In our after-breakfast study of Finis Jennings Dake’s God’s Plan for Man (Lawrence, Georgia: Dake Publishing, 1949) this morning, my family and I finished considering Supplement Five, which follows Lessons Nine and Ten. Lesson Nine had been on the dispensation of innocence (Genesis 2:15-3:21), and Lesson Ten had been on providence, God’s plan for the needs of man. In Lesson Nine Dake identified six steps in the fall of man—doubt concerning God’s Word, addition to and misquoting God’s Word, contradiction of God’s Word, misinterpretation of God’s Word, temptation to transgress God’s Word, and transgression of God’s Word (see https://opentheism.wordpress.com/2019/07/25/the-dispensation-of-innocence-the-fall/). Here he claims that man must take steps that are just the opposite of them to be redeemed. He also discusses ten miscellaneous Bible questions.
This report consists of brief summaries of what Dake says about the six steps that he claims man must take to be redeemed. Most of what he says about them explains how they relate to Christians having their prayers about their needs answered and thus provides a good followup to his presentation on providence in Lesson Ten. The comments in square brackets are ones made in our family discussion or by me personally. Biblical quotations are from the KJV unless otherwise noted.
- Doubt Concerning God’s Word
God made very plain that the absolute condition of answered prayer is: “Let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8).
If this is God’s condition of answered prayer, children of God should make up their mind before they pray that they are going to stick to what they ask of God until they get an answer. Then their prayers will be answered. But many times when the answer doesn’t come immediately, they decide that it is not the will of God or that it might not have been best for them to receive an answer. A few failures like this will soon make them form a habit that causes failure in almost every prayer that is prayed.
Since it was Satan (through the serpent) who raised the first doubt in man (Genesis 3:1), we should recognize that all doubts are of the devil. To out an end to doubting, we should resist the devil and he will flee from us (James 4:7). “The way to answered prayer then becomes clear, and it is the duty of each individual to see that he masters all doubt and demons and cooperates with God’s Word with all his heart” (Dake, page 181). - Addition to and Misquoting God’s Word
Until all doubt is cleansed from the believer’s life, there will be some addition to and misquoting of God’s Word. However if immediate answers to all prayers are his gaol, he must never add one thing to God’s Word or take one thing from it. He must learn to take every statement of God as it is written and practice it to the letter. - Contradiction of God’s Word
Not only must one never doubt, add to, or take away from God’s Word, but if he wants God to honour him enough to answer prayer he must never try to make God a liar by contradicting His Word. One can afford to contradict theories of men concerning God’s Word, but he cannot afford to contradict what is plainly written. “Our motto should be, ‘The Bible States It; I Believe It; That Settles It’ (Dake, page 182). - Misinterpretation of God’s Word
The next step in retracing our steps from the Fall is to stop misinterpreting God’s Word. It is impossible to misinterpret what is written if one will take at face value what is plainly written. If God’s Word is taken just as it is, a solid unshakeable faith will be created. - Temptation to Transgress God’s Word
If one transgresses the Word of God concerning open sin, he becomes an open sinner and incurs the death penalty. Likewise if one doubts the Word of God regarding His promises, he cannot get the things for which he prays. [Dake quotes several Bible passages that express the law of faith and several that describe Jesus’ rebuking the disciples when they doubted.]
There are only two times when Christ marvelled at men. The first time he marvelled at the faith of a centurion (Matthew 8:5-13), and the second time he marvelled at the unbelief of his hometown people (Mark 6:1-6). “Evidently, the greatest mystery to Him is that men do not believe Him after having more than His Word, as the centurion did” (Dake, page 184). - Transgression of God’s Word
[Dake repeats the idea of the first two sentences of 5 above.] “(Faith) is the all-inclusive condition of answered prayer.… All one has to do is to get into Christ and meditate on the Word of God until his heart becomes full of His promises, and then ask in faith nothing wavering, and it shall be done” (Dake, page 184).
(This article was originally posted on August 9, 1019.)
Bob's Corner 