The Bible and IFS Therapy
From my experience of IFS Therapy, both as a practitioner and client, I've discovered IFS therapy almost always crosses into witchcraft, mediumship and the territory of occult. The framework, practice and understanding of who we are in IFS is completely misaligned with how God designed us to be in relationship with the just, holy and loving Creator of Everything! So much so that our experience or phenomenology of who we are gets corrupted. For me, it took God Himself to break me out of it but I did have the free will to reject His revelation and understanding.
Thanks to God, His supernatural love AND healing is available to us -- we can be healed deeply and in a way that takes us not only back to the freedom and innocence of childhood but renewed in Christ.
After the Holy Spirit showed me why I should never go back to practicing IFS Therapy, the Bible has validated this information for me time and again.
Parts
I experientially discovered that having "inner parts", whether in disharmony OR harmony, is not actually a spiritually healthy state to be. Seeing ourself through the paradigm of "parts" might even solidify or invite the presence of spirits and entities. [1]
"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse [your] hands, [ye] sinners; and purify [your] hearts, [ye] double minded." James 4:8
"A double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways." James 1:8
The spiritual world and deceptive spiritual entities are real. The rare psychiatrist even refers serious "cases" to exorcists while others go to shamans. "Deliverance" in the case of IFS Therapy (a.k.a. unburdening) is not true spiritual deliverance and it can leave a person in a worse state in the long run.
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" 1 Peter 5:8
"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:3
"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" 2 Corinthians 10:5
"He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first." Luke 11:24-26
The Self
Prior to any practice of IFS Therapy, I followed nondual spiritual teachings for over a decade. When I was born again, there was no doubt that the "Self" or transcendent inner state I'd experienced countless times is NOT God.
God, (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is known personally in a relationship, rather than being a universal force, or buddha-nature. Without a relationship with God, as we rely on the "Self" more, we increasingly deceive ourselves. God wants us to rely on Him (omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence) only, not on our attempts or works. The work for all freedom has already been done by Jesus Christ and nothing separates us from God when God reveals the Truth that sets us free! The Son of God cast away demons and healed sickness without techniques or practices of any kind because no darkness can exist in Light.
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be ... Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof [of God]: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" 2 Timothy 3:1-7
"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." James 1:22
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24
God is, as the Creator and sustainer of humans throughout their life, rightly a "jealous" God. This goes beyond a simple characteristic of God. God is not a tyrant but our reality will reflect any false beliefs of a God that keeps healing from us. Throughout the ages, God's prophets have warned others about witchraft, sorcery etc. i.e. humans turning their back on the Creator and towards fallen spiritual entities instead. Rather than walking with God, oftentimes people of God who felt separated from God went back to following idols/practices and even defended them.
"When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord." Deuteronomy 18:9-12
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Revelation 21:8
"Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I [am] the LORD your God." Leviticus 19:31
"And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people." Leviticus 20:6
"For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from [being] king" 1 Samuel 15:23
"So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, [even] against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking [counsel] of [one that had] a familiar spirit, to enquire [of it]" 1 Chronicles 10:13-14
"And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke [him] to anger." 2 Kings 21:6
The following verse describes how sin leads to death in the material world. The Old Testament is a reflection of what happens in the spiritual. In the New Testament, the disciple Paul describes how the "wages of sin are death". "Mediumship"/"spiritism", according to the Bible, is sin, which leads to spiritual death.
"A man or woman who is a medium or a spiritist among you must be put to death." Leviticus 20:27
The Old Testament contains countless secrets and revelations about Creation (including the spiritual and material world) and the salvation of Jesus Christ. These secrets can only be deciphered by the Holy Spirit. The verse above is an instruction on what to do spiritually; we are to completely turn away from seeking truth/healing/information etc. from spiritual sources that are NOT God because they will only lead to death.
The Image of God Vs. God Himself
In Genesis 1, the Bible states humans were created in the "image of God' which means we bear a likeness of God, rather than being God Himself. As we read on, we see how Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. As Adam and Eve were NOT God, and did not have omnipotence, omnipresence and omnisentience, they thus believed the serpent whispering into their ears. Even though forewarned, they chose a fate that results in death. This was the "Fall".
Ever since, all humans have been born into sin and iniquity. Along with our "image of God", we are also tied to the spiritual and biological effects of the Fall. If we were each placed into the Garden of Eden again, we would choose the same fate as Adam and Eve, again and again and again. God sees this and gives us the only effective solution. The Creator Himself quicken our spirit and brings us to Life!
When we are quickened by The Creator, there is no doubt whatsover that is not our own "image of God" that saves us, but Heavenly Father Himself in the name of Jesus Christ, even if our intellect doesn't understand it. When we face how we've sinned against God Himself and repent, we can finally choose turn towards God only for His answers and forgiveness.
"And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Galatians 4:6
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." John 14:26
"For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God." 1 Cor 2:11
Salvation does not come in the name of a therapist, a pastor/priest, a therapy framework or because any person decides it. God saves us freely and meeting Him changes our life completely. We see how He saves us from every situation/trouble. Although this could happen within a therapy session, it has nothing to do with the therapy or therapist. When we our soul meets God, we see how our own holiness completely falls short of His and we experience Him making us new.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Cor 5:17
Sadly, I've come across therapists, who speak about Christianity, God and the Bible but don't seem to understand these things at all. God calls us to help others but what solutions are actually helpful, in the long run, to our soul and spirit? In the BIble, the people of God consistently warn others abut false teachers and false prophets many times. I have no doubt these warnings apply to countless people even now.
""Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD." Numbers 31:16
"They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness." 2 Peter 2:15
"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age— and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame. For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned" Hebrews 6:4-8
Jesus Christ
If any believe that sinless Jesus Christ, as God incarnated as flesh, paid the penalty for all sins and that death could not hold him (i.e. he didn't incur the "wages of sin" and so naturally resurrected), they are under the covenant of Grace and not the Law of the Old Testament. That said, if we are suffering in any way or identify as a victim of any kind, we do NOT fully believe we are under Grace and have already been saved. We thus rely on idols on some level and our own works, including work to heal emotionally or psychologically. Therapy, human paradigms/frameworks, our own understanding of healing become idols to us.
Since I've found God, I've seen how the alternative to any healing is GOD Himself. He literally heals deep pain and trauma without us doing anything at all. God sees into our hearts. Even if we're angry with Him, alienated from Him or don't believe in Him, He knows! We don't even need to practice being aware, being still etc. God is truly powerful and any lack of focus etc. we experience is nothing to Him.
These verses highlight the importance of repentence (turning away from non-God sources of salvation) and a turning towards God insead:
"And when they say to you, 'Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,' should not a people seek their God?" Isaiah 8:19
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" 2 Chronicles 7:14
God does not bring a spirit of confusion. Jesus did not pursue any healing professions or promote any systems, even religious/spiritual ones. Instead, following the will of God, moment-to-moment, he urged others to repent and seek the Kingdom of God already at hand.
ORIGINS
I believe it is important to consider the true origins of many things in the world. In the Old Testament and some apocryphal texts, prophets describe people time and again turning away from God to seek other sources of wisdom -- e.g divination, sorcery, necromancy etc. In the end, God uses everything for His glory but anything not in His Will is destroyed in the "fire" of God. Since finding God, I have seen how all Biblical archaic sounding concepts are not just abstract or symbolic in nature. In fact, they reflect a deep spiritual reality -- a reality more real than the world we see/hear with our body or are conscious of with human awareness/perception. We do not need to develop our awareness/perception/mindfulness or use techniques to know God and experience His healing. We do not need special knowledge or wisdom to know God and His ways. Furthermore, there are ALWAYS consequences to following practices that go against God.
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" John 8:3
I believe time is of the essence to each soul incarnated in this world of space/time so, if the still, small voice calls you to go in a particular direction, please take heed. Walk by faith and not by sight or philosophies of limited human or seemingly wonderful angelic creations.
