Sound doctrine, Truth and Spiritual warfare

In the last two installment of this series, we have looked at sound doctrine and its relationship with apostasy and salvation. The two are related in that; unsound doctrine endangers the all-important salvation enterprise. Apostasy is a misleading away from it down the path of rebellion. It has also been established that Satan’s weapons are lies and deception and his ultimate aim is to destroy man by taking him down with him.
 

From the beginning, Satan sought to make himself the object of man’s worship[1]. It is this misplaced ambition born out of pride that has led him into rebellion[2]. Given that God created man for His(God’s) glory, the worship of Satan is the direct usurpation of God’s purpose and constitutes the height of all sin. The first commandment on the Decalogue is against the worship of other Gods[3]. Scripture shows that the rebellion was terminated by archangel from whose ranks Satan came. Essentially he is also a creation of God just as man—not a god by any stretch of the imagination. He is a creature, not a creator. He has no omni-powers of any kind and cannot be at war with God. The fight is between God’s faithful-s and the unfaithful-s—the rebels.

Spiritual warfare it must be understood then, is the war between God’s forces and rebel forces. So that man by accepting the devils suggestions[4], joined ranks with him in his rebellion and stepped out of purpose; much like the devil himself had done. In his naivety, man was doomed to sharing in the fate of his new master. Every rebellion against God(sin) constitutes a worship of the devil and supports his cause. His plan is to take worship away from its true owner and direct it at himself. He is a thief who seeks nothing but to steal kill and destroy[5]. He epitomizes the lies he fathered[6]—he is one with his offspring. In the same manner, Christ is the Truth by whom and for whom the world was created. He and His father are one[7] too and He is His father’s very utterances[8]. The war for man is therefore one between the forces of truth and those of lies.

Spiritual warfare has physical dimensions. Man’s prayers, fasting and his very manner of living have spiritual ramifications—they are all acts of worship and obtain their by whose will they align with. False religions also encourage prayer and fasting but to false gods. Man is in fact spirit in a body and the two are intertwined. It is for this reason that it must be understood that spiritual warfare is essentially fought from the natural realm into the spiritual real through. For the believer, it is adherence to truth and imperative disdain for lies. The Apostle Paul treats this in detail in his letter to the Ephesians.

The body armor of God’s agents, will enables a stand against the schemes of the devil. We have seen that his weapons are lies and deception.  He is not on earth as flesh and blood; he is here in the form of rulers, and authorities. He also functions in the spiritual realm as powers over darkness and spiritual forces of evil (i.e. those who are against the almighty God).  Paul proposes an adornment of the complete combat gear designed to withstand all attacks of the enemy and suggests a firm stand. A belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, and shoes of readiness made possible by the gospel of peace.  A shield of faith, and a helmet of salvation—beneficiaries of salvation have these if they are true. The above list comprises mostly of defensive gear; except for 1. The only offensive weapon mentioned is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Engagement is by praying at all times in the Spirit (i.e) bringing everything to the presence of God and including intercession for each other as a way by which the larger army is united in God’s will. Every one of these is an act of worship directed at its rightful place in the life of the believer.  

Truth’s potency was under severe test in the wilderness experience[9] of Jesus where he may have laid the foundation for Paul’s later treatment of the matter. When Christ as man came face to face with the father of lies who wasted no time in throwing his fiery darts of lies, He already had on the full gear for he was without sin and epitomized righteousness. He was indeed the weapon—sword of the sprit in flesh. He was steadfast in the Lord and was not about to be tossed about by every wind of doctrine[10]. The three poison darts fired at him were repelled with ease even in the most testing conditions and countered with the Word. Truth triumphed and led the way to the salvation of mankind. Had Jesus fallen for the wiles and deception, man and his kind would have been doomed. This is reminiscent of Adam’s failure to resist this same devil and the doom to which he subjected mankind. It is this first failure that made the salvation enterprise a necessity in the first place and now, man will be back in line if he would hold onto the hand of grace extended to him. He must then redirect worship to its rightful place. It is a war between God’s creation—those loyal to him and those who are not and seek to be the object of worship of their fellow creatures. Spiritual warfare is a thing only because lies tried to usurp the place of Truth.

When Paul admonished young Timothy to adhere to truth, he was giving him the most important tool he needed as a teacher of the word. He was to study to show himself approved[11] and qualify to teach truth. In doctrine he was to remain sound. A doctrine is sound in so far as it is grounded in the bedrock of Truth— Jesus.

The most dangerous of all lies are those close to truth. They are difficult to identify especially when perpetrated by supposed agents of truth. It has been pointed out that Christ Himself was concerned with such persons (false prophets) and predicted that many will come in the last days. The devil disguises himself as angel of light and deception is his key strategy. After years of experimentation with pure lies, half-truths have become his most important weapon. They are difficult to distinguish from the truth.  

This is why it cannot be overemphasized that; believers must imperatively turn to the word and avoid ideas and traditions of men unless they are grounded in the truth of God’s word. These are matters of right interpretations. Bad and wrong interpretations whether intentional or otherwise do only one thing; they distort the word and minimize its efficacy. It must be born in mind that the only weapon of offense the believer has is the word. We have seen how Christ in his wilderness experience example resisted the devil with the safety gear and overcame with the word. Unsound doctrine means that one has no assault weapon or at best, a very blunt one. Constant study of the word is the lot of the believer—it is his powerbase. It is by this means that he gains understanding and increases in faith so that he prays without ceasing and trusts wholly in God to give strength. He then benefits from the presence of the Holy Spirit who brings discernment and ensures that the victory that has already be won is manifested in the life of the believer.

Surely it must be evident by now that ignoring sound doctrine is rendering believers weak. The African church is now the devil’s playground because of the departure from sound doctrine. This is why SD-21(West Africa’s first sound doctrine conference) will be the important event for the African church this year.

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[1] Isaiah 14:12-15

[2] Ezekiel 28

[3] Exodus 20

[4] Genesis 3:1-6

[5]  John 10:10

[6] John 8:44

[7] John 10:30

[8] John 1:1

[9] Matthew 4:1-11

[10] Ephesians 4:14

[11] 2 Timothy 2:15

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Church, football and syncretism.

Where I'm from, everyone played football. No, it’s not soccer; it’s FOOTBALL! Except for the girls of course; they played ampe. No, I don't have time to explain what that is but I can tell you, we had no gender problems whatsoever. I played for a team called Soccer Revivals (colts division) at Mile 7 (New Achimota). Our home ground was the St. Johns Grammar School Park. We didn’t only have fun as kids, we had some mystical experiences.

Before every match, we would gather in a room with a spiritualist called Hangba (I never found out why they called him that). He would throw eggs around and depending on how many broke, he could tell us how many goals were in the game. He would then build a strategy and tell us how the match could be won. We had to get a certain number of goals in the first half etc. He was right most of the time which must explain why he was always there. He would then give us oils to rub on our feet to make sure we played well and had protection from injuries. Number 9 always got a good helping because most of the goals were with him (I don’t remember who that was). Sometimes Hangba was at our training ground telling both players and coach what to do—he was like a super-coach. I would tell you that we had great players but that would be pointless. There were hardly any footballers I knew growing up who weren’t great.

Hangba had all kids of spiritual gadgets and claimed he could summons spirits. The thing is; every time he did his stuff, you could sense a strong presence in the room. The idea of summoning spirits was not new to me in fact. I had seen it happen in a few other places. Even in churches called spiritual churches (called Sunsum sore). My mother patronized a few. I would tell you have they predated charismatic churches but that’s a different story for another day. Every time we visited any of these churches, the place was full with women seeking one thing or the other. Ok I am leaving women alone. For now!

I left Soccer Revivals at some point and joined a local team  in Dom where I grew up. One day, I fell during training and broke my radius (go find out what that is). My super-disturbed mother took me to see a spiritualist who said I was not to play football again in my life. The witches in my family would use it to destroy my supposed very bright future if I kept at it. With one sentence the dodgy grey haired seer of futures terminated any chance of my becoming the next Abedi Pele. To be honest, I am not sure she caused much harm--  guys on my team who could played 1 million times better than me(including REAL Ayews) never made it far either. 

One day in my grown-up life, I was driving up the road by ABC junction when I saw Hangba. He had gone mad. He had no shoes on and looked like he hadn’t had a shower in months. There was a bit of nostalgia, I hadn’t seen the man in many years. I wanted to stop and say hi or something and maybe relive those glorious years when we toured Accra playing matches that did nothing more than make us feel good. I didn’t. I just kept driving wondering  how a man who could summon great spirits from the netherworld, had everyone wrapped around his fingers end up like this. He was powerful.  Had the spirits deserted him? Why?

Stories about what spirits would do if one failed them in whatever ways was common.  In my many wonderings around religion (and I have wondered quite a bit), I have found no entity (or deity if you like) that was driven by forgiveness. You fail; you die or go mad. Perhaps Hangba had failed his spirits in one way or another. They did their thing. True answers to this problem that every African would tell you is common only came to me when I found Christ. Considering  the fact that colts football was very vibrant in those days, it cant be hard to how estimate how many young boys were exposed to spiritism. It appears many never grew out of it. But that is another story for another day. 

All this time, we were Christians who went to church on Sundays. Most African Christians live the reality of this syncretism and the reason is simple. They do not understand their faith enough. Christianity is just another of the many spiritual things they do and if one thing didn’t work, they turned to another. This a challenge the church does not even consider. Let alone attempt to address. Consequently you would be amazed how many spiritists and idolaters also claim to be followers of Christ. This includes pastors.

A piece from the coming autobiography; I & I testimony in support SD-21—the Sound Doctrine Conference.

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Sound doctrine, truth and salvation

 

There is not a single contributor to the New Testament that was not concerned with accuracy of the word. This ought to be the case if scripture is what we believe it is as Christians. The whole salvation enterprise (I.e. man’s hope for the future) depends on it. If indeed one is saved by what he believes, then he must of necessity believe the right thing. Sound doctrine ensures and secures salvation.

The last command of Christ before His departure was for believers to go into the world and spread the good news (the Gospel) exactly as He had taught it[1]. This was a necessity because God’s incarnation into the world (as Jesus Christ) was aimed at saving man-kind from his descent into the Devil’s abyss. It is the message that through knowledge of Him and His work that is to accomplish this goal. This “downward spiral” was the consequence of man’s rebellion against God in agreement to suggestions from the devil[2]. Man essentially became an agent of God’s enemy because he believed a lie. God in His mercies however, extended a hand of salvation through His death and resurrection. Unless man gets the right message and tunes in to the truth of Jesus Christ, he remains on the descent into eternal death. Perhaps the most vivid of this image is captured by the fact that man has been called to a restored relationship with God and its attendant eternal life; yet he believes he been called to earthly riches—something that characterizes every false promise of the devil.

The truth that saves man is Jesus himself[3]. The word of God is the only truth there is. Anything else that claims to be truth must be grounded in Him alone. This idea may not have been clear enough to some. This is obvious because the supposed custodians of the scriptures rejected Truth when He arrived. They had bought into a lie and therefore cannot recognize Truth even if it became a man, stood in their midst and directly corrects their lies. He tells them categorically;

 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”

- John 14:6

 

He continued by telling them them he had authority to forgive sins[4] and that anyone who sees him has seen the father[5]. He told them consistently that He is the Son and God is the father and that they are one[6]. He confirms the trinity to mankind by introducing the Holy Spirit[7]. For these truths, they sought to kill Him[8] instead of believing Him. It ought to be seen that those who have drank too deeply from the well of lies, must of necessity seek to extinguish truth in its smallest manifestations. Ironically, those who claim to be its representatives are also those who seek to extinguish it. This must explain that Jesus’s encounters with the Pharisees were always a clash between lies and truth (i.e. life and death). It is only in those moments that we see a combatant Jesus. To those who are truthful enough to accept that they are lost sinners, He was the gentlest and the most charitable of all souls. No man, if indeed they are sane can claim to be without sin. Why did the Pharisees not know this? This question is answered by the most zealous of them;

^“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” — Romans 3:23

 

By this time, he had encountered truth and had been transformed[9]. The encounter with truth transforms men by renewing their minds. This is what is referred to as regeneration and cannot happen apart from truth. And when it does, salvation is guaranteed.

Truth begins with the recognition that one is a sinner and that he needs the salvation of Jesus who is in fact, God the son in flesh and had come into the world in fulfillment of the promise made thousands of years earlier. And that scripture is His word and He is His word. This should explain why lies did not survive any of their encounters with Jesus. His word gives life and saves. When an adulterous woman was about to be stoned to death under the legal lies of the Pharisees, Truth only needed to speak. She was not only saved, those who sought to kill her walked away in the shame of their own sins. That was truth in action and it shows that unless truth brings salvation, lies will ensure death. This should make a case for salvation and the role sound doctrine plays in the larger scheme of things. SD-21 the Sound doctrine conference will for the first time in West Africa create an opportunity for a conversation on the importance of sound doctrine. Those who will be part of it will be showing their love for Truth—Jesus.     Go to part 3

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[1] Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-16 [2] Genesis 3:1 [3] John 1:1 [4] Matthew 9:6 [5] John 14:9 
[6] John 10:30  [7] Acts 1:8 [8] John 5:18 [9] Paul of Tarsus encountered Jesus in the Damascus incident and was changed forever (Acts 9)

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Sound doctrine and apostasy

One of the chief concerns of the New Testament is the end times or the “last days”. Between Christ and the apostles, the text spends a lot of words articulating the things that will characterize the period. The expression “last days” itself has been a source of controversy. One cannot number the voices that have claimed knowledge of the exact day on which Christ will return. From heretics like Charles Taze Russell[1] to a reformer like Martin Luther, men have failed to heed the warning of Christ to not meddle in such matters[2].

 “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority”
—Acts 1:7

In the revelations, the apostle John reinforces this all important point that all believers must observe with necessary reverence;

¹⁵ (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”)

Men did not take heed. Failing spectacularly in their predictions, they missed the simple fact that the “last days” is a period that ends only with the return of Christ. No man (regardless of how plausible their analysis may seem) must dare predict a date. While Christ himself had warned against this as we have seen, He however, provided pointers by which believers are to recognize when the end was near. Interestingly, those pointers he provided begun to manifest very early after His departure. It was clear then; even the apostles were living in the “last days” much as we are today. The last days then is a period starting from the departure of Christ to the moment of His return. They are false prophets because in disobedience, they made predictions when Christ had categorically instructed against such pronouncements.

Among the pointers to be expected in the last days is apostasy, a departure from the teachings of Jesus and the proliferation of distorted versions of it. These are to be perpetrated by false teachers who as it will be around in large numbers. By the time Paul’s ministry took off, the attack had begun in earnest. Many will fall for it unless they stayed with the teachings accredited custodians of the Gospel. In keeping with the words of Jesus, Paul writes to his beloved Galatians and shares his concern;

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse!” — Galatians 1:8

In laying out the kingdom manifesto during the famous Sermon on the Mount[3], Christ warned very early in his ministry;

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” — Mathew 7:15

In the verses that follow, he provides a treatise on what it all means for those who will in disobedience follow them. It cannot be doubted from then on, that false prophets, false teachers, here referred to by Christ as wolves in sheep clothing will infiltrate the church. In the book of Acts, physician/historian and Gospel writer; Luke captures an important admonishment;

“ I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” — Acts 20:28-30

Verse 30 of the above text is of great interest;

“Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them”.

Really? How does this not bother some people? They will rise in the church ad their agenda will be a selfish one. They will draw men to themselves. The indefatigable Peter shares a concern and a piece of advice;

Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. — 2 Peter 3:17

Along came the game-changing Paul who had previously subscribed to the unsound doctrines of Pharisee-ism and was consequently persecuting Christ’s followers with never-seen-before zeal. After his rather dramatic transformation by the renewal of his mind[4], his ministry was characterized by the defense of the faith and a concern for the sanctity of the word. He writes to his protégé Timothy;

“ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” — 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Un-sound doctrine undermines God’s word and it’s power. It is the door way to false faith and apostasy. We become Christians because of something we believe. We miss it if what we believe happens to be wrong. False preachers and their false doctrines may not present themselves openly. That’s the whole point of being a wolf in sheep clothing. In between their language rest subterfuges and nuances that will in small doses pollute until they have crystalized into death. The devils main tool is deception and he has mastered his craft over thousands of years. From very early he made great strides. False teachings and half-truths by supposedly credible men of God are his Trojan horses and too many believers are flocking to them with itching ears. This generation may have seen more apostasy than the rest of history combined.  In the African church, the conversation about sound doctrine must begin NOW and SD-21 is the Launchpad. The apostasy of false teaching for personal gain has become the norm—just as Christ predicted. In the second instalment of this series, We will attempt to throw some light on the importance of sound doctrine and how it was handled by Christ and the apostles as well as the prophets of old as we gear up for the sound doctrine conference; SD-21. Go to part 2

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[1] Founder of the Jehovah witnesses)
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events (a comprehensive list of end time predictions)
[3] Matthew 5-7
[4] Romans 12:2

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