Hi all,
We
used to have a pet dog, a Golden Retriever named Abe. Our boys were
young so it was a good time to shop for a family pet, and a co-worker
had some 6 week old puppies for sale. When we visited them a storm was
approaching with darkening clouds and ever louder thunder, and while all
the puppies were running around and playing as they do, after a thunder
clap one ran into the garage to take cover.
"What
a smart dog" Barb said, "He knows the storm is coming so ran inside.
We'll take that one." Little did we know at the time that wasn't smarts
he was displaying, but fear. Abe was afraid of the storm and dumb as a
box of rocks. He had a good heart, but mentally speaking, the lights
were flashing and the crossing gates were down, but there was no train
coming down his tracks. He would grow up to become a Retriever that
wouldn't retrieve and the largest lap dog you've ever seen.
He
would sit at my feet and give me a sideways glance, looking away when I
looked him directly in the eye. But when I turned away he would put 1
paw on my lap. I'd look at him and he would look away. Then when I was
distracted the 2nd paw would come up on my lap. I'd look at him and he
would look away. Then he would shuffle around to place the top half of
his body on my lap in a half sitting position ready to jump, tail
wagging in excited anticipation.
If
I allowed him, I found myself with a 100 pound (45 kilo) Golden
Retriever on my lap, totally at peace sitting there like an oversize
golden canary on a narrow perch.
We
have a saying in the US; "Give him an inch and he'll take a mile." For
the rest of the world it might be 'Give him a centimeter and he'll take a
kilometer." That was Abe. If I allowed just 1 paw on my lap, he took
that as approval to keep going.
And
that is how religion is - if you have an empty space in your life,
religion will move in to try to control it and take over. Like Abe, it
waits until it thinks you aren't watching or are vulnerable, then a new
rule is added or the rules change completely with a new set of standards
to obey.
Edmund Burke, Irish statesman from the 1700's said: "The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion." We have Christ in us, and nothing is better than God in us -
Satan can't touch that! All he can do is cause us to be distracted and
forgetful of what we have in Christ so that we remove ourselves from the
knowledge of Christ in us, in exchange for submitting ourselves to a
form of godliness; accomplished by delusion, manipulation, and
fear through high sounding but wrong teaching.
Witchcraft in the church
"Oh foolish Galatians, who has bewitched
you that you are not obeying the truth...did you receive the Spirit by
the works of the law or the hearing of faith? Having begun in the Spirit
are you now made perfect (sanctified) by the flesh?"
So
begins chapter 3 of Galatians, as Paul lays out the difference between
having Christ in you versus obeying the Old Testament law. But the
principle is the same whether we are talking the Old Testament law or a
modern church that controls by fear and intimidation, tradition and
man-made rules. The Galatians
began in the freedom of Christ in them, but someone told them along the
way they could be matured by and please God more by obeying the Jewish
law.
I
love the emphasis Paul places on where our priorities should be: Did
you receive the Spirit by grace or by the law? Having the Holy Spirit IS
the focus, the most valuable for Christ is in us, and the one thing we
should always be aware of: Did you receive Him by doing external works,
or grace?
What Paul said
The
Greek word for 'bewitched' is 'baskaino' and means "To bring evil on a
person by feigned (fake) praise or mislead and so charm" a person
(Vine). It is used of leading someone into wrong teaching, and is
seen when a person selectively believes some verses but not others, for
instance.
The
root of 'baskaino' is where we get the English root for 'fascinate'.
"Fascinate" was first used to describe the process of bewitching a
person, manipulating them for self centered gain, and the word 'enchant'
is a synonym because of that. Paul is asking who enchanted them to
leave the freedom of Christ for bondage? Like any deception, there is
enough truth coupled with the lie that good hearted people who want to
please God, don't realize until too late that in believing the kernel of
truth, they also believed a huge lie.
The word 'perfect' is the word 'epiteleo' which means to bring something through to the end, so Paul was asking "Having begun in the Spirit 'are you now perfecting yourselves' by the flesh (law/legalism)?"
The essence of 'Christian' witchcraft
The
future King Saul was the son of a wealthy man of the tribe of
Benjamin.* When Samuel was led to anoint him King, we are told he was
head and shoulders taller than all the people of Israel, and there was
no one better looking than he. *I Samuel 9:1-3
But
he had a major character flaw, and that was the fear of man sustained
by a horrible self image. Samuel would later say of him, "When you were
little in your own sight God made you king..."* Because of no confidence
in himself, he was a man pleaser with no 'backbone' to withstand the
opinions of others, so was always being moved by fear of man to do
unwise things.
Though the Spirit of God came on him* at times to prophesy or lead battles, he never allowed the Holy Spirit to change his basic character
and self image, like so many Christians today. They have great
experiences with and are touched by God, but never allow Him to actually
change them (because that takes the work of rejecting old thoughts and
feelings in favor of the new and unfamiliar God's ways and thoughts). I
Samuel 9:21; 10:6-10,16-27; 11:6-15; 15:17
The
last incident was when he was told to destroy all the Amalekites
including their animals, but King Saul kept alive King Agag* (and
relatives as we'd later find out**) and the best of the animals. When
confronted he told Samuel the best of the animals had been saved to
sacrifice to the Lord by the people, not him. *I Samuel 15:32; **Esther 3:1
Saul
selectively obeyed the Lord and lied to cover it up, choosing to obey
part of His command and not obey the rest. Then he blamed the people for
that part while saying "I have obeyed the command of the Lord!"
This manipulation founded upon selective obedience to the Lord while hiding the truth is the core of witchcraft, and the principle Paul was talking about to the Galatians.
Samuel replied to King Saul:
"To obey is better than sacrifice, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry..." I Samuel 15:22-23
The word 'rebellion' in Hebrew is 'meri', from 'marah', or bitterness, used in Exodus 15:23
of the bitter and poisonous waters Israel found after leaving Egypt.
When Saul's heart became bitter, poisoned, thus rebellious towards
obeying the Lord with a whole heart, he 'dug in his heels' wanting to do
things his way.
This
was because as I said above, he never let the Lord actually change him
though the Holy Spirit came upon him often. 'Stubbornness' in Hebrew
means 'hard, dry, dense, severe' and is as idolatry because it is the
purposeful exalting of self and one's will over God and His will.
THAT is why rebellion is as witchcraft, and why Paul asked who had bewitched them.
Who
had twisted God's Word to bring them under the law and/or select what
parts to obey while outwardly stating they are obeying all of God's
Word?. Who had hardened their hearts against the Spirit and Christ in
them in order to turn them to legalism? Why had they exalted their will
against the revealed truth of Christ in them?
Sanctification?
Paul
asked "Having begun by the Spirit, are you now made complete by the
(law) flesh?" The answer is 'no', having begun in the Spirit we are
therefore logically, also made complete by the Spirit. And that's where
we'll start next week. Christ is in you, don't let the 100 pound dog of
religion gradually take over your lap.
Blessings,
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com
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