Posted by Yong TM (202.156.2.219) on January 06, 2003 at 23:47:47:
In Reply to: Possession posted by Kamen Rider on January 04, 2003 at 13:35:11:
Once, I went to one of my business associate, and told him excitedly about how this other person was interested in a joint project, and how he is willing to invest. My associate looked at me and said, "Unless the money is in the bank, I will simply listen." What he meant was that all the talks are inconsequential until the money is in the bank.
In the same manner, Reformed Christians should hold the same attitude towards questions of faith, i.e. If it is not in the WORD of God, then I will just listen and take no action.
Reformed understanding declares that the Bible is not only the WORD of God, it is sufficient for all matters relating to our life and faith. This means that apart from the Bible, there is no need for further revelations. All we ever need to know about life and spirituality is already in the Bible. Conversely then, anything not in the Bible would be suspect, no matter how exciting or enticing the theory may be.
Violate this principle and you go into a no-man's land where anything can be claimed, and anyone can say anything and get others to believe if they are articulate, powerful, or whatever enough.
None of the things you mentioned can be found in the Bible. They may sound very exciting, but they are as exciting as the claims of local superstitions or pagan faith. Yet somehow, Christians today like to claim such things. I have encountered many of such people myself. I met a supposedly famous Korean preacher who told me that God had opened her 'third eye' so that she can see spirits. Those other lowly people like myself would not be able to spot spirits because my 'third eye' has not been opened by the Holy Spirit yet. And where is this 'third eye'? Lo and behold, right smack at the forehead.
This of course, is no where to be found in the Bible. But it is found in Chinese mythology (Er Lang Shen), Greek Mythology, Hindhuism, etc. Strangely, I know of many Christians who chose to believe her, since she supposedly leads a holy life and preaches with fire and brimstones.
On the passive side, the reformed Christians should know that this cannot be accepted. Not only is it completely not biblical, it clearly has its source in common superstitions and pagan practices. On the active side, the reformed Christians should speak boldly about such nonsense, and rebuke those who take the name of the LORD in vain in proclaiming that these weird stuff are from God. At best, I believe those people are sincere, but very sincerely mistaken.
The Bible does not give much treatment to possessions, other than telling us that Christ and the disciples could exorcise, and all believers should be able to. That does not mean that we should see spirits left and right. I can tell you with all honesty that in my decades of Christian living, I have not witnessed a single possession, unlike what many churches are claiming today (with regular 'casting' prayers, etc.)
My own understanding is that possessions tend to be obvious at countrysides and places where people are ignorant and would fear such phenomena. One of my church associates is actually quite known for practicing exorcism, except that he does that in rural Malaysia. I do not think that in the city, there are movie-like possessions going on. This is because city-dwellers are already possessed... by materialism, selfishness, hypocricy, etc... Satan really does not need to work too hard on city dwellers to capture them.
As with all things, reformed Christians judges all things through the WORD of God, and so are victory-oriented in life; not demon-fearing. The devil may harrass us and tempts us while we are weak, but I do not believe he can possess someone who already has the Holy Spirit in him. Do not make the usual dualistic error of assuming that the devil is sort of like a 'reversal' of God, a good versus evil sort of thing. Don't flatter him, he is simply a fallen angel. God is the Creator of all things. There is a qualitative difference between God and all other things, including the devil. This is why we should fear God and nothing else.