Austin Bible Church
A simple definition of negative volition is unbelief concerning the Word of God and/or the plan of God. Just as in salvation, personal sin has been paid for in full by the substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the Cross, unbelief is taken care of by personal faith in Christ. After salvation, personal sin is taken care of by confession of sin to God the Father followed by a return to the filling of the Holy Spirit using 1 John 1:9.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NASB)
However, unbelief or disbelief can only be cancelled out by positive volition. They cannot co-exist! Darkness and light are not compatible! You must isolate negative volition from the temptations of the old sin nature. You must understand that confession of sin only deals with personal sins, whereas only positive volition can deal with negative volition.
A simple manifestation of negative volition is when in fellowship, you refuse to be patient in the spiritual life. When in fellowship, you react or refuse to be patient with your communicator, thereby putting yourself above your communicator in content or method. You are then out of fellowship from your negative volition toward the divinely-delegated authority of the pastor-teacher and the absolute authority of the Word of God.
The Greek word for “patience” is μακροθυμέω (makrothumeō) and means long suffering, patience, patiently enduring, long tempered. Patience in the spiritual life is gained only through spiritual growth – the renewing of your thinking from epignosis Bible doctrine in the right lobe of the soul. Rom. 12:2; Matt. 18:26; Matt. 18:29; 1 Thess. 5:14; James 5:7; Heb. 6:15; Heb. 6:12; James 5:10.
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, NASB)
“"So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.'” (Matthew 18:26, NASB)
“We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14, NASB)
“And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.” (Hebrews 6:15, NASB)
“As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.” (James 5:10, NASB)
The Greek word for “perseverance” is ὑπομονή (hupomonē) and means steadfastness, constancy, a patient enduring, sustaining, perseverance. Perseverance is another aspect gained in the spiritual life only through spiritual growth. Rom. 2:7; Rom. 8:25; Rom. 15:4-5; Col. 1:11.
“to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;” (Romans 2:7, NASB)
“But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” (Romans 8:25, NASB)
“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,” (Romans 15:4-5, NASB)
“strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously” (Colossians 1:11, NASB)
Recovery from Refusing
Recovery from refusing is by confession of known sins to God the Father whereby you recover the filling of the Holy Spirit. Recovery begins with daily intake of the teaching of the Word of God. Go to Bible class where the Word is taught. Go whenever there is teaching. Do this regardless of the cost, feeling, schedule, etc. This wipes out a lot of problems. 1 John 1:9.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NASB)
Begin to patiently function under the grace apparatus for perception. This wipes out negative volition. Continue the consistent use of confession of known sins to God the Father to ensure you are in fellowship. Realize the need to go on to spiritual maturity.
There are two Greek words for “refusing.” The first Greek word is ἀρνέομαι (arneomai) and means to deny, to renounce, reject, to refuse to acknowledge, to disown. Heb. 11:24; Acts 7:35; 2 Tim. 2:12-13; Titus 2:12.
“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,” (Hebrews 11:24, NASB)
“"This Moses whom they disowned, saying, 'WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A JUDGE?' is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.” (Acts 7:35, NASB)
The second Greek word for “refusing” is παραιτέομαι (paraiteomai) and means to refuse, to deny, to avoid, to decline, to have nothing to do with. Acts 25:11; 1 Tim. 4:7; 1 Tim. 5:11; 2 Tim. 2:23; Titus 3:10; Heb. 12:25.
“"If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar."” (Acts 25:11, NASB)
“But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;” (1 Timothy 4:7, NASB)
Recovery From Reaction
Negative volition causes reaction in the form of being disillusioned, disenchanted, and disappointed with Bible doctrine. This is rejection of Bible doctrine - the Word of God. The result of rejecting the Word of God is sin, human good, and evil which result in believing false doctrines. Reaction here is not about personal sins, but about negative volition.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:8 and Luke 10:16, “rejects” is ἀθετέω (atheteō) and means to break faith with, to set aside, to reject.
“So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.” (1 Thessalonians 4:8, NASB)
“"The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me."” (Luke 10:16, NASB)
In Romans 15:8, 1 Corinthians 1:6-8, and Hebrews 2:3, “to confirm” is βεβαιόω (bebaioō) and means to make firm, to establish, to make secure. While in fellowship you need to confirm the promises of God!
“For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers,” (Romans 15:8, NASB)
“even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:6-8, NASB)
“how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,” (Hebrews 2:3, NASB)
Bebaioō is also used in 2 Corinthians 1:21 and Colossians 2:7 and is translated “established.”
“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,” (2 Corinthians 1:21, NASB)
“having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” (Colossians 2:7, NASB)
Bebaioō is used in Hebrews 13:9 and is translated “strengthened.”
“Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.” (Hebrews 13:9, NASB)
Reaction to the Word of God can result in the believer being bored. “I’m not interested, don’t bother me, you’re a bore.” This is a non-capacity word. In Hebrews 6:12, “sluggish” is νωθρός (nōthros) and means sluggish, slothful, dull, unmotivated, tired, disinterested. The answer is to be around people with capacity, people who are driven, people who have Bible doctrine with capacity for life.
“so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:12, NASB)
Reaction to the Word of God can also result in being discouraged. In 2 Corinthians 4:8, “despairing’’ is ἐξαπορέομαι (exaporeomai) and means to be utterly without a way out, to have lost all hope. Note “perplexed” is ἀπορέω (aporeō) in the same verse. There is a thin line between rough going and despair.
“we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;” (2 Corinthians 4:8, NASB)
Reaction can cause self-pity. Esau is the example in Hebrews 12:16-17 where his feeling was “nobody loves me.” “Rejected” is ἀποδοκιμάζω (apodokimazō) and means to reject as a result of examination and disapproval. When you are rejected or feel rejected, it becomes self-pity.
“that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” (Hebrews 12:16-17, NASB)
Reaction can make the believer frustrated. In Hebrews 10:23, “without wavering” is ἀκλινής (aklinēs) and means not inclining, firm, unmoved. “I haven’t met my goals, so what’s the use!” The answer is fellowship in daily assembly with believers with common goals!
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;” (Hebrews 10:23, NASB)
Reaction to the Word of God results in mental attitude sins of bitterness and jealousy. Heb. 12:15; Heb. 12:25; Heb. 12:28-29.
“See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;” (Hebrews 12:15, NASB)
“See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.” (Hebrews 12:25, NASB)
“Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29, NASB)
Recovery From a Frantic Search for Happiness
A frantic search for happiness puts money, security, sex, pleasure, food, shelter, clothing, etc. as a higher priority than anything else. Learning the Word of God is way down on their list of priorities. Recovery comes through reorientation to the authority of the Word of God from a change of thinking. Once the believer returns to the teaching of Bible doctrine, they should study the Divine Institutions and the Laws of Divine Establishment.
Through spiritual growth, they can develop a capacity to enjoy the details of life without enslavement to them. They must subject them to the biblical priority system where the consistent intake of Bible doctrine is top priority.
Recovery From Hardness of Heart
For the believer, hardness of heart is continual negative volition toward Bible doctrine. For the believer, this is the same condition as reversionism. See category on Hardness of Heart.
A vacuum in the soul causes hardness of heart and an insensitivity to spiritual things. In Ephesians 4:19, “they” refers to the unbeliever or a believer negative to Bible doctrine. “Callous” is the perfect active participle of ἀπαλγέω (apalgeō) and means to cease to feel pain or grief, to become apathetic. “Have given themselves over” means to become obvious, to betray yourself. “Sensuality” refers to promiscuity, fornication, and adultery.
“and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” (Ephesians 4:19, NASB)
Recovery from a Soul Vacuum
Continued negative volition causes a vacuum in the soul. Soul vacuum pulls in false doctrine and Satanic doctrine. In Ephesians 4:17, “futility” is ματαιότης (mataiotēs) and means an emptiness or vacuum in the soul. When this condition exists in a believer something foreign to God’s concepts are drawn into the soul.
“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,” (Ephesians 4:17, NASB)
In the volition of the soul, the believer can go negative to Bible doctrine either occasionally, frequently, or totally. But any negative volition is going to have an effect. When you go negative, you begin to build up scar tissue in the soul and when that reaches a certain point, it opens up a vacuum (mataiotēs).
It is only through this vacuum that Satan can influence a believer. Believers cannot be demon-possessed because their body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 6:19.
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19, NASB)
Once the soul vacuum is open, it pulls in Satanic viewpoint into the mind. Sometimes this is called “worldliness” but it is always false doctrine and false thinking, This is how believers can think in terms of how they feel rather than who and what God is and what His Word says. These believers with a soul vacuum think in terms of what they can do for God in religion, they can become legalists, they can think that panaceas will take care of life’s problems, they will be full of mental attitude sins, and slaves to the details of life. The solution is to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Eph. 4:20-24.
“But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:20-24, NASB)
Recovery From Complete Blackout of the Soul
Blackout of the soul is the partial or total loss of all doctrine learned. Such reversionistic believers have been given over to a depraved mind. “Depraved” is ἀδόκιμος (adokimos) and means worthless, failed, disqualified, depraved. This is the believer in carnality for an extended time. Rom. 1:28; 1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Tim. 3:8; Titus 1:16.
“And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,” (Romans 1:28, NASB)
“but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:27, NASB)
“Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.” (2 Timothy 3:8, NASB)
“They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” (Titus 1:16, NASB)
The believer with blackout of the soul is an expert in producing human good. Human good becomes a way of life. Blackout of the soul is described in 1 Timothy 4:1, 1 Corinthians 10:21, and Ephesians 4:21.
“and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way,” (Ephesians 4:19-20, NASB)
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,” (1 Timothy 4:1, NASB)
“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” (1 Corinthians 10:21, NASB)
The blackout of the soul in Ephesians 4:18 is literally, “Having become darkened in the sphere of thinking.” “Being darkened” is in the passive voice which means “to receive darkness” with the result that the soul becomes black.
“being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;” (Ephesians 4:18, NASB)
Blackout causes the believer to become disoriented and live by guilt feelings, trying to prove themselves to God, live by the Mosaic Law rather than grace, and do what is right in their own eyes. They are like the Pharisees who plotted the murder of Jesus Christ and at the same time were afraid to go into Pilate’s judgment hall lest they become contaminated.
The result is negative volition and the continued piling up of layers and layers of scar tissue in the soul. They openly oppose Bible doctrine and the plan of God. Their frantic search for happiness continues. They continue to pursue money, sex, pleasure, food, shelter, clothing, etc. in hopes of finding meaning in it all. Making a living becomes a way of life, not Bible doctrine.
Recovery can only come from a change of thinking about the Word of God and the desire to learn more about what God is and what He has provided in grace. Confess known sins to God the Father, claim a few of God's promises, and begin again to take in Bible doctrine from a prepared doctrinal pastor-teacher.
Recovery From Reverse Process Reversionism
Reverse process reversionism refers to the distortion of both human affection and capacity for love while such a believer is under reversionism. The believer is living without norms or standards with a conscience seared with a hot iron. The believer recovers from this situation by a change of thinking – positive volition. The mechanics are confession of sin using 1 John 1:9 and focusing on the intake and application of Bible doctrine. 1 Tim. 4:1-2.
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,” (1 Timothy 4:1-2, NASB)
Reverse process means to face in the opposite direction, a change or a reversal of judgment, or a criticism. Under reversionism, the believer experiences a reverse process regarding the objects of their true love or affection.
Some of you will find that you are in reversionism and didn’t know it. Some of you are on the brink of reversionism and will be saved from going into it. Others of you are not in reversionism or tempted by it, but your problems lie in other areas.
Under this process, the bona fide object of love becomes the object of expressed hatred, bitterness, cruelty, implacability, maligning, judging and revenge tactics, while inconsequential people become the objects of attention, flirtation, social life, sex, and so on. See category on Reverse Process Reversionism.
Recovery From The Sin Unto Death
The Sin Unto Death results from a state of carnality for a long period of time with unconfessed persistent unchecked sin which ignores God's grace and is preceded by warning divine discipline followed by more intense divine discipline, and ultimately God takes the believer home prematurely. The believer near the point of the Sin Unto Death is under intense divine discipline and has a maximum adverse effect on other believers. Recovery is always possible as long as such a believer is still breathing. The believer can recover from this dire situation by a change of thinking – positive volition. The mechanics are confession of sin using 1 John 1:9 and focusing on the intake and application of Bible doctrine. Rev. 3:20; Psalms 32:1-5; Rev. 3:16; Phil. 3:18-19. See category on The Sin Unto Death.
“'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20, NASB)
“A Psalm of David. A Maskil. How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.” (Psalms 32:1-5, NASB)
“'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” (Revelation 3:16, NASB)
“For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:18-19, NASB)