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Rescued Out of Darkness and Confusion: Robin’sTestimony
September 16, 2013
By Robin Campbell
I was raised in anon-Christian home, and exposed to pagan practices from a very young age. I believed these to be the truth. These practices made me feel special. My friends at the time also influenced me into thinking some of these things were cool to follow.
From about the age of 13, I started practicing astrology, psychic readings, higher consciousness meditation, spirit guides, palm readings, and angel cards, and more. These practices enslaved me. I thought I was in control and that everything happened by random chance. I believed in so many lies like superstitious, and also believed in karma. I thought that bad things would happen to me if I was too negative.
I attempted for many years developing psychic powers and tapping into things that I could not explain. I would tell people whom I didn’t even know about things in their life that I could not have known through normal channels. I would later find out that this information was from demonic powers of darkness. In spite of all this involvement, I was empty and still seeking happiness. I was angry and bitter,and my life was filled with lies and guilt and shame for things I had done. There was even a period of time in my life that getting high and drinking became the norm. I also tried to find fulfillment in things or people, but that never satisfied me.
I felt alone and trapped, and around my late teens and early 20’s, I began meditation and learning about freeing my spirit. I did this by trying to practice a “higher consciousness” and even just thinking more positive thoughts. I read New Ager Eckhart Tolle, medium Sylvia Brown, watched “The Secret” DVD numerous times,tried to live out the so-called Law of Attraction, and sought spirit guides. However,all of these things gave me only a temporary escape. I lived my life trusting in my feelings and my own understanding, taking bits and pieces from different books and religions, like Buddhism. I went as far as trusting in psychics.Again, this brought temporary relief, but soon enough I was back in a vortex of darkness with no light.
Living for myself was depressing. I even tried to be a better person morally, or think more positive and not allow circumstances to control me. I wondered why these things that I had cherished and believed in for years had given me no peace, comfort,or security. There were absolutely no answers to the deep questions I had about life, like why I am here and what happens after I die. I was filled with anxiety, fear, and hopelessness. I was even eager that doctors would diagnose me with some disorder in the hopes that they could fix me. These things were myi dols; they were my God. I was searching for something to free me.
I had no idea that I was enslaved to the lies of the enemy and to my own depravity. I also strongly believed at one point that I was a product of reincarnation. I thought that I was an old soul who had lived over 200 times (I gullibly accepted what a psychic said). I also had an experience in which I felt like a different person in a different era. This was a lie, because Hebrews 9:27 says that it is appointed for man to die once and then to face judgment.
In 2008, my friend Sharon Ortiz shared her faith with me. That was the first time I had heard the real Gospel message. She pressed the issue of repentance and faith in Christ’s finished work alone. I still thought that I was a pretty good person until God showed me my wickedness and His holiness. As it is written,
“There is none righteous, no, not one,” (Romans3:10).
Sharon and her parents spent much time with me. They shared God’s word with me and answered many questions. It was through the book of Romans that God convicted my heart and I realized I was lost and apart from Him. I started to get an understanding of who the true God is.
I originally came to Christ for relief from my anxiety but learned that the real problem was my need for forgiveness of sins and that I needed a Savior. I repented of my former ways of doing things, and believed in Christ alone to save me.
“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.” Deut. 18:10-12
I understood that God is holy and that I deserved judgment, and that I was dead in my sins. But praise be to God, He made a way for me through Jesus Christ! I now have peace,security, and hope. I learned that Jesus bore the wrath of God for me, and I now have his righteousness. I am justified by faith alone in Christ alone.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”Romans 8:1, 2
How marvelous!Jesus lived the perfect life that no one can live. Since God is holy, He demands perfection, and He himself is that perfection!
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2
“For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works,so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
The Bible never promises our lives will be free from pain and difficulties, instead the Bible promises we will have many trials and tribulations in this life. The secret to a successful life is knowing where to turn for help when you have a problem. That’s the lesson we are going to learn today from a man who had leprosy. Let’s read about it in Luke 17:11-17.
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising…
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I Believe in the Precious Blood
By John MacArthur
He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing.
Hebrews 10:28-29
Dear Beloved Friend,
The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is holy and precious. The shedding of His blood in death was the price of atonement for our sins. As He literally poured out His blood in a sacrificial act, He sealed forever the New Covenant and purchased our redemption.
Those of you familiar with my teaching know that I have always believed and affirmed those things. For the past two or three years, however, I have been under attack by a small but vocal group of men who are eager to discredit my ministry. They have charged me with denying the blood of Christ and have called me a heretic in several nationally distributed publications.
My first response was to write many of those men privately, believing their attack on me grew from a misunderstanding. None of them had spoken to me personally before attacking me in print. Only a handful have yet replied to my letters. Still, I expected the public controversy to die away. My teaching is certainly no secret, and I knew that those who listen regularly to our radio broadcast would know I am a not teaching heresy.
Nevertheless, for nearly three years a small core of zealots have kept the issue swirling around every ministry I’m involved with. One man has literally made a career of going to any church in the country that will pay his way and giving a series of messages on the error of “MacArthurism.” Recently, a couple of key radio stations dropped “Grace to You,” not because of anything we taught on the broadcast, but because they did not want to continue to deal with the controversy being generated by rumormongers.
Over the past couple of years we have received thousands of letters from all over the country, ranging from those supporting our biblical view, to those who are confused, to some who blindly echo the accusation that we are trampling underfoot the blood of Christ. For the sake of all of them, and so that you can better understand what I have taught about the blood of Christ, let’s look at three truths that I and all other genuine believers affirm about the blood of Jesus Christ.
1. Jesus’ Blood Is the Basis of Redemption
Peter wrote, “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, [like] silver and gold . . .but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:18-19, KJV). Scripture speaks of the blood of Christ nearly three times as often as it mentions the cross, and five times more often than it refers to the death of Christ. The word blood, therefore, is the chief term the New Testament uses to refer to the atonement.
Peter wrote that election is “unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2). The “sprinkling of the blood” was what sealed the New Covenant (cf. Heb. 9:1-18). “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (v. 22). If Christ had not literally shed His blood in sacrifice for our sins, we could not have been saved.
This is one reason crucifixion was the means God ordained by which Christ should die: it was the most vivid, visible display of life being poured out as the price for sins.
Bloodshed was likewise God’s design for nearly all Old Testament sacrifices. They were bled to death rather than clubbed, strangled, suffocated, or burnt. God designed that sacrificial death was to occur with blood loss, because “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11).
2. Jesus Shed His Literal Blood When He Died
The literal blood of Christ was violently shed at the crucifixion. Those who deny this truth or try to spiritualize the death of Christ are guilty of corrupting the gospel message. Jesus Christ bled and died in the fullest literal sense, and when He rose from the dead, he was literally resurrected. To deny the absolute reality of those truths is to nullify them (cf. 1 Cor. 15:14-17).
The meaning of the crucifixion, however, is not fully expressed in the bleeding alone. There was nothing supernatural in Jesus’ blood that sanctified those it touched. Those who flogged Him might have been spattered with blood. Yet that literal application of Jesus’ blood did nothing to purge their sins.
Had our Lord bled without dying, redemption would not have been accomplished. If the atonement had been stopped before the full wages of sin had been satisfied, Jesus’ bloodshed would have been to no avail.
It is important to note also that though Christ shed His blood, Scripture does not say He bled to death; it teaches rather that He voluntarily yielded up His spirit (John 10:18). Yet even that physical death could not have bought redemption apart from His spiritual death, whereby He was separated from the Father (cf. Mat. 27:46).
3. Not Every Reference to Jesus’ Blood Is Literal
Clearly, though Christ shed His literal blood, many references to the blood are not intended to be taken in the literal sense. A strictly literal interpretation cannot, for example, explain such passages as John 6:53-54: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
It would be equally hard to explain how physical blood is meant in Matthew 27:25 (“His blood be on us, and on our children”); Acts 5:28 (“[You] intend to bring this man’s blood upon us”); 18:6 (“Your blood be upon your own heads”); 20:26 (“I am innocent of the blood of all men”); and 1 Corinthians 10:16 (“The cup of blessing . . .is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?,” KJV).
Clearly the word blood is often used to mean more than the literal red fluid. Thus it is that when Scripture speaks of the blood of Christ, it usually means much more than just the red and white corpuscles—it encompasses His death, the sacrifice for our sins, and all that is involved in the atonement.
Trying to make literal every reference to Christ’s blood can lead to serious error. The Catholic doctrine known as transubstantiation, for example, teaches that communion wine is miraculously changed into the actual blood of Christ, and that those who partake of the elements in the mass literally fulfill the words of Jesus in John 6:54: “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Those who have attacked me seem to be espousing the same kind of mystical view of the blood that led the Catholic Church to embrace transubstantiation. They claim that the blood of Christ was never truly human. They insist on literalizing every New Testament reference to Jesus’ blood. They teach that the physical blood of Christ was somehow preserved after the crucifixion and carried to heaven, where it is now literally applied to the soul of each Christian at salvation.
We are not saved by some mystical heavenly application of Jesus’ literal blood. Nothing in Scripture indicates that the literal blood of Christ is preserved in heaven and applied to individual believers. When Scripture says we’re redeemed by the blood (1 Pet. 1:18-19), it is not speaking of a bowl of blood in heaven. It means we’re saved by Christ’s sacrificial death.
In the same way, when Paul said he gloried in the cross (Gal. 6:14), he did not mean the literal wooden beams; he was speaking of all the elements of redeeming truth. Just as the cross is an expression that includes all of Christ’s atoning work, so is the blood. It is not the actual liquid that cleanses us from our sins, but the work of redemption Christ accomplished in pouring it out.
That is not heresy; it is basic biblical truth.
If you’ve been troubled by these issues and you’d like to study them more in depth, please write to us. We’ll send you free of charge a cassette tape containing virtually everything I’ve ever said about the blood of Christ. We’ve compiled this tape from nearly twenty years of messages given at Grace Community Church. We also have some written material that explains our position, which we will send you again at no charge.
I hope you’ll be like the noble Bereans and study God’s Word for yourself to see if these things are true. Please don’t be influenced by careless charges of heresy.
Also, please pray for me. These attacks have been relentless, and I confess that at times it is discouraging. Yet I know one cannot be on the front lines without constant battles, and it is a privilege to suffer wrong for the Lord’s sake (cf. 1 Pet. 4:19).
Thank you for your prayers and support. Please pray that God will protect us as we seek to minister His truth with boldness.
Yours in His Service,
John MacArthur Pastor-Teacher
Excerpt
“So many ministries today treat faith as a commodity to be promoted, marketed, and sold. We have all listened to these hour long internet broadcasts which focus on everything from how evil the secular government is, to the latest government conspiracy, and if we just send in our donations, they will be able to continue to channel this badly-needed information to Christians everywhere. When not one word of the gospel has been preached, can we still call this a “Christian” broadcast or ministry? “
In response to the mass abandonment of Christ-centered apologetics in the church in modern times, the Cambridge Declaration was issued in 1996 by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It was a direct response to the declining state of the Evangelical movement in America.
The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals came to be formed a year after David F. Wells authored a book called No Place for Truth or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? in 1993. The book was critically acclaimed by a number of important Evangelical leaders. In 1994 a number of these leaders came together at a conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts out of which the Cambridge Declaration was issued.
Two of the principle players involved were James Montgomery Boice and Michael S. Horton. The list of those gathered included some notable Evangelical leaders: R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, John Piper, Albert Mohler, Alistair Begg, and many others. The reasons for issuing the…
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International House of Prayer has always been influenced by the Catholic mystics. Their bookstore on prayer is loaded with New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) authors such as Dutch Sheets, Cindy Jacobs, Chuck Pierce, C. Peter Wagner and James Goll. Dallas Willard adds another touch of controversy. Then I see that Beni Johnson of Bethel Church, Redding, is also on the list. Her daughter Jenn Johnson (Jesus Culture) recently spoke to young people about angels and their f–rting contests. Please read this article as now Francis Chan is scheduled to speak at IHOP. We are being asked to contact him with a warning.
The rock singer’s song “Bad Moon Rising” has as much truth as the latest “blood moons” coming from the propheteers(deliberate play on profiteers) from such teachers as John Hagee, those running Prophecy News Watch (advertised “The Blood Moon Prophecy” this week) and the cultish Hebrew Roots movement.
Without going into this latest pseudo-prophetical teaching, I simply believe it is more nonsense complete with sign seeking and date setting comparable to that of debunked Harold Camping.
Don’t be a BLIND SHEEP and send these people your money! 
LISTEN to the Great Shepherd Jesus Christ who succinctly answers such utter nonsense with a SHARP REBUKE to the spiritual leaders (Pharisees) of that time not once but TWICE:
Matthew 12:38-40 “Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous…
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‘Proof’ of Heaven
Exposed
by Rev. Robert S. Liichow
Monday morning before work I was watching Fox News© when they announced that Eben Alexander, M.D. would be sharing his amazing experience of going to heaven! This Heresy-hunter went out immediately to his local Meijer and purchased a paperback copy and came home and read the book cover to cover. Let’s begin this short examination with the following text:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
What happens beyond death is the biggest mystery and foremost question on the minds of virtually everybody. It is no mystery that we all will die because the wages for our sin is death (Rom 6:23) and humanity does all it can to stave off that final moment before our bodies assume room temperature. The question is where does the “life”…
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The excerpts from the Big Book are very revealing…Great Article. Thanks John.
I so tired of the false reports being circulated. Especially those sites who sell survival supplies or books that support end-time fantasies. Some just foster political hate.
From Christians to atheists and beyond, my Facebook friends run the ideological gamut. I’m blessed to have thoughtful and deep friends from all walks of life.
But after spending years on Facebook, I’ve seen a trend that’s both interesting and troubling: If I find a hoax in my news feed, chances are it will have been shared by an evangelical Christian.
I know that sounds like a terrible thing to say, but it’s true. In fact, it’s so typical and intriguing, that I’ve been keeping track of the phenomenon for quite a while. I’ve often wondered why mainstream Christians (not my high-church friends, not my Catholic friends, etc.) are so quick to pass on news stories and testimonials that are untrue. But that’s a discussion for another time.
Today I want to talk through some reasons they need to stop:
1. They’re credibility killers
The Christian message is one that…
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“Deliverance!”
I have just returned from preaching at a pastors’ retreat. On one of the days I had to deal with the issue of false prophets and teachers. Whereas previously I would have had in mind the major Christian cults (e.g. Jehovah’s Witnesses), this time at the back of my mind was the extreme Charismatic “deliverance” movement. I saw this as a greater danger to evangelicalism because it is a Trojan horse.
During our discussion time it became apparent that I was correct. Although while I was teaching I did not mention the Charismatic “deliverance” movement, almost all the questions were related to this phenomenon. It is a common vice.
The loss of the gospel
My chief concern about this movement is the loss of the gospel. In my personal evangelism I often come across individuals who are members of these churches and all their talk is about perceived miracles and deliverance but never about repentance and personal faith in Jesus Christ. There is something definitely wrong with that.
The regular content of preaching on TV confirms this. I never hear a straightforward sermon on the death of Christ as God’s atoning sacrifice for our sins. I never hear preachers calling hearers to repentance and faith in Christ. Rather, whatever passage the preacher is dealing with, he soon makes a beeline to felt needs (barrenness, lack of or infidelity in a spouse, a “curse” in your wider family, lack of employment, etc) and then appeals for any individuals going through this to “believe” as he—the preacher—is about to pray for them.
The consequences of the loss of the gospel have been disastrous. Churches are filled with happy-clappy people whose lives are whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones. This must be obvious. The gospel alone changes people’s hearts. Once you lose it, you will have the crowds but without sanctified hearts. Their religion becomes a thin veneer that covers unbridled sinful passions. In the end, those who know the truth about the scandals and the skeletons in the wardrobes of church-going people blaspheme the Lord’s name. It is terrible!
The loss of worship services
In most cases, the deliverance supposedly takes place as the preacher is praying. This is not just a TV phenomenon. It is now the highpoint during church services. After all the singing and dancing, there is a sermon. It amounts to something like, “So-and-so came to Jesus or Paul for deliverance, this is your day to also be delivered. Just believe.” Then the invitation is made for those with any needs to come to the front for the deliverance.
There is no doubt that this draws the crowds. However, it is not because there are any miracles taking place. Far from it! It is because of the phenomenon of people falling down and writhing on the ground. It is precisely the same kind of phenomenon that draws crowds to the local witchdoctor. There is only one difference. We are supposed to believe that it is the devil who does these things at the witchdoctor’s den but it is God who is doing it at the “deliverance” church.
My quarrel is with turning a worship service into a deliverance session. Every Sunday ends with people coming to the front to get their “deliverance”. Is this what was happening in the days of Jesus or that of the apostles? Even a casual reading of the book of Acts does not give me that impression. It is clear that worship services were for singing and prayers going up to God, and the Word of God being preached for the salvation and sanctification of the people. After which they went home to think about and apply what they had heard.
The loss of the priesthood of all believers
When I question all this, I sometimes get accused of not believing in a God who can do the miraculous today. That is not the point. My quarrel is with the “man of God” phenomenon that is utterly unbiblical. It steals away from the priesthood of all believers and reduces it to the priesthood of “the man of God” who seems to have powers that ordinary Christians do not have. Hence, his prayers (and those of his wife) are anointed while the prayers of ordinary John and Mary are not.
In the Bible, the phrase “man of God” was applied to prophets (as vehicles of God’s self-revelation) and not to priests (as miracle workers). Granted, some of these men of God (like Moses) were also miracle workers but that was not the essence of this phrase. Hence, you find men like David being referred to as men of God (see 2 Chronicles 8:14) but they never performed a single miracle. Thus Paul was also able to apply it to Timothy in the New Testament (see 1 Timothy 6:11) and as far as we know no single miracle was performed by Timothy.
This answers the question that I was asked at the pastors’ retreat: “What if, while I am preaching, some demons manifest in an individual?” My answer is simple. Ask a few mature Christians in the church service to carry that person out to another room so that they can pray for him and continue with your sermon.
Why keep everyone waiting for the next hour or two while pandemonium breaks out in front of the pulpit? There are no special powers in the prayer of the preacher, which ordinary Christians do not have in their prayers. It is the prayers of a righteous man that avail much and not the prayers of some anointed “man of God”. In fact, from the scandals filling up our history books, we are learning again and again that the so-called “men of God” are often not even righteous.
We need to arrest this trend
I am very concerned about the “false prophets and teachers” of our day, who have come into evangelicalism through the back door. As I said earlier, this is a Trojan horse. The loss of the gospel, the loss of worship services, and the loss of the priesthood of all believers is a matter of grave concern. If we do not arrest this trend there will soon be serious animism and syncretism in the church, until there will be no difference between what takes place in the witchdoctor’s den in the village and what is taking place in church. God forbid that it should be so!
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