FROM FEAR TO LOVE: THE PROCESS OF SALVATION

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FROM FEAR TO LOVE

THE PROCESS OF SALVATION

How to Really Live and Love

Through Moving Away From a Spirit of Fear

Towards the Spirit of Love

by

Scott Werdebaugh, M.A.


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COPYRIGHT REFERENCES AND INFORMATION

FROM FEAR TO LOVE: THE PROCESS OF SALVATION How to Really Live and LoveThrough Moving Away From a Spirit of Fear Towards the Spirit of Love. C opyright December 2014, by Scott Werdebaugh and Published by Outskirts Press, Inc., 10940 S. Parker Rd 515 Parker, CO 80134 - All Rights Reserved.

(Space Reserved for ISBN Number and Bar Code.)

NOTE: Biblical quotes, all editorial notes, resource, and other reference materialthroughout this work, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the Revised StandardVersion as found in the HARPER STUDY BIBLE / THE HOLY BIBLE: Revised StandardVersion; Edited by Harold Lindsell, Ph.D., D.D., Zondervan Publishing House, GrandRapids, Michigan, 1964/1965. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved.

Selected Scripture quotations, noted by RSV as the source following each quotation,are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952,and 1971, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States ofAmerica. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Also, other Scripture included in this book are taken from the King James Version,noted by KJV, and the New American Standard Bible, noted by NASB, follow eachBiblical reference, and both are Used by Permission.

Selected Scripture quotations and references, noted by KJV as the source followingeach quotation or reference, are taken from The Scofield Reference Bible THE HOLYBIBLE Containing the Old and New Testaments AUTHORIZED KING JAMES VERSION,Copyright 1909, 1917 and Copyright Renewed, 1937, 1945 by OXFORDUNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK, INC. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved.

For use within the United Kingdom only: Scripture quotations and referencesare taken from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the AuthorizedVersion in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by

permission of the Crowns patentee, Cambridge University Press.NOTE: Most Scripture quotations and references in this book, noted by NASB as thesource following each quotation or reference, are taken from the New AmericanStandard Bible Reference Edition as published by Creation House, Inc., CarolStream, Illinois and Copyright by THE LOCKMAN FOUNDATION, 1960, 1962, 1963,1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 - A Corporation Not for Profit, La Habra,Calif. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved. (www.Lockman.org)

Other quotations in this work, unless otherwise noted, are taken from these sources:

Taken from THE MIND CHANGERS: The Art of Christian Persuasion by Emory A. Griffin. Copyright 1976 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois. Used by permission of Tyndale HousePublishers. All Rights Reserved.

THE ULTIMATE INTENTION by DeVern F. Fromke. C opyright 1963 by SURE FOUNDATION PUBLISHERS,Mt. Vernon, MO/Indianapolis, IN First Edition, June, 1962; Second Edition, June, 1963; and ThirdEdition, January, 1966. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Taken from WHATS GONE WRONG WITH THE HARVEST? by James F. Engel and H. Wilbert Norton.Copyright 1975 by Zondervan Publishing House of The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan.Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Taken from Dr. D. James Kennedy, Late Senior Minister of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, SermonNotes. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.


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DEDICATIONS

I wish to dedicate this book first and foremost to the grace of God and to my Lord Jesus Christ. These truthsare from Him and without Him, this book could neverhave been written.

I would also like to dedicate this book to all those whohave opened the door of trust and entered with me into alife of faith wherein we all can grow in our knowledgeand experience of the Spirit of Love, and together enjoythe blessings this life affords us and the joy of sharing thislife with everyone we meet, so that they, too, might joinus one day in heaven forever with our Savior and Lordwithin the eternal presence of Almighty God, our Father.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My Family: I am grateful for all that they have taught me about love,forgiveness, faithfulness, and patience.

My Pastors, Past and Present: I am thankful for their wisdom,encouragement, and example that they have imparted to me as they soughtafter Gods heart and desired that all would come to a saving relationshipwith Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior and Lord.

My Fellow Students and friends at Wheaton College and WheatonGraduate School: I am thankful for all the time we spent discussing andanswering their perceptive and challenging questions, and for theirencouragement to write this book.

My Professors: I am grateful for their expertise in their chosen field,their input into my life, and for their personal encouragement to me to writethis book.

My Youngest Brother, Todd Werdebaugh: I am grateful to him for hisunrelenting encouragement to write this book, particularly after my threestrokes which made my writing and ability to think and express myself as

well as in the pages written before these strokes. I became so discouragedthat I left writing this book for more than ten years. But through hisencouragement and Gods leading, I began writing again, such as it is, and myonly hope is that the first part and the last part may equally speak to thereader of the Truths that God wants to communicate through these pages.

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FORWARD

(This Forward will be a bit different than most you have probably seen inasmuchas you, the reader of this book, will be its writer. I would prayerfully ask that youwould enter your thoughts on this page and the next expressing how this book mayhave encouraged you in your own personal walk with Jesus Christ. Then those whoread it after you may also be encouraged by what you have shared, and they, too,can then share their thoughts, as room allows, and so on, for all subsequent readersto enjoy and be blessed. Thank you!)

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FROM FEAR TO LOVE: A Preface

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his First Inaugural Address in 1933,uttered these now famous words: ...the only thing we have to fear isfear itself.

Over the years, his statement has probably been quoted as oftenas any of the others that he made, if not more. And, at first glance,

there does seem to be at least some element of truth contained in thisthought. However, upon closer scrutiny, it does not really go farenough to accurately describe the true nature of people, whether theybe those who were caught in the economic turmoil and uncertainty ofThe Great Depression, or any one of us today.

Truly, we are all a fearful people, at least to some extent. Someare afraid of their past and dread any possibility of repeating it, or elsethey run from their past, avoiding any mention of it, or, for thatmatter, of any person, place, or thing that might even remotelyremind them of it. Then, there are some who fear their presentcircumstances and may even appear to be paralyzed by them. Stillothers are afraid of the future, with its unknown challenges andpossibilities. They instead prefer to live in the past with yesterdaysmemories, or in the present with full concentration on and a hopefulcontrol over the affairs and concerns of today, thereby avoiding anythoughts about tomorrow.

Some people are afraid of heights; and there are those who greatlyfear the dark. Many people greatly fear the aging process, with itsunavoidable changes to their physical appearance, and the

accompanying prospect of potentially ill health and, eventually, deathitself.

On the other hand, a great number of us, me included, have oftenexperienced a gripping fear of failure, or a painful fear of rejection byothers, in any one of many possible ways that such types of fear can

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arise within each one of us. If we were truly honest with ourselves,we could fairly easily identify at least one thing that we fear,something that strikes us to the very quick, whether it is a fear of

living or of dying.

And what is at the very heart of our fears? Where do our fearscome from? How should we handle our fears? Is it possible to liveabove our fears? And what has fear to do with love?

It is interesting to note that, in late May of 1992, the very populartalk show hostess, Oprah Winfrey, emphatically stated at least twice inone week, on different shows dealing with different topics, that thereare only two basic emotions -- fear and love -- and everything is eitherthe result of one or the other -- fear or love . Again, while there is acertain element of truth to this thought, and while certain feelings,actions, and behaviors are manifested through the emotions of fearand love, is there still not something far deeper at the root of thesetwo basic emotions? And, as with fear, are there not many differentforms and dimensions of love?

These and other questions will be explored throughout the pageswhich follow. We will also consider the very premises upon which thisbook is based, and the glorious promises that have inspired me towrite it, promises which are available to everyone who reads these

pages.

I therefore encourage you to not only read this book, but to alsointeract freely with it, challenging its premises with your own personalexperiences and thoughts. I sincerely hope that you, too, will not onlycome to understand the insidious and pervasive nature of fear, but, ofsignificantly greater value, that you will discover the fearless realm oflove in which to live out your life to the fullest, both now and forever.

Love without any fear? you ask? ...and a full life, too, with love, joy, and peace? ...and what do you mean by forever? Again I say, Read on, my friend. Read on.


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A S P I R I T O F F E A R

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When facing danger, threat, possible injury, pain, or personal risk,we may not know if we will survive, or how a given situation will turn

out, or how badly we may be hurt or adversely affected by a givensituation. And so, we either run from that which alarms us, or, if weare brave enough and have our adrenaline flowing adequately, we maystay and fight. But then again, we may just stew in our own circum-stances for a while, with worry and anxieties on the one hand, orperhaps even with self-pity, depression, and/or bitterness on theother.

The unknown is also a part of every decision we make, regardlessof how the persuasive appeal is presented to us. In fact, the

cognitive dissonance and subsequent disequiliberation one feelsafter making a major decision are all based, at least in part, in thereality that we will never know for certain if we might have beenhappier and better off had we selected any one of the other availablealternatives in our decision making process.

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And, of course, worship of our God may also involve a certaindegree of fear, up to and including, in some cases, a holy terror,wherein we fear Gods actions, or perhaps, impending punishmentfrom our God for our own shortcomings. Another dimension of thisfear, as has already been mentioned, may involve our highest respect,supreme reverence, and deepest awe for our God, simply for all thatwe believe our God to be, and/or because we know how and what weourselves are truly like.

Nevertheless, in whatever way that our fear may manifest itself,with regard to whom we understand our God to be and the nature ofour relationship to Him, there still remains, to a greater or lesserdegree, at least some element of the unknown. This fear may be interms of our own individual ignorance or lack of understanding of orrelationship with our own God, or as the result of a relationship with

our God that is based upon some sort of performance measure. (Forexample, consider the Biblical account of the Apostle Pauls sermon inAthens, in the midst of the Areopagus, wherein he refers to an altarthat had been erected to an unknown God. It is found in Acts17:22-31.

However, if we as believers in the one true God are cultivating agrowing, close, intimate, personal relationship with Him, the God who


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is knowable, the One who infinitely loves and cares for us, and whocreated us in His own image and after His own likeness, then thedegree of the unknown in our relationship with God is directly

proportional to our individual level of faith in, love for, and communionwith our God.

Consequently, then, approaching the one true God, who is infinitelygreater, more powerful, and altogether more holy than all we couldever possibly conceive and comprehend in our finite humanness,should elicit from us the most fearsome awe, highest reverence, andutmost respect that we can know, understand, experience, and offer toHim in this life. Indeed, to do anything less would fall within the realmof blasphemy.

Therefore, such a fear of God has far more to do with who He isthan with who we are. Only as we understand and apply this truth willwe come to the place where we can begin to relate to the one trueGod with the correct and appropriate perspective that He alone isaltogether pure and holy and just, and that we are entirely sinful,rebellious, willful, and hopelessly lost and unredeemable apart fromHis sole gracious provision for our salvation. In other words, after firstunderstanding this truth, we then can only enter His presence whenwe have repented of our sinfulness and asked for and received Hisforgiveness for our sin through the death and shed blood of His only

Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross of Calvary on our behalf and in ourplace. Again, this is a fear that is unlike any other. It is a fear thathas nothing to do with who we are and what we have to offer to God,but rather, it has everything to do with who God is and what He has tooffer us. (Consider Isaiahs experience when God revealed Hisholiness to him and called him to prophesy to the people of Judah. Itis found in Isaiah 6:1-8.)

In this latter kind of fear, there is one aspect that distinguishes itfrom every other kind of fear. The fear we sense when approaching

the one true God is a God-centered fear, as we esteem His utterholiness, His supreme power, and His exaltation over all creation.Obviously, then, this kind of fear or awe or reverential respect is fardifferent from any other kind of fear that we may and do experience,as all other fears are man-centered , or self-centered . Although bothkinds of fear involve an element of the unknown, the fear of Godcenters its attention on God, in worship of who He is, while every other


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kind of fear, without exception, focuses on oneself, or on mankind as awhole, with a fright, fight, or flight response.

If you sense one of these other kinds of fear within yourrelationship with your God, then may I suggest that perhaps the Godyou worship is not the one true God of the Bible, who loves youintimately, cares about you infinitely, and longs greatly for arelationship with you that is based on an unconditional love that castsout all fear. (1 John 4:16-19) It is this God of the Bible who offerspermanent forgiveness instead of fear; peace and comfort instead ofpunishment and condemnation; reconciliation and full restorationinstead of castigation and total separation; and joy, love, andacceptance instead of strife, loneliness, and rejection. Best of all, theGod of the Bible wants us to enjoy Him and experience abundant newlife right now instead of struggling through a meaningless existence;and this God wants us to know and experience eternal life forever withHim in Heaven instead of eternal condemnation, torment, and deathforever separated from Him in Hell.

This is the God being proclaimed throughout the pages of thisbook, and you can come to Him right now, just as you are, if you havenot done so before. Talk to God, just as you would talk to your bestfriend, for truly that is what He wants to be to you. Agree with God

that you have done wrong things in your life, and ask Him to forgiveyou for those things. Thank God for sending His only Son, JesusChrist, to earth to die for your sins in your place, thereby paying yourpenalty for the wrong things you have done, so you would not have to.Thank God for forgiving you. Tell God that you believe in Him andinvite Jesus to take complete control of your life, knowing and trustingthat God only wants the very best for you. Then thank God, in Jesusname, for giving you the free gift of eternal life in the future, and thepower to face and live life abundantly right now, with God Himself byHis Holy Spirit within you and surrounding you to help, guide, protect,

and keep you throughout your life here on earth.

Refining Our Definition of a Spirit of Fear

Let us all take a moment just now and think through our ownindividual and personal fears and sources of fear. Are they not allaffected in one way or another by at least some degree of the


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unknown? In fact, the greater the unknown is a part of your area offear, probably the greater your fear is in that area of your life. There

is a direct correlation between a persons unknown factor in any givenfear and the degree of fear that is experienced by that person.

Dr. Emory Griffin, in his book entitled THE MIND CHANGERS, hasreduced this thought to a formula: FEAR = TERROR XPROBABILITY. 2 He also adds, The amount of fear a person feelsdepends not only on how terrified he is of a future possibility, but alsoon his view of the probability of it happening to him.

2 Therefore, it is

safe to say that the unknown factor -- that which we do not know,cannot understand, and have not experienced -- is a great source for

fear and it can also be a great motivator. This may be why so manysalespeople employ the fear appeal technique in their sales pitches. Ifyou dont believe me, just ask a fire alarm salesperson to come giveyou a presentation on his line of products.

And this brings us to the first of the basic premises of this book,which indeed is the starting point for all of us in gaining anunderstanding of a spirit of fear. It is my firm conviction thatmankinds greatest fear is his own ignorance; that is, thatwhich he does not or cannot, ultimately or reasonably, know,understand, control, or experience.

You see, it is this personal ignorance, or our own finite inability toknow, understand, control, or experience anyone and everything,without any limitations, boundaries, or errors, whether this is to bedesired or not, that serves as a foundation to our response that will bereferred to hereinafter as a spirit of fear . It should also be notedthat the basis for this spirit of fear can arise and exist at any time, atthe will of an individual, or subconsciously, unconsciously, or as areaction to an external stimulation or to a perceived or actual situationconfronting an individual. This personal ignorance or finite inability to

know, understand, or experience someone or something, as accuratelyand adequately as we feel we need to in a given situation or at a giventime, generally evidences itself as a spirit of fear, and it exists withinthe natural spirit of mankind, individually and as a whole, and again,whether this is something to be desired or not.

In a later chapter, we will examine why this is so, as we considerthe source and origin of a spirit of fear.


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Footnotes:

1 Taken from a lecture by Emory A. Griffin in his graduate course, Persuasion,taught at the Wheaton Graduate School during the mid-1970s.

2 Taken from THE MIND CHANGERS: The Art of Christian Persuasion by EmoryA. Griffin, Copyright 1976 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,Illinois. See Chapter 6, page 73 for reference. Used by permission of TyndaleHouse Publishers. All Rights Reserved.


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LETS LOOK AT OURSELVES AND OUR FEARS

All around us we see a spirit of fear. It does not make anydifference how old, wealthy, or healthy we may be. Children andadults alike experience fear. So do both the rich and the poor, theable and the infirm, the simple-minded and the most educated, bothleaders and followers, the powerless and the powerful, as well aseveryone in between. Even the pious and the pagan, the philosopherand the theologian, the psychologist and the physician are not immunefrom the ravages of fear. We all experience fear without exception.Not one of us is excluded from encountering and trying to deal with aspirit of fear in our lives.

The young among us fear old age. The old fear a disabling illnessand death. The rich fear financial disaster or any prospect of losingtheir prized worldly possessions. The poor fear how they will be ableto obtain and provide the necessities of life for themselves and their

loved ones each day. The healthy fear disease and illness. The ill fearpain, disability, or death. In some cases, an ill person may perhapseven fear the prospect of getting well again, being anxious about lifeafter their illness, especially if there may be some possibility ofongoing residual limitations or pain as a result of the illness or injury.The employed may fear the prospect of losing their job or changingcareers, especially if the economy is creating an atmosphere whereinemployers are either downsizing their operations or going out ofbusiness altogether. The unemployed may fear, or at least be anxiousabout their prospects of finding a job that they enjoy and thatadequately meets their needs.

Just take notice sometime of how often we see people who are onthe verge of panic regarding the economy, the governmentsseemingly incessant deficit spending, job insecurity, and the

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limitations of their personal finances. Moreover, crime is continuallyon the increase and most all of us fear, at least to some extent, thepossibility of becoming a victim.

Then, there is the transience of all human relationships. Today, wesee child and spousal abuse, alcoholism and various other forms ofsubstance abuse, divorce, and numerous other personal and familydysfunctions, all continuing their downward spiral, causing unduehardships and an unprecedented breakdown of the once traditionalnuclear family, while at the same time leaving deep emotional, andoftentimes physical scars. In addition, with the traditional nuclearfamily besieged almost to the point of extinction by such politicalforces and agenda as the it takes a village philosophy and an overlyoppressive tax code, not to mention such social agenda as thatespoused by gay and lesbian organizations, feminist activists, PlannedParenthood, outcome-based and Common Core education supporters,and the like, there is more than enough of a spirit of fear on all sidesto go around.

Besides the breakdown of the family, nuclear and otherwise, ouranxiety level continues to escalate due to the rampant moral decaythat extends throughout our society, as well as the very real threat ofsocially communicable diseases that are now spreading worldwide,even to innocent victims, and there is still no real hope of any real

lasting cure. Indeed, the personal fear that arises from any one ofthese tragedies is truly immeasurable.

And, as time goes on, there is an ever-growing consciousness thatthe world as we have known it may be coming to an end. Natural andweather-related disasters are on a continual increase, devastating livesin their wake. So far, there seems to be nothing that mankind can doto adequately prevent worldwide earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, forest and wild fires, famines, and thelike, much less to accurately forecast them enough in advance to just

save peoples lives, and far less importantly, their property. Then,there are the tragedies caused by all kinds of accidents that can bringhavoc to our lives.

Moreover, the ever-increasing worldwide unrest, senseless acts ofviolence and terrorism, skirmishes, wars, and rumors of wars continue


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to know, understand, and experience the realm of the unknown, whichis different for each of us. Moreover, this two-fold nature can be

manifested consciously, subconsciously, or unconsciously.

On the one hand, a spirit of fear can be identified as a drive orinsatiable desire to know, understand, control, and experience all thatwe can to the very best of our ability. And so, throughout our lives,we invest ourselves, our time, and our natural talents and abilities inthe endless tasks of exploring, observing, discovering, conquering, andtaming our own respective realm of the unknown, only to find at theend of our lives, if not before, that there is more that is unknown thanwe could possibly fathom in an eternity of lifetimes.

But then, on the other hand, this spirit of fear can also berecognized as a tendency toward relative complacency, indifference,intellectual laziness or boredom, lack of curiosity about the unknown,or even a seemingly transcendent peaceful comfort with or exclusiveacceptance of the familiar, that is, that vast body of knowledge,understanding, and experience that is already known, understood, andexperienced. It is as though we have become so intimidated by whatwe do not know, understand, control, and experience, for whateverreason, that we respond by choosing not to pursue knowing,understanding, controlling, and experiencing all that is available to us.

In effect, then, a spirit of fear is therefore present when we arbitrarilyset limits on how much of what body of knowledge, understanding,and experience that we have personally chosen to be appropriate forourselves. This is exemplified by the trend in academia to further andfurther specialize in any given field because of how knowledge,understanding, and experience continue to expand explosively, and todo so all the more with so many ongoing advances in technology. As aresult, each generation of scholars must specialize more and more,that is, limit more and more, that body of knowledge, understanding,and experience that they will be responsible and accountable for, lest

they be shown to be a fool for pontificating in an area in which theymay be ignorant.

At first glance, both this active drive and complacent tendency ofmankinds spirit of fear may appear somewhat paradoxical, at least onthe surface; however, closer inspection will prove that this perceiveddual nature is truly but two sides of the very same coin, that coinbeing a spirit of fear.


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Let us next consider where this spirit of fear comes from and whenit first manifested itself.


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THE ORIGIN OF A SPIRIT OF FEAR

Where does this spirit of fear come from and why does it exist?

The answer to the first question is easy, for a spirit of fearoriginates with Satan. Before mankind ever populated this earth,Satan was acting on a spirit of fear. He sought equality with God assomething to be grasped. He could not accept being subordinate toGod. His proud, self-centered drive to be the top dog and in controlof others propelled him into a fateful battle with God, a fight that hecould not, and indeed will not, ever win.

Apparently, Satans spirit of fear blinded him from this truth; orelse it existed within the realm of his unknown consciousness, and

thereby deluded him. Yet, so it is with a spirit of fear and, in this case,a sort of blind ambition. (Read the Biblical accounts of this story inIsaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12b-19; John 12:31; Luke 10:18;Revelation 12:7-12 and 20:1-3, 7-10; and many other numerouspassages about the person and work of Satan.)

And so, Satan was cast out of Gods presence forever. We can besure that the power of Satan was overcome once and for all whenJesus Christ, Gods Son, took all of the sin (past, present, and future)of the whole world upon Himself, as He died in our place on Calvaryscross. And, after having been dead and buried, He rose again threedays later to eternal life, victorious over both sin and death.

We can also hold fast to the certain truth that the existence ofSatan and his raging war against God and His Kingdom will cease at

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the great white throne of judgment. (Perhaps you may wish to readfor yourself the following Biblical accounts of this story, which alsoincludes the message of the Gospel, or the Good News of Gods plan of

salvation: Genesis 1:26-31; 2:7-3:15; Isaiah 14:12-15; 33:1; 52:13-15; 53:2-12; Ezekiel 28:12b-19; Matthew 27:11-28:10; Mark 15:33-16:8; Luke 10:18; 23:44-24:8, 36-49; John 3:16-21; 12:31; 19:28-20:22; Romans 1:18-32; 2:1-16; 3:9-26; 4:24-5:2, 6-21; 6:3-11, 20-23; 7:14-24; 8:28-39; 1 Corinthians 15:3b-8, 20-28, 42-57;Ephesians 1:3-14, 16-23; 2:1-10; Philippians 2:5-11; 3:20-21;Colossians 1:13-23; 2 Thessalonians 1:7b-10; 2:1-12; Titus 2:11-14;Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5, 8b-15, 17-18; 4:14-16; 5:8-9; 7:24-27; 9:11-15, 22-28; 10:11-25; James 4:17; 1 Peter 1:13-16, 18-23; 3:15-18,21-28; 2 Peter 3:9-13; 1 John 2:15-17; 3:8; 4:4; 5:4-5; 2 John 6-7;Jude 3-23; Revelation 1:5-8; 9:1-11; 11:15-18; 12:7-13:18; 14:6-12,14-20; 17:10-14; and 19:11-21:8.)

Nevertheless, while his doom is sure, we must not forget that,even today, Satan is still in an all-out war against God and His people.He will continue to wage battle after battle against God and HisKingdom, along with all those who have not surrendered their lives toGod, those who have refused to confess their sin and, in faith, ask forGods forgiveness, and accept Jesus Christ into their lives as their ownpersonal Savior and Lord. Instead of choosing to live a life full of love,

joy, and peace in the victorious and unsurpassable power of Jesus

Christ, they too, like Satan, are deceived and proud, pursuing theirown selfish desires and lusts, and their lives are totally corrupted bythe satanic influence of a spirit of fear, which will ultimately lead totheir death and eternal destruction.

Who Is Satan?

Before we can hope to gain a thorough grasp of a spirit of fear andits ramifications for us as we live out our lives in this world today, we

really need to pursue an understanding of Satan as the author andsource of this fear.

While Satans origin may be equivocal at best, the Bible does giveus many clues about the person and work of Satan, and his statusbefore God. Also, the names for Satan can give us an excellent sense


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of his character. Harold Lindsell, Ph.D., D.D., and editor of theHARPER STUDY BIBLE, writes in a note on 1 Chronicles 21:1 ~ RSV,

Satan (the Adversary), whose name is specifically given here, is

referred to by more than thirty different names and titles in Scripture.Each of these designations brings out some particular phase of hiswork.

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And so, some of Satans names and titles include: the serpent(Genesis 3:4 ~ RSV); Lucifer or Day Star, son of Dawn (Isaiah 14:12~ RSV); prince of demons (Matthew 12:24 ~ RSV); the enemy(Luke 10:19 ~ RSV); a murderer from the beginning, a liar, and thefather of lies (John 8:44 ~ RSV); the ruler of this world (John12:31; 14:30 ~ RSV); god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4 ~ RSV);

prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2 ~ RSV); tempter(1 Thessalonians 3:5 ~ RSV); your adversary the Devil (1 Peter 5:8~ RSV); the evil one (1 John 1:4; 5:19 ~ RSV); the deceiver(Revelation 12:2; 20:3, 8 ~ RSV); and the dragon, that ancientserpent, who is the Devil and Satan (Revelation 20:2 ~ RSV).

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While Satans various names and titles may go far in revealing hischaracter and activities, there are still other passages of the Scripturesthat speak specifically to Satans character, work, and status beforeAlmighty God.

First, there is Satans enticement of Eve and Adam in the Garden ofEden, and their subsequent judgment from God in Genesis 3, which wewill consider in depth in the next chapter. But, as we will see, bothmans encounter with Satan and Gods judgment upon him do indeedgive us much insight into Satans character, work, modus operandi ,and status before God.

Also, we are reminded of Job, who God considered to be Hisrighteous servant. God Himself even declared of Job, For there is noone like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and

turning away from evil. 2 (Job 1:8 ~ NASB ) Yet, in spite of Jobs

godliness, we still see Satan challenging God about Job in an effort toaccuse him before God, hoping thereby to cause God to perhaps findfault with Job, and reject him. Again, in Revelation 12:10, Satan isstill at it, trying to accuse believers day and night before the very Godin whom they have placed their confidence for salvation from sin by


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the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Gods only dear Son, on the cross ofCalvary.

But what else do we know about Satan from the Bible? In Paulsletter to the Church at Ephesus, we see that Satan is a great enemy ofGod who has many helpers to accomplish his work. (Ephesians 6:12)In Lukes Gospel, we read that Satan is Beelzebul, the ruler of thedemons. 2 (Luke 11:15 ~ NASB ) Also in Luke, we see that Satansdemons may even work in a large group. A man had long beentormented by such a group of demons. When Jesus asked his name,the demons answered, Legion, because he was filled with so manydemons. (Luke 8:30)

When Satan entered Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayedJesus, we saw how Satan ruled the actions of that man from the verythrone of his heart. (John 13:27) And so it is today, Satan standsready to fight for control of each one of our lives, by pursuing usthrough our passions and desires, our weaknesses and faults, ourthoughts and dreams, our attitudes and opinions, our goals and hopes,our possessions and abilities, and anything else it takes to get ourattention and our actions oriented and moving in his direction, andaccording to his purposes. It is not that some of these things are badin and of themselves; rather, when any area of our lives is not turnedover to God, when we are in control instead of God, it is precisely then

when Satan will gain a toehold in that area, and often without ournotice, for he is so subtle. And furthermore, any toehold Satan has inour lives quickly becomes his stronghold in very short order, and weare usually powerless against him in our own strength, and our heartsare in real danger of becoming hardened against God.

Again, I cannot underscore this enough. It can all start verysubtly, but become overwhelmingly obvious in no time at all, if not toourselves, then to others. And, it is often at this point that we are soensnared by Satan and his wiles that we may come to either con-

sciously believe that there is no escape, or unconsciously accept ourplight and settle for the status quo. So insidious and pervasive areSatans tactics and temptations, and yet, how we so often succumb tothem in sin!

Satan indeed is our great tempter to sin against God and Hiscommandments, and he especially tempts those whom he considers tobe Gods servants. The Apostle Paul often wrote in his letters about


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the subject of Satans temptations and his own battle against sin.(1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Corinthians 2:11; 1 Thessalonians 3:5; andRomans 7:5-25) Satan even sought to tempt Jesus Christ Himself,

both in the wilderness before He began His public ministry years;(Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:13; and Luke 4:1-13) and in the Garden ofGethsemane where He was betrayed. (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark14:32-42; and Luke 22:39-46) Obviously, Satan is no respecter ofpersons!

Satan seeks to undermine Gods Word, according to Christ, (Mark4:15) and He should know from His own confrontation with Satanstemptations to sin. And, did you notice how Satan would twist,misapply, and even misquote the Holy Scriptures in his temptations ofJesus in the wilderness? Likewise, we can be assured, as with Christ,so it is with each one of us, that Satan greatly desires to blind us fromseeing and knowing truth, to which he stands starkly and staunchlyopposed. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4; and 1 John 1:11)

Moreover, where and in and through whom God is at work, Satanfinds his challenge and likewise is very much at work as well. Satanespecially likes to target those who seek to join God in accomplishingHis work according to Gods perfect will. Specifically, Satan will con-tinually seek to harass, demoralize, and even destroy Gods servantsin an ongoing effort to both thwart God from using them, and prevent

Gods servants from desiring to be available to and used by God ineffecting His eternal purposes and objectives. (2 Corinthians 4:8-11;6:4-5, 8-10; Philippians 1:28-30; 1 Thessalonians 2:18; 1 Timothy3:6-7; 1 Peter 5:8; and Revelation 12:7-17)

This is why Satan is so wily and furtive in accomplishing his ownevil schemes, desires, purposes, and insidious objectives.(1 Corinthians 11:3, 13-15; and Revelation 12:9) In addition, wemust remain continuously cognizant, carefully vigilant, and alwaysmindful that Satan will never be satisfied until he has ensnared every

one of us within his hopelessly tangled web of evil, deception, sin, anddeath. Therefore, to know Satan is to know the ultimate in evil,deception, corruption, and death, including, eventually, eternalspiritual death in the anguishing flames of Hells fire and brimstone.

Satans activities are not waning, either. Again, according to theBible, we see that Satans power and work will only increase and


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abound throughout our world. Indeed, the whole world, and every-thing in the world, have been given over to Satan to do with it as hewills, (1 John 5:19) until it all passes away in complete, utter, eternal

destruction. (1 John 2:16-17; 3:8; and Revelation 20:1-21:1)

Why Is It Important to Understand Satan as the Source of aSpirit of Fear?

Understanding Satan as the original source of a spirit of fear alsohelps us to get a handle on where it comes from and how it affects ourdaily lives. Indeed, as our definition of a spirit of fear becomes morefocused, and the better we understand what it is, the more convincedwe are that Satan is truly its source.

Furthermore, as we do realize that a spirit of fear originates withand is implanted by Satan, the more convinced we become, and themore clearly we see, that a spirit of fear is that willful and finite, yetactive, urge or drive within us which compels us to unceasingly, yetunsuccessfully, strive to overcome our own ignorance of infiniteknowledge, understanding, wisdom, and experience, and to do sothrough our own feeble efforts. In so doing, we thereby create, in theprocess, some sort of a philosophy or world and life view that isbasically egocentric (i.e., centered on ourselves), or anthropocentric

(i.e., centered on mankind as a whole). Accordingly, it is solelyvalidated either by our own specific, or mankinds general, perceptionsof what is considered to be reality.

From these perceptions, which are primarily apprehended by thesenses and interpreted by ones ability to reason, and as a result ofones internal and generally subconscious drive or spirit of fear, we arecompelled to arrange and structure the priorities of our cultural andpersonal value system in an again finite and ultimately futile attemptto provide order, and truly, a pseudo-order to an otherwise chaotic

existence that is separated, in its very essence, from God.And so, again, we are brought back to the basic premise of this

book that, most simply stated, our greatest fear is our ownignorance; that is, that which, according to our finiteness , wedo not, or ultimately or reasonably cannot, in this life , know,understand, control, or experience.


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Why Does a Spirit of Fear Exist?

In considering how a spirit of fear originated with Satan, we

discussed how fear caused Satan to be unable to accept an existencewherein he was not in supreme control of everyone and everything,including God Himself. But there is also more than just how a spirit offear originated in order to explain why it exists. And so, in examiningwhy it exists, it must be understood that its very existence is one withits purpose, for truly both spring from the very essence of Satanscharacter, indeed, his very being.

Therefore, we especially see how a spirit of fear originated withSatan when we consider why it exists. According to the Bible, Satan

prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter5:8 2 ~ NASB ) He does this in so many ways, all of which are evil.Perhaps, he most often tries to deceive us by distorting andobfuscating reality, and by getting us to focus our attention onourselves and the present moment, with precious little, if any, thoughtabout others, and much less about their eternity and ours.

As stated before, Satan is a defeated foe of God, even though, forthe time being, he does indeed have what he thinks is completecontrol over this world, its people, and its affairs.

Satan, himself, is therefore operating under delusion, and this willbe manifested fully when he faces his final judgment before God, andis cast into the eternal punishment of hell, along with all those hesuccessfully recruits to follow him. And Satans primary weapon withwhich he accomplishes all his goals is still the same: it is a spirit offear. We will consider this further in a later chapter; but suffice it tosay, at this point, that this same spirit of fear which so dominatesSatans being is also the very weapon he uses to accomplish his ends,and this is, primarily, why it exists.

Footnotes:

1 Taken from Harold Lindsell, Ph.D., D.D., HARPER STUDY BIBLE / THE HOLYBIBLE: Revised Standard Version. Zondervan Publishing House, GrandRapids, Michigan, 1964/1965. See page 601 for reference.


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2 Unless noted otherwise in this chapter, Scripture quotations are taken fromthe NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963,

1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used bypermission. All rights reserved. References in the text note this source as ( NASB ) following the text where reference is being made or quoted.(www.Lockman.org)


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HOW MANKIND RECEIVED A SPIRIT OF FEAR

Let us now consider the Biblical account of when Satan introduceda spirit of fear to mankind for the very first time. This account is

recorded in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, chapter 3. But first,we must set the stage.

Genesis 1 and 2 relate how God created the entire universe. Welearn how God created mankind in His own image and after His ownlikeness. What exactly this all means practically has been a mysteryfor many, and we will consider the implications of what this means ingreater detail in the section on the Spirit of Love.

But for now, we do see, as these chapters relate the story of ourbeginning on this earth, that there was indeed a very unique, special,intimately close love-bond relationship between God, the Creator, andthe first two human beings to walk on the face of this earth, a mannamed Adam and a woman he named Eve. (In making this statement,we will not be entertaining a discussion as to whether the Biblicalaccount of this story is symbolic, allegorical, or literal historical fact. Itreally makes little, if any, difference which position one holds on theissue. The fact still remains. At some point in time, there was a firstman and a first woman who both, for a time, enjoyed a love-bondcommunion in their relationship with their God, their Creator.)

In examining the relationship between God and Adam and Eve, it isimportant to note that this relationship was established on a voluntarybasis, characterized by a mutual trust and communion. God chose tocreate them and us in such a way that we could have a free will withwhich to choose and to make decisions in life. In this sense, we werecreated to be truly autonomous, to the extent that that is what we

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would actually choose for ourselves. Even as God chose to relate andcommune with mankind in such a trusting, intimate, love-bondrelationship, He allowed Adam and Eve, and every human being since,

the choice to also voluntarily accept or reject His loving invitation forsuch a close communion with Him. It was not forced upon Adam andEve. As the Creator, God could have chosen to create mankindwithout this free will to choose and to be fully autonomous withinhimself, but He did not do so. Created in His own image and after Hisown likeness, God has allowed us to act and feel and choose accordingto our own will, even as God does.

Moreover, as much as God desires a love-bond relationship andmoment-by-moment communion with each one of us, and has gone tosuch great lengths to make this possible and easy for us, He stillleaves the final decision with us. Will we choose to personally accept,receive, and experience His great, infinite, immutable, and infalliblelove that He is so willing to richly lavish upon us, both in this life andthroughout all eternity, or are we so secure in our own autonomy andselfhood that we choose to not need or want God, or refuse to allowHim to have any room in our lives? The choice and the consequencesof our choice belong to each one of us, and us alone.

Returning to the Biblical account, we see that Adam and Eve, asthe highest form of Gods creation, enjoyed a personal relationship and

intimate communion with their Creator like no one else has everexperienced since, except Jesus Christ in His humanity. They wereblessed by God, and told to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, andsubdue it. God gave and entrusted to them all of His creation overwhich they were to have dominion. No good thing did God withholdfrom them. He fully provided for all their needs with an unimaginablylush and beautiful place called the garden of Eden. It was, for allintents and purposes, more wonderful than the best-conceived utopiathat mankind has ever imagined; indeed, it was Heaven on earth.

In Genesis 2, we read about this lovely environment wherein therelationship between God and Adam and Eve thrived. Beginning inverse 8, we learn that God planted a garden and placed the man Hecreated in it. In this garden of Eden, God caused to grow every treethat is pleasing to the sight and good for food; including the tree oflife also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of


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good and evil. 1 (Genesis 2:9 ~ NASB ) A single river flowed out of theland of Eden to water the garden, and it was there that this riverdivided into four rivers. (Genesis 2:10)

In verse 15 ~ NASB , we read that the LORD God took the manHe had created from the dust of the earth and put him into thegarden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. 1 And then, in verses 16and 17 ~ NASB , we come across another command of God. Hecommanded Adam saying, From any tree of the garden you may eatfreely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shallnot eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die. 1

Again, without getting into a discussion as to whether or not therewere actually literal historical trees in the garden named by God, orwhether this account is merely symbolic or allegorical in nature, thefacts still remain. God created man and woman, He provided for theirevery need, and He established a close, trusting, voluntary communionand love-bond relationship between Himself and mankind. It was,therefore, within the confines of this trusting, voluntary communionand love-bond relationship with the highest representative of Hiscreation that God gave this command to Adam.

With the command, God also gave Adam the consequences of anydecision to disobey His command. In verses 16 and 17 ~ NASB , we

read that God said, From [ any ] tree of the garden you may eat freely;but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die. 1 (Italicizedword was added by the author for emphasis.)

We do not know how much time elapsed between verses 17 and18, but it was not until some time after God had created Eve, the firstwoman, and presented her to Adam, that eating the fruit of theforbidden tree became a temptation.

What characterized the relationship of these first two human beingswith God, their Creator? Why is there no account of temptation or sinbefore Satans appearance into the story in chapter 3?

The answers to such questions, I believe, are found in the fact thatAdam and Eve lived in an absolute love-bond communion with God,trusting Him completely and implicitly for all of their needs anddesires. There was a freedom in that garden experience unlike


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anything that anyone has since known or experienced. There is noevidence of there being any sickness, pain, guilt, or sorrow. After all,what was death in an environment teeming with so much abundant

life, happiness, and boundless joy that apparently knew no end? Socaptivated with the awesome presence of God, moment by moment, intheir lives, and so focused exclusively on Him as the Source andSustainer of their very existence, surely they had not even consideredwhat death might be, other than the grave consequence for disobeyingthe very One who had created them, and had so completely loved andcared for them. Enjoying such a close, loving communion with theirGod, and with their attention being so totally captivated by Hispresence, how could they ever possibly want to breach their opentrusting relationship of love, and jeopardize their seemingly idyllic lifeby disobeying Gods simple command?

And then we come to Genesis chapter 3, when Satan confronts Evewith the first temptation of mankind. Verse 1 describes Satan as theserpent who was more crafty than any beast of the field which theLORD God had made. 1 (Genesis 3:1 ~ NASB ) One of the many wordsfor Satan in the Scriptures is serpent. While women today by andlarge have an aversion to snakes, if indeed they do not even feargreatly any kind of serpent in their presence, we must remember that,in the garden, prior to the first sin and ensuing punishment, there wasyet no enmity between the serpent and the woman. In whatever form

that Satan appeared to Eve, he was obviously subtle, engaging,unobtrusive, crafty, and persuasively convincing enough for Eve notonly to pay attention to him, but to also succumb so totally to histactics.

Let us consider now, very carefully, how Satan captures his preyand, as we do, perhaps we should also be thinking about the last timethat we fell prey to his tactics. Ask yourself, How do Satans tactics intempting me compare with his dealings with Eve? How are theysimilar? How might they differ?

First, note the initial question that Satan poses to Eve: Indeed,has God said, You shall not eat from any tree of the garden? 1 (Genesis 3:1b ~ NASB ) Now if we just take a moment to again look atGods command found in Genesis 2:16-17, we will clearly see thatSatan grossly misquoted Gods command. In fact, in his question toEve, he quoted Gods command almost as opposite as it could be, forGod had told Adam that he and, with Eves subsequent creation, she


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this in relating Gods command to Eve after her creation, or did sheadd it on her own, for whatever reason? The Scriptures do not saywho added this extra restriction to the command of God, nor why it

was added. But then, how often do we also add to Gods commands?And why? How many rules, laws, requirements, restrictions, and thelike have been added by man to the original Ten Commandments ofGod, which incidentally were condensed by Jesus Christ into just twocommandments? Do we think that Gods commandments in and ofthemselves are inadequate and need our help?

Obviously, in Eves situation, and probably in our own also, theadditional restriction did nothing practically to keep her from succumb-ing to Satans temptation. And sadly, ever since this episode in thegarden of Eden, mankind has continually been adding to, taking awayfrom, modifying, and qualifying the Ten Commandments of God, assummarized later by Jesus Christs two commandments, with theapparent end result that many, if not most, of these commandmentshave been compromised and obfuscated, or made to be contradictory,confusing, and left up to ones own individual interpretation, at best,and reversed, nullified, or negated altogether, at worst. Now, it iswidely considered that absolute truth and real justice, much less whatis right and wrong, lie not in the black and white areas of life, butin the gray areas, and these are best left open to conjecture and tothe situation ethics that may be in vogue and to whatever other

current fads of the day that may be considered popular or politicallycorrect. It is no wonder, then, why Satan has no difficulty in blurringright from wrong and truth from error for so many of us today.

Again, it is interesting to note that there were at least two treesgrowing in the midst of the garden; the other tree was the tree of life.Up to this point, Adam and Eve had not been forbidden to partake ofthe fruit from the tree of life; only the fruit from the tree of theknowledge of good and evil were they commanded not to eat. But Evetold Satan that they were not to eat the fruit from the tree which was

in the middle of the garden. 1

(Genesis 3:3 ~ NASB ) Why did she notreference the forbidden tree by name, since there were at least twothere? At the risk of reading too much into the story that is notspecifically stated, could Eve have so greatly feared the forbidden treethat she could not even call the tree by its name? Or, did she justassume that Satan knew as well as she did which tree was forbidden?Since both trees were in the same general part of the garden, I cannot


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Another insidious aspect of Satans question to Eve is that the verynature of his question was designed to instill doubt in Eves mind as toher relationship with God. It attacked the very foundation of her

voluntary love-bond relationship with God by undermining her trust inGod and His desire to provide for her needs. And the wording ofSatans question to Eve put her in such a position that she felt she hadto defend God, who in reality needs no defense. And so, in makingher defense, we see that Eve herself, just like Satan, ended up alsomisquoting Gods command.

It should also be noted how central to Satans temptation of Eveand, through her, of Adam, the role of a spirit of fear was. Satancapitalized on Eves, and then Adams, ignorance, that is, that whichthey did not know, understand, control, or experience. As we havementioned earlier, they probably did not understand the concept ofdeath within the confines of such a lush garden existence, except thatit was given by God as a penalty for eating fruit from the forbiddentree. Likewise, they probably did not know or attach any realsignificance to such concepts as good and evil, inasmuch as they wereonly surrounded by good. Indeed, God Himself proclaimed all Hiscreative acts as good. And so the tree containing these elements in itsname probably meant little more to them than just that; it was part ofthe name of the tree that had the fruit that God said they could noteat. It was, therefore, no accident that Satan began his temptation

with an appeal to what they did not know, understand, control, orexperience, which is at the very heart of a spirit of fear.

Let us now specifically consider Satans modus operandi , now thathe had Eve just where he wanted her to be and, not much later, hehad Adam, too. Remember, we are putting ourselves in a dangerousposition when we carry on any kind of dialogue with Satan apart fromthe Word of God as our defense. Satan went on to contradict God. Hesaid to Eve, even as he says to us today, You surely shall not die! ForGod knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened,

and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 1

(Genesis 3:4-5 ~NASB ) How many times have we heard people say something like, How could such a loving God condemn anyone to hell, if there even issuch a place? And, how many people today long to be their ownperson (i.e., god), doing and living as they wish, believing as they seefit as to what may be considered right and wrong? They may be


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members of a cult, at one extreme, or proponents of the new agemovement at the other. Yet, it is a common belief in our culture todaythat we should each make positive statements to ourselves each day,

affirming our own self-worth in our goal of attaining self-actualization.And, as we leave everyone to themselves in this process, we carry theassertion of to each his own to include the individuals own sense ofspirituality or belief system, political affiliation, sense of socialresponsibility, sexual orientation, etc., to be measured against theirown understanding of what is right and wrong. As a result, thestandards for right and wrong have thereby been moved away from anexternal standard, such as the Ten Commandments, to an internalstandard that is to be individually determined. And this is where Satanwould have us, because that is where he is most successful at makinghis will a reality in our own lives, and even in making us think that ourdecisions and choices were our own idea: I did it my way! as FrankSinatra would belt out in his famous hit song.

You see, apart from God, Satan can have full sway in our lives.That is why he attacked, first off, Eves relationship with God. And thisstands to reason. Satan, as has been pointed out already, is at warwith God and with anyone he deems to be allied with Him. Hence,Satans contradiction of what God had said. By proclaiming to Eve,

You surely shall not die! 1 (Genesis 3:4 ~ NASB ) Satan was, probablyfor the first time in Eves consciousness, introducing a concept

contrary to all she had known until now, by declaring God to be a liar,and someone she should not trust. Now, in place of what had been asource of security in believing all that God had told her, Satan hadplaced a nagging doubt, full of questions about the veracity of GodsWord.

It was in the midst of such doubt that Satan proceeded with hisdeceptive delusion. Inferring that Gods warning, that violation of Hiscommand would result in death, was in reality a mere smoke screen,in an attempt by God to keep Adam and Eve in their place. Satan

went on to say, For God knows that in the day you eat from it youreyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 1 (Genesis 3:5 ~ NASB ) What thoughts may have raced through Evesmind at that point? Did she question why God may have been keepingwhat seemed so good from her? Was it not a good thing for her eyesto be opened, to be like God, and to know good and evil? After all,had not God created Adam and her in His image and after His ownlikeness? If there was so much good to be gained by eating the


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forbidden fruit, then why would God give such a dire consequence asdeath for doing so? What is death, anyway; had she yet seenanything dead so far in her garden experience?

Of course, we have no idea what exactly Eve may have thoughtduring her encounter with Satan, but Satan was indeed successful inturning her eyes away from God and instead, he directed them tofocus fully upon the forbidden fruit and himself. In so doing, Satan gotEve to doubt the truth that God loved her so much that He had createdher in His own image and after His own likeness. Satan made herthink, If God loves me so much, then why does He not want me tohave my eyes opened, to be like Him, and to know good and evil?

It was therefore just a short step from this doubting stage to thetemptation for Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit. In Genesis 3,verse 6 ~ NASB , we read, When the woman saw that the tree wasgood for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the treewas desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate 1 Now, Eve began processing the forbidden tree and its fruit, first withher physical senses, and then with her mind and emotions. Whenfacing temptation, everything seems better than it really is. Thefamiliar adage, If something seems too good to be true, it probablyis, might be a helpful piece of advice to remember whenever we areat the point of temptation. Nevertheless, Eve listened to and

entertained Satans lies and so she succumbed to the temptation.

Lest we make Eve out to be the scapegoat for the first sin, wewould be amiss if we did not include Adam in our consideration. Therest of verse 6 reads, ...and she gave also to her husband with her,and he ate. 1 (Genesis 3:6b ~ NASB ) Where was Adam when Satanwas tempting Eve? The Biblical account does not say. But, it is likelyhe was nearby, if not present with her, because immediately after shepartook of the fruit, she offered him some. Why did Adam notintervene in Satans temptation of Eve? Could not he have taken at

least some action that would have kept Eve from eating the fruit fromthe forbidden tree? Whatever the specifics of Adams involvement, orlack thereof, the fact still remains that he found her eating fruit fromthe forbidden tree, and he made no kind of protest in her doing so. Infact, he even accepted the fruit from her hands with no objection.Whether Adam or Eve was the author of the additional restriction onnot touching the fruit of the forbidden tree, both handled the fruit


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before eating, and both, though individually, one after the other, ateit. Adam was equally involved in the temptation to sin and just asguilty, if not more so, than Eve, inasmuch as he first had the relation-

ship with God, and God had given him responsibility for her.

Now that they had both severed their relationship with God, therewas no going back to the way things had been. Their eyes wereopened alright. Verse 7 says, Then the eyes of both of them wereopened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed figleaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 1 (Genesis 3:7 ~NASB ) After they had sinned, they realized the error of their ways;where there once had been no shame, they were now ashamed bytheir nakedness, and so they sought to cover themselves with fig leafaprons. Moreover, where there was once a close, intimate, trusting,love-bond relationship with God, there was now just shame, guilt, andhiding from Him. When God confronted them with their sin, bothAdam and then Eve pointed fingers of blame away from themselvestowards another. Adam blamed God and the woman (i.e., Eve) thatHe gave him, and Eve blamed Satan who had beguiled her. Neitherone assumed responsibility for the cause of their actions. Althoughthey each did finally admit that they ate the fruit from the forbiddentree, they felt that it was anothers fault that they did so. As a resultof their sin, God cursed Satan, Eve, and Adam, and He expelled Adamand Eve permanently from the garden paradise and kept them away

from the tree of life. He also made garments from the skins of animalsand clothed them. Thus, sin had entered the human experience, andour own bouts with Satan pretty much follow the same pattern thattheirs did; only the names and specifics are different.

How We Experience Temptation to Sin Today

After Satan had implanted the seeds of a spirit of fear within Eve,we saw how quickly they sprouted into full bloom and yielded their

first fruit of sin; and from Eve, we saw how this spirit of fear spread toAdam and did the same thing within him. There is an 8-step processby which this takes place:

1.) Satan instills doubt by misstating how things really are orby misquoting or contradicting God and His Word, usual-ly in an area of our lives where we have granted Satan


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a toehold, whether we have done so consciously, subcon-sciously, or unconsciously.

2.) We allow Satan a hearing wherein we listen to Satans liesand allow them at least a semblance of credibility.

3.) We enter a doubting phase, which may be conscious orsubconscious, wherein we yearn to know, understand,control, and/or experience something (i.e., a spirit of fearis born). This doubting phase is also characterized by anif statement by Satan and sometimes by an if questionby us. These statements by Satan and questions by usmay be actual, implied, or inferred. Satans if statements are designed to create an atmosphere of doubtas the context for the temptation. Our if questionsusually arise from and are indications of our doubts aboutwhat is right and wrong in the area in which Satan isseeking to tempt us.

a.) Satan will make some sort of an if statement andwill include within the statement a kind of tailor-made deception and lies designed just for us, andpresented to us at such a time and in such an areaof our lives wherein we are most vulnerable and

susceptible. With Eve, Satans if statement wasimplied or inferred when he told Eve that she wouldnot die if she ate the fruit from the forbidden tree.

b.) We ask, either consciously or subconsciously, ourif questions (e.g., If God loves me, why...? or,

If I do this, will God really do...? or, If so andsuch is true, how come I cant...?). We do notknow exactly what Eves If question(s) may havebeen, if any, but they may have been asked in her

subconscious, such as, If God created such goodfruit and He loves us so much, why did He say thatwe could not eat it? and If God said we would die ifwe ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, then whyam I being told otherwise? and If what the serpent


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(Satan) is saying is true, what else that seems sogood may God be keeping from me?

4.) We then begin the temptation stage, wherein we submitthe forbidden thing, thought, belief, or activity to our fivephysical senses, as appropriate.

5.) We rationalize and mentally justify or minimalize what hasbeen forbidden, and/or resign ourselves to deal with anyfuture denial, cover-ups, consequences, or admission ofguilt and repentance at that time, as may then be neces-sary.

6.) We usually, at this point, choose to fall to the tempta tionand we sin.

7.) We look for others to join us in our sin, or we join them inthe sin.

8.) We eventually, at some point, realize the error of ourways and suffer the consequences of our choices andactions, whether or not we sense personal regret at beingcaught in the sin, or genuine remorse and sorrow for it,that is, if we are in touch with our conscience.

While the specifics may differ, generally, we follow most, if not allof the above steps whenever we fall into sin. It should be noted thatno sin is unintentional; we choose to sin. We allow Satan to set us up,tempt us, and, if we do not take the necessary steps to circumvent theprocess, we sin. But in the final analysis, sin is something we chooseto do, regardless of how much regret, remorse, or sorrow we mayhave about it afterward.

You may be wondering if there is such a thing as an unintentional

sin. The answer is, No! If you do not choose to do somethingknowingly that is contrary to the law of God or man, but you dosomething inadvertently or unbeknownst to you at the time, it is moreof a mistake or accident rather than a sin. But an important qualifiermust be understood at this point. While the specific action may bemore of a mistake or an accident, the fact that it happened at all is a


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direct result of having a sin nature, and living in a world that is underbondage to sin and within Satans sphere of influence and control.

Whether a sin, mistake, or accident, the steps enumerated aboveare still in force, and even an accident or a mistake can lead tobecoming a sin according to how we deal with the situation and thechoices we make. To illustrate this, let me share an example with you.Suppose you were at someones place of business and you noticed awonderful bouquet of flowers in a gorgeous vase sitting in the middleof a coffee table in the reception area. As one who appreciates suchdisplays, you move in for a closer inspection. You might sniff thefragrance of the lovely flowers. You may even touch the petals ofsome of them. What would happen if, somehow, some of the flowersor petals were damaged in some way by your close appreciation ofthem? Or, let us say that you had an unexpected sneeze and, in thecourse of covering your mouth in surprise, you tipped the vase over,and it broke and water went everywhere, soaking all the magazinesscattered across the table. Would any of these actions be a sin? Youwere tempted to smell and touch the flowers. You forgot that youwere allergic to some flowers. Now there is a big mess. You could tryto cover it up or deny that you had anything to do with the mess, oryou could apologize for causing it and try to make it right. All of theactions that I have related in this illustration would fall under amistake or an accident, with the only exception being a sin if you

chose to deny or cover up causing the mess. In such an instance, thiswould be an example of an accident or mistake leading into a sin if youwere to deny or cover up your responsibility for causing the mess.

Now, suppose that you were upset with the company and, in a fitof rage, you grasped the vase of beautiful flowers and threw them onthe floor, breaking the vase to smithereens, damaging the lovelybouquet, and making one huge mess, much less disturbing the peaceand quiet of the office. Clearly, this is a markedly different scenariothan the one described above. This, beyond a doubt, is most definitely

in the category of a sin.Mistakes and accidents will happen throughout our lives as a result

of living in a sinful world and because we are sinful, finite humanbeings. We can try our best to avoid them, but they will probablyhappen regardless of how hard we try. On the other hand, we do nothave to sin. We do not have to make choices that lead to temptation


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and sin. With Gods help, we have resources that He has provided forus so that we will be able to stand up to Satan, and gain a victory overtemptation and sin. A good starting place in learning how to do this is

to first gain an understanding and respect for how Satan uses a spiritof fear in our own lives, in order to lead us into temptation and sin.

The Anatomy and Analysis of the Process of Temptation and Sin

It might be helpful to our understanding of a spirit of fear and itsrelationship to temptation and sin if we examine sin and how a spirit offear fits into the process of sinning. Let us begin by first specificallydefining sin. Sin is simply missing the mark, and the mark we all missis the standard God has set for us all to meet wherein the glory of Godis. Sin is the shortcomings we all experience in life. It is falling shortof Gods righteousness and His expectations of and for us. This iswhat is meant when the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans,

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 1 (Romans 3:23~ NASB )

Included in this understanding of sin is also the idea of trespass.We trespass against God and one another when we impose our willupon another or intrude across anothers boundaries without invitationfor the benefit of our own selfish desires and gain. This, too, is

missing Gods mark, falling short of His glory.

Another idea that describes sin is unrighteousness. God is infinitelypure and holy; He is altogether righteous, so much so that God and sinare mutually exclusive. The presence of God cannot tolerate thepresence of sin. Therefore, where God is, sin is totally, completely,and wholly absent. Righteousness means to be in right-standing withGod. Because we all sin, and because God and His presence cannotco-exist with the presence of sin, we are unrighteous. Because of sin,we are by our sinful nature not in right-standing with God. There is no

way we could ever hope to, in and of ourselves, know and experienceGod and His presence. That is why He had to make a way for us tocome unto Him; there was no way we, in and of ourselves, could evercome to Him. The way that God ordained for us to come to Him andto be restored in a relationship and fellowship with Him is the very waythat He had planned for us before He ever created us. (Ephesians1:4; 2 Revelation 13 : 8 3 ~ KJV) In fact, before He even created


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the foundations of the world, let alone before He created us, God knewthat we would eventually choose to do things our own way and followSatans lead, thus separating ourselves from Him and His great love

for us. And so, before we were even created, God planned a way forus to come back to Him, if we would only choose to do so. That way isGods plan of salvation through the sacrificial death and resurrection ofHis Son, Jesus Christ, on our behalf and in our place. (See John 3:16-18, 36.) This is what Jesus Himself meant when He said, I am theway, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, butthrough Me. 1 (John 14:6 ~ NASB )

Now that we have an understanding of what sin is, let us take agood look at the anatomy and process of temptation and sin. In theletter of James, we read, Let no one say when he is tempted, I ambeing tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and HeHimself does not tempt any one. But each one is tempted when he iscarried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust hasconceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is accomplished, itbrings forth death. 1 (James 1:13-15 ~ NASB ) We have seen how thisoccurred in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. But here I wouldlike for us to examine how this happens in our own lives and see howa spirit of fear, whose source is Satan himself, relates to temptationand sin from a more practical standpoint.

From our discussion above, we can see how God does not andcannot tempt or be tempted by evil. God is on our side; He loves usand is for us. It is not His will that we be tempted to sin; rather, thatis solely the work and mission of Satan. Notice the manner in whichSatan tempts us. James says that Satan lures and entices us by ourown desires. So, what are our desires and where do they come from?I believe our desires are the selfish whims we all have. They areplanted within all of us by Satan as a result of the original sin of ourancestors, Adam and Eve. When our focus is on getting what wewant, doing what we want, when we want, and the way we want, we

are fair game for Satan to turn even our most well-intentioned desiresinto evil desires.

We can recognize when Satan has ensnared us and when ourdesires have become evil because we usually become fairly possessiveof such desires at this point, including being defensive of them andcritical of others if challenged, justifying or rationalizing them if needbe, excusing ourselves for having the desires, minimizing our desires


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in one way or another so they do not sound as bad as they really are,blaming someone or something else for our desires to make themseem okay, or sometimes even lying to others or denying that we even

have the desires in the first place, especially in the event that we areembarrassed by them or experience adverse circumstances as a directresult of our desires. But when we are at this point, we are alreadyhooked by Satans spirit of fear. Consciously or not, we fear goingthrough life without having our desires met, and we will do almostanything to achieve that end. We fear the unknowns of life withouthaving our desires met. We do not even want to think of what itwould be like without satisfying our desires. Indeed, we often cannoteven imagine our lives without having our desires satisfied, and so webecome defensive and critical of anyone who may challenge us, or weuse any combination of justification, rationalization, making excuses,minimizing, blaming, lying, or denial to secure the safety of ourdesires.

When we seek to meet such desires, James says that we havegiven birth to sin. Even harboring unmet desires is sin because ourheart is not in the right place. We are seeking our own agenda andnot Gods. Our desires have supplanted His. We have thereforemissed the mark. We have fallen short of the glory of God. We havesinned. And James says that when sin is accomplished, it brings forthdeath. 1 (James 1:15b ~ NASB ) What he means by this is that, unless

we repent of our sin and confess it, agreeing with God that it is sin, weare headed for spiritual death with Satan. We cannot know andexperience the forgiveness of God and the eternal life that Jesus cameto give us until we do repent of our sin, confess it, accept Jesus deathin our place for it, ask Him for His forgiveness, and commit to submitto His Lordship in our lives. Such a 180 degree turnaround in ourthinking, indeed, of our very lives, is what repentance of our sin is allabout.

Now that we have examined the anatomy and process of

temptation and sin and the role that Satan and his spirit of fear playsin our lives, let us turn to another dimension of temptation and sin andanalyze the context wherein we do battle with Satan. I believe thatthere is a process that can lead to overcoming Satan, just as there is aprocess that leads to succumbing to his wiles. I also believe that thereis a constant war raging between these two processes that we


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need to recognize, and this has everything to do with the contextwherein we find ourselves.

I believe that we all have a belief system. In fact, perhapsunbeknownst to us, we actually have two distinct belief systems. Thefirst belief system has to do with what we believe and understandabout God and ideally how we should live in light of our beliefs andunderstandings. Even nonbelievers have such a belief system,however and whoever they define their god to be. Such a beliefsystem, whether Christian or not, incorporates an individuals systemand sense of values, ideals, and morals; that which gives an individualmeaning, direction, and purpose in life; and what the individualconsiders to be right and deemed to be the highest good, as well aswhat is wrong and deemed to be the greatest evil. It is that body ofbeliefs, encompassing all these things, that we all say we aspire to liveby and which we consider to be ultimate truth and which gives ourlives true meaning.

The other belief system is perhaps a lot more nebulous, at best. Infact, for many, if not for most people, it may not even be recognizedas even existing, but it is the belief system by which we all live inactual practice the reality of our lives. This belief system is the resultof our lives in this world, how we see ourselves in this world, and howwe have come to process and understand the world for ourselves. It

embodies what we have learned through a lifetime of observations asto what is, how we perceive reality to be, and what we believe aboutourselves and others. For many people, it may be quite difficult toidentify their specific beliefs in this second belief system.

The first belief system revolves around God, the things of God, andhow we believe we should live in light of what we believe. The secondbelief system revolves around ourselves and our perceptions of ourworld, and these dictate practically how we should live with little or noadvance thought on our part. Because we ourselves are at the center

of such a belief system, it is, by nature, very selfish, self-seeking, andself-serving. This is also the realm in which Satan wreaks his havocand where his spirit of fear thrives.


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In each belief system, there are thoughts, attitudes, and opinionsthat interpret the system for us and give our beliefs true meaning.These thoughts, attitudes, and opinions can reveal what we truly

believe, as they are the results of our beliefs. If we have a thinkingerror, or a wrong attitude or opinion, it is directly linked to a faultybelief in the applicable belief system. In the first belief system, wetend to be very familiar with our own thoughts, attitudes, and opinionsabout what we believe about God and our relationship or lack of arelationship with Him. In the second belief system, however, it maybe somewhat more difficult, particularly at first, to identify ones ownthoughts, although perhaps it may be easier to recognize ones ownattitudes and opinions.

From our thoughts, attitudes, and opinions, spring our emotionsand feelings. With respect to the first belief system, while we may beaware of our emotions and feelings as a result of our thoughts andbeliefs about God and whatever relationship we may enjoy with Him,in the second belief system, I believe we tend to be much more intune with our own emotions and feelings than we are with ourthoughts and beliefs.

Finally, we generally act out our beliefs consistent with ourthoughts, emotions, and feelings. For most of us, our behavior maybe an automatic, unconscious response to what we think and feel in

the second belief system, while being hard work, requiring a consciouseffort in the first belief system. But regardless of how conscious weare in either belief system of the process of beliefs to thoughts tofeelings to actions, I believe the Scriptural truth that as a manthinketh in his heart, so is he is a very accurate depiction of thisprocess. (Proverbs 23:7a 4 ~ KJV) And as for the operation of thisprocess, especially within the second belief system, the LORD toldJeremiah, The heart is more deceitful than all else and desperatelysick; who can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test themind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to

the results of his deeds. 1

(Jeremiah 17:9-10 ~ NASB )Now I would like us to take an even closer look at the second belief

system, with its beliefs/thoughts/feelings/actions process, that leadsto succumbing to Satans wiles. When we are wrapped up in our-selves, whether consciously or unconsciously, we cannot be


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concerned with the things of God, nor with God Himself. I believe thatboth belief systems are mutually exclusive. To the extent that we areconsumed by the one, we cannot be consumed by the other. It is

because of this that Satan can have a field day with each one of us.Let us consider how this happens practically.

Suppose we have a belief that something or other, such as a newcar, belongs to us and people ought to respect our car, and should beimpressed with our car and with us for having it. Now imagine whatsome of our thoughts, attitudes, and opinions might be as a result ofowning this new car. We might be naturally proud of owning such acool automobile. We probably might want to keep it as new and cleanas possible. We may park it in remote places in parking lots, lest itsuffer scratches or dents from other careless peoples car doors or run-away shopping carts and the like. Our riders will probably beforbidden to eat or drink in our new car lest it gets dirty or stained.

On another tangent, we may seek to put other peoples new cars ina dim light, thinking to ourselves how our car is better than theirs, ifnot coming right out and saying so. We may feel proud of ourselvesfor being able to drive such a nice car, and perhaps we may look atothers on the sidewalk or in other cars for some sort of a favorablereaction. All this can apply likewise to a sharp old classic car orwhatever other possession(s) we may be particularly proud of. The

bottom line is that we tend to expect to be judged and esteemed byothers according to what we have or do not have, whether good orbad, just as we tend to judge and esteem others by these same typesof standards. We also tend to judge and esteem ourselves accordingto our possessions. Because of this tendency, we tend to care for ourpossessions accordingly. But notice the direction and emphasis of allthese thoughts. They all, in some way, come back to a self-centeredfocus on ourselves, and not only our possessions, but also ourachievements, our personal attributes, talents, and abilities, ourappearances, our socio-economic status, our popularity, and whatever

else we think may put us on a pedestal above everyone else, at leastfor the time being.

We should also notice how easily these thoughts flow into ourfeelings on an emotional level. How many times do we purchasethings to feel better about ourselves, or to impress others and hope


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that

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FROM FEAR TO LOVE: THE PROCESS OF SALVATION