Neil T. Anderson - Restoring Broken Relationships: The Path to Peace and Forgiveness

You accept the historical existence of Jesus? Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.

Albert Einstein

I f you were Satan and wanted to oppose the advancement of Gods kingdom, what would you do? I know what I would do, because I know what Satan is doing. First, I would try to divide the minds of Gods children, because a double-minded person is unstable in all their ways (see James 1:8). Then I would try to divide their marriages, because a house divided against itself cannot stand. Then I would try to divide the Body of Christ, because in unity we stand, but divided we fall. Like blindfolded warriors, we dont know who our enemy is, so we strike out at ourselves and each other.

When I was pastoring a church, a married man pulled me aside and told me that he had a bothersome voice in his head. At the time, I had no idea what that was and even if I did, I wouldnt have known how to help him. Lacking that knowledge and ability, I helplessly watched as his marriage and family fell apart and he left the church.

Now I know what his problem was, and I have helped thousands like him find their freedom in Christ. The result? Their freedom has brought them the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:7). Let me share how I got here.

From the Beginning

As an aerospace engineer and religious nonbeliever, I thought there was a natural explanation for everythingand a natural answer to all the problems of life. My education was dominated by Western rationalism and naturalism, as it is for most citizens of the United States. When I came to Christ, I slowly realized that my preconceived notions were not true. As a new believer, I learned about the creation, the Fall and the struggle that believers have with the philosophies of this fallen world, as well as the ongoing battle with the flesh. Armed with that information, I graduated from seminary and started my ministry as a college pastor in a Baptist church, where I later took on the role of an associate pastor.

Then God called me to be the senior pastor of another Baptist church, where I preached the truth as faithfully as I knew how. I saw some people come to Christ and the church grew numerically, but there were people in my church who had problems that I didnt have answers forand that really bothered me. I believed that Christ was the answer and that truth would set people free, but I really wasnt seeing the dramatic life changes that I thought should accompany a decision for Christ. Old things were supposed to have fallen away, and the believers were supposed to be new creations in Christ, accompanied by new things (see 2 Cor. 5:17). In addition, some church members clearly had spiritual problems, but I had no clue what to do about it. I saw some who were sorry for their sins and confessed them, but they experienced little genuine repentance and no lasting change.

Then my wife, Joanne, developed cataracts in both eyes. In those days they would not do lens implants like they do today. So both eyes clouded up until they finally removed the lenses and fitted her with very thick glasses until she got contacts. The pressure of being a pastors wife and the trauma of losing her sight were heavy burdens for Joanne to bear. Her condition prompted me to work on my first doctorate, because I knew I needed to get Joanne out of that pastoral role, but I had no idea what God had in store for me.

To my surprise, I was asked to interview for a position at Talbot School of Theology, which is a graduate school of Biola University. I was offered a contract and I answered the call, but I went there with a burden to find answers for peoples problems. I received permission to teach a Masters of Theology elective on spiritual warfare, which was groundbreaking for the seminary at that time. I am eternally grateful for the friendship and wisdom of Dr. Robert Saucy, who at that time was the chairman of the Theology department. I asked him to be my theological sounding board, and he was. I believe that we need to be theologically accountable as well as morally accountable to those we respect and to those who are capable of giving us honest and constructive feedback.

The first year I felt like I was in the first grade teaching preschoolers. But the class grew every year, and I started to see the lives of the students literally change. At the same time, the Lord was sending me some really hurting people for counseling.

Meanwhile I was having some major paradigm shifts in my own thinking. The biggest was the discovery of who I am in Christ. Previously, I may have known it intellectually, but now it was being internally confirmed. The Holy Spirit was bearing witness with my spirit that I was a child of God (see Rom. 8:16).

I wondered if other Christians had the same awarenessor if they, too, had only head knowledge of who they were in Christ. To find out, I offered a Saturday conference on spiritual identity, and I was blown away by the response, which was extremely positive. I also began to realize that every hurting Christian that I was trying to help lacked the same awareness (and that is still true to this day). They didnt know who they were in Christ and were ignorant of their inheritance in Christ, which Paul is praying for us to see (see Eph. 1:18). God foreknew that this would be a struggle for believers.