The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest

Vol: 37 Issue: 3 - Sunday, October 03, 2004

The 'Doctrine of Demons'
by Jack Kinsella

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2nd Timothy 2:15)

Today I received an email from a friend who continues to struggle in the
battle between the flesh and the spirit, despairing of the fact that he is
convinced he is losing the fight.

My friend and I have been corresponding for years and I am certain of his
sincere desire to be saved, but as he noted in his email, "I've never
bought into the doctrine of 'once saved, always saved'."  Consequently, my
friend is only certain of his salvation when the enemy is taking the day
off.

Let the enemy unleash an attack, my friend falls (as do we all) and now he
has to start all over again - what he calls a re-re-birth'.  In the
meantime, until he is able to get himself back under control, he believes
he has lost his salvation and is useless to God.

The Apostle Paul admonishes believers to 'put on the whole armor of God'
for the expressed purpose; "that ye may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil." (Ephesians 6:11)

The purpose of that armor is SO important that Paul restates it in verse
13, saying, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may
be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

Paul lists the believers' spiritual armor as follows:

"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on
the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith
ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the
helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God:" (Ephesians 6:14-17)

Let's look at each component a little more closely:

First, the truth. Note the anatomical analogy Paul uses.   In battle, that
is an extremely vulnerable target. Strike a serious blow there, and the
victim is rendered helpless.

Secondly, the 'breastplate' of righteousness.  The torso is the biggest
and easiest target to strike, but it is also the easiest to armor.  If one
is covered by the righteousness of Christ, the heart is protected.

Thirdly, the feet.  A battle tactic commonly employed in Paul's day was to
sow the battlefield with nails and other sharp objects.  Foot soldiers
with injured feet are not very effective.  If one is fully prepared ('shod
') with the Gospel, one can engage the enemy uncrippled.

Fourth, Paul says, "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye
shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." (v16)  If one
is certain of his standing before God, the enemy's whispering campaign
falls on deaf ears.

Finally, Paul says to, "take the helmet of salvation, and the Sword of the
Spirit, which is the Word of God:"

The 'helmet of salvation'.  In battle, the most effective way to take an
enemy out is a head shot.  If the enemy can convince you that your
salvation is in doubt, he has sidelined you as a threat.

Without truth, the righteousness of Christ, knowledge of the Gospel, faith
in its promises, and the certain knowledge of your standing before Christ,
the Christian's only offensive weapon; "the sword of the Spirit, which is
the Word of God" is not very effective.

Assessment:

"Above all", Paul writes, is the shield of faith.  Without faith, one can
never be certain of one's salvation.  And just how effectively can the
unsaved communicate the truth of the Gospel -- or wield the Sword of the
Spirit, 'which is the Word of God'?

If the doctrine of eternal security is a true doctrine, then the enemy has
no power over the Christian.  He can't inspire fear, he can't inspire
doubt, he can't inspire faint-heartedness - in short, HE is defeated.

The only weapon the enemy can deploy against a Christian is doubt.  The
question can't be examined often enough - what good is the Word of God in
the hands of the unsaved?

The Scriptures say, "For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish
foolishness;" (1 Corinthians 1:18) and, ". . . the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him:
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1
Corinthians 2:14)

Can a person who is once saved, become a 'natural (unsaved) person again
through sin?  Having been once saved, does the preaching of the Cross
become 'foolishness' to the Christian who has sinned his way out of
fellowship with God?

If the Word of God doesn't become 'foolishness' to the lost sinner (and
the Bible clearly says it does), then why is it that the once-saved sinner
now out of fellowship stills knows enough to ask God to save him again?
How can a sinner out of fellowship with God discern the spiritual need to
be saved (again)?

The Scriptures say that salvation CANNOT be achieved by the acts of men.
(Corinthians 3:15, Ephesians 2:8, 2 Timothy 1:8-9, Titus 3:5)

Salvation, according to Scripture, comes to us by God's love for us, not
by our love of God. (Psalms 6:4, 17:7, 31:16, 109:26, Isaiah 63:9, Titus
3:4)

1 John 4:19 says that "We love him, because He FIRST loved us," -- and NOT
the other way around.

The person who has 'sinned themselves out of salvation' cannot, of his own
volition, return to the Throne and ask to be saved a second time.

A Pentecostal preacher that I know once told cited Hebrews 6:4-6 as his
proof text that people CAN fall away to the extent they can lose their
salvation.

"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted
of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have
tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they
shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify
to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame."

It proves exactly the opposite.  If his proof text means one can lose one's
salvation, then it also means that, once lost, they are forever lost and
have NO HOPE of being 're-saved' -- unless there is another way of
interpreting the word 'impossible'.

Salvation is accomplished by Jesus Christ alone. (Matthew 1:21, 18:11,
Luke 2:11, 7:50, 9:56, 19:10, John 3:17, 4:42, 12:47, Acts 2:47, 4:12,
5:31, 13:23, Romans 5:9, 10, 11:26, 1 Corinthians 1:18, 2 Corinthians
2:15, Ephesians 5:23, Philippians 3:20, 2 Timothy 1:10, Titus 3:6, Hebrews
7:25, 2 Peter 1:1, 10-11, 2 Peter 2:20)

Salvation is a gift extended by God's grace and not something to be earned
by good works or lost by bad ones. (Acts 15:11, Ephesians 2:5, 8, 2
Timothy 1:8-9)

The state of salvation is eternal, (Isaiah 45:17) physical, (Ephesians
5:23) and comes through the Sovereign Call of God.  (Psalms 20:6, 28:8,
57:3, 2 Peter 1:10-11)  A person who has been saved is saved from eternal
judgment. (Psalms 76:9, 109:31)

The doctrine of eternal security was not given the Church as a 'license to
sin', as its opponents claim. The doctrine of eternal security was given
the Church as a defensive weapon to keep them from succumbing to wounds
suffered in the battle with the enemy.

Without the helmet of salvation, the Sword of the Spirit is useless. And
without the Sword of the Spirit, the Christian is defeated before he even
steps onto the field.

Opponents of the doctrine of eternal security sometimes deride it the
'doctrine of demons'.  Logic says exactly the opposite.

Why would 'demons' promote a doctrine that renders the Christian
invulnerable in battle, rather than the one that guarantees the
Christian's defeat -- since all Christians sin?

Do YOU know anybody that has never sinned since being saved -- not even
once? What about YOU?

Then, there is the problem with the logic behind conditional salvation.

If a Christian can sin his way out of being saved, which sin is it?  (I'll
only have to avoid THAT one)

If it isn't one sin, but a preponderance of sins, how many sins constitute
a 'preponderance'? (So I can stay under the limit)

And, having sinned oneself out of salvation, how does one get around the
problem of "crucify[ing] to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put[ing]
Him to an open shame."?

But the bottom line is this:  If eternal security is a false doctrine,
then we are defeated, and even Jesus can't save us from ourselves.

And THAT, my friends, would be the 'doctrine of demons' in a nutshell.