Angry On Purpose
a more Biblical understanding of sinful anger
You will find five appendixes at the end of this article. The first two are related to this study. The remaining three are for additional study related to the eternal importance of learning to think critically, meaning learning to think Biblically (for further study on thinking critically see Appendix III).
Appendix I is an internet article of the worlds explanation of the cause of human anger; Appendix II is an example of how Christian pastors/shepherds, whether knowingly or ignorantly, embrace the worlds explanation; Appendix III is a study on “The Importance of Your Thinking As a Biblical Christian”; Appendix IV is a brief study entitled “A Consideration of the Relationship Between Thoughts and Emotions Based on Biblical Principles”; Appendix V is a chart entitled “Thoughts vs Emotions”, illustrating the emotional stability of an obedient Christian vs. the lack of stability of a disobedient Christian.
All scripture references are from the NAS translation of the Bible. Additionally, in most of the passages referenced I have underlined what are some of the key words and phrases significant to the meaning of the passage.
This document is not intended to be a comprehensive consideration of all that Scripture teaches about anger as an attitude of the heart and mind vs an emotion, but rather it is intended as a brief response to this issue. Seeking the truth of Scripture on this matter began some forty years ago during my years as an educator in public, private secular, and private Christian education. My search began while questioning why so many pastors and their families, even though preaching some measure of truth on Sunday, basically lived anxious, joyless, unfulfilled lives Monday through Saturday. As a Christian school administrator, being involved on a regular basis with parents and their children, who ranged from five to eighteen years of age, a common denominator contributing to this reality was how often their response to life situations included the practice of sinful anger in one degree or another. Compounding this was the seeming lack of any idea of how to deal with their anger in a Godly, righteous, victorious way. This has continued to be the case over these ensuing forty years. One conclusion I have come to is that the modern church, in general, and the majority of pastors specifically, as the shepherds of local congregations, have less than a Biblically sound, accurate understanding of the source and cause of sinful human anger. I also believe, based on the consistent explanations and counsel offered by pastors, Bible teachers, and most Christian counselors, that what greatly contributes to this is a woefully sad deficiency of Biblically sound, accurate understanding and discernment of the relationship between ones thoughts and ones emotions, which directly informs and impacts ones understanding of sinful anger – its source and cause.
In preparation for our consideration of the teaching of Scripture on this matter, it is imperative that we be mindful of the Biblical principle in I Corinthians 2:14: “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” As a true believer, you will understand them to some degree and it is my objective to challenge you as a believer, to humbly and gratefully ask the Holy Spirit to grant you understanding of what you read in His word, so that you might bring your thinking obediently in line with God’s revealed truth, no matter what the world or the church tries to convince you is true. As stated in I John 2:20,27, God, by His Spirit in you has made abundant, full provision for you to understand His word: 20 “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.”….. 27 “As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”.
Peter affirms the truth of God’s full provision for every true believer to know and understand His word when he declares in II Peter 1:3 “…..seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and excellence.”
As a testimony of the confidence and assurance you can have in the Holy Spirit’s faithfulness to teach you, and give you an accurate understanding of His word, trustingly consider the following three passages:
I Corinthians 3:16-17: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Sprit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.”
I Corinthians 2:15-16: “But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Hebrews 5:12-13,14: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”.
There is an eternally significant phrase on the first page of this study, italicized and underlined, that establishes the one and only basis by which any person is enabled to obey God’s commands. That phrase is “As a true believer”. This principle is foundational to being able to comprehend and understand the principles of God’s word. Therefore, this truth is foundational for comprehending and understanding the principles of Scripture in this study.
Being a true believer then is the operative requirement for any individual to rightly understand what Scripture reveals to be the source, the cause, and the solution to sinful anger.
Suffice it to say, man’s thoughts dictate his emotional responses in daily living. Appendixes IV and V offer an extended treatment of this principle. To put it another way, thoughts produce words, behavior, and emotions. Christ not only commands us as believers to obey Him, He further declares that if we love Him we will obey Him – John 14:15 (21,23): 15 “If you love me, you will keep My commandments.”, and not in a single place in Scripture does He allow for “if you feel like it”. Quite clearly, this is totally contrary to the lies of Satan perpetrated in America today by evolutionary, humanistic psychologists and psychiatrists, educators, both public and private, medical doctors, liberal preachers and pastors, and most grievous of all, professing Bible believing, evangelical, self proclaimed expositors of God’s word in local churches throughout America. Appendix II gives an evangelical example. Paul’s word to faithful believers, then and now, is not in any way ambiguous when he commands “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” Colossians 2:8.
It is my sincere desire in this document, to draw your thinking and attention to a number of principles in Scripture that reveal truth related to acquiring a more Biblical understanding of sinful anger. No statement herein that challenges the prevailing thinking and teaching on this subject is intended to be, in any way, a personal attack on any individual but rather is, in the light of Scripture (II Timothy 3:16-17), to challenge the reader to pursue a more diligent study of God’s word (II Timothy 2:15) that will produce a more accurate understanding of God’s word and thus a more accurate interpretation and application of it, not just to the subject of this document, but to all of ones daily living (Proverbs 2:6) –
II Timothy 3:16-17: “16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”.
II Timothy 2:15: 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of God.”.
Proverbs 2:6: “6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”.
At any point that God’s word challenges the prevailing teaching and attitudes of the secular or evangelical community, I encourage you to, before judging said challenge to be harsh or critical, recognize that if the challenge is Biblical, then respond to it as Peter admonishes all believers in II Peter 1:19-21: “19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
Dr. Harold Lindsell, in his book “The Battle For the Bible” (1976) made the following eternally significant statement that is totally applicable to the subject of this article – “If the source of your knowledge is wrong, everything you learn will be wrong.”. Keep this principle in mind as you read this document and the five Appendixes.
We’re now ready to begin our consideration of what God’s word teaches related to sinful anger being an attitude of the heart and mind vs an emotion, and what the source, the cause, and the solution to sinful anger is.
Time nor space allows for considering all of the passages of Scripture that reveal sinful human anger to be the result of a willful, prideful selfishness and unforgiveness, that resides in the naturally sinful heart and mind of the angry individual, be they six weeks, six months, six years, sixteen years, or sixty years of age. The six week old child that obviously becomes “crying angry” when he wants to be picked up and isn’t, does so, out of his sinful heart. By nature he does so willfully, long before he has any cognitive understanding of doing so. This truth is what David declared when he stated in Psalm 51:5: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.”. Our Lord declares the very same truth in John 3:18 where He said “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Both passages reveal the fact that every human being ever conceived is conceived already condemned before God as a fallen son of Adam. Lest you deem this to be harsh and even possibly judgmental and wrong, honestly ask yourself why that same angrily crying six week old, when picked up becomes, in most cases, immediately cheery and cuddly. How about the six month old who becomes screaming angry when he is deprived of playing with something he has been told not to touch, but, when allowed to have it, becomes instantly “happy”. Or how about the six year old who becomes angrily aggressive when his playmate grabs what he was playing with, yet immediately becomes the model of pleasantness when he gets it back. Then there’s the sixteen year old who angrily, disrespectfully storms out of the house slamming doors and screaming at his parents because they forbid him to do something he wants to do. And lastly, there’s the sixty year old who, having learned at six weeks, six months, six years, or sixteen years, that getting angry either got him what he wanted or out of what he didn’t want, continues as an adult to respond to life situations with predictable anger towards anyone or anything that he doesn’t like or doesn’t agree with or doesn’t want the personal accountability of or for. Dear reader none of these very typical examples of sinful human anger are the result of an “amygdala hijack” (see Appendix I). We know, in the light of Scripture, that, beginning with the six week old child, these angry responses start in his sinful heart years before he becomes cognitively aware of such. Jeremiah 17:9-10 states that “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.”. For the purpose of our study, notice that the Holy Spirit’s declaration of the sinfulness of every man’s nature is specifically linked to the heart and mind, with not a single reference to human emotions. Based on this truth of Scripture, the inherent natural spiritual condition of the human heart and mind is hostile toward God. This is true completely apart from any feelings or emotions. And, it is such from the point of conception until death, apart from the loving, kind redeeming grace of God. In Romans 8 Paul declares that the sinful heart of man “is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Apart from wise, consistent, discerning, loving teaching, training, and discipline by parents who refuse to allow such responses, that six week old becomes a six month old who has begun to learn that he can “pitch a fit” and guess what? “I get my way!”. Obviously, at this age such awareness is not a cognitive awareness but is the inherent awareness natural to the sinful rebellious heart every child is born with. The point? As revealed in Proverbs 22:25, sinful anger is a learned, willful attitude of the heart and mind. There Solomon warns the reader to not “associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself.” When practiced consistently and long enough, this learned response becomes an unconscious response that, even though having become unconscious, is still just as willful as it was when it began at six weeks of age. This is why the angry person, having calmed down after their explosion, often explains away their sinful, selfish, irresponsible response with a statement to the effect that “I don’t know where that came from. I didn’t intend to become angry.”
As already stated, there are many passages of Scripture that reveal this to be the case. The following six passages make it clear that sinful human anger is always the result of an attitude of the heart and mind, not the emotions and feelings.
Genesis 4:4-7; Proverbs 15:18; 19:11; 22:24-25; Ephesians 4:29-32; Hebrews 4:12:
Genesis 4:4-7: “4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; 5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry (the direct result of his heart attitude and minds response) and his countenance fell (the ensuing emotional response). 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? (God calls Cain to accountability for his sinful thinking) And why has your countenance fallen? (God points out the evidence of Cain’s emotions as produced by his sinful attitude) 7 “If you do well (“do” is a verb, indicating action born out of his thinking that is right) will not your countenance be lifted up (“lifted up” – evidence of changed feelings resulting from thinking that changed from sinful to righteous)? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
Proverbs 15:18: “18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute (“slow” clearly reveals anger to be controllable, thus revealing it to be an attitude of the heart and mind, as opposed to an involuntary emotion that overrides the mind (“amygdala hijack”/see Appendix I)).
Proverbs 19:11: “11 A man’s discretion (the Hebrew “sekel”, meaning “prudence, wisdom, insight, understanding; the opposite of foolish”, all of which are always Biblically associated with conduct or action of the heart and mind. In Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, the word “discretion” is defined as “that discernment which enables a person to cautiously and critically judge what is correct and proper”) makes him slow to anger (clearly a thoughtful, intentionally controlled response), and it is his glory to overlook a transgression (“to overlook”, Biblically, means to “pass over” in the sense of not taking it personally, but rather forgiving it).”
Proverbs 22:24-25: “Do not associate with a man given to anger (“given” describes a repetitive action), or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself (“learn” is the Hebrew “alaph” and is a verb meaning to learn, or in a causative sense, to teach; derives from a noun meaning association which leads to learning. Learning is a process of the heart and mind, of the will and thinking, that is never, in Scripture, associated in any way with emotions or feelings)”
Ephesians 4:29-32: “29 Let (“Let” is a verb that denotes a conscious decision, meaning action that results from thinking, not feeling) no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice (“put away” denotes a rational, willful decision that produces obedient action commensurate with the thinking of the individual). 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you (“Be” is a verb, meaning action taken, not emotion felt, and is an act of obedience, born out of love for Christ that has nothing to do with emotions or feelings.). Here in verses 31-32, Paul, in a very specific, clear and pointed way, reveals a variety of attitudes by which men exercise and express sinful anger and commands that, as a true believer, these sinful attitudes of the heart and mind “be put away from you”. As stated at the beginning of this document, Appendix I is an example of the worlds explanation of the cause of human anger – an “amygdala hijack”, and how to deal with it. I encourage you to read the full explanation given in Appendix I and as you read it, be mindful of how this one command of Paul’s in verses 31-32 completely unravels and destroys every proposed explanation offered in the article.
Hebrews 4:12: “12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (“thoughts…..of the heart” is a reference to the mind and the will; notice the Holy Spirit’s Sovereign exclusion of any reference to the emotions/feelings).”
If one embraces as true, the worlds explanation of human anger as found in Appendix I, the logical conclusion would be to then conclude that God is unjust and unloving when, in Deuteronomy 28:20 He says “The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.”. Or that He is cruel when He declares in Psalm 14:1 that “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.”. And, in like manner, it would logically follow that our LORD is some type of despotic tyrant when He declares in Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”. Finally, to embrace the worlds explanation (Appendix I) we would be obligated to espouse the vanity of sinful men (the deceitful “amygdala hijack” explanation) and by so doing, declare Christ to be “unfair” and “vindictive” when He Sovereignly declares in John 3:20, “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
The Biblical answer to these “conclusions”, for true believers, is found in Isaiah 55:8,9-11, where Isaiah recorded God’s own declaration of the immutable authority and holiness of His word – “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
Be ever mindful of the warning of God in Proverbs 30:5-6 – “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.”
We conclude our consideration of a more Biblical understanding of sinful anger with five additional passages that, in like manner, clearly reveal sinful anger to be, not an emotion, but a sinful heart and mind attitude. Herein, Scripture further exposes the lie of the “amygdala hijack” explanation that attributes sinful human anger to human emotion that overrides human rationality, thus rendering man incapable of controlling and putting off sinful anger.
Psalm 37:8: “Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.”
To “cease” Biblically means “to let go of”, “to cause to subside”, “to abandon”, “to forsake”, all of which indicate rational, intentional, decisive, cognitive action of the mind with not even an allusion to the existence of the emotions, let alone any involvement in this act of obedience.
Proverbs 12:16: “A fool’s anger is known at once, but a prudent man conceals dishonor.
It is important to understand, first of all, that foolishness in Scripture is a moral issue, not an intelligence issue. The fool, Biblically is the one who says there is no God. The ideological fool declares it to be so by his words and his life. The practical fool does so by his life, regardless of how much he may verbally profess to believe in God. Thus, sinful human anger is a moral issue. That said, it becomes eternally significant to recognize that Scripture always expresses God’s moral law in the context of rational principles of God’s Holy, sinless will, that demand a rational human response of obedience. Not one time, anywhere in His Holy word does God ever associate the obedience of His moral law with human emotions or feelings. To the contrary, as is evident in His confrontation of Cain, God clearly reveals that it is in rationally, thoughtfully “doing” the morally obedient thing that ones emotions will respond accordingly. Here Solomon reveals three truths very relevant to our study of sinful human anger. First he reveals it to be the action of a fool. Secondly, he then reveals the prudent man to be the righteous opposite of the fool. In this context the word “prudent” identifies a man who refuses to take offense with an insult or transgression. Solomon records this same principle again in Proverbs 19:11. Thirdly Solomon reveals that the practice of sinful anger is a foolish thing of “dishonor” or “shame”. Such “dishonor” is a characteristic of the fool. It makes a mockery of righteousness. Every principle that Solomon reveals here involves rational, non-emotional, cognitive decision making.
Proverbs 29:11: “A fool always loses his temper, But a wise man holds it back.”
To “hold it back”, no matter what “it” is, is to take intentional action resulting from the exercise of ones rational will.
I Corinthians 14:20: “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.”
In the fifth chapter of Hebrews, the writer clearly reveals the type of maturity that Paul commands here as well as how one acquires and maintains growth in that maturity. In verse fourteen the writer says “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”. “Practice” refers to the acquisition of maturity that is the result of the diligent study of God’s word that translates into practice or obedience of what is learned via ones study. “Trained” simply means “exercised” so as to maximize growth and strength. And again, notice the total absence of any acknowledgement of emotion and feeling related to the diligent faithful study and accompanying obedience of God’s will as revealed in His word.
Ecclesiastes 7:9: “Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools.”
The “bosom” is not the brain. In Hebrew, this word “bosom” refers to the torso, not the head, and carries the idea of being embraced or cherished, thus Solomon identifies sinful anger to be an attitude of the heart that is embraced, nurtured, and, yes, cherished by the one whose life responses are frequently angry responses. The word “resides” indicates the obvious ongoing nature of the individuals propensity to respond in life situations angrily. Although those who regularly manifest anger, when confronted about their outbursts, will frequently say they “hate it” when they respond in anger, the truth is, they love their sin. Though some will judge this statement harsh, it really isn’t. It is just that it is convictingly true. Human beings, by nature, are not inclined to return repeatedly to anything they hate as testified to in the following passages:
Proverbs 2:13-14: “From those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who delight in doing evil and rejoice in the perversity of evil;”
Romans 3:18 “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”
II Thessalonians 2:11-12: “For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”.
In Ephesians 4:26, Paul says to “BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity,”.
In this one verse Paul reveals first, that there is an anger that is not sinful and secondly, he states how to deal with anger that is sinful. The question then arises, “How do I know if my anger is not sinful or is sinful?” The answer: Righteous, sinless anger will never produce unrighteous, sinful thoughts, words, or conduct.
In Ezekiel 16, in the 42nd verse God makes the following declaration of Himself that clearly establishes the fact that His Holy anger poured out on rebellious Israel was indeed a rational, non-emotional act of His Holy, sinlessly pure will:
42 “So I will calm My fury against you and My jealousy will depart from you, and I will be pacified and angry no more.” The word “calm” in Hebrew means “to abandon”, thus describing an act of ones rational will.
As a closing thought, in light of Dr. Lindsell’s earlier referenced statement, “If the source of your knowledge is wrong, everything you learn will be wrong.”, determine, as a true believer, to make God’s word the singular “source” of your knowledge so that you grow in learning what is His righteous way for you to live as a faithful steward of the life He has entrusted to you. Discipline yourself to be a Hebrews 5:14 believer – “14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”
Psalm 19:7-11: “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.”
II Timothy 3:16-17: “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
II Timothy 2:15: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
Appendix I:
This article is an example of the world’s explanation of the source and cause of human anger along with some of the author’s suggestions as to how to manage it. This example comes from an internet article entitled “How Does Anger Happen in the Brain?”, dated February 1, 2011, by Gerry Vasser, President and CEO of Lakeside Educational Network.
Mr. Vasser’s second statement in the opening paragraph of his article is “With the goal of our dialogue being to figure out how to better deal with anger, let’s take a look at how anger happens inside our brain.” This is a classic example of the truth of Dr. Lindsell’s statement and the importance of evaluating all that you hear and read accordingly, as the Bereans in Acts 17:11: “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”
At the outset, there are two points needful of critical thinking as defined in Acts 17:11. Before identifying these two points, so as to be clear as to the Biblical meaning of discernment and the practical application thereof, consider the following three scripture passages. The writer of Hebrews reveals how this discernment is acquired and cultivated in chapter five when he declares in verse 14 that “…..solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”. Paul, in like manner, gives unambiguous instruction in II Corinthians 10 concerning such discernment and how to exercise it when he declares in verses 3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…..”. Thirdly, Paul, with simple, direct clarity, in Colossians 2, makes it indelibly clear how this Biblical discernment should impact and shape our thinking and decision making pertaining to the counsel of the world. In Colossians 2:8 he leaves no question as to how we as believers are to deal with what the world offers as supposed knowledge concerning issues of daily living. Paul commands that we “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”
Now, the first point of evaluation of this article has to do with the authors use of the word “dialogue”. The critical response is to determine the exact meaning of “dialogue” so as to know the authors intent and purpose of his article. Merriam-Websters Unabridged Dictionary (2020) defines “dialogue” as “to have an exchange of ideas and opinions.”. This clearly reveals that the position of this author on the subject involved is going to be nothing more than a collection of subjective, no absolute, eclectic human opinions of the author and anyone he chooses to quote.
The second point of concern for the discerning Christian should be the authors very “matter of fact” declaration of anger happening “inside our brain”. Suffice it to say this declaration sounds very “absolute” even though he has already acknowledged that his article is nothing more than an inherently subjective “exchange of ideas and opinions” – “dialogue”, as he refers to it.
Be mindful of the fact that in evaluating this article Biblically, we are going to have multiple opportunities to observe the practical application of Dr. Lindsell’s statement. I have found it, over the years since hearing him make this statement, to be one of the most eternally profound, uninspired statements a human being could make. The article being considered here illustrates the practical profoundness of always having, as a believer, the right “source of knowledge” when determining what you will believe and embrace in daily living. Hopefully, as you consider the content of this specific article as well as this entire document, it will become ever more clear to you how eternally significant it is that you, as a true believer, be perseveringly diligent to make the “source of your knowledge” the infallible, inspired, authoritative word of God as described in II Timothy 3:16-17, where Paul declares that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
As we begin our evaluation of Mr. Vasser’s article be mindful of how subjective his theory is and how he consistently discounts personal responsibility and accountability by assigning overriding power to emotions and hormones.
Having stated his goal to be to “look at how anger happens inside the brain”, Mr. Vasser goes into his brief explanation of “the brains emotional center” by addressing the fundamental difference between the cerebral cortex, “the thinking part of the brain where logic and judgement reside” verses the limbic system which is “the emotional center of the brain”. As a matter of critical thinking, notice Mr. Vasser’s total lack of awareness of what scripture refers to as “the heart of man”. Mr. Vasser then makes a classic Darwinian, subjectively concluded statement when he states that because the limbic system is located “lower in the brain” it is “considered to be more primitive than the cortex” which is the outer part of the brain. As you read, be wary of words and phrases like “considered”, “may be”, “could be”, “it is suggested”, “some believe”, etc. Every one of these words and phrases facilitate and reveal, more often than not, a forthcoming subjective, non-factual opinion.
Having established the functional difference between these two spheres of the brain, Mr. Vasser makes a very presumptuously authoritative statement, that in the light of God’s word, is clearly a subjective, completely unfounded, untrue statement, when he states “When someone is experiencing and expressing anger, he or she is not using the thinking (cortex) part of the brain, but primarily, the limbic center of the brain.”
This subjective opinion (remember this is a dialogue) is diametrically opposed to God’s word. If followed to its logical conclusion it must then be assumed that God created a mechanism in the “brain” that can override the heart (the will) and mind (rational thinking) that He would give to every man He would ever create in His image. This in turn would inherently invalidate and nullify every word and command of Scripture commanding individual, personal accountability for the control of ones thinking and conduct. Consider the following as just a few of a multitude of Biblical truths that go by the wayside if Mr. Vasser’s opinion is correct:
Psalm 19:7-11: 7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.
I Corinthians 13:11: 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
I Corinthians 14:20: 20 Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.
The fact is, based on Biblical truth, this statement is an outright lie that will be embraced by unbelievers as fact. And, they will be completely devoid of any recognition of that lie because they reject God’s truth. In I Corinthians 2, Paul makes this reality very clear, both as to it being so and why it is so. In verse 14 Paul reveals the following, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”. Sadly, as illustrated by the second example we will consider, multitudes of undiscerning believers are similarly led astray by undiscerning pastor’s and teachers. In light of the fact that there is no evidence in Mr. Vasser’s article, that would indicate that he is a believer, consider the significance of Solomon’s words in Proverbs 4:16-17,19 in revealing his purpose born out of his spiritual blindness and the fact that he is, indeed, devoid of any realization of his blindness, or even the fact that he is spiritually stumbling in the darkness of his own rejection of God and His Holy word:
Proverbs 4:16-17,19: 16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
19: 19 The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.
To be clear, it bears noting, that in the economy of God “wickedness” is first and foremost the hatred and rejection of God and Christ.
Having made this statement the author proceeds to validate his statement by posing this question, “Have you encountered your amygdala today?” He then addresses the “fact” that there is within the limbic system “a small structure called the amygdala, a storehouse of emotional memories.” (This italicized phrase is totally subjective; factual evidence is non-existent; emphasis mine). He also points out that this is “the area of the brain responsible for our natural survival instincts.”. As is the case throughout this article, as indicated here by “responsible for”, Mr. Vasser continuously assigns human thought and mind based behavioral functions to the amygdala and its innate ability to “override” the cerebral cortex, or thinking center of the brain. He continues his validating explanation by noting further that “data from the world around us passes thru the amygdala where the decision is made whether to send the data to the limbic or the cortex area of the brain”. Again, the italicized portion of this statement is totally and completely subjective, but is necessary to support his first subjective statement, “a small structure called the amygdala, a storehouse of emotional memories.”. The dialogue continues, “If the incoming data triggers enough of an emotional charge, the amygdala can override the cortex, which means the data will be sent to the limbic system causing the person to react using the lower part of the brain. During an overriding event, the amygdala goes into action without much regard for the consequences, since this area of the brain is not involved in judging, thinking, or evaluating.” Mr. Vasser makes this statement as fact, which inherently asserts that this tiny amygdala gland, buried in the limbic system (emotions) of the human brain can “override” the cortex (thinking, decision making, conduct). If this is true, then every word of Scripture that commands man to control his thinking and focus his “mind” on Truth is totally hypocritical, in that God, without informing man in any way of Mr. Vasser’s supposed “factual” statement, created man and holds him accountable to morally control his thoughts and actions (heart and mind) by obeying His word, while, in actuality, creating a tiny gland in the brain that has the power, according to Mr. Vasser, to override the will and mind of every individual created. Consider God’s word that exposes this “opinion” on the source of sinful human anger to be the deception that it really is. In two passages in Proverbs Solomon reveals the fact that sinful human anger, contrary to the worlds lie that it is an involuntary, out-of-control emotional “amygdala hijack”, is in actuality, a “learned”, willful response of the will and mind, prompted by the occurrence of an unpleasant or undesirable situation and/or person. The two passages that I refer to are Proverbs 22:24-25; 29:9,11:
Proverbs 22:24-25: “Do not associate with a man given (“given” indicates willful action) to anger; Or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn (to “learn” is a rational, cognitive exercise that has nothing whatsoever to do with feelings or emotions) his ways and find a snare for yourself.”
Proverbs 29:9,11: “When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man, the foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest…….A fool always loses his temper, but a wise man holds it back (this is clearly an act of the will, rational & cognitive)”
At this point Mr. Vasser refers to this action of the amygdala as “a reactive incident (meaning instinctive)” that is known as “an amygdala hijacking”. Remember this term. It will show up in the second example we will consider in Appendix II, a pastor’s sermon heard in the Spring of 2020. I find it most interesting that Mr. Vasser’s description of the function of the cerebral cortex (thinking, judging, evaluating, rational, decision making) vs the limbic system (non-thinking, non-judging, non-evaluating, instinct driven reactive, lacking control), much to, I imagine, his chagrin should he even recognize it, serves to support totally the Biblical commands and instructions to exercise responsible, morally right thinking that will in turn produce morally right conduct or behavior, regardless of how one “feels”. Every word of Mr. Vasser’s proposed explanation of the function of the limbic system and its roll in producing or “causing” Biblically sinful human anger stands in abject opposition to and rejection of God’s Holy word. One verse, in the fourteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the believers in Corinth clearly exposes the fallacy of Mr. Vasser’s flawed explanation. In verse twenty Paul gives this command – “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.” Again, we find no allowance in this command for “if you feel like it”, because, dear Christian reader, contrary to the unbiblical, Scripture rejecting, subjective, flawed human opinions of multitudes of worldly false teachers like Mr. Vasser who fill our society and the world today, love for Christ that produces humble, grateful, joyful, willing, daily obedience of His commands and teaching is in no way the result of some arbitrary, instinctive, non-judging “amygdala hijack”. Faithful loving obedience of Christ in thought, word and conduct, is a faith based, Holy Spirit enabled, rational, willful choice by one who has truly been born anew by the redeeming, sanctifying, glorifying love and grace of God, regardless of what his or her “feelings” may be at any given point in time or in any given situation.
Now, having “authoritatively” established the more primitive limbic system part of the brain’s ability to completely, via emotions, override the higher, more sophisticated cerebral cortex, rational thinking part of the brain, Mr. Vasser proceeds to add one final subjectively determined, widely popular worldly theoretical justification for irresponsible words and behavior – the ever popular “hormones” diagnosis readily offered by the medical and psychological communities of the world today.
Before considering Mr. Vasser’s explanation of how hormones fit into his explanation of “How anger happens in the brain” let me be clear that I do not deny or reject, and neither do I believe any knowledgeable, honest person would deny the reality of the God created hormonal system of the human body as one of the many amazing life sustaining systems of our bodies to which the Psalmist speaks in Psalm 139:14 when he declares “I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.”. Nor do I deny the effects that can be physiologically experienced by hormonal responses within the body. However, to subjectively decide that any of the bodies hormonal responses have the ability and power to negate and override the God-created ability of man, created in His Holy image, to control his thoughts, think rationally and therein control his or her conduct is to make the same Biblically conflicted decision.
Mr. Vasser states that the amygdala’s hijack “triggers a flood of hormones that cause physical and emotional alarm.” Clearly, it is implied that this “flood of hormones” is, as is the amygdala gland according to him, capable of overriding the cerebral cortex. According to Mr. Vasser, the effect of this hormonal flood “lasts from several minutes to several days, during which time the individual is usually out of control thus may say and/or do things they will later regret, when the thinking part of the brain reengages.” He continues by stating that “there is an additional longer lasting hormonal release which explains the longer lasting emotional upheaval.” This, he says, is why “counting to ten doesn’t help because the flood of hormones can stay in the bloodstream for several hours up to several days.” I would remind you at this point to stay mindful of how each and every unbiblical explanation given by this author related to “How anger happens in the brain”, assigns the source and cause of human anger to the emotions and hormones, and in so doing, he totally absolves the individual of any and all responsibility and accountability for his or her sinful anger. How can anyone be held accountable for conduct that one has no control over due to experiencing an “amygdala/hormonal hijack”? And nothing exposes the reality of the sinful, prideful, rebellious heart of man more than his readiness to blame someone or something, other than himself, for his sinful conduct. There is no spiritually and eternally more profound testimony to this truth than that revealed in God’s inquiry of Adam and Adams response to God in Genesis 3:12(8-12). Here is that inquiry and to our point, don’t miss or choose to explain away Adam’s sinful, “shift the blame” response in verse 12. Genesis 3: 8-12 states, “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she (personal accountability and the inherent guilt instantly transferred) gave me from the tree, and I ate.” One other indelibly clear, straightforward, to the point verse that exposes the totally flawed, erroneous, subjective opinions of this entire article and the world system (Colossians 2:8) that produced it is also found in Proverbs. In Proverbs 19, in the eleventh verse, Solomon, by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, declares that “A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.”. A simple, acutely clear, eternally significant principle of God’s truth is revealed here – sinful human anger is the resultant, thought motivated response of a sinful, unforgiving heart, not some instinctive, involuntary, out-of-control emotion driven “amygdala hijack” or “time released, heart and mind overriding, hormones”. Paul gives equally inspired testimony to this truth in Ephesians 4:29-32 where he commands “Let (“Let” is a verb that calls for a decision, meaning action that results from thinking, not feeling) no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away (denotes a rational, willful decision; emphasis mine) from you, along with all malice. Be (“Be” is a verb, meaning action taken, not emotion “felt”) kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other (an act of obedience, born out of love for Christ (John 14:15,21,23) that has absolutely nothing to do with emotions or feelings), just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Mr. Vasser continues his dialogue with the following two “important” things to know:
“What is important to know is:
- Anger involves a trigger to the emotions that so easily charges us up that we ‘lose it’
- It will often take about 20 minutes before we can once again become more logical
Just knowing that could really help us as we deal with our anger or someone else’s. When we know someone is “amygdala hijacked”, then we should give him or her some time (over 20 minutes) before we attempt to resolve or discuss what happened because it takes about that long for hormonal releases to decrease in intensity”
Notice here how, as is characteristic of all false teachers, when nebulous phrases such as “so easily charges us up” or “can once again become more logical” are made, there seldom if ever is offered any explanation as to “what” produces said response or “what” has to transpire to bring about the supposed appropriate response. Where this author generally gives no explanation, or if and when he attempts to do so, it is a woefully wrong explanation, God’s word gives indelibly clear explanation and instruction. As revealed in Hebrews 12:1-2, the inspired writer answers the “what produces” question as well as the matter of the “appropriate response” needed to not only correct an immediate situation, but also how to prevent and avoid future similar situations. Hebrews 12:1-2 states “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us (my emphasis), and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”. Paul, in Romans 6:12-14 also gives indelibly clear explanation and instruction. There he states “Therefore do not let (my emphasis) sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting (my emphasis) the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be (my emphasis) master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”.
The article concludes with one final subjective bit of dialogue: “For now, let’s just begin to observe how we see this in ourselves and others around us as we really begin to understand ‘this is your brain on anger!’”
Appendix II:
Having considered an example of the secular teaching of the day pertaining to “human anger”, its source and its cause, we now will consider a second example of this same teaching as offered by those who posture themselves as the shepherd’s of God’s children through the ministry of local church fellowships. In the case of the example we will consider, the pastor bringing the message on this particular Sunday morning in the spring of 2020 was an assistant pastor on the staff of a non-denominational Bible church that declares itself to be of the reformed persuasion, to preach and teach expositorily, and to be “devoted to teaching Scripture, on mission together to love God and others, grow in Christ and community, and reach our neighbors and the nation.” That being said I would remind you, as stated in the beginning of this document, that no statement that challenges this prevailing thinking and teaching in the secular and evangelical community, is in any way intended as a personal attack on any individual, but it is, by way of the light of Scripture, intended to challenge you to pursue a more diligent study of God’s inspired, authoritative word as Paul describes it to Timothy in II Timothy 3:16–17 when he states that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. In II Timothy 2:15 Paul had already instructed Timothy as to what he must do in order to “accurately handle” God’s inspired word. He must “be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”. It is this consistently diligent study that will produce a more accurate understanding of God’s word when properly motivated, as Solomon describes in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” and then again in Proverbs 2:6-7 he reiterates the fact by stating that “…..the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and He preserves the way of His godly ones.”, all of which produces a more accurate interpretation and application of God’s word, not just pertaining to the topic of this document but in all of ones daily living.
This second example comes from a message taken from Revelation 8:6-11:19 that dealt with the seven trumpets of God’s wrath on the earth during the seven years of tribulation. Our consideration is not intended as a critique of this pastor’s message but rather is to specifically look at his explanation of the cause and source of sinful human anger. Having read his text, Revelation 8:6-11:19, he made the following observation that the trumpet judgements of God here in Revelation paralleled the “almost exact judgement as God had on Egypt in Exodus….” and referenced the seventh plague on Egypt as the basis of his observation. At about the 20 minute point in his message he stated that these trumpet judgements are “God’s vindication of Himself” via His pouring out His wrath on the earth. This statement prompted the following “insert” into his message and it is this “insert” that will be our specific point of consideration.
“Once again let me stop a minute and address something I think is very important for us to understand. One of the reasons I think (his emphasis), this is anecdotal (anecdotal: unscientific observation; a story, tale, or yarn), that in our cultural moment we struggle a lot with the idea of a God of wrath because when we think of wrath we think of someone who has lost control of their anger.”
The pastor then launched into the following rhetoric as though it was/is FACT from beginning to end. To do this is woefully irresponsible in the light of his Biblical responsibility as a shepherd to accurately handle God’s truth and it is equally so in that it reveals a major lack of understanding, on his part, of his influence on the thinking of his listeners, most of whom unthinkingly accept whatever they are told when it comes from “the pulpit”. This reminds me of a discussion I was a part of in 1986 with two or three fellow church staff members, the topic of which was the noon time message we had just heard by a visiting revival preacher. At one point in the discussion one of the staff members made the following statement. “I believe if a man says he is called of God to preach the word, then whatever he says from the pulpit is as inspired as the Bible is.” I was so literally stunned by this statement that I asked him to repeat it because I was sure I had missed something and thus had misunderstood his statement. However, when he graciously repeated it, he repeated it exactly, word for word, as he had stated it the first time. As extreme as this statement was and is, it nevertheless embodies to one degree or another the reality of how undiscerningly many professing believers take in whatever they are told by their pastor.
The pastor continued his “insert” lesson as follows. “So every single one of us, we have in our brains this little, very, very, small part of our brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is the center of our brains, it is the center of hot emotions and there are times that the circumstances around us are such, that brings this about, that we can experience what researchers call an “amygdala hijack.”. Having already considered Mr. Vasser’s web article “How does anger happen in the brain”, it is obvious where this pastor got the information he is now sharing with his congregation, which, in actuality, has nothing whatsoever to do with his text from Revelation. Notice also, how this pastor, just as comfortably and undiscerningly as did Mr. Vasser, throws personal accountability to the wind the instant he blames the “circumstances” for whatever level of angry response the individual has. This is sinful mans age old tactic of instantly “shifting the blame” for his own culpability as first evidenced by Adam’s response to God when God confronted him about his sin. He instantly blamed Eve, which in essence, based on his phraseology, was blaming God – Genesis 3:12. Notice also, how this pastor, who quite possibly knows no more about the brain and how it functions than what he read in Mr. Vasser’s article, gives his own subjective, authoritative validation to not only the term “amygdala hijack”, but to every validating explanation given by Mr. Vasser. He continues with “Isn’t that an interesting phrase? When (his subjective validation) we experience an amygdala hijack this center of hot emotion in our brains takes over everything and we have no longer any power of reason, deduction or sound thought. It is only the release of this extreme emotion that we have.”
With what seems to be a total lack of discernment, this pastor, based on his presumptive statements of agreement with Mr. Vasser’s conclusions, appears to be totally devoid of how, if such a thing is actually true, then it completely invalidates every word of God that commands us as believers to control our anger by faithfully and obediently controlling our thoughts, practicing genuinely humble, forgiving love as opposed to sinful, prideful anger – Proverbs 19:11: “A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook a transgression.”; Ephesians 4:31-32: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”. Dear reader, don’t fail to notice that nowhere in either of these passages does the Holy Spirit even acknowledge the existence of the emotions, let alone, attribute to them the power to override the will and mind of man in what “researchers call an amygdala hijack”, thus negating the ability to obey God, yet this pastor proclaims it to be so with seemingly unashamed, confident, affirming authority.
The “insert” lesson on sinful human anger continues with “I had a friend in seminary, this guy is a pastor now. I had a friend in seminary who told me that when he was younger he found such great joy in laughter over watching his little sister having an amygdala hijack. He’d follow her around all day long. He’d poke her and pinch her, do all sorts of stuff to make her mad to the point that she would go over and there would be something like this twitch in her eye and she’d get this, like super strength and chase him down. She was four or five years old at this point. I guess this is how kids respond. I don’t know. This guys a pastor now (congregational laughter). I feel like I need to call his elders and say “Did you know…..?”. So when we think of wrath we tend to think of a moment when the amygdala takes over with this ‘Popeye moment – I’ve had it! I can’t stands no more!’ (much laughter), and we vent everything that we’ve been holding back.” Contrary to this pastors “authoritative” statements, this is not the result of the emotions overriding the mind in an “amygdala hijack”. This is the result of a professing believer rebelliously ignoring and thus rejecting the clear command of God to obediently, out of love for Him and a desire to please and honor Him, control his or her thinking and therein put their potential sinful anger to death by obediently practicing patience, kindness, tender heartedness and forgiveness as Paul commands in Ephesians 4:29-32. Sadly, based on his hearty acceptance of and agreement with the opinions offered in Mr. Vasser’s article, the logical conclusion to be drawn is that this pastor, a self proclaimed expositor of God’s word, would have his congregation believe that God created a gland that He put in the center of mans brain, and gave it a will of its own thereby empowering it to involuntarily exercise that will to override the Christian mans rational, cognitive will and mind, thus rendering the Christian man incapable of obeying God’s clear commands to “put off” sinful anger and “put on” patience and kindness, forgiving one another, even as God has forgiven us. Dear reader, know for sure that unbelievers reject any and every word of Biblical truth. But, for a true believer to embrace what is Biblically totally irrational is an eternally significant failure to practice love for Christ on that believers part. To do so is to make oneself like the man described in Proverbs 25:26 where Solomon says “Like a trampled spring and a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” In like manner, hear the rebuke of James to those in the church who professed to be true believers but by their willing embracing of the thinking and lifestyle of the world were proving themselves to be enemies of God – James 4:4: “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
Having, for all practical purposes, affirmed Mr. Vasser’s article, the pastor proceeded now to speak to the wrath of God. “And so when we look at God as a God of wrath who has wrath against sin, we think of a God who becomes so circumstantially upset with the evil around Him that He loses control of His all powerful anger and just gushes it all over whoever happens to be closest to Him.” Before addressing, in his next statement, this pastors inadequate attempt to make some sort of redeeming explanatory distinction between sinful human anger and the Holy wrath of God, consider what he has just stated. First, as used here, his all inclusive “we” is presumptive. Secondly, to suggest, even tongue in cheek, that God “becomes so circumstantially upset” by anything, that He “loses control of His all powerful anger” with the result being that He then “gushes it all over whoever happens to be closest” is yet another example of a lack of proper understanding of the influence of his words and comments on his hearers. But, far more significant is the “humanizing” of God produced by even implying that He responds as man does. There is a failure to present any of the sinless purity and majestic Holiness of God in this statement as it is stated. Any believer who does believe this ungodly explanation and thinks of God in this way, as this pastors “we” implies, is as those described in Hebrews 5:12-13 where the writer states “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.” These kinds of statements by pastors, more often than not, are foolishly subjective conjectures that feed the ever present natural inclination of already immature believers to humanize God so as to make Him fit their own preconceived agendas and ideas about Him.
Consider now, what was an attempt at a redeeming, clarifying explanation of God’s wrath. “But as we look at this passage and any other place in Scripture where we encounter the wrath of God, what we see is that God is never, ever, ever out of control of His anger, that at every single step of the way reveals His just response to the sin that is in this world and in hearts, that is in your heart. He never (his emphasis) does it because He has simply lost control. At every step there is a clear demarcation of how far God’s judgement can reach. At every step there’s a clear demarcation as to who is experiencing it and who is not and at every step there is a clear demarcation as to how long it is going to persist until the particular version of it will pass.”
This partially true, brief attempt to somehow harmonize the “amygdala hijack” in humans with the absence of it in God’s Holy character does very little, if anything, to dispel the pastor’s previous five to ten minute discourse of unbiblical, psycho-babble rhetoric about what causes human sinful anger, namely the “amygdala hijack”, which he fully endorsed as legitimate by virtue of the fact that he expressed not one word of challenge to it. For the same reason, he gave full endorsement to the supposed validity of Mr. Vasser’s opinion related to the overriding “hormonal flood”, triggered by the amygdala, that keeps the individual in bondage to their anger for anywhere from twenty minutes to several days. In spite of this brief, general attempt to explain how God’s wrath is not the same as man’s sinful anger, no doubt, human nature being what it is, combined with the dearth of Biblical discernment in so many believers in the modern church, some who were present, will have already concluded that “God must have this too. That’s why He is so wrathful.” and as such they will likely fail to apply the pastor’s brief statement to their already formulated conclusion.
The pastor continues, stating “Notice with me in the last trumpet we just saw, these angels who bring about this mass of death throughout the world…..God had planned the day, the month, the year when He would make this precise move to bring about the end of evil and sin in this world. God is never (his emphasis) out of control with emotion like we do.” Here, the pastor referred to Romans 1 and how the week before in their study “we saw how God lets us experience something of that wrath because of our sin, allowing us to suffer the weight and results of our decisions, just as Pharaoh refused to repent – so look at Revelation 9:20 – ‘the rest of mankind’”. I have italicized two personal pronouns, “us” and “our”, in this statement. Because there is no distinction made by the pastor, between a believer and an unbeliever, in the context of Romans 1, he inherently blends both together and thereby at best creates confusion in the minds of his listeners but at worst, he teaches error. Romans 1:18-32 is about God turning intentionally evil men and women over to a reprobate mind. This passage has absolutely nothing to do with the trumpet of God’s wrath in Revelation 8-11 and it most assuredly does not include believers. Throughout this entire explanation of sinful anger supposedly being the result of an “amygdala hijack” of the individuals heart and mind, not one verse of Scripture was given to support this explanation. When the pastor did return to his text in Scripture, he referenced a passage from the previous week (Romans 1:18-32) that, not only had nothing to do with the trumpet wrath of God, but being unclearly applied, opened the door for not only much confusion, but of greater concern, clear error – I Corinthians 14:33: “…..for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”; II Timothy 2:15: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth”.
Although he made an attempt, in his closing statement, to reconcile his completely secular, subjective, unbiblical explanation of the source and cause of sinful human anger with his concluding statement, vociferously declaring that God is never out of control in His wrath and judgement, sadly, he failed to reconcile anything. How does any pastor, professing to be an expositor and teacher of God’s word, as an under shepherd of our Lord’s bride, the church, presume to reconcile God creating man in His own image and then, in that process, burying a tiny gland in the limbic system of mans brain that has the power to involuntarily override the will and mind of that man, “causing” him to rebelliously disobey God’s clear command.
This explanation of man’s sinful anger, if followed to its logical conclusion establishes one of two things:
1) Since man is created in the image of God, then Christ (Romans 11:33-36) being the Creator of man must, in like manner, have had this amygdala gland in His human brain with the same supposed power to involuntarily hijack our Lord’s heart and mind. Someone will say “Ah, but Jerry, Jesus, as God, had the Sovereign power to not succumb to the amygdala’s override.” Were this amygdala hijack lunacy true, then this individual would be correct. However, this being true, the problem still remains, that God evidently created man in His image and then commanded him to obey Him, having knowingly created a gland in man’s brain that prevents him being able to obey Him. Might I suggest that any “god” that would carry out such a duplicitous, evil, unjust plan is not the Holy, sinless, infinitely loving God of Holy Scripture. Consider if you will, Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:1-3; Isaiah 44:6 & 46:8-10:
Numbers 23:19: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”.
Titus 1:2(1-3): “Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior…..”.
Isaiah 44:6: “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.”
Isaiah 46:8-10: “Remember this, and be assured; recall it to mind, you transgressors. “Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times, things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;”.
2) The only other logical conclusion to be drawn from this “amygdala hijack” theory is that it is a total and complete lie, spawned by the father of lies himself who constantly counterfeits every truth (II Thessalonians 2:9-11,12; Colossians 2:8; Deuteronomy 13:1-5 which is exactly what is taking place with this “amygdala hijack” theory) of who God is (Isaiah 44:6,24-28; 40:5-8; Revelation 22:12-13,20) and what His Holy character is defined by (Isaiah 6:1-6; 55:8,9-11; Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:1-3; John 10:9-10,28-29; I John 4:18(7-19); Hebrews 13:5-6; Psalm 50:21). And, the only God-honoring response true believers can make is total rejection.
The following five passages clearly establish the basis or source of sinful human anger and how believers should and can put it off, obediently refusing to succumb to it:
Genesis 4:4-7 (v7 – how to deal with it): “Abel, on his part also brought of the first lines of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
Notice that God first confronts Cain’s sinful thinking produced by his sinful heart attitude – “Why are you angry?” and then He addresses the influence of Cain’s thinking on his emotions as observed in his face – “Why has your countenance fallen?”. God then instructs Cain as to what he must do to have God’s blessing – “…..do well,” that, you will notice is referring to obedient action, behavior, conduct that is a heart (will) and mind (thought) issue, which, if obediently fulfilled, inherently will change his emotions and feelings – “…..will not your countenance be lifted up?”. It would seem that God wasn’t aware of Cain’s susceptibility to an “amygdala hijack”.
I would suggest to you dear reader that based on the Sovereign, immutable truth of our Holy God as revealed in II Peter 1:1–4, He would never command us, as His beloved children, to “master” something that He hasn’t, in Christ, fully enabled us to obediently “master” – II Peter 1:1-4: “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises (II Corinthians 1:20-21), so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (all emphasis mine).
Proverbs 19:11: “A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.”
Clearly, in light of the Biblical meaning of “discretion” being “to have insight; understanding; wisdom”, sinful anger is not some overriding, involuntary impulse, but an attitude of the heart and mind that is to be, as faithful, obedient children of God, put to death by the obedient act of forgiving (overlook) the one who has transgressed against you. In Romans 12:21 Paul further reveals the way of victory over any and every sin, including sinful anger, when he commands “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Proverbs 22:24-25: “Do not associate with a man given to anger; Or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself.”
The word “given”, as added by the translators of the NASB for contextual clarity, is an adjective that modifies the noun “anger” indicating the “anger” to be something that this “man given to anger” is typically and willfully inclined to choose as his response to situations in life that he doesn’t like, is threatened by, or doesn’t want to have to deal with. “Given” clearly indicates an act of the will and mind – a thought process, not an involuntary, overriding emotional response. Additionally, and perhaps even more significant is Solomon’s Holy Spirit inspired use of the word “learn”. To “learn” something about anything is to, by definition, “gain knowledge or understanding of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience.”. As with the word “given”, to “learn” clearly is a function and process of the mind not feelings or emotions. This word occurs only four times in the Old Testament, all four of which speak to the “teacher/learner” relationship. Two of the uses are in this Proverbs passage and one passage in Job 15:5. Both of these refer to instruction that is evil. Job 15:5(5-6) states “For your guilt teaches your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty. Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; and your own lips testify against you.” Again there is the revealing of a cognitive, willful, intentional act as evidenced by Job’s use of the verb translated “choose”, meaning “to select or decide upon an action freely and after consideration”. I included verse six as a reminder of how God views such choices.
Ephesians 4:29-32: “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
Once again we encounter in God’s word this little three letter verb “let” in the fullness of its importance relating to the source and cause of sinful human anger. “Let”, as stated, is a verb that means “to cause to be or make; to give opportunity to or fail to prevent”. How interesting. Paul’s command is to “Let no unwholesome word proceed from you mouth…..”. First, consider the meaning of “unwholesome”. This word comes from the root sapros, meaning “to rot; bad, rotten, putrid”. Here, Paul uses it figuratively in a moral sense, to identify any form or type of corrupt, foul spoken language. These synonyms give additional insight into his intent – malevolent, base, shameful, filthy, deceitful, profane. At the risk of being repetitive, again we clearly see the issue being that of the rational, cognitive decision making function of the heart and the mind choosing to faithfully obey God’s clear command, with not even a suggestion of any involvement of the emotions. In other words, as a believer, you are to “cause” or “prevent” any and all “unwholesome” words from coming from, or out of your mouth. And how does one do this? One does this, or if you will, one obeys this command by way of making a faithful, rational, cognitive, Holy Spirit enabled, empowered decision to obey the clearly revealed will of God pertaining to how you will respond to and interact with others. You will recall that Proverbs 19:11 reveals sinful human anger to be the product of an unforgiving heart that refuses to “overlook a transgression”. Here in verses 31-32, Paul, in a much more specifically clear and pointed way, reveals various ways human beings exercise and express sinful anger and commands that these sinful angry attitudes of the heart and mind are to “be put away from you”. I submit to you that this one command completely unravels and destroys the deceitful, Satanic “amygdala hijack” explanation of the cause and source of sinful human anger. Paul then contrasts these willful sinful attitudes with the righteous, obedient, God-honoring attitudes we as true believers should demonstrate in word and deed, no matter the attitude or behavior of the offending individual (see Matthew 5:43-45). I say again, being fully aware of having said so numerous times already, that sinful human anger is a learned, chosen response, based on a sinful, unforgiving heart and mind attitude. This sinful response is in no way caused by the involuntary, glandular emotional overriding of a man’s will and rational mind. The amygdala gland was created by God and placed in mans brain exactly where God intended it to be and functions accordingly, with absolutely no capacity to override and thus nullify the individual believers God created rational, cognitive heart and mind. Trusting, faithful loving obedience of God’s holy will is just that – a thoughtful, love for Christ motivated act of intentional, willing, joyful trusting obedience, with or without any commensurate emotions or feelings.
II Peter 1:1-4: “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have receive a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
As relates to the deceptiveness of the entire concept of “How Anger Happens In the Brain” being the result of an involuntary emotional overriding of the rational, cognitive heart and mind of man, that “researchers call an amygdala hijack”, the one underlined statement in this passage in Peter’s second letter to the churches of the dispersion exposes this lie for what it is – “philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” Colossians 2:8. Peter’s declaration of the truth that God “…..has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness….” yet again, completely demolishes any validity to this teaching that man’s emotions have the capacity and power to override man’s rational, cognitive will and mind, thus rendering him as a Christian, incapable of obeying the clear command of Ephesians 4:29-32, or, for that matter, any other command of God to us as His beloved children.
William Gurnall in “The Christian In Complete Armor” written between 1662 and 1665 stated the following: “To will is more than to think, to exert our will into action more than both.” In the light of God’s word, he was and remains right (see I Corinthians 14:20; James 1:21-25).
In the piercingly bright light of God’s Holy word, sinful human anger is revealed to be a learned (Proverbs 22:24-25), willfully chosen act of the heart and mind in response to circumstances and/or people that the individual is not pleased with or is hostile toward. It is an attitude that grows out of an unforgiving, grudge holding unwillingness to accept the troublesome circumstance in the providential will of God or to forgive the person or persons involved. “Sinful anger” is fundamentally a cognitive act, often exercised without awareness because it has cognitively and contextually become a lifelong habitual response to circumstances and people. Sinful anger that “flares” quickly and easily does so because it has become so habitual for that individual that the individual has no conscious awareness of doing so until “after the fact”.
The following passages, most of which have already been covered in the two examples considered, I encourage you to give further thoughtful, meditative study to – Proverbs 19:11; Matthew 5:43-45; Romans 12:1-2,9-13,14-21; Ephesians 4:29,31-32; James 1:19-20.
How sad that many preachers, shepherds, teachers and proclaimers of God’s word, of His glory and of his worthiness of our worship and life’s devotion, seem to place more value in flawed human subjective opinion than they do God’s Holy word. How sad that they go to the Satanic, ungodly internet for sermon content and supposed “truth”, either due to a lack of Biblical discernment or due to willfully ignoring Biblical truth, thus deceiving themselves, and many who listen to them, into believing they honor God while inaccurately handling His Holy word (II Timothy 2:15). Not one time did this pastor acknowledge even one passage of Scripture to refute any part of this ungodly, subjective, humanistic “dialogue” of deception and error.
Appendix III:
The Importance of Your Thinking As A True Believer
I thankfully acknowledge that this study was originally developed by my dear wife, Janice, while she was discipling a group of young, new wives at a church we attended twenty five years ago. She graciously allowed me to further expand it for use in the nouthetic, Biblical counseling ministry the Lord has entrusted me with for the past thirty two years.
God has commanded us as His children to be holy (I Peter 1:15-16), to be perfect (Matthew 5:48), to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), to walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17), to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called (Ephesians 4:1-2), and to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18b). However, this is not something that just happens. We begin, at the point of God’s gracious gift of salvation, as new born spiritual babes in Christ having been born again by the will of God (I Peter 1:3; 2:1-3) and then begin to grow and mature spiritually in direct proportion to our hunger and thirst for righteousness that prompts, out of love for Christ, a commitment to a faithful, obedient, diligent study and practice of the principles of the word of God. This is the point of Paul’s admonition to Timothy when he says in II Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” And that “word of truth” which Paul directs Timothy and every true believer to, he describes in II Timothy 3:16-17, when he states that “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
The question then is, what happens when a person is “born again”, by God’s elective grace, that makes them now able to not only be able to comprehend and understand God’s Holy word, but also hunger to do so more and more while desiring to obey what they now are able to comprehend and understand. The word of God gives us the answer to this question. Consider if you will the following:
Ezekiel 36:25-27: “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
This is God’s promise of future restoration to wayward Israel, that New Covenant believers (John 3:1-8) already possess, having “been made complete” in Christ (Colossians 2:10), and as testified to in Hebrews 11:39-40 – “And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God has provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.”
The following four passages reveal the wondrous reality of, by God’s redeeming, sanctifying grace, “what happens when a person is born again” that enables them, for the rest of their earthly lives, to live lives characterized by spiritual growth as described in Hebrews 5:14 – “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” Dear reader, meditate on these four passages for they indeed are not unclear as to the infinitely abundant provision of God that enables each of His beloved children to comprehend and understand His Holy word and make it the foundation of their thoughts, words, and conduct.
Acts 2:1-4: “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.”
I Corinthians 2:12-16: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”
I John 2:20,27: “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know………..As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”
II Peter 1:1-4: “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
All of these Biblical truths have everything to do with the importance of your thinking as a believer, as one who, in the kindness of God’s elective grace, has truly been “born again”, having been given by God, as Peter declared, “everything pertaining to life and godliness”. John Calvin, in his “Institutes of the Christian Religion”, speaks to the centrality of the necessity of the new birth if one is to comprehend and understand God’s Holy word. He states, “For true doctrine is not a matter of the tongue, but of life; neither is Christian doctrine grasped only by the intellect and memory, as truth is grasped in other fields of study. Rather, doctrine is rightly received when it takes possession of the entire soul and finds a dwelling place and shelter in the most intimate affections of the heart.” Calvin speaks of “the most intimate affections of the heart.”. Writing some two hundred years later (Calvin was born in 1509/Edwards was born in 1703), Jonathan Edwards, in his “Religious Affections” published in 1746, gives a Biblically accurate explanation of the difference between “affections”, as Calvin spoke of two hundred years earlier, and “emotions”. Edwards defined affections as “strong inclinations of the soul (meaning the entire being/my note) that are manifested in thinking, feeling, and acting.” He clarified this definition by further stating “The difference between affections and emotions are that affections are 1) long-lasting, 2) deep, 3) consistent with beliefs, 4) always result in action, and 5) involve mind, will, and feelings. Emotions, on the other hand, are 1) fleeting, 2) superficial, 3) sometimes overpowering, 4) often unable to produce action, and 5) often disconnected from mind and will.”
Living in this twenty-first century, self-centered, emotion, feelings driven culture as we do, I think it is not being presumptuous to say the majority of believers reading this document today are likely not even cognizant of “affections” as Biblically understood and defined by Calvin and Edwards, let alone knowledgeable of the distinct difference between affections and emotions. Affections are founded on a rational, stable, unwavering attitude of the will and mind while emotions are generally fickle, unstable, and impulsively vacillate, often irrationally, based on the circumstance of the moment.
Now, having sought to establish the necessity of being Biblically born anew as the only way an individual can ever comprehend and understand the glorious principles of righteous living found only in God’s word and thereby be equipped to think, speak, and act righteously, it logically follows that just as a newborn baby must have physical nourishment and care to grow, every new believer must have spiritual nourishment and care to grow as God intends. In like manner, just as human parents make provision for the needs of their children, God has provided for His spiritual children all that they need to grow and mature spiritually as they live each new day in loving, faithful, joyful obedience of His Holy Spirit inspired principles of righteousness, as revealed in His Holy word. Scripture is replete with promises of God’s faithfulness to provide for His own, but none is clearer than the inspired words of Peter in the first chapter of his second letter to the churches, when he states “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
One word in these verses declares the glorious reality of the infinite faithfulness of God having provided, in Christ, the Holy Spirit, and His Word, all that His children need to live joyful, faithful, obedient lives. That word? – “everything”. Paul, in the first chapter of Colossians, also reveals something of this provision of God for His own, by his testimony of the role and responsibility of the shepherds of local churches, whether in the first or the twenty-first century. In verse 28 Paul testifies to what this responsibility entails when he states that “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”. Notice the uniquely individual “every man”. Then in verses 9-12 of chapter one, in the infinite provision of God for His children, Paul, by his prayer, reveals the heart of a true discipler of fellow believers – “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.”
As one final consideration of the immutability of God’s infinite loving provision for His own, consider the Holy character of God, related to the fullness of His glory, as evidenced in His immutable, irrevocable, sinlessly pure, Sovereign faithfulness to His own as stated by Moses in Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” Paul reiterates this same glorious truth of the Holy character of God in the first chapter of his letter to Titus, when, in verses 1-3, he declares “Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior…..”.
Not only has God made provision for what we need, He also assures us that He, by and through His Holy Spirit, will teach us and give us understanding in everything to do with holy living (Psalm 25:9; 119:9,97-105; John 14:26; Acts 2:1-4; I Corinthians 2:12,15-16; II Timothy 2:7; I John 2:20,27) in order that we might become more and more conformed to the image of His Holy Son, our precious Savior (sanctification).
Although God has made provision for all we need to be able to live as He has called us to live (John 14:6,15,21,23), we must gratefully, intentionally study His word that we might know Him, trusting the Holy Spirit who dwells in us as believers to teach us and faithfully equip and enable us to live joyfully faithful obedient daily lives (Acts 2:38-39; Ephesians 1:13-14; II Corinthians 4:10-11; 10:3-5).
Scripture reveals that our thinking is the beginning point of our learning and the basis of our conduct/behavior in daily living (Psalm 19:7-11; 119:9,97-105,160; Proverbs 2:6; 3:1-6; 4:14-15,18,23-27; 23:7; 27:19). This is true regardless of the individuals spiritual standing. When a child of God fails or refuses to bring his thoughts captive to obey Christ (II Corinthians 10:3-5; Philippians 4:4-7,8,10-13) he positions himself to be “tossed about by the empty philosophies” so prevalent in the world and the church today (Colossians 2:8; James 1:5-8; Ephesians 5:6; I Timothy 6:20; II Peter 3:17). Herein, in the believers failure to obey these commands, based on sinful thinking, are seeds sown that will produce a harvest of confusion, doubt, fear, anxiety, and frustration that is devoid of the peace (John 14:27; 16:33; I Corinthians 14:33), joy (John 15:11; I Peter 1:3-6a), contentment (Philippians 4:10-13), and abundant living (John 10:10; II Corinthians 3:17-18; Colossians 2:9-10; 1:22-23) that Jesus came to give those whom the Father had given Him – in every generation of human history.
Every believer has been commanded to think critically (I Chronicles 12:32; Psalm 119:9,97-105; II Corinthians 10:3-5). Do not confuse thinking critically with thinking criticizingly or manifesting a critical spirit, both of which are condemned in God’s word. In Acts 17:11 Luke describes the Bereans as being “more noble minded” than the believers in Thessalonica because they “received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” The “these things” Luke refers to were the things Paul was teaching in the synagogue in Berea. The Bereans were practicing critical, discerning thinking. They were putting what Paul was saying and teaching to the test of Scripture. Thinking critically then is that process of thinking righteously or as God thinks (Psalm 19:7-11; Isaiah 55:8), that results from the ongoing obedient practice of Paul’s instruction to Timothy in II Timothy 2:15, when he says “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”, the doing of which results in ones thinking being conformed more and more to the principles of truth revealed in the word of God. This obviously is a process that is unnatural to mans depraved finite mind. Yet, having been redeemed by God and given everything needed for “…..life and godliness,” the true believer is commanded and enabled to obey. In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul reveals that one of the fruits of the Spirit in a Christians life is “self control”. This “self control” however, is not fleshly, self induced, “I hope I can do this” control, but it is self control that knows the freeing assurance of the Holy Spirit’s enabling one to live a life of faithful, obedient control of self. This is a process of the will and the mind – thinking, in other words. Obedience is that response manifested by the individual believer faithfully, diligently “…..taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”, that is the result of having, by God’s redeeming grace, been given a “new heart” of tender, unceasing love for and gratitude to God for His redeeming, sanctifying, ultimately glorifying grace (Ezekiel 36:25; II Corinthians 5:17).
The following six statements plus one final question and the scripture passages included with each constitutes the remainder of this study. If you desire to become more Christlike in your thinking, practicing more critical and discerning thinking, I encourage you to study and meditate on the passages associated with each of these statements and the final question. Do so in an attitude of prayerful surrender to the Holy Spirit’s teaching, expecting Him to do so, and do so with a renewed commitment to obey all that you learn. Do so as in the prayerful request of Moses in Exodus 33:13, when he prayed “Now therefore I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight.”
- We are what we think.
Proverbs 23:7; 27:19; 4:23
Matthew 12:34b-36; 15:18-19; 5:22,28
Luke 6:45
Romans 8:5-8
2. God knows our thoughts.
Psalm 94:11; 139:4; 44:21b
Isaiah 66:18
Luke 16:15; I Corinthians 3:20
3. God’s thoughts are not the same as our thoughts.
Psalm 50:21; Isaiah 55:8,9-11; 65:2; II Corinthians 10:3-5; Philippians 4:8-9
4. We should pray for God to give us a clearer, more accurate comprehension
and understanding according to His Holy will.
Psalm 143:8b-10; 119:33-38; 51:10
Philippians 1:9-11
Colossians 1:9-12
5. God commands us to renew our thinking.
Psalm 51:10
Romans 12:1-2
Ephesians 4:23-24
6. God tells us what the focus of our thoughts should be.
Romans 12:3
Philippians 4:8
II Corinthians 10:5
Colossians 3:2,16a
7. How can this be accomplished?
Psalm 119:9,97-105
Proverbs 9:10; 4:23-27; 3:1-6
Isaiah 55:8 (II Corinthians 4:10-11); 66:2
Daniel 1:8
II Corinthians 10:3-5
Philippians 4:4-13
Colossians 2:8; 3:16a
I Timothy 6:20
II Timothy 1:14
The highest priority of righteous thinking: Psalm 90:11-12; 92:12-15; 96:4-9; 103:11-18; II Corinthians 5:18-19
Appendix IV:
A Consideration of the Relationship Between Thoughts and Emotions Based on Biblical Principles
In this study “thoughts” will always have to do with the rational act of the will and mind producing what we know as thinking or decision making and the action or conduct resulting from that thinking or decision making. Emotions will always have to do with feelings. Additionally, it is key to a right understanding of this study to recognize that all of the principles addressed herein are applicable only to those who are true believers in and followers of Jesus Christ. Those who are not can intellectually comprehend the meaning of what they will read but they have no ability to spiritually comprehend and obey these principles as revealed in God’s word – I Corinthians 2:14.
From a letter to Sally Jones from Thomas Charles (November 18,1780) in his ongoing attempt to win her hand in marriage, which he finally did in 1783. Charles was a leader in the WCM (Welsh Calvinistic Methodist) secession from the Church of England and played a key role in the development of the Sunday School movement in Wales.
“And I am still more satisfied that this regard (he speaks of his love for her) is not so much from blind passion as from clear conviction. Passions are unsteady things: they are no sooner excited but they subside again and cannot be depended upon, but what proceeds from conviction is likely to be lasting. Passions are blind and dangerous leaders, but when they faithfully follow conviction they preserve their proper place and are not amiss…..”.
Jonathan Edwards rightly distinguished the difference between “affections” and “emotions”. Edwards defined “affections” as “strong inclinations of the soul that are manifested in thinking, feeling, and acting.” He further clarified his definition by stating “The difference between affections and emotions are that affections are 1) long-lasting, 2) deep, 3) consistent with beliefs, 4) always result in action, and 5) involve mind, will, and feelings. Emotions, on the other hand, are 1) fleeting, 2) superficial, 3) sometimes overpowering, 4) often unable to produce action, and 5) often disconnected from mind and will.”.
As our Lord admonished His disciples on numerous occasions, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” – Matthew 11:15; Mark 4:9,23; 7:16; Luke 8:11; 14:35.
Romans 8:6-8 establishes the fact that “the mind set on the flesh is death…..is hostile toward God…..does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.”. I Corinthians 2:14 further establishes this fact when Paul writes that “…..a natural man (meaning unbelieving/lost) does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” Paul is not saying a “natural man” cannot intellectually comprehend what he reads in God’s word — he is saying a “natural man” will continuously and consistently refuse to embrace God’s truth, rejecting it, to live according to his own sinful, self-loving, self-gratifying will. In other words, no matter how much scripture he may know and quote; no matter how active he is in “church” life; no matter how many mission trips he goes on; no matter how consistently and generously he gives of his money to the church — the testimony of his daily living is one of love of self and selfs will as opposed to a clear, evident, consistent life of loving, faithful, obedient surrender of his will to God’s will. I John 2:4 says, with piercing clarity, “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him…..”. All of this is to say that a lost, unbelieving individual can intellectually and morally comprehend the truth concerning the Biblical, God created relationship between thoughts and emotions, and can, to a degree, make some application of such in his life, but he will never know the joy of eternal salvation, that joy that results from a grateful, loving, faithful, obedience of God’s holy will, living life in a continuous diligent pursuit of righteousness, motivated by an ever increasing love for and devotion to our Holy Triune God and Father – Matthew 6:33-34; John 1:9-13; 6:44,65; 14:15,21,23; Acts 4:12(Ephesians 1:3-6,7-14); 17:29; Romans 8:16-21.
Every principle in the following study focuses entirely on the centrality of the importance of how you think, not how you feel. There is not the first instruction or command pertaining to feelings (emotions) anywhere in God’s word. Let me be quick to say that this assertion does not mean human emotions are bad or should be denied or suppressed, nor that they are never referred to in Scripture. What it does mean is that, in the economy of God, because emotions are never the issue as relates to living a life of faithful obedience in His Holy kingdom service, they are never addressed in the context of instruction pertaining to obedient living nor as a direct, specific command relating to living an obedient life. In one sense it could reasonably be said that in God’s created order of the priority of thinking, human emotions are incidental in daily living. Central in every command of God to His chosen ones is the necessity of learning to discipline ones mind to think (I Corinthians 14:20) righteously, continually, with purposeful, intentional loving readiness to obey what is commanded. And, at no point in Scripture, did the Holy Spirit inspire the writer to add, “…..if you feel like it.”. In fact, it is only through this diligent pursuit of right thinking, as informed and enabled by the Holy Spirit through the faithful, diligent study of God’s word, that every believer comes to know the joy and blessing of true spiritual growth and maturity in Christ. If you would grow spiritually, maturing throughout your life, then discipline yourself to learn to conform your thinking and living to the truth of God’s holy word – moment by moment, day by day of His blessed gift of eternal life in His holy kingdom service here and in eternity. In a very real way it can legitimately be stated that emotions and feelings, as relates to faithful obedient living, are incidental.
The following Scripture passages testify, first of all, to the necessity of salvation if one is to learn to think critically (Acts 17:11) with ever growing discernment (the ability to rightly apply Biblical principles in daily decision making and the evaluating of life situations). Secondly, they testify to the necessity of an ongoing, thoughtful, meditative, loving study of God’s word for the primary purpose of 1) knowing Him, 2) discerning His holy will for daily living a righteous life, and 3) they testify to the necessity of obediently living out that life each fresh new day, here on this beautiful temporary earth and ultimately for all eternity in His sinless holy New Heaven and New Earth (I Thessalonians 1:9-10; II Peter 3:10-13; Revelation 21).
Genesis 4:5-7; Proverbs 14:30; Isaiah 55:6-8; Romans 8:1-2,3-8,28-30; I Corinthians 13:4-8a; Romans 6:12-14; II Timothy 3:14-15,16-17; 2:15; Romans 12:1-2; II Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 4-5:16; 6:10-20; Philippians 4:4-7,8-9,10-13; II Peter 1:1-4,5-7,8-11; Matthew 6:33-34; Hebrews 11:1,3,6,39-40
- Conduct or behavior, whether of the mind (thoughts/thinking) and/or the body (thoughts, judgements, attitudes, decisions in the mind carried out in externally visible, measurable physical behavior) that is based on or results from criteria (knowledge/information) that is not Biblically based, thus being untrue and inaccurate, will always produce unpleasant, disconcerting emotions (feelings). 1
- Emotions (feelings) are organic bodily responses that are largely involuntary and are triggered by thoughts/attitudes and conduct/behavior. 2
- Certain conduct produces certain chemical involuntary bodily reactions which in turn result in certain feelings. Herein is the basis of the flawed reasoning/diagnosis of the God and sin rejecting, humanistic (atheistic) world of modern psychology, education, medicine, and the liberal church. The ever-present, all encompassing “chemical imbalance”, totally subjective diagnosis (based on no empirical, measurable, reproducible evidence), made by doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists, and conveniently validated by pseudo experts in the humanistic education system of America, that attributes certain behaviors or conditions to a “chemical imbalance”, is a diagnosis based on complete ignorance and/or rejection of the fact that certain thoughts and their corresponding physical external manifestations (actions/conduct/behavior) do indeed produce chemical reactions in the brain but, of immeasurable eternal significance, is the overriding fact that it is the sinful mind and heart of man, not the chemical imbalance, that produces said thoughts and behavior, which in turn produces the chemical reaction that creates the feelings associated with or produced by the thinking and behavior of the individual. 3
- There are two basic categories of emotions – positive and negative.
- Sinful action, whether of the thoughts or thoughts and conduct, always produces unpleasant, negative emotional experiences. Thus, the remedy for unpleasant, negative emotional experiences is not to change the emotions (feelings) or circumstances, but change the thoughts which produce the sinful words and/or conduct that has produced the negative, unpleasant feelings. Conduct or behavior always begins in the heart (will) and the mind (thoughts) and then is manifested in conduct (external action) that is always the producer of whatever feelings (emotions) are being experienced, be they negative or, due to righteous thinking and conduct, positive. 4
- Changing sinful conduct (behavior) necessitates genuine repentance of the sinful thinking behind the sinful conduct. It is genuine repentance and rejection of the sinful thought pattern in accord with the sincere embracing of God’s righteous thought pattern that alone will produce a new pattern of righteous conduct. Genuine repentance occurs when 1) the unbelieving individual, by God’s grace, recognizes his sin is sin against God, that it is separating him from God, and that he is destined for eternal damnation apart from repenting and surrendering his will to God’s to gratefully, lovingly serve Him forever, or, 2) a believer, recognizing his sin has broken his fellowship with God, gratefully, sincerely repents and continues to live in renewed faithful obedience. In either instance, repentance is necessary. 5 The problem is never the feelings. The problem is always the sinful thoughts and conduct that is produced by those thoughts. 5
- The changing of any and all known thinking and behavior that is sinful is always brought about as the result of the determination, by the individual believer, to willfully, obediently, faithfully turn from said thinking and behavior to go forth committed afresh and anew to Christ and His Lordship as evidenced by a consistent, diligent pursuit of righteous daily living. 6
- II Peter 1:1-4,5-7,8-11; Genesis 4:5-7; Proverbs 3:1-6; 4:14-15,18,23-27; 23:7; Jude 9-13
- Christian Counselor’s Manual, Jay Adams, P110; Philippians 4:4-5,6-9,10-13; II Corinthians 10:3-5
- Genesis 4:4-7; Proverbs 14:30
- Genesis 4:4-7; Proverbs 23:7; 27:19; Jude 9-13
- I Thessalonians 1:9-10; II Corinthians 7:10; 5:17; I John 2:4,15-17; II Corinthians 4:7-11(10-11)
- II Corinthians 4:7-11; 7:10 Matthew 6:33-34; Philippians 4:4-13; II Corinthians 10:3-5; Romans 6:12-14; 7:12-25; Ephesians 4; Romans 8; 12; I John 1:9
Appendix V:
As you consider the chart on page 36, always remember that our Lord’s emotions were always appropriate and stable, never impulsive, fickle, out of control or irrational because they were always the byproduct of His Perfect, Godly, Holy, sinless, thinking –
Psalm 50:21: “These things you have done and I kept silence; you thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.”
Isaiah 55:8: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
