Our Love Affair With The Occult

The visible church has a lot to answer for! Take it's love affair with the occult.

Occult: From the Latin word for hidden. Our traditional definition for occult practices includes any act of divination or spiritual practice which appears to tap into unseen forces, not available on a physical plane. This ability or knowledge is hidden from ordinary sight and must either be taught or developed through practice.

Occultic practices have been the unique domain of pagan worship....until recently. Today, however, they are mainstreamed in churches and homes throughout the world.

What was once the unique domain of strange fringe groups has found its way into almost every church group you can name. It's hard to find a church-group that doesn't embrace some form of occultic practice.

Think of the preacher who claims to be informed by God of someone's illness or personal plight. There is nothing in the Bible that identifies this sort of behavior. So, what's going on?

The preacher is either scamming his audience or he's channeling a demon!

Consider the common practice of "faith healing." The Faith-Healer says certain words or touches the afflicted in a certain way (Oral Roberts claimed the power was only in his right hand) and they are healed [by God].

It may be, according to them, God has given him or her the power, or it may be he or she has simply learned how to do this. Either way, it falls into the category of the occult.

Then there's the Deliverance from Demonic Possession. To accomplish this a person has to a) have the gift, and b) say certain words, in order to cast out the demon. This, too, fits the definition of occultic.

It's about secret knowledge and ability, being transmitted to one individual or another, who is then able to tap into forces beyond the physical, or beyond the ken of science.

Witchcraft is about the ability or knowledge of spells: saying certain words (incantations) and performing certain rituals (waving something, touching someone, etc.) in order to affect the desired result.

Pat Robertson wrote in his book, "Beyond Reason," that there are metaphysical powers in the universe that anyone can tap into, if they know the "Law of Miracles."

The entire Faith Movement rests upon the belief, according to Kenneth Copeland, that "faith is a force just like electricity or gravity," which obeys laws any Christian can use.

"Positive Confession" is Napoleon Hill's "Supreme Secret" which was given to him by demonic entities. He called it "The Magic Power of Belief." [Peace of Mind, pg 176]

These folks have re-defined biblical faith, re-interpreted spiritual gifts and re-structured Christianity to fit their own needs, desires and passions. They are growing wealthy as a result while the people they use are being deceived.

How do they succeed? The Spirit expressly says that in the latter days some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. [I Tim. 4:1]

This is what that looks like!

The Religion of Babel

For those who know The Bible, the unmistakable hallmark is Redemption. The cornerstone of Redemption is Grace, while man's religion is all about works.

An argument is made that the Old Testament is also about works: The Mosaic Law, while the New Testament, alone, is about Grace, freely given.

But this is an argument from biblical ignorance! The Mosaic Law covered less than 1200 years of the 4000 years recorded in the Old Testament. And it existed to govern behavior, not redeem anyone. Those redeemed in the Old Testament were saved by grace, through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast. That's the point Paul makes in Galatians 3:6.

When unregenerate men set out to create a religious system, they draw on what they know. And the Bible specifically states that the "natural man" (the unsaved man) does not comprehend the things of the Spirit. In fact, they are foolishness to him (I Cor. 2:14)

Look at all the Christian and non-Christian cults. Every one of them are based on what their members do or don't do. Not one is based on Grace, through faith.

And most of them revolve around our earthly condition, with either annihilation or some sort of reincarnation, while the Christian cults offer a "heaven" of their own imagination.

All this is very human. So, to provide members with a spiritual experience, many have resorted to some form of mysticism. Consider the use of stained glass, for example. Or vaulted ceilings, incense, pipe organs, vestments, candles, statues, altars and, in the case of the Roman Catholic Church, a holy language (Latin).

Then look at the cross-polination. High liturgical groups dipping down into the spiritual vulgarities of the charismatic movement or the contemporary movement. The Emergent Churches reaching out to the sights, sounds and smells of the liturgical tradtions.

For what? To have a more meaningful feeling of worship!

Well, that was Nimrod's purpose, too, at the Tower of Babel. It was artificial then. It's artificial now.

Worship of God is a heart and spirit thing. It isn't found in the trappings, no matter what they are or how they make you feel.

The visible Church has a lot to answer for!!!

The Backslider

Last Sunday night, on the Bible Forum, a caller asked: When I was a backslidden Christian, had I died, would I have gone to heaven? He was convinced he would not. I hope I convinced him he would.

Think about it: To be a backslider you must slide back from something. In this case, Christianity.

Maybe it's the way the term has suffered in recent years, describing anyone who willingly goes to church or has prayed 'the sinner's prayer.' Or because of the charismatic movement that loves to define saving faith as a purely human capacity we can exercise (to our benefit) or not.

The truth is, salvation is a supernatural conversion. It does not proceed from anything in the sinner. It is something that takes place on the inside (spiritually). And which is accompanied by a host of spectacular transitions and creations.

Here's a representative list.
A saved person has his sins forgiven.
He is justified in the sight of God -- being declared righteous
The "Life" of God is now his -- a quality of existence, unique to God
He is made a "New Creature" in Christ -- something brand new
He is made a "partaker of the divine nature"
He is sanctified by God -- separated unto God / from sin
He is indwelt by the Holy Spirit
He is gifted by the Holy Spirit -- for the benefit of the Body of Christ
And Paul said he was already glorified (Rom. 8:30)

Now, to say such a person will suffer eternal damnation because of his actions, is to imply that
1. some human action must have occurred to placed him in this enviable situation
2. that God has un-done all that he did in that life (see the List)

Ask a backslider: Do you know you are backsliding, right now? Do you know this is inconsistent with your testimony? Do you know you're going to have to stop this and get back to serving God?

The answers to these questions will expose the person's heart. A born-again believer answers all these questions in the affirmative. An unsaved person (according to Scripture) has no understanding of God, nor is he seeking Him (Rom. 3:11).