Biblical Psychology: 7 Transforming the “Heart”

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 4.7

Transforming the “Heart”

Healing through Biblical Meditation

A) Fulfilling the Great Commission by Renewing the Mind

A.1) The Goal of the Church: The Great Commission

A.2) The “Micro” Great Commission: Renewing the mind

A.3) The Means of Renewing the Mind: Teaching

B) Recognizing Wounded Parts of Our Heart

B.1) Why can’t I believe this?

B.2) Levels of victory

B.3) How wounds of the heart happen: Demonic footholds

C) Renewing Wounded Parts of Our Heart: Biblical meditation

C.1) Recognize persistent negative emotions

C.2) Reveal the lie

C.3) Resolve the past

C.4) Receive freeing truth

C.5) Take steps of faith

D) Biblical Spiritual Warfare

D.1) The battle is simply between lies & truth

D.2) Knowing our identity in Christ: Free at last

Primary Points
  • For all the talk in Christianity that spiritual growth and sanctification is a work of God and therefore His responsibility, Jesus says otherwise. His plan is to bring about spiritual growth in His people through our teaching. Simply put, Jesus commanded us to “go and change lives.”
  • The “macro” Great Commission of making mature disciples of all peoples will only be fulfilled to the extent that we fulfill the “micro” Great Commission of renewing each disciple’s mind.
  • The sub-conscious mind contains beliefs that we are not aware of, but that greatly influence us.
  • The contents of the mind can be understood as beliefs that are true or false. Life transformation occurs as the lies are replaced with the truth.
  • The reason that there are over 30 references to formal teaching in the Pastoral Epistles is because this is God’s primary means in the Church for changing minds and lives and making mature disciples.
  • It is important to understand that our “hearts” are in parts in order to understand why it can seem we believe something, but still will not act like it.
  • When we experience a particularly traumatic event there is a message in it, that if not handled correctly, will allow a demonic foothold in our life.
  • The emotional pain in our memories is not in the event itself, but the lie we believed about ourselves in the event.
  • Healing these corrupted parts of our heart is a matter of the biblical practice of meditation, facilitated by vital questions.
  • Overwhelming negative emotions are not of the Holy Spirit and should alarm us that we are under attack.
  • All negative emotions not of the Holy Spirit are based on a lie we are believing, which can be exposed by simply asking, “Why am I feeling this way?”
  • The spiritual battle over our mind is simply between lies and truth. Believing lies puts us in emotional bondage. Replacing those lies with the truth sets us free as Jesus promised.
  • Often times the lies affecting us are lodged in suppressed parts of our mind which must be accessed by following our overwhelming negative emotions back to an event where we were imprinted with the painful lie.
  • This process is biblical meditation and is described in Psalms.
  • Our identity in Christ is the key to our spiritual armor.

The following chapter is not merely a theological treatise. It is based on over 10 years of study and over 2000 hours of counseling Christians with spiritual “strongholds” in their life. And that counseling has been extremely successful, because it is based on Scripture and a proven method for helping people “be transformed by the renewing of [their] mind” (Rom 12:2). What follows is a rather brief synopsis of these principles. [1]

A) Fulfilling the Great Commission by Renewing the Mind

A.1) The Goal of the Church: The Great Commission

Just before leaving this Earth, the King clearly communicated the goal and purpose for leaving His Church on the Earth:

All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the Age. (Matt 28:18-20)

Consequently, everything we do for Him must somehow further this “Great Commission” if our works are to please Him.

The “Great Commission” of Christ is to “make disciples” [2] in every “nation,” “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” NT scholar D. A. Carson comments: “Disciples are those who hear, understand, and obey Jesus’ teaching (cf. Matt 12:46-50).” [3] A “disciple” then is synonymous with being a convert, as no one who is not learning and following Jesus could claim to be a Christian. [4]

But making converts and disciples will not fulfill the “Great Commission.” [5] While evangelism is a necessary first step in fulfilling God’s purpose for the Church, if we only make Christians we will fall far short of Christ’s desires. We are to “make disciples [converts] . . . and teach them to obey everything [Christ] commanded.” And it is this latter task that is the much harder part of the “Great Commission.” Even in physical life, it is relatively much easier to have babies, than to raise, nurture, teach, and train them to maturity. Of course, we and Heaven rejoice over the birth of spiritual babies (cf. Luke 15:7, 10), but the “Great Commission” reminds us that just because God gives His Church a Christian “baby,” our work is far from over. Jesus does not want “worldly . . . infants in Christ” (1 Cor 3:1), but disciples who, “go on to maturity” (Heb 6:1). Only this will fully glorify Him and fulfill His purpose and goal for the Church on Earth.

Accordingly, even the great Evangelist Paul wrote:

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ [not just converted to Christ]. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power. (Col 1:28)

Notice that Christ’s command above is to “make” obedient followers of Jesus Christ, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” With such language our Lord implies that this is something we are able and expected to do. For all the talk in Christianity that spiritual growth and sanctification is a work of God and therefore His responsibility, Jesus says otherwise. His plan and purpose is to bring about spiritual growth in His people through our teaching. And it is not that we simply have the ability and responsibility to verbalize Christ’s commands, but to produce Christians who are actually obeying His commands. Simply put, Jesus commanded us to “go and change lives.”

While the Church is His intended vehicle for changing the way His people live, we recognize it is through His divine power that such a supernatural task is accomplished. This is why He sandwiched the “Great Commission” between the fact that, “All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Me” and “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the Age.” Christ has granted us His sovereign authority over the hearts of humans, and the supernatural power of His presence in our own hearts through His Holy Spirit, so that we are authorized and enabled to produce transformed followers of Jesus Christ.

A.2) The “Micro” Great Commission: Renewing the mind

But how is the “Great Commission” to actually be fulfilled? How do we produce the life transformation that it requires? The Apostle Paul succinctly tells us when he writes:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve [and obey] what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom 12:1-3)

There are several phrases here that describe a mature disciple of Christ. They live a life that is sacrificial, “holy and pleasing to God.” They have been “transformed” into those that “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world.” They are people who recognize how “good, pleasing, and perfect” “God’s will is” and therefore desire to obey His will.

How did the Apostle think the Roman Christians would obtain such a way of life, fully fulfilling the “Great Commission”? He told them, “by the renewing of your mind.” In chapter 4.3 we discussed the importance of renewing the mind for the purpose of life change. [6] Accordingly, we quoted Christian philosopher J. P. Moreland and his own comment on Romans 12:2:

We are so familiar with this verse that some of its oddness or peculiarity is lost on us. But to see how truly peculiar this teaching is, think of what Paul could have said but did not. He could have said, “Be transformed by developing close feelings toward God,” or “by exercising your will in obeying biblical commands,” or “by intensifying your desire for the right things,” or “by fellowship and worship,” and so on.

Obviously, all are important parts of the Christian life. Yet Paul chose to mention none of them in his most important precis [summary] of the spiritual life. Why is that? What is it about the mind that justifies Paul’s elevation of it to such a position of prominence in religious life? . . .

The mind is the soul’s primary vehicle for making contact with God, and it plays a fundamental role in the process of human maturation and change, including spiritual transformation. In thought, the mind’s structure conforms to the order of the object of thought. Since this is so, and since truth dwells in the mind, truth itself is powerful and rationality is valuable as a means of obtaining truth and avoiding error. . . [7]

Likewise, we summarized the Apostle’s thought:

[L]ife transformation is essentially a process of replacing the lies we believe with the truth of God . . . Accordingly, the NLT translates Romans 12:2 as “let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think,” and the NCV has it, “be changed within by a new way of thinking.” [8]

This reminds us of the importance of beliefs regarding how we live, of which we have written elsewhere:

[B]elief is the knowledge we think is true with various levels of certainty. . . . Beliefs, then, are an incredibly important concept because they essentially dictate who we are and what we do. Proverbs says, “For as he thinks within himself, so he is” (23:7 NASB). As Dr. Moreland puts it: “Beliefs are the rails upon which our lives run.” [9]

Accordingly, if we change the beliefs of our mind, we will change our life. And if those changed beliefs conform to the truth of God’s word, we will be transformed into a person of increasing godliness, therefore fulfilling the “Great Commission” in our own heart.

The graphic below illustrates the typical understanding of the “world” in which the “Great Commission” needs to be accomplished. Jesus said to “go and make disciples of all the nations [ethnē: “races”].

The World of the Great Commission on Earth

C:\Users\New Life\Downloads\globe.jpg

Accordingly, the goal of the world-wide “Great Commission” can be segmented into making mature disciples in every nation. Some races and peoples are more “discipled” than others, and as we disciple more parts of the world, we continually reach our goal.

But this is only the “macro” view of the “Great Commission.” Making mature disciples in “all the nations” requires making mature disciples of individual people. And according to the Apostle in Romans 12:2 this occurs by transforming individual minds. Accordingly, the “world” of the “Great Commission” in a person is their mind. Therefore, the “macro” Great Commission of making mature disciples of all peoples will only be fulfilled to the extent that we fulfill the “micro” Great Commission of renewing each disciple’s mind.

The World of the “Great Commission” in the Human Mind

Sub-conscious

Conscious

Truth

Lies

Obviously, the macro world in which we are to make disciples is very complex. But probably not any more complex than the micro world of the human mind where the “Great Commission” must be accomplished.

First, as we have discussed elsewhere, both experience and Scripture indicate that our minds have both conscious and sub-conscious parts. We have written:

Defining human reason is notoriously difficult. However, understanding it can be enhanced by differentiating some aspects of it. First, any discussion of human reasoning must take into account the differences of both its conscious and subconscious aspects. Simply put, the thoughts in our conscious mind are those we are aware of, while we are unaware of our subconscious thoughts, until they are brought into our conscious mind.

For example, our breathing normally operates in our subconscious, but if and when we “think” about it, this rather automatic human process enters the conscious part of our mind. The conscious part of our mind is normally what we think of . . .

Christian counselors in growing numbers are discovering the vital importance of addressing the subconscious beliefs of their clients in order to truly help them “be transformed by the renewing of [their] mind” (Rom 12:2). It would seem that an abundance of truth can be processed by the conscious mind by way of even memorizing Scripture. But if there are suppressed areas of our subconscious mind that have not “accepted” such truth, we will continue to act contrary to what we “believe” and know in our conscious mind. Christians are learning that when the Apostle pointed to the mind as the center for spiritual renewal (Rom 12:2) and the King spoke of loving Him with all of our mind (Matt 22:37), that these critical aspects of spirituality include the subconscious part of our mind. [10]

Simply put, the conscious mind contains beliefs that we are aware of, and the sub-conscious mind contains beliefs that we are not aware of, but which nevertheless greatly affect us. While we give several biblical references to the subconscious mind in chapter 4.3, perhaps the clearest reference to it is when David writes: “Surely You desire truth in the inner parts [tūhôt: “to cover”]; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place [sātam: “hidden”]” (Ps 51:6). While words for mere “mind” were available to the psalmist (e.g. lēb), David seems to use wording to suggest an “inner mind.” OT scholars C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch write that David is referring to “the hidden part of his mind.” [11]

In addition, the contents of the mind can be understood as beliefs that are true (symbolized by clear circles in the graphic above) or false beliefs (dark circles in the graphic above). Life transformation then occurs as the lies are replaced with the truth.

A.3) The Means of Renewing the Mind: Teaching

Jesus said the maturing of disciples will be accomplished through “teaching [didaskō],” the Greek meaning: “to provide instruction in a formal or informal setting.” [12] Obviously the instruction required to change people’s minds and lives includes being an example of what you are teaching (cf. 1 Tim 4:11-12). But the reason that there are over 30 references to formal teaching in the Pastoral Epistles is because this is God’s primary means in the Church for changing minds and lives and making mature disciples.

The Apostle Paul shares more detail concerning how teaching changes lives when he writes:

For though we live [in a physical human body, sarki [13]], we do not wage war in a physical way. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons used [with a physical body, sarkika: “human”]. On the contrary, they have divine [spiritual] power to demolish strongholds.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. (2 Cor 10:3-6)

Here the Apostle is contrasting a physical war fought in our body and with physical weapons, with a spiritual war fought in our mind with spiritual weapons. Notice that the battlefield of this “war” is in the mind, where “strongholds,” “arguments,” a “pretension,” or a “thought” can “set itself up against the knowledge of God” and keep us from being “obedient to Christ.” What else would be the spiritual weapon against such lies except the word of God (cf. Eph 6:17)?

Accordingly, we have argued elsewhere that Paul is referring to his teaching ministry to believers to help them mature such that their “obedience is complete.” [14] The Apostle is saying something very similar to what he told the Colossians: “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom [God’s word], so that we may present every man complete in Christ (Col 1:28).

Notice then that this spiritual war is simply between lies and truth. The lies we believe put us in bondage to “the father of lies” (John 8:44) making us obedient to satan. On the other hand, “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32) to live in the power of the Holy Spirit and be “obedient to Christ” (2 Cor 10:5). What the “renewing of the mind” (Rom 12:2) means then is replacing the lies we have been imprinted with and are contained in our “old programming” with the truth of God’s word.

The conscious mind is renewed through being exposed to the truth, recognizing a related lie, and choosing to reject the lie and receive the truth. This happens on a regular basis in many different ways, not just spiritual ones. Perhaps we have a belief about something or someone and with more information it becomes obvious that our belief was a lie and needs to be changed in order to conform to the truth.

B) Recognizing Wounded Parts of our Heart

B.1) Why can’t I believe this?

What do we do when we know the truth about something but still struggle to have that truth control us? Let us take worry for example. You understand the biblical commands and promises concerning worry. You know you understand them because you could explain them to someone else. And when you worry you try to apply these truths to combat your feelings of worry and it doesn’t work. You still worry. What is going on? Don’t you believe the promises enough?

Yes and no. It is important to understand that our “hearts” are in parts. We have already distinguished between the conscious and subconscious part of the mind. Accordingly, while the conscious part of our mind may believe the truth, there may be a part of our subconscious mind that does not. How can this happen?

Through past experiences. We have seen this hundreds of times in our ministry. Suppose a woman is sexually molested as a young girl who is not a Christian and has no support or way of properly processing such an event. Accordingly, the message she receives from that event can be things like: “you’re dirty,” “you’re damaged,” “you’re not safe.” After she becomes a Christian, she can memorize all sorts of Scripture regarding these false messages, but it doesn’t seem to heal her sense of feeling dirty, damaged, or unsafe. This is because the truth is not getting to where it is needed.

We have elsewhere suggested that our mind is much like a computer. [15] For a moment, let us understand our conscious mind as the RAM (random access memory) or the data that we (or the computer) is “consciously” aware of. This data is “on the screen” and accessed. Now let’s imagine that our subconscious mind is analogous to a hard drive where our memory is stored. There is an abundance of data there, but it needs to be accessed and brought into our RAM (conscious mind) in order to be used or changed.

Now, let’s say there is some bad data on a certain sector of the hard drive. How can it be replaced? Will the corrupt data be changed by just feeding more correct information into the RAM? No, because the new correct data must get to the place on the hard drive that is corrupted.

Along the same lines, you could tell the Christian woman described above over and over “God loves you, God loves you” and it will not compute. You cannot “feed” new information into the “front end” of her “computer” and expect it just to replace the bad information on her “hard drive.” That memory needs to be accessed, so that the correct data in her RAM (conscious mind) can replace the incorrect data on her hard drive (subconscious memory). Accordingly, we need to understand some things about the subconscious mind in order to help people with these deeper wounds in their heart.

B.2) Two levels of victory

It is important to understand different levels of spiritual victory. Let us start with what total defeat feels like. Hopeless. The devil has a person so deceived that that they have essentially forgotten their identity in Christ and are not even trying to fight the lies they believe. Perhaps they have been trying for some time, with no apparent progress and have given up. There is no victory here at all. Spiritual victory in this life is a choice. Christians can live their entire life being defeated. And when they lose hope, they stop fighting. This is where our enemy really wants us to be. Hopelessness is the pinnacle of vices in his realm- it is living like there is no God. It is the opposite of loving God for the Christian. We will never hate God, but we can lose hope and it is the closest thing to hating Him for the Christian. At this point we really have no love for Him.

At this point it is probable that God must do something. Perhaps He allows the pain we are experiencing to get worse in order to motivate us to get help. Perhaps it is our own pride that has caused us to lose hope- we are being me centered instead of God centered- we want His gifts (comfort, freedom, etc.) more than God Himself.

Nonetheless, a first level of victory is that we are fighting our temptations. We are saying “no” to emotions of the flesh and choosing to walk in the Spirit. And on some days, for some hours, we are succeeding. We are successfully suppressing our bad emotions and “grinding it out.” There is no joy, but at least there is less sin.

Unfortunately, many Christians believe this is the normal Christian life. Constant struggle with sin and satan. Battling everyday almost every minute to control our mind . . . . And it is exhausting!

Thankfully, there is another level of victory beyond struggling, and it is freedom. At this level we have renewed the part of our mind that believes a lie that gives us sinful desires. The Lord Jesus now reigns over that part of our heart and we are hardly even tempted in that area any more. Living in the Spirit with love, joy, and peace is our normal operating mode now, and we are free to love others and serve God and we have the emotional and spiritual strength to do so!

One of the reasons this can happen is that there is a limited number of demonic footholds in our life. We will discuss further in the next section what these are and how they form. But these footholds are especially controlling in our life, and when they are eliminated, we regain a very significant amount of control.

As we will note below, one of the best examples of demonic footholds is unforgiveness that causes bitterness. When we forgive we are released from that foothold. Fortunately there is a rather limited number of people we need to forgive, and when we do, we will find our struggle with bitterness radically changed.

While we will never get to the end of the lies we believe until the resurrection, we can renew the “big ones” and live at a level of freedom we never thought possible. Don’t ever settle for a state of hopelessness. Not if you are a chosen child of God. And don’t ever settle for just struggling, but continue to be transformed by the renewing of your mind so you are really living the life of freedom and love that He has called all of His children to.

B.3) How wounds of the heart happen: Demonic footholds

When we experience a particularly traumatic, emotional, and/or painful event, there is a message in it. As we noted in the previous chapter:

[T]he data we receive in the context of emotionally charged events makes a far greater impression on us than otherwise. Often our most powerful beliefs (good or bad) have been imprinted in the atmosphere of experiencing powerful emotions. [16]

If we do not have the truth or are not able to process the truth about that event, we receive the world’s interpretation of it and a lie is imprinted on a part of our mind. The Apostle spoke of this when he wrote: “’In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold [topon: “a place of habitation” [17]]” (Eph 4:27). Webster’s Dictionary defines “foothold” as “a position usable as a base for further advance.” [18] Paul is warning us that if a person does not resolve their anger in a godly way, it will imprint their mind in such a way that gives the devil control of that part of their heart.

Accordingly, John Calvin (1509–1564) commented on Ephesians 4:27:

Paul’s intention was to guard us against allowing Satan to take possession of our minds, and, by keeping in his hands this citadel, to do whatever he pleases. We feel every day how impossible, or, at least, how difficult it is to cure long-continued hatred. What is the cause of this, but that, instead of resisting the devil, we yield up to him the possession of our heart? Before the poison of hatred has found its way into the heart, anger must be thoroughly dislodged. [19]

Or as Charles Hodge (1797–1878) commented here: “Anger when cherished gives the Tempter great power over us.” [20]

Let us consider this example for a moment. Someone says or does something to us that hurts us emotionally. Instead of believing and obeying the truth we respond with anger. We hold on to that anger, and over time “forget” about it. But it is still unresolved. Because we don’t want to keep consciously thinking about our hurt and anger we push it into our subconscious mind, still unresolved. There is now a part of our heart in which the devil has “a foothold,” “a position usable as a base for further advance.” Accordingly, later, when someone says or does something similar to hurt or offend us, that part of our mind is triggered and the stored up anger comes out in an almost uncontrollable fashion.

These corrupted parts of our “heart” can also be understood as “pain bubbles.” When something painful occurs in our life and we do not process it with God, we simply stuff it into our subconscious. Our mind was created by God to do this in order to protect us when we are not capable of processing pain. What forms in our sub-conscious is a “pain bubble” which can be pricked and may leak if we experience something similar to the original event that hurt us.

While the mind is able to encapsulate these painful memories for a time, it requires a considerable amount of emotional energy. As we get older, it is quite common for the “pain bubbles” or “anger bubbles” or “fear bubbles” to start leaking their emotions. When this occurs for the Christian, it is an indication that we are now mature enough to process the pain that we have suppressed so that it is relieved completely.

And remarkably, we will find that the emotionally painful part of the memory was the lie about ourselves that we believed. When that lie is resolved with God’s truth, even the most horrific events in our life are no longer emotionally painful.

We can also speak of these corrupted parts of our heart as wounded. When we experience pain, fear, shame, or other overwhelming negative emotions in a traumatic event we are wounded. If we don’t know how to process that hurt, or choose not to, our God-given defense mechanisms respond and we cover up the hurt, trying to forget it and thinking that we have. Over time, we just put layer after layer of “bandages” on that wound, but never really resolve it. Therefore, it is always “hanging around,” chasing us, and ready to present itself given the opportunity.

Perhaps another example will help. The author was counseling a Pastor who was struggling with discouragement. He said the reason was that he just felt like he could never do enough to feel good about himself. He thought that if he became a Pastor that then he would feel like he was valuable. He was asked to focus on that feeling of worthlessness, and then asked to remember the first time he felt that way. Immediately his mind went to a time as a young boy when his dad told him he would never amount to anything. Because he was so young and didn’t have Christ he could not properly process that message and it imprinted that part of his heart with the message “you’re worthless.” And even though he tried to forget about that painful message, it was always running in the background, driving him to prove it wrong. It was “a foothold” of the devil in his life that controlled much of what he did.

As an 8 year old he processed the experience wrongly, and believed a lie that he carried with him for 30 years. Now as a mature Christian he was able to reinterpret correctly what happened, renew that part of his mind and be changed- set free from this feeling of being a bad person.

C) Renewing Wounded Parts of Our Heart: Biblical meditation

Healing these corrupted parts of our heart is a matter of the biblical practice of meditation. In our fast paced, microwave, superficial, feelings-oriented world, we have lost the skill of meditation. But it is biblical. We read in Joshua:

Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate [hāgậ] on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:7-8; cf. Ps 1:2; 63:6; 77:12; 143:5)

Biblical meditation involves recognizing what is going on in our heart, confessing it to God, understanding it, and giving it to God for resolution. Meditating gets us from merely hearing, understanding, or knowing something to actually believing it and being changed by it. Christian meditation is applying the truth of God’s word to the deceived places of our heart so we might be free of the pain, fear, and control those lies exercise. More specifically, meditation helps us to access and transform the subconscious parts of our mind that continue to affect us.

One very effective way to meditate is to ask yourself critical questions. Below we will suggest some very simple, but life-changing questions that help us get God’s truth where it needs to go so that the parts of our mind that need renewing, can be changed. We have seen these questions work hundreds of times to lead people to spiritual and emotional freedom from the most powerful painful experiences and persistent lies. The questions facilitate the steps of meditation necessary to heal wounded parts of our heart.

C.1) Recognize persistent negative emotions

Heart ? #1: Is what I’m feeling a fruit of the Holy Spirit?

The first step to healing such wounds is to honestly recognize them. Table 4.7: “Recognizing Spiritual Oppression,” on the next page illustrates the kinds of feelings produced by the Holy Spirit as opposed to those produced by the devil’s lies and work in our life.

Table 4.7: Recognizing Spiritual Oppression

Fruit of the Spirit

(Gal 5:22-23; 2 Tim 1:7)

Possible Sign of Oppression

I feel . . .

Sign of Freedom

I feel . . .

Love

Angry

Compassion of Christ

Lonely

Presence of Christ

Envious

Content in Christ

Unappreciated

Appreciated by Christ

Selfish

Sacrificial for Christ

Critical/Annoyed

Accepting like Christ

Insignificant

Valuable in Christ

Ugly

  1. Created by Christ

Embarrassed

Accepted by Christ

Excluded

Wanted by Christ

Joy

Discouraged

Hopeful in Christ

Discontent

Fulfilled in Christ

Complaining

Grateful for Christ

Peace

Worried/Afraid

Secure in Christ

Guilty

Forgiven by Christ

Frustrated

Calm through Christ

Dirty

Clean through Christ

Fearful

Courageous in Christ

Offended

Humility of Christ

Rebellious

Submissive to Christ

Self-control

Addicted

Free in Christ

Tempted

Focused on Christ

Bored

Serving Christ

Obsessive

Balanced in Christ

Power

Helpless

Able with Christ

Fatigued

Energized by Spirit

Hopeless

Hopeful in Christ

Overwhelmed

Empowered by Spirit

Trapped

Free in Christ

Sound mind

Confused

Peace from Christ

Stupid

Competent in Christ

The table reflects the biblical fact that Christians are to be consistently experiencing the “fruit of the Spirit” which is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). Likewise, the Apostle reminds us that “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim 1:7).

Therefore, when we are not experiencing these fruits of the Spirit, we know we are not being controlled by the Holy Spirit but a different spirit. [21] We must not be content with living like we don’t have God living inside of us! The Holy Spirit empowered life is the normal Christian life. We must honestly admit this and recognize that consistent overwhelming negative emotions reveal that a part of our heart is not controlled by the Lord of truth, but the father of lies.

The Bible repeatedly warns us to monitor the emotions of our heart. Solomon said: “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” (Pr 4:23). While feelings are lousy guides to what really is true, they are very good indicators of what we believe is true. Paul reminds us, “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor 10:5). This requires constant vigilance. Peter writes: “Be self-controlled and alert because your enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8). We know we are being “devoured” by our enemy when we are overwhelmed with negative emotions contrary to the fruit of the Spirit.

We are in a spiritual battle and must be aware of when we are being attacked. And the first step is to recognize it by constantly asking the question: Is what I’m feeling a fruit of the Holy Spirit? Overwhelming negative emotions or confusion that are not of the Holy Spirit should alarm us that we are under attack and must fight back.

C.2) Reveal the lie

Heart ? #2: What am I believing that makes me feel this way?

Once we have recognized that we are experiencing something not of the Holy Spirit, we need to understand its source. We can ask for God’s help in this as David did when he prayed:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts [serappim: “disquieting thoughts” [22]; And see if there be any hurtful [otsēb: “painful,” “sorrowful,” NASB “hurtful” [23]] way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way [which is truth]. (Ps 139:23-24)

David was looking for spiritual/emotional wounds, hurt places in his heart that were causing “disturbing thoughts.” He knew he would have freedom when he discovered the truth that would set him free.

Likewise, when David was experiencing a negative overwhelming emotion, he confronted it with a question to better understand it. Three times David is recorded as saying:

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God. (Ps 42:5-6; cf. 42:11; 43:5)

This is biblical meditation. Recognizing unspiritual emotions in our heart and investigating them to resolve them.

What we are looking for in our meditation is the lie we are believing. The source of all experiences not of the Holy Spirit is believing a lie. That is how our flesh, the world, and the devil exert influence in our lives: by convincing us of a lie. This is why we must confront our negative emotions and ask: Why am I feeling this way?

The answer to that question will probably expose a lie, or a message that a part of our heart believes and is controlling us right now. It may be necessary to ask follow up questions such as: “Why do I believe that?” The goal is to expose the root lie we are believing about ourselves.

C.3) Resolve the past

Heart ? #3: When is the first time I remember feeling that way because I believed that?

Once we have exposed the lie, we need to determine when we were imprinted with it. Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). However, it is possible for a part of our heart to know the truth, and another part not to. Remember, for stubborn lies it will not help to just feed the truth into the “front” part of our mind hoping it will renew it. We have to locate the “bad sector” on our heart in our subconscious.

We do that by first focusing on the lie we are believing and how that lie makes us feel. The painful emotions that the lie produces are the smoke from the fire that burns inside. Follow the smoke and you will find the fire.

Finding the location of the “bad sector” of our memory, the wounded part of our heart, is then done by asking another question: When is the first time I remember feeling that way because I believed that? Your mind will normally be able to connect to a memory, if there is one, that relates to what you are feeling and why you are feeling it. Now you are where the truth can truly set you free. [24]

C.4) Receive freeing truth

Heart ? #4: What would Jesus say about what happened or what you believed or experienced?

When we’ve gained access to the wounded, deceived part of our heart by following our emotions and memory, we are in a place where we can experience the truth in a way that truly sets us free. In our past experience we did not know the truth, or believe the truth. We maybe didn’t even know Christ. But now we can go back with Christ and the truth and “re-experience” what wounded us and imprinted us with a controlling lie, and be set free from it.

C.5) Taking steps of faith

Heart ? #5: Why am I resisting this process?

This process works. And it is fairly simple. But it can be very difficult. Primarily because we are resolving painful experiences and beliefs in our lives. The author remembers asking a counselee: “When do you remember first feeling that way because you believed that?” They responded: “Pastor, it’s like you are asking me to put my hand on a red hot burner. I can’t go there.”

And they should not be forced to. Every step of this process must be taken in faith. The person must believe it is safe and worthwhile to address the painful parts of their heart before it will be helpful for them to do so.

The reason that a person has difficulty processing their wounds is that they are surrounded by what we call “guardian lies.” These are beliefs that “protect” the wounded parts of our heart. Something like “I’m afraid what I’ll find out,” or “It will be too overwhelming and painful to go to that dark place in my mind,” or “this is all just a bunch of garbage, I just need to buck up and live on instead of delving into my past.” Believing such lies will keep us from having the necessary faith to go in our mind where we need to go to resolve wounds in our heart.

Accordingly, another very important question will often be: Why am I resisting this process? And then you will have to process through emotions and lies in order to get to the place in your mind where and when the original wound occurred.

It is possible to do such meditation on your own with God. However, because the issues that need to be resolved are so painful and emotional, most people need help to go through the process above. Their emotions and the demonic footholds being confronted simply overwhelm the person making it very difficult to think, and ask and answer questions, which is precisely what needs to be done. Accordingly, going through this process with a trusted friend is highly recommended.

D) Biblical Spiritual Warfare

D.1) The battle is simply between lies & truth

While for some the instruction here may sound too psychological, we would claim it is simply biblical spiritual warfare. The Scripture warns us of demonic “footholds” in our life caused by not responding correctly to difficult experiences in our life (Eph 4:27). Later in Ephesians, the Apostle describes our spiritual warfare, “against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12). And what other way do such “forces” attack and influence us other than the lies they communicate through “the pattern of this world” (Rom 12:2) and the desires and deceptions of our sinful nature?

Biblical spiritual warfare is not about exorcising demons as many, particularly in charismaticism, suppose. Jesus warned us that mere exorcism without a renewing of the mind with truth will put a person in danger of being worse (cf. Matt 12:43-45). [25] As one of our favorite experts on the subject, Neil Anderson, has said, “What we are after is a truth encounter, not a power encounter.”

The author has dealt with many demonic influences in his counseling ministry to Christians, and when the focus turns to the demon itself, resolution of the person’s difficulty is only hindered. What is necessary is to expose the lies that the demon is using to control the person’s thoughts and life, and then to help the person realize the truth that defends them against that lie. With every lie that is resolved, the demonic influence is weakened to the point that he simply leaves because he has no authority or power to be there.

Spiritual warfare is simply a battle between truth and lies. It really, truly is that simple. When the Apostle explains that “we . . . wage war” against “strongholds . . . arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” we understand that our fight is against lies. Accordingly, being “devour[ed]” by our “enemy” (1 Pet 5:8) is simply a result of not defending ourselves against “the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Eph 6:16), which again, are simply lies.

Therefore “the weapons we fight with . . . have divine power to demolish strongholds . . . arguments and very pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge [truth] of God, because the weapons are divine truth.

This is how we “resist” the devil. By “standing firm in the faith” (1 Pet 5:8). And what is faith? Simply believing and/or obeying the truth.

D.2) The importance of knowing our identity in Christ: Free at last

Accordingly, believing and obeying the truth is essentially what the spiritual armor that Paul describes is made of:

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph 6:14-17)

The “breastplate of righteousness” is not only our practical holiness which certainly protects us from demonic influences, but also the conviction of our positional holiness against the slander and guilt-inducing accusations of the evil one. The “flaming arrows of the evil one” are simply lies in our mind that we need to “take captive [and] . . . make . . . obedient to Christ” (2 Cor 10:5). This is accomplished by exercising our “shield of faith,” and faith is simply believing the truth. “The helmet of salvation” is our belief in our position and identity in Christ as accepted, secure, and significant children of God. And “the sword of the Spirit” that He uses to defeat the devil’s designs on our life, “is the word of God” and the truth contained there.

The armor of God against the attacks of the devil is an understanding and conviction of our identity in Christ. This is what the devil attacks and it is doubts about who God has made us that cause sin and pain in our lives. On the other hand, a realization of our acceptance, security, and significance in Christ will set us free and protect us from virtually everything the devil would ever say to us.

Throughout Romans 6-9 the Apostle is trying to explain this to us by reminding us we are dead to sin (cf. 6:1-14). This does not mean sin has ceased to exist. Death in Scripture means separation, not cessation. Before being regenerated we were separated from God and our nature was a sinner. Sin defined us. After regeneration we are joined to God and separated from sin—dead to it in the sense it no longer defines us, and our New Nature now is the Holy Spirit. We still sin because of the old programming in our minds, but when we sin it is not the real us.

The Apostle vividly portrays this in his description of his own struggle with sin:

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin [old programming] living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature [old programming]. . . . 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin [old programming] living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being [my real re-created self] I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law [old programming] at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. (Rom 7:15-23)

The Apostle simply said that when he sinned it was not the real him sinning. Sinning is no longer what the real him wanted to do, it is not a part of his identity. He has died to sin, been separated from being identified with it. He is a saint, not a sinner.

Christianity has developed all sorts of ministries and approaches to helping Christians overcome sin. But the only thing that really works is learning our identity in Christ. Listen to the testimony of Mike Quarles, the current Director of Neil Anderson’s Freedom in Christ Ministries:

“I graduated from seminary and went into the pastorate. It was my custom to spend at least an hour a day in Bible study and prayer. I memorized chapters of Scripture. I fasted and prayed. I read hundreds of books and listened to numerous tapes. . . . I witnessed enthusiastically to anything that moved. . . . I tried to do everything I had been taught in order to live the successful Christian life.

What was the result of all this? My wife and children didn’t respect me because in my zeal to make them be good Christians, I became legalistic, harsh, and unloving. My marriage was a mess and my personal life was a shambles. I came to the realization that everything I had learned about living the Christian life just was not working for me. Finally I came to grips with reality and left the pastorate. . . . In a short period of time I became a full-fledged alcoholic. . . .

I . . . began trying everything I knew to stop, but nothing seemed to help. This is what I tried:

  1. Consistent Quiet Time
  2. Bible Study
  3. Fasting
  4. Visitation Evangelism
  5. Christian Twelve Step Program
  6. Accountability group
  7. Hundreds of AA meetings and five different sponsors
  8. Christian counselors
  9. Christian psychiatrist
  10. Secular psychiatrist
  11. Christian psychologist
  12. Secular psychologist
  13. Addictions counselor
  14. Flew to New Jersey and spent 3 days with an addictions specialist
  15. Secular treatment center
  16. Christian treatment center
  17. Read every book on addiction I could find
  18. Healing of memories session
  19. Baptism of the Spirit session
  20. Casting out of demons session (twice)
  21. Public confession
  22. Group therapy
  23. Taking the prescription drug antabuse
  24. Disciplined by my church
  25. Rigid schedule with every minute planned
  26. Hundreds of hours studying Scriptural principles
  27. Memorized chapters of Scripture
  28. Discipleship groups
  29. Prayer
  30. Promises to God and my wife.

Where did all of this get me? I became totally out of control. I was depressed for days on end and suicidal. . . .

Why didn’t any of this work? All were things I was doing in the flesh and “sinful passions are aroused by the flesh” (Rom 7:5). Whenever we commit ourselves to a program, rules, method, principles, etc. to perform, we put ourselves under law and the law is what gives sin power in our lives (1 Cor 15:56). . . .

What was the problem? The problem was not the bad behavior but the belief behind the behavior that caused me to act that way. . . .

Finally a close friend handed me some tapes and said, “Here, listen to these, maybe they’ll help you.” . . . . [Later] I was driving along listening to the third tape which was teaching on our death in Christ. Rom 6:6-7 says, “For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”

[I thought] That’s what I need, but how do I make that true in my life? Then [the teacher] said, “It is not something you do, it is something that has been done; our death with Christ is past tense, the old person that we were was crucified and anyone who has died has been freed from sin’ (Rom 6:2), you are ‘dead to sin’ (Rom 6:11). I know you don’t act dead to sin, you don’t feel dead to sin, you don’t even look dead to sin, you think that is just a positional truth, that’s just the way God sees me. Listen, if that’s the way God sees you, that is the way it is. If that is what God says about you, that is the truth about you.”

It was at that moment that the lights came on and in that moment I knew the truth. I knew I had died with Christ and the old sin loving sinner had died and was no more. I had believed the lie and acted like it for all these years, but that was not who I was. . . .

I had believed the lie that I was a hopeless, helpless alcoholic and had lived in bondage all the years I believed it. But [now] I knew without a shadow of a doubt, that I, Mike Quarles, was a child of God who was “in Christ,” because I had died with Christ, was dead to sin and had been freed from sin. Free at last, free at last! Praise God I was free at last !!!!!!!!! [26]

A born again Christian in bondage to sin is like an innocent man in a jail cell behind a closed, but unlocked door. As long as the man believes he is guilty or that the door is locked and he is incapable of opening it, he will unnecessarily remain behind those bars. But the moment he would believe he was innocent, did not belong in jail, that the door was not locked, and he could open it, he would rather effortlessly do so. What you believe is the difference between spiritual and moral victory or defeat. Which is why, as we describe below in section C.5, the spiritual “armor” that the Apostle Paul describes in Ephesians 6 is primarily made up of the understanding and belief we have in biblical doctrine.

Pastoral Practices

  • Our identity in Christ is our spiritual armor. This is why the Apostle wrote three chapters or 66 verses in Ephesians before he gave them any commands to obey. He started with a focus on doctrines they needed to believe, so that they could consistently obey the commands in chapters 5-6, and successfully fight the war as directed in chapter 6.

This is the same reason the Apostle spends the first 11 chapters and 314 verses of Romans teaching theology. You can you find only 4 verses out of those 314 that give a command to do something (cf. 6:11-13; 8:12), and it is essentially the command to believe the theology Paul is teaching and consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God. In essence then, in the first 11 chapters of Romans Paul gives the Christians only one thing to do and apply.

Does such a priority reflect the teaching in our churches? The Apostle understood that right believing is the only way to consistently, and rather effortlessly produce right living. This is why it is so vital to the health of Christians that we teach doctrines to believe and not just commands to obey.

Extras & Endnotes

A Devotion to Dad

Father, we thank You that when we know Your truth, that truth will set us free. Help us to recognize demonic “footholds” in our life? Those places that the Holy Spirit does not consistently control us. And give us the faith and love for You necessary to confront those places in our heart and see them healed. And may Your great grace be with us through the whole process of giving more of our heart to You.

Gauging Your Grasp

1) What is the “Great Commission”? What is the Micro “Great Commission”?

2) What four word command do we use to summarize the “Great Commission”? What are the ramifications and assumptions in such a command?

3) We claim that a “disciple” in Scripture is a Christian. Why? Do you agree or disagree?

4) Simply put, how does life transformation occur?

5) How does the understanding that our “hearts” are in parts, help us to understand how we can “believe” something, but not seem to consistently act upon it?

6) What is the danger of painful traumatic events in our life?

7) How is a demonic “foothold” formed in our lives? What is the result? Give some examples.

8) What is the source of the emotional pain in our memories? What then needs to occur for the pain to cease?

9) How do we describe meditation? How is it facilitated?

10) What are the 5 “Heart ?’s” that have proven successful in helping people resolve their painful past and demolish demonic “footholds”?

11) What do we need to vigilantly monitor to recognize if we are being attacked?

12) As you look over Table 4.7, are there any overwhelming negative thoughts that you struggle with? Do you have someone who can help you follow the process outlined above to resolve them?

Publications & Particulars

  1. We wish to express our indebtedness to both Neil Anderson and Ed Smith. The former’s materials on gaining an identity in Christ (Victory Over the Darkness) have been very helpful to people in our congregation.

    Likewise, the Theophostic ministry of Dr. Smith has been a great aid in training the counselors in our church, and we greatly wish we could whole-heartedly endorse it. But Dr. Smith’s focus on the need for extra-biblical revelation to occur in order for healing to happen is unbiblical and potentially dangerous. Dr. Smith does not recognize that the truth that sets people free comes from their reasonable, conscious mind instead of some supernatural encounter with Jesus.

    The mysticism of Dr. Smith’s approach is especially evidenced in the crucial step of helping people recognize truth after exposing the lie. At this point, Dr. Smith instructs the counselor to pray, “Jesus, what would you like to communicate to this person?” This obviously creates the expectation of a supernatural extra-biblical revelation. This is not necessary, and Christian psychologists the author has spoken to who are experts in “Theophostic” have agreed. If one would simply change the above step to something like merely asking the person (instead of praying for the person), “What would Jesus say about that [lie],” they would see the same results and avoid the unbiblical and potentially dangerous pitfalls of mysticism.

    And if this was the only change to Dr. Smith’s training and materials that was needed we would probably still recommend them. But he consistently makes such mysticism the key to success throughout his training and also consistently disparages the God-given place of reason, even though it is actually what makes the process successful.

    For further discussion of “Theophostic” ministry see Chapter 14.19. ↑

  2. The word “make” is not in the original Greek but a reflection of the “transitive use of [mathēteusate] [which] in the NT means ‘make disciples.’” (W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison, The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, 3 vols. [T & T Clark, 1988-1997], 684). ↑

  3. D. A. Carson, Matthew in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, ed. CD-ROM (Zondervan, n.d.), in loc. ↑

  4. Accordingly, John MacArthur comments at Matthew 28:19-20:

    A person who is not Christ’s true disciple does not belong to Him and is not saved. When a person genuinely confesses Christ as Lord and Savior, he is immediately saved, immediately made a disciple, and immediately filled with the Holy Spirit. Not to be Christ’s disciple is therefore not to be Christ’s at all.

    Scripture knows nothing of receiving Christ as Savior but not as Lord, as if a person could take God piecemeal as it suits him. Every convert to Christ is a disciple of Christ, and no one who is not a disciple of Christ, no matter what his profession of faith might be, is a convert of Christ.

    The Great Commission is a command to bring unbelievers throughout the world to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and the term the Lord uses in this commissioning is make disciples. The true convert is a disciple, a person who has accepted and submitted himself to Jesus Christ, whatever that may mean or demand. The truly converted person is filled with the Holy Spirit and given a new nature that yearns to obey and worship the Lord who has saved him. Even when he is disobedient, he knows he is living against the grain of his new nature, which is to honor and please the Lord. He loves righteousness and hates sin, including his own. (MacArthur’s New Testament Commentary, Electronic Edition STEP Files CD-ROM [Parsons Technology, 1997], in loc. ↑

  5. Dr. MacArthur adds:

    The church’s mission is not simply to convert but to teach. The convert is called to a life of obedience to the Lord, and in order to obey Him it is obviously necessary to know what He requires. As already noted, a disciple is by definition a learner and follower. Therefore, studying, understanding, and obeying “the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27) is the lifelong task of every true disciple. . . . [His] first mission was to provide salvation for those who would come to Him in faith, that is, to make disciples. His second mission was to teach God’s truth to those disciples. That is the same twofold mission He gives the church. Ibid. ↑

  6. For further discussion of the place the mind plays in our spiritual growth see section 4.3.B ↑

  7. J. P. Moreland, Love Your God With All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul (NavPress, 1997), 65, 67. ↑

  8. Excerpt from section 4.3.B. ↑

  9. Excerpt from section 2.3.B.2. ↑

  10. Excerpt from section 4.3.A.2. ↑

  11. C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Electronic Edition STEP Files CD-ROM (Findex.com, 2000), Ps 51:6. ↑

  12. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature (BADG), 3rd ed., F. W Danker ed. (Chicago University Press, 2000). ↑

  13. We think the Apostle is contrasting the type of battle that is fought in the physical realm with spears and swords, against that fought in the spiritual realm with the word of God. The more literal translation of sarx here as a human body is preferable as the Apostle says “we are living in a sarx.” See BADG. ↑

  14. For discussion of the interpretation of 2 Cor 10:3-5 see section 5.12.A. ↑

  15. Regarding the analogy of a computer to describe our mind see section 4.3.A.1. ↑

  16. Excerpt from 4.6.A.3. ↑

  17. BAGD gives the possible definitions of topon as: a place of habitation, a position held, or an opportunity. Accordingly, the Apostle is translated/interpreted here in two different ways. 1) a warning that anger can give the devil a place of control in an individual’s heart, (NIV, NLT, KJV, NKJV, MSG, JBP, JB or; 2) a warning that the anger of a person gives the devil an opportunity to influence a congregation as a whole (NASB, ESV, NCV, TEV, NET). Other translations are less clear (RSV “room,” NCV “a way,” and NEB “loop-hole”).

    Most modern commentators interpret the warning as applying to opportunity within the congregation (cf. John Stott, The Message of Ephesians [Intervarsity, 1979], 187; A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [Word, 1990], 302; Harold Hoehner, Ephesians [Baker, 2009], 623; F. F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians [Eerdmans, 1984], 361-2; Albert Barnes, Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament [online at http://www.ccel.org], in loc.).

    Some commentators see the possibility of both meanings (Francis Foulkes, Ephesians [Eerdmans, 1999], 141; Peter O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians [Eerdmans, 1999], 341. However, O’Brien adds, “it does not signify, as Robinson, 112, an ‘opportunity for the entry of an evil spirit’ into the person (341).

    First of all, the lexical data strongly suggests the proper translation is “place of habitation” rather than “opportunity.” The Greek word topon is used in the NT 93 times and in the NASB is given the meaning “place of habitation” 88 times and only 3 times as “opportunity.” Obviously the vast majority of the time it means “a place of habitation” rather than an “opportunity,” so we would assume it to have the former meaning unless the context demands otherwise. This certainly isn’t the case at Ephesians 4:27, and therefore the normal meaning of topon is the correct one. In fact, we must ask how else would the devil have opportunity in a congregation unless he has a foothold in an individual?

    Accordingly, we believe John Calvin (1509–1564) interpreted it best:

    Neither give place (τῷ διαβόλῳ) to the devil.  I am aware of the interpretation which some give of this passage. Erasmus (and Luther, Barclay), who translates it, “neither give place to the Slanderer,” (calumniatori,) shews plainly that he understood it as referring to malicious men.

    But I have no doubt, Paul’s intention was, to guard us against allowing Satan to take possession of our minds, and, by keeping in his hands this citadel, to do whatever he pleases. (Commentaries, online at http://www.ccel.org)

    John MacArthur has a similar view (MacArthur’s New Testament Commentary: Ephesians [Moody, 1986]). Like Calvin, there is no doubt in our minds that by using topon the Apostle meant to warn that unresolved anger will give the devil control of a part of our heart. Of course, then, this would give him influence in a community of believers to spread that anger. But the individual foothold in the believer’s life must not be excluded from the Apostle’s meaning. ↑

  18. Online at http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foothold. ↑

  19. John Calvin, Commentaries, online at http://www.ccel.org. ↑

  20. Hodge, in loc. ↑

  21. Understand that we are not saying that a born-again Christian can be possessed by a demon in the same way an unregenerated person could. However, demonic control is always in the form of lies people believe, and if we believe lies, “our struggle” will be “against the spiritual forces of evil” operating in and around our life. For further discussion see the classic treatment by C. Fred Dickason, Demon Possession and the Christian (Crossway, 1987). ↑

  22. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT), Gleason Archer, R. Laird Harris, Bruce K. Waltke eds. (Moody, 1980), 880. ↑

  23. The TWOT tells us that ōtseb used here in Ps 139:24 means “sorrow” while its root word āsab “relates to physical pain as well as to emotional sorrow.” (687-88)

    Accordingly, C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch interpret the statement as referring to “the pain, torture, viz., of the inward and outward punishments of sin” (in loc.). Therefore, “Offensive” (NIV, NLT) and “wicked” (RSV, KJV) seem misleading. ↑

  24. Some have claimed that it is unbiblical to meditate on your past based on Paul’s statement: “one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:13-14).

    First, we cannot understand the Apostle literally here as if he had total amnesia about his past and had truly forgotten it. Writing late in life, he recalls: “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man” and “the worst of sinners” (1 Tim 1:13, 16). The Apostle did not forget his past, but he resolved it. How do we know this? Because he speaks so much about a clear conscience, and that no doubt included how he had treated Christians before becoming one.

    At some point, the Apostle had to address his past in light of God’s grace, so that even though he had been involved in the murder of Christians, he could say later in life: “I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26; cf. 2 Tim 1:3). There simply is no way the Apostle could have gained such peace about his past by merely “forgetting what is behind.” In fact, the only way he could be “straining toward what is ahead” is by resolving his past with God.

    If we still doubt that meditating and resolving our past has a vital place in the Christian life, then we need only think about what is involved in lasting forgiveness. We cannot truly forgive unless we go back and embrace the incident, are honest about its pain and cost, and then let it go, right there, in our heart, where it still hurts. True forgiveness requires meditation and resolution of our past. ↑

  25. On the dangers of exorcism Jesus warned:

    When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. (Matt 12:43-5)

    It needs to be remembered that what gives a demon influence and authority in a person’s life is the lies the person believes. If the mere presence of a demon is forced away, but the lies the person believes are not replaced with protective truth, and their mind is “unoccupied,” the person will be susceptible to even more deception and accordingly more demonic control.

    Leon Morris comments on the parallel passage in Luke 11:24-26: “When anyone gets rid of an evil spirit and puts nothing in its place, he is in grave moral danger” (Luke, [Eerdmans, 1999], 218). Likewise, Darrell Bock concludes: “Exorcism alone is not sufficient. Exorcism only benefits when one then responds to God” (Luke [Baker, 1996], 1092). ↑

  26. Testimony of Mike Quarles at http://www.freedomfromaddiction.org/ site/Mike.html ↑