Biblical Psychology: 12 Devil-darkened Reason

Table of Contents

1 The Human “Heart”

2 Misconceptions of the “Heart”

3 Reason Christian! I

4 Reason Christian! II

5 Desires of the “Heart”

6 Emotions of the “Heart”

7 Transforming the “Heart”

8 Whole-hearted Worship

9 Whole-hearted Prayer

10 A History of Half-hearted Spirituality

11 Modern Half-hearted Spirituality

12 Devil-darkened Reason

13 The Insanity of Humanity I

14 The Insanity of Humanity II

15 From Darkness to Light I

16 From Darkness to Light II

Appendix A Detailed Contents

Chapter 4.12

devil-darkened Reason

Explaining the Insanity of Humanity

Overall Objective

To understand the deplorable state of the human mind without spiritual regeneration in order to defend the value of Spirit-liberated reason, and to understand the supernatural cause of, and solution to devil-darkened reason.

Table of Topics

A) Spirit-liberated vs. devil-darkened Reason: Eph 4:17-24

B) The Reason for the Difference is the Sinful Nature

B.1) The Spiritual Cause of devil-darkened Reason

B.2) The Spiritual Solution to devil-darkened Reason

B.2.a) The power of spiritual regeneration

B.2.b) The power of Gospel revelation

Extras & Endnotes

Primary Points
  • Many errors in both philosophy and theology are caused by either over-valuing human reason before salvation, or under-valuing reason after salvation.
  • There is a considerable difference between the regenerate and unregenerate in regards to the ability to mentally process spiritual truth.
  • Born again Christians are an entirely different species of human being than their unregenerated counterparts. Thus, the Apostle Paul refers to Christians as the “enlightened” ones (Eph 1:18).
  • The fundamental spiritual reason for the dysfunctionality of unregenerated reason is demonic influences, thus our term, devil-darkened reason.
  • This demonic, God-hating influence on the mind of unbelievers comes through the sinful nature that possesses them.
  • “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (3:17) to properly receive divine revelation. Thus our term, Spirit-liberated reason.
  • The reason that humanity “cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ” is because, “The god of this age [satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers” (2 Cor 4:4). Accordingly, God had to make, “His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (v. 6). “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Tit 3:5) because only “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is [supernatural/psychological] freedom” (2 Cor 3:17) in the reasoning faculty of a human “to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:17-18).

A) Spirit-liberated vs. devil-darkened Reason: Eph 4:17-24

Many in the Church have consistently condemned the value and use of human reasoning. [1] However, as one listens to their concerns, it often becomes obvious that they are ignoring the immense difference between the mind and conscience of a born again Christian, and that of an unregenerate spiritually dead person.

Elsewhere in Knowing Our God we describe these differences at length in regards to the ability to properly receive and process spiritual truth. [2] Accordingly, we wrote:

As a matter of fact, from God’s perspective, there are only two kinds of people in the world: those spiritually “dead in transgressions” and those He has “made [spiritually] alive” (Eph 2:5). The King put it this way: there are “the people of this world” and then there are “the people of the light” (Luke 16:8). He never even hinted at any other category of humanity. . . .

The Apostle John likewise described this universal human dichotomy when he wrote: “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12), the former alone being “children of God” and all of the latter being “children of the devil” (1 John 3:10). There is no third kind of person, and no doubt the spiritually alive children of God have some significant advantages over the spiritually dead children of the devil when it comes to ascertaining spiritual truth. . . .

To put it bluntly, born again Christians are an entirely different species of human being than their unregenerated counterparts. So much so that God says our old self died (cf. Rom 6:1-11). Accordingly, all regenerated Christians can say: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). A human being with Christ living in them is a radically different kind of human being, resulting in differences far greater than merely skin color, gender, or culture. This is because the minds, hearts, natures, desires, perspective, and abilities of spiritually regenerated humans have all been radically re-created. Thus, the Apostle Paul refers to Christians as the “enlightened” ones (Eph 1:18). [3]

It is clear that there is a fundamental difference in the ability of those with the Spirit to understand the “things of the Spirit” because, as the Apostle says, “The man without the Spirit does not [and cannot] accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:13-14).

Nonetheless, theologians commonly ignore this difference in human reasoning between the regenerate and unregenerate. [4] Accordingly, the Reformed theologian Cornelius Van Til (1895-1987) expressed the importance of this distinction when he wrote:

There have been, generally speaking, two tendencies among orthodox theologians on this question of the function of reason in theology. In the first place, there have been those who have been so afraid of “reason” that they have assigned to it no place at all. On the other hand, there have been those who have been very anxious to prove that theology has a perfect right to consider itself a science. Both tendencies failed to distinguish between a Christian and a non-Christian use of reason. . . . It will not do to ignore the difference between Christians and nonChristians and speak of reason in general. [5]

Many errors in both Christian philosophy and theology are caused by either over-valuing human reason before salvation, or under-valuing reason after salvation. Examples of the former include rationalism, [6] natural theology, [7] and classic apologetics [8] and fairism (i.e. Arminianism) which generally claim that the reason of unbelievers is sufficient for obtaining spiritual truths without spiritual regeneration or divine revelation. On the other hand, examples of under-valuing reason after regeneration include fideism [9] and neoorthodoxy [10] which deny the place of reason in faith, charismaticism, which consistently downplays the place of reason in Christian spirituality or edification, [11] and mega mysticism [12] which disparages the use of reason in determining God’s will.

Likewise, denying the effect of sin on our moral reasoning can result in another faulty world-view called moral relativism. Such a world-view operates on the assumption that whatever seems right to reason (pragmatism) and feels right in our feelings is morally right for our life. Moral relativism does not take into account that we may desire things that do indeed seem pragmatic and promise good feelings, but are actually evil. It was those with “hearts” not controlled by the Spirit that Solomon wrote: “There is a way that seems right to a man [rationally, emotionally, and morally], but in the end it leads to death” (Prov 14:12). [13]

Accordingly, Presbyterian theologian Donald Bloesch remarks regarding the error we are describing:

Theology is constantly deceived into supposing that the only two options are fideism and rationalism. Certainly these are obvious viable possibilities, but they are not the only ones. We need today a reaffirmation of a theological method that goes beyond and overcomes this polarity. [14]

We believe that the most vital part of the answer to the problem Dr. Bloesch points to is understanding and recognizing the significant differences between the devil-darkened reasoning of the unregenerate and the Spirit-liberated reason of born again Christians.

The Apostle clearly describes the difference when he writes to the Ephesians:

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the [unregenerated] Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking [nous: mind]. They are darkened in their understanding [dianoia] and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance [and dysfunctional reasoning] that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts [kardia]. Having lost all sensitivity [apalgeō – “cease to feel pain” of moral reasoning of conscience], they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. (Eph 4:17-19)

Remembering that there is a good deal of overlap between biblical terms such as “heart,” “mind,” “conscience,” and even “thinking,” and that all of these functions can be referred to as reasoning, we can notice that in the first part of this passage, the Apostle describes what we would call devil-darkened reasoning. Those who have not been born again by the Spirit are described in terms of the “futility of their thinking,” “darkened in their understanding,” and possessing spiritual “ignorance” and a lack of moral “sensitivity” because of, “the hardening of their hearts.” This is a graphic description of dysfunctional moral and logical reasoning.

Elsewhere, the Apostle describes others with devil-darkened reason as those possessing an “unrepentant heart” (Rom 2:5), “men of corrupt mind” (1 Tim 6:5), “men [who] oppose the truth–men of depraved minds” (2 Tim 3:8), and those “who are corrupted and do not believe [for whom] both their minds [nous] and consciences [syneidesis] are corrupted” (Tit 1:15). While most of the examples of devil-darkened reason in Scripture concern specifically moral reasoning, this last instance would seem to include the depravity of both moral reasoning (“consciences”) and logical reasoning (“minds”).

Along these lines, John Calvin (1509-1564) described the repression of devil-darkened reason in his memorable depiction of unregenerated philosophers:

The greatest [unregenerated] geniuses are blinder than moles! . . . They are like a traveler passing through a field at night who in a momentary lightning flash sees far and wide, but the sight vanishes so swiftly that he is plunged again into the darkness of the night before he can take even a step — let alone be directed on his way by its help. [15]

Likewise, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) described the workings of devil-darkened reason in various ways. In a sermon entitled, “Man’s Natural Blindness in the Things of Religion,” Edwards said, “there is an extreme and brutish blindness in things of religion, which naturally possesses the hearts of mankind.” Edwards did not believe that there is any fault to be found with humanity’s “natural faculties” but “there is a principle in his heart, of such a blinding and besotting nature, that it hinders the exercises of his faculties about the things of religion.” [16] Edwards illustrates the biblical view when he notes:

Though they [the Greeks] were so wise in other things, yet in matters of religion they were very absurd and brutish. . . . The blindness of the mind, or an inclination to delusion in things of religion, is so strong, that it will overcome the greatest learning, and the strongest natural reason. [17]

Like Edwards, we are not implying that spiritually dead humans cannot reason morally or logically at all. Unregenerate people have consciences, and can even be found protesting injustice and other evils. However, their moral reasoning is distorted such that they are usually quite content with their own sins while condemning those of others. Admittedly, believers are not immune to this, but hypocrisy and sin are a way of life for unbelievers. [18]

J. I. Packer succinctly explains why humans are incapable of finding God with merely their own resources:

Now, however, there is a second reason why man’s knowledge of God must depend on God’s revelatory initiative. Man is sinful. His powers of perception in the realm of divine things have been so dulled by Satan (2 Cor. 4:4) and sin (cf. 1 Cor. 2:14), and his mind is so prepossessed by his own fancied ‘wisdom’, which runs contrary to the true knowledge of God (Rom. 1:21ff.; 1 Cor. 1:21), that it is beyond his natural powers to apprehend God, however presented to him. [19]

Therefore, while evidences for the Christian faith are reasonably adequate to prove it, devil-darkened reason is unreasonable. B. B. Warfield explained:

Evidence cannot produce belief, faith, except in a mind open to this evidence, and capable of receiving, weighing, and responding to it. A mathematical demonstration is demonstrative proof of the proposition demonstrated. But even such a demonstration cannot produce conviction in a mind incapable of following the demonstration. [20]

After describing the devil-darkened reason of the unregenerate, the Apostle goes on to describe believers:

You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude [pneuma: spirit] of your minds [nous]; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. . . . For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.

NT scholar Peter O’Brien adds concerning this passage:

The contrast with the preceding section of the paragraph (vv. 17-19) could hardly be sharper. There, the desperate condition of Gentiles outside of Christ is depicted in terms of their being darkened in their understanding [reasoning] so that they are blind to the truth, and their alienation from God is the result of the ignorance within them. . . . Here, the ongoing transformation of the mind [reasoning] leads to just and holy living which reflects the character of God himself (cf. Rom. 12:2). [21]

The Apostle’s claim that the regenerated Christian is “made new in the attitude [pneuma: spirit] of your minds” (Eph 4:23) is especially significant. While the precise meaning of “the spirit of [our] mind” is unclear, the NIV translation of “attitude” seems insufficient. As described further in a subsequent chapter, the change is more than merely in perspective, or attitude, but we receive a new aptitude to discern spiritual things which the unregenerate do not have (cf. 1 Cor 2:12-15). [22] While the unregenerate are spiritually dead (Eph 2:1), the “spirit of [our] mind” has been “made new” by the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle would seem to summarize our epistemological regeneration when he says, “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Eph 5:8). When someone can simply be described as “darkness” (not just in darkness) and being transformed into being “light,” we have a graphic description of the “new creation” of those who are “in Christ” (2 Cor 5:17) which, as we have said, makes them an entirely different species of human being in a moral, spiritual, psychological and epistemological sense.

As far as the devil-darkened reason of the unregenerated is concerned, one is reminded of the Proverb which says, “Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him” (Prov 27:22). Along these lines, the Reformed scholar Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920) spoke eloquently of the sinful nature that reigns in unregenerated humanity when he wrote:

The fathers have correctly observed that this [sinful] disposition imparts itself also to the will. And it can not be otherwise. The will is like a wheel moving the arms of a windmill. In sinless Adam this wheel stood squarely upon its shaft, turning with equal ease to the right and to the left—i.e., it moved freely toward God as toward Satan. But in the sinner this wheel is partly moved from the shaft so that it can turn only to the left. When he wants to sin, he can do so. In this direction the shaft is clear; he has the power to sin. But the wheel can not turn the other way; a little perhaps, with much difficulty and much squeaking, but never sufficiently to grind corn. The working of his will can never produce any saving good. He cannot make the wheel of his life run with the energy of the will toward God. [23]

Subsequently, a “hardening of the heart” is normally a temporary condition for the Christian, not an automatically permanent one as it is in the unregenerate. [24] Accordingly Dr. Kuyper wrote:

Such is the temporal hardening of the called of God: a winter followed by spring, until the dawn of the eternal morning in the realms of the everlasting light. But the permanent, the eternal hardening [of the non-Christian] is not so. This causes us to think of the world of eternal snow and ice in the polar regions, where it freezes never to thaw, and where nature is covered with somber cerements [a shroud for the dead], to be uncovered only when the Lord shall come upon the clouds, and the whole world shall melt with fervent heat. [25]

B) The Reason for the Difference is the Sinful Nature:

B.1) The Spiritual Cause of devil-darkened Reason

Above, the Apostle Paul described the cause of the impaired reasoning of the unregenerate in terms of being “darkened in their understanding [dianoia] and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts” (Eph 4:18). Why then do they harden their heart toward God and spiritual truth? Because the only possess a sinful, God-hating nature. Accordingly, earlier in the letter the Apostle described:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. (Eph 2:1-3)

What is the fundamental reason that people are spiritually “dead,” following “the ways of this world,” and “gratifying the cravings of [their] sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts”? Because “the [demonic] spirit” “of the ruler of the kingdom of the air” “is now at work in those who are disobedient.” The Apostle’s description of satan’s “spirit” being “at work in [en] those who are disobedient” suggests that in a sense all spiritually dead humans are demon possessed.

We believe that just as the New Nature in a Christian is synonymous with the Holy Spirit indwelling us, so the sinful nature in the unregenerate is synonymous with a demonic spirit indwelling people. It need not be an actual demon personality indwelling an unbeliever, which would manifest itself more in the sense of demonic possession in which even a person’s personality and voice is controlled.

Rather, the sinful nature is a demonic spirit in the sense that it controls an unbeliever’s “desires and thoughts” (Eph 2:2), so much so that they are “slaves to sin” (Rom 6:17) and, “live according to the sinful nature [and] have their minds set on what that nature desires,” resulting in a “sinful mind [that] is hostile to God . . . does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so” because all spiritually dead people are, “those controlled by the sinful nature” (Rom 8:5, 7-8). [26]

In fact, it would appear that the Apostle makes this connection between the working of a demonic spirit in someone and the possession of the sinful nature when he writes of “the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” and then immediately describes them as, “gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.” (Eph 2:2-3). Paul did not intend to convey that there are two distinct influences on the unregenerate, but one, which can be described as the “spirit” of satan or the “sinful nature.” [27]

Before regeneration it was not merely a free human spirit at work in us, and certainly not the Holy Spirit, but the “spirit” of the devil. NT scholar F. F. Bruce (1910–1990) comments that this Greek verb (energeō) to describe how satan’s “spirit” works in unbelievers is the same word used in Ephesians 3:20 to refer to “His power that is at work within us” believers. [28] In other words, the influence and power that the Holy Spirit exercises in the believer is the same kind of influence and power that the devil’s “spirit” exercises in the unbeliever. In addition, however, while the Christian has a choice whether or not to be influenced by the Holy Spirit, the unregenerate do not, because the devil’s “spirit” is the only “spirit” the unbeliever possesses.

Finally, we can bring the demonic influences of satan full circle by noting in the passage that unbelievers are described as having, “followed the ways of this world” (Eph 2:2). Obviously “this world” is demonically programmed in an anti-God way (cf. 1 John 5:19). This occurs because people controlled only by the demonic sinful nature are primarily the ones leading, teaching, and otherwise influencing the systems and institutions on Earth. Accordingly, the possession of the demonic sinful nature in spiritually dead humans results in a world exhibiting the same “thoughts and desires,” all of which results in the fact that satan is “the ruler of the kingdom of the air” all around us.

Our claim that demonic influences through the possession of the sinful nature are the fundamental cause of the dysfunctional reason of the unregenerate is well attested in Scripture. In describing his efforts to see people converted by the Gospel, the Apostle tells the Corinthians:

But their minds [unbelieving Jews] were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.

But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. . . .  

[W]e do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

And even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age [satan [29]] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God.

For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, Who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Cor 3:14-17; 4:2-6)

Here the Apostle explains in the most fundamental terms why the “Gospel is veiled” and ineffectual. [30] At one level it is because the “minds” of people are “made dull” (3:14) and “blinded,” (4:4), such that “a veil covers their hearts” (3:15) “so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel” (4:4). This is the epistemological/psychological reason that people do not believe the Gospel. There is something fundamentally wrong with their reasoning. A dull and blind mind and a veiled heart simply will not properly process truth.

However, there is a deeper spiritual cause for this faulty reasoning capacity of unregenerate humans. How are “the minds of unbelievers” “blinded”? By “the god of this age” who is satan (cf. Matt 4:8-9; John 12:31; 1 John 5:19). [31] Therefore, the fundamental problem is not merely psychological or physical, but spiritual. [32]

In our opinion the way in which the devil “has blinded the minds of unbelievers” (2 Cor 4:4) is through their possession of the sinful nature and because they “live according to the sinful nature [and] have their minds set on what that nature desires,” they have a “sinful mind [that] is hostile to God . . . does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so” because all unregenerated people are, “those controlled by the sinful nature” (Rom 8:5, 7-8). That kind of nature and will in them is certainly going to affect their reasoning capabilities “so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor 4:4).

The King spoke of this in His commissioning vision to the Apostle Paul when He said, “I am sending you to them [unbelievers] to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:17-18). Psychological/epistemological hindrances are mentioned by Christ (i.e. closed “eyes,” living in “darkness”), but the fundamental spiritual problem is “the power of satan” operating in their minds through the sinful nature. Only when a person is rescued from “the power of satan” and that demonic “power” is exchanged with the “power” of God which is the New Nature, will the person “receive forgiveness of sins.”

The King describes the supernatural spiritual invasion that must occur before salvation when He said:

[I]f I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. . . . [H]ow can anyone enter a strong man’s house [a human possessed by demonic control] and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man [the demon]? Then he can rob his house” (Matt 12:28-29; cf. Acts 10:38).

It is just this very kind of radical spiritual invasion that must occur by the power of God before a person will be possessed by God instead of satan.

Again, the King recognized that the epistemological problem with His own critics was not merely psychological, but spiritual when He told them:

I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill Me, because you have no room for My word. . . . If God were your Father, you would love Me. . . . Why is My language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. . . . If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe Me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God. (John 8:37, 42-44, 47)

How can those who “have no room for” the Gospel in their heart, or “are unable to hear” the Gospel, be able to believe it? They cannot until God makes the first, critical, decisive, and completely free, gracious, and unconditional act of giving them a new heart and “ears.” Unbelievers are children of the devil and are bent on his desires and cannot even hear God without Him regenerating them.

This type of person is graphically described when the King explains in the parable of the sower and the seed: “When anyone hears the message about the Kingdom and does not [because they cannot; cf. 1 Cor 2:14] understand [mentally receive] it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart” (Matt 13:19). Notice that it is not a lack of response to the Gospel that gives opportunity for the devil, but the unregenerate do not even understand it in order to respond to it. Accordingly, the influence of the devil through the absolute control of the sinful nature must be dealt with before someone can “hear,” “see,” or receive the Gospel in a believing way.

This demonic interference with human reasoning regarding the Gospel has its psychological consequences which result in faulty reasoning. The King illustrates this in His parable of the sower and the seed, in which the seed is the Gospel:

The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.

But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matt 13:18, 20-23)

It is no wonder that many would initially receive the wonderful promises in the Gospel “with joy.” But since an unregenerated mind is “set on what [the sinful] nature desires” (Rom 8:5) it allows no place for such God-honoring truth to take “root” and have the ability to grow in the mind and heart resulting in real faith. Therefore, when reasons such as “trouble or persecution” are submitted to such devil-darkened reason, it rather quickly concludes that it is not in its owner’s best interest to retain such knowledge, and it is discarded. Likewise, because the sinful nature causes the spiritually dead mind to dwell on “the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth,” the truth is “choke[d],” and not allowed to bear the fruit of saving faith either.

Because any real saving regeneration will bear fruit (cf. Matt 3:7-10; 7:15-20; 12:23; 21:43; John 15:2-8), it is only the final “man” who truly has saving faith because “He produces a crop.” The difference is, as Luke has it, “The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart,” which can only be produced by supernatural regeneration. And because the sinful nature is dethroned, and the reason enlightened, they “hear the word [and] retain it” (8:15). Mark says they “accept it” (4:20), which again, is something that devil-darkened reason cannot truly do. In all, Christ is illustrating the fact that people may initially receive the Gospel, but if they are not regenerated and the sinful nature dethroned, it is ultimately for selfish reasons that they have done so, and eventually it will be for selfish reasons that they will abandon it.

This is why the Apostle John wrote:

We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. (1 John 5:19-20)

And no doubt, He has “given us understanding” because we are no longer “under the control of the evil one.”

The Apostle refers to this same difference between believers and unbelievers when he writes: “We have not received the [demonic] spirit of the world but the Spirit Who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1 Cor 2:12). [33]

Accordingly, Paul tells the Corinthians that even though he and his companions were, “setting forth the truth [of the Gospel] plainly” to “commend [it] to every man’s conscience [reason], that the “Gospel” was “veiled” because “The god of this age [satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God” (2 Cor 4:2-4). Again, if a human is not even able to “see the . . . Gospel” how can some claim that they are ultimately able and responsible to believe it?

B.2) The Spiritual Solution to devil-darkened Reason

B.2.a) The power of spiritual regeneration

Accordingly, it is because the epistemological/psychological problem of spiritually dead humanity is supernatural, the solution must be supernatural as well. Dead people, whether physically or spiritually, do not come to life by their own power and any other natural power, but only by a supernatural one. Accordingly, the Apostle says, “God . . . [supernaturally, miraculously] made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4:6). This is because “only in [en, better: “by” [34]] Christ is it [the demonic veil] taken away,” and only “whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” (vs. 14, 16). Therefore, it is because the mental deficiencies of the spiritually dead are not natural, that natural means for bringing them to saving faith, such as merely reasoned persuasion, are inadequate in themselves. God ultimately holds the key to “fixing” the reason of unbelievers such that they can and will “see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ.”

In the most simple and fundamental terms, demonic influences through the sinful nature constantly affect the minds of unbelievers such that they are incapable of receiving and processing spiritual, biblical truth. However, in the process of regeneration and the indwelling of the Spirit, God removes the God-hating influence of the sinful nature on the mind in regards to the “Gospel of the glory of Christ,” (2 Cor 4:4), enabling us to “see the light.”

Accordingly, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor 3:17), [35] freedom in the mind of the spiritually alive to correctly see the truth in both the Creation and Gospel. Thus our term, Spirit-liberated reason. And it is only those who have this supernatural “freedom” from “the Spirit of the Lord” who will be capable of perceiving, processing, valuing, and preserving spiritual truth.

Along these lines, the Reformed theologian Charles Hodge (1797–1878) wrote:

The blind cannot see; therefore they are ignorant of the beauty of creation, therefore they are destitute of delight in its glories. You cannot heal them by light [i.e. more truth]. The eye must first be [supernaturally] opened. Then comes vision, and then joy and love. [36]

B.2.b) The power of Gospel revelation

Not only is supernatural regeneration needed for anyone to “see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor 4:4), but the supernatural revelation “of the Gospel of the glory of Christ” needs to be communicated. The Gospel “is not something that man made up” but “revelation from Jesus Christ” (Gal 1:11-12). It is neither “human wisdom” (1 Cor 1:17) or the “wisdom of this world” (v. 20). The Gospel is a supernatural divine revelation “from God . . . that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ” (2 Cor 5:18-19).

Accordingly, “the Gospel . . . is the [supernatural] power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). The reason for this is that supernatural regeneration of salvation only occurs in the hearing of the supernatural revelation of the Gospel (cf. Rom 10:14-16). Because the Gospel is needed for regeneration, the Apostle wrote the Corinthians:

[W]e do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth [of the Gospel] plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. . . . For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord (2 Cor 4, 2, 5).

Elsewhere, the Apostle makes it clear that the communication of supernatural revelation accompanies a supernatural work of the Spirit to release people from devil-darkened reason. To Timothy he wrote: “Those who oppose him [“the Lord’s servant”] he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Tim 2:25-26). We see once again that the fundamental reason for any psychological/epistemological dysfunctionality of unregenerated humanity’s reasoning regarding spiritual matters is the supernatural influence of demonic forces. Accordingly, the supernatural forces that break us free are first, God granting us repentance (i.e. a change of mind), and secondly, instruction in the divine revelation of Christianity.

Likewise, in the context of telling the Ephesians that their ministry of changing lives was against supernatural demonic forces (Eph 6:10), he told them to, “Stand firm then, with the belt of [divine, supernatural] truth buckled around your waist . . . and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace” (vs. 14-15).

Finally, in the same context of seeing people saved in his “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18), the Apostle explains:

Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God [with the supernatural work of the Spirit using the supernatural revelation of Christ]. (2 Cor 10:3-5)

Again, the reason that humanity “cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ” is because, “The god of this age [satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers” (2 Cor 4:4). Accordingly, God had to make, “His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (v. 6). “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Tit 3:5) because only “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is [supernatural/psychological] freedom” (2 Cor 3:17) in the reasoning faculty of a human “to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:17-18).

B.2.c) The mystery of going from darkness to light

When Jesus said that our ministry to spiritually dead humanity must “open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan to God” (Acts 26:17-18) and the Apostle likewise wrote that, “God . . . made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4:6), we recognize that there is a great deal of mysterious, spiritual, psychological events being described here.

It must be admitted at this point that spiritual regeneration is a rather mysterious process. Such is to be expected of an act of the Holy Spirit of Whom Christ said: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Perhaps the simplest biblical explanation for this otherwise inexplicable event is given by Luke when he writes:

One of those listening [to the Gospel] was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. (Acts 16:14).

What that means in concrete psychological terms is beyond our understanding. As Wayne Grudem writes:

Exactly what happens in regeneration is mysterious to us. We know that somehow we who were spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1) have been made alive to God and in a very real sense we have been “born again” (John 3:3, 7; Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13). But we don’t understand how this happens or what exactly God does to us to give us this new spiritual life. [37]

 

Probably one of the most helpful attempts to explain the psychological aspects of the phenomenon of saving faith was penned by B. B. Warfield (1851–1921) in his article, “On Faith In Its Psychological Aspects.” In it he writes:

The mode of the divine giving of [saving] faith is represented as involving the creation by the Holy Spirit of a capacity for faith under the evidence submitted. It proceeds by the divine illumination of the understanding, softening of the heart, and quickening of the will, so that the man so affected may freely and must inevitably perceive the force and yield to the compelling power of the evidence of the trustworthiness of Jesus Christ as Saviour submitted to him in the gospel. [38]

Another explanation of the psychological aspects of saving faith is offered by the great twentieth century English preacher D. M. Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981):

We can never by means of an intellectual process bring ourselves into the truth and into the kingdom of God. That is true. But it is equally important that we should remember that Christianity is not unreasonable and never irrational-never! You cannot reason yourself into it, but the moment you are in it you find that it is the most reasonable and rational thing of all . . . .

How, then, does one become a Christian? It happens like this: the Holy Spirit enlightens the understanding. He does not make us Christians apart from the understanding. What he does is to lift the understanding up to a higher level.

There is nothing wrong with reason except that it is governed by a sinful disposition, and that is why it can never bring us into Christianity or into the kingdom. But the Spirit can lift up the mind and the reason. A man is never saved against his reason and his understanding-never! What happens is that his understanding and his reason are enabled to see the truth which he formerly rejected. [39]

Pastoral Practices

  • The biblical fact that the fundamental spiritual reason that the minds of unbelievers are blinded to the Gospel is demonic forces, should drive us to our knees in prayer. We desperately need supernatural divine help in order to combat this supernatural demonic hindrance, and through prayer we obtain it.

Extras & Endnotes

  1. A Devotion to Dad

Our Father, we are again reminded today to thank You for giving us a repenting, God-fearing, God-loving, Spirit-liberated mind and conscience. When we see You divide the sheep from the goats on that Day, we will realize what a horrible thing it is to have a mind that refuses to accept spiritual truth. We look to You to break the mental bondage that our unsaved friends are in, so that they may truly believe in You for salvation. Amen.

Gauging Your Grasp

  1. Why is it important to distinguish between Spirit-liberated reason and devil-darkened reason?
  2. What are some Scriptures that reflect a considerable difference between the regenerate and unregenerate in regards to the ability to mentally process spiritual truth.
  3. What do we suggest is the fundamental spiritual reason for the insanity of humanity regarding spiritual truth? What then is our term for the reason of the unregenerate, and is it appropriate?
  4. What do we suggest are the two necessary supernatural solutions to the spiritual deadness of unbelievers?
  5. What is our term for the reason of the regenerate and why?
  6. Recommended Reading
  • See chapter 4.16 for further discussion of the nature of spiritual regeneration in salvation.
  • See chapters 6.2-5 on supernatural nature of saving faith.
  • See chapter 2.2. for an introduction to the amazing epistemological differences between regenerated and unregenerated humanity.

Publications & Particulars

  1. For examples of Christians unnecessarily devaluing the place of reason in the Christian life see section 2.4.A.2. ↑

  2. For further discussion of how the Scriptures describe the difference between regenerate and unregenerated humans see especially section 2.2.B. ↑

  3. Quoted from section 2.2.B. Unfortunately, the NIV and many modern translations do not reflect the perfect tense of the Greek here and give the inaccurate impression that Paul is praying that the Ephesians would yet be enlightened. On the contrary, the literal Greek reads, “the eyes of your heart having been enlightened” which reflects the fact that Paul sees the Ephesians as already possessing this enlightenment. For further discussion see section 14.18.A.4. ↑

  4. The failure to distinguish between the epistemological abilities of regenerated believers over unregenerated humans seems to be a major error in neoorthodox theology which claims an ongoing revealing ministry of the Spirit is needed. On the contrary, regeneration ”fixes” our reasoning faculties such that we are now able to correctly process divine revelation. ↑

  5. Cornelius Van Til, An Introduction to Systematic Theology, (Unpublished syllabus, 1955), 21, 25. While Van Til pointed out Lewis Sperry Chafer’s systematic theology as being particularly guilty of this (p. 16), many examples in historical and modern theology and epistemology could be pointed out. ↑

  6. Rationalism is the view that the only information available to us is through human research (i.e. there is no divine revelation), and that only what we can understand is true. It is essentially the illegitimate exaltation of devil-darkened reason. For further discussion see chapter 2.9. ↑

  7. Natural theology is the view that people can come to a real belief in God simply from observing Creation. At its extreme, it claims that people can gain a saving relationship with God through this means as well. For further discussion see section 2.12.B. ↑

  8. For a definition and critique of classic apologetics see section 5.10.A.1. ↑

  9. Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli describe fideism as follows:

    Belief in God, at least from this perspective, would not be rational; one must believe on faith alone. This position, fideism, maintains that one should believe in God in the absence of, or contrary to reason. (Handbook of Christian Apologetics [Intervarsity, 1994], 35).

    For further discussion see chapters 2.10 and 6.12. ↑

  10. Neo-orthodoxy is a relatively complex theological perspective best known as the position Karl Barth (1886-1968) promoted. R. V. Schnucker relates in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (EDT):

    Neo-orthodoxy . . . does not have the popularity it enjoyed earlier in the [20th] century. Certain inherent elements have precluded its continuing influence. For example . . . its view of Scripture, “The Bible is God’s Word so far as God lets it be his Word” (Barth, Church Dogmatics, I/2, 123), has been seen as a rejection of the infallible sola Scriptura of conservative Protestantism. . . .

    Perhaps the greatest weakness within the movement has been its pessimism concerning the reliability and validity of human [even Christian] reason. [Its critics claim] If human reason cannot be trusted, then it follows that since neo-orthodoxy relied on human reason, it could not be trusted. (“Neo-orthodoxy,” [Baker, 1994], 756)

    Which is the same inevitable result of any philosophy or theology that degrades the God-given place of especially Spirit-liberated reason. ↑

  11. For further discussion of charismaticism’s devaluing of reason in spirituality, worship, and prayer see chapters 4.8-11. ↑

  12. Mega mysticism is the belief that God regularly communicates to us regarding extrabiblical matters (e.g. what job to choose) through more direct and miraculous means of extrabiblical divine revelation such as inspired intuitions, miraculous “signs,” and the spiritual gifts of “knowledge” and “prophesies.” For further discussion see Book 14. ↑

  13. For further discussion of moral relativism see section 5.15.A. ↑

  14. Donald Bloesch, A Theology of Word & Spirit (Intervarsity, 1992), 57. ↑

  15. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion in The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection, CD-ROM, (Ages Software, 1998), II.1.18. ↑

  16. John Gerstner, The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards, 3 vols. (Berea, 1991), I.108. John Piper adds along these lines:

    In this tradition, Jonathan Edwards explained that all people are enslaved, as Saint Paul says, either to sin or to righteousness (Rom. 6:16-23; see also John 8:34; 1 John 3:9); but slavery to sin, inability to love and trust God (see Rom. 8:8), does not excuse the sinner, for this inability is moral, not physical. It is not an inability that prevents a man from believing when he would like to believe; rather, it is a moral corruption of the heart that renders motives to believe ineffectual. The person thus enslaved to sin cannot believe without the miracle of regeneration, but is nevertheless accountable because of the evil of his heart, which disposes him to be unmoved by reasonable motives in the gospel. (God’s Passion for His Glory [Crossway, 2006], 88.) ↑

  17. Ibid., II.347. ↑

  18. For further discussion of the distinction between the unregenerate and the fact that Christians can sin, see section 4.15.A.2. ↑

  19. J. I. Packer, “Revelation” in New Bible Dictionary, Packer, J. I., et al eds., (Intervarsity, 1996), 1015. ↑

  20. B. B. Warfield, “On Faith In Its Psychological Aspects,” in The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield (Oxford University Press, 1932; Repr. 2000 by Baker), IX: 335-6. ↑

  21. Peter O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians (Eerdmans, 1999), 331. ↑

  22. For further discussion of the epistemological changes that occur upon regeneration see chapter 4.16. ↑

  23. Abraham Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit, trans. by Henri De Vries, (Eerdmans, 1946), 403-4. ↑

  24. For further discussion of the moral/spiritual state of the unregenerate see chapters 4.13-14. ↑

  25. Kuyper, 597. ↑

  26. For arguments that “those controlled by the sinful nature” (Rom 8:8) refer only to unbelievers and that Paul is contrasting believers and unbelievers in this passage, see section 4.14.B.3. ↑

  27. We believe our view that “the spirit” of satan that Paul says is at work in unbelievers is the sinful nature is strengthened by Harold Hoehner’s conclusion that “the spirit” here actually “refers to [the] immaterial or inward part of a person [and] Paul is saying that the devil rules over the inward person.” (Ephesians [Baker, 2002], 315. See entire discussion pp. 313-15). ↑

  28. F. F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, NICNT (Eerdmans, 1984), 283. ↑

  29. While all modern respectable commentators argue that “the god of this age” refers to satan, Charles Hodge noted:

    As the Arians argued from the fact that Satan is called God of this world, that Christ’s being called God is no proof of his true divinity; and as the Manicheans quoted the passage in favor of their doctrine of two eternal principles, the one good and the other evil, many of the fathers, including even Chrysostom and Augustine, in violation of its obvious construction, make it to mean, “God hath blinded the minds of this world, i.e. of unbelievers.” (The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, Electronic Edition STEP Files CD-ROM [Findex.Com, 2003[, 2 Cor 4:4) ↑

  30. Both C. K. Barrett (The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, BNTC [Hendrickson, 1997], 130) and Colin Kruse (2 Corinthians, TNTC [Eerdmans, 1987], 103) suggest that explaining the frequent “failure” of the Gospel to convert people is the Apostle’s specific purpose in 2 Corinthians 4:1-6. ↑

  31. Accordingly, Paul Barnett writes: “Such blindness is not merely the historic incapacity of the people of Israel under the old covenant (3:13-15). The darkness is universal, demonic, and cosmic.” (The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT [Eerdmans, 1997], 220 ↑

  32. Fairist Dave Hunt comments on 2 Cor 4:3-4:

    [Paul] declares that the ‘gospel is hid to them that are lost’ because ‘the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not…’—an effort Satan would not need to expend if all men were totally depraved and thus totally unable to believe the gospel.” (What Love Is This?: Calvinism’s Misrepresentation of God [Berean Call, 2006], 120).

    What Mr. Hunt ignores is that the blinding of the devil is exactly how and why men are spiritually and mentally depraved and cannot believe the Gospel. The devil’s blinding is not a secondary or subsequent act, but the very act that darkens their understanding. ↑

  33. Admittedly, most modern commentators do not interpret “the spirit of the world” at 1 Corinthians 2:12 as a demonic spirit. Accordingly, Leon Morris writes:

    Some understand the spirit of the world to mean Satan, and this would give an excellent sense. However, Satan does not seem to be referred to in just this way (though ‘the prince of this world’, Jn. 12:31, comes near to it, and cf. Eph. 2:2). Further, it goes beyond what is required by the context. Throughout this passage Paul is opposing a ‘wisdom’ that is not satanic but human. It seems that we should accept some such meaning as ‘the spirit of human wisdom’, ‘the temper of this world’ (Lenski, ‘It is what makes the world “world” ‘). (1 Corinthians, TNTC [Eerdmans, 1985], 57)

    This seems inadequate to us on at least two fronts. One, where has the world ultimately obtained its anti-Christ wisdom? From the ruler and spirit of this world, satan. Secondly, in the text, the Apostle is no doubt speaking of a spirit, not just a worldly attitude or perspective, because he is contrasting it with another spirit, the Holy Spirit. All of this suggests that by “the spirit of the world” he is indeed referring to the devil, which would be completely consistent with much NT theology as demonstrated here. See especially Ephesians 2:2 and discussion at section 4.14.B.3. ↑

  34. For an extended discussion of the use of the Greek preposition en see the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, NIDNTT, Colin Brown, ed., 4 vols., (Zondervan, 1986], III:1190-93, and esp. 1192 in regards to 2 Corinthians 3:14. ↑

  35. Admittedly, our interpretation goes against that of most commentators (e. g. Barrett, Kruse, Barclay, Barnett) who claim the Apostle is speaking of a freedom from the law or sin in general as is described in Romans 6-7.

    But this does not reflect the immediate context in which the Apostle is speaking epistemologically here of dull minds and veiled hearts. The freedom, therefore, is an epistemological freedom reflecting Romans chapter 8 rather than chapters 6-7. And it is this epistemological freedom that would better account for the Apostle’s confidence and boldness in preaching the truth, not a freedom from the Mosaic Law. Accordingly, the context seems to us to suggest the Apostle is referring to a freedom from the blinding nature of the “veil” which is not the OT law, but the demonic powers that hinder proper reasoning about the Gospel. ↑

  36. Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians, Electronic Edition STEP Files CD-ROM (Findex.Com, 2003), Eph 4:18 ↑

  37. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Zondervan, 1994), 701. ↑

  38. B. B. Warfield, “On Faith in its Psychological Aspects,” in The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield (Oxford University Press, 1932; Repr. 2000 by Baker), Vol. IX:337. ↑

  39. D. M. Lloyd-Jones, The Sovereign Spirit: Discerning the Gifts (Harold Shaw, 1985), 72. ↑