Keeping the Porch Light on in a Dark World
“We know so little of God, because it is God who is thus to be known,—that is, he who hath described himself to us very much by this, that we cannot know him. . . . We know little of God, because it is faith alone whereby here we know him.”
John Owen, The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, vol. 6 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, n.d.), 67.
Some mystics today think simply by turning within and drumming up an intense spiritual experience, they will at last attain union with God. Some spiritual warfare schemes sound more like science fiction than redemptive history, attempting to identify specific demons over particular regions and vices, breaking generational curses, and finding the devil under every rock. But this misunderstands the nature of spiritual warfare. It is not a battle between nature and grace, but between sin and grace, and it is not in our power to conquer.[1]
[1] Michael Horton, The Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2009), 176.
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We are to put on the whole armour of God—for, or because, ‘we wrestle not’ etc. This is one of the most glorious aspects of the Christian faith. You cannot reason yourself into it, but the moment you are in it you find that it is the most reasonable thing in the world, full of understanding, full of explanations. Christianity, unlike so many of the cults, is not merely something which teaches you to persuade yourself in a thoughtless manner. It does not just tell you to say something, and to go on saying it mechanically, whether it be true or not, and whether you feel it or not. That is not Christianity. It always gives reasons.”
The Christian Warfare: An Exposition of Ephesians 6:10–13 (Edinburgh; Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1976), 38–39.