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What is “Slain in the Spirit”? (Endnotes)

1. A major reason for this is that most people do not read and study the Bible. They may own one, but do not read it regularly. Furthermore, when they do read it, they do not understand much of what they read. So it is natural for them to give more credence to what they experience than to the Word. The solution to this is for Christians to read the Word of God regularly and ask questions about what they do not understand until they learn it. Close

2. We have the freedom of will to obey God or not, which is why He takes so much time instructing us what to do, and is disappointed when we do not obey. Also, many verses testify to the fact that we make choices whether or not to be godly (cp. Deut. 30:19; Judg. 5:8; 1 Sam. 8:18; Ps. 119:30; Prov. 1:29; Isa. 1:29, 56:4; Phil. 1:22). Close

3. God is not the cause of sickness and death today. That is not to say that He has not nor will not judge the wicked, and kill them, because He has, for example, in the Flood of Noah. Also, He is willing to defend His people, as when He closed the waters of the Sea over Pharaoh and his army. Never does He kill His own people. For a detailed study of this important subject, see our book, op. cit., Don’t Blame God! (Christian Educational Services, Indianapolis, IN, 2006). Close

4. We explain why we say “mad” really refers to being “demonized” in footnote 4, on 1 Corinthians 14:23 in Chapter 10, “Speaking in Tongues.” Close

5. The Devil has been so successful in sowing division into the Christian Church that there are few biblical doctrines that are not controversial. However, there is a difference between a doctrine that is set forth in Scripture but interpreted differently by Christians, and a doctrine that is not based on any Scripture at all. Close

6. Deuteronomy 13:1-5 speaks of those who prophecy that something will come to pass, and it does, and who then they use their credibility to try to lead people away from the true God. Close

7. It is certainly worth noting that people who are slain in the Spirit fall backwards. In the Bible, falling or going backwards was a sign of God’s displeasure or judgment, or the person’s disobedience or shame. No one who was being blessed by God fell backward. There are numerous examples of falling or going backward, which can be clearly seen in the King James Version: Genesis 49:17; 1 Samuel 4:18; Psalm 40:14, 70:2; Isaiah 1:4, 28:13, 44:25, 59:14; Jeremiah 7:24, 15:6; Lamentations 1:8; John 18:6. Close

8. The dictionary definition of a phenomenon (plural = phenomena) is: “An occurrence or circumstance that is perceptible by the five senses; an unusual or significant event or occurrence.” For the purposes of clarity as we study the Bible, when the Lord gives information in a rare, unusual, unpredictable way, we say that is a phenomenon. Thus phenomena are a subset of miracles. Miracles are supernatural acts of God, but their purpose is not necessarily to communicate information. When the sun stood still for Joshua, it was a miracle, but not a phenomenon. When God wrote on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace, it was a miracle that was also a phenomenon. Close