Bob MacLeod

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Elaine Nordman

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Larry Perkins

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Shad Sluiter

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Elizabeth Stickfort

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How do the Scriptures look upon such as habitually absent themselves from the Breaking of Bread, and are seldom or never seen at the Gospel Meeting or the Prayer Meeting? Has Numbers 9:13" TARGET="_blank">Numbers 9:13 any application to them?

I do not think that we could apply Numbers 9." TARGET="_blank">Numbers 9. 13 to them, unless by way of pointing out from it how seriously neglect of obedience to God’s commands was dealt with under law, in any case where there was no legitimate excuse for it. It must, however, be understood that “shall be cut off from among his people”, does not necessarily imply that his fellow-Israelites were to slay him. See Leviticus 20" TARGET="_blank">Leviticus 20: , where in various verses a clear distinction seems to be drawn between “shall be cut off” and “shall be put to death,” the former referring to action taken by the Lord Himself. Something similar is seen, even in the days of grace, in 1 Cor. 11:30," TARGET="_blank">1 Cor. 11:30, where certain members of the assembly had been taken away by death, not indeed for absence from the Supper, but for irreverence when present.

Where there is habitual absence from the meetings, something else lies behind it, the absence being merely a symptom of a deeper disorder. In some instances it means that the person concerned is beginning to turn away from all that he once professed to have and enjoy. In Hebrews 10:25-31" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 10:25-31 the “FORSAKING OF THE ASSEMBLING OF OUR. SELVES TOGETHER” seems to be viewed as the first manifestatior outwardly of a course which ends in apostasy; and the individual who is guilty of it may eventually prove to be an “adversary” (ver. 27). In other cases the staying away is due to some real or imagined grievance, and if there is any substance whatever in this grievance, an effort should be made to remove it if possible.

Between these two extremes lie many differing degrees of backsliding by which the trouble may be caused, and which should give scope for the exercise of any pastoral gift or activity there may be in the assembly. And in the course of this it may possibly be discovered that due allowance has not been made for the circumstances of the person, and for hindrances which may make regular attendance a difficult matter.

On the other hand, where absence from the meetings has been entire, and for a prolonged period, the point might require to be considered, whether the one concerned is still to be looked upon as a member of the assembly, or whether it should be made clear that he is no longer such. Otherwise, unnecessary reproach may be brought on the saints through his actions, even years afterwards.

W.R.

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Do Christians have the ability or the authority to bind Satan?

No. Instead of confronting the Devil with strong language, we need to approach God with our needs and let Him deal with the situation whatever the problem may be.

Despite the frequent claims from some quarters of Christian churches that believers should “bind” Satan through strong prayers or demands against him, there is no basis in Scripture for a believer to be “binding” Satan.

An example of the error

A prayer to “bind” Satan usually takes the form of something like this:

“In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, I come against you, Satan, the Prince of Darkness to bind you, paralyzing your power, forbidding you to come near this person and influencing her thinking.  I demand that you leave her immediately!”

By “binding” Satan, claims are made to be able to paralyze Satan or silence him or forbid him from influencing a person.  As powerful as this commanding prayer may sound, it is unscriptural.  Nobody in the history of the Bible ever spoke to Satan this way, nor are we commanded to speak to him like this.

How to oppose Satan

The believer can oppose Satan by correctly teaching and applying the truth of Scripture to our doctrine and behavior.  Two examples of this command to oppose Satan are found in 1 John 4:1-14" TARGET="_blank">1 John 4:1-14 and James 4:7." TARGET="_blank">James 4:7.

In 1 John 4," TARGET="_blank">1 John 4, the way to overcome Satan is to hold to sound teaching in regards to the divinity of Jesus Christ.  He is truly God and truly a man.  Any claim to the contrary is a doctrine of Satan that must be corrected.

1 John 4:1-4" TARGET="_blank">1 John 4:1-4  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.  (2)  By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,  (3)  and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.  (4)  Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

In James 4:7," TARGET="_blank">James 4:7, the command to “resist” the Devil does not imply chastise, bind, scold, paralyze or attack Satan.  Rather it is to yield oneself to God for His will.  What is the attack that Satan is utilizing in James 4" TARGET="_blank">James 4?  What form of demon is apparent here?  The first few verses of the chapter tell us that the Devil is behind our selfishness, quarreling and intense covetousness. Resisting Satan implies yielding to the work of the Holy Spirit who gives us his character which is seen in the fruit that He produces in us according to Galatians 5:22-26." TARGET="_blank">Galatians 5:22-26.

James 4:1-10" TARGET="_blank">James 4:1-10  What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?  (2)  You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.  (3)  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.  (4)  You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  (5)  Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"?  (6)  But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  (7)  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  (8)  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  (9)  Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.  (10)  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Satan will be bound

Satan indeed will be “bound” by an angel for 1,000 years during the Millennium (Revelation 20:1-3)." TARGET="_blank">Revelation 20:1-3).  This means that Satan is as good as defeated already.  His end is known.  However, the work of binding him is done by the angel who in truth can paralyze his movements, stem his influence and shut his mouth.

Revelation 20:1-3" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 20:1-3  Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.  (2)  And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,  (3)  and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

Avoid railing

The Scripture stresses that "Michael made not a railing accusation against Satan over Moses’ body" (Jude 1:9)." TARGET="_blank">Jude 1:9).  This shows us the seriousness in dealing with Satan.  It wasn’t for being too frail that Michael refrained from railing against Satan.  Michael the Archangel has power over the Devil. For example, there was a demon in the Book of Daniel who was withstanding an angel. Michael came to remove him without any difficulty (Daniel 10:13)." TARGET="_blank">Daniel 10:13).  In Revelation 12:7-9" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 12:7-9 Michael and the other angels fight and defeat Satan, casting him out.  Satan is just as good as defeated already.

The point that Jude is making that we need to be very careful in dealing with spiritual powers.  Again, looking at Jude 1:9," TARGET="_blank">Jude 1:9, Michael, the Archangel, did not dare to bind Satan, or even rebuke Satan. He deferred the job of rebuking Satan to the Lord GOD.  It’s awfully presumptuous to think I could exercise such authority. He is telling us to be very careful how you play around with that dimension, even Michael was careful not to get himself involved with Satan in an argument. The point there that is being made is not that Satan is a match for Michael, but that Michael recognized the fearfulness of dealing with the devil, and it’s a warning to the believer to stay away from those things, which are the manifestation of the devil.

Instead of confronting the Devil with strong language, we need to approach God with our needs and let Him deal with the situation.

Shad Sluiter

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Som evangelicals act as though "women keeping silence" is outdated. What is the Biblical message of 1 Corinthians 14" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 14?

Some claim Paul (1 Cor. 14:34)" TARGET="_blank">1 Cor. 14:34) legislated temporary cultural adjustments, not intended as mandates for the whole church period. The immediate context, however, recognizes these as the Lord's commandment. The directive is as clearly a commandment, and as strong, as any other in the epistle. To set it aside would give liberty to depart from other guidelines regarding, for example, remembering the Lord (chapter 11) and exercising gifts (chapter 14). Few evangelicals would be willing to do this. The only way that women's keeping silent in the church becomes outdated is by rejecting the whole epistle.

J. Beattie

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What does the Bible say about interracial marriage?

Should a Christian date or marry someone from another race?  Does skin color matter in a Christian marriage?  Does the Bible forbid a black person from marrying a white person or an Asian or Hispanic?

The Bible teaches that there is no such thing as different "races".  We are all from one race – the human race.  There exits many different cultures, different external physical characteristics and languages in the world, but there is only one human race.  It is more accurate to say that there are different people groups based on nationality and culture, but biologically speaking, there is only one race of humans on the earth.

Adam and Eve are the parents of all human descendents.

Gen 3:20" TARGET="_blank">Gen 3:20  The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

1Co 15:45" TARGET="_blank">1Co 15:45  Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Genesis 8:16-18" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 8:16-18  "Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh--birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth--that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him.

Acts 17:26-27" TARGET="_blank">Acts 17:26-27  And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,  (27)  that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,

1 Kings 11:1-2" TARGET="_blank">1 Kings 11:1-2  Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,  (2)  from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, "You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.

Nehemiah 13:23-26" TARGET="_blank">Nehemiah 13:23-26  In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.  (24)  And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people.  (25)  And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take oath in the name of God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.  (26)  Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.

2 Corinthians 6:14-17" TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 6:14-17  Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?  (15)  What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?  (16)  What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  (17)  Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,

Shad David Sluiter

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Bible Verses by Topic

To browse various topics found in the Bible select one of the following categories:

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Was Satan in Heaven when he sinned and fell?

This page was adapted from an answer at Truth and Tidings Magazine by David Oliver.

In the gospel of Luke 10:17," TARGET="_blank">Luke 10:17, the disciples were glad to be able to control the demons (v. 17). Christ gave them the authority to control Satan's agents; they acted in Christ's name.  Christ then said, "I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke 10:18)." TARGET="_blank">Luke 10:18). Comparing Christ's words with the eventual expulsion from heaven (Revelation 12:8)," TARGET="_blank">Revelation 12:8), some people see Christ's words as a prophecy of a future event. However, the word, "saw," means he was watching an event in the past rather than looking forward to the future.  Most likely, the Lord is referring to his preexistence and supremacy. Being obedient to His name should not have surprised them. Satan’s expulsion, attributable to the Lord Himself, was like lightning: immediate; downward; devastating. "To fall from" sometimes expresses a fall from favor; in this case, it refers to Satan’s sin. In the future, he will be cast from the created heavens (Revelation 12:8, 9)." TARGET="_blank">Revelation 12:8, 9). In the past, he fell from the uncreated heaven, the dwelling place of God.

Although God’s power was shown in expelling even Satan, it cannot rival the greatness of what God will accomplish by redemption (v. 20).

D. Oliver

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Binding Satan

Ministers who try to deliver people from problems often speak of binding Satan or binding a sickness or binding poverty or binding some other problem.  A prayer to “bind” Satan usually takes the form of something like this:

“In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, I come against you, Satan, the Prince of Darkness to bind you, paralyzing your power, forbidding you to come near this person and influencing her thinking.  I demand that you leave her immediately!”

By “binding” Satan, claims are made to be able to paralyze Satan or silence him or forbid him from influencing a person.  As powerful as this commanding prayer may sound, it is unscriptural.  Nobody in the history of the Bible ever spoke to Satan this way, nor are we commanded to speak to him like this. We resist Satan by teaching and obeying the truth of the Bible.

For a more detailed answer see the question:

Do Christians have the ability or the authority to bind Satan?

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