The prophet's dictionary guide to the supernatural

ultimately convert followers to a nonplussed, yet purported easier Christianity where suffering is scorned and comfort and convenience are peddled. So vague are its delusions that the kernel of truth it portrays initially overshadows the lies. The prophet Jeremiah’s words best describe God’s view of heresy. Jeremiah 23:30 reads, “Therefore, behold I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.” This enigmatic statement says much about heresy and its path. Its dogma comprises the stolen words of the Lord that are taught as new revelation of divine truth. The objective is to attack and destabilize biblical Christianity and scuttle the scriptural life and modes of Christ, as exhorted in 1 John 2:6. Those stolen (and perverted) words, being spiritual in nature, appear as mysteries revealed. Because they come from the Lord God, they seem eternal even though heresy is itself no more than a supernatural attempt to usurp the living God in people’s lives. Heresy shows itself as an alternative to truth’s rigidity. It is an invitational doctrine that seeks to soothe, making it quite akin to soothsaying, and comfort people so they evade repentance and undermine holiness. In respect to heresy, it clashes with specific immutable elements of Bible doctrine that should remain untouched. They include: God’s righteousness, His truth (God cannot lie, because it is impossible for Him to do so), His judgments and statutes (which are to bring life), God’s holiness and sanctification from the world; the motive for all He does for creation, His love. These standard features of divine truth characterize God the Father’s fundamental traits. In regard to God the Son, Jesus Christ, His immutables extend to: repentance (a primary condition for entrance into His kingdom), salvation via the New Birth, sanctification from dead works by His truth (John 17:17; Hebrews 6:1–2), and the indwelling Holy Spirit with powerful demonstrations of His word in deed and truth (1 Corinthians 4:20; 1 Thessalonians 1:5). Of course holiness is the capstone of them all. With Jesus, all these are predicated upon His disciples loving His Father and Himself equally and expressing that love supernaturally in the earth and among themselves. And then there is the Holy Spirit, Creator God’s last heretical acid test. The Bible places enormous emphasis on the work and fruit of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives based on Ephesians 5:9–10. The presence of the Godhead in a spirit means to lay down eternal foundational truths that extract sin and carnality from the soul and prepare people to live in eternity. Twenty-one of the distinct elements of the Holy Spirit’s manifestations beyond those of 1 Corinthians 12:7–