Recognizing The Infidel (part 1)
“What part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” (2 Cor 6:15).
“Satan has called this world his territory. Here his seat is, and he holds in allegiance to himself all … who reject a plain, ‘thus saith the Lord.’ They stand under the enemy’s banner; for there are but two parties in the world. All rank either under the banner of the obedient or under the banner of the disobedient” (DG 84).
The Medical Model
In my medical practice I see many different types of diseases. Some skin problems, such as warts, are easily recognized, even by laymen. But sometimes even warts are difficult to diagnose, some warts can cause cancer, and some cancers can look like warts. Experience helps the physician recognize uncommon and unusual presentations of a disease. Experience also teaches the physician to recognize dangers in something that may appear innocuous.
Diagnosing Spiritual Diseases
Diagnosing spiritual disorders is similar to diagnosing medical disorders. Some spiritual diseases that are generally easily recognized, may have unusual presentations that are more challenging to diagnose.
An Example of a Common Spiritual Disease: Infidelity, Unbelief, and Skepticism
• Danger
“With a fascinating, bewitching power, unbelief and infidelity fasten themselves upon the mind” (CT 136).
• Epidemic Threatening the Church
“Skepticism and infidelity are increasing everywhere” (5T 681).
“Infidelity prevails to an alarming extent, not in the world merely, but in the church” (GC 583).
“We cannot but look anxiously upon the youth of today as those who must take these burdens, and upon whom responsibilities must fall. These must take up the work where others leave it, and their course will determine whether morality, religion, and vital godliness shall prevail, or whether immorality and infidelity shall corrupt and blight all that is valuable” (GW 68).
“Every conceivable form of error will be accepted by those who willfully reject the truth. He who looks with horror upon one deception will readily receive another” (GC 523).
• Varying Latency Period
“The seeds of unbelief, in some instances, have taken immediate root, while in others they have lain buried quite a length of time, until the individual in whose heart the seed was sown has taken a wrong course and given place to the enemy, and the light of God has been withdrawn from him; then the seeds of infidelity which were sown so long ago have sprung up and borne fruit” (RH 2/12/1880).
• Pathogenesis
Acceptance of infidel arguments ➡︎ God’s law indistinct ➡︎ rebellion against God’s government.
“It is one of Satan's devices to lead the people to accept the fables of infidelity; for he can thus obscure the law of God, in itself very plain, and embolden men to rebel against the divine government” (PP 113).
Infidelity Diagnostic Pearls
The diagnosis of Robert Ingersoll’s bold infidelity is easy for anyone to recognize—He openly scorned the Bible. But infidelity can also present with subtle signs and symptoms that may fool the novice spiritual clinician. To avoid making this mistake it is important to learn to recognize “infidelity under some pleasing disguise” (FE 99). This skill is especially needed today, since “infidelity prevails in many of the churches in our land; not infidelity in its broadest sense,—an open denial of the Bible,—but an infidelity that is robed in the garb of Christianity, while it is undermining faith in the Bible as a revelation from God” (PP 168).
Infidelity Diagnostic Pearl 1: Don’t be mislead by a profession of belief in the Bible (Ja 2:19)
Infidels may profess some belief in the Bible to gain credibility for their disbelief and falsehood.
Everyone can find something to believe in the Bible. Who can’t believe the following statement, “the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald” (Lev 13:40). If the devils themselves have a certain belief in the Bible (Ja 2:19), we should not be surprised that even a blaspheming infidel may claim belief in the Bible. Such betray the Son of God with a kiss (Lu 22:48). We have been warned that in the future [evil] "spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted” (GC 588).
Infidelity Diagnostic Pearl 2:Disbelief in any portion of the Bible is infidelity of all of Bible (James 2:10).
Infidels who try to hide behind portions of the Bible they “accept” are unmasked by the part they reject.
Would a wife be reassured by a husband’s nearly complete faithfulness to her? Would she be pleased with a husband who denounced unfaithfulness in general, while defending limited infidelity?
Those who reject little or much of God’s word are infidels. Whenever we place ourselves above one part of the Word of God, we really are placing ourselves above all the Word of God. “Has God placed His work in such a careless manner, that man could fashion it to suit his own inclinations, receive that which was agreeable to him, and reject a portion?” (1MR 306).
The most damnable of all false teachers is the teacher that explains away one portion of the Bible while professing to accept it all. “We may disguise poison by mingling it with wholesome food, but we do not change its nature. On the contrary, it is rendered more dangerous, as it is more likely to be taken unawares. It is one of Satan's devices to combine with falsehood just enough truth to give it plausibility” (GC 587).
Infidel Example 1: Rejecting the biblical age of the earth
“It makes indefinite and obscure that which he has made very plain. It is infidelity in its most insidious and hence most dangerous form; its real character is so disguised that it is held and taught by many who profess to believe the Bible” (PP 111).
“Infidel geologists claim that the world is very much older than the Bible record makes it. They reject the Bible record, because of those things which are to them evidences from the earth itself, that the world has existed tens of thousands of years. And many who profess to believe the Bible record are at a loss to account for wonderful things which are found in the earth, with the view that creation week was only seven literal days, and that the world is now only about six thousand years old. These, to free themselves of difficulties thrown in their way by infidel geologists, adopt the view that the six days of creation were six vast, indefinite periods, and the day of God's rest was another indefinite period; making senseless the fourth commandment of God's holy law” (3SG 91).
Infidelity Diagnostic Pearl 3: Infidels will join with culture to especially promote disbelief in essential doctrines which are under attack by society (1 Tim 4:1). The infidel arguments of the false prophet will always get a good hearing because people want to believe that their cherished sins are uncondemned by God’s word.
“The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so” (Jer 5:31). However, those parts of the Bible that “you will be least inclined to receive is the very part most needed” (5T 98).
Infidelity Diagnostic Pearl 4: Infidels within the church may be regarded as learned men (John 7:48)
Infidel opinions are often promoted with arguments designed to sound biblical or scientific although they actually neither (1 Tim 6:20; Mt 22:29; 2 Pet 3:16).
They will seek to evade plain Bible truths utilizing predictable methods such as the following:
• The Rabbinical method (Mk 1:22).
Scholarly sounding words with references to ancient manuscripts, Hebrew and Greek, the early church fathers, history, tradition, or hypothetical situations, that make contradictory, vague, and fanciful meanings appear plausible. This produces a smorgasbord of conflicting interpretations from the clearest Bible passages. The meaning of a plain Scriptural passage becomes ambiguous, understandable only to the academic elite.
“The rabbis spoke with doubt and hesitancy, as if the Scriptures might be interpreted to mean one thing or exactly the opposite. The hearers were daily involved in greater uncertainty” (DA 253).
• The out of context method (Ps 56:5; 2 Pet 3:16).
Snippets of texts are wrested from their context which give a meaning far different than God intended.
“In order to sustain erroneous doctrines or unchristian practices, some will seize upon passages of Scripture separated from the context, perhaps quoting half of a single verse as proving their point, when the remaining portion would show the meaning to be quite the opposite. With the cunning of the serpent they entrench themselves behind disconnected utterances construed to suit their carnal desires” (GC 521).
• The soul-winning method
Though departure from the Bible always results in the loss of souls, it will audaciously be asserted that rejecting the plain Bible instruction in some area will bring revival, strengthen mission, retain young people, and invigorate out reach.
This was the argument of the Judaizers in the days of Paul. “They sincerely thought that in taking this medium ground between Jew and Christian, they would succeed in removing the odium which attached to Christianity, and would gather in large numbers of the Jews” (LP 121).
• The ridicule method
Often the disguised infidel attempts to marginalize those who follow the plain reading as ignorant, uneducated, few in number, divisive, extreme, fanatical, and unreasonable, just as they did with Jesus (Joh 7:15, 47-49). They may try to shame those who use plain Scripture in defense of their actions, ridiculing them as employing the “proof text method.”
“As in earlier ages, the special truths for this time are found, not with the ecclesiastical authorities, but with men and women who are not too learned or too wise to believe the word of God” (COL 79).
Paul’s charge to Timothy is God’s charge to us, “Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge” (1 Tim 6:20).
Recognizing The Infidel (part 2)
In the first part, we looked at ways to recognize spiritual disorders (diseases) in the church. In this part we look at diagnostics and prevention.
Infidelity Diagnostic Pearl 5: Those who partially obey God’s word are infidels (Mt 5:19).
Persistently justifying such partial obedience and regarding it as full obedience, brings about one of the most hopeless delusions in Satan’s toolbox.
Partial obedience is full disobedience, it is rebellion—the core of witchcraft, rejecting the word of the Lord. “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king” (1 Sam 15:23)
Infidelity Diagnostic Pearl 6: Infidels will hate the righteous but have fellowship with unbelievers and justify the ungodly (2 Cor 6:14).
Infidels show their loyalty to the world by defending and promoting the world’s culture and fighting God’s servants.
Ahab denounced Elijah as his enemy, while calling Benhadad—the real enemy who was actually at war with him—his brother (1 Kings 21:20; 20;32,33).
Infidelity Etiology Pearl 1: Neglecting to preach and practice all the Bible (Acts 20:27).
“Ministers preach only portions of the Word, and refuse to practice even as much as they teach. This leads to misconceptions of the Word and doctrine, it creates error and misinterpretations of the Scripture” (Lt88-1900).
Infidel Example 2: “Higher” criticism of the Bible
“The work of ‘higher criticism,’ in dissecting, conjecturing, reconstructing, is destroying faith in the Bible as a divine revelation” (Ed 227). “One wise man rejects one portion; another questions another part. They set up their judgment as superior to the Word; and the Scripture which they do teach rests upon their own authority. Its divine authenticity is destroyed. Thus the seeds of infidelity are sown broadcast” (COL 39).
For our own sake we must learn to recognize the methods of “higher criticism” even when hidden behind innocuous sounding names and denied. “It is one thing to treat the Bible as a book of good moral instruction, to be heeded so far as is consistent with the spirit of the times and our position in the world; it is another thing to regard it as it really is—the word of the living God, the word that is our life, the word that is to mold our actions, our words, and our thoughts. To hold God's word as anything less than this is to reject it. And this rejection by those who profess to believe it, is foremost among the causes of skepticism and infidelity in the youth” (Ed 260).
There is no sin in the entire catalog of sin that cannot be defended by “higher” criticism—Sunday keeping can be justified, homosexuality can be rationalized, and transgender activities such as cross-dressing can be excused.
Certainly we cannot defend any pastor, teacher, or professor, who employs higher criticism in his Bible study and teaching. This infidelity is more egregious because of its disguise. To defend such teachers or minimize their unfitness to preach in our pulpits, write in our publications and journals, or teach in our schools and seminaries is to show great blindness. “The schools established by us should have in view this object, and not be after the order of the denominational schools established by other churches, or after the order of worldly seminaries and colleges. They are to be of an altogether higher order, where no phase of infidelity shall be originated, or countenanced” (FE 231).
“With the open Bible before them, and professing to reverence its teachings, many of the religious leaders of our time are destroying faith in it as the word of God. They busy themselves with dissecting the Word, and set their own opinions above its plainest statements. In their hands God's Word loses its regenerating power. This is why infidelity runs riot, and iniquity is rife” (Ev 591).
Infidelity Etiology Pearl 2: Cherishing sin (1 John 2:15).
“Grievous sins have separated the people from God. Infidelity is fast becoming fashionable” (GW 149).
Infidelity Etiology Pearl 3: Studying the Bible to sustain a preconceived belief (Mark 7:13).
"Why is it that they cannot understand some part of the truth?—It is because they seek to interpret the word of God according to their own preconceived opinions. There are others who read the Bible only to prove their own position, and to bend everything according to their own way of thinking. He who cherishes error, has no one to blame but himself; for he who seeks diligently for truth will find it, and be sanctified through it. We should desire to know the truth in every point. The understanding is to be sanctified through the knowledge of the truth. We should desire to see its beauty, and to have its precious light shining upon our pathway" (ST 9/16/1889).
Infidelity Etiology Pearl 4: Studying the Bible with self-confidence and pride instead of humble dependence (Psalms 40:4).
“In our day, as of old, the vital truths of God's word are set aside for human theories and speculations.… One wise man rejects one portion; another questions another part. They set up their judgment as superior to the word; and the Scripture which they do teach rests upon their own authority. Its divine authenticity is destroyed. Thus the seeds of infidelity are sown broadcast; for the people become confused and know not what to believe.… Because the plain teaching of God's word condemned their practices, they tried to destroy its force. The same thing is done today. The word of God is made to appear mysterious and obscure in order to excuse transgression of His law. Christ rebuked these practices in His day. He taught that the word of God was to be understood by all. He pointed to the Scriptures as of unquestionable authority, and we should do the same. The Bible is to be presented as the word of the infinite God, as the end of all controversy and the foundation of all faith” (COL 39).
Infidelity Prognosis Pearl: Infidels will abandon the truth in time of crisis (1 Jo 2:19).
Infidels are not honest seekers of truth but sophisticated evaders of truth and areexposed during periods of persecution.
"Prosperity multiplies a mass of professors. Adversity purges them out of the church” (4T 89). "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John 2:19).
Infidelity Primary Prevention Pearl 1: Avoid constant association with infidels
“Distressed by the increasing wickedness of the ungodly, and fearing that their infidelity might lessen his reverence for God, Enoch avoided constant association with them, and spent much time in solitude, giving himself to meditation and prayer. Thus he waited before the Lord, seeking a clearer knowledge of His will, that he might perform it” (PP 85).
Infidelity Primary Prevention Pearl 2: Practical Bible instruction at home
“Parents need to reform; ministers need to reform; they need God in their households. If they would see a different state of things, they must bring His word into their families and must make it their counselor. They must teach their children that it is the voice of God addressed to them, and is to be implicitly obeyed. They should patiently instruct their children, kindly and untiringly teach them how to live in order to please God. The children of such a household are prepared to meet the sophistries of infidelity. They have accepted the Bible as the basis of their faith, and they have a foundation that cannot be swept away by the incoming tide of skepticism” (PP 143).
Infidelity Protection Example: Moses’ childhood home
“The lessons learned at his mother’s side could not be forgotten. They were a shield from the pride, the infidelity, and the vice that flourished amid the splendor of the court” (PP 244).