On Fire Christians and Spiritual Categories

The following is an attempt to describe different categories of people from a Christian perspective. As always, don’t just accept this, but take it to the Lord and check it against the Bible for authenticity. The intent of this is more to stimulate discussion than an attempt to present The Truth. We have God’s Word for that purpose.

GOD

An All-Consuming Fire

On Fire Christians – actively communing with the Lord in the fire, strong anointing – WALK WITH THE LORD = ON FIRE

Spirit-led Christians – spiritual radar is on, obedient – KNOW THE LORD AND FOLLOW THE LORD = ROYALTY

Believers – have a simple faith in Christ – KNOW ABOUT THE LORD; GOING TO HEAVEN = BLUE SKY

WALL OF FIRE – LINE OF SALVATION

Lukewarm Believers – KNOW ABOUT THE LORD, BUT HAVE OTHER PRIORITIES = ASLEEP & MISS THE CALL

Nominal Christians (Liberals/Universalists) – CREATE GOD IN THEIR OWN IMAGE = NO SPIRITUAL FRUIT

Non-believers – REJECT THE TRUTH, WORSHIP ANOTHER GOD, GOD, AND OPPOSE CHRIST = REPROBATE MINDS

SATAN

Fires of Hell

* Wall of Fire and Line of Salvation – to receive salvation, we must repent of our sins, accept Christ, and become a new creation. God is a consuming fire, so to come to Him, all must be burned up except our soul and spirit.

* Car wash analogy – when you take your car through a car wash, the machine washes away all of the dirt and grime, and your car emerges on the other side all clean and sparkly. When we go through the wall of fire (accept Christ), we become a new creation, and the dirt and grime of sin begins to be washed away (sanctification).

* Everybody is going through the fire. We all start life below the Line of Salvation, the Wall of Fire. We then either accept Christ and go through the Wall of Fire to become Christians, or we reject Christ and end up in the fires of hell.

Questions to Consider

Which of these categories do you personally relate to?
Are you comfortable with this, or do you want to take action to change?
Consider your family and friends; which of the categories best describe them?
Are you comfortable with this, or do you want to interact with them about this?

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The Holy Spirit Communicating to the Body of Christ Today

It is through the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that we become transformed into new creations. As we become filled with the Holy Spirit, our fleshly desires burn away and we can become On Fire Christians. The book of Acts describes the launching of the church with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Here is what the New Testament says about how the Lord communicates with His people:

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Romans 8:14

I say then: “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh… But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Galatians 5:16,18

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:28

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John 14:26

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. I Corinthians 2:12

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on his own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak and He will declare to you the things that are to come. John 16:12-13

Jesus describes communion with His bride:

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.” John 17:20-22

NOTE: You can learn more about how to hear God’s voice here: https://www.awmi.net/reading/teaching-articles/gods_voice/

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On Fire Christians – Excerpts from “Consumed by His Fire” by C.R. Oliver*

Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4:23-24

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28-29

“There is a depth in God whereby one enters the friendly fire that is Him and wishes to be no place else. It consumes a person in the same way that love consumes the lover. His consuming fire enters the spirit of man and burns with the same fire that burns within Him. It consumes everything in its path, like a roaring fire when it overtakes and consumes everything in its way.

This is a flame that burns so deep within it draws a shivering world to its warmth. This is the consuming flame, that once close enough to warm another, catches that person on fire.

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. And the living creatures ran back and forth, in appearance like a flash of lightning. Ezekiel 1:13-14

God’s heavenly creatures live among the flames and God’s people are meant to as well:

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Matthew 3:11-12

Behold, there it is! There is the very fire that burns in my own spirit. It is a consuming fire that lashes out against all that would affront my Lord. At the same time, its flames warm my spirit until the desire of my being is to be as He is.

Jeremiah knew this firsthand:

Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. Jeremiah 5:14

Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not. Jeremiah 20:9

The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. Deuteronomy 5:4-5

Moses spoke to the Lord in the midst of the fire, but the people who followed Moses were afraid of God’s flame. They missed the greatest opportunity this world affords – standing and being in the presence of the Lord. That’s what is wrong today. People are afraid of His fire.”

NOTE: The fire of the Lord, His light, His shekinah glory, and anointing are all similar. We gain other glimpses of the fire of the Lord in the Bible:

Moses’ face shone so bright after being in the presence of God that he had to put a veil over it.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego walked in the fiery furnace with Jesus.
On the day of Pentecost, “there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:3
The apostle Paul was so anointed that when people touched his garment they would be healed.

* The book “Consumed by His Fire” by C.R. Oliver is available from www.zadokpublications.com, and the kindle version from Amazon.com.

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On Fire Christians Addendum – a Discussion About These Categories

The following is a discussion about these categories with a dear brother in the Lord, who raised questions about them. Thought you might like to see them.

QUESTION: How do we know these categories are from the Lord?

COMMENT: As long as the essence of a message or doctrine is Biblical, it is acceptable. For example, if you do a search in the Bible for “triune God”, you won’t find it, even though the true church has embraced this theological concept for centuries because its essence, its meaning, is confirmed by scripture.

I suggest a three-fold test for any message:

The message must be consistent with scripture and the historical teachings of the church (not the Roman Catholic Church),
The person giving the message must be spiritually clean and live a Godly life, given over to the Lord, and
The message has been confirmed – from the Lord with Bible verses and/or confirmed by other Spirit-led Christians.

QUESTION: If we are saying that the Spirit is still inspiring new revelation today that is on par with Scripture, how are we to determine if what someone is saying the Lord told them shouldn’t be accepted as new doctrinal authority?

COMMENT: The terms “new revelation” and “new doctrinal authority” are red flags for me, as they bring to mind Joseph Smith and other cult leaders. So, I would be very suspicious of anyone who uses those terms, as they are probably not speaking from the Holy Spirit.

QUESTION: I hear you saying it should be tested with Scripture, but if they are claiming Spirit inspiration, who’s to say they are wrong if we don’t believe the “canon” is closed?

COMMENT: I think it would be helpful to look at some definitions of “canon” from on thesaurus.com:

an ecclesiastical rule or law enacted by a council or other competent authority and, in the Roman Catholic Church, approved by the pope.
the body of ecclesiastical law.
the body of rules, principles, or standards accepted as axiomatic and universally binding in a field of study or art
a fundamental principle or general rule
a standard; criterion
the books of the Bible recognized by any Christian church as genuine and inspired.

I accept and embrace the notion that “the canon is closed”, referring to the Bible. And I embrace the notion that the canon is closed when it is defined as the body of rules, principles, or standards accepted within historic Christianity – the body of Christ.

QUESTION: Who is to say we can’t add to it now if we take the position of present-day Spirit inspiration?

COMMENT: You raise good questions. I think the real key is to whether what is proposed conflicts with or changes what the Bible and the historic church say is true doctrine. If it does, then it should be rejected. But if it enlarges upon and illumines what the Bible says, then it can be a blessing to the body of Christ. Jesus said that He had many things to share with the apostles, but He would not share them; the Holy Spirit would teach them to them. Are you denying what Christ said?

The flip side of this is many Christians who IMHO state that they believe in the Holy Spirit, but never teach that believers can learn to recognize the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. The result is Christians who know about God but never know Him. They are the ones who succumb to “The Greatest Danger”:

THE GREATEST DANGER

The greatest danger facing all of us is not that we shall make an absolute failure of life, nor that we shall fall into outright viciousness, nor that we shall be terribly unhappy, nor that we shall feel that life has no meaning at all – not these things.

The danger is that we may:

fail to perceive life’s greatest meaning,
- fall short of its highest good,
- miss its deepest and most abiding happiness,
- be unable to tender the most needed service,
- be unconscious of life ablaze with the light of the Presence of God,
- and be content to have it so.

That is the danger – that someday we may wake up and find that always we have been busy with husks and trappings of life and have really missed life itself.

For life without God, to one who has known the richness and joy of life with Him, is unthinkable, impossible. That is what one prays one’s friends may be spared – satisfaction with a life that falls short of the best, that has in it no tingle or thrill that comes from a friendship with the Father. Phillip Brooks (1835-1893)

Perhaps this is one reason many young (and old) people are leaving the church. They attend for a while, hungry for a relationship with the sovereign, living God of the universe, but just receive sermons and theological reasoning ABOUT GOD; never the personal relationship with the Father for which they hunger. Regardless of how long they have been a believer or in a church, people cannot teach something that they do not know. For fear of embracing voices from the dark side, they shut off the possibility of hearing from the Lord.

On a side note, what does the one unforgiveable sin mean: “blaspheming the Holy Spirit”? I believe it means rejecting the conviction of sin from the Holy Spirit, so a person has unforgiven sin on their hearts. Question for you – does it also mean rejecting the notion that the Holy Spirit can communicate with people today in the church age?

Setting aside the question below, how many Christians do you know that are ON FIRE FOR THE LORD? How do you light their fire if you caution them against even considering that the Holy Spirit might be really communicating with them as an individual?

QUESTION: I also hear what you mean about the various categories, but the consistent witness of Scripture is that there are only TWO categories. You are either all out for Christ or you are against Him. A few examples: 1 Kings 18:20-21, Malachi 3:16-18, Matthew 7:13-14; 24-27, Luke 11:14-23, Philippians 3:17-19, John 2:19, and Revelation 3:15. Thoughts?

COMMENT: Of course there are only two categories ultimately – people go to heaven or they go to hell. So that is a given. Within that context, I find it useful to look more deeply at the nuances within these two categories. The church of Laodicea for example – they would claim to be in one camp at the same time they are in the other camp. And the references to Christians on milk when they should be on meat. And the many references to God as a consuming fire, of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the fiery furnace with Jesus, and the tongues of fire on the people at Pentecost, etc. etc.

So part of this issue is whether a person wants to explore whether the Holy Spirit teaches and leads Christians today (as the Bible says) in a personal relationship, or whether we stick with doctrinal teachings about God, as if we were learning about Buddha or some other historical figure. I choose the former.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 11:15

To God be the Glory

Mark Peterson mpeterson222@hotmail.com

The Sanctity of Life and Its Enemies

Hello

Great to see you here in Little Rock recently. We were relieved to hear that you made it home. I want to share some perspectives with you, but first want to let you know that nothing you do, say, or believe (or who you vote for) alters my love for you. Really! That should be freeing to you.

In this missive, I want to focus on one issue – human life. This is an attempt to describe a pro-life perspective and apply that perspective to what is going on in the U.S. and the world. This is a 5 year or perhaps a 10 year letter. You may dismiss it now, but five or ten years from now you may have an experience that connects with some element of this letter.

As you know, the Biblical perspective on human life is that we were created in the image of God; although He is a Spirit, we are like Him. We look like Him, we have a spirit that can connect with Him, as well as emotions, will, and reason, which He also has. We are not merely animals but are a special creation. This sanctity of life perspective shaped the foundation of our nation, and is in contrast to the cultures and political systems from which our forefathers and foremothers came.

Furthermore, God is not a respecter of persons, and we – both men and women – are all equal under the law of God. Under kings, the king and his cohorts are elite rulers who make all of the decisions; the people have little or no voice. The same is often true for sultans, czars, emperors, pharaohs, and chiefs. Many of these considered themselves to be gods, and some practiced human sacrifice.

So the rule of law, in which everyone is equal under the law, was a departure from historical precedents. One of the first to embrace this was when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Even Moses was treated as equal to other people by God, and was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because of his transgression. In most of the elitist systems, human life was cheap and expendable for the cause of the regime in power. In direct contrast, early Christians rescued abandoned babies off the trash heaps in ancient Rome because they believed in the sanctity of human life.

I would add that our nation’s history and treatment of Native Americans and African Americans has been a dark stain on our nation’s history, for which there is no excuse. Our Declaration of Independence laid out the basic premise that all men are created equal, but it has taken years and at least one war before that ideal has started to become more fully realized.

Although our nation is still a work in progress, the existence of slavery, persecutions, and lack of basic freedoms and economic opportunity in many other countries today may account for the continued flow of people into our nation from other nations.

Modern attacks on the sanctity of human life and the notion that we were created in the image of God come from:

Charles Darwin, who favored evolution (really macro-evaluation from one species to another) as the best explanation of origins, leading to the perspective that we are merely animals, albeit smart animals. If we are merely animals, then there is no creator with a purpose for our lives, and we can make up our own rules. This is taught in most public schools and universities as “scientific”, ignoring the substantial body of knowledge in creation science that confirms the Biblical world view. The Intelligent Design Movement consists of a group of evolutionary scientists, some of them quite prominent, who have concluded that the data, and the intricate nature of nature forces them to conclude that nature (like Mount Rushmore) did not happen by chance, but by design from some kind of intelligence.

Radical environmentalists embrace evolution and are more concerned for the future of the earth and its ecosystem than people. This leads to laws that protect endangered species (such as the spotted owl) at the expense of the jobs and livelihoods of thousands of people in Oregon, Washington, and other states.

The New World Order, espoused by every U.S. president since George H. Bush, is a movement toward a one world government, one world economy, one world financial system, and one world religion. New World Order advocates are globalist elitists – leaders of multi-national corporations, foundations, banks, and governments, who see population reduction as an essential part of their agenda. The New World Order people are ruthless criminals who start wars and have absolutely no regard for human life.

Hitler also embraced evolution, and sought to eliminate those people who he did not view as highly as the Aryan race (Jews, gypsies, handicapped, etc.), as well as individuals who opposed his regime (Christians, priests, traditional German patriots, etc.)

Karl Marx and Frederich Engels founded Marxism, a materialistic, totalitarian system which advocates replacing God with the state (federal government), and destroying or co-opting all intermediary associations between the individual and the state, including families, the church, businesses, and voluntary organizations. (This is exactly the agenda described by the Communist Party USA, when they met in the 1960s).

Based on the faulty presupposition that we are by nature good, Marx contended that as capitalism is replaced by socialism (government control of the means of production), which then evolves to communism (government control of the entire society), there will be no crime because everyone’s needs will be met, and the state will “wither away”. The reality is that communist states become repressive, totalitarian states ruled by ruthless thugs, with a track record of murdering tens of millions of their own people, even during peace time.

That is why millions of people have fled those countries to come to the U.S., while a much smaller number of Marxist idealists have chosen to move there. These totalitarian societies eliminate freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to bear arms, and freedom to own private property. (It is alarming that these freedoms are now under assault in this country and in the world.) It is not uncommon among Marxists (even in this country) to discuss the need for millions of people to die (particularly those opposed to their regime), which they see as a necessary evil if the “dictatorship of the capitalists” is to be replaced by the “dictatorship of the proletariat” i.e. the working people.

Although they have the same goal – a totalitarian communistic state, there are two camps within Marxism – those who advocate violent overthrow of existing capitalist systems, and those who favor the gradual takeover of a society’s institutions from within. Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist count, advocated the latter. One of his ardent students was Saul Alinsky, the infamous community organizer from Chicago, who wrote “Rules for Radicals” and dedicated it to “the first rebel, Lucifer”. Alinsky has a famous pupil in very high political office, Barack Hussein Obama. As you may know, I was a Marxist for a time, studied Marx and Alinsky in grad school, and have visited five communist countries. I also presented a paper on Marxism at a national conference. A close friend lost her position in the University of California – Davis History Department when the Marxists took over and she would not toe the party line.

Hinduism has a system of castes that people are born into and from which there is no escape (without leaving that system). Unlike Christianity, with its admonition to feed the poor, the Hindu perspective is that if you help someone in dire poverty, you will interfere with his/her karma, in which he must suffer in this life for wrong-doing in his previous life, in order to be reincarnated at a higher station of life in the next life. New Agers basically embrace Hinduism, its reincarnation, and pantheism.

Islam is a special case. We can learn a lot by studying the founder of a religion. While Jesus treated women with respect and taught his followers to love their enemies, Mohammad personally led multiple raids on passing caravans for booty, women, and slaves. Observing the gradual increase in Muslims in a Western nations, the pattern that is emerging is that rather than assimilate within the culture, Muslims increase their demands for sharia law, with its barbaric treatment of criminals and women. A few other clues:
- Within Islam, the only sure way you know you are going to Paradise when you die is when you die in Jihad – holy war. Perhaps that is why a Palestinian mother exclaimed a few years ago that the happiest day of our life was when her son blew himself up as a suicide bomber in Israel. Amazing – this describes a culture of death!
- During the Iran-Iraq war, a war between two Muslim nations, Iran sent out thousands of its teenagers to clear the minefields prior to a military battle. They became human fodder in this tragic war.
- Honor killings takes place in the Middle East and this country when a family member, usually the father, kills another member of the family who has shamed the family. If a young woman is raped, she is killed by her father because she has shamed her family. Meanwhile, the rapist faces far lesser charges. Unbelievable. So the family’s “honor” is more important than human life.
- In similar fashion, an Egyptian professor at Cairo University converted to Christianity and had to flee because his father was about to kill him to restore honor to the family.

Abortion – with the perspective that human life is just a blob of tissue, abortionists have killed an estimated 70 million babies in the U.S. since Roe vs. Wade in 1973. The tide turned somewhat when “Silent Scream” came out – a video that shows the pain that an unborn child experiences during an abortion. Under President Obama, our government pressures other nations to embrace abortion. I heard an interview with a pastor from Kenya, in which he described how the U.S. government pressured Kenya to change its constitution to accept abortion. President Obama has also sought to force Christian health organizations (Catholic hospitals, etc.) to provide abortion services, in direct conflict with their fundamental beliefs. Worldwide, approximately a billion babies have been killed since 1973, for which our nation bears some responsibility. The blood of these murdered babies cries out from the ground against our nation and our government.

Abortion leads to bizarre things happening. I recently read that 400-500 babies every year are alive due to botched abortions. I saw a video clip of one of these individuals, in which she told her story of how her mother and abortion “doctor” tried to kill her, but she survived. Now that is a dysfunctional family!

In contrast, the Word of God states:

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me… for You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;marvelous are Your works, that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” Psalm 139:7-16

Unlike materialistic/communistic systems, in which people have no transcendent or special purpose other than utility, or systems that embrace evolution in which we are just animals, the Biblical world view describes a world in which we were created by God teleologically – with a purpose.

Just as nature is a product of design (as opposed to evolutionary chance), so was human life was designed with a purpose. We – you and I, were created by God with a purpose, and that purpose is to draw close to Him on earth, to reflect His love and truth to all people, and to enjoy His presence here on earth and in heaven when we die. But He won’t force anyone to be there who does not want to be in the presence of God.

God invites us to into a relationship (not just a belief) with Him, in which we fellowship and can be led by the Holy Spirit of the sovereign, living God. And this is truly amazing.

Many people’s experience with Christianity has not been positive. Perhaps they encountered a dead church or Christians who did not walk the walk, or were stuck in stifling social roles. Or perhaps they were just seeking a social organization, and became tired of hearing about Jesus, sin and guilt. (False guilt comes from man and is often manipulative; true guilt comes from the Lord and is redemptive.)

Most people don’t like to be called sinners – it is like telling someone they are a bad person. I find it more useful (and Biblically accurate) to note that teleologically, sin is merely missing its mark, like a car that runs off the road and hits a tree. Cars were not designed to hit trees; they are designed to drive down the road. In like manner, we were not created to crash off the road; we were created with the capacity and desire to know the Lord. This is expressed in the following – the Greatest Danger.

The Greatest Danger

The danger is that we may:

fail to perceive life’s greatest meaning,
fall short of its highest good,
miss its deepest and most abiding happiness,
be unable to tender the most needed service,
be unconscious of life ablaze with the light of the Presence of God,
and be content to have it so.

That is the danger – that some day we may wake up and find that always we have been busy with husks and trappings of life and have really missed life itself.

For life without god, to one who has known the richness and joy of life with Him, is unthinkable, impossible. That is what one prays one’s friends may be spared – satisfaction with a life that falls short of the best, that has no tingle or thrill that comes from a friendship with the Father. Phillip Brooks (1835-1893)

The Greatest Danger

The danger is that we may:

– fail to perceive life’s greatest meaning,

– fall short of its highest good,

– miss its deepest and most abiding happiness,

– be unable to tender the most needed service,

– be unconscious of life ablaze with the light of the Presence of God,

– and be content to have it so.

That is the danger – that some day we may wake up and find that always we have been busy with husks and trappings of life and have really missed life itself.

For life without God, to one who has known the richness and joy of life with Him, is unthinkable, impossible. That is what one prays one’s friends may be spared – satisfaction with a life that falls short of the best, that has in it no tingle or thrill that comes from a friendship with the Father.

Phillip Brooks (1835-1893)