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by Charlie Wolcott

“But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” ~John 6:68

Jesus had just gone through a heated discussion with Jewish leaders in Capernaum and made the statement that in order to be His disciple you had to eat His flesh and drink His blood. The Jews, having the strictest diet in the world, understood precisely what Jesus was saying. In order to have life, you had to make Jesus your very sustenance of life. The crowd left Him – the same crowd that ate the feeding of the 5000 meal, about 20,000 people altogether. Jesus turned to His disciples and asked if they wanted to go to. Peter answered with the above statement. He knew that no one else had what Jesus had.

Over the past month, I’ve been writing about words and the effects of brainwashing. But I want to leave this series in victory, not fear. There is a way to protect our minds from brainwashing, and at the same time restore our minds from the brainwashing that had already taken effect. Words have been used to poison our minds and to fog our brains. Satan has taken words to get us to not believe what God has said. But Satan can only corrupt and mimic and counterfeit. The existence of a counterfeit can only prove the validity of the original, and the original will always prevail against the fake.

There are two things I want to address here: 1) how the Words of Eternal Life can prevent us from being brainwashed, and 2) how the Words of Eternal Life can undo the brainwashing that has already been done. When we have the words of life, the message from God, and it is applied in our lives, no fog, no deception, no brainwashing will overtake us.

How do we keep from being brainwashed, from being deceived? There’s only one way to know or identify a fake $20 bill: know the real one. There’s only one way to escape from a lie: know the truth. Yes, it’s that simple. If we want to avoid being brainwashed, we must know the truth. There are countless verses that talk about knowing God, seeking the wisdom of God, and knowing the words of life. But I’ll give just one. Jesus was in the wilderness and fasting. Satan tempted him to make bread out of rocks and Jesus made this statement: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” This is critical. We are to live on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

The initial deception by Satan put the word of God in question: “Has God indeed said…?” The whole purpose of the tactic is to confuse us to wondering if we heard God correct, question if God was clear enough, and even question if God was even being sincere and honest. If we know what God actually said, however, then no one can move us. This is why so many people will ask us, “Are you sure you have the right interpretation?” “What makes you think you got it right?” Because if we do have it right, it means they got it wrong. Now, I am not calling for arrogance or beating our chest over having the truth. Do not confuse confidence in what God said with arrogance, or let the detractors do it either.

The best way to avoid getting brainwashed is to test everything we hear with Scripture. That includes from us at Worldview Warriors: Jason, Katie, Steve, Chad, or myself. If what we are preaching is not aligned with Scripture, we would like to know about that. None of us have it all figured out, but we stand with confidence that what Scripture says is true and is the standard of all reality. If we test not just the words, but the images and the spirt behind the words, then we can be assured that we will not be duped. If it is false, there will be a red flag warning against it. If it is true, it will resonate with the truth that we have learned. However, we cannot test what we hear with what we do not know. The Holy Spirit will not pull out of our minds that which we never put in, especially if we had the opportunity to do so. We must test what we hear.

But many of us have been brainwashed already simply for no other reason than we went to school or watched TV. There is only one way to undo that brainwashing: renew your mind. It takes a supernatural, recreating work of God to renew our minds. We won’t be able to do it by strength of will. It takes God to do it. We have to recognize that our minds are corrupt, and we’ll never be able to see clearly on our own. However, if we respond and receive the light that God gives us, he will give us more light; and with more light comes more clarity and more of the cleansing of the mind.

The renewing of the mind includes a literal reprogramming of the mind. Pornography literally rewires the brain, but so does studying, meditating, and memorizing Scripture. It will rewire our brains so that it will not go to the things of the flesh. That’s part of why Paul said to think about good things, noble tings, lovely things, anything that edifies and glorifies God. The mind that has been cleansed from the flesh and the brainwashing of the world is one that can focus on God, His plans, His glory, and His Kingdom. The mind that is fully submitted to Christ is a mind that cannot be bought, cannot be moved, cannot be deceived, cannot be conquered, and ultimately will win every battle it fights.

As I wrap up this series, let us not forget that as born-again believers with renewed minds, being transformed and conformed into the image of Christ, we have an advantage. We have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will protect us. He is the One who gives us that red flag when we hear something questionable. He is the One who guards us against false teachings. And when we do fall, the Holy Spirit is the One who will discipline us, correct us, and bring us back into a right relationship with the Father. If we listen to Him, I believe it is possible to live sin-free from this day forth.

But that’s another thing: we’ve been brainwashed into thinking that we have to sin, and we are doomed to fail. Said who? Where is that in Scripture? I’ve said that so many times only because I know from experience how many times I’ve failed and because I myself have been brainwashed to believe that as a Christian we can never live a sin-free life. Is that what Scripture says? Romans 8 says otherwise. I’m not saying we are without sin, because the Holy Spirit’s job is in part to convict us of sin. However, as believers, why can’t we live sin-free from here on out, living in commitment to Christ and never once disobeying His commands with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit? I’ll tell you exactly why we can’t. We don’t believe we can, and we have some sins we still like too much to give up. Let’s discard that lie that we are stuck in sin, and let’s break free from it. Jesus has already unlocked the door. We just need to walk out.

Words are dangerous when in the wrong mouth, but when they come from God, they are the very source of life. Turn to the Words of Life. Go after the things of God. Train your mind to think God’s way, not man’s way. Jesus is the True and Faithful Witness. He is the very Word of God. He is trustworthy and we can believe every Word that He says. Let us break free from the brainwashing of this world and of the worldly false teachings, but instead have our minds be renewed and aligned to the things of God.

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