This is the tenth article in a series entitled Wonderful Counseling. I sometimes use other names for this ministry, such as Personal Prayer Ministry and Biblical Healing and Deliverance. The adjective "wonderful" is used because Jesus is the "wonderful Counselor" of Isaiah 9:6. This ministry attempts to make room for Jesus to personally counsel people by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit, with human ministers acting as facilitators. This makes it different from most counseling. It is highly effective at teaching the recipient how to hear the voice of the Spirit and to receive his life giving words.
This article will show how God helps us to remove deeply embedded lies that are the building blocks for powerful logical arguments that seek to block us from knowing God or believing his promises.
One of the major ways Jesus sets us free from bondage is by identifying and removing these deeply embedded lies and replacing them with truth.
According to Paul, these strongholds are built upon a sinful logic or reasoning that sets us at odds with the truth of God’s Word and tempts us to impugn God’s character.
For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments 5 and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NET1)
Satanic lies are very deceptive, and often we do not even know we believe and serve them until the Holy Spirit shows us.
An important concept for us to grasp is that we can believe one thing in our intellects and quite another thing at the heart level.
We may have good theology at an intellectual level but be practical idolators or atheists at the heart level. What we say we believe may be betrayed by how we act or think. If there is a disconnect between what we say we believe and how we act, there are probably embedded lies hidden deep in our hearts that must be identified and expelled. If we react emotionally and negatively out of proportion to the provocation, that also may point to a lie-based stronghold in our lives.
What we do, say, and think when we are under pressure usually reveals what we really believe down deep.
Unless we allow the Lord to reveal what these lies are and replace them with a revelation of himself and his truth, we likely will stay in bondage. Lie-based strongholds resist most attempts to remove them; so, simple debate is usually fruitless. We cannot reason with fear and unbelief. It takes divine intervention.
Lie-based strongholds are built upon stubbornly held internal arguments and conclusions (or speculations) which are based on our observations and experience of life.
Example of a Logical Stronghold Built on Lies
Over the years I have been privileged to work with many sexual abuse victims. Any person who has experienced the betrayal and traumatic pain associated with abuse as a child at the hands of people who should have protected him or her, will often have great difficulty trusting God for protection as an adult. I think this should be rather obvious.
The argument will probably sound something like the following. God did not protect me from being abused when I was young; so, why should I trust him to do so now? Either he was not able to protect me or chose not to protect me then. Why is anything different now?
This logic seems to be impregnable because it is based on personal experience, which cannot be denied.
We must concede that God, since he is almighty and sovereign, did allow the abuse to happen. Logically, based on his or her interpretation of personal experience, the person holding this position feels justified in concluding that God cannot be trusted. This argument can hold us tenaciously in its grip in spite of clear Biblical teaching that God is our defender and Keeper. (Psalm 121:7-8) This is a perfect example of a lie-based stronghold, one which I have seen God help several people to overcome.
The lie at the root of the stronghold is that God is not trustworthy.
This is the same lie that Satan presented to Eve in the Garden. It is perhaps the most insidious of all lies, especially when we are presented with seemingly inescapable logical proof that it is so. Perhaps you know someone whose faith in God was derailed by such an argument. I do. Anyone captured by this satanic logic is in deep trouble, and without the help of God’s Holy Spirit, will likely stay enslaved by the lie. How does God liberate us?
We tend to believe what we see and experience more than we believe God and his promises because deep down we are fiercely independent in our sin nature.
When we are born-again, we receive a new identity. Our reborn spirit is joined to and loves the Lord. (1 Corinthians 6:17 and 2 Corinthians 5:17). However, even though our spirits are reborn, we still have a connection to Adam’s sinful independence through our yet unresurrected bodies, which the Bible calls “the flesh” (Greek: sarx). We are beings who are a combination of a new creation spirit and an old creation not yet resurrected body. Our souls (mind, will and emotions – the personality) are conflicted as a result. (I have written on this extensively in my series, Living Free in the Spirit.) We have a sort of “split personality.” Part of us loves God deeply and wants to serve him, but the “flesh” still wants to be an outlaw and live off God’s grid.
The “flesh,” still insists on making its own decisions and evaluations instead of relying upon the Lord and trusting his words.
The “flesh” never disappears and cannot be rehabilitated. According to Paul, the “flesh” was crucified with Christ and also must be constantly put to death by us. The flesh wants to be able to provide for itself rather than trust an invisible God. It wants to protect itself, instead of relying on God to be its defender. All of this reveals that we still hold to a presupposition that we are better off on our own in life, which is exactly what prompted Adam and Eve to reject God and choose independence so long ago. They failed in their test.
We must overcome this temptation to opt for self-directed independence, if we are gong to experience the freedom Christ died to give us.
Sinful logic has a very limited perspective and does not factor in God’s wisdom and understanding. It is not built on any sort of revelation of God or faith in his promises. Think of how modern TV shows and movies are written and produced. Most of them present a version life in which God is never in the picture and people fend for themselves. Marx called religion the “opiate of the masses,” a crutch for weak-minded people who cannot handle life on their own. The “flesh” laps up this sort of logic, which is one reason so many fall for the lies behind Marxism and evolution, which are God-denying, man-glorifying approaches to life.
The Way Out
If a person who is captured by such a stronghold wishes to experience freedom, he or she must eventually reject sinful logic and make a decision to rely on what the Bible says about God and his promises.
I can almost hear you thinking, “Yeah, right. That sounds pretty easy, but actually is close to impossible.” Exactly! That is why we need God’s help. When we approach God in prayer, asking for his help, he will never let us down. He is more willing to help us experience freedom than we are to seek it. Jesus already paid the price for our liberation. The Holy Spirit is waiting for us to ask for his help.
Changing how we think about things is called repentance, which comes from the Greek word metanoeo and means literally to “change the mind.” Changing how we think precedes changing who and what we believe.
Repentance moves us from trusting in ourselves to trusting in God.
Repentance and faith are gifts from God. (Acts 5:31 and Ephesians 2:8) Unless God reveals himself to us in a personal way, we cannot repent or believe using only our own abilities. The Holy Spirit is always at work when people truly repent and trust in God from the heart.
Bondage derives from sinful logic, but a heart that turns back to God in simple trust will experience freedom.
That is why it is vital for us to take any of our lie-based logical strongholds directly to the Lord in prayer and ask him to help us with them through his written Word and the Holy Spirit. Lie-based strongholds are always arrogant and proud obstacles that stand between us and knowing God. The only way to destroy such a stronghold is to confront it head on with repentance, humility, and a determination to move forward with faith in God and the truth of his Word. We cannot make it through this process without God’s direct help.
This brings us to story of Gideon, which I will cover in the next article. I will show you how God helped him to confront the lies he believed about himself and God and how he became an overcomer as a result.
