The Biblical theme of the great controversy between Christ and Satan forms a strong foundation for accurate, “God-approved” Bible study. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15).1 A reliable structure of truth can be built on this stable support. For a system of doctrines to be believable, it must have convincing evidences. Several key points of evidence related to the above-noted theme should be noted here:
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron . . .” (I Timothy 4:1,2).
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” “For many deceivers have gone out into the world . . .” (I John 4:1; II John 7).
“But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (II Timothy 3:13).
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (II Timothy 4:3-4).
Because deception is a real danger, even within Christian churches, and since God’s work includes salvation from deception, it is the work of this paper to deal with some issues within modern Christianity in a straight-forward, Biblical manner, in the hopes of helping to rescue those who are caught up in counterfeits.
Why should we read, believe, and obey the Old Testament just as much as the New Testament?
The Old Testament itself contains stern warnings to those who would minimize its importance:
According to Paul, the Old Testament was written not just for those who lived during that age, but for us as well. It was “written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come” (I Corinthians 10:11). “All Scripture,” he said, not just what he was writing, “is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine . . . “ (II Timothy 3:16). He recommended using it in teaching (Colossians 3:16). He understood that the Scriptures (which for him were the books of our Old Testament) are able to make us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:15).
The writings of the Old Testament, according to Peter, were directed “not to themselves, but to us” (I Peter 1:12). The word of the Lord, including the 39 books of the Old Testament, “endures forever” (verse 25).
James exhorted us not only to read and believe both testaments, but also to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving” ourselves (James 1:22).
Jesus reprimanded the Sadducees, who rejected most of the Old Testament, saying, “You are in error, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29). To His own disciples He said, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! . . . And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27). He specifically pointed out the book of Daniel as a book that we should read and understand (Matthew 24:15).
The lesson of Jesus’ parable about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) is that the evidences of God’s power in the Old Testament are more reliable than miracles. “’If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead’” (v. 31). (Peter was saying something similar when he said, “we have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed” in II Peter 1:19, KJV). We have Jesus’ assurance that the Old Testament is a Christ-centered document: “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me” (John 5:46; cf. Luke 24:25-27).
Jesus’ only Bible was the Old Testament. As shown by the temptation of our Lord in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13), Jesus used the Old Testament to resist the tempter.
All who seek to be filled with and guided by the Holy Spirit will not neglect or in any way minimize the influence of that two-thirds of their Bibles inspired by the Spirit which is the Old Testament.
Is the Holy Spirit giving evidence of His renewal of Christians today by causing them to lose all or most bodily functions? Is being “slain in the Spirit” a Biblical experience that Christians seeking the indwelling of the Spirit should pursue? Is there Biblical evidence supporting this experience which is sought by many Christians today?
Consider the following items of evidence:
Here are some Biblical examples of people losing bodily functions which might seem similar to the modern phenomenon of being “slain in the spirit”:
All of these physical manifestations accompanied a special prophetic revelation coming from God to people who sought neither the physical experience nor even the prophetic message itself (Balaam did seek a message, but it was cursing message, not the blessing message given to him).
Also noteworthy is the fact that these kinds of manifestations were experienced by Ellen G. White while she was receiving prophetic visions and messages.19 She never once claimed that these physical effects brought a devotional experience, nor did she urge her fellow Christians to seek physical manifestations.20
In conclusion, the physical loss of bodily strength or function was never experienced by Christians who sought the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, according to the Bible record. Why should He begin using this physical manifestation now, when so many previous Christians were denied it?
Jesus was never “slain,” or experienced loss of all bodily function, nor did He teach about it.
Speaking in Tongues
Is there an outward physical sign of the spiritual baptism of the Holy Spirit? Does God want us to use the miraculous ability to speak unknown or angelic languages in our personal or public worship? Is there Biblical evidence supporting the modern charismatic doctrine and practice of speaking in tongues?
Since speaking in tongues is a gift of the Spirit, the first question which needs to be answered is that of the purpose of Spiritual gifts in general, and of the gift of tongues specifically.
The purpose of the gifts of the Spirit is the “edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12), the benefit of the church as a whole. “The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all,” (I Corinthians 12:7).
For example, when a believer exercises the gift of preaching, the influence reacts out from the hearers to many in the body; the whole body benefits. When a believer gives a testimony under the Spirit of Prophecy, the hearts of many (perhaps all, if it is written and published) are convicted. When a person speaks in tongues, speaking the truth in love to a people who have no believers in their language group, the love of a God who crosses every barrier (even foreign languages) to reach the lost touches all who hear.
None of the gifts, including the gift of tongues, was given as a devotional renewal unique to the individual, personal in nature, edifying only a single believer. This is not to say that being blessed with a gift will have no personal effect on the gifted person, yet all gifts were meant to be practiced with an outward orientation. As we exercise our gifts in love (the “greatest” of all gifts, I Corinthians 13:13), we may “grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ,” causing the “growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love,” (Eph. 4:15-16).
None of the gifts, including tongues, was ever given as a “sign” of true Spirit baptism. Paul asked the question, “Do all speak in tongues?” This rhetorical question seeks the answer, “No.” NOT all believers are supposed to speak in tongues. None of the gifts were meant to be universally received. Clearly, the Charismatic movement’s doctrine of speaking in tongues is a counterfeit sign of Spirit baptism.
Yet is there a way to know whether one has been baptized by and filled with the Holy Spirit? Indeed, there is a Biblical sign of Spirit baptism: The fruit of the Spirit. That fruit is love, which manifests itself as joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-22). Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Bearing fruit to God’s glory in loving obedience to His commandments is the only Biblical sign of being filled with the Holy Spirit. And it is by this sign that we shall be judged: “So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2:12). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (II Corinthians 5:10).
Did God give believers the gift of tongues for the purpose of their personal, devotional benefit? The evidence already given above should be sufficient to rule out any purpose of personal benefit from any of the gifts. However, an examination of all occurrences of speaking in tongues in the Bible will make evident its purpose from the context in which they appear:
In Corinth, the church was caught up in many kinds of abuses and errors in doctrine and practice, which Paul was writing to correct. “You are still carnal,” “babes in Christ,” Paul said to them (I Cor. 3:1-3). In the first eleven chapters of I Corinthians Paul takes up a long list of doctrinal and practical errors and patiently addresses each one. Corinth’s problems included sectarianism (3:1-17); secular mindedness (3:18-23); sexual immorality (ch. 4); taking each other to court (ch. 6); marital abuses (ch. 7); being stumbling blocks to weak believers (chs. 8-9); idolatry (10:14-33); abusing local customs (11:1-16); and being irreverent in the Lord’s Supper (11:17-34).
It would be unfair to the context of I Corinthians to take all that Paul says in the next three chapters (12-14, those dealing with speaking in tongues) as a shifting away from the correction of misuses and abuses to an instruction on how to use the gift of tongues for different purposes—personal devotional benefit, or as a sign for believers of being truly baptized by the Holy Spirit.
The church at Corinth was just as wrong in the way they were exercising their gift of speaking in tongues as they were in the many other areas of doctrine and practice Paul has just addressed. Paul was writing to them to correct their abuses of speaking in tongues, while not entirely discouraging them from seeking gifts, or that particular gift. See Addendum for fuller commentary on these chapters.
Further significant evidence is found in studies of ecstatic utterances in non-Christian religions or cults. In fact, the practice of speaking nonsense syllables in worship originated outside of Christianity. Archeological evidence from ancient Corinth suggests that there could easily have been converts to Christianity from pagan cults who had practiced this form of glossolalia.21 It may have been the first, and certainly would not be the last pagan custom to enter into the church through converted pagans!
Jesus never spoke in tongues, yet no one was more Spirit-filled than He.
It may seem unbelievable to some charismatic Christians today that Satan would be allowed to speak through human mouths. Yet God allowed Satan to speak through a serpent in Eden. And in Jesus’ day, many people in His very presence experienced Satan speaking through them to their Saviour,22 just as he speaks today through Christians who give up their God-given control of their tongues to “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (James 3:1-12; Revelation 12:9).
Paul summed up Corinth’s problems in chapter 4 by warning them “not to think beyond what is written,” (v. 6). This is the same problem that those who make the utterance of unintelligible sounds the sign of true Spirit baptism; they have gone far “beyond what is written,” and in going to that extreme, have left behind the Holy Spirit who counseled us not to add to what He inspired in Scripture, nor to take away from it (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19). Moreover, some have elevated tongues in importance above the only Biblical sign of Spirit baptism, the fruit of the Spirit.
More important than experiencing personal, physical signs of God’s power is the obedience of faith that works by love and purifies the soul (Romans 1:5, KJV; Galatians 5:6). Many who have experienced physical signs and wonders will be left out of the kingdom of heaven because they considered those wonders more important than doing the will of God (Matthew 7:21-23; 25:45). Counterfeits can be deadly.
Are Christians being visited, healed, or otherwise contacted by saints long dead? Do the modern Christian visitation miracles occurring worldwide have anything in common with seances and New Age channeling? What does the Bible teach about what happens when we die, and how does our understanding of this doctrine impact our other beliefs?
Satan’s first lie to humans, his first counterfeit of the truth, concerned death: In Eden, he directly contradicted God’s word when he denied that death would be the final punishment for sin. Since then, he has managed to incorporate this counterfeit doctrine of death into every major religion, including most of the Christian church, and even into the thinking of many non-religious minds.
This lie is simple: When a person dies, a part of themselves lives on. That part, which is often call a soul, may continue participating in the events of this world, may ascend to a higher plane of existence, may go to heaven to be with God, may go to a place called hell, or experience many other kinds of after-death circumstances.
The impact of this erroneous belief on other Biblical doctrines is enormous: to accommodate the logical results of this counterfeit death doctrine, one must modify one’s understanding of creation, the nature of mankind, salvation, and last-day events such as the judgment, the second advent, and the resurrection. Some have even asserted that Jesus, after dying on the cross, descended to hell and there preached to lost souls.23
This also allows Satan and his angels to impersonate the dead, reinforcing other errors through the use of this very powerful deception. Bible-believing Christians in particular should be especially suspicious about such “spiritual” manifestations:
In the light of the very plain warnings above, it is remarkable that virtually every spiritual being encountered by humans is automatically trusted and believed, just because it is a supernatural being! It is as if the Christian world has deliberately forgotten that Satan is a supernatural being who is fully capable of and intent on deceiving human beings by counterfeiting the truth.
What is the Biblical description of death? In a word, sleep.24 When we die, we return to the dust from which we were created.25
According to the Bible, a soul is the combination of the breath of life from God and the elements of the earth out of which He formed us.26 “When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust” (Psalms 104:29, NIV). We do not have souls, we are souls; no part of us exists apart from our living, breathing bodies or continues in consciousness after the body dies.
This means that after death, the soul does not continue to think or plan or communicate or praise God.27 Therefore, any spirit or ghost who looks like a relative, friend, religious leader, or other deceased person should automatically be recognized as a demon or Satan himself, counterfeiting that person’s appearance. And be sure that Satan will also impersonate Christ in order to further his ends, as well.
Undoubtedly, the only safe course Christians can take when confronted by supernatural beings is to compare what they see and hear with the Word of God. Isaiah brought to Israel this idea, which applies to us today:
And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards [or New Age channelers or Psychics], who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:19, 20).
This also means that a saved soul does not ascend directly to heaven after death, but sleeps in the grave, awaiting resurrection. As Jesus put it, “The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29).
A lost soul, therefore, does not descend directly to hell, or purgatory, or any other such place. This idea of an eternally burning place of torture in which all the wicked will live forever is another counterfeit. Hell is not a place, but an event: the lake of fire after the thousand years depicted in Revelation 20-21. Satan gains much from his fictional picture of God eternally punishing souls for a relatively short time of sinning on earth using the torturous fires associated with the Dark Age Inquisitions.
We shouldn’t be ignorant about spiritual gifts (v. 1). There are different kinds of gifts, different ministries (vv. 4, 5). These gifts were given to profit all, not just those with the gifts (v. 7; cf. 14:12). Tongues is the least (last) of all gifts (vv. 8 10, 28). The Holy Spirit (not human beings) decides who will receive the gift of tongues (vv. 11, 18, 24, 28). “If the whole body were [a tongue], where would be the hearing?” v. 17. Rhetorical question: “Do all speak with tongues?” Implied answer: No, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be! (vv. 29 30). Love is more excellent than speaking in tongues (v. 31; cf. 13: 1, 8).
Prophecy is more desirable than speaking in tongues (v. 1; cf. v. 5, 19). If no one translates the tongue [language], only God understands it; but prophecy builds up and empowers the whole church (vv. 2 4). The purpose of these spiritual gifts is to benefit the church, not the gifted member (cf. 10, 11). The purpose of the gift of tongues is to help evangelists give the gospel to foreign language speaking people. (v. 22; cf. Acts 2:4 11), and the purpose of the gift of prophecy is strengthening the church members. If speaking in tongues is done in the church, it should have some practical message to the church members, revealing truth, sharing knowledge, prophesying or teaching (v. 6).
Messages for the church members should be easily understood by all members, and should help them have greater success in their spiritual battles (vv. 7, 8). If someone wishes to exercise their gift of tongues in church, they should arrange to have their messages translated (v. 13). Otherwise, no one who prays or sings along with them will be able to say “Amen” to it or understand and benefit from hearing it (vv. 14 17). It would be better for the church members to hear five understandable words than ten thousand words in a foreign language (v. 18, 19).
Speaking in tongues is for witnessing to unbelievers, as a special sign of God’s love seeking them out, even in their own language (v. 22; cf Acts 2:4, 8, 11; Mark 16:15 17). Prophecy is for believers who have joined themselves as members of the body of Christ, His church. Speaking in tongues in church, and not in a witnessing situation, will frighten visitors and give the church a bad name; to the uninformed, it will look like you are insane (v. 23). However, visitors and members alike will all be convicted and inspired into worshipful reverence by hearing prophecy in church meetings (v. 25; cf. Daniel 2:46, 47).
Everything you do and say when you gather for meetings should build up the strength of the church members (v. 26). If you insist on speaking in tongues in church, limit it to two or at the most three speakers, each taking turns and providing for a translation (v. 27). If a translation can not be provided, then keep silent, or simply speak to yourself and to God in your heart (v. 28). If you have true prophets present who desire a hearing, again limit it to two or three, let each message be evaluated according to the Scriptures, and don’t let any of them monopolize the members’ time (vv. 29 30). Everything spoken in the church should harmonize with the prophets of the Bible, including Paul (vv. 32, 37). The effect of your gifts on the church should be peace and unity, spiritual strength and maturity; false gifts will bring confusion and deception (v. 33; cf. Ephesians 4:1 16).
1. All quotations from Scripture are taken from the New King James Version, unless otherwise noted.
2. Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28
3. Romans 7
4. Revelation 21 and 22
5. Nahum 1:9, ". . . He will make an utter end of it.
Affliction will not rise up a second time." Revelation 21:4, ". . . there shall
be no more death," thus no more sin, since the wages of sin is death, Romans
6:23.
6. John 8:44
7. Revelation 12:4, 7-10
8. Genesis 2:16-17 and 3:4-5
9. Romans 1:18-32; predicted in II Peter 2:1-2
10. Romans 3:9-20
11. John 1:16-18 and Hebrews 13:8
12. Ephesians 1 and 3
13. I Corinthians 3:9
14. II Corinthians 11:15
15. Ephesians 6:10-20; II Corinthians 10:3-6
16. II Thessalonians 2:10-12
17. Daniel 1-12 and Revelation 1-22
18. John 9:41; Leviticus 5:3-5
19. See Francis D. Nichol, Ellen G. White and Her Critics,
Washington: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1951, pp. 51-61.
20. In fact, some in her day attempted to bring such practices into the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and she consistently condemned it as a dangerous form of fanaticism, and a counterfeit Satan would use to lead many astray. (See Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book 1, and Book 2.
21. "There are possible examples in Mesopotamian religion (2000 to 1500 B.C.) as found in the Mari texts; in the Egyptian examples of Wen-Amon and the Cult of Osiris and Isis; the Thracian cult of Dionysius; the Syrian cult of Adonis; the Phrygian cult of Attis and Cybele; the Persian cult of Mithras; the Arabic Kahin and dervish examples; Muslims in India citing the Koran in Arabic even though not knowing Arabic; sorcerers speaking incoherently in China while communing with spirits; the Grecian Delphi oracle and mystery-religions; the records of Herodotus; Virgil's Aeneid and Plato's Phaedrus; and the western shamans, to name some." Norman Gulley, "A Movement Sweeping the Christian World: An Evaluation of the 'Tongues-Gift,'" article in Christian Theology I, a senior-level systematic theology course at Southern College of Seventh-day Adventists, fall semester, 1992. Gulley cites the following sources:
John T. Bunn, "Glossolalia in Historical Perspective," qtd. in Watson E. Mills, ed., Speaking in Tongues: Let's Talk About It (Waco:Word Incorporated, 1973), pp. 36-47.
William J. Samarin, "Glossolalia as a Vocal Phenomenon," qtd. in Watson E. Mills, Speaking in Tongues: A Guide to Research on Glossolalia (Grand Rapids:William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986), p. 130.
L. Carlyle May, "A Survey of Glossolalia and Related Phenomena in Non-Christian Religions," American Anthropologist 58(1), 1956, qtd. in Mills, p. 54.
Robert M. Anderson, Vision of the Disinherited: The Making of American Pentecostalism (New York:Oxford University Press, 1979), p. 20.
"Possession by spirits or induced tongues occur often in non-Christian tongues-speech. Thus it was for the Delphi oracle near Corinth" (Gulley). "The oracles of the Delphi sibyl were delivered during a state of possession or ecstatic seizure. As such, the messages were very enigmatic and delivered in a language not akin to any known" (Bunn qtd. by Gulley in Mills, Speaking in Tongues: Let's Talk About It, p. 43).
22. Mark 1:23-27; 5:7-10; Luke 4:33-36; 8:28-31; Matt. 8:29-32. See also Acts 19:13-15.
23. A misinterpretation of I Peter 3:19 and Ephesians 4:9. Paul, in Ephesians, is referring to Jesus' burial. Peter, on the other hand, is referring to the Holy Spirit's work through Noah of preaching to the pre-Flood people who were ensnared by their sinful ways, i.e. in the "prison" of sin. Cf. Isaiah 42:7; 49:9; 61:1.
24. Texts comparing death to sleep are numerous and widespread: Deut. 31:16; II Sam. 7:12; I Kings 1:21; Psalms 7:5; 13:3; 76:5; 90:5; Job 7:21; 14:12; Jer. 51:39; 51:57; Dan. 12:2; Mark 5:39; John 11:11; Acts 7:60; 13:36; I Cor. 15:6, 18, 51; I Thess. 4:14-15; 5:10.
25. ". . . until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return" (Genesis 3:19, NIV).
26. Genesis 2:7, God breathed life into the nostrils of the man made from the dust, and man became a "living soul," or "living being."
27. "It is not the dead who praise the LORD, those who go down to silence" (Psalms 115:17); ". . . the dead know nothing. . . Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished. Nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 9:5). "For Sheol [the grave] cannot thank You, death cannot praise You; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth (Isa. 38:18); "In that very day his plans [or thoughts] perish" (Psalm 146:4).