Mark 1:23-28 ESV
Almost everywhere the fellowship of believers is weakened or kept down from its great calling because spirits of uncleanness are allowed to live among and in them. The danger of uncleanness (быть нечистым) is that you cannot immediately identify it.
You may be a “good Christian”, and yet your thoughts and feelings, your goals and longings are not going with Jesus’ heartbeat. You might be a very active believer, preaching, traveling and moving a lot of activity, and yet your character does not radiate Jesus’ holiness. A person that is not deeply rooted and established in prayer is prone to be
contaminated with uncleanness. Your thoughts, your imagination, your goals and motivations of life are not really pure. There is an unholy mix in your heart, and that is what is really driving you. Your daily speech is not fully honest, your lifestyle is not entirely transparent, and your life is not relentlessly given away to Jesus and the fellowship of your brothers and sisters.
Whenever Jesus appears deamons are frightened. The dark unseen world, this mafia network of the devil, cannot hide anymore when the living Jesus is invited and taking power. Where the cleaning of Jesus’ forgiveness and His holiness is personally claimed every day, God’s Spirit of holiness (the Holy Spirit) can shape your character and entire life.
Question 1: Why are the unclean spirits fearing Jesus?
Question 2: Why is an unclean spirit so dangerous for the church?
Question 3: Am I honestly confronting my life with God’s holiness? How do I do that?
Question 4: How can I grow in God’s holiness?
Question 5: Which fruits does a life in holiness show?
This time my dear inawe a passage from the Scripture which you gave us is nothing about holiness and uncleanness. We read in this passage about a man who had an evil spirit and we see a confrontation made by Jesus with this spirit (freedom given to this man).
Questions are good, but if you want me to write about holiness and uncleanness try to give another passage…
Thank you, my dear brother “+a” for your vivid response! I very much like a reaction like yours, since it shows that you take the above bible passage and the small introduction serious.
May I take your words: “We read in this passage about a man who had an evil spirit and we see a confrontation made by Jesus with this spirit (freedom given to this man)” and share a little bit more what I originally wanted to say on the blog…
Although we don’t read in Mk 1:23 that it was an “evil” spirit (but an “unclean” one), I agree with you that there was a confrontation between Jesus and this spirit. A confrontation in most cases is a clash of two parts that don’t like each other. A long-term confrontation can also be called battle. Exactly that happens in every fellowship where Jesus in His holiness reveals Himself. The unclean and evil spirits cannot hide anymore. They either submit to Jesus’ rule or the member of the fellowship “takes French leave”. The behavior of representatives of the devil is always cowardish.
No unclean spirit would run around a church and shout “I am unclean, please kick me out of here”. But they hide until they get confronted by Jesus Himself. Unfortunately this happens not very often. In many churches/fellowships (like in Mark’s synagoge) these unclean powers enjoy a comfortable life. Where is Jesus? Where are the disciples in authority who confront these spirits in Jesus’ authority?
I believe that the appearance of “spirits” is nothing supernatural but as ordinary as they are described in the NT. They soround us like “unclean” bacteria in our daily life. And here let me make the “Holiness and Uncleanness” connection that you did not read in our text! I said in the introduction: “A person that is not deeply rooted and established in prayer is prone to be contaminated with uncleanness.” What happens is that believers with a weak or no prayer life, who don’t regularly feed their inner spiritual man with the Word, and who logically don’t feel the longing to be around other brothers and sisters, are in great danger of being infiltrated with these spirits. Here holiness is at stake. The holiness (God’s character expressed in honesty, transparence, courage, obedience, compassion and much more) of the body of believers is massively attacked. “Uncleanness” fights against “holiness”. Dark powers against Jesus.
Therefore my question: Am I honestly confronting my life with God’s holiness? Where am I on the above shown battle field between God’s holiness and the devil’s uncleanness? Am I really set free like the man in the story?
There is a lot of dynamite in that short passage. A lot about your and my holiness and/or uncleanness.
Please, be so kind and try to answer all five questions in light of the additional info.
Of course, more bible passages to that issue will be of great help. Could you do us a favor and give us some of the major ones? You can post them here, as well.
Again, thank you for your post this morning — I very much enjoyed it.
Your brother inawe
To write about “The Battle Between Holiness and Uncleanness” we should write a book not a post on the blog. To write about the subject in Mark 1:23-38 we should write a second book
But I’ll try to answer:
The First thing, again: this passage is not about holiness and uncleanness. This passage is nothing about the fellowship of believers. This passage is also not about unclean thoughts and feelings. We shouldn’t do such a thing – support our ideas with passage from the Bible; even if the idea is right. If we want to talk about some particular subject it has to be clear that we want to discuss the subject, not the passage from the Bible, and suggest some readings (not one pass.). So, I’m challenging everyone who wants to post some subject to discuss – to work harder.
The Second… The thing is not: does this spirit was evil or unclean (depending on the translation). It was some spirit and it was from the “mafia network of the devil” and it was in this man.
The Third… What I see in this passage is not a spiritual battle but Jesus’ authority above all powers. Jesus really can give the freedom to a man.
I wrote above 1st, 2nd and 3rd paragraph because it has to be clear that the battle between holiness and uncleanness is not equals confrontation between Jesus and an evil spirit.
I would say that a way to holiness is a way of readiness to sacrifice, renounce something (e.g. what is pleasant or favorable to us what we know that is sinful) in order to please God. So, it is an issue of our daily decisions. How we know what is sinful or what pleases God? I think that it’s obvious ‘how’ but read further.
But sometimes we have to deal with a situation when person fights e.g. with some particular sin in her/his life and cannot win. Maybe we should confront some evil spirit in the circumstances? And this is the situation which we read about in our text – Mark 1:23-28. Why? Because it wasn’t a “normal man” with some struggles on his way to holiness but “a man who had an evil spirit”. And this spirit reveals himself in Jesus’ presence.
By this introduction I just want to prevent wrong conclusion that dealing with a sin in our life is an issue of dealing with demons. We are not allowed to say so. The subject is “The Battle Between Holiness and Uncleanness” and the passage is Mark 1:23-28. So, it can be misleading.
But I agree with the main content of what ‘inawe’ wrote in the previous post. I also believe in the common appearance of the evil spirits, even among believers – in the fellowship of the saints!
But these spirits can stay unnoticed in this fellowship only as long as Jesus is absent there (unfortunately the majority) and where is lack of confrontation.
Some Christians believe that Jesus is present “automatically” because of their gathering in one place. But I believe that it’s nonsense. Jesus is present in a fellowship when the members of the body are gathering spiritually! It has to be a unity in a Spirit between them. Then, I believe, the Lord can grant the fellowship His presence. And then “the way and the truth and the life” is present and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”.
Why such a confrontation in the Spirit happens very rarely?
Maybe – because we don’t know how to come to His presence? In our “time with the Lord” we just imitate the pattern of many “normal”, traditional (religious) churches, instead of trying to develop our own path. On our Sunday’s services we “have to” start with “welcome”, sing a few songs, say some testimony and the main point: message from the Word; then pray for a while and some administr. things. But is this a fellowship of believers worshiping God in the Spirit?
The same with home groups – also some pattern but slightly different then on Sunday. So, here the same questions: where is Jesus? Where are the disciples? Just a flock and some truths scattered around?
We need personal relation with Jesus. Oh yes, we need – “believers with a weak or no prayer life, who don’t regularly feed their spiritual man with the Word… are in great danger…”. We need His presence in our lives and hopefully daily change to His image. But we also need real, spiritual fellowship – “believers… who logically don’t feel the longing to be around other brothers and sisters… are in great danger…”. We need such a fellowship where we can truly forget about our earthly problems, giving ourselves in worship, to focus on God, listen to His Word, listen testimonies of His greatness, pray together and serve each other with gifts which we received from the Holy One.
But let me answer these 5 questions:
Ans. Q1. Why are the unclean spirits fearing Jesus?
Because He has an authority.
Ans. Q2: Why is an unclean spirit so dangerous for the church?
‘cause is making the Church weak, susceptible to sin… and with time – far away from Jesus, close to the place where each person was found at the beginning of their way with Jesus, or even worse… what destroy not only this person but also the Church.
Ans. Q3: Am I honestly confronting my life with God’s holiness? How do I do that?
a) Definitely I’m searching, I’m looking for answers about God’s holiness. I eagerly want to be on the road of getting perfect, holy, as I’m called to be. But I am conscious of the fact that sometimes I am not honest with God. I tell Him YES but in my heart is NO because something is so precious to me. But I really want to say: nothing but God!
b) I read the Scriptures to look on myself in the light of God’s Word, I pray in a place where I can close the door and pray to my Father, I consult with other believers maybe gifted somehow and/or just more matured and pray together also.
So, first: developing personal relationship; second: in a deep fellowship of other saints.
Ans. Q4: How can I grow in God’s holiness?
See Ans. Q3 b) and by obedience.
Ans. Q5: Which fruits does a life in holiness show?
Like it was written above: honesty, transparence, courage, compassion, … but also the fruit which we read in Gal. 5:22, 23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
+a