Article June 15, 2015 Issue

Shut the door on evil!

Elizabeth Crecelius Schwartz

Closing the door on a mistaken concept of ourselves is an essential element of Christian healing. In the Bible we read, “Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and … put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22–24).

How can we put off the corrupt, inaccurate view of man as material and put on the new man, the true understanding of ourselves as spiritual? Many accounts of healing in the Bible give us a sense of how we can do this, and show that an important early step in healing includes shutting the door on error, on the belief that we are material. For example, when Peter, a disciple of Christ Jesus, was in the company of mourners, he had to “put them all forth”—or put out of thought negative opinions and fears that man must die—before he could raise Tabitha from the dead (see Acts 9:36–42).

An important early step in healing includes shutting the door on error, on the belief that we are material.