The Doctrine of Substitution

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Removing the Evil Spirit

Matthew 12:43-45

“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

The problem is that the evil spirit found the house “empty.” This is the description of someone who attempts moral reform (improved behavior) without ever being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Reform, apart from regeneration (being born again), is never effective and eventually reverts back to pre-reformed behavior, “and the last state of the man is worse than the first.”

The Pharisees sought moral reform through their external code of conduct, i.e., laws and rules. But they had become wicked, adulterous and hypocritical.

We also have a problem with self-improvement apart from the Holy Spirit. We do well for a while and then fall right back into old behaviors. I pray that in the power of the Holy Spirit, you persevere in the reading of God’s Word; finish it; and seek to apply it to your life; in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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