Law of Attraction or Faith?

Jesus warned that the defining issue of the end times would be unprecedented deception. And then he revealed a most disturbing thing. This deception will be widely proclaimed by professing Christians. (Mt 24:3-5) “For many shall come in my name, saying , I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Who are the “many” who profess Jesus is the Christ and patronize his name? Jesus mentions false messiahs and false prophets later in the passage, but here he is warning that many in the church will be deceived by ministers!

Should this surprise us? Weren't those who represented the authentic legitimate “church” the very ones who crucified Jesus? Since the Garden, Satan's strategy has been to use God's word to deceive us. The most diabolical end time delusions will be found in the church.

A cunning deception has infiltrated the church regarding faith. It is the Law of Attraction popularized by the sensational book and movie “The Secret,” which states that my thoughts and words determine what I attract to my life. Many in the word of faith-prosperity movement and the liberal church have failed to discern that their rendition of this ancient law is not the equivalent of New Testament faith, but is actually a fraudulent imitation.

The Law of Attraction is a valid Biblical concept, but its application is often radically contrary to scripture. The thoughts and intents of the heart are vital to Jesus' faith message of speaking and not doubting. “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” (Mk 11:23)

The Bible also tells us that the battlefield for the soul is our private thoughts, and if we are double minded we will receive (attract) nothing. (Jas 1:8) This truth is so powerful that you can be literally “transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom 12:2) Our salvation is initiated by believing in the heart and confessing with the mouth. (Rom 10:10) We are commanded to think on things that are lovely, pure and honest, and for those few who strenuously practice it, the results are liberating. We are also reminded that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” (Prov 18:21) That's not poetic license, but it's an unveiling of the amazing power of intentional thoughts and words.

However, the seduction of the Law of Attraction is its potential to function without God, even in a Christian context. We see this at the Tower of Babel where man's unified purpose, language and self confidence prompted God to make this astonishing observation: “Nothing shall be restrained from them which they have imagined to do.” (Gen 11:16) This stunning potential of focused imagination is an innate God given ability, that can operate regardless of God's sanction.

But, we must understand that the power released via the Law of Attraction does not originate in man, it has a supernatural source. “Neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1 Cor 3:6,7) We have latent untapped abilities, but this verse reveals that we are not a source of anything genuinely creative. Only God can give valid increase. The only alternative is bewitching demonic power. We can bless or curse with our tongue, but some supernatural entity must enforce it.

Without God we can freely imagine and initiate, but we cannot truly create. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing. (Jn 5:19) If Jesus in his humanity was not an originator of true creativity, why do we think we are? However, we are invited to participate in God's creativity, a delightful privilege unique to humans.

The problem is this: If we are merely transmitters of power, what was the source of power for those gathered at the Tower of Babel when God declared their remarkable potential? Can we invoke and tempt God to submit to human initiative? Absolutely not. Being created in God's image is vastly different than thinking we are miniature gods incarnate. To flippantly and pompously declare that you can “call those things that be not as though they were,” is to open yourself to deceptive powers. (Rom 4:17) To “sow your seed” based on faith principles rather than personal communion, is presumption that leads to tragedy.

 
We are not autonomous beings, we are intrinsically dependent. “Do you not know, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Rom 6:16) That is also a Law. You were designed to yield to (serve) a loving God. Human self determination and independence is an illusion. “You are not your own; you were bought with a price.” (1 Cor 6:19) Anyone not submitted to Jesus Christ is by default a legal slave of Satan.

The Law of Attraction is an attribute of quantum physics which is merely a distorted glimpse into the mechanics of the spiritual realm, and promotes the false notion that you can create your own reality apart from Jesus Christ who alone IS Truth. It's blind presumption to assume that all reality is unified, and therefore all spiritual powers represent God

Everything in our lives can be reduced to two incompatible realities: Life or death, light or darkness, truth or deception, heaven or hell. Consequently, there are two sources of thoughts in the universe, through which the Law of Attraction can operate. There is the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below, the Holy Spirit or the demonic. (Jas 3:15)

The wisdom from above can only be acquired by self-denial and humility, and it produces godliness and abundant life. The wisdom from below seems right and appeals to my flesh, but it leads to self glory and death. The question is this: Are the motives and counsels of your heart fleshly and demonic, or are they derived from the Holy Spirit who is Wisdom?

Even though all humans have a natural capacity for faith, the Bible says that not everyone actually has faith. (2 Thes 3:2) This is a vital distinction that many fail to grasp. Trusting and believing are fundamental qualities of human nature. However, neither trusting nor believing is faith, they are actions. Faith is a noun, not some capricious leap in the dark initiated by our imagination.

The reason that not all have faith is that it's a divine virtue alien to corrupt flesh, and therefore must be imparted, because “in my flesh, dwells no good thing.” (Rom 7:18) The Bible describes faith as “substance” and “evidence.”(Heb 11:1) Faith has actual existence that transcends our three dimensional world. There is nothing comparable to faith. The Bible calls it a fruit of the Holy Spirit and a gift that is found only in Jesus Christ. (1 Tim 1:14; Gal 5:22; Eph 2:8) Believing is our mental response to faith. Trusting is our emotional response to faith. Without this divine gift of faith, my believing and trusting will automatically revert to some futile false security.

Our goal is to be so radically integrated with Christ that “The life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.” (Gal 2:20) That is the true definition of normal life on planet earth. That is why we are told that “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Because without faith we are detached from God. Pleasing God is not a behaviour issue, it's being connected to God so we can experience his love. That is what delights Him.

“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” This “hearing” of a word from God is what distinguishes Biblical faith from the New Age law of attraction. The Bible emphasizes the term “the hearing of faith” to highlight the vital connection between faith and hearing. (Gal 3:3, 5) When God quickens the written word to you, or speaks directly to your spirit, faith accompanies that word. That is the wisdom from above that has power to transform lives and produce Godly works. Abraham, the Father of Faith, did not conjure up faith, God spoke to him and faith was supplied.

Faith is not indoctrination, principles or patterns. The Bible implies that such techniques are witchcraft. (Gal 3:1) Faith is a fruit of communion with Jesus Christ, and when He speaks to you supernatural faith is imparted. We don't require a “word” for every little thing in our lives. Love does not micro-manage. But, God yearns for your heart to intimately unite with him in love. Therefore he aches to speak to you more often than you may assume. The problem is our hearing. “Take heed therefore how you hear.”

The truth is, we are to be progressively led by the Spirit of God and live by every word that proceeds from his mouth. “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.” If God's thoughts toward you are that vast, don't you think He wants to communicate them?

“The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim 1:14) Faith and love mutually flow from Jesus, and accordingly “faith works by love.” (Gal 5:6) Therefore, the Bible warns “If I have all faith so that I can move mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.” If you just “cast your faith out there” for selfish egotistical gain, the Bible says you are “nothing.” Christians who abuse faith are more accountable than a unbeliever using the Law of Attraction in ignorance.

The deadly fascination of the Law of Attraction is its essential selfishness, which is also the leaven in the American gospel. Self-adsorption is apparently not new in the church. Paul lamented of early Christians, “All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.” According to Jesus, believers can quote the Word, apply faith principles, and achieve results, yet to their horror discover later that it was all vanity and vexation, because it was self motivated. If my ministry is motivated by my flesh, I may get results, but God will eventually declare me a “worker of iniquity.”(Mat 7:23) Does the Holy Spirit initiate and orchestrate your ministry, or is it merely your God-displeasing flesh veiled in Christian power words and false humility?

The humanistic Law of Attraction is a common denominator in the prolific world of “self-help” techniques that have infiltrated the church. But self-help is contradictory to the Gospel, because it glorifies man and enslaves rather then liberates. “See to it, then, that no one enslaves you by means of the worthless deceit of human wisdom, which comes from the teachings handed down by human beings and from the ruling spirits of the universe, and not from Christ.” (Col 2:8)

 
Yes, we have creative gifts that we can employ of our own volition, but without engaging God's presence, our works will be hollow and eternally worthless. “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. . . Each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is.” (1 Cor 3)

Copyright 2010 by Hayden Humphrey