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Commentary on "Good Thinking"

MARTIN L. CAREY

 

Day 7: Friday, February 4, 2011 - Further Study

 

Overview

“More precious than the golden wedge of Ophir is the power of right thought. We need to place a high value upon the right control of our thoughts…Every impure thought defiles the soul, impairs the moral sense, and tends to obliterate the impressions of the Holy Spirit…The Lord may and does forgive the repenting sinner; but though forgiven, the soul is marred.” Ellen White, The Signs of the Times, August 23, 1905.

 

Observations

This passage by Ellen White is very significant, and reveals much about her theology of human nature and the work of the Holy Spirit. I want to examine it in three parts and respond to each one. Ellen White quotes are in italics.

“We need to place a high value upon the right control of our thoughts…”

In psychotherapy, the therapist works to assemble all the client’s resources to address the indentified areas of need. The goal of therapy is to develop greater self-reliance to resolve humanly-defined problems. The Christian is battling to rely on God. In battling his own desires and hostile spiritual forces, however, he will need to find spiritual resources. Are psychotherapeutic techniques going to be effective in spiritual battles? The tools of self-reliance are only designed for satisfying desires and building up ourselves.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds… II Cor. 10:4

These weapons are not human intelligence, clever self-talk, self-distractions, or other human tools. Only spiritual weapons can destroy spiritual strongholds. Of course, Human nature wants to depend on human strength and resources. If we depend on our own mental abilities, we may feel strong, but we will be losing to the invisible realm of evil. The Spiritual weapons are the “whole armor of God: truth, righteousness, faith, the gospel, God’s Word, and prayer (Eph. 6:13-18).

“Every impure thought defiles the soul, impairs the moral sense, and tends to obliterate the impressions of the Holy Spirit.”

How can we defile a heart that is already the source of every wickedness known to man?  As Jesus said in Mark 7, evil comes from the center of our being—the heart.  So, even though impure thoughts are defiling, our own hearts are the source of them.  Only the regenerated heart has “another law” that can war against the law of his flesh.  When we are a “new creation,” the Spirit of God comes to live in us and aids us in our war against the flesh.  The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal “It;” for He brings us the eternal presence of Jesus Himself.  He indwells us, makes us alive, and stays with us forever, just as Jesus promised He would (John 14:16).  So we cannot “obliterate” the influence of the Spirit, once we belong to Jesus.  We can ignore Him or resist Him for awhile, but He will discipline us and bring His children back.  Jesus does not forsake us, or leave us as orphans (John 14:18).

“The Lord may and does forgive the repenting sinner; but though forgiven, the soul is marred.”

This statement portrays God’s forgiveness in a very uncertain manner. Are we not promised forgiveness when we repent? Beyond that, even if the sinner is forgiven, he knows that his soul is “marred” by his sins. So there are two levels of problems for the sinner here: how can he know he will be forgiven, but also cleansed and healed from the wounds of sin? So firstly, can we be certain of forgiveness of our sins?

“Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” Acts 10:43

“As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” Psalms 103:12

When we confess our sins and believe Jesus died for us and will give us eternal life, we are forgiven (I John 1:9), filled with his Spirit (Jn. 7:38,39), and made His adopted children (Eph. 1:5).

Secondly, what about our souls which are marred by our many sins? How do we find healing? Well, even though our weak, mortal bodies are not changed until glorification, we have been given many promises of healing and restoration. Here’s one,

“Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, and satisfies you with good...” Ps. 103:2-4

This is a great psalm to say to yourself when you are down and have forgotten about the goodness of God. Psalms 103 is a catalogue of what it feels like to be saved. David often felt depressed, and here he provides a list of benefits from God, just in case we forgot. We also see that when God forgives, He also heals, rescues, and keeps satisfying us with good things. The Lord Jesus never stops caring for His own sheep.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27,28

 

Summary

  1. The tools of therapy are not the weapons of spiritual warfare. Therapy builds self-reliance, while the fight of faith builds reliance on God.
  2. The whole armor of God includes truth, righteousness, faith, the gospel, God’s Word, and prayer.
  3. When our own hearts defile us with impure thoughts, only by the indwelling Holy Spirit can we “put to death the deeds of the body.”
  4. Jesus promised never to abandon us. That is why the Holy Spirit’s presence within us cannot be “obliterated,” for He will not “leave us as orphans.”
  5. We can be certain of this: when we believe on Jesus Christ and His forgiveness of our sins, He will forgive them, fill us with His Spirit, and adopt us to be His children forever.

 

Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised February 4, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Camp Verde, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.

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