or personal holiness, his primary relationship lies with God Himself. The body of Christ is made up of all who have that relationship according to what has been revealed, and who have fellowship with one another in which they are strengthened and built up while the blood of Jesus cleanses all from sin.

Though in the present state of the Church we have grown used to hearing of "new" things, one "old" thing that has been surfacing in the Church is the role of the Spiritual Director, a concept which traces back to monasticism. The idea behind having a Spiritual Director is inner spiritual transformation. But it must be remembered that God has adequately provided for our inner transformation: personal repentance from sin resulting in the formation of Christ in us. Again, this takes place when an honest heart pursues the truths of the word of God in reliance on the Holy Spirit:

2 Cor 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

Eph 4:21  If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

22  That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25  Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

27  Neither give place to the devil.
28  Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledgeafter the image of him that created him:

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

These verses lay out the duty of every Christian. Is that possible, and if so, why? Because we all have the same word of God inspired and made real to our hearts by the same Holy Spirit.
Spiritual Direction.    In an article on the Christianity Today website, we read that Larry Crabb believes therapy and counseling should be replaced by a "more ancient practice - spiritual direction" (Christian History Corner: Got Your 'Spiritual Director' Yet? The roots of a resurgent practice, plus 14 books for further study. By Chris Armstrong and Steven Gertz | posted 05/02/2003, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/117/51.0.html). Others have described this trend towards spiritual direction and a more contemplative life:

"Jeannette Bakke, author of Holy Invitations: Exploring Spiritual Direction (Baker, 2000) said in a Christianity Today interview, "Evangelicals are listening for God in ways that are different from our usual understanding of discipleship. We are looking at many Christian disciplines, including prayer, silence and solitude, discernment, jour-naling, and others. . . . Spiritual direction is one of these disciplines many evangelical Christians are learning about and exploring" (Ibid.).

The article attributes the origins of Spiritual Direction to Jesus and the disciples, and describes it as a relationship between a Spiritual Director and a Christian that is not for the purpose of counseling, but for regaining intimacy with God. The practice is said to have become embedded in the monastic life of the Catholic Church through John Cassian, St. Benedict, St. Dominic, Jesuit founder Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), and St. Francis de Sales. The spiritual exercises of these monastics have now found their
way into Christianity through the writings of the people mentioned in the article:
"Such prominent Protestant writers on spirituality as Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and James Houston have written on the subject in recent years.  One excellent place to start is Eugene Peterson's valuable guide to books on Christian spirituality: Take and Read: An Annotated List (Eerdmans, 1996).

"Lectio Divina (or 'holy reading') is one of the basic exercises of these disciplines. A phrase or single word is chosen from the Bible. However, rather than aiding understanding through one's dwelling on its plain meaning, the word or words become mediumistic devices for hearing directly from God. The word or phrase is then 'meditated upon' (meditatio) by being slowly repeated again and again in the fashion of a mantra (Jesus condemns as heathen 'vain repetitions' in prayer [Mt 6:7]). It is then prayed (oratio) as an incantation, thereby allegedly healing painful thoughts or emotions. Finally, the repeated word is used to help clear one's thoughts (contemplatio), supposedly making one an open receptacle for personally hearing God's voice.

These biblical words are selected not for the purpose of attaining objective understanding - the 'contemplator' has almost no interest in the meaning, grammatical use or context of the verses, which simply become a mechanism to aid in listening for subjective communication from God. It should be obvious (especially for evangelicals!) that this is not how the Bible instructs us to learn or teach the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. Furthermore, classic contemplative concepts reject doctrine as a basis for knowing God and for receiving His salvation. Many of the movement's 'spiritual masters' blame western rationalism (with its penchant for reason and emphasis upon words) for nearly destroying 'our ability to intuitively experience our Creator.”

"While the contemplative movement is troubling in its antibiblical philosophies, it is downright alarming in its potential for demon involvement. Its methodologies have been the very stuff of occultism throughout the ages. A tutorial of this movement is The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a primer for learning occult visualization
(hailed by shamans as the most potent method for contacting spirit entities). In one of dozens of such exercises Ignatius instructs the reader 'to picture...Christ our Lord....standing in a lowly place in a great plain about the region of Jerusalem, His appearance beautiful and attractive.”3

 

Though this may seem innocent, even spiritually gratifying, in reality it's impossible. No one knows what Jesus looks like. Moreover, this is visual idolatry (Ex 20:4-5), and a divination technique that opens the door to demonic spirits. We personally know former Jesuit priests (Ignatius founded the Jesuits) who report that they had been demonized by this method. The real Jesus will not respond, no matter how sin-cere the practitioner.  Through the imagination the visualized Jesus (or any other personage) often takes on a life of its own and brings the practitioner into occult bondage. (See The
Seduction of Christianity or Occult Invasion for more in-formation on shamanic visualization.)

"Centering prayer, a foundational contemplative technique, is a 'Christianized' version of Eastern mystical meditation. Stripped of its deceptively biblical sounding terminology, it's no different from that which yogis have practiced for mil-lennia; neither are its occult effects. For example, an instructor in the movement (who mentors two Catholic
priests) tells of his recurring problem with his meditation

breathing exercise:

’'The Spirit would flow into my heart and start burning and I couldn't get it to stop. The burning would proceed into my lungs and I could not take a deep breath for days, let alone do the breathing exercises....Do not get the idea that I was doing the exercises too forcefully. I wasn't. It was just that the Spirit had become unleashed and I was encouraging it to flow more forcefully than my nervous system could handle. I sought medical help but the doctor couldn't find any reason for the problem. How do you tell a doctor that the Spirit has really been rough on you lately and you want to learn how to cope with it?’”4

"Rough 'Spirit"? Not the Holy Spirit! Still needing help, he wrote to a renowned Catholic monk, author of many books on contemplative exercises. The reply was revealing though not surprising. “He graciously wrote back explaining that although the end in God is the same....he had not felt the heat or the flowing of the Spirit exactly as I did but that he had read about these experiences when reading of the kundalini (what [Western] yogis call the fire of the Holy Spirit [Hindus actually call it the 'Serpent force!']) experiences....”5 Similar 'rough' manifestations which wouldn't go away have been reported at the alleged revivals of Pensacola and Toronto, causing young people and their

parents to seek medical counsel.

If our small, central-Oregon town of Bend is any indication, the pied pipers of this movement are everywhere. Some of our local churches recently had Taizé meetings (repetitive chanting, meditative silences, candlelit rooms, etc.) for their youth. Walk to Emmaus has its local adherents. Richard Foster, who introduced shamanic visualization to evan-gelicals in his bestselling Celebration of Discipline, came to town with his contemplative spirituality-promoting or-ganization, Renovaré.

Its board of reference and speakers have included Jack Hayford, Lloyd John Ogilvie, Don Moomaw, Robert Seiple, David and Karen Mains, Martin Marty, C. Peter Wagner, Ron Sider, J.I. Packer, Calvin Miller, Fr. Henri Nouwen, Ted Engstrom, Fr. Michael Scanlon, Eugene Peterson, John Wimber, and Tony Campolo" (Berean Call,  Please Contemplate This).

There are inherent dangers in seeking out a Spiritual Director. The main danger is that of reliance on man rather than on one's personal relationship with God through the Holy Spirit and the word. When a man becomes the
mediator between you and God, it usurps the person and work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit whom He sent.

A very real danger is to approach conversation with God through meditative techniques rather than on the basis of Scriptural fact concerning union with God in Christ by the

Holy Spirit through His shed blood:

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold

fast our profession.
15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

This second danger in having a Spiritual Director giving spiritual direction is the possible introduction of practices and techniques (used on the "journey" of spiritual trans-formation) that will lead to fellowship with spirits not of God. For instance, I sent out material on Labyrinths some
time ago in which the "Christian" use of the Labyrinth was explained.  Its promoters said that a Labyrinth is a spiritual tool which energizes the spirit as one becomes quiet within, in order to bring oneself to a place of spiritual insight, inner healing and solving problems within one's life experience. Through this quietness, one becomes receptive to and ex-periences God's presence, and in that presence is trans-formed. The Labyrinth is considered to be sacred ground, yet its origin is usually associated with the Minotaur of Greek myth.

An undiscerning Christian can easily be lead by a Spiritual Director into a variety of new age or occult meditations, practices and techniques disguised as Christian "trans-formational" practices. These techniques employed "to
encounter God" include contemplative meditations such as Centering prayer. Centering prayer is the practice of repeating a phrase over and over again to help one focus the mind and bring oneself to a quiet state. In Christian
circles, Scripture or Jesus' name is used. It is similar to
Transcendental Meditation, a new age practice. Once in the state, one meditates on how the phrase used relates to God, others and/or the issues you are trying to resolve.

Less and less in Christianity do we hear of the "gut prayer." It goes something like this: "Father, in Jesus' name, I know you are with me, and if you were in trouble like I am in trouble, and I could help you like you can help me, I'd certainly do it," knowing God said He would always be with
us to hear and always present to answer. No meditation is necessary, no phrases need to be repeated over and over again, no labyrinths need to be walked. He is there - always. He answers - always. To get alone and be quiet is okay.
To place yourself in a meditative state through the repetition of some phrase is not. Spiritual Directors and their spiritual direction can be dangerous. Thankfully, some who carry the title practice none of these things. They realize that their helping a brother in Christ is a temporary thing. They center on Christ and help get people through the sticky parts of
their Christian life. But it appears that the role of Spiritual Director is a rising phenomena with very real dangers in the Church today, so I wanted to at least bring it to your atten-

tion with a few examples. Beware.

The word of God is given to renew our minds. It is given so that, with our minds, we have a knowledge of God and an understanding of His ways. The Holy Spirit will never leave us nor ever forsake hovering over that word to bring it alive to us. God has given us the word of God, and along with it the responsibility to adhere to it. When we do, the Holy Spirit teaches us and witnesses to its truth. The Holy Spirit is God, and He is present WITH us.  We don't need to meditate into His presence by altering our consciousness. (Article by Ed Tarkowski, Used with Permission.  Sign up for Ed’s newsletters at ejt@ncinter.net). 

References found for McMahon's quotes elsewhere on the internet
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Original-Gangsta/message/2134?source=1:
3. Understanding the New Age - Russell Chandler , Journalist and
religion writer For Los Angeles Times.
4. Inside the New Age Nightmare - Randall N. Baer - former "crystal
power" expert and teacher. Huntington House, 1989.
5. When the World Will Be As One -The Coming NEW WORLD ORDER in the NEW AGE by Tal Brooke - former follower of Sai Baba, presently with The Spiritual Counterfeits Research Group - Berkeley , Calif.

 

Some Thoughts on

Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

Paul Shirk

The Christian faith is distinct from all others in that it wholly originates in the counsels of God from eternity before the creation of this world. It begins in eternity and is revealed in time. It is God based rather than man based. It is all about God’s revelation of Himself to man and does not originate with human philosophical speculation about God. All truth begins with God and can only be discovered by man, and cannot be created through human reasoning. God is not only the author of creation but also of regeneration. The root of the Christian faith is focused on what God has done for man that he could not do for himself. All other religions represent what man is able to do for himself and for God, through his own works.

Our faith is based in the sovereignty of God in salvation rather than in the efforts of man. Yet God has obligated man to respond to the offers of salvation through the grace that has appeared to every man, and to walk according to his commands through the power of His Spirit. So while God is the source of salvation, man has the responsibility to accept God’s sovereign gift.

The two concepts of divine sovereignty and human responsibility are both truths of scripture that compliment one another though they are never fully harmonized by our human understanding. To neglect one principle or the other is to distort the whole truth. There are several points of consideration that must be taken into account on this subject in order to have a broader understanding of all the implications of these truths.

1. Divine Sovereignty is not arbitrary.

It can never be truthfully said about God that He may act outside of His nature. God can only act in harmony with His attributes. His attributes have no variableness or even slight indication of alteration. Therefore all that God does is holy, loving, just, righteous, truthful etc, for they are the attributes of His nature. God therefore does not and cannot act without virtuous reason; this is why He cannot lie, for He is the only true God. Though God is sovereign, yet His sovereignty is limited by His own nature.

2. God’s will is the expression of His nature.

When God says, “Be ye holy for I am holy,” He is expressing His will for man based upon His own holy nature. God’s perfect will for man can never be contrary to His own nature. Therefore when God says He is not “willing” that any should perish but that all would come to repentance and live, He is expressing His divine will for men that is in accordance with His immutable nature. Any understanding of the sovereignty of God that would make Him unwilling to save all men becomes in effect a distortion of the very character of God. Any understanding of election or predestination must be compatible with the will of God to save all men.

3.     Election in scripture is not merely related to the “will” of God alone, but rather to the “foreknowledge” of God.

If God intended to irresistibly bring men to salvation there would be no need for Him to make it contingent upon foreknowledge but merely upon His will. We know that His will is to save all men. Why then are they not all saved? It is because God’s election is not based merely upon His will but also upon His foreknowledge. It is argued by some that if God elects upon His foreknowledge, it still fixes the number of elect, since the number that God knows beforehand can neither be added to or diminished, so in effect His election is just as rigid as if men were ordained to damnation or salvation. While there is a degree of truth in this concept, the argument is still is dependent upon the idea that the decrees of election are unalterable and made to particular individuals with no contingency upon their response. However if God were rigid in His decrees to salvation why would He need future knowledge in order to determine His actions, unless those actions took into account the responses of men? If His decree is dependent on His foreknowledge, what is it that He must know before He will elect? The fact that God in eternity requires foreknowledge before acting is absolute proof that His actions are contingent to some extent on what will happen in time. The only reason His election is contingent upon foreknowledge, is because He has chosen to limit Himself in this way. The fact that God foreknows who will believe does not in any way prove that His foreknowledge is the cause of men’s belief. We know that God also foreknew the fall of Satan and Adam, yet His foreknowledge was not the cause of their fall. If the foreknowledge of God ordains both the belief and the unbelief of men, for both the belief and the unbelief are in God’s foreknowledge; then God is not only the cause of belief but also of unbelief. God is then (according to this logic) as much the author of sin as He is the author of salvation. In reality foreknowledge has no more fixation upon events then after knowledge, for knowledge alone is not causative.

 He has limited Himself in election to His foreknowledge of the responses of men because He cannot decree anything contrary to His will to save all men. Were God anything less than sovereign He would be threatened by the will of man; but rather because He is sovereign, neither the will of man or the Devil can thwart His ultimate plan of redemption.

4.     Election in scripture is limited to some extent to the responses of men.

The scripture speaks of our choosing and predestination to be specifically for the purpose of conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ. Now if election and predestination were absolute and unalterable decrees without any limitations by men, there would be no elect Christian who would ever exhibit anything less than the complete conformance to the image of Christ in every act in life. Election is an expression of God’s will for man from eternity, specifically in regards to the saints. The scripture speaks of God’s will for our sanctification, yet we know that God’s perfect will for us is limited by our proneness to err. Either we admit that God’s decree for us is not sufficient to fully affect our conformance to the image of Christ and our sanctification, or we admit that God has chosen to limit His decrees to some extent to our human responses.

The scripture asks the believer to give diligence to make his calling and election sure. How do we make God’s decree sure, if it is already fixed and unalterable? But if we believe that God has chosen to make his election for each individual conditional, then we understand that there is no fault in God’s elective will but rather only in the human response, and that is the part which needs to be made sure.

5.     Even if God did elect some particular people to salvation, this does not exclude others from salvation.

The scripture does speak of certain men being called to their office before they were born. If their office were that of a prophet or apostle it would follow that their salvation would have to be a given before they could fulfill their calling. Therefore some individuals such as the twelve apostles were specifically chosen by God before the foundation of the world to become disciples of Christ. The fact that God chose them does not substantiate that others were specifically made reprobate by an act of God. Even in the cases of those who fulfilled a specific plan of God, that plan is never activated in time until those individuals are willing to answer God’s call.

Though some may have been granted particular callings, yet God still commands all men everywhere to repent.

6.     The universal atonement of Christ negates any possibility of the unconditional election of some men to salvation and the reprobation of the rest by a fixed decree from God.

Romans 5:18 and 11:32 both include equal equations of the use of the word “all.” If all men are under the condemnation of sin then the same number (all) have the offer of the free gift. If all are in unbelief then God has mercy upon the same amount. If the “all” are only the elect who obtain mercy, then it is only the elect who were in unbelief. The point of these two verses is that the scope of the atonement is as large as the condemnation of sin. In fact Paul writes that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. There are a number of verses that clearly state that the atonement was not only for us (the elect), but also for the sins of the whole world. Not only did Christ’s death obtain the gift of salvation for every man when He died, but He is spoken of also as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. His death, which was conceived in eternity, only became effectual in time when He actually died. Likewise also our election, though conceived in eternity, only becomes effectual at the time a man believes in the work of Christ. If the atonement was for the sin of the whole world and God will have all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, then any view of election which denies these principles is a false.

7.     The doctrine of election and predestination are designed to show believers that their salvation originated in the will of God before they ever had the opportunity to choose it.

The doctrine of election helps the believer understand that his salvation is not merely dependent upon his own choice, but rather stands in the strength of God having chosen him to salvation. The fact that God has chosen us to salvation gives us the power to choose salvation. Had God not first chosen to save us, no choice of ours would be avail anything. It is God’s choice to save man that allows us to effectually choose His salvation.

Whatever is right for God to do in time, is right for Him to plan from eternity. Our salvation is not a haphazard act, but the result of divine foreknowledge. It was not an afterthought to a sin problem, but a plan whereby God could lift man higher than he originally had the capability of falling, so that He could demonstrate to us both His grace and His love that is beyond all human comprehension. By this means God demonstrates that His grace is greater than all our sin. Therefore even before man was able to fall God had a remedy of grace that could make him a joint heir with Christ in the New Jerusalem, whose glory far exceeds that of Eden.

8.     Election is used to demonstrate God’s eternal commitment to His covenant people.

In the Old Testament God’s covenant was realized through a corporate body of people known as Israel. The Israelites individually who were a part of the corporate election could still be destroyed for their unbelief. The election of God for them as a people did not prohibit their exercise of unbelief nor the punishment for it. Of some it is said that the earth opened up and they fell down into the pit. Yet their unbelief could in no way cancel God’s eternal covenant with Israel.

So it is under the current covenant of grace in the body of Christ known as the church. Though men may fall from grace it is impossible that the election of God to His covenant people will ever be nullified by any personal apostasy. Some will argue that it is impossible for a body to be unconditionally elect, without electing specific individuals by a fixed and unconditional election, since the individuals are components of the body. If this be true than it is likewise impossible for a church to drift into apostasy unless specific elect individuals fall away from grace. However if an individual falls from grace than he has proved that election is not unconditional or fixed. It is here that the hyper Calvinist will create his own demise. If he insists on particular and unconditional election of individuals in order for there to be corporate election than he also must admit that corporate apostasy cannot happen either except particular individuals fall away from their election of grace. The Bible speaks of the time of a great falling away. This is not hypothetical but a prophesied event that is a sign of the coming of Christ. To admit this though would prove election as ineffective to obtain the elect’s unconditional eternal security. But if he admits only to an unconditional corporate election with conditions for individuals to meet, than he again loses the basis of his whole theology, for each individual according to him is either elected to salvation or excluded from it.

However if the unconditional aspects of election are corporate (the Church) and the conditional aspects of election are relative to individuals within the body, the whole difficulty is removed and election, human responsibility, full atonement, and the reality of falling away are understood in harmony. If it is no fault of God’s election that every believer is not fully conformed perfectly to the image of His Son, neither can it be the fault of God if a believer falls away. We understand the human element limits our ability to obtain complete perfection to the image of Christ so likewise it is the human element that makes possible a final falling away. But even if men fall away, Christ will never abandon His covenant to His elect bride, which was made before the foundation of the world.

1.     Conclusion

Both the sovereignty of God in salvation and human responsibility to believe, are part of God’s redemptive plan. The unbeliever is to understand his personal obligation to believe and obey the gospel. After He believes, he then understands that except for the elective grace of God he never could have come to salvation. The sinner must understand his responsibility, but the saint needs to be reminded that except for the grace of God he would yet be lost in sin. Our salvation is dependent wholly upon the grace of God (by grace are ye saved). Were God’s grace removed our efforts would be insufficient to either obtain or maintain our salvation. Because God extends grace to every man, we can know that our labor is not in vain when it is in the Lord.

When the saint is in the middle of a great conflict he does not need to rely only upon his own efforts but may know that if God is for Him who can be against him. The doctrine of election is intended by God to be the great bulwark of our faith and was never intended to create fear and doubt in the minds of believers. We may draw near to him in full assurance of faith, for He that was lifted up from the earth is drawing all men unto Himself.  (If you enjoyed this article, order Paul’s book COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE).

From the Editor:

This past week, one of my dearest friends from my home town, Zion, Illinois, (Ruth Schleicher) went to be with Jesus.   The words of an old hymn kept on going through my mind as I thought of my friend who loved Jesus so much.  Her on desire was always to let the life of Jesus shine through her.  

God in heaven hath a treasure, riches none may count or tell;
Hath a deep eternal pleasure, Christ, the Son, He loveth well.
God hath here on earth a treasure, none but He its price may know —
Deep, unfathomable pleasure, Christ revealed in saints below.

That is where it is, my friends.  We are simply vessels to be used by our Savior.  Emptied, to be filled with Him.  Ruth’s life was a life of manifesting Jesus to every one she came in contact.  She was a shining example to all who were privileged to know her. 

The heart cry of Discernment Ministries has  been to return to the simplicity that there is in Jesus Christ.  As the church seems to be taking on more and more the form of the world system, Jesus, so often stands outside knocking and saying, “If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in.”   

The inquiries to the ministry, especially via the Web Site, continue to show us that people are searching for answers.  There is a lot of confusion and we are thankful for the small part our ministry has been given to help folk find those answers that direct them to the Scriptures. 

We have been grateful for the response received the past month from those who wish to remain on the mailing list.  We have started the process of eliminating names that we have not heard from so please let us know before the end of the year if you wish to remain on the mailing list. 

It has been such a blessing to help the mission endeavors in Zimbabwe and South Africa.  In Zimbabwe, a home for the elderly was unable to pay the staff and the residents were suffering.  God has used our ministry to help the work and enable them to carry on the vision He has given them.  We were also able to help a church that needed renovations to keep the church open.  Also, praise God for the help that we sent to the prison where the desperate conditions were alleviated by the arrival of food and Bibles to enable the new Christians to grow in the Word.   In South Africa the children have received help in the feeding programs – for which we receive reports that indeed God blesses the sacrifices that many of you have made in order to reach out.  Thank you so much. 

There have been quite a few inquiries regarding THEOPHOSTIC  teaching that is spreading like wild fire.  The first article in this newsletter can also apply to this teaching.  I’m always amazed how one can not question these new teachings.  Instead of checking out the source of what is being taught, the pastor or teacher will get offended at the person who dares question.  Yet, many times these leaders are totally unaware that they are bringing in “strange fire” that will ultimately take those that have been entrusted to their care into deception. 

The second article by Paul Shirk.  Paul has authored a book which is available through this ministry (Come Out of Her My People).   

A bit of news is that Hester Van Boven will be moving to the United States from South Africa in November.  She will take up residence in Texas, but is willing to help out as much as possible with office work for Discernment.   She managed the office in South Africa for a number of years and was a tremendous blessing there.  Our office is now located in Pietermaritzburg under the direction of Anton Bosch with assistance from church members. 

May God bless each of you and continue to use you for His Glory!

                                                                       Sincerely yours,