Romans 6:1-7
Summary: Scripture alone offers the truth and clarity necessary to profoundly comprehend the human psyche. It is through the divine words of the Bible that we can truly understand our thoughts, emotions, and motivations. By immersing ourselves in the teachings of the Scriptures, we gain access to the ultimate source of wisdom and enlightenment. (Ephesians 1:15-23)
INTRODUCTION: Inner Healing definition and practices.
Definition: "Inner healing" is the process of liberating individuals from the adverse emotional consequences of harmful experiences. Regrettably, numerous New Age and mystical practices have infiltrated the church, challenging the Effects of the Cross and the Power of the Blood of Jesus. Three primary areas of concern must be addressed:
1. The detrimental effects of continually focusing on incidents that trigger pain or resentment.
2. The risk of forming our perception of God based on mental imagery rather than the accurate portrayal found in Scripture.
3. The potential for exposing our minds to demonic influence or encounters.
The Enneagram System of Personality Typing (Is it Occultic?)
The Enneagram, an unverified tool, is susceptible to theological inaccuracies and the potential for social and psychological misapplication. Due to the absence of scientific research, it is impossible to establish criteria for expertise, evaluate the effectiveness or harm of the advice given, or ascertain the validity of the Enneagram system's objectives.
• The Enneagram System of personality typing has recently become popular among American Christians, especially younger adults who are culturally aware of both church doctrine and the secular world.
• This system originated over 2500 years ago with a Babylonian wisdom school and was brought to Europe in the 1920s by George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff.
• In the 1960s, Oscar Ichazo taught his version of the nine personality types in Bolivia before bringing it to the United States.
• Claudio Naranjo, a Chilean psychiatrist, used automatic writing and trance channeling to design today's modern Enneagram System.
• After Don Richard Riso incorporated it into counseling as a former Jesuit priest, the Enneagram's popularity rapidly spread among Roman Catholics.
• The primary use of this system is to analyze ego types to gain greater awareness and reach a higher state of consciousness. It also promises to help transform believers into God's image through self-acceptance and understanding flaws as breadcrumbs toward rediscovering one's best qualities.
I. Inner Healing and the Enneagram
A. Questions that need to be asked concerning the use of the Enneagram system.
1. Can a tool from the occult be an instrument that heals or incites harm?
2. How dangerous are practices derived from occult origins, especially when they are considered an abomination to the Lord?
3. Perhaps the best question to ask is: Can a Christian use the Enneagram to glorify God and grow into the likeness of Christ?
a. The Enneagram, a system rooted in mysticism and the occult, represents an alternative gospel steeped in psycho-heresy. Its aim is to provide insights that should exclusively come from the authoritative source of the Bible. Consequently, the Enneagram serves as a deceptive and counterfeit path to spiritual sanctification and growth.
B. The Born-Again Christian is called to deny themselves and follow Jesus daily.
1. The Enneagram is ultimately self-focused. It creates a framework for identifying in a test rather than in Jesus.
2. The fundamental issue humanity faces, which led to Jesus taking human form and sacrificing Himself on Calvary, is why Born-Again Christians must undergo a continuous process of transformation and renewal. This is achieved by daily self-sacrifice rather than seeking self-discovery.!
a. Through the Word of God and the Power of the Holy Spirit, the Born-Again Christian already has all they need for life and godliness! (2 Peter 1:3).
C. Jesus came, walked the via Delarosa, offered Himself on Calvary, and conquered death, hell, and the grave so that Born-Again Christians could experience daily victory and renewal through self-sacrifice rather than self-discovery.
II. Inner Healing and the Bible
A. In a direct contradiction, God promised to transform the Born-Again Christian through the power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The Bible commands, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom 12:2).
1. Adam and Eve were created good and given free will by their Creator, so they had the choice to be content with Him, who is love, or to want more.
a. When a person becomes Born-Again by accepting and receiving Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, they are positionally sanctified before God and considered perfect, holy, and good, just as the first humans (Rom 1:7, 8:28; 1 Cor 1:2).
2. Their condition changes every day based upon their good and bad choices, but their position before God remains the same as He sanctifies their condition daily (Heb 10:14).
a. The most profound truth about the goodness of God is that He knows everything about us and still loves us anyway.
B. Only God's written Word, the Bible, is all-sufficient to help the Born-Again Christian grow in godliness (2 Tim 3:17).
Human psychology has so permeated the church that "modern" counseling methods include such things as "womb therapy" or using Jesus as a "spirit guide" via a "sanctified" imagination so that a person can "center down" on a "metaphysical" journey to mind-travel back into the past. Once the person arrives, they are to use "god-light" to seek out the hidden inner-child regions and dark rooms of the unconscious mind for repressed or hidden pain or trauma so that "god" can directly speak truth to them for healing.
1. Only God's written Word - the Bible - is truth.
2. The Bible also says that the Holy Spirit will finish the work He began in the person who yields their life to Jesus. (See Phil. 1:6; 1 Th 5:24)
3. The "inner" person of the Christian is being renewed day by day. (See 2 Cor. 4:16; 3:18)
4. The Born-Again Christian stands positionally before God, blameless and perfect - emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Jesus said, "Apart from me, you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
5. To imply otherwise is to declare the Bible to be insufficient. No Christian should seek to be transformed by anything (or anyone) except for Word and the Holy Spirit.
III. The Root of the Problem - Sin
A. Sin is in the human nature.
1. Every human being is born "a slave to sin." The reason Jesus came to Earth was to save humanity from their Sin. (See Matt 1:18-22)
2. He shed His blood for "the remission of sins." (Matt 26:28)
3. It is only Jesus who can make a person free from its eternal consequences. (See John 8:34-36)
B. What happened in the womb or some specific event in a person's past is not the reason for their problems, failures, or mistakes. The Bible says that it is SIN. Sin is a willful transgression against the law of God. You're in the shape you are in because of man's sin nature. (We live in a fallen world.)
1. Sin is mentioned more than 600 times in the Bible! Sin does not exist due to lies that have been believed, which leads to defective thinking and ultimately manifests as sinful behavior.
C. Ministry to people should have Jesus at the center, not the problems caused by the sinful nature resident in fallen man.
1. Relying on Jesus, and the finished work of Calvary, is the only way to bring about healing and restoration, not man-made human counseling and deliverance methods, no matter how spiritual they may sound or are seemingly justified by poor exegesis of Scripture.
2. It is time for the church to make Jesus the center of their ministry, emphasizing the Word of God and allowing the Holy Spirit to move freely in their midst.
D. Born-Again Christians don't need to worry about being eternally deceived by satan because they have been sanctified by God's truth.
1. Jesus prayed, "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth" (John 17:17 NIV).
2. Holy Spirit was given to guide every Believer "into all truth" (John 16:13).
3. Jesus is the great Shepherd, and His sheep will not follow a stranger because they hear His voice:
"… and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers" (John 10:2-5 NIV).
CLOSING:
Jesus is Enough
