The Spiritual Man

(^3 3)
The Believer’s Mistake
We must not fall under the misapprehension that
those believers who are deceived by evil spirits must be
the most defiled, degenerate, and sinful. They are on
the contrary oftentimes fully surrendered Christians
spiritually more advanced than ordinary believers. They
strive to obey God and are willing to pay any cost. Unwittingly do
they stumble into passivity because of the fact that although they are
wholly consecrated they know not how to cooperate with God. Those
who are less serious about spiritual matters do not face the danger of
passivity, for how could anyone sink into inactivity and eventually
into the grip of the enemy when, though professing to be utterly
consecrated, he persists in living according to his own ideas? He
might give ground to evil spirits in other respects but certainly not in
the matter of yielding to God’s will by delivering a passive ground to
the enemy. Only those committed ones who disregard their own
interests are open to passivity. Their will can easily slip into this state
since they are most eager to obey all orders.
Many will wonder why God does not protect them. Is not their
motive pure? How can God permit such faithful seekers of His to be
deceived by evil spirits? Many people will contend that He ought to
safeguard His Own children under any circumstance; they do not
realize that to enjoy God’s protection one must fulfill His conditions
for protection. Should a person fulfill the conditions for the working
of the evil spirits God cannot forbid the latter to work, for He is a
law-abiding One. Because the Christian intentionally or
unintentionally has surrendered himself to the evil spirits God will
not hinder them from the right to control that one. How many hold to
the idea that a pure motive safeguards them from deception! Little do
they realize that the people most deceived in the world are those with
good intentions. Honesty is no condition for not being deceived; but
knowledge is. Should the believer neglect the teaching of the Bible,