TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter
1: At the Outset
Chapter
2: Adam as the First Man
Chapter 3: The True
God Alone
Chapter 4: The True
God Can Be Known
Chapter 5: The Caring
God
Chapter 6: Salvation
and Healing
Chapter 7: True
Spiritual Power
Chapter 8: The
Doctrine of Sin
Chapter 9: Forbidden
By God
Chapter 10: The
Doctrine of the Afterlife
Chapter 11: The Animism
Controversy
Chapter 12: The
Christian Gospel of Grace
Chapter 1:
At the Outset
In
accordance with Scripture, it is crucial to defend the very essentials of the Christian
faith (1 Pet. 3:15). The main subjects are: Adam as the first man,
the understanding of the true God alone, knowing the true God, understanding
God as the caring God, salvation and
healing, true spiritual power, the doctrine of sin, a forbidden practice of the
occult, and the doctrine of the afterlife, the animism controversy, and the
gospel of Christ. Thus I rightfully intend
“…to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
Chapter 2:
Adam as the First
Man
God made
man a living being (1 Cor. 15:45). Humanity exists because God created Adam as the
first representative of humanity (Gen. 2:7).
Holy Writ of the New Testament explicitly indicates that our existence
depends upon the very creative work of God alone. Adam was created by God Himself (Gen. 2:7). The origin of humanity must be seen in light
of holy Scripture. To see it in light of
holy Writ is to see it correctly. The
fact that Adam was the first human being is not based
on mythology. Jesus proclaimed, “…Have
you not read that He who created
them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE…” (Matt. 19:4).
John
Chrysostom wrote, “…If you quote Moses, I will quote the God of Moses, and with
him I am always strong. For God from the
beginning made them male and female.
This law is very old, even if it appears human beings have recently
discovered it.”[i] Paul refers to Adam as the literal head of
mankind: “For it was Adam who
was first created, and then Eve” (1 Tim. 2:13 cf. 1 Cor. 11:9). After man’s fallen condition occurred through
Adam’s disobedience (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:1-6), they made themselves their own
coverings (Gen. 3:7). It is the way of
man to find his own solutions about religion apart from the holy ways of God. The Scripture say, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death”
(Prov. 14:12; 16:25). But later God
provided skin clothing for Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:21). The way of God is the right way. The skin clothing indicates that they
belonged to God. The skin clothing
foreshadows the atonement of Christ as the covering of God’s people. God’s people alone are clothed in the very
robes of Christ’s righteousness. Therefore,
Adam and Eve were believers in the God of the Christian Bible, and animism
could not have been the earliest form of religion. After the counsel of His own will (Eph.
1:11), God created Adam with the divine knowledge of the divine decree already
set forth in eternity passed to send Christ as the sole Savior for His people
(Gen. 3:15). The divine remedy for the radical
fallen condition of man is accomplished through the perfect life of Christ
(Gal. 4:4; Matt. 5:17; Rom. 5:19), and the atonement of Christ at Calvary (1 Pet. 1:18-21).
Chapter
3:
The True
God Alone
Concerning the
limitation of spirits and gods, the God of holy Writ is not a God limited by
geographic location. Rather, He alone is
omnipresent; He is everywhere all at the same time. Is a god who is not omnipresent worthy of
worship? Of course not. For the Scriptures say in Ps. 139:7, “Where
can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can
I flee from Your presence?” The infinite
God of biblical Christianity is omnipotent--He is all-powerful (Ps.
115:3). God alone has sovereign power,
control over all His creation and complete authority. God cannot act in opposition to His nature. He is not like the false gods of animism who
have limitation concerning their power.
Is a god who is not all-powerful worthy of worship? Of course not. But God upholds all things by the word of His
power (Heb. 1:3). Moreover, the Blessed
Trinity should alone receive worship, and He alone hears the prayers of those
that are His. To give worship to a
creature breaks the first commandment of God:
“…for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is
Jealous, is a jealous God...” (Ex.
34:14). Prayer is the means in which
Christians communicate to God alone.
Therefore, “The righteous cry,
and the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Ps. 34:17).
Concerning
ancestors the Scripture proclaims, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to
die once and after this comes judgment…” (Heb. 9:27).
For the regenerate person, absent from the body is at home with the Lord
(2 Cor. 5:8). The Christian Bible
forbids “…one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls
up the dead” (Deut. 18:11). Regarding the conception of gods, God alone
has the power of being within Himself.
Therefore, He alone is worthy of trust (Ps. 9:10). He alone is worthy of service and worship
because He alone is the Eternal Self-Existent One (Ps. 90:2). God Himself declares He is absolutely unique. That is, there is no god with Him: “Do not
tremble and do not afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and
declared it? And you are My
witnesses. Is there any God besides Me,
or is there any other Rock? I know of
none” (Is. 44:8 NASB). Scripture
declares, “…Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me”
(Is. 43:10). Animism refers to God in
two forms. He is either monistic or
monotheistic. Monistic refers to an
impersonal oneness. Monotheism refers to
a God who is a personal Being.[ii] The true being of God is one: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the
LORD is one” (Deut. 6:4). God is one in
essence, three in person (Matt. 28:19).
The
Scripture thusly declares, “For there is one God, and
one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…” (1 Tim. 2:5).
The one true Mediator is Jesus Christ.
The true Mediator could only fulfill His mediation because He is both
God and man. Jesus Christ is the perfect
Incarnate Mediator. Therefore, there is
no need for other mediators. According
to animism, there are personal spirits and impersonal energy. There are deceased ancestors, and spirits and
gods. The spirits are mediators who
intercede on behalf of people. In order
for the mediation to occur, people must initially provide homage to the
mediators.[iii] The spirit-beings have
particular powers, and there are spirits who are limited to a geographic area.[iv] There are some spirits who use their power
over human affairs, and over nature.[v] We have seen what divine Scripture teaches, and
how Animism departs from the clear testimony of Scripture.
Chapter
4:
The
True God Can Be Known
It
is not the will of foreign gods that should be obeyed (Deut. 32:12). Rather, we ought to obey the will of the one
true God. To “equip you in every good
thing to do His will, working in
us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and
ever. Amen” (Heb. 13:21). All people are called to obey the perceptive
will of God (Ps. 119). The perceptive
will refers to the unveiled commandments of God’s public law. According to animism, God is “too abstract to
be known.”[vi] The intermediate spirits may be used to
accomplish the will of the Supreme Being.[vii]
Christians
are able to know God the Father through His Son by the power of the Holy
Ghost. Christ is the eternal Son of God
(John 1:1) Who took upon flesh (John 1:14). God the Son became man. This indicates that God the Father is
knowable through the Incarnate Son of God.
Immanuel means “God with us” (Is. 7:14; Matt. 1:23). Therefore, God
is knowable through Jesus Christ. But according to animism, God is
unapproachable and unknowable.
The Lord Jesus Christ
declares, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). And “…If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24). The Incarnate Redeemer came to save men not
to destroy them (Luke 9:56). The person who comes and believes on the Son
has eternal life from the Incarnate Bread of life: “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life;
he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who
believes in Me will never thirst’”
(John 6:35). Here is a Christian hymn about the offer of
the Christian gospel:
Come to the Saviour
now, He gently calleth thee; in true repentance bow, before him bend the knee;
He waiteth to bestow salvation, peace and love, true joy on earth below, a home
in heaven above. Come to the Saviour
now, ye who have wandered far; renew your solemn vow, for his by right you are;
come, like poor wandering sheep returning to his fold; His arm will safely
keep, His love will never grow cold.
Come to the Savior, all, whatever your burdens be; hear now his loving
call, “Cast all your care on Me.” Come,
and for every grief in Jesus you will find a sure and safe relief, a loving
Friend and kind. Amen.[viii]
If
someone comes to Christ, it is assured evidence of the drawing of God the
Father to God the Son. The Scripture
declares man’s inability, and the absolute necessity of the drawing of God the
Father to God the Son, “No one can come
to Me unless the Father who sent
Me draws him; and I will raise
him up on the last day. ‘It is written
in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard
and learned from the Father, comes
to Me’” (John 6:44-45). Therefore,
“And He was saying, ‘For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father’” (John 6:65). Thus, the only way to the Father is through
His Beloved Son: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the
life; no one comes to the Father
but through Me’” (John 14:6). God grants all of His people salvation and
saving knowledge (1 Tim. 2:4).
Chapter
5:
The Caring
God
God
calls His people to cast all their cares upon Him (1 Pet. 5:7). Therefore, God is concerned with ultimate and
immediate issues of life.[ix] Ambrose wrote about the believability of God,
“Let God Himself, Who made me, teach me the mystery of heaven, not man, who
knew not himself. Whom rather than God
should I believe concerning God?”[x] Animism views the major world religions as
addressing the ultimate issues, and it views the immediate issues of major
world religions to be something that is neglected. Ultimate issues are eternal matters. Immediate issues refer to our daily
needs. Halverson notes that one can be a
practicing Catholic and consult a shaman.
A shaman is an animistic priest who consults spirits to heal the living.[xi] God is concerned in His all-knowingness of
every sparrow that hits the ground, “…And yet not one of them will fall to the
ground apart from your Father” (Matt. 10:29). How much more, therefore, is God concerned
with human beings? According to God,
people “…are more valuable than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:31).[xii] Animists seek help within
their daily lives from wicked spirits. But how much more will the one true God help
His people who truly seek Him?[xiii]
Chapter
6:
Salvation
and Healing
It
is not spirits of the heavenly realm that bring true healing. Rather, it is the God of the Christian Bible
that brings authentic healing concerning salvation. The guaranteed promise is the saving of the
soul for God’s elect only from God’s just and righteous wrath, hell, sin and
Satan. Thus, by His crucifixion wounds God’s
people are healed (Is. 53:5). Divine
justice has been satisfied because of Christ alone. Animists depend upon their sacrifices, but Christ
Jesus offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice that was wholly pleasing to His
Beloved and Holy Father. The sacrifices
of the wicked are detestable, abhorrent and abominable to God (Prov. 21:27). But the cross
of Christ is well-pleasing to God the Father.
The atonement of Christ was made once and for all. The spirits, gods and ancestors of animism
lack this essential truth. The Lord Jesus
willingly died for His beloved people.
He brings life to poor sinners. Those
who place their trust in Him alone by authentic and lasting faith alone have
His righteousness imputed to them. Christ
proclaimed, “…unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). The verse indicates that regeneration precedes
faith (see Titus 3:5). Therefore,
monergistic regeneration (that is, being born again) is supported and
established.[xiv]
It
is the Lord Jesus Who brings true salvation to people, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life;
but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides
on him” (John 3:36). True salvation is a
true relationship with Jesus Christ. People
who do not believe the Son do not have eternal life but have the wrath of God
upon them. It is not simply optional to
believe Christ. Rather, it is a command:
“This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ,
and love one another, just as He commanded us” (1 John 3:23). Thus, “...these have been written so that you
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you
may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
A
healed heart is not obeying our sinful fleshly desires or consulting spirits. Rather, a healed heart is “…a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
You will not despise” (Ps. 51:17). Indeed,
may the convicted sinner cry, “…O, thou Father of my spirit, thou King of my
life, cast me not into destruction, drive me not from thy presence, but wound
my heart that it may be healed; break it that thine own hand may make it
whole.”[xv] Fervent and meaningful crying out to God
brings healing, “O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me” (Ps. 30:2).
Chapter
7:
True Spiritual
Power
The Holy Spirit is a
divine Person. He is the Third Person of
the Trinity. He is not an impersonal
force. Thus, this is Who the animists should
surrender their lives to. The Holy
Spirit, not impersonal forces of energy, empowers His people with divine
grace. The Spirit of God is not the same
spirit that operates in Animism.
Moreover, God is not manipulated as it is in Animism. God accepts repentant sinners. God does not use animistic rituals, charms or
words to move Him. Animistic thought
teaches “…spiritual forces can be used for either good or evil purposes.”[xvi]
Prayer
should only be used solely for lawful purposes.
In the Our Father, Christians
are called to ask for deliverance from Satan.
God is not a God Who takes pleasure in wickedness, evil or sin. Rather, the God of the Christian faith is
superlatively holy. God never fails to
act righteously. Thus, God is free from
evil, and He is wholly good. True
spiritual power resides in God. He has
the power of being in and of Himself.
God has true power rooted in goodness, holiness and righteousness. God never uses His power for unjust, evil,
unrighteous or unholy purposes. Rather,
His ways are and always shall be holy.
Therefore, true power is found in Him alone and true power comes from
Him alone. We ought to flock to the One
Who has “…authority on earth to forgive sins…” (Luke 5:24). Christ has the divine authority as the divine
Son of Man to forgive sins and Christ has full power “in heaven and on earth”
(Matt. 28:18).
The
spirits of Satan have spiritual power, but it is a false, evil and deceptive
power. The spirits bring people into
spiritual bondage. God has real and true
spiritual power. God has shown through
His Beloved Son that He has triumphed in His all-powerfulness over demonic and
satanic powers. He is greater then any
false spiritual power of Animistic spirits.
The apostle John wrote regarding God’s children, “You are from God,
little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you
than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Therefore “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a
public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him” (Col.
2:15). God the Son brings spiritual freedom:
“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
The
power is from God the Father: “…For
Yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen” (Matt. 6:13).
The gospel is the power of God for those who believe: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it
is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek”
(Rom. 1:16). Power comes from God the
Holy Spirit: “Now may the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit”
(Rom. 15:13). The cross is the power of
God for those who are being saved: “For
the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who
are being saved it is the power
of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).
Rest
on the power of God: “so that your faith
would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:5).
It’s not man’s words but God’s power:
“For the kingdom of God does not consist in
words but in power” (1 Cor.
4:20). Concerning the power of
Christ: “And He has said to me, ‘My
grace is sufficient for you, for power
is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my
weaknesses, so that the power of
Christ may dwell in me” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Be protected by the power of God:
“who are protected by the power
of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1
Pet. 1:5). Power is in God forever: “saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor and power
and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 7:12).
Animism
teaches that spiritual energy “infuses special objects, words and rituals.”[xvii] The “energy gives these objects the power
that people need to accomplish their desires.”[xviii] Halverson cites an example from Quicksall about
writing a verse from the Koran on paper.
The Muslim leader then places it into water so the water-soluble ink
dissolves away. The person who wears the
fetish drinks the water, to have the message internalized.[xix] We have seen what divine Scripture teaches,
and how Animism does not have true spiritual power.
Chapter
8:
The
Doctrine of Sin
First, the spirits of the heavenly
realm are wicked (1 Sam. 16:14; Luke 7:21).
The spirits are under the control of “the father of lies” (John
8:44). Wickedness is not a good
attribute, and to replace God with something is a serious offense against
Him. If the spirits are wicked, they
will deal wickedly with people. The
spirits bring bondage not freedom.
Bondage is from the devil (2 Tim. 2:26) and from sin (John 8:34). Second, the prince of these spirits is
Satan. The sinless Christ referred to
Satan as “the evil one” (John 17:15).
Are the spirits of animism worthy of trust? Of course not. “But the Lord is
faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one” (2 Thess.
3:3). The Our Father shows God’s
power over Satan (Luke 11:2). Consider
what Jesus Christ declared, “…for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). That is, Jesus Christ is free from any sin
whatsoever. Therefore, He is the One to
trust. Christ was the only person free
from original sin. Therefore, all of
humanity is in sin because of the result of Adam’s sin. This is properly known as original sin. The animist is concerned with offending the
localized spirits. They fear the wrath
of spirits who will harm them due to their offences.[xx] The manifestation of their wrath may occur
“in the form of injury, sickness, failure, or interpersonal strife.”[xxi]
Additionally,
“For the wages of sin is death, but the
free gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).
Mankind is totally depraved and dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1). Mankind also has total inability, yet bears
total accountability before God. Man in
his nature is spiritually insane, “But a natural man does not accept the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised”
(1 Cor. 2:14). Thus, “For the word of
the cross is foolishness to
those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”
(1 Cor. 1:18).
Third,
fear the God “…who is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28 NASB).
God does not sin nor does He tolerate sin. The place of hell is real. It exists to punish the sin that was not
punished on Christ. Therefore, the fear
of a person should have God alone as his object. The God of holiness is the God Who dealt with
sin on the cross of Christ at Calvary. The Incarnate Christ paid the eternal debt in
completeness that His people could
never pay. The Incarnate Lamb bore
divine justice in behalf of poor sinners.
He bore hell upon His cross so His people would not suffer eternal
punishment. Therefore Jesus satisfied
divine justice. Christ became a curse
for His people (Gal. 3:13), and “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on
our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor.
5:21). That is, the sin of His people
was transferred to Him. The righteousness of Christ alone was transferred to
His people by faith alone. Jesus Christ
is the divine remedy for sin. It is
through Christ crucified that God’s people obtain forgiveness. This is necessary because “…all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God…” (Rom. 3:23) for "THERE IS NONE
RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE…” (Rom. 3:10).
Paul
in Rom. 3:21-28 declares:
But now apart from the Law the
righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the
Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all
those who believe; for there is no distinction; for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift
by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God
displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness,
because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that
He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where
then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a
law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works
of the Law.
The
faith of Romans 3 is a living, lasting and true faith. Faith alone is the instrument of
justification. Justification by faith
alone is the heart of the gospel of Christ.
Faith is the necessary instrument to receive the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. This faith is not a mere
profession of faith but a real, living and authentic faith. This true faith is from a true regenerated
heart. Human works do not have a role in
justification. Justification refers to how
a person is declared right before God.
There is no person who is justified by their good works. Rather it is by faith alone but it is not a
dead faith. It is wholly the work of Another. This alone forms the grounds of
justification. Justification is a forensic
(that is, legal) act of God alone. This
is where He declares the unjust sinner to be just. Thus, Christians are just sinners. This means a sinner ought to live a life of
faithful repentance of sin to God through Christ by His Spirit. Therefore, sin is confessed before God, forgiveness
is received, and remission is granted.
Chapter
9:
Forbidden
By God
The holy Scripture addresses
divination. Holy Writ applies
condemnation toward this occultic practice.
This is known as heathen religion. It is referred to as detestable (Deut. 18:11-12) before God. The evil practice of divination was punished
by death (Lev. 20:6-7). God’s people in the midst of divination are to remain
blameless: “You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to
those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your
God has not allowed you to do so.” (Deut. 18:13-14). Cyprian declares in conformity with Scripture,
“Divination must not be used.”[xxii]
Divination falls within the occult. Divination is a way to obtain knowledge of an
angered spirit. It is also used to
discover if a curse has been pronounced.[xxiii] The practice of divination is also used to
fix a problem. This is done to obtain
knowledge through occultic means. It is
the method of learning what is not known through mysterious ways.[xxiv] Halverson wrote about divination, “Methods of
divination are numerous and varied; they include tarot cards, palm reading, the
I Ching, tea-leaf reading, observing
how feathers fall, the throwing of cowry shells, astrology, omens, dowsing (see
Weldon), rituals, necromancy (contacting the dead), and interpreting dreams and
visions.”[xxv]
Sorcery
was forbidden by the Old and New Testament, but there were still people who
practiced divination (Acts 19:12-16). Bar-Jesus is known as Elymas. Luke identifies Elymas as a magician. Elymas stood in fierce opposition to the
gospel of Christ because he tried to prevent Sergius Paulus from adopting the Christian
gospel (Acts 13:8). Luke identifies him
“…as a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet.”[xxvi] This was not unusual in history. They acquired a status of power because they
pretended to provide unique insight into the future. Initially, he acquired the confidence of the
proconsul. The proconsul’s name was
Sergius Paulus. Elymas understood his
days were numbered because of the ministry of Paul and Barnabas. Elymas opposed the Christian gospel. He did all “…he could to turn the proconsul
from it.”[xxvii] The wicked oppose the Christian gospel. Thus, Bar-Jesus should be understood as
Bar-devil.[xxviii]
Interestingly,
the proconsul is described as “…a man of intelligence” (Acts 13:7). Paul was filled with God the Holy Spirit, and
he “fixed his gaze on” Elymas (Acts 13:9).
Paul identified Elymas as “…full of deceit and fraud, you son of the
devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease preventing the
straight ways of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10). What Elymas did
emerges from Satan. He was a son of the
evil one. The source of the work of
Elymas was Satan. Elymas as Cain,
belonged to the devil (1 John 3:12). Moreover, the straight way of the Lord is the
right way of the Lord (Acts 13:10). The right way of Christ is the holy gospel of
grace and peace. Indeed, the Incarnate Way is the only way
(Acts 4:12)! Elymas became blind because the hand of the
Lord fell upon him. He was not able to “see
the sun for a time” (Acts 13:11).
Luke
tells of “…a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those
who would lead him by the hand” (Acts 13:11). The manifestation of Paul’s judgment pronouncement
upon Elymas was evidence of God’s righteous judgment. There will be negative consequences from God if
someone practices the occult. The
judgment of God was done to hinder the work of Satan, and advance God’s
kingdom. Paul acted in righteousness, but
Elymas acted in unrighteousness. The God
of truth and righteousness is the God of Paul. But Satan is a false god of deceitfulness and
unrighteousness. This is the god of
Elymas. Paul furthered God’s righteous
cause, but Elymas acted in deceitfulness to further Satan’s unrighteous cause. The proconsul saw what Paul did against the
enemy of the cross. The proconsul was astonished
at the teaching of the Lord (Acts 13:12). Paul’s ministry work was the means God used
for the proconsul to believe the gospel (Acts 13:12; 2 Tim. 2:10).
The
reason the proconsul believed was surely not because there was something good
in him. That is, he did not believe because he is smarter then Elymas. Rather, the difference between Sergius Paulus
and Elymas is the reason of the work of God alone (see John 3). That is, there is not something in the
proconsul which made him believe in and of himself. God alone is the One Who makes men to differ. We find the product of true belief from the
heart of the proconsul by the work of God the Holy Ghost in effectual
calling. God changed the heart of the
proconsul through His appointed means that produced true belief that was
exercised through his changed will. We
see an unregenerate man who was the enemy of God in his occultism, and a
regenerate man who became a child of God through the God-approved and
God-honoring ministry of the apostle Paul.
Chapter
10:
The
Doctrine of the Afterlife
The
apostles were all witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection; “This
Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32). Christ
testifies of His own bodily resurrection:
“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘It
took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three
days?’ But He was speaking of the temple
of His body. So when He was raised from
the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the
Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken” (John 2:19-22).
The resurrection of Christ was foretold in the
Old Testament: “For You will not abandon
my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life;
in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures
forever” (Ps. 16:10-11). The
Lord Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead:
“As for the fact
that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay…” (Acts 13:34). Indeed, Christ rose for the justification of
His purchased people. Therefore
reincarnation is wholly inconsistent with reality. For example, Christ “…died and rose again on their behalf” (2 Cor. 5:15). His resurrection verified His atonement in
truth and righteousness, for “…the Prince of life,
the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses” (Acts 3:15).
The
assured consequence of sin is death (Rom. 5:12). After death there are either two places a
human being goes to. The two places are
hell and heaven. Hell is prepared for
the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41).
Those who are wicked (Rev. 21:8) and reject the gospel (Matt. 10:15) enter up in hell.
It is described as a place of eternal fire, punishment, destruction and
outer darkness. The Lord Jesus Christ
was the greatest preacher of hell.
Christ preached more about hell than He did about heaven. Will you not believe the only sinless God-man
in history (Mark 9:42-48)? Will you not heed His words regarding hell
(Matt. 8:12; 25:46)? God appropriates His righteous and holy
justice on the unsaved in hell. Hell is
the presence of God’s wrath and judgment.
It is the absence of God’s retraining grace. Hell is also the absence of God’s mercy. The pains of hell surpass any understanding
of misery in this life. There will be no
cruelty in hell. Rather hell is a place
of God’s sinless justice. The nature of
hell is eternal.
There
is no escape once a person is in hell.
Hell is eternal separation from God in His mercy, love and
compassion. People who are not saved in
a redemptive sense will go to hell after they die. That is, if someone dies without Christ, hell
is a place of certainty. The gospel is
eternally important. Christ accomplished
redemption for His people and God the
Spirit applies the work of Christ to His
people. This guarantees heaven. In complete perfection, Christ saved His
elect only. Indeed, Christ is the
Prefect Redeemer. Those He came to save
will be saved. Christ did not merely
make the saving of His people possible, but
rather He made it actual. Indeed, Christ is the actual Incarnate Lord and Savior. There is never danger of eternal damnation if
a person is in Christ (Rom. 8:1-2).
The
place of hell is as real as the place of heaven. Heaven is the place of the Trinity, His holy
angels, and God’s glorified people. The
place of heaven will be the absence of sin, sorrow, pain and death. Heaven is a place where Christians will enjoy
Christ’s immediate presence. Heaven alone
includes the beatific vision of God.
This is the place where God’s rewards will be enjoyed. The nature of heaven is eternal. It will never end (Matt. 25:46). Heaven includes blessed joyfulness. Heaven is the eternal Sabbath of holy rest in
righteousness and peace. No earthly
experience will be able to compare with the blessedness and bliss of
heaven. Only God’s people will be in
heaven. Therefore, people either go to
the place of hell or heaven. It is not
ancestral spirits or an evil human being who became an evil spirit, but rather
demons in deceitfulness, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places”
(Eph. 6:12).
Animism
does not have a “universal and consistent doctrine throughout the many
animistic religions as to what happens to a person after death.”[xxix] Within animism, “[m]any see the person’s
spirit as continuing to exist after death either by being reincarnated into
another life on earth or by ‘graduating’ to a higher spiritual level.”[xxx] After death people may become an ancestral
spirit. The believers of animism must
provide offerings to the deceased member to appease or prevent harm from coming
to them.[xxxi] Moreover, “[i]t is often believed that the
soul of an evil person becomes an evil spirit, continuing to work mischief
among the living.”[xxxii] We have seen that divine Scripture teaches
resurrection and the doctrine of hell and heaven, and how Animism departs from
this.
Chapter
11:
The
Animism Controversy
The
Incarnate Christ is the only way to have a true relationship with God. Religions of the world offer inauthentic,
untrue and false ways to God. Christ is
the true Savior that is based on Scripture alone[xxxiii] to reveal the only true way to God. God
Himself has approved and ordained Christ as the only Savior. Animism does not lead a person to “…a kind of
preparation…” to believe Christ. The
natural man cannot cooperate with God. God’s
people are made partakers of redemption.
This is only by the effectual application to His people (John 1:12) by His Spirit (Titus 3:5-6). The Spirit works faith in His people (Eph.
2:8). He unites His sheep to Christ in
the effectual calling of His people (Eph. 3:17). This is the work of the Holy Ghost (2 Tim.
1:9). The Spirit convinces God’s people
of their sin and misery (Acts 2:37). He enlightens the minds of His people in the
knowledge of Christ Jesus (Acts 26:18), and renews the will of His people (Ezek. 36:26). The Holy Ghost persuades and enables His
elect only to accept Christ Jesus. This
is freely offered in the gospel (John 6:44-45).[xxxiv] The natural man is
spiritually dead. He cannot accept what
is spiritually good (the gospel). As we have
seen, monergism is what scripture teaches.
Indeed, animism is devoid of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God approved the religion of
Jesus. Therefore, the religion of
animism is a false religion, and its source is of the evil one.
The
issue emerges about the spiritual source of animism. Is the source of animism a similar source
related to biblical Christianity? Pope John
Paul II wrote there is “…a kind of common
soteriological root present in all religions.”[xxxv] As a modified universalist, Pope John Paul II
states,
…Is there, perhaps,
in this veneration of ancestors a kind of preparation for the Christian faith
in the Communion of Saints, in which all believers—whether living or dead—form
a single community, a single body? And
faith in the Communion of Saints is, ultimately, faith in Christ, who alone is
the source of life and of holiness for all.
There is nothing strange, then, that the African and Asian animists
would become believers in Christ more easily than followers of the great religions of the Far East.”[xxxvi]
Biblical
Christianity offers the matchless message of the gospel. The natural man cannot prepare to accept
Christ. There is nothing in and of
himself that will lead the natural man to accept Christ. Man is totally depraved, and he does not have
an island of righteousness in himself. Salvation
is found in no one else except Christ alone (Acts 4:12). Therefore, animism has the absence of the
saving message of the soul, and the presence of the bondage of the soul. Thus, the Christian Bible[xxxvii] does not teach
modified universalism. Rather, the
Christian Bible teaches the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the sole Incarnate Redeemer
(1 Tim. 2:5; John 1:14). Therefore salvation is solely found in Jesus
Christ. That is, the Christian Bible denies
salvation in anyone or anything else.
True explicit faith from a true regenerated heart is essential for true soteriology
(that is, salvation).
Chapter
12:
The
Christian Gospel of Grace
The gospel of grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ is: “…Repent and believe in the
gospel” (Mark 1:15). God commands people everywhere to repent
(Acts 17:30). Repentance is turning from sin and clinging
to Christ. God is superlatively holy. He grants repentance in righteousness for His
people according to His good pleasure. True
faith produces true fruit in obedience to Christ. True repentance is contrition not attrition. Repentance must be accomplished for offenses
against God not because of the threat of hell.
The gospel is, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31). In order to repent and believe, a person must
be born from above (see John 3). The
fruits of being born again are faith and repentance. The consequence of the sinfulness of sin of a
person is the actuality of the wrath of God.
The life of a Christian is a life of constant and faithful
repentance. “If You, LORD, should mark
iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?”
(Ps. 130:3). The reality of the
wrathfulness of God: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who
does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John
3:36).
God acts in His wrath from His righteousness. The Lord Jesus has rescued His people: “and
to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, that is Jesus,
who rescues us from the coming wrath” (1 Thess. 1:10). Christ is wholly sufficient for the
sinner:
For while we were still helpless, at the right
time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps
for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much
more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the
wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to
God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall
be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation (Rom. 5:6-11).
All that the Father gives to the Son
will never be cast out: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the
one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out”(John 6:37 NASB). Therefore
the time to repent and believe is now (2 Cor. 6:2).
Conclusion
We have seen what
the Bible teaches and the tenets of animism, and how they differ from biblical
Christianity. Christianity has been
shown to provide meaningful answers to the animistic worldview. There are sound answers to the views of animism
in comparison to biblical Christianity. Biblical
Christianity offers animists the opportunity to understand true religion, an
intimate knowledge of God, knowing God personally in salvation in and through Christ, worshipping God alone in spirit and in truth,
experiencing the power of Christ in life, understanding the reality of sin,
avoiding and abstaining from evil practices of the occult, capturing the
reality of the place of heaven and hell, and revealing the truth presented in
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[i]Manlio Simonetti.
Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture New Testament 1b,
Matthew 14-19, (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 91.
[ii] Dean C. Halverson, Ed. The Compact Guide To
World Religions (Minneapolis, Minnesota:
Bethany House Publishers, 1996), 40.
[iii] Halverson, 40.
[iv] Halverson, 40.
[v] Halverson, 40.
[vi] Halverson, 40.
[vii] Halverson, 40.
It is creation which shows of His handiwork
and of His glory. The spirits were not
involved in the creation of the universe.
The spirits are demons yet mere creatures. The devotion and worship of a person should
be to God alone not to demonic spirits.
[ix] Halverson, 44.
[x] David T. King & William Webster. Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of
Our Faith The Writings of the Church Fathers Affirming the Reformation
Principle of Sola Scriptura, Volume III, (Washington: Christian Resources, 2001), 263.
[xi] Halverson, 40
[xii] Halverson, 47.
[xiii] The Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed, “But seek first His
kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things
will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33).
[xiv] God does not save from
obligation. Rather, God alone
voluntarily chose His beloved elect only in eternality passed that is revealed
in time (2 Tim. 2:10), after the counsel of His good and holy will (Eph. 1:11),
according to His good pleasure. The only
reason why a person chooses God after regeneration is because God first chose
him or her.
[xvi] Halverson, 42.
[xvii] Halverson, 41.
[xviii] Halverson, 41.
[xix] Halverson, 41.
[xx] Consider these verses: “There is
no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves
punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” (1 John
4:18). “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of
grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
(Heb. 4:16).
[xxi] Halverson, 42.
[xxii] David W. Bercot, Ed. A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs
(Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1998), 633.
[xxiii] Halverson, 42.
[xxiv] Halverson, 42.
[xxv] Halverson, 42.
[xxvi] James Montgomery Boice. Acts: An Expositional Commentary
(Michigan: Baker Books, 1997), 231.
[xxvii] Boice, 231.
[xxviii] Boice, 231.
[xxix] Halverson, 43.
[xxx] Halverson, 43.
[xxxi] Halverson, 43.
[xxxii] Keith Crim.
The Perennial Dictionary Of World Religions (New York:
HarperSanFranciso, 1989), 38.
[xxxiii] Holy Scripture is properly understood as the sole
infallible authority for Christians.
[xxxiv] These scriptural answers were used
from A Puritan Catechism by C.H.
Spurgeon. The questions range from
question 28 to question 30. The
questions are: 28. Q. How
are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ? 29. Q. How does the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?
and 30. Q. What is effectual calling? which were presented
with answers in his Catechism.
[xxxv] Pope John Paul II. Crossing The Threshold Of Hope (New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1994), 81.
[xxxvi] Pope John Paul II, 82. Exclusivists rightly understand his book as a
“universalist manifesto.”
[xxxvii] The Christian Bible do not teach Communion of
Saints in the Roman Catholic sense.
Communion of Saints in the biblical sense does not include but entirely
excludes the concept of praying to saints (Ps. 62:2, 5; 1 Tim. 2:5) or praying
for the dead (2 Sam. 12:21-23). The
Larger Catechism of the Westminster Assembly asks Q. 179. Are we to pray unto
God only?
The answer is, “God only
being able to search the hearts (1 Kings 8:39; Acts 1:24; Rom. 8:27), hear the
requests (Ps. 65:2), pardon the sins (Micah 7:18), and fulfill the desires of
all (Ps. 145:18, 19); and only to be believed in (Rom. 10:14), and worshipped
with religious worship (Matt. 4:10); prayer, which is a special part thereof (1
Cor. 1:2), is to be made by all to him alone (Ps. 50:15), and to none other
(Rom. 10:14).” (The Larger Catechism
of the Westminster Assembly With Scripture References, (Glasgow: Free
Presbyterian Publications, 1998), 41).
Was
animism the earliest form of religion of ancient man? Does it provide a meaningful explanation
about ancient man? Who was the first
man? Who is the true God? Is God knowable? Is God caring? Where does true salvation and spiritual
healing come from? Where is true
spiritual power found? Who is worthy of
heavenly trust? What practice is
forbidden by God for humanity? What
evidence is there about the reality of hell?
Is animism compatible with authentic, biblical and orthodox
Christianity? Does God command lost
sinners to repent?
Turn
to this book for a Reformed defense of the Christian faith. The Reformed faith provides answers to these
questions of animism. The work is
important to share the Gospel with people who are animists but who struggle
with their doctrinal claims
