In the last few lessons we have taken up several phases of our redemption in Christ. We are now going to study the means whereby God has made known to us our redemption, and the means whereby a man becomes a new creature in Christ. Our heavenly Father has given to us a revelation of our redemption in Christ, which is a revelation of God, the Father Himself. He has given also a revelation of the new creation in Christ. This revelation is not only a witness of Himself, but also a witness of the New Creation, its privileges, authority, and responsibility.
That Revelation is His word, the Bible. Words can give no adequate estimation of the place the Word of God holds in redemption and the life of God’s child. It is our aim in these lessons to show forth the utter sacredness of God’s Word and the vital place it holds in the life of the Christian. It is also our aim in these lessons to show forth that the Word is the food of the New Creation, the nourishment of the Christian, and his source of strength and power. Lacking God’s Word in their lives, His people are literally destroyed for lack of the knowledge of the Word (Hosea 4:6).
God Works through His Word
Satan has always bitterly and subtly fought God’s word, because God works through His word. When God desired to create a Universe, He brought it into being by the power of His spoken word.
Satan’s Battle Against the Word
History reveals that every period of spiritual declension has been marked by a low conception of God’s word, the Bible. When Satan found that the torturing and martyrdom of the Christians, and the destruction and burning of Bibles, would not keep the church from growth, he employed a more successful method and has been subtly attacking the Word of God, so that it was made powerless and ineffectual in the life of man.
The Place of the Word of God in the Reformation
When the reformation came, it came when the Word began to work in the lives of men. These men caught a glimpse of its place and gave it to the common people. It was the working of God’s word in the lives of men that brought light and life to humanity. The spread of Bibles into the homes of the common people cannot be separated from the reformation.
Yet Satan had not ceased to try to make the Word inactive. When he could no longer lock it up within the monasteries in a language that the common people could not understand, he locked it up within creeds and doctrines. The reformation and the cheaper means of printing made it possible for every home to possess the Bible.
Satan’s Battle Today Against the Word
Right after the reformation, Satan caused men to build creeds and doctrines about the lives and teachings of the leading men of the reformation, thus hindering themselves from growth and development, and preventing the dark regions of the earth to share in the truth they possessed by their preoccupation over doctrines.
No single leader of the reformation possessed all the light. God raised up these men and gave to each a portion of light. Yet, these men themselves were largely the products of the Middle Ages. Whenever a man locks himself up within a set of creeds, he shuts out further light on the Word and hinders truth and growth. This has caused the divisions among the Church, and made her a reproach to the world.
This has hindered the true presentation of Christianity to the world, so that Redemption has never had a fair chance to work in the lives of men. This has caused furious battle to be waged over the Deity of and the authority of the scriptures that has resulted in the present day condition.
Many churches are preaching in place of the Word, other themes that they consider more practical and in harmony with modern civilization. The procedure is explained with one word: "relevance". While on the other hand, those who today are preaching the truth and are considered the most spiritual, have no true conception of the sacredness of the Word, and the place it should hold in their lives.
Mental Assent Versus Faith
The utter commonness of the Word, which should have been our deliverance from ignorance and the bondage, Satan has used to hinder the working of the Word in our midst.
The greatest weapon that Satan is using today to make the Word ineffectual is the weapon of "Mental Assent." This weapon is utterly dangerous, because it is so subtle. Mental assent is hard to recognize because it comes clothed in the term "Faith."
Before we can understand the difference between Mental Assent and Faith, we must understand the meaning of each. Faith is action upon the Word. Believing is fearlessly acting upon the Word. Mental Assent is agreement to the fact that the Bible is true, but it is without corresponding action.
Perhaps a few illustrations will make it more clear. A man seeking to become a Christian, who really believes, says the following: "I believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, I take Him as my savior and confess Him as my Lord. Therefore, I am saved because His Word in Romans 10:9-10 declares so." He confesses that he is saved before he receives the witness within himself. He believes the Word to be God’s. Therefore, he acts fearlessly upon it regardless of his feelings because he knows it cannot be broken. He boldly makes the Word his confession. There is no believing that does not result in confessing.
A Mental Assenter who is seeking to become a Christian will speak similarly the following: "I believe the Bible is God’s Word. I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I have been trying to be saved for a long time. I’ve asked Him in, but I am not saved." This one would be insulted if he were told he did not believe. Yet, his attitude is one of mental assent. He professed to believe but he has no conception of acting upon the Word. If he had believed, he would have said, "God’s Word is true. I believe, therefore, I have eternal life." (John 5:24) Mental Assent produces no action; it has no confession. Mental assent has robbed many of their healing.
A believer says this: "By His stripes I am healed." The disease may be manifest in his body, yet he is acting upon the Word, by confessing that by the stripes of Jesus he is healed. It may be that after he has been prayed for, he has witnessed no healing; yet he says I am healed, because God’s word declares that in Jesus' Name they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. The believer cannot help making this confession of faith, anymore than the Mental Assenter can help confessing his doubts.
A Christian who is a Mental Assenter has the following attitude: "I believe the Bible is true. I have believed these scriptures all of my life. I have had so many pray for me; I can’t understand why I am not healed."
How many of God’s children have suffered years with a disease, not realizing their difficulty, thinking that their Mental Assent was Faith!
Many Christians who are living in the realm of mental Assent today are living barren and fruitless spiritual lives. All their lives they have been seeking power with God in their lives and prayers. They have never learned to live by the Word. They live in weakness, and failure and want, because they have no conception of acting upon the Word. The Word declares that they have been made a New Creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17); that they have been made the very righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21); that they are joint-heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17); that the authority of His Name is theirs in prayer (John 16:23-24); and that God will supply every need of theirs (Philippians 4:19).
Yet they have no consciousness of righteousness, or of their authority in the Name of Jesus, or strength. This is due to the fact that their attitude has been one of mental Assent, and Satan has robbed them of their inheritance in Christ.
Cause of Mental Assent
The cause of Mental Assent has been our utter familiarity with the Word. Perhaps all of us have had the Bible in the home from childhood. We have always been familiar with its teachings.